 Espresso Yourself - 2
Mind Your Mind
October 8, 2006
Pastor Paul W Newell
We’re making espresso this month here at ChurchForFamily. I’ve got all the ingredients here for my favorite drink, café mocha: deep, rich espresso coffee, purified water, steamed milk, mocha powder. (finishes making the drink and takes a taste...) Oh yeah, that’s perfect! I love this stuff.
I love espresso. I also love “espressing” myself, that’s what this series is all about, Espresso Yourself! Learning how to “espress” ourselves in ways that honor God and help us relate to others in positive, life-changing ways.
You know, just like a good espresso drink, it takes the right ingredients to make for good “espressing”.
A while back I found out that Starbucks was no longer selling the little tins of mocha powder. I couldn’t make Mocha’s at home anymore. Here I have this nice espresso machine and I can’t make my favorite drink at home. So I did what any dedicated café mocha drinker would do – started experimenting with new ingredients. Syrup, coco powder, Hershey’s power – none of them worked. Finally I decided to go online and ask the experts what they were doing and they told me about this stuff. It’s really good, probably better than the Starbucks stuff and now I use what makes for the best espresso drink ever!
Our "espressing" is a lot like my dilemma: we’re using the wrong ingredient to get the result we want – and it’s not working. Instead of sweetness, we get bitterness.
The wrong ingredient I’m talking about is RUDENESS. Rude is bitter! We think rudeness will make things better, but rudeness makes things bitter!
Rude is a bad ‘tude. It’s a rotten attitude, but it’s everywhere!
A while back someone took a poll and found that 79% of people believe that rudeness is a serious problem. 79%! That’s a pretty hefty majority of people who think rude as a ‘tude has gotten out of hand. (When asked, the other 21% simply said, “SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!”.
Why are people so rude these days? Why do you and I get caught up at times in the rude ‘tude?
Someone else did another survey and came up with these answers. See if you agree.
#1. People are rude because of the pace of life. With everything going as fast as it is these days, it’s hard to be courteous. I mean, how can you stop and smell the coffee with the drive-through at Starbucks is ten cars deep and you’re already late picking up the kids?
#2. One word: parents! They said parents aren’t teaching manners any more. Kids don’t know how to be polite because their parents aren’t teaching or setting the example.
#3. It’s entertaining. Can you think of a show on TV that doesn’t use rudeness as a major entertainment tool? Most comedies on TV are just plain rude! We laugh at it. People get paid millions to be rude to each other! We think it’s entertaining.
#4. You have to be rude to be successful. You’ve got to be rude to get what you want out of life. You’ve got to be pushy and show people who’s the boss. Get their attention however you must!
#5. (And this one hurts!) Sometimes being rude just feels good! It feels good to flip off that guy who just cut you off in traffic! It feels great to tell someone off. We don’t like to admit it, but sometimes going off on someone makes us feel good – especially if they’ve been rude to us first! We’ll show them!
Those are all reasons people have given for being rude, but honestly – I believe there are really only two reasons why people pick rude as their ‘tude.
The first reason is IGNORANCE. When you are rude you are ignorant. I don’t want to sound mean or rude when I say that, but ignorance is why we’re rude.
Ignorance is simply - not knowing. Ignorance is a major cause of rudeness. Rude people ignorant of the fact that God really loves them and accepts them. They’re ignorant of the fact that God has forgiven them of their faults. They are ignorant of the high price God paid on the cross for their sins.
Ignorance breeds rudeness. They don’t fully realize how much God loves them and what all He did to forgive them – otherwise they wouldn’t treat you or others they way they do!
The Bible tells us we forgive others as God has forgiven us.
But not only ignorance, arrogance is the second factor that leads to rudeness.
Arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, pride – call it my any name – when we put ourselves above others we are ALWAYS going to be rude.
If we had to it into a recipe we could say it this way: Take ignorance, and arrogance, mix them together and you get rude!
Ignorance (+) Arrogance (=) Rudeness.
We need to change the recipe. We need to fix the formula.
Instead of ignorance we need knowledge. Instead of arrogance, we need humility.
KNOWLEDGE (+) HUMILITY (=) RESPECT.
So...the reason we start with knowledge and add humility has everything to do with the most awesome example of SOMEONE who espresso-ed himself in the most powerful manner possible: that SOMEONE is described in Philippians chapter new in the New Testament. Listen to these incredible words:
First the passage addresses our issue:
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.”
In other words...DON’T BE RUDE! Rude shouldn’t be your ‘tude!
“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
There is the recipe: don’t be selfish (or rude)...be humble.
So, what we’re reading is that we should not be selfish or rude, but where is this awesome example? I wanted to read those two verses first because I want you to see that the example to follow is ALL ABOUT our attitude toward others. It’s about dealing with rudeness, selfishness. The passage we are about to read is the recipe for dealing with others and really getting what we want out of life and eternity. Let’s read on...
“Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not DEMAND and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
Did you get all of that? That’s all about dealing with selfishness, rudeness. With Christ Jesus, rude just wasn’t the ‘tude.
That first phrase there, “Your attitude should be...”. Some translations say it this way, “Let this mind be in you...”
When your attitude is set a certain way – that’s your “mind-set”. Your mind makes up your attitude. Your attitude is your mind!
Here’s the message in a minute: ready?...If rude is the mood...mind your mind.
I like that! When rude is the mood...mind your mind.
You want to deal with rudeness and selfishness in your life? Mind your mind! It’s that plan and simple. Mind your mind.
Let this mind be in you...Your attitude should be...should be the same as Christ Jesus.
Now watch this...Jesus displayed three distinct mind-traits or mindsets that kept Him from becoming either selfish or rude. The first is found right away in the passage: look again.
Though he was God, he did not DEMAND and cling to his rights as God.
Circle DEMAND.
JESUS WAS NOT DEMANDING. DON’T DEMAND.
If you don’t want to be rude, don’t demand.
Look at that phrase...”Though He was God”. Jesus didn’t just claim to be something he wasn’t HE WAS GOD.
Jesus could have easily and rightfully demanded a LOT of things. He was God. He is the Creator of everything. He also lived the ONLY PERFECT LIFE ever lived here on EARTH. He could have demanded his right to stay in heaven and sit on the throne of God. He could have demanded that he be given special treatment here on Earth.
He could have clung, hung on to all of the stuff he was afforded in heaven, but He didn’t.
When someone is rude, when you or I are rude – what we are really saying is we HAVE THE RIGHT to be rude. We have the right to DEMAND from others. And guess what, sometimes you might just be right, but being right and being righteous are not the same thing. I may have the RIGHT to DEMAND, but it’s never RIGHTEOUS to be rude.
Mind your mind – DON’T DEMAND.
SECONDLY, JESUS WAS TOTALLY SUBMISSIVE. HE SAW SUBMISSION.
Honest, I worked really hard at finding a better word, an easier word to talk about than submission, but there just wasn’t one. The only word that works here is that scary word, submit.
We don’t like the idea of submission. We don’t take well to submitting to others willingly. We’ve been bred to think about our rights, not our service.
We don’t want to submit, we want to be in control!
Truth is, we don’t want to accept the consequences of submission in the present. We don’t want to think about or experience what happens when we submit. We might get mistreated. We might get stepped on or misunderstood. Someone else might get what we want right now. We might be called upon to give up what we want for right now...
Christ Jesus had a different perspective. His perspective was submission. He saw submission.
Read with me again...
He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7-8)
Submission: He made himself nothing; he took the humble position.
Jesus wasn’t rude, he submitted himself to others – totally. He took on the appearance of a slave.
What does a slave do? They serve others. Slaves don’t demand rights, they serve others. Jesus served others.
Here was the ONE PERSON, the ONE GOD who should have sat and been served by all of mankind, but Jesus voluntarily humbled Himself!
He took on the role of a servant. His saw the world from the perspective of submission – even to the point of death. From Jesus’ perspective, His life was not nearly as important as ours!
He humbled himself, He submitted Himself and served us to the death – death on the cross!
He didn’t demand. He saw submission.
And finally – His focus was not on himself. (His focus was not him, but HIM)
The passage ends with an amazing twist...
Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Everything Jesus gave up – He got back in greater form!
Jesus’ focus was on the Glory of God, not just His own Earthly glory.
When you start to feel the rude ‘tude coming on – instead of going for your own glory, God for God’s Glory.
Go for God’s glory (and you will get your own).
I referred to this at the beginning of our talk a while back. The reason most people are rude is all about ignorance and arrogance. We’re arrogant. We want our own glory. We want others to respect us, give us what we think is our due.
Imagine if that had been Jesus Christ’s ‘tude. There would never have been a cross. There would never have been forgiveness. And for us there would never be the possibility of eternal life.
Jesus didn’t go for his own glory – He went for God’s glory. He wasn’t concerned about the present consequences of submission...
Jesus accepted the current consequences of present submission and focused on the circumstances of the future, eternity.
You see, I don’t want you or me to act either ignorantly or arrogantly. When we act with respect, when we refuse to give into rude – we’re focusing on the future, not the present. When we MIND OUR MINDS we are going for God’s glory – and in the end, God will give us His glory!
Jesus let God the Father take care of His glory. Jesus let God raise Him up. Jesus let God give Him a powerful name. He let God do the DEMANDING that everyone bow before Him and confess that He, Jesus is Lord.
Jesus didn’t have to be rude and arrogant to be lifted up – God did that!
Here’s the powerful lesson: It is because Jesus humbled himself that He is given the highest place in heaven.
Jesus passed the ‘tude test with flying colors.
Talk about "espressing" Himself – He is Lord! He is “IT”. He is the highest. And Jesus didn’t have to be rude to get there!
Would you like to be lifted up? Would you like to see others praise you in a way that not only gives you glory – but really gives glory to God?
Would you like to have your family, friends, co-workers see and speak of you “gloriously”? Beyond that, would you like to really bring glory to God?
When rude is the mood – mind your mind.
Don’t Demand. See Submission. Go for God’s Glory.
What better way to espresso yourself than showing respect and honor to others and avoid the whole rude culture.
When rude is the mood – mind your mind!
Notes: Though the messages and majority of illustrations are original to the author, the theme and outline matierial for this message series Espresso Yourself is adapted from a copyrighted series by Ed Young Jr. used by permission and license. His series can be obtained through creativepastors.com.
To download the audio version of this message click here.
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