Playing No Games | Pastor Earl McClellan

i'm not i'm not pedaling and drinking this cultural coolade that is trying to dumb down or walk with Jesus i want to get back to that old school god you've captured me from the inside out i've got a fire deep in my belly and no one can shut this thing up if you have your bibles i want you to turn today to the book of numbers the book of numbers chapter number flu i think we're at number numbers chapter 14 i believe yes numbers chapter 14 beginning in verse number 24 we didn't bring your bible we're going to put the verses on the screen so you can follow along numbers chapter 14 verse number 24 it says but because my servant calib has a different spirit everybody say different spirit it's a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly i will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it because he follows me wholeheartedly because he follows me wholeheartedly oh follow is a word that we're familiar with in our day um the only problem is the way we use the word follow is not the same way the bible uses the word follow when we use follow you can follow someone and have zero change to your behavior zero change to your mindset zero change to your allegiances matter fact you might follow somebody to do them a favor i'll give you a follow i see you like i'm going to give you a little bit of my time and unfortunately some of that mindset is crept into the church where maybe we think we're giving god we're doing god a favor by following i'll follow lord and many of us are saying i follow Jesus but man there has been no change to our mindset change to our behavior our language no nothing has adjusted at all it's kind of like it's been a push of a button but not the change of a heart so we're going to walk we're going wrestle with this and walk through this because the Hebrew word for follow here that we just read in number chapter 14 verse number 24 a one commentator uh says it literally uh can literally means someone who's fulfilled to walk behind Jehovah i was like i've never heard that i hope it's true fulfilled to walk behind Jehovah that your soul is is so connected that there's an an allegiance, a fidelity, I've readjusted my life to say God, you get all of me. Not just some of me, it's whole hearted. I'm all in on this thing, and that is actually the title of this series that we're going to be in this month. It's all in. It's all in, like all in, all in, in our mindset, all in, in our hearts, all in, in our money,

all in, in our marriage, all in, in our singleness, all in if we're a teenager, all in, if I've been in church for years, all in, if I just started coming to church, all in, if I have a Bible, all in if I don't have a Bible. I'm saying God, I'm going all in in every single area of my life. There will not be one part of my life that I'm saying is off limits to you, God. I am breaking down every single lie, every single wall, every single boundary, every single parameter, every single compartment, no more compartments, God. You can have all of me, I'm following behind Jehovah, fully fulfilled, just walking right behind him in lockstep and sync with him. As a matter of fact, this series is labeled, it's titled All In, but today's message is titled, "Playing No Games." Playing No Games. I like hearing Numbers 14, verse 24, God is telling us that Caleb follows wholeheartedly. ESV says fully follows, but as it's talking about it, it connects his following with his relationships. It says, "Because you followed me wholeheartedly, your kids will be the beneficiary of your whole hearted devotion. Telling me... It's about everybody I'm connected to. What I found about leadership is whenever you are a leader, whatever you really want repeated and you set the standard for that, the people behind you or who are watching you, they don't usually exceed your level of wholeheartedness. They usually fall in somewhere behind. So if you're a ten at your job, the people on your team will probably be an eight. Rarely does someone come in and they exceed the leader. But what I found for the negative is whatever we do in moderation, we give people permission to do to excess. So if you're lukewarm in moderation, the people watching you go, okay, I'll take even further steps backwards. I don't know why it's this way.

The brokenness of our sin nature, I don't know. But what I do know is on the other side of your wholehearted devotion, the friends, the kids, the relationships in your life, they will reap the harvest of you going all in or not or not. I prayed this week for myself. I prayed that God would forgive me where I have not been wholehearted in my devotion to Him. I ask God to cleanse me and wash me because I'm sure I've got some parts in my life that I go, I have some of this, but not all of this. So I've been on my knees and even seeing this song today, Jesus have it all. It's been wrecking me in all honesty. So I'm not preaching at you, I'm with you in this. I'm with you to say, God, we don't want to be a people that are playing games. I'm not trying to be somebody that's being average in my walk with God but exceeding in every other area of my life. Why is it okay for us to get master's degrees and PhDs and to go all in in every other area of our life except our walk with God? Why when it comes to our walk with God, we go, you've got to make sure you play safe. Don't get burnt out, be real careful here. You know they might try to take advantage of you. You don't need to be one of those fanatics. But in every other area of your life, people like go for it. Do it. Run the marathon. Do an iron man. Go ahead and start the company. In every other area of life, people are pushing us forward. But when it comes to our walk with God, what is it that's in the water that has made the the mindset of lukewarmness and half-heartedness. Okay? I'm coming against it today. I'm coming against it. I'm coming again. I don't want Jesus coming If Jesus visited Shoreline City, I want him walking up and down the halls going. Yeah, I know you. Yeah, I know you. Yeah, I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you. Not perfect, but I know you. You're one of mine. I want him walking through the halls saying I love this church. So I'm asking God capture my heart like you've never captured my heart before. I want to be someone that is following whole-hearted Lee Not half-hearted Lee. And yes, the kids, it does matter. I heard it said that what one generation considers optional, the next generation considers irrelevant. So when we as aunties and uncles and young adults and old heads and those with chrome overs and no hair and when we are over here going well, church is optional, my walk with God will see. I mean, I'll kind of just be a good person. When we are optional, the next generation is looking at us going, I guess that is irrelevant for me unless there is a revival.

And that's exactly what I think God is wanting to do and is doing in our generation. I think he's wanting to shake us again. I think he's wanting to wake up. "Oh my goodness, let me remember who's I am." You ever see somebody in love? You ever been in love? Man, there's nothing like it. One of my big claims to fame -- I'm holding on to this to the day that I die -- is that "Onika liked me first." Okay? She's at our old cliff campus today. "I love you, honey. She liked me first." She was into me first and started throwing off all these hands and everything, wearing short skirts and stuff. And I was like, "That's not true. That's not true, but it's funny." But she did like me first, but then one day my eyes were opened. Whew! When they were opened, I'm like, "Oh my gosh. It's the finest girl I've ever seen in my entire life." And she's a woman of God. Two of my eyes were opened. Y'all, this is before NIL. Okay, so I'm playing basketball in college. There's no NIL. I won't got any money either. I got, like, $17, but they would give us per diem. When we went out on a road trip, they'd give us per diem. Like, you can go buy food and stuff. I wouldn't buy any food. I would hold on to my per diem. So when I came home, I could take Onika out. To chilis. [laughter and applause] Hey, girl. Hey, hey, hey. What you doing? What you doing?

Me me in the lobby. Babyback ribs on me. I loved her. I loved her. Once spent time with her. We fall asleep on the phone. You ever didn't list fall asleep on the phone? No, you hang up. No, you hang up. No, you hang up. No, you hang up. Okay, let's just stay on the phone. And you fall asleep. You can't even touch the person, which is something about them being there. My heart got reoriented because I was in love. No one had to convince me to spend time with her. No one had to twist my arm. No one was begging me. I was in love. She was in love. We wanted to be together. You ever see somebody who's in love and then the person that they're in love with is in like with them? No. Or indifferent? It's like, hey, hey, listen. Girl, if he hasn't texted you back in three weeks, he ain't that busy. [laughter]

You're a side piece. You're an afterthought. Bro, she's not that busy. Is she -- tell me all, like, are you serious? Yes. Let me get you free today. Let me get you free. Wake up. Okay. Oh, man, I didn't even see that text. This has been three weeks, really? [laughter] And I'm like, "God is God the one that's in love with us and we're in like with him. Send in the text. Us leaving it unwread. Not moving towards him. Yeah, I have been in church in a minute. I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. And then I'll kind of fall back into my own patterns. I don't want to be a person that God is pursuing, that the cross and the empty grave is a massive shout to all of us that God loves us and is for us and wants to capture our hearts. And I'm like, "Yeah, that's okay." No, no, I'm like, "Lord, would you capture my heart all over again?" [applause] All over again. So I'm going to share three things

that you don't usually hear in the language of those who are all in or are living whole-hearted. Here are three things, all right? I'm not always a three things kind of pastor, but here's the three things. First one, conditions. Conditions. Go with me to Numbers Chapter 32 real quick. Numbers Chapter 32. Verse number 11, number 32, verse 11. It says, "Because they have not followed me whole-hearted. He goes on to say, "No one except Joshua and Caleb." But he says, "Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, they don't get to go into the promised land." I was wondering how many of us have been asking God for a promised land, but we haven't received it because we're not wholehearted. But in our mindset, we say to God, "If you give me the promised land, then I'll be wholehearted." And God says, "You don't get the promised land until you're wholehearted. Maybe your conditions are the very thing that are holding you back from where God is trying to take you." If you do this, God, then, and God's like, "I already did the cross." So I'm inviting you into another story, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, go with me to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 8, look at this past description. We're going to start in verse number 19, Matthew 8 verse number 19. Come on, this is just Bible here. It says, "Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. I will follow you.'" Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Verse 21, "Another disciple, another disciple said to him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.'" Okay, let's pause. I read that one. I was like, "Whoa, Jesus. Come on." The man can't go to his father's funeral. Are you serious? Jesus. This is, that's too much. That's what my head is telling me. Now, of course, Jesus, he makes the rule so he can say what he wants to say whenever he wants to say it. But we're also reading this a little bit incorrectly. We read it like the guy's father had already died. But the man's father had not yet died. This is the point. What he's saying to Jesus is, I'm the oldest. I'm gonna have to take care of my dad when he dies. I don't even know when that is Jesus. So let me go ahead and put a rain check on following you until this thing happens.

And once that happens, first let me go this, do this, then I'll do that following thing. First, let me get my career off the ground. Then I'll follow you. First, let me get married. Then I'll follow you. First, let me have some kids. Then I'll follow you. First, let me have some fun in college. Then I'll follow you. First, let me fill in the blank. And then I'll follow you. And Jesus says, let the dead bury their own dead. I'm not gonna be waiting around forever for you to go ahead and do whatever you want to do. That time is right now for you to follow me. Okay. Jesus here is pushing us, challenging us, helping us become who he wants us to be. You know what I've never found? You know what? I've never seen this. I've never seen someone having authentic encounter with the risen Savior at an altar, at a camp, at a church service, at a moment, after a baptism, and God is just wrecking their hearts. I've never seen them go, oh my goodness God, I'm partially in. God, you can have some of me. I've never seen it. What I see when someone comes up out of that baptism, baptismal, is God, you can have every part of my life right now until the day that I die. When I see somebody get saved and give their heart to Jesus Christ, and they're at the altar getting prayer, when I see those moments happen in somebody's life, they don't come with conditions. They say, "Here am I. Use me, God. You can have all of me." And I'm saying, I want us to get back to that as a church. I'm not pedaling and drinking this cultural Kool-Aid that is trying to do it. I want to get back to that old school. God, you've captured me from the inside out. I've got a fire deep in my belly, and no one can shut this thing up. And if they tried, they couldn't. So for our teenagers and our young adults, maybe there's some people you're watching right now. You don't need to be watching. There's some people you're following,

you don't need to be following. You're mimicking some people you don't need to be mimicking. Yeah, I'm not asking, can someone preach? I want to know where's your heart? I want to know, are you in whole hearted devotion to the Lord? That's why you just can't get pastored through a screen. You're going to be in relationship with somebody. You're going to have somebody that's rubbing shoulders with you. Somebody that's going to say, hey, I'm going to help you become who God has called you to be. Well, you can talk to somebody back and forth. And if it's through a Zoom, let it be through a Zoom, but make sure you know your heart is wide open, their heart is wide open, and we are saying, we are pursuing our one and only Savior with everything that's only inside of us. God help us. God help us. Help us that we have set up so many idols in our life. Help us. My time's an idol. My energy's an idol. If you've got conditions, the next thing is compartments. This is where we say, God, you can have this part of me. But you can't have this other part of me. God, I'll serve, but I'm not going to stop sleeping around. God, I'll give, but you can't have my addiction. Lord, God, you can have this part of me,

but not this other part of me. God, you can have my past, but you can't have my future. My dreams belong to me. My future belongs to me. My time belongs to me. I'll cut you out a little time. But it belongs to me. I'll cut you out a little time, but it belongs to me. And in our day, for whatever reason, we feel almost no conviction. We feel almost no conviction. Taking ourselves and putting ourselves at the center and asking God to revolve around us, rather than putting Christ at the center and making sure our lives revolve around Him. I heard a friend of mine say, we'll bring our sickness to God because we want Him to take it away. But we don't want to bring our money to God because we're concerned. He might take it away. I'll bring my fears to God because I want Him to take it away. But I'm not bringing my time to God because He might take it away. Conditions, little compartments that we have here. Let me show you this. This is important. This is important. Go to 1 Kings, 1 Kings 11. Oh, yes, verse number 6. 1 Kings 11, verse number 6. Again, I'm going to put it on the screen. I'm going to read this one maybe before you can turn there just so I can keep going.

This is very, very important for us to get. So Solomon, again, 1 Kings 11, verse number 6. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not follow the Lord completely as David, his father, had done. Solomon did not follow the Lord completely. David, his father, did. Here's a problem. When I'm reading this, I'm like, ooh. I'm getting questions. Solomon messed up because he had like a whole bunch of wives and was marrying wives that he should not have had, and he had a whole bunch of them at one time. Okay? That's what Solomon did. David committed adultery and murdered somebody. Weird, huh? This is because a flawed follower can still be a full follower. You've got to catch this, you've got to catch this, because you, the devil will try to trick you into hearing something I'm not saying. I'm going to have to be perfect and have it all together all the time. You're never going to be perfect to have it together all the time. Okay? That's not the aim. Perfection is not our aim. Pursuing our glorious Savior is our aim. Our life fully surrendered to Him is our aim. You can be a flawed follower and still a full follower. And honestly, that's what I'm trying to be, and that's what I'm inviting all of us into. So you do not have to have it all together, but you and I ought to be saying, "God, you

can have my whole heart, my whole life, my whole strength." Everything I have belongs to you, conditions, compartments. This last one is complacency. Go with me to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. I pray that the Holy Spirit is convicting us. I pray that He's shaking us. I don't want any guilt, but I do want change. And if you're like, "Man, I actually already walked through this three months ago and I'm good. Praise God." We're fighting. We're in this right now. We're like, "Oh my goodness. I didn't even realize. I slipped. I didn't even realize. I drifted. I didn't even realize that I had let some other things get built up in my life. I just been kind of going through life and I'm looking at everybody else around me and this is what everybody else is doing. But now I'm hearing this word and now the Holy Spirit is catching my heart going, "Hey, or wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up." And I'm like, "Lord, thank you." In Romans 12 verse 11, it says, "Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord." I'm thankful here at our Dallas campus, in our Frisco campus too, the teenagers are down in front of you.

Teenage, let me hear from you real quick. Teenage, let me hear from you. Listen, they're going all in. I've been so proud of the teenage. I've been so, so proud of them. I just want them to know if there is a competition on passion, on pursuing Jesus, they ain't ever beaten me. I decided that. Why? Because you've only been on the earth 16, 17 years. So you only got 16, 17 years of God's faithfulness? I got 50. I got 50 years of God carrying me. I got 50 years of God sustaining me. I got 50 years of God forgiving me. I got 50 years of him picking me up and putting me on my feet on a firm foundation. I got 50 years of him pursuing me. Listen, I'm glad you have all the passion that you have, but let it never be that because I've been following the Lord longer, that now I have less of a passion for the things of God, Lord, take me to new levels in you. Now, you don't have to be loud, but there ought to be a fire, there ought to be a fire. How many of us on our wedding day, we're like, I love you, I love you, you can have all of me. I'm with you, you're with me. And then five years in, seven years in, 12 years in, we've drifted and we're never even calling the person, don't do any date nights, not really into them anymore. How many marriages are like that? I don't want that to be my marriage and I surely don't want that being my walk with God. That I would go back to when I was a teenager to remember the fire.

No, I got the fire today because God saved me today. God changed me today. God forgave me today. God gave me strength today. Okay, let me read these verses, read these verses. These verses are going to go fast, they're going to go fast so you won't have time to turn to them. I just want to read them real quick and then I got to share, I got to share a story. Dang. Okay, Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, just jot it down if you want to, Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, but seek verses, kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse number 5, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. 42 verses 1 to 1. So my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalms 27 verse number four. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Philippians chapter three, verses seven through eight, but wherever we're gains to me. I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more I consider everything in loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. Psalms 73, 25 through 26. Whom have I in heaven but you. And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is a strength of my heart and my portion forever. Romans chapter 12 verses one through two. Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters and view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing, and perfect will. There's a hymn that maybe many of us have heard, maybe you haven't, it's called I Have Decided. This hymn was actually written by a man in India years and years ago. It's kind of come through the generations it's made its way to us. But the story that I've been told about the origination of this hymn is quite powerful. There was a revival that took place in Wales years and years ago and a bunch of missionaries left there and went to northeast India to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus you could be reconciled to God, forgiven of your sins. And you now would be living your life for his glory. Well, these missionaries came in and not many people responded. Most people were turning them away. But one missionary met this one man in India. He shared the gospel and this man and his family, his wife and two sons gave their hearts in their lives to Jesus Christ. As they were changed and transformed from the inside out, the tribal leader, the chief did not like what he was seeing, brought this man and his family to the center of the village. And the chief said to this newly found convert to the way of Jesus Christ. Renounce your faith, renounce your faith now. If you don't renounce your faith, I will kill your sons right in front of you. This man responded, "I have decided to follow Jesus." The chief killed his sons in front of him. With his wife now standing by his side, the chief said, "If you don't renounce your faith, "I'm gonna kill your wife in front of you." The man said, "Don't none go with me. "Still I will follow." The chief killed his wife in front of him. Last of the chief said, "I'll give you one more chance "and if you do not renounce your faith in Jesus, "I will kill you."

And the man said, "The cross before me, "the world behind me." And with that, the chief took his life. But the village was so moved by this man's faith that a revival broke out in that village. And all of them, chief included, gave their hearts and their lives to Jesus Christ. This is the story of this song. of this song. [MUSIC PLAYING] And just for a moment, I want to sing some of this song, praying that God would capture all of our hearts. I decided to follow Jesus, I had to decide to follow Jesus. I decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. I have decided to follow Jesus, I decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back, no turning back, no turning back. I'm going to go with me, still I will follow, still I will follow, no turning back, no turning back. The cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, the world behind me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back, no turning back. All in, playing no games, by your heads if you would mind just for a moment family. This is not our moment to be moving around or just focus. I'm asking that God would capture our hearts again. You don't have to be loud, don't have to be quiet, that's irrelevant. I'm talking about a soul that's captured for the goodness and the grace of God. Everything whole-hearted devotion, talking idols falling down in hearts being set ablaze. God would you do that in all of us? Thank you for loving us so well, God, and drawing us close. As your heads are bowed just for a moment, if you're under the sound of my voice and you've never given your heart and your life to Christ, never made them first, never made them number one.

Or maybe you were following Jesus at one point in time in your life, but you slipped away, you've gone another direction and today you're saying, "I don't want to go my own way. I want to go the way of Christ." If that's you, you fit either one of those two categories, never gave your heart to Christ. You were following at one point in time you slipped away and today you know it's time for to give your heart and your life to Christ. On the count of three, I want you to do something simple but bold. Just want you to throw your hand in the air and say, "Yes, that's me, I want to give my heart and my life to Christ." Only one, two, three, just if you're hand up, you're saying, "Yup, this is me, this is me. I'm giving my heart and my life to Christ. Friends in the balcony saying, "Yup, this is me." Friends in this room online, you're saying, "Yup, this is me, this is me." Who else wants to get in on this prayer saying, "Yup, this is me. This is my moment." I know the grace of God is drawing me close. I want to be saved. I want a fresh start. I want a new beginning. I want to give my heart and my life to Jesus. I'm going to ask everyone to do me a favor, put your hand over your heart if you would not mind. I want everyone to repeat this prayer out loud after me. Say, "Dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I admit I've made mistakes and today I give you my heart, I give you my life. Give me the power to live for you." Can we lift our heads up, clap our hands? (drum beats) [BLANK_AUDIO]