Rise Above Success | Rise Above | Pastor Rob Koke | Shoreline Church | Message

[MUSIC] >> Good morning, everybody. You guys doing good? Come on, turn to your neighbor right now and tell him, I'm doing so good. There ought to be two of me, come on. Just, it's great to be in church. Let's all of us stand to our feet. While you're standing, I just have to mention the fourth quarter. >> [APPLAUSE] >> How many of you are glad that there are four quarters in a football game? >> [APPLAUSE] >> The Longhorns pulled it out. I had a ticket, someone graciously offered me a ticket to the game. And I actually turned it down, because I wanted to be a good steward. I wanted to be ready to preach on Sunday morning. And I figured if I was at the game, I would be there late. And then with the traffic, I wouldn't get home until after midnight and all of that. And so I said, thank you so much, I'm so, so grateful. But I really shouldn't do it. And then I watched the game, and in the fourth quarter, I got so wired and so excited, I couldn't sleep till midnight. I should have gone to the game. Anyway, what a great victory for the Longhorns. And if you're visiting from Ohio State, we love you. And we're glad we finally beat you. >> [LAUGH] >> Anyway, it was a great game, great game. And the Aggies won two, so there's lots to celebrate for all of our Texas football fans. We start every single message with something we call the Shoreline Creed. It just helps to remind us that Christianity is all about God's amazing grace. And so if you're here today and you've never recited these collection of phrases,

you can read along from the screen. But the rest of us, we say this with some enthusiasm and passion. You guys ready? Here we go. I am loved by God. I cannot earn it, I cannot lose it. I am forgiven and made brand new. In Christ, I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution. Come on, let's give God praise for that. >> [APPLAUSE] >> You may be seated. So Lauren and I, we like to watch movies. We don't do it all the time, but romantic movies, romantic comedies or romantic dramas that tends to be where we land. And we've discovered over time that there are American-made romantic movies, and then there are European-made romantic movies. And I think somewhere, it may not be a universal truth, but Lauren and I have kind of adopted this language. We're not a real fan of European romantic movies because they always tend to end tragically. And you know what, there's enough drama in life that I want a happy ending to my romantic movies. And I think it's biblical because heaven is going to be an incredible happy forever after and so very, very grateful for heaven. And so the reason why we came to that conclusion is a couple of years ago, we were watching this European movie. And the relationship had their ups and downs and they were trying to figure the drama out and they had issues and

they were missing each other here and missing each other there. And they finally got together at the end of the movie. And they're kissing and all of that. And then she gets on a bicycle and she's driving down the road and she gets hit by a train and dies. What I'm thinking to myself, I just wasted two and a half hours of my life that I will never get back. I don't like, you know, unhappy endings. So you can imagine I was a little bit hesitant to add one more talk to the collection of talks that we've had on the life of Gideon. Because it has a European ending. We ended part four with this increase. and I don't know if you remember two weeks ago when we gathered together, we turned down the lights a little bit, we had a light and a torch and then we shouted for the Lord and for His kingdom and man, it was a resonating, powerful, awesome, amazing moment about the victory that God wants to bring into our lives. I just wanted to end it right there. I mean, that's the place to end, but it's not really the end of Gideon's story. And while the ending of Gideon's story is not ideal, it is very common. It happens all the time. Somebody rises from obscurity and God has a measure of blessing upon His life, but that success is not handled very well and over time, cracks begin to show and then there's an epic failure in their lives

or a tragic end. And I've noticed that this can happen along all types of different career paths. I wish it wasn't as common as it is, but it is so common that I thought it was important that we would deal honestly with it here this morning and come face to face with its reality. I wanna share with you a couple of stories. Some of them are very well known. Some of you will immediately recognize and maybe some a little bit more obscure, but I just wanna set the stage here this morning with the idea that having an end that isn't ideal is something that happens far too often. Almost all of us know the story of Elvis Presley. He was an incredible entertainer. Lauren and I had the opportunity a number of years ago when we were traveling through Memphis to go to Graceland, which was the home of Elvis Presley. And there's a whole big deal there. You know, you can go and it's like a museum. You see all of the different artifacts, the cars that he had, the costumes that he wore. And you get a sense of how the whole thing started. And I remember just kind of looking at the screen and they had this interview and Elvis was first, you know, kind of coming on to the scene and he was young and he was so handsome and he had this personal charisma that I probably had never seen in another human being.

He definitely had what people call the it factor and he just smiled and I could see the women around me just melting. Now, I didn't have a man crush. I want you to know, but I was very concerned about how Lara was receiving this interview. I mean, just amazing. And then you probably know a little bit, you know, he went on the Ed Sullivan Show and then he became instantly, you know, popular around the country, hit after hit musically and then he went into movies and he had, you know, these incredible movie experiences and so he was an icon in our society. But you know, he had some fatal flaws in his life and they began to manifest in his world, his life began to slowly deteriorate and he gained some weight and then he got addicted to prescription drugs and to alcohol. He began to slur his words and he OD'd a couple of times and then tragically on August the 16th, 1977, he was found dead on the floor of his bathroom. Nobody, nobody would have imagined that this young man that had such a promising start in his life would end his life the way his ended. But we've heard stories like that, right? Entertainers have that kind of story from time to time but sometimes it doesn't end well for politicians. This might be a little bit of an obscure story

but all of these have happened in my lifetime. I remember, you know, there was a candidate for office. He was running for vice president in 2004. He wasn't elected and then he decided to run for president in 2008. His name was Jonathan Edwards. The reason why he stands out to me is because he had this kind of JFK-esque persona. He was incredibly good looking. He was wealthy, beautiful family life. You would think he had everything going for him. But during that campaign in 2008, there was a moral failure that was uncovered and it completely torpedoed his career. There was a successful businessman. His name was Madoff and he was so successful that he was asked to be the chairman of the Nasdaq But he got involved in some shady business dealings and some kind of Ponzai scheme of 40,000 investors was hatched and when the economy took a turn for the worst in 2008 When that global financial crisis hit 40,000 investors went bankrupt overnight and he was sentenced to a hundred and fifty years In prison where he eventually died in prison Nobody would have imagined that this billionaire that so many people looked up to had some issues going on on the inside that eventually cratered his whole career and It doesn't just happen to those who sing and those who are in business or those who are in politics It even also happens to those in ministry when we first started our church all the way back in the late 1980s

There was a one man who was probably the most popular, you know, minister in the world at that time His name was Jimmy Swagger and he started his his ministry in the 1950s and 1960s And he had that rare combination of being an incredible preacher But also an amazing singer and his gospel songs and his ministry just spread all around the world He would fill basketball arenas and football arenas and baseball stadiums and and hundreds of thousands of people would come to hear him preach his broadcast was broadcast to a hundred different nations around the world a hundred million people would watch his messages every single week But in February of 1988 it all came crashing down He had an affair not just with an acquaintance not just with somebody in his office He had an affair with the prostitute and the todry details of that became public knowledge For the whole world to see his confession in which he said I have sinned and with tears coming down his cheeks Was the front cover of Time magazine? Think about that when we have our own private failures it tends to stay, you know out of the public arena But his failures were broadcast to everyone in the world in my lifetime It was the most brutal humiliating downfall. I had ever seen Now these are some stories of some well-known people that Didn't end the journey the way they would have hoped to end But I see this unfolding in everyday life It happens all the time and maybe there is a sense of that that has happened in your life Or in somebody that you know nobody intends for their life to end in a way. That's tragic but we all know people don't we people in our family perhaps friends maybe We just look in the mirror and we see it and we wish we didn't but it happens all the time and It happened to Gideon cracks that began to appear and a legacy that gets tarnished And the reason why I am choosing to end this particular series with these thoughts is because I don't want your journey to end the way Gideon's did or anyone else's that we just mentioned I want you instead to live this way I

Want you to start well, I want you to live well, and I want you to end well I Want you to start well live well and end well come on turn to the person right next to you and just tell them I want you to start well live well and end well Come on just tell them you guys at home if you're sitting on the couch come on talk to each other But if we're not careful Our lives can have that European ending So let's talk for a couple minutes about Gideon quick recap The Midianites had destroyed Israel they held him captive seven long years God shows up and speaks to Gideon and says oh You mighty warrior go in the strength of that you have and save Israel They work through their insecurities God confirms his purpose and plan for his life God reduces his military From 30,000 to 300 so that nobody would mistake that what he's about to accomplish is by God's hand having with each other and gains some supernatural confidence hearing his name from lips he's never met in rooms that he's never walked into and God with 300 men destroys an army a hundred times greater God gets the glory great things are happening and I wish the story ended there but it doesn't judges chapter eight tells the story I'm gonna share a couple of verses you can read along with me on the screen or if you've got your Bibles with you here today you can turn to judges chapter eight I'm gonna start in the 22nd verse the Israelites said to Gideon rule over us you your son and your grandson because you have saved us from the hand of Midian but Gideon told them I will not rule over you nor will my son rule over you the Lord will rule over you and he said I do have one request that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder it was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings they answered we will be glad to give them so they spread out a garment and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it the weight of the gold rings he asked for came to

1700 shekels Gideon made the gold into an iPod which he placed in Oprah his town all of Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there and it became a snare to Gideon and his family thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again during Gideon's lifetime the land had peace for 40 years no sooner had Gideon died from the Israelites sorry no sooner had Gideon died then the Israelites again prostituted themselves to Baal and they set up Baal as their God and did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies on every side they also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Gideon in spite of all of the good things he had done for them okay that's the story I didn't read all of chapter eight I just read a couple of verses in chapter eight to give you a little bit of a spirit a little bit of an idea of what's unfolding but this particular chapter kind of holds three kind of little stories little minnets if you will that represent some subtle shifts that took place in Gideon's life and the consequences of that were pretty pretty dramatic there's this phrase that we read in this passage that says that the land had rest for 40 years three times in the book of Judges that phrase the land had rest for 40 years has been articulated and they are all after a good leader that God raised up for the children of Israel that God used to set them free and then that phrase would come after that leader you know set the children of Israel free the land had peace for 40 years this is the fourth time that that phrase is being used and you know what it never gets used again in the Bible this is the last time after Judges chapter eight the land is never at rest again they are assailed on every side we see collapse and decay and care and chaos and decline in these three little stories that you can read for yourself in Judges chapter eight they represent three different subtle shifts that can take place in anybody's life in your life in my life and it's it's not too difficult to imagine these shifts taking place they represent attitudes and mindsets and there are three of them in Gideon's life and if we are wise this morning we would watch out for them in

our own lives to make sure they don't take place in us the consequences of these attitude shifts these subtle mindset shifts can go anywhere from just you know diminishing the quality of our life to having some drastic and monumental changes and impacts in our world so it's really important that we're in Gideon's life that I think represent how all of us, as human beings, live our lives in the potential of walking in that same path. I want you to start well, live well, and well. So let's pay attention. First shift is this one. If we're not careful, your platform to serve others shifts to serving yourself. Now, we would never, you know, like broadcast this. This isn't something that happens overnight. It's not even something that I think a lot of us would consciously decide to do. It's much more subtle. It happens over time. It happens. Without us even being aware of it. Gideon and his men are pursuing the Midianites. They are tired and they are exhausted. You'll find this part of the story in the first 17 verses of chapter eight. And so they are passing through to Israeli settlements. They are both afraid that Gideon won't be able to conquer the Midianites. And if they help Gideon, they would be candidates for retaliation. So their motive was self-preservation.

Gideon is traveling through these two Israeli settlements and he says to them, we're tired, we're hungry, we need some food, we need some rest, we need some shelter, we need some nourishment. And these leaders of these two settlements decide that the risk is too much. That Gideon in his 300 men are not gonna conquer an army that's a hundred times bigger, so they decline. And what does Gideon do? He basically pulls a Terminator and says, I'll be back. I wish I could do that Arnold Schwarzenegger acts, I'll be back. Gideon ends up finishing off the Midianites. But the focus of the text, judges chapter eight, is not this incredible victory, but it's the conflict that Gideon has with these two Israeli settlements that did not help him out. And he comes back to teach them a lesson. He literally takes the leaders, ties them up, and drags them through the thorns and the thistles, ripping their skin. It was brutal punishment. Gideon is enraged. You can almost hear him saying, don't you know who I am? How dare you defy me? And I find it super interesting that at the beginning of Gideon's story, he humbly comes before the Lord. When the Lord shows up and says, oh you mighty warrior,

go and set the children of Israel free. It's almost like Gideon says, do you know who I am? I'm the least of the least of the least. Fast forward a couple of chapters in the story. And now Gideon, you know he's got this victory. And you can almost see the attitude shift in his life using the same words, but now a different tone. When he started, Lord, do you know who I am on the least? Now with a voice filled with rage, do you know who I am? You have defied Gideon. And that subtle shift takes place in his life. He goes from serving others to now serving himself. The tone is so different. Now I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been disappointed, but I think we can all agree that it was a pretty significant overreaction. Initially his platform was to serve the children of Israel. But now he's enraged. This subtle shift. And I know this is an extreme example, but I think this shift can happen in all of our lives. We start a business, right? And our whole motivation is to serve our clients and take good care of them. And we get some people to join us in this vision and in this business. And it's all about developing them and growing them. And then you get a measure of success. And if we're not careful, there can be a subtle shift from serving your clients to now maximizing your profits.

But instead of training and encouraging your workforce, Sometimes there can be just that little subtle shift. We start our families. And as parents, we hold these precious gifts, these miracles from God. We had baby dedication here this morning. Every single one of these moms and dads that I saw had this tender, beautiful expression of love and devotion for their children. They wanted to dedicate them to the Lord. And I'm sure their posture is they're going to do everything they possibly can to serve their kids. But if we're not careful, there can be a subtle shift that takes place in our lives. And our businesses grow. And we've got responsibilities and other things. And then we lose sight of the preciousness of our family. And instead of getting into the mix and the mess of their emotions, we start living our lives, trying to optimize routines and have everything on a schedule. And we miss out on what it means to be really serving hearted. We serve, and then we get promoted into a place or a position. And then we look back maybe at some people who weren't real nice to us on the journey. And we use this new position to exact our petty little revenge. This whole idea of moving from serving people to having people serve us, it can happen in all kinds of different settings.

It can even happen in church. I'll never forget, when we first started back in the 1980s, early 1990s, there was this one church that was one of the most influential churches in the nation. It was up in Dallas. And they had like 20, 30,000 people that would attend their services every single week. But over a season of time, none of these things happen overnight. But over a season of time, that church began to diminish. And months went by. A year or two went by. And this church that was once 30,000 people had just a handful of people left in their church. They couldn't even keep the building open. And they had to sell the building to another church. And I remember one of the guys that was on staff. He was a scholar. He had his doctorate in leadership and Christian missions ministry around the world. And he was a friend of mine. And I just asked him. And I said, you know what, this church is one of the most powerful, life-giving forces in the community. They were a light set upon the hill. What happened? And he paused. And he thought about it for a moment. But I'll never forget what he said.

He said, you know what I think happened? Our church went from it being an honor and a privilege to serve the people who came to the church adopting an attitude in mindset that it was an honor and a privilege for them to be a part of such a great church. A subtle shift that had significant consequences. So one of the challenges that Gideon faced at the end of his life was the shift from serving others to now having people serve him. And that is a danger that every single one of us can have in our own lives. There is an antidote for that. And it's coming to the recognition that every good gift comes from God. Every good gift we have is more than what we deserve. I know that we might have the tendency to think that it was our gifts, our talents, our abilities that created the world that we live in. I went to school. I got my doctorate. I'm a lawyer. I'm a doctor. I've got my degree where I started this business. And now it's successful. And we think, I did this. And I just want to tell you, you've got to ask yourself in every situation who gave you the brains, who gave you the ability, who gave you the health, who gave you the opportunity to live in the great state of Texas.

Every good gift that you have in your life has come from his hand. I think about my wife and my children, my grandchildren. I'm telling you, it is good beyond my doing. You keep that attitude. It's the antidote for that subtle shift. Shift number two. Your private devotion shifts to maintaining a public facade. This second shift happens in verse 22 to verse 30 of Judges chapter 8. After the victory, the people-- And Gideon's response initially is pretty good. Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you. "My son will not rule over you. "The Lord will rule over you." That's good, but if you do a little deeper dive into what's happening in Gideon's life, the facts don't line up. The heart doesn't match the words. The reality is, as you said, I'm not gonna be your king, but he starts acting like a king. Kings collect gold from the people. That's what he did. Kings established a harem, a concubine. That's what he did. Out of that harem, a son is born. And I find this incredibly amazing. He names his son, Abemalek, which might sound like a strong Hebrew name, but it actually means my father is king.

So when they asked him to be a king, he said, "No, no, no, I'm not gonna be your king. "The Lord is gonna be your king." And then he names his son, my father is the king. Do you see the disconnect? He's saying one thing with his lips, but there's something else going on in his heart, and you can say no with your lips, but at the same time, reach for the scepter with your hand. That's a subtle shift that can take place in our lives where what's happening publicly becomes more important than what happens privately. And it can happen to each and every one of us. I think it happens far more frequently than we realize. Over time, we just stop doing what we used to do. Instead of heartfelt devotion, we just go through the motions. We kind of do the right things, but it's not motivated in the right way. It's entirely possible for us to engage in this kind of behavior on a daily basis. You know what I've discovered about my life, even though I'm the El Pastor of Shoreline? I've been pastoring this church for nearly 40 years. And what I've discovered in my own Christian journey is that I can go from a place of authentic worship, authentic motivation to going through the motions, and I can do that in about a 24-hour period. That's why I need every single day, a refresher.

I need a connection with God every single day, because I can go from private to public in 24 hours, and I imagine all of you can as well. That's why Jesus reminds us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." And He taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." You want to know what the antidote? For going from a private place of devotion to God, to just being satisfied with a public facade. You know what the antidote to that is? Take seriously your daily personal devotions, and take seriously honoring your weekly commitment to the Sabbath. And I know I'm preaching to the choir a little bit, because you guys are here in church, you guys are watching online, you've made that commitment to engage in this weekly, beautiful gathering of God's people. I just want you to know it's much more important than you think it protects your heart from the subtle shifts that would eventually destroy us. (congregation applauding) Shift number three, your passion for future victory, shifts to idolizing the past. There's something inside of each and every one of us. We have this hope, we have this dream that tomorrow is gonna be better than today, but sometimes if we're not careful, we can begin the process of idolizing what's happened in the past. Oh, I remember when some people do that,

you know, with their kind of football, they were the quarterback on their team, and they remember that touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that won the game. And they're always living in the past, they're idolizing the past. You know what? Every one of us can do that in our business, in our finances, even in church life. Oh, and we think the best days are behind us. We shift and idolize the past. Gideon, he faced this subtle shift in verses 27 to 35. He took the gold. out of gold, but many theologians believe it was a monument made out of gold. It was most likely motivated purely at the beginning to be a celebration of all that God had done, but instead it became a national idol, and people came to worship it, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family, and I find it incredibly ironic that this Gideon who starts out the story tearing down idols ends the story building idols. And I know our tendency is to say shame on Gideon for doing that, but you know what? The temptation to build idols in our life is so very real. We do it all the time. Can I be really frank with you? You can make an idol out of almost anything. You can make an idol out of your accomplishments. You can make an idol out of how many likes you have on social media. You can make an idol about how much money you have in the bank. You can make an idol out of your favorite sports team. If you yell that the TV louder last night than you have ever shouted praise to the Lord, come on, turn to your neighbor and tell me he's talking about you now. Come on, just tell him.

We were made for worship. Every single one of us were made for worship. I look around this room and I see a lot of cowboy jerseys, you know, NFL kicks off today. I think the Cowboys play, they play tonight, right? Yeah, you know, you know, how much emotion gets stirred, why? Because we were created to worship. And here's the bottom line. If you're not worshiping God, you're worshiping something else. Every single person on planet earth is a worshiper. And I know some, you know, those sports finags say, ah, I don't worship. I don't even go to church. I don't even believe in God. Listen, everybody worships and you'll find out what you worship at the end of your search for where you spend your time, your talent and your treasure. At the end of that pursuit, you'll find out what matters most to you and what you worship. And listen, there's nothing wrong with sharing on your football team. I was throwing stuff. Last night I had to turn off the TV because I couldn't handle it. And then I would look on my phone and I saw them coming back and I turned it back on. I get it. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. You just got to put Jesus first. If you find your joy in Jesus first, then you can find it in every other way that God intends for you to have it. The biggest temptation that Jesus faced out in the wilderness, there were three of them. The third one was the biggest temptation and the devil said to Jesus, if you just bow down and worship me, I'll give you everything. It was like the devil's last gasp effort. He reserved the biggest temptation for the last. And if he tried that on Jesus, you got to know he's trying that on us all the time.

The antidote for exchanging our passion for Jesus by idolizing the past is to worship. And so we're going to do that. We're going to do that right now. And I want to encourage you, not a single person, please. Don't leave early. I want you to stand to your feet and we're just going to take a moment to worship as a declaration that we're not going to allow any of the subtle shifts that Gideon was tripped up by to be how we live our lives. And after we sing just a verse of this song and of course, I'm going to come back and tell you a story that you'll be glad you stayed for. Let's sing and worship. [MUSIC PLAYING]