The Fullest and Freest Version of You - Louie Giglio

What an amazing thought that God wants to speak into your path and he wants to speak into your path just to make sure we're all on the same page today in a way that would bring you the fullest life. So he's not trying to cramp your style. He's trying to lead you to the fullest life. He wants to disciple us. A word that sort of slipped out the side door of the church maybe a little while back. He wants to teach us, show us, the word disciple is the word pupil. He wants to be our leader and he's inviting us to follow him. He's not inviting us to show up at gatherings at church although I love today. He's inviting us to follow him, to follow his example, his footsteps, his teaching, his ways, his thoughts, his lifestyle, his destination, his priorities, his values. He's saying, come follow me because I am the way, amen? I am the truth and I am the life. I'm the way to the father. I'm the way to what you want and what you need and what you were created for and what you long for and what you're looking for. I'm the way and I actually am the way. Now in our world, that's not the only opportunity that's out there. A few weeks ago when we introduced the large Stanley, sorry we'll edit that out, the large water container, I said that I had asked ChatGPT this question, how does the algorithm control my life? Therefore, we wouldn't have to have a guy standing up here or a lady up here, a person up here saying, let me tell you about how the algorithm is trying to control your life. Let's just ask the machine. So ChatGPT quickly answered within a nanosecond and said, algorithms control your daily life by acting as invisible digital curators that shape your habits, curate the information you see, and make automated decisions about your future. They influence what you buy, what you watch, how you work, and the opportunities you receive. They manipulate your daily experiences through several core mechanisms. And then I highlighted a few of those. Number one, by curating your reality, algorithms limit and personalize the content you consume, building customized echo chambers that shape your personal philosophy and worldview. By repeatedly showing you certain perspectives, they can exploit the illusionary truth effect, making you desensitized to or more accepting of extreme ideas. The second way that ChatGPT said the algorithm is trying to

control my life is by capturing my attention. To maximize ad revenue, platforms are designed to be addictive. Algorithms learn from your unconscious behavior, tracking exactly how long you linger on a post, when you swipe away, and what time you scroll to feed you a continuous loop of engaging relevant content. In other words, the algorithm wants to disciple us. It wants to be our leader. It wants us to follow it. It wants us to become the pupil of its design. And what is it doing? Well, it's just absolutely staring us down every second of the day. And it knows ultimately, and this is the thing that we have to come to grips with, the algorithm knows what we like and what we want. And so it feeds us, us, and then pushes us further into us in an attempt to convince us that that is the way and that is the truth. and that is the life and that is the way to what we are looking for. Now if you're not on social media, congratulations, that's awesome, but you're still in the algorithm. If you've never seen Netflix, well congratulations, you're still in the algorithm. Your television knows so much more about you than you think. You turn it on and turn it off, but you're not really sure when it goes on and when it goes off. Everything we do is being monitored. Your phone is listening to you. You're like, no it's not. Well why then, after you were talking about canoes with your friend, did REI send you a coupon in the email stream for a canoe? And you went, wow that's weird. They're having canoes on sale at REI right now. Blue ones, like we were talking about the blue one. So the world around us is attempting to lead us, and that's why we're in this collection over the summer called Recommended For You. The same as you would see as you end your show on the platform that you're streaming on, most likely somewhere in the next little bit of time, something's going to come up and say, you might like, or we're recommending for you, or because you watch this, we think you might want to watch this. Even on an airplane, Delta, if you scan the thing long enough on the little monitor on the seat back, it'll start telling you what it wants you to watch. And so God is saying today, I would like to recommend to you the way to the fullest possible

life. Amen. Jesus said it this way in Matthew chapter 5. That's where we were last week in the talk about curating a life or actually having a relationship with God that is real and authentic. And in Matthew chapter 5, six different times, Jesus is helping us understand how the law in the Old Testament is now transferred into a lifestyle in the New Testament. And this is what he says, six different ways in Matthew chapter 5. He says, you've heard it said, but I say to you. Example, you've heard it say that if you kill someone, then you murdered them. But I say to you, if you harbor hatred in your heart towards someone, it's just the same. And he just goes through this chapter, you've heard it said, but I say to you, and that's what he's really wanting to do in this collection. You've heard it said out there in the world, but I say to you. And today, I don't know how this is going to go. The talk is not the longest talk we're probably going to have in the collection, and it might end up being the least watched talk in the history of our church. Because today, what Jesus is saying, what he's recommending for you, are you ready? Can I get an amen? No, not yet. What he's recommending for you is that it's not about you. The algorithm is not going to do that. The algorithm is going to put you center stage. It is going to put you in the epicenter of the orbit of life. But God is recommending something different today to lead us to life. And as we're going to see as this message unfolds, it's the unexpected path to the fullest and freest version of you. And it begins with this big idea that it's not about you. Now, just bear with me just for a moment, okay? A, I'm coming from another generation. I get that. I've traveled over several iterations of American thinking by now. And I understand the one that we're currently living in. But what the algorithm wants to say, let's just keep blaming it on the algorithm for a moment, is that it's all about your fullness. Your freest version of you is about self-help. It's about self-care. It's about self-improvement. It's about self-actualization. In fact, you used to walk into a large bookstore when we had really large bookstores, and invariably,

you would go to the Christian Living section, and you can do that here in Atlanta. And the Christian Living section is there, and it's robust. you know, this big. But then when you turn the corner to the self, fill in the blank section, you're in a department store now. Because people didn't really come to this bookstore looking to be discipled by Jesus. They came there looking for a way to improve their self. And so, when Jesus says, I'm recommending to you that it's not about you, that is quite a different direction of the wind. Now, let me say this and let me just say it and hopefully it'll be seared into our thinking today as we work through this journey. Making sure that we find the healing that is available to us in Christ and the rest that being united with him brings is essential. Let me say that one more time. Making sure that we find the healing that is available to us in Christ and the rest that being united with him brings is essential. We're not throwing that out the window today. We're just saying that the pathway to fullness and freedom might surprise you. You've heard it said that you must first take care of yourself. Now, you might actually say that out loud with words. Hey, my first goal is take care of me. Or you might just be more like me and you just lived it out. You didn't really articulate it. What does that look like? It looks like we're waking up and we're going, how do I feel? What do I need? What do I think? What do I want? What are my options? And all of a sudden, before we know it, we are in a loop of self. But Jesus is saying, you've heard it said, it's all about you. But I say to you, it's not about you. When we had the government shutdown a few months ago, it was terrible to travel. Anybody out there in the jungle of four-hour TSA lines, it was nuts. I had a flight, had to catch, things were tight, wasn't going to work, but I knew someone. And the someone said, I know a way, and they knew a way. There's a way. Where it looks like there is no way, there is a way. Come to find out, the person says, meet me at the exit of the terminal, where you leave the terminal, not where you come in. So all the people, thousands and thousands of people are going into the place where you go in, and everybody's saying, if you're going to get this flight, you got to go in that way. And this person said, no, go around to where the exit is, and there's no people coming out of the exit,

not one single person. My friend will meet you there, and they did. And what happened for the next 15 minutes was absolutely mind-boggling to me. I have flown millions and millions and millions and millions of miles in my lifetime, I had no idea. We just went in doors and up elevators, and this person had the magic badge, and every time they swiped a thing, a light changed, a door opened, a thing happened, there was a TSA checkpoint that I don't know who goes to it, but there weren't anybody at it that day, and we just kept doing this. We went upstairs, downstairs, through double doors, we came out in baggage claim. I mean, like, not the one where you get your bag, like the one down underneath in the belly of the airport, where things are happening. We're standing there like, oh, wow, okay, this is great, fantastic. Where are we and how are we going to get where we're going? Just keep following me, keep following me, swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, all of a sudden, a door opens and I'm standing at the gate. I'm just skating my phone, getting on a plane. I know, if you were in that line, you're like, argh! I know. But what I learned that day is what God is wanting to set in front of us today, that sometimes the way to where we want to go is an unexpected way. And it may look like everybody is going in this way to get where you want to go. And God says, I know, but there's another way. Meet me at the exit, and I'll show you the way. This is what he's saying to us today. This is not new, by the way. Paul was writing to Timothy at the very end of his life, and he's giving Timothy marching orders for how to lead the people forward in this newfound church world. And he says to him in chapter 3, verse 1, but mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. Now A, just footnote, that was 2,000 plus years ago when Paul was helping Timothy understand what it was gonna look like in the last days. People, here's the description. People will be lovers of themselves. Wow, what a newsflash. No phones, no internet, no algorithm, just hardwired from the fall in the garden to put ourselves in the center of our existence

and to think how do I feel? What do I need? What do I think? What do I want? What are my options? He said they'll be lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents. Let's just say it again, Mom, they'll be disobedient to their parents. They'll be ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good. They will be treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And here's the worst part, if that's not bad enough. They'll have a form of godliness, but they'll deny its power, have nothing to do with such people. In the last days, notice that people will be lovers of self, thinking that that's the way to where they want to go. They'll have a form of godliness. In other words, they'll look right, but they won't have the power of God. And we're gonna see why in just a moment. So three things about it not being about you. Are we having a good time so far? Awesome. Number one, God wants to encourage you today to embrace that you are dearly loved and prized by God.

So this is not a, hey, sit down and shut up because nobody cares about you message. This message is radically freeing because this message is telling us what we really, really want to hear. And that is that we are dearly loved and prized by God. So we're not gonna get into that as a whole talk today. Just go back and listen to 100 of the messages from Passion City Church. But let me just highlight a few thoughts. You and I are existing in a world that desired you and invited you. And when I say world, I'm not talking about just like a mechanism of creation. I'm talking about the God of creation desired you and invited you into this world. You are not here by accident or happenstance. You are not here by the decision of your mom and dad or people who weren't necessarily even in a relationship wanting to have someone like you join the situation. You are not here by accident. You have been invited into this story. And you were desired to be in the story. Put that in the self-help section. Second big idea is you're existing in a cocoon of unconditional love. Even if you do not have a faith in Christ, you're not even sure if you believe in God, you are still existing right now. Maybe even you're thinking you're against God.

Well, guess what? God's not against you. Oh, well, I don't believe in God. Well, God believes in you. I don't know if there is a God. Well, the God who created you certainly knows there is a you. And you're existing right now in a cocoon of his unconditional love. You can't earn it. You can't buy it. You cannot achieve it. You're in a cocoon right now of unconditional love. You say, well, you hadn't met my dad. Well, no, I haven't met your dad, but I have met your heavenly father. Well, you don't know about my ex. Well, I know I don't know about your ex, but I do know about the one who gave his life on a cross for you. Yeah, you should have grown up in my house. When any cocoons of unconditional love in my house, I know that's why we're here today to consider what a miracle it is to be in his house. Your existing, third big idea, in a position, this is if you're a believer in Christ, of new life in Christ. The old you, that story is ending and the brand new you story is underway. Fourth big idea, you're existing in an economy of abundance. Wow. No shortages in this economy we're in. Number five, you're existing in a relationship of unlimited power. In other words, the hand that you hold is the hand that holds the entire world. The spirit that is in you is the same

spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Six big ideas, you're existing, walking with God and holding this word in your hands and in your heart with superior knowledge, destiny, and purpose. In other words, when you're rolling into your neighborhood or your place of work or wherever you work out and you know God God's word, you're walking in with superior knowledge. I know how the whole story unfolds. I know exactly how it ends. I know everything is coming together in God's plan and He's showing me what the plan is. I know Him. I know His ways. I know His thoughts. I know His kingdom. And I have destiny on my life. And I have purpose on my life. It is amazing how down we can get on ourselves. How trapped we can get in our own heads. How masterfully we manage to not get out of our own way. And how stunningly we can live like paupers when we are written into the will of the King of kings. How quickly we can abandon the fullness orbit, the one that orbits around Him, and we can migrate to the fullness orbit, the one that orbits around us. That's the first thing God wants you to know today. Amen? The second thing that God wants us to see today is that once you come to terms with how valuable you are, forget about self. Sounds like a paradox, doesn't it? Once you're fully on board with just how blessed and valuable and loved and prized you are, just forget about self and move on in life. Paul wrote it a different way in Philippians when he said, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant or more important than yourself. Now remember, he's telling these churches who they are, how rich they are, how blessed they are, how new they are, how much their lives have changed in Christ. And then as soon as he's getting that across to them, he says, oh, and by the way, let's forget about self. Don't do anything out of self. Don't do anything motivated by self. Don't do anything that's led by how do I feel, what do I need, what do I think, what do I want, what are my options? No, don't do that. Consider in humility other people more important than yourselves. Now this talk is so challenging to me personally, and I would imagine challenging to anybody who's really wanting to follow God today. And I kept thinking, what is a good example? What's a good example? I need a good example. You can't just preach the truth. You have to have a good story. You have to have a good example. You have to have an apical takeaway. And I thought, okay, what is the example? What is the example? What is the

example? And then I thought, oh, I got it. The example is sitting right there. My wife is the example. She's not perfect. But imagine living with me for a couple of decades. It's perfecting for sure. And when I thought about the person who does nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, I thought, hmm, she's the example. I've watched her for 40 plus years, just constantly think about someone else, constantly serve someone else, stand in the background, stand in the shadow and make a way for someone else. That probably could be said for every mom that's in this room right now. You're the example of this right here. And so many of the dads that are in this room right now, you're the example of this. Time after time after time, you say, well, if it was up to me, just simply going, how do I feel? What do I need? What do I think? What do I want? What are my options? I would have done A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, but I got these two kids that I'm committed to and I'm going to do what's best for them right now. And it's not really what I want to do necessarily, but it's what I'm going to do because I don't want to lead them out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, I want to consider them more important than me. And moms have done that not a hundred times, not a thousand times, tens of thousands of times. And that's the picture that God is wanting to get across to us today. So if the world is saying, put yourself at the center, what is Jesus saying? Well, Jesus is saying, you've heard it said, but I say to you, and this is what Jesus says to us. This is the core text today, Matthew 16. And Jesus said to his pupils, to his disciples, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, their self, and take up their cross and follow me. So not only did Jesus say, hey, if you, if you want to come on the way that is the way

and the life and the truth, if you want to come on that way, then take care of yourself first. No, he said, if you want to come on that way, then deny yourself because self is going to want the easy way. Self is going to want the me way. Self is going to want the, it's all about my thoughts way, but you're going to have to deny that. And I'm going to show you how to do it. I'm going to show you what that looks like. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves. They must embrace this idea that it's not about me. It's the unexpected way. I know every other line is going, no, here's the way. Here's the way. Here's the way. Here's the way. It's the unexpected way. And the unexpected way is to embrace the idea that it's not about you. A friend of mine was talking about America 250 and in a beautiful tribute to our nation and a prophetic encouragement for our future said, real freedom is not the liberty to do what we like, but the power to become what we ought. And that's what God is offering to you and me today. The third idea that he's wanting to get across to us today and we'll close with this is that you and I have the opportunity today to embrace our role in a greater story, to embrace our role in a kingdom story, to understand that it isn't about me, but I'm a part of something great and I have a role to play. It's about the we of the kingdom and the we of the common good, the we of the kingdom of God and the we of the common good of all people. I've been reading the constitution the last week or so, the declaration of independence, the various articles and amendments and I couldn't get over the first few lines of the

constitution. Everyone knows the first phrase, we the people of the United States in search of a more perfect union. You would think in a nation like America, which is all about individualism and self-expression and man, what a great land that you can just do your thing, that our very birth moment was not I, but it was we. There is a power in the we that is greater than the me, and that is what kingdom living is really all about. It's not hating yourself, it's just understanding that you're in a big story and in a big drama that's unfolding. And it is the story of God, and we all have a role to play in it, but we're embracing our role in a greater story. So succeed, do great, win, achieve, awesome, but kingdom, man, everybody's got World Cup fever right now. This is maybe one of the greatest things we've seen in a while, that every nation now is trying to out-sing the other nation's national anthem. Am I right? Have you ever heard people sing the national anthem as loud as you have in the last few weeks in your lifetime? No. I mean, people are coming down the road, trying to spill their beer. You know, they're looking for their seat. But man, I'm telling you, people now are like, they're engaged. Like, oh no, you're not gonna take us down, get ready. And then unfortunately, ours doesn't start

like some of those really awesome ones where they go, no! Ours is like, oh say, and you're like, oh man, could we just get a boom in there? And so when the game here in Atlanta went down Wednesday, England and the DR Congo, what a clash that was. And then Harry Kane, formerly of Tottenham Hotspurs, any Hotspurs fans? Well, I heard it, I heard it. Cheers, mate, awesome. I don't know, I don't know where you were. Cheers, I'll drink to that. It's just hot water, that's all that's in there, trust me. You can come inspect it. Wow, Harry Kane, now playing in the German league, he comes through, saves the day. Anybody know what I'm talking about or anybody aware of this? Okay, great, he saves the day. Now he's running to the corner and what does he do? He grabs his jersey, what does he do? He kisses the three-line crest. What is he saying? He is one of the greatest living football players and he is saying, I did it, we did it. And you've seen it all through this tournament. Footnote, countries that are in shambles, many of them economies in the tank. Leaders, systems, inflation, places you do not want to start a business.

There's a we underneath the current. We may not be perfect, but it's not all me. Look around, it is we and this is the mindset of a follower of Jesus. Yeah, I'm the one who knocked in the goal. Kingdom of God, glory of God, name of God, fame of God, Jesus first. We, and that mindset is getting lost to the algorithm of me. Last week, we were talking about our private lives versus our public lives. Understanding that what happens in our private life is what ultimately fuels what happens in our public life. So this Jesus who would steal away with the father who couldn't be found for a moment by the disciples because he needed time alone, ultimately did the greatest thing that's ever been done. Right out in public at three o'clock in the afternoon. Definitely, and please don't email me, put a new spin on work-life balance. Didn't say I gotta be dead by three because I gotta be home by five. Jesus was saying, this is why I'm here. He put a new paradigm in play, and it's this. Love works. And right at the end, his private life, which you should fight for, fueled his public obedience. The sacrifice that freed the world. On June 6, 1944, 2,400 young men in our nation died on Omaha Beach. At the top of the bluff are 9,386 graves. There was a mindset of we, and a willingness to deny self. Jesus went on to say, for whoever wants to save their life, this is what the algorithm is going to tell us, whoever wants to save self will lose their life. But whoever loses their life for me will find it. For what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world,

yet forfeit their soul, their self? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. So the world is going to keep telling us, man, save it, save it, save it, protect it, save it, save it, save it, manage it, save it, manage it, save it, manage it. And God is saying, no, give it away. That's where you'll find it. Give it away. That's where you'll find it. Give it away. That's where you'll find it. I mentioned that I came from another era. I had a hero when I was high school and college age. His name was Ian North. It would be hard to even look up Ian North online and find a lot. Amazing missionary leader, led an organization based in Atlanta that trained pastors in countries all around the world, especially hard-to-reach countries, many of them where preaching the gospel would get you killed. And Ian was in the same church that I was in. His kids were similar age to me. And he was almost hardly ever at church, because he was always some other part of the world. But occasionally he'd come and he'd preach. And every now and then I would get a little bit of time with him. And I'll never forget having a conversation with him at a retreat that he had invited me to. And we were just talking for, I don't know, 30 minutes, maybe tops. And he was explaining to me. I said, tell me the secret to life. Tell me the secret to you and Dorothy. And he just looked at me. He's Australian, incredible accent. And he looked at me and said, well, you know, our marriage got off to a very challenging start when we got married and had kids. My ministry was really focused on the people of India. And it was imperative for me to be there and to raise up churches and leaders and to pastor them. And this is in the, you know, fifties and he's like traveling back and forth was challenging. And so in the first, I don't have all the specific details in my mind, but generally speaking, it's in the first two years of our marriage, we lived in different continents. Did you hear what I just said? Find that in a book somewhere. You're like, man, I must have just wrecked his family. Yeah. His kids are leading the organization that he founded in various parts of the world. They're my age. They're evangelists like their dad. And they understand what he understood that the mission is mighty and that freedom and the freest version of me, the fullest version of me, my best self does not come when the mission is me. It comes when I understand that I am.

a mighty mission and sometimes it cost But at the end of that cost is where life is Found I have been around I less than five people in my lifetime of All the people I've known like Ian North I Can tell you from my observation He has very little regret in heaven and a monster Reward That used to be normal Preaching that message was normal come to the altar surrender your life sell everything you've got Go to the nation's go to the ends of the earth Get on your knees go in your closet give sacrificially. That was the message Does it is anybody old enough to back me up on that? That was the message? I Would go down to the front. I would say God. I want to surrender my life. I would say Jesus here. I am send me And it's somehow over time the algorithm has slid into the story and it's put us in the center of the orbit and it's Convinced us that comfort is where life is found And it's rubbing us blind Of the opportunity to be the best version of us That there can be God is Recommending to you today and to me today. It's not about you. Oh You are prized and blessed

More than you know, don't get down on yourself today But life comes When you lay it all down And so, you know what God? It's not about how I feel it's about What do you say? It's not about what do I need? It's about what would you like? It's not about what do I think it's about what have you already said? It's not about what do I want? It's about how can I be of greater service to you? And it's not just about what are my options. It's I Already decided my option and my option was to totally surrender my life to you