The Scale Doesn’t Lie | Through the Church

are looking at what God wants to do in your life, in our community, through the church. This has been a vision series, we're learning all about what God is doing through our radiant discipleship groups, and our missions trips that are happening around the world. We talked about next gen, and we're so excited about the vision of what God is doing here at radiant church. It all comes from Ephesians chapter 3, where God says it this way, he says, "His intent was that now through the church." This is where God accomplishes his missions on the earth today. Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. What was accomplished on the cross is now completed through the local church. God uses the local church as his vessel to impact the community. I know if people have given up on the church, God's not given up on the church. God believes in the church, and I believe your greatest spiritual growth is going to happen through the church. Radiant church exists, and I've been saying it to you every single week so that it sticks in your life, because we exist to move people on this spiritual journey towards Christ. It's the primary thing in your life, that you would grow in your relationship with Christ, and you will, as you are connected here at radiant. Your community, and that's why we are launching our discipleship groups that are live right now. They'll actually start in a week, but they are live right now, so this week you can sign up and get in community, and then into your calling. Last couple of weeks we've talked about the importance of going towards Christ and being in community. Today I want to talk to you about the calling that God has for your life. We're going to pick it up in the book of Ephesians, it's the book we've been studying for this series, and we're going to pick it up in chapter four. Number three, he talked about through the church, he's going to accomplish great things

on the earth today, and now he shifts to your calling. He says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the, what, the calling that you have received. Now he tells us how to live, be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and father of all who is over all and through all and in all." That's a word right there. Verse seven, "But to each of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned." Aren't you grateful for the grace that's been given to us from Jesus Christ himself? I want to just lean into verse one, it's the key verse for today's message, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." He starts all of this all with really challenging us in our calling to live this life worthy. The word worthy is a word that comes with this idea of a scale, this idea of weight. That's why I titled the message simply this, "The scale doesn't lie." The scale doesn't lie. How many wish it did once in a while? You get off that cruise and you get on the scale and you go, "Oh Lord, I didn't realize it." I'm more of a man than I was before. This summer I had such a good summer, such a good time with my family, such a good time with my wife, and any time we go away we're foodies. We just love to eat. A vacation is not a vacation without a lot of food. Some people die on a vacation. I said that's miserable right there. We just have a good time and I got back and trying to get into this from fitness and got some stuff coming up with this and so I got on the scale the other day, right before the

fast. Just trying to see where I'm at and I got on the scale like, "Oh Jesus, this isn't okay. It's not okay. I just realized, man, the scale will tell you even more than what you see in the mirror, the scale doesn't lie. It's like when you go to the airport and I have my bag and I have my wife's bag. Now, our bags are the same size, but how many no? This scale is a little different on the two. Somehow my wife can have 20 pounds more of material in that thing than I have in mind. And the scale reveals that, which by the way, a little trick in marriage. Your spouse ever comes up and says, "Does this outfit make me look fat?" Just ask, "What does the scale say?" All right? That'll help. Don't do that. Don't do that. That will not be a good day in your marriage. When Paul is talking about your calling, he uses this word, axios, be worthy of the calling. It's this idea of scale. It's this idea of understanding that there's got to be a balance to it. And he shows us this perspective, I want to give it to you this way, to show you that And so to have axios, to have balance on the scale, once you put on one side, you gotta put it on the other side. Now you know this when it comes to finances. So if you have expenses and you don't have income, the scale's off, that's called debt. But then when you get a more income or you reduce your expenses, what happens? You balance the scale, it's the same thing. A diet, diets are not that hard, by the way.

Diets are just simply your calories in my movement. So now let me move a little bit more. Balance is the scale, does that make sense? And when Paul is talking about your life and he talks about your calling, he uses the idea of a scale. So let me give it to you an illustration that I believe you'll never forget today 'cause I wanna help you with this. 'Cause he talks about this idea and he starts with understanding this idea of calling. So we're gonna start with calling and I want you to understand that this way, that God has a great calling on your life. God has something significant he wants to do with your life. There's a calling that he's put in you and through you that's significant. The Bible says in Jeremiah 1, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. "Before you were born, I set you apart." You're not called to be average. You're not called to just be part of the crowd. There's something substantial that God's put on the inside of you and what he's put on the inside of you is heavy. It's a heavy calling. Let me just say it this way. It's heavy to raise kids that honor God. It's heavy for you in your singleness to walk in purity when the rest of the world

is sleeping around. That's heavy. It's heavy for you to understand that. I'm teaching children, but I just teaching them. I'm raising up the next generation, that's heavy. It's heavy for you to honor God with your finances and put God first in your finances. It's heavy for you to do that. It's heavy for you to be in a marriage that even though you go through trials, you're sticking with it 'cause you made vows to the Lord. You have a heavy calling on your life. Your calling you can write down is the plan of God for your life and everybody wants to figure that out. So we want you to recognize first and foremost that that plan is heavy. It's significant. It's big for your life. First Peter tells us this way. You're a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession that you might declare on the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful life. You have been called out of the world. You have put God's foot something big on the inside of you. I say it this way. The God has created you on purpose and for a purpose. And that purpose has weight to it. The issue happens in our life when there's a weighty calling in your life,

but you're living without weighty character on the other side. So now we're gonna have a little fun in the church today. 'Cause Paul, as he addresses your calling, he backs it up with what your character should be. And I want you to see this visual. Can we get a tight shot on this just so we can see this? 'Cause this is how so many of you are living right now. You have deep, amazing calling, but you have very light character. You know there's something big that God wants to do in your life. He's called you to a godly marriage. He's called you to start that ministry. He's called you to lead that group. He's called you to be faithful. He's called you to the church. He's called you to this, but there's really nothing of weight on the other side. And that's what character is. Write down your notes this way. Character is actually the life that you live. So it's not about the calling you have. It's about who you are when nobody's looking. So you can walk around and go, God's appointed my life for something great. And that's awesome, but how many know? There's been tons of people that God had great calling on their life, but they didn't have the character to back it up.

And I'm worried that I say things from the stage like, God's got a big plan for your life. And the best is yet to come. And you walk out with, whoa, God's gonna use me. And you miss out on what Paul's saying. You might be called, but you gotta work on some character stuff. You gotta get some life that's worthy of the calling on your life. Because charisma, your giftings can take you to the top, And I've got a lot of people that I see with unbelievable giftings, but they don't have the character, the weight, so they're off balance in their life. And God's challenging you today to get the balance, get the character in there. Because listen, character is weighty. It takes some weight. It takes some weight to realize when they cut you off in traffic, you don't respond the way you used to. (audience laughing) The person that trades you, and you would've shot him a bunch of texts, but instead of doing that, you release it to the Lord. You're not just spending time with God when people see it. It's weighty when you spend time with God, and nobody notices it.

Now you got a little bit of character. Now you're giving not because you want something from God, you're giving because God's been just so good to you, and you're being faithful to the Lord, even if nobody sees it. And now you're living in such a way that even in the small details, when you weren't normally would have brushed those things under the rug, you're saying, no, I'm gonna be a person of character. And what happens is God's developed some stuff in you that now you can carry the calling on your life. Y'all with me today, church? 'Cause this is the first work the Lord wants to do in your life. He wants to develop depth in you, something big in you. He saved us, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1/9, and called us to a holy life. You need to hear more of this. And God's not called us to live like the rest of the world, act like the rest of the world, blend in like the rest of the world. A holy life is a separated life. It's a set apart life. It's a life that I'm following Jesus. I'm trying to be like him. This is why Paul addresses this in our book in Ephesians chapter four. And what does he say to us? He says, be completely humbled and gentle, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to give the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. Look at the connection. You've got a calling, but now you've got to start to live like it. My whole challenge in this message is to call you up, to say there's something big God wants to do in your life. But before God does something big through your life, he does something big in your life. He works on your character before he ever establishes your calling. And if you'll let God do something big on your character, you'll walk into the calling that God has for your life. So I want to help you with this, because the way you live on the inside should match the deep calling that is on your life. The way you live when nobody sees you should have such depth and such real integrity that it matches this unbelievable calling that God has in and through you. And I want to just call you up to it because there's more in your life that you can imagine. It's like my children, I've got five of them, and they're awesome, but once in a while, I don't know if your kids ever have these issues, but once in a while my kids have character issues. Once in a while. And I know your kids don't, I see it on Instagram, they're perfect, but my kids have some issues. And so once in a while I'll say, hey, clean your room. And then I'll come down in five minutes and say, oh, the room's clean.

And I'll say, well, that was impossible. That's a Mary Poppins miracle right there. Because I saw it before, there's no way it's good, but all of a sudden, no, no, it was good. So then I'll go up and check the room, and then I'll open the closet, and just the whole wall of stuff comes out of the closet. And I won't say who this is, but I'll tell you I'm working with him on his character a little bit, all right? So as we learn this in our life, it's not because they're flawed people, it's because we're all have to grow in this area. And I'll just call him, hey, Burks don't do this. Burks are better than this. Burks keep it clean. Burks do it all the way. Burks go above and beyond. Why? 'Cause there's more of your life. There's a great calling. Now you gotta get your character up to it. Y'all win me to that church? So let me give you three things on your calling. I think they'll help you, especially with this illustration, that'll help you walk out of here, moving towards your calling more and more. Number one, first of all, you have to understand, you don't find your calling.

You receive it from God. Everybody looks at calling, like we're on some scavenger hunt that God's put us on to confuse us. What college do you go to? And you're sitting there going back and forth, going, I've gotta figure out God's will. What job do I take? I gotta figure it out. Do I marry Sally or do I marry Brittany? I'm like, which one is less crazy and makes more money? Go for that one, all right? Just kidding, that's not God's will. You know, you're always trying to figure it out. Do I get a dog or do I get a cat? Come on, we know God's will in that one. We don't have to figure that one out. Here's why we're all trying to figure it out. 'Cause we believe a lie that if we miss it in one area, And we've put our choices over the sovereignty of God in our life. So I just want to help you release it a little bit. You don't have to figure out your calling. You don't have to wake up every day. Some of you, it's your greatest thing during prayer and fasting. You're just sitting there and going, "I've got to figure it out. What does God want me to do next? What does the I want me to do next?" And this is why Paul tells us, he says, "Let me just tell you about your calling as a prisoner of the Lord." He says, "I urge you, live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

It's a gift. It's released to you." It's like Christmas. You didn't ask for it. It just shows up, all right? And it's the same way for the calling of God for your life. I'm not trying to figure out the next five, ten years of my life. Why? Because I realize the calling God has for me, he'll really feel it in his perfect time in my life. That's his why in verse seven he says, "But each of us, a grace has been given. What is that word? Grace. It's help. It's empowerment. It's a gift that's been given as Christ's apportioned it. So God's got a plan for you and God reveals it in his perfect timing. He tells the disciples this in John 15, "You did not choose me. I chose you." And I did what? I pointed you that you might go in bare fruit and fruit that will last. By the way, when you do things in your own strength, it doesn't last. When you started in your own strength, when you started with your ambition, it doesn't last. But when you follow the Lord and you walk into his calling and you receive his calling for you, it's fruit that will last in your life. So what I have learned, great takeaway right here, it's that the one I am following is more important than the job I am working. You're trying to figure out your calling and I'm telling you it's less to do with your calling and it's more to do the one that's ahead of you that you're pursuing.

Because as you pursue him, watch how your calling will fall into place. For instance, when my family goes on a vacation or anywhere, I'm always up front. So in every group, there's always a fast walker. Can I just see where the fast walkers are and every location? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I see it. Some of y'all, their hands just went right up. You're fast walkers. So my wife, she's never walked next to me in my entire life. There's always 10 feet behind me with the kids, wrangling all together and guess what? They never know what gate to get to at the airport. They never know what time the flight takes off. They don't need to know why because all they need to look is look up, there's dad and we follow him because guess what? I know where I'm going. Sometimes. There are moments where Katie and I will be there and she'll go, Erin, do you have a clue? I'm like, yeah, I know where I'm going. She's like, we've been walking for a long time now. Check the map. Don't check the map. We know where we're going and then I secretly open my phone. Check the map. Let me just say it this way. The one you are following, he knows where he's going. So as you're trying to figure out your calling, don't figure out like what job is in, what place is in, just wake up every day, pursue Jesus, spend time with him, be faithful with what he's called you to do today and watch as you're faithful to God today, he'll walk you into your calling tomorrow.

That's what the book of First Thessalonians say, that the one who calls you, he's faithful and he will do it. I've got good news for you today. You might not know what the future holds. You might not know what your calling is. You might not know what's next. You don't need to figure it out. Just pursue Jesus with all you have in your life and as you pursue Jesus, he'll walk you into the calling and the plan that he has for you, great things he has in store for those who seek him. Can we give him some praise today, church, do you believe it with me? So if we can't figure out our calling, well, what do we have to figure out? Well, here's what we have to do, number two, because listen, calling is God's responsibility, but my character is my responsibility. So how I live really matters. What I'm doing with the life that God's given me really, really matters. And this is why you have to recognize that character is something that is significant. He challenges us in our passage, live a life where your character has some weight. And I want to lean into this for just a second, because the Bible tells us very clearly. Proverbs 10, 19, 10, 9 says, "Whoever walks in integrity," that's the word character right there, meaning they're the real deal. Walk securely, he walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Which shows us, listen, your character really matters. you lack character, you might be able to live on eventually it'll find you out. I sleep really good at night, really good at night. You know why? Because I'm not waking up this morning going, "I hope a scandal about me didn't come out." Why? Because I just walk securely. Because I know I've got integrity in my life. I know I've got character in my life. It reminds me of the iceberg. The iceberg is an important illustration for you to get. Lots of illustrations today. And look at this, an iceberg, 20% of an iceberg is above the surface and 80% of it is below the surface. Here's how you're supposed to live your life.

What's above the surface matters. How you come across the people, your reputation, all those things. That really matters. But many of us are way too focused on what's above the surface and not what's below the surface. What's below the surface is your character. How do you treat people that you can get nothing from? What do you do when people hurt you and betray you? How do you respond? How do you deal with it? What are you looking at when nobody sees you when you're by yourself? That's your character. That's below the surface. Here's what we've got in our world today is we've got a bunch of people with flipped icebergs. This is the social media influencer world of today, which is everything you see above the surface is all the good stuff about me. I'm fine. I have a good family. I have great character. Look, I'm at 6 a.m. Prayer. How awesome. But below the surface, there's nothing of substance. And my challenge for you as your pastor is we're about to go into a deep season of learning to develop the character of God on the inside of you. Because I want you to be known, flip it again. I want you to be known as this, that you've got some great stuff to show. You've got some great impact in the world around you. But the people of radiant church, they're people with deep character. They're people with depth inside of them. They're people that have something of substance on these. They have weight on their character that matches the calling of God for their life. Here's what I've realized in my life. Let me give you a trick. This will help you. When you can't figure out your calling, build your character and your calling will find you. So there are times where I can't figure out what is my next step? What does God want me to do in this relationship? What is the future hold? And I can't figure that out. So when I can't deal with those things, I deal with the things that I can deal with, which is how am I responding? How am I waiting? How am I dealing with the deep inner issues in my life? Am I healthy? Am I whole? And if I'll deal with the deep things that nobody sees, God will reward me with the great things that everybody sees. And that's the importance of being a person that has weight on your character. Y'all with me today, church. And I know many of you, you know that world where you go here and I get there's a big calling in my life, but I keep blowing it in my character. And I want you to know that God's mercies are new every morning. No wonder he brought you to church today to hear a whole message on the character it takes to sustain the calling, because your character might have been blown, but God's giving you a fresh start, and it's part of your story, and God's going to restore some stuff that's going to be beautiful,

and God's going to bring you into the calling that he has for you. I'll be grateful for the grace of God that he's bestowed on us, even when we mess up. Number three, and we'll close with this one, and this is a challenge for us as a church as we close out this series. True success in calling is not about me, it's about us. It's about us. You see, we live in an individualized culture that is so egocentric. What's in it for me? What do I get out of it? How do I get to my calling? And we think this is about me, but what I've realized in the kingdom of God is your calling's less about me and more about we. When we look at the New Testament and the church, everything that God wants to accomplish is through the church, through the body of believers, that we love one another and care for one another and build each other up. We're part of the body of Christ. That's why Paul says in Ephesians chapter four, when he's talking about your calling, he says, so make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. Why would he immediately go to relationships? Why? Because Paul knew your calling's not about me, it's about we. It's about the church that he's planted you in, the body he's put you in. For there's one body and one spirit. We're part of this body of Christ. Let me show it to you in 1 Corinthians. Paul says it again this way, just as a body, the one has many parts, but all of its parts form one body, so it is with Christ. What is he telling us? The church is uniquely unique body parts being made up together, but one body. For we were all baptized by one spirit as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. We were all given this one spirit to drink, even so, the body is not made up of one part, but a many. It's a unique room of different parts of one body. So some are the hands, some of the feet, some of the mouths that talk a lot. Even have some rear ends around here, come on. But we're all necessary for the body of Christ to be who God's called us to be. That's why the writer of Hebrews challenges us and we'll close this series out challenging us with this. Hey, let us not, let us consider how we may spur one another on. Let's make sure we're in this thing together

towards loving good deeds. We're better together. We're better in the church together. We're better to do this thing together. Not giving up, meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing. Haven't you met some people? They go, yeah, I go to writing in church. Well, when do you go every three to four weeks or every month or two, you're at the body, but you're not connected with it. And my challenge for you as your pastor is, is listen, I'm gonna spur you on to being committed to the local church that God has called you at. And if it's not radiant, that's fine. Then get connected with one. But every believer is called to be connected in the body with a local church, and that's where you'll best thrive. And this is what God wants us to do. There's a phrase that I've lived by for years by quote by Jim Elliot. He says it this way, wherever you are, be all there. And if radiant church is your home, here's my challenge for you. Be all here. Be all here in what God wants you to do. I'm grateful for the great preachers we get to watch online. I'm grateful for the great churches in the Tampa Bay area. But if God has called you here,

then be all here. And my commitment to you is that as you are all here, you'll walk into the calling that God has for you. And we will be very intentional to build the character that it takes to sustain that calling. On September the 13th, we're gonna launch this series that will transform your life. And it'll be all about building the character of God on the inside of you so that it can handle the heavy weight of the calling that God has for you. So here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Never done this before, but I'm gonna do it right now because I think there's a lot of people on the fence. So I'm giving you this challenge in the last three minutes I have with you. And I'm calling it the all in challenge. And I want everybody involved in this. From now until the end of the year, December 31st, I am asking you to go all in on what God wants to do in your life through the church of radiant church. All in, so what does all in look like? It's four commitments. We put them on a magnet so that you could put them on your fridge so you don't forget them. Your first commitment is that you will faithfully attend. So unless there's some crisis out there today, you will church every single Sunday. And I wanna make it a point. This isn't for attendance sake,

it's for character building sake in your life. That there's a word for your life every single Sunday and you're gonna faithfully attend. Your second one is you're gonna intentionally connect. You might have been on the outside, you're going in. And this means for many of you, you need to come to Open House today. Open houses, we do this every couple of weeks now where we have these opportunities for you to come and connect. You go, I went to it a year or so ago, no, no, no. Get back in 'cause you're still not on a team. You don't know how to be in a group. You haven't met any friends. You're gonna intentionally connect. From now until December 31st, you go all in and watch how God will develop the character on the inside of you. Number three is you're gonna consistently give. Why does this matter? 'Cause the Bible is very clear where your treasure is, your heart is also. So if you're gonna be all in, here, radiant, but your treasure, they're also. So put your finances on or God first. Watch how when you take these next few months and you go all in, watch not because you want something to return, but because it'll break greed off of your life, it'll get you invested in what God's doing here. And it's part of the process of you walking in your calling through the right character.

Number four is you're gonna prayerfully invite. You're gonna put somebody on your calendar, on your church. I mean, you're gonna put somebody on your prayer list that you're gonna be prayerfully inviting to say, "I'm gonna have them come." 'Cause there's nothing like over the next four months when you bring them to the Through the Spirit series or one of these Sundays and God changes their life because you have gone all in with your church and you watch how through the church, God wants to do something significant in and through you. Just keep these up for just a second. The Bible says in Psalm 92, it says, "Those who are planted in the house of God will flourish." I love the next verse in this and it says, "And those that their old age will still bear fruit." I'm getting there, I'm getting there because you know what that is? I wanna be planted in the house of God. and my best days are still the days ahead of me 'cause I'm still bearing fruit in my old age, not because of who I am, but because the body I'm connected with. God has more in store for your life. Be all in, all in, all in. Watch how God will use your life. Walk into the calling with deep character to sustain you. Let me close with this, we're almost done. (gentle music)

I want you to hear this with all love. Your story is not over. You might have blown it with your character, or you might be in a season where you don't know your calling, but I'm so encouraged by Paul's words in our passage, where he's writing from not a glamorous situation, put a really difficult one. He starts the passage off by as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wanna urge you with something. What was Paul showing us? I'm not in a great spot, but I wanna encourage you with what matters the most. You gotta think of Paul's mind. He could have been preaching somewhere else. He could have been building another church, but somewhere else for the sovereignty of God, God found it necessary for him to be in a prison. And you know what Paul does in the prison? If you're gonna put me here, God, I'm gonna write a third of the New Testament. I'm gonna help some other people out, because here's what Paul knew that I want you to understand. Don't let what you see about your circumstance dictate what God has said about your calling. There's some of you that you know that God's got something big on the inside of you. And maybe you've blown it with your character. Maybe you've struggled with the timeline. Maybe you've given up hope that it'll happen.

Get your head up today. God's still moving on your head to half. You follow him. You let him deal with your character, and he'll walk you into the great calling that he has for your life. Can we give him some praise today, church? Amen? Let's pray, Holy Spirit, help us. Help us to develop the calling the character it takes to walk into the calling that you have for us. Just take a second right there in your seat and commit to the Lord. God, I'm going all in. Going all in. You've been on the sidelines and you've been frustrated 'cause you're not getting to the calling. And here's your chance. This is your chance to go God, I'm all in. Lord, help the church even right now. Take 15 seconds and just commit to the Lord. Lord, I'll faithfully attend. Intentionally get and connect. Consistently give God putting you first in my life. I'm gonna prayerfully invite and watch as we go all in God and we pursue you. We don't have to figure out the future 'cause we trust it as we're following you. Just take a second right there in your seat. I know many of you, you're in that valley of decision

and just tell 'em, recommit to 'em, say, God, I trust you. I'll follow you, I've committed to you.