The Importance of Character in an Age of Image ~ Luke 12:1-3May 24, 2015 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson

Intro: Graham Brown, author The Brand Experience Academy, in a presentation published on May 7, 2015, contends that McDonalds is in the midst of a big identity crisis and they are not sure what to do about it. He says there is a big gapa big disconnectbetween what McDonalds sees as its brand and what its customers see. He quotes apples CEO, What customers love the world overis how they can buy into aspirational quality products. And yet McDs is taking a big hit financially and closing hundreds of stores this year, according to Fortune Online.

Question: What is the gap between what people see and the real me? What if there are things that Im not seeing about me that could actually end up ruining me?

Bren Brown, We spend too much precious time and energy managing perception and creating carefully edited versions of ourselves to show to the world.

No matter where you are coming from spiritually, Im glad youre here because we are going to look at a few powerfuleven soberingwords of Jesus that everyone of us should listen to, because if we do, they can help us see what could end up undoing us. And that has to do with what is most true about us.

The Importance of Character in an Age of Image ~ Luke 12:1-3

12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

1. A Pressing Need.

Context: Jesus just came from a dinner party with religious leaders in which he spoke strong wordswords of woeto grab their attention to awaken them to the spiritual danger of their hypocrisy.

Timing: Notice Jesus timing: when the crowds had gathered. There was pressing ministry to be done, but there was even something more pressing that Jesus needed to tell his disciples.

2. The leaven of the Pharisees is simply hypocrisy.

Mt. 15:8-9, You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.

Hypocrisy is the gap between the public me and the private me.

3. Beware: the danger is real.

Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things.

Plantinga, First we deceive ourselves, and then we convince ourselves that we are deceiving ourselves.

We move from deceiving ourselves, to trying to deceive God and others.

Be careful, or you will be Pharisees too.

UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks About ChristianityAnd Why It Matters, Whether we like it or not, the term hypocritical has become fused to young peoples experience with Christians. Eighty-five percent of young outsiders have had sucient exposure to Christians and churches that they conclude present-day Christianity is hypocritical.

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Problem: Christians who portray in words or actions that we have it altogether. Stop. We are more broken, flawed, and sinful than we have the courage to admit.

2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

1. What was concealed gets revealedsometimes in this life.

The politician gets caught accepting bribes and making back room deals, the executive gets caught embezzling money, the priest gets caught abusing children, the spouse gets caught in adultery, etc.

May 19 CNBC, Federal Trade Commission filed suit against 4 charities run by the same family to raise money for cancer treatment. Of the $187B given, only 3% went to stated purpose, much of the rest they spent on themselves.

2. What was concealed gets revealeddefinitely at the last judgment.

Ecclesiastes 12:14, For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Obj: This is just one of those scare tactics that Christians use to control people. God is the big boogie man in the sky whos gonna getcha!

Ans: This is actually a reality check: even though we can fool some people some of the time, and maybe all people some of the time, we cannot fool God at any time. When God sets this world to right, it will happen when there is full disclosure before his throne of justice.

Bottom Line: Hypocrisy is the gap between what people see and the real me.

To the degree that there is a gap between what people see and the real me, to that degree we are filled with hypocrisy. That gap exists in each and every one of us.

Ask Yourself: What if things were different? What if there was no gap between what people see and the real me? What if it were possible to be filled with integrity instead of hypocrisy? How would things change?

Error: So, what most people do is say, Okay, Im going to get a self-help book, read some blogs on authenti-city, maybe pick up a biography of a great person, and Ill get to work on my self-improvement project.

Gospel: Jesus isnt interested in making people religious, but making people real.

We were designed to be people of integrity. Before the Fall, there was no hypocrisy. Then our primal parents turned their backs upon God, and sewed fig leaves to cover themselves.

Gen 3 Modus Operandi: I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

Jesus is the only man who ever lived who was not a hypocrite. And he had the hypocritical sins of the world placed upon him. B/c of this, Jesus can set me free from hypocrisy.

Real Change: Painful (because we have to face ourselves), but necessary.

Proverbs 28:13, Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them obtains mercy.

What if we dont do this? Os Guinness, When No One Sees, [we] are walking scandals waiting to happen.

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Application: Ask the Question: What do I not see about the real me?

Ask this of God, and ask it of someone who knows you well.

Can you have the courage to humble yourself to someone, What do I not see about the real me?

1. Help me to be free from hypocrisy. The real methe old selfis a hypocrite. S/he is fine to live with a gap between what people see and the real me.

2. Remind me to live out of my new identity. The real methe new meis who I am in Christ. Forgiven. Set free. Made a new creation called to be a new kind of humanfull of integrity. Be who you are!

Conclusion:

Imagine:

Imagine a New City filled with integrity.

Imagine a city in which people not needing to waste so much precious time and energy carefully crafting edited versions of themselves to present to others b/c there was nothing to edit.

Imagine a city in which there were no scandals do to improprieties. Imagine a city that wasnt so jaded. Imagine a city in which it was everyone pleasure to keep their word no matter how difficult, the convenience,

or the cost. Imagine a city where we could fully trust people because they arewell, trustworthy. Imagine a city in which everybodys public me was the real me.

Thats the kind of world Jesus wants to make. Thats a picture of the kingdom of God.

***And what if Christians were known as the most real people in the city?***

Imagine if just wethose of us at NCCif we were the ones who began to change the perception of Christians from being hypocrites to being people who are most full of integrity? What if we took Jesus seriously when he said to Beware of hypocrisy? What if we were known not for our hypocrisy, but for our transparency and integrity? What if we were the generation that made that kind of impact on Calgary?

NCC, may you be just such a people.

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