Make a Difference | Living a Genuine Faith

0:00Feeling a bit disconnected and you're walk with Christ? Well, Pastor Greg Laurie has a great new book called What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know. That'll help. Let's say you're feeling lethargic and tired. You know, if you have a diet of social media and you don't take time for the word of God, this is going to have a damaging effect. So this is just one of the things we talk about in this new book called What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know. Available at harvest.org. There's nothing worse than a hypocritical Christian. We want to be the salt of the earth. How can we bring about change in our culture if the change is inevitable in our own lives? Pastor Greg Laurie says we need to go the way as we show the way. The world is looking for authenticity. They're looking for you to be real. We must be before we can effectively speak. We need to practice what we preach and we are to be salt.

1:00This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a moment again. Always in grace, that's the way to go. But can you get a moment that you'll be seen? This is the day when life begins. We all have a bit of an actor in sight. Not the Broadway type or a movie star. But the kind who can muster up some enthusiasm when we need to. We might force a courtesy chuckle when someone tells a corny joke. But when it comes to our Christian witness, it's got to be the real deal. It's not about putting on a show, but about living a life of genuine faith. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how to purify our character and let our light shine to those around us. This is the day, the day when life begins. Did you know that the biggest celebrities in America today

2:04are not movie stars, they're not rock stars, they're not TV stars, they're media stars, specifically social media stars. They're called influencers. Now, some social media people have a lot of followers, over 900 million. I looked it up to see who had the most followers. The number one person out there is Cristiano Ronaldo with 901 million followers. I didn't even know who he was. He's what they would call a footballer. We might call him a soccer player. And then there's Selena Gomez. She has a 230 million followers. I've heard of her. Kyle Jenner, 399 million followers. Dwayne Johnson, the rock. He has 395 million followers. Ariana Grande has 380 million followers. Funny thing, I got an Ariana Grande at Starbucks this morning and it was very good.

3:04And then Kim Kardashian has 364 million. Oh, is that all? You know, but that's a lot of followers. And because of this, a lot of young people are there thinking, now, why would I want to go work over there when I could be an influencer and monetize my platform and make a living doing this? One study found that fortune and fame were the first and second goals of millennials. So what are your goals in life? Number one, fortune and fame. Number two, fortune and fame. Okay? One of four millennials would quit their jobs to become famous. One in six preferred fame to having children one in 12 admitted they would disown their family to be famous. We're taking it a little too far here. But why do we have this desire to be famous? Why would we want a lot of followers? I think it's because deep down inside, we want our lives to matter. We want significance. We want to be noticed.

4:04I don't think those are bad things, by the way. But let's just say for the sake of a point, you had 900 million followers on your Instagram page. What would you say to them? Well, I would post a photo of myself. Okay, what else? And my new outfit. Yeah, what a... I have some cool cat videos. Okay, is it really? Listen to this. You are an influencer. You have a platform and you have a following. Now, it could be on social media. But in your world, you have a sphere of influence where you influence other people. So it really comes down to this. Are you a good or are you a bad influence? Here's what Jesus said 2,000 years ago that is very relevant to this topic of influencing others. Matthew 5, starting in verse 13, he says, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

5:08You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people put a lamp under a bowl and said they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine to others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. We'll stop there. Salt and light. Why did Jesus use these two word pictures? Answer. Because the world is a dark and corrupt place and it needs salt and it needs light. You know, despite all of our advances in every field, from science and medicine and education and technology, we just go from bad to worse. Modern managers found more ways to corrupt and destroy himself. We go from war to greater war, from crime to greater crime, from immorality to greater immorality, from perversion to greater perversion. We're just playing out the truth of the scripture

6:10that says the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things who can know it. If you believe that man is basically good, you're going to be very disappointed in life. But once you accept the biblical premise that man is not basically good, man, and when I speak of man, I'm speaking of all humanity, we are sinners separated from God. And we have made things worse. Okay, so you say, you're right, Greg, the whole world's going to hell in a hand basket. So let's isolate ourselves. Let's start a Christian city. And we'll live in Christian houses and eating Christian restaurants and drive Christian cars and have Christian dogs and Christian cats. Maybe not Christian cats, but actually, I would not agree with that idea. Because the fact of the matter is our job is not to remove ourselves completely from culture, but to influence it, bringing me to point number two, something that they can evade the culture through isolation.

7:12You know, you try to remove yourselves and your children from our culture, but your culture will find you. And so I think we need to do everything we can to prepare ourselves and our children to live in the real world as followers of Jesus Christ. Sometimes Christian parents die on the wrong heels. And by that I mean, they major on minors and miss the big picture. I heard our son Jonathan say recently when he was speaking that he had a lot of friends that went to Christian school, and many of them have fallen away from the Lord. And he said, but I also know that many of them were really restricted. Their parents wouldn't let them listen to secular music, wouldn't let them watch movies. They couldn't watch cartoons unless it was veggie tales. And so it's very restrictive. And he says, oh, my dad would drive me to school and would listen to the Beatles and the Doors, and he would watch the Simpsons with me. And I'm thinking, wait a second, is this good?

8:14Was I actually a horrible parent? Now I'm not advocating you watch the Simpsons. There are things on it that I wouldn't agree with, but here's my point. I like the Beatles, and I didn't like a lot of the music that we were supposed to be listening to, but I wanted to prepare him for the real world, and I would take these opportunities as teaching moments. So if we're watching a cartoon or a movie or whatever it is, and there's something there that's contrary to what we believe is Christians, I'll talk about that to him. You know, Moses said the way to teach our children is when you get up in the morning, when you walk in the way, and when you go to sleep at night. So more than just a set time of having devotions with your kids, you use what happens in life as examples to teach them how to live and walk and think and behave as a follower of Jesus Christ. And so our idea is to infiltrate culture. I read an interview with a very well-known pop star.

9:16She said she was raised in the legalistic Christian home. Her parents banned all secular music, and they couldn't even use phrases like devil eggs and dirt devil. That's a vacuum cleaner, by the way. And she was restricted, she couldn't listen to any music. And so she rebelled, and she said, I had no child good. So that's not preparing your kids for the real world. I like what Jonathan said. He said, teacher, kids, the heart of God, not legalism, right? And so we want to be the salt of the earth. Our goal is Christians is not to isolate, but to infiltrate an impact culture without being compromised by it. Let me say that again. Our goal is Christians is not to isolate, but to infiltrate an impact culture without being compromised by it. It's a tricky balance. Jesus put it this way in John 17, and his prayer to the father, he said, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world,

10:18but to keep them safe from the evil one, and I am sending them into the world. Wow. Jesus is saying, I'm sending you into the world. So we're effectively living behind enemy lines. As an old hymn says, this world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. It's important to remember that. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. E-mails, phone calls, and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us, and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies. Pastor Greg, I've given my whole self to Christ and continue to allow myself to be available to do what he asks. I stay in prayer and Bible study continually, and take up my cross and follow him, wherever that may be, speaking the truth and love, and giving wherever I can. I'm thrilled that I can be a harvest partner and a part of the discipleship community. Thank you. We appreciate those kind words,

11:20and we're only able to make these studies possible, because of partners like this listener. Would you consider partnering with us? If so, you can make a donation online at harvest.org or visit our website at www.harvest.org. Or write to us at a new beginning, box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Well, Pastor Greg continues his message now from the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, a study called Make a Difference. So here's point number three, as Christians we need to invade, not e-bade the culture. Invade, not e-bade. So we try to engage people, and they don't seem to be listening to us. And you might wonder why. You might say, hey, you know, I try to talk to people about Jesus, and they just terminate the conversation. Okay, what did you say to them? Well, I saw this non-believer, and I said, hey, uncircumcised Philistines. Okay. There's part of the problem.

12:21That's a good way to burn a bridge. Have you been washed in the blood, sanctified, justified, redeemed? And have you become a part of the body of Christ, and they turned around and walked away? They don't even know what you're talking about. You just told them to be washed in blood and get in some body. What? We cannot assume that our listeners today understand what we're talking about. America in particular has never been more biblically illiterate than it is right now. I've been preaching 50 years, and people were more illiterate, biblically, when I started, then they are today. And so I don't think we can assume that our listeners understand even our terminology. We need to break things down, explain them, and try to find common ground with them, and build a bridge to them. Paul wrote him first Corinthians 9.22, I try to find common ground with everyone, so I can bring them to Christ.

13:23I do all of this to spread the good news. Another translation of that same statement of Paul goes as follows, I am voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people, religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose living immoralists that defeated, that demoralized, whoever. That's a good translation. Jesus modeled this. He spoke to the woman at the well. She could be described as the loose living immoralist, and then he spoke with Nicodemus, a religious man, who we could call a meticulous moralist. Paul and Maris Hills spoke to a secular audience there in Athens, Greece. While Peter and the Deapenocost spoke to a largely religious audience, but they were adapting to their situation. So here at Harvest, our objective is to reach as many people as we can. Point number four, we need to bring them the message of the gospel.

14:25Now, when you bring the gospel message, know this. It's powerful. That's why Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God under salvation to everyone who believes. And the word that he used for power is a word that means explosive, okay? Not everyone's going to respond favorably to this message. In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul says, wherever we go, the Lord uses us to tell others about him. And it's like good news, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are like a fragrance. But the fragrance is perceived differently from those who are being saved to those who are perishing. So to some, it's a fragrance to another. Others not so much. You know, some people wear too much cologne or perfume. Am I right? How do you know who they are? They're usually sitting by themselves because they come to church. All the seats around them are empty. If they give you a hug, you smell like whatever scent they were wearing two hours later.

15:28You smell like Chanel number five. And sadly, it was a guy. Okay, so. But it's like garlic. You know, garlic is great when you're cooking. But it's not so great on your breath afterwards, is it? So when we live as Christians, for some, it's a sweet fragrance. They love it. For others, they actually find what we say and do offensive. And so that's what Paul is saying, bringing me to point number five. Before I can effectively tell them, I must first live it. There's nothing worse than a hypocritical Christian. The world is looking for authenticity. They're looking for you to be real. We must be before we can effectively speak. We need to practice what we preach and we are to be salt. Let's go back to that statement of Jesus again, verse 13. You're the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

16:29Now, it's hard for us to understand what this means. But back in that day, salt was a valuable commodity. So valuable, in fact, that a Roman soldier would be paid in salt. Hence the expression, he's not worth a salt. So they valued salt in a great way and salt has impact. And today, we season our food with it. If you have a sore throat, you might gargle with some warm salt water. It has an antiseptic quality to it. But what does salt do? Well, in that culture, it preserved. Okay, so they didn't have refrigeration like we do today. They would rub salt into the meat to preserve it. And in the same way, we as Christians preserve. In other words, we stop the spread of evil by our mere presence. Why? Because we speak out against what is wrong. We speak up for what is true.

17:30We might say that we're sort of a preserving influence in the world today. You just wait until the rapture of the church happens and look at how the world will go. Well, I hope you're not around to see it. Because that would mean you missed the rapture. Now, some of you have never heard this word before, but the Bible speaks him an event that is coming. When the Lord will descend from heaven with this shout, with the voice of the archangel and the Trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we would draw a livenry meaning she'll be caught up. It's the Greek word, harpazo, that's translated to the word rapture. So we're caught up in a moment in the twinkly of an eye. Jesus said, too, will be in the field. One will be taken in the other left. Two are grinding at a mill. One is taken in the other left. Two are laying in a bed. One is taken in the other left. So here's how it goes. Here we are in the world, being salt, stopping the spread of evil,

18:30keeping the lid on things in a way. And suddenly the Lord calls millions of people who put their faith in Christ to heaven. That is going to allow the spread of evil to happen quickly. And the anichrist emerges on the scene and the great tribulation period begins, and you see how they could all break out quickly with the removal of the church. Well salt not only stops evil from spreading, but it stimulates thirst, doesn't it? When something is salty, you want water. You go to the movie and you order popcorn. And by the way, why are there no longer milk duds in movie theaters? Have you noticed this? Every theater I've been to, no milk duds. What's with the milk duds being gone? I've had to smuggle in my own. You ever smuggle stuff into the theater? Big bottle of water in your back pocket. Milk duds, three-course meal, and a little wagon. You know, every... It's because they charge so much for everything. Right?

19:30You order a bag of popcorn. They have the tiny little micro bag, and then the next bag is huge, and then there's one that's the size of a trash can. But you get free refills. I don't want free refills. But then you're eating your popcorn. That's maybe a little too salty. And you go back and ask, can I get some water? We can't put it in cups we're not allowed, but there's that drinking fountain over there. Come on, give me a break. But we'll sell you water. A 30 gallons for $100. But when you're a salty Christian in the best use of that word, you will stimulate in others a thirst for God. One of the greatest compliments people can pay to a Christian is when they ask, why are you the way that you are? But here's a problem. It's when we're not salty enough. Jesus says in Matthew 5.13, if the salt loses its saltiness, what good is it? It's not good for anything. Not good for anything.

20:30Those are pretty heavy duty words. You know, people go and they order coffee. I would like a lavender latte, a decaf, soy milk, with extra syrup. Why don't you just go to 31 flavors, okay? You're not even ordering coffee anymore. What is that? You know, you have decaf. And there's decaf disciples, uncarbonated Christians, unsalty believers. And then you have no impact at all. Pastor Greg Laurie, with the important insight on what it takes for us to make a real impact on the culture around us. Today's message title here on a new beginning, make a difference. Pastor Greg will have an additional comment from the study before we close today. Pastor Greg, let's look at the first of the three books of the Church. Pastor Greg, let's look at the first

21:30of the Church. Pastor Greg, let's pause for a moment and speak to someone listening who may feel like they're on the outside looking in. Okay. They like to listen and be inspired, but they've never taken that step of coming to the Lord and having their sins forgiven. What would you say to that person? I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you send Jesus to die in the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead and I want him to come into my life. So here's my question to you. Have you done that yet? Because Jesus who did die in that cross and rose again from the dead three days later is alive and standing at the door of your life right now

22:30and he's knocking and he's saying, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die, you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You can pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer to God. Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turned from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer, the Bible says that we will confess our sin

23:32he's faithful and just to forgive us, our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, God bless you. You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's right. And as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Greg's new Believer's Bible. It's an easy to understand translation plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps, especially for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer the questions you may have. So, get in touch for the new Believer's Bible. We'll send it to you free of any charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write a new beginning box 4,000 Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click No God. Well, Pastor Greg, America celebrated

24:32its 250th anniversary this year, as everybody knows. These milestones are really a great time to look back and see all God has done. You know, what he's done and keeping us free and keeping us safe. You know, as the song says, God has shed his grace on us. And we're so thankful that we get to speak of God's grace, openly on the airwaves in this country. And we do. We do. It's part of our mission here at Harvest, to speak of God's grace, his mercy, and his forgiveness. Isn't that right? It's very true. And I don't think we as Americans should ever take our freedom to do what we do for granted. You know, our founding fathers fought a war, the Revolutionary War, so that freedom could be experienced by a nation. Then we fought another war, the Civil War, so everyone would have access to these freedoms and these dreams. And so I think it's very important for us to take

25:32full advantage of it. And I'm just thankful that I can go on radio and I can teach the Word of God. I can proclaim the gospel without fear of reprisal. And tell as many people as possible about Jesus Christ. And just a little side note, you know, when we get to an election, always vote for those candidates that are going to encourage that free speech that we have and those important values that we all hold, like the value and importance of the family, the value of life, the unborn, and so forth. But I just want to say to all the folks out there, thank you for standing with us. Thank you for praying for us. And thank you for investing in our ministry. Because when you do that, you don't just give to us, you will affect, give through us to reach other people. So we encourage you to continue in your generosity and investment in this ministry so we can continue

26:32to enjoy this great freedom we have as Americans to teach God's Word and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's right. And we hope people might even consider joining us as a harvest partner. What exactly is a harvest partner? Yes, harvest partner is somebody that stands with us on a regular basis, even a monthly basis. Some give more, some give less. But a harvest partner says, I'll keep giving on a consistent basis. And the reason that's important is when we know we have those consistent supporters, our harvest partners, it enables us to make decisions about new places to go to new places to err our broadcasts and so they play a crucial role. So I encourage you to become a harvest partner. So let's tell them how to do that. Yeah, it's very easy. Just grab your phone and call 1-800-821-3300.

27:34We can take care of all the details quickly. Well, we have you on the phone. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write a new beginning box 4,000, Riverside, California 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org. Well, next time more on the importance of being salt and light for the kingdom. But before we go, Pastor Greg closes today's study this way. Here's the go we were traveling to Europe. We were speaking at some pastor's conferences. And I bought something called a backpack stroller. Because Jonathan was a little guy. And I had to put him in a stroller. And then I had a backpack to carry him around. And I didn't want to take all of that hardware overseas. So I said, well, this is a great idea. It's one device that does both a backpack stroller. And I didn't test it out until I got there. And I opened this thing up. And it was a worst design object of all time. Because you had to hold it up the whole time.

28:36There were no back wheels. So you're in the little stroller. But there's no back wheels. So you can't lay it down. So you just held a hold. And I thought, this isn't practical. And then when I put it on in the backpack form, the wheels dug into my back. So I discarded it. It was worthless. And we still, to this day, use that expression. We'll look at something that doesn't seem to be working. And we'll say, it's a backpack stroller. Right? A backpack stroller. An unsalty Christian. And so we want to be the salt of the earth.