FEELING LIKE A FAILURE
Galatians 4:8-20
S: Failure and Discipleship
Th: Grace-Full Living
Pr: SPIRITUAL PARENTING CAN BE PAINFUL.
?: What? Over what?
KW: Issues
TS: We will find in Galatians 4:8-20, three issues that demonstrate the pain of spiritual parenting.
The _____ issue that demonstrates the pain of spiritual parenting is about (the)…
I. FOUNDATION (8-11)
II. FIDELITY (12-16)
III. FERVOR (17-20)
RMBC 7/23/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
1. When you compete, what do you dread?
I was thinking about baseball in connection with this question.
Through the years, I have enjoyed playing baseball as a kid and softball as an adult.
Although most of my memories about baseball are fond ones, there has always been one thing I have hated about baseball.
It is striking out.
ILL Personal
I remember the very first time I played for the team in Little Falls. I was a bit nervous, because after one practice with the team, they were talking me up as better than I felt than I was. At this game, they had me leading off. So the first pitch came. I did not swing, because it was wide by a mile. The umpire yelled, “Strike!” My team laughed. The pitcher smirked. The next pitch came. It was right over the plate, and way over my head. I did not swing. And the umpire yelled (you guessed it), “Strike!” This time the team grumped at the umpire. The pitcher, however, had the biggest grin on his face. This umpire had the biggest strike zone either one of us had ever seen! Well, you know what happened on the next pitch. I had to swing, because it was more likely a strike than a ball (in fact, none of us knew where the zone that was not a strike was). And as the pitch came, I swung, and missed—striking out. I hate striking out!
ILL
On May 13, 1983, in a game against the Minnesota Twins, Reggie Jackson, playing with the California Angels, became the first major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times. Asked what this kind of record meant to him, the slugging outfielder said, “It means I did nothing but miss the ball for four full seasons.”
Missing the ball.
It makes you feel like a failure.
Have you ever felt like a failure?
2. We all, at one time or another, deal with the problem of failure.
It is an empty feeling.
It brings feelings of despair, depression, disappointment and sadness.
We feel as if we are not good enough.
We have not met the standard.
TRANSITION:
If you have felt this way, you are going to discover you have some good company.
For…
1. The apostle Paul felt like a failure.
As we come to the middle of chapter 4, we find Paul asking some hard questions about his ministry to the churches in Galatia.
Had it all been for no purpose?
Had he wasted his efforts?
Why did he feel like an enemy?
He was confounded and perplexed by their actions.
And he felt like a failure.
He felt he had not succeeded.
He felt he had not succeeded because he took the task of disciple-making seriously.
2. Paul took the task of disciple-making seriously.
He knew what the Great Commission said.
Jesus had given him (and all of us) an assignment (the assignment) to make disciples.
So as he traveled, he encouraged believers to follow him as he followed Christ.
As a result, many came to know Christ.
As he went from town to town, people began a relationship with Jesus as a result of Paul’s ministry.
He became their spiritual parent.
But Paul is learning a valuable lesson as he writes this letter (a lesson, unfortunately, that he will learn over and over again).
He learns that…
3. SPIRITUAL PARENTING CAN BE PAINFUL.
He had become the spiritual parent to these churches.
They had come to faith in Christ by the good news he proclaimed among them.
They had grown in the faith according to the teaching he had given them.
But now they were rejecting him.
And it was painful.
So, to help us today…
4. We will find in Galatians 4:8-20, three issues that demonstrate the pain of spiritual parenting.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first issue that demonstrates the pain of spiritual parenting is about the FOUNDATION (8-11).
(8) Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. (9) But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? (10) You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! (11) I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
1. Before Christ, we were slaves.
The Galatians had served false gods.
Paul speaks of a bondage that we all are in before we know God.
In our immaturity, we are ignorant of the true God.
And we end up living lives that are characterized by sin and pride.
But when we came into relationship with Christ, we were delivered from the slavery that leads to this moral and spiritual decadence.
This means that the…
2. Knowledge of Christ gives us all the foundation we will ever need.
I like what Paul does here.
He rephrases the statement that we know Christ so that we will recognize that Christ knows us.
This is great news.
We know Christ because He knows us.
And it is all the foundation we will ever need.
Our relationship with God is based solely on this knowledge.
It is not based on what we do, but on the fact that God knows us and we know Him.
3. Therefore, we are not to return to bondage.
But this is what the Galatians were doing.
They were going back to a lifestyle that was a retreat rather than an advance.
They were backsliding into a life of bondage.
It was a lifestyle that we characterize today as legalism.
The Galatians had listened to the teachers we have been referring to as the Judaizers.
They had contradicted Paul’s teaching and said that if the Galatians were true Christians, then they would also follow the law.
As I have mentioned before (especially on Sunday evenings), legalism is very dangerous, and it is something that the church constantly faces.
We fall into legalism because it gives us something to measure.
We can see who belongs and who does not by what one does or does not do.
Its real poison, though, is wrapped in the sin of pride.
I establish myself as better or further along because of what I do and do not do.
And the rules add up.
I become better; they become worse.
Legalism is the path to bondage, a religious bondage if you will.
It gives up the power of the gospel for the weakness of the law.
ILL Notebook: Legalism (branding)
A New York City family bought a ranch out West where they intended to raise cattle. Friends visited and asked if the ranch had a name. “Well,” said the would-be cattleman, “I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one son like the Flying-W, and the other wanted the Lazy-Y. So we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.” “But where are all your cattle?” the friends asked. “None survived the branding,” came the answer.
That continued branding reminded me of the weakness of the law.
Because the more rules that are made, the deadlier it becomes.
Legalism leads to death, not life.
Do you begin to see why Paul is so emotional here?
Before, the Galatians had no choice.
Now they did.
But how could they choose the path that they did?
It gives Paul feelings of despair.
4. When we go into reverse in our spiritual life, it causes feelings of despair.
Paul has given them life-threatening sacrificial service.
He has laid the foundation that was necessary for their growth.
Yet, all the travel, illness, loneliness, struggles, stoning---it was all for naught if they reverted to their old slavery.
When we go into reverse in our spiritual life, it is a spiritual defection, and it tears the heart.
Paul exposes his heart to us here.
He is very transparent.
He wonders if he has wasted his time and so proves that spiritual parenting can be painful.
II. The second issue that demonstrates the pain of spiritual parenting is about FIDELITY (12-16).
(12) I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. (13) As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. (14) Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. (15) What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. (16) Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
1. We are to imitate our spiritual parents.
Paul’s testimony is that he became like them.
What he means by this is that he became a Galatian.
He was one of them.
What he did not do was ask them to become a Jew.
He did not require that they live like the Jews in Jerusalem.
Instead, he became one of them so that they would become one with him in Christian conviction and experience.
He knew well the life that the Judaizers were asking the Galatians to live.
He had traveled the road of legalism.
He knew firsthand its deadly character.
So, now he asks the Galatians to follow him.
This is what a spiritual parent does.
This is what a disciple-maker does.
They have the audacity to say, “Follow me as I follow Christ; imitate me as I imitate Christ.”
Paul does this very thing with the Galatians.
And then he reminds them of the experience that they share.
For…
2. We are to recognize how God brought truth into our lives.
Paul reflects back on the time he appeared on their “doorstep.”
He identifies that it was because of some sickness that had caused him to come their way.
He easily could have been sent away, but instead, he was welcomed favorably.
And his sickness was a trial.
It was tough to take care of him.
Yet they received him, not on the basis of personal appearance, intellectual attainment or winsome manner, but because God had brought him.
They treated him as if he was an angel or Christ Jesus Himself.
Now that’s the way to be treated!
And as he shared the good news with them, their joy was genuine.
God was truly working!
They all knew it.
Paul’s argument is a good reminder to us as well.
We need to remember where we have come from.
Whenever we are feeling discouraged or a failure, or a disciple we have has gone into reverse, we need to be reminded of how the truth of God has worked in our lives.
And there is also a lesson here for those of us who have been discipled…
3. We should commit to the wellbeing of those that have discipled us.
We should be faithful to them that have led us.
Paul remembers that they became so enthusiastic that they would have plucked their eyes out for him (which is a hint that Paul was having an eye problem of some kind).
Their love for him has been so great that they were compelled to make any sacrifice.
Yet how things change!
They were now rejecting his teaching.
They were, in effect, calling him a liar.
He was now regarded as an enemy, even though they had committed to him before.
He has stood for the truth.
He has told the truth.
But now they were being unfaithful and they were rejecting him.
It had to be a devastating feeling for Paul.
Again, he demonstrates the pain of spiritual parenting.
We must see in this a contrast Paul is making.
There is a joy in the good news.
But there is a heaviness and unhappiness in the bad news of legalism.
If you have ever been in a place where law dominated over grace, you know what I mean.
There is a constant pressure to conform and perform.
Those that do well are honored.
Those that don’t fit, soon find themselves on the outside.
This leads us to…
III. The third issue that demonstrates the pain of spiritual parenting is about FERVOR (17-20).
(17) Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them. (18) It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. (19) My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, (20) how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
1. We need to expose lies for what they are.
This is Paul’s goal at this point.
He states very clearly that they are being stolen away.
The word used for zealous here is a Greek word that was used of someone taking a serious interest in another, such as a man courting a woman.
The Galatians were being courted.
Then Paul states that they were being alienated from him.
The word here is a picture of someone being locked up or locked out.
And whether they realized it or not, these false suitors were trying to lock out the Galatians from the truth of grace alone.
They were being locked up by more law.
As a result, the legalists were locking up the Galatians, separating them from Christ, so that they would serve their teachers.
They were using the Galatians for their own ends.
ILL Waco
Some more of the findings of Waco have come out during this past week. You might remember in 1993, when the followers of David Koresh died in a compound that they were holed up in. And although there are some serious political implications about the matter, including the freedom of religion, there are some striking similarities to Koresh and the Judaizers. These people that lived in Waco were courted and locked out from the truth. He started with Christ, but then twisted it and added to it for his own ends. And look at the result—death. This is always the result of those that distort the gospel for their own ends.
Now Paul doesn’t want us to misinterpret him here.
It is fine to be zealous.
2. Being sold out for a cause is great, as long as it is based on the truth.
The Galatians’ zeal, however, for the real truth had subsided.
They had abandoned the good.
And I think that it is fair to say here that Paul was not out to preserve his own popularity or leadership.
Instead, He was watching out, as any good parent would, for his children’s wellbeing.
His goal for them (and for us) was Christlikeness.
3. The goal for our spiritual life is “Christ formed in you.”
This is a new way Paul speaks of Christlikeness—Christ formed in you.
We need Christ living in us.
We need Christ reigning in us.
We need Christ forming Himself in us.
For Paul, their present spiritual condition was abnormal and tragic, but he would not forsake them.
He would not forsake them until Christ was formed in them.
He was the parent here.
They were the little children.
And Paul has had to raise his voice to get their attention.
4. Sometimes, our tone has to change to get the needed attention.
ILL #348
A boy’s toy boat went out of reach on a pond one day and started floating away. A man on the side started throwing rocks at the boat and the boy became horrified at what might happen. But then he realized that the rocks were going over the boat and making ripples that finally pushed the boat back to shore and into the boy’s hands.
Many times, when we stray away, it appears that rocks are being thrown at us.
Instead, the rocks are being used to make ripples to bring us back home.
This is certainly what Paul is doing.
And he uses a striking picture.
He says that he is in the pains of childbirth all over again.
It is as if Paul is saying that they are making him feel like a mother who has to deliver the same baby twice.
That, to say the least, is a perplexing situation.
APPLICATION:
Spiritual parenting can be painful.
Note Paul’s emotions through all of this.
He feels as if he has wasted his efforts.
He feels as if he has become their enemy.
He feels the pains of childbirth all over again.
He feels perplexed about their reversal in belief and life.
Paul is a help to us here, because he is letting us know that feelings of failure are not to be ignored.
Rather, they are to be dealt with.
So...
1. What should you do with feelings of failure?
How are we to cope?
ILL Notebook: Failure—Lincoln
When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them. At age nine, his mother died. At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his educa-tion wasn’t good enough. At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store. At 26, his business part-ner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to re-pay. At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no. At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be reelected. At 41, his four-year-old son died. At 45, he ran for the Sen-ate and lost. At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate. At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost. At 51, he was elected president of the United States. His name was Abra-ham Lincoln, a man many consider the greatest leader the country ever had. Some people get all the breaks.
Perhaps you are dealing with failure today.
Perhaps it is something within.
Perhaps it is in your dealings with others.
Let me offer these last points of advice in the context of our lesson today…
2. Never stop being a disciple-maker!
We are all (note I said all) called to disciple-making.
This is not an option for us.
God is always going to put people in our path to influence.
So be deliberate about it.
Be an example of Christ in word and in deed.
Have the audacity to ask people to follow you as you follow Christ.
Second…
3. Don’t give up!
Paul was not giving up.
He was going to continue to work until he saw Christ formed in them.
That meant he was in for the long haul.
This is our task as well.
So don’t give up!
Third…
4. Keep teaching the truth!
Never cease speaking the truth.
This is Paul’s example in the rest of this letter.
He keeps proclaiming the truth.
He keeps arguing for the good news.
So you do the same.
Don’t give up communicating the message that changed you.
If it can change you, it can change others.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Celebrate your foundation…you were a slave, but no linger; you are now free to live in grace;
Celebrate the grace that changed you…you have had the experience of joy that comes in knowing Christ, and Christ knowing you;
Celebrate your Christlikeness…Christ is forming in you, living in you, reigning in you;
Now take what you celebrate now and share it with others, so they may know the joy as well.
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
