When I was growing up, I felt like I just didn’t fit in – I didn’t belong.
My dad was a part-time pastor of a very small rural church on a mountain 45 minutes north of Chattanooga. His other job was at a rat-infested factory in downtown Chattanooga. My mom had to work as a clerk at Kroger’s grocery store to help pay the bills. Both mom and dad had Appalachian roots. So, we were a middle class family from the sticks of Tennessee.
The problem for me was that I went to high school with kids who had more money and more sophistication. And I never felt like I quite measured up. So, I overcompensated. I worked harder as a student, as an athlete, and as a leader to prove that I belonged.
From the outside, most people I went to high school with would never have guessed that I didn’t feel like I was good enough. I was captain of the basketball and baseball teams, a member of the National Honor Society, and president of the senior class. But I just knew I didn’t really belong.
Going to college didn’t help. I went to Vanderbilt University. Vandy is to the SEC kind of like Northwestern is to the Big Ten – bad at sports and great in academics. Lots of rich people in the south send their kids there. I clearly didn’t belong.
Trying to prove I belonged carried over into my ministry. I really wanted to win in ministry. It wasn’t until about ten years ago that I went to a class sponsored by Moody Bible Institute and the North Coast Family Foundation that I began to see that my drive to succeed had a whole lot to do with my feelings of inferiority. It wasn’t about God and His glory as much as I thought.
I finally saw that my need to succeed was hurting the people around me – my wife and children were being neglected and my drive for success was hurting some of my close friends. It had to face the fact that my ministry was more about me than I wanted to admit.
Am I alone in this? Have you ever slowed down the pace of your life to think deeply about what you are doing and why you are doing it? Can you admit: “Maybe it’s really been too much about me?”
We thirst for recognition. We love power and position. We want the big sale. We live for the next project. We thirst for the applause that winning brings us.
Ted Williams once was asked how he wished to be remembered and he said that he wanted to be known as the greatest hitter who ever lived. Immediately after he died, I promise you this was not on his mind at all.
It’s Not About Me
Text: I Peter 2:9, p. 180
Now the verse we are going to read today is a verse that was written by a guy who didn’t fit in.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
I Peter 2:9 (ESV)
Sometimes around here we talk about what it’s going to take for us to have a biblical worldview. A worldview has answers for questions like: Who am I?, How did I get here?, Why am I here?, and Where am I headed?
It’s not very often that you can find crystal clear answers to these kinds of questions in such a small space as we do in this verse for today. We’ll focus on two questions: Who am I? and Why am I here?
Who am I?
How do you view yourself? It’s an important question. And if you don’t answer this questions biblically, you will an unhappy person. You’ll drink too much or eat too much or eat too little or work too much or shop too much or please people too much because you aren’t happy with who you are.
I see in this one verse five descriptions of who we are that can make a huge difference in our lives if we can just get it. And this will really impact how we go about expressing our faith to others.
1. Jesus picked me out.
But you are a chosen race…
He picked me. Why? No reason. He just did. Theologians call this unconditional election.
God chose you. Not because of your race or religion or creed or upbringing or skill or morality or color or education or for any other qualification. God just chose you. I don’t know why.
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted…
Ephesians 1:4-5a (NIV)
There was nothing that made me more valuable than others. I didn’t earn it or deserve it or meet any conditions to get it. God’s choice of me happened before I was born. So, I stand in awe of that fact.
Out of all the people who are headed to destruction – heading away from God to an eternal darkness – Jesus chose me to have eternal life. In spite of my total depravity, the irresistible grace of God has come to me and I have been unconditionally chosen.
You did not choose Me, but I chose you…
John 15:16a (NIV)
Jesus picked me out.
2. Jesus lets me in.
But you are… a royal priesthood…
First, He lets me in the kingdom. My Father in heaven is the King. I’m His child. I have royal blood flowing in my veins. Jesus lets me into the Kingdom and then He lets me into the priesthood.
You mean I’m a priest? Yes!
He has made us his Kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!
Revelation 1:6 (NLT)
I now have immediate access to God. I don’t need another human priest as a mediator. God himself provided the one Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. I have direct access to God, through God. And now I have an active role in God’s presence. I don’t just fritter away my time doing nothing. I now can minister in the presence of God. All my life is priestly service. I am never out of God’s presence. I am never in a neutral zone. I am always in the court of the temple.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10 (NIV)
Jesus picked me out. Jesus lets me in.
3. Jesus sets me apart.
But you are… a holy nation…
I am not just a “run-of-the-mill” person in the world any more. I have been set apart for God. I exist for God. And since God is holy, I am holy. I share His character.
For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the nations on the earth, to be His own.
Deuteronomy 7:6 (NLV)
This word holy means “to cut.” I’m a “cut above the crowd.” We still use the word that way today when we describe a “cut” of fabric that is very special. “He’s cut out of a different cloth.”
When I do not act in a holy way, I act out of character. When I live in an unholy way, I contradict the fundamental nature of who I am in God’s sight.
Jesus picked me out. Jesus lets me in. Jesus sets me apart.
4. Jesus shows me off.
But you are… a people for his own possession…
I’m sure you’ve noticed that that people like to show things off that they own.
Some drive a certain car they own only on the most beautiful warm days. Walk into a man’s den and you might find a famous athlete’s autograph proudly on display. You might show off an expensive piece of art or you might proudly hold out a new ring for others to see.
That’s the way God is with us – with His children.
For you are) a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 14:2 (NAS)
I know that God owns everything. So, in one sense, everyone is God’s possession. But this means something special. We are God’s inheritance. We are the ones He aims to spend eternity with.
And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.
Deuteronomy 26:18 (NIV)
Refrigerator art.
Jesus picked me out. Jesus lets me in. Jesus sets me apart. Jesus shows me off.
5. Jesus lights me up.
[He] called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
I Peter 2:9 (ESV)
Life! Guidance. Direction.
You are the light of the world.
Matthew 5:14 (NIV)
Jesus picked me out. Jesus lets me in. Jesus sets me apart. Jesus shows me off. Jesus lights me up.
If you aren’t enjoying these facts about who you are, it’s not because they are beyond your reach, but because you are living below your privileges.
These things are true for every follower of Christ. When I’m feeling like I don’t measure up, I have to remind myself of truths like these. Thinking about who I am to God will cut out my griping. It will give me a greater joy and contentment. I don’t to prove to you that I’m worth something because I know that I’m worth something to the God of the universe!
I’m God’s number 1 draft pick!
This is not self-esteem. This is Savior-esteem! It’s all about what He did for me to make me who I am. I don’t have to be all about me because the God of the Universe is already wild about me.
“Who am I?” leads directly to another question, “Why am I here?” Your identity leads to your destiny. This is where the connect to expressing your faith comes in.
Rick Warren, the author of the Purpose Driven Life says, “You were made by God and for God – and until you understand that, life will never make sense. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for His purposes, not your using Him for your own purpose.”
Why am I here?
To proclaim the excellencies of Christ!
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him…
We can’t really talk about who we are without talking about who He is. The Biblical understanding of human self-identity is radically God-centered. One of the reasons some of us aren’t getting the kind of results we would like to get with family members and friends is that they instinctively know that our sharing is more about us than it is about God. There’s too much pressure. There’s too much self.
I don’t have to be all about me because the God of the Universe is already wild about me. Why? So I can be all about Him!
The people whom I made for Myself will make known My praise.
Isaiah 43:21 (MSG)
• God is wild about you so that you might proclaim how excellent He is because He chose you.
• God is wild about you so that you might proclaim how excellent He is because He made you royalty.
• God is wild about you so that you might proclaim how excellent He is because He made you His priest.
• God is wild about you so that you might proclaim how excellent He is because He made you holy.
• God is wild about you so that you might proclaim how excellent He is because He brought you into the light.
Our identity is for the sake of making known His identity. God made us who we are to show the world who He is.
Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.
Ephesians 3:8 (NLT)
We can proclaim His excellencies in our church services with out teaching and singing and praying. We can proclaim His excellencies in our small groups when we tell each other what God has done for us. We can proclaim His excellencies at work as we tell people what we love about God and why we think He is great. Just say a good word about Jesus and watch what He does.
Let me share with you three very practical ways for you to apply these truths.
• Campus ministry this fall…
• Outreach opportunities…
Why am I here? To proclaim the excellencies of Christ.
One of the most difficult things for me to do is to deal with someone who has left the church because we don’t measure up for some reason. “You don’t give me enough meat in your messages.” “I like your messages but not your methods.” “You don’t make we hunger for God.” The list goes on and on.
When that happens, I’m like that little kid all over again – the one who doesn’t measure up, who doesn’t fit in, who isn’t good enough. It makes me question whether I am truly able to express my faith well – to impact others for Christ. Who am I? I’m the guy who doesn’t fit in…
But I have a verse that God gave me about 18 years ago.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.
Isaiah 43:4 (NIV)
God says to me, “Rick, remember you may be rejected by men, but you are accepted by God.”
Preaching in Ghana…
A point to ponder: Jesus made me a somebody to tell about a Somebody!
A verse to remember: Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.
Ephesians 3:8 (NLT)
A question to consider: Who needs to hear about the excellencies of Christ from me
