Comparison Is Stealing Your Joy - Matthew S5E10

Summary

Podcast Summary: Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin

Episode: Comparison Is Stealing Your Joy (Matthew S5E10)
Date: August 3, 2026
Host: Pastor Joby Martin
Guests: Pastor Oneh Mukatle, Pastor C

---

Overview

This episode dives deeply into the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew 20, exploring how comparison and entitlement steal our joy, drawing us away from gratitude, the gospel, and deep relationship with Jesus. The conversation is lively, practical, and honest, with the pastors unpacking not only the theological implications of the text, but also its real-life application for everyday followers of Christ.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Setting the Stage: Parable’s Context

Timestamps: 02:24 – 04:03

• The parable of the vineyard workers is contextually linked to the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19), emphasizing entitlement and the inverted values of God's kingdom.
• Peter, after hearing how hard it is for the rich to enter heaven, immediately asks, "What about us? We gave up everything!"
  Pastor Joby (03:10):

  "Jesus is saying, Peter, don’t be that guy. Don’t be grumbling because God gave you exactly what He said He’d give you—which is Me.”

The Parable Explained – God’s Generosity vs. Human Entitlement

Timestamps: 05:48 – 07:18

• The master hires groups at different times but gives each the same wage, revealing God’s sovereign generosity.
• Only the first group negotiates, others simply trust.
  Pastor C (05:53):

  “He’s not an ATM, not a genie in a bottle… He’s the sovereign God, the ruler of it all. What He says, He’s good. Because He’s good, He’s just.”

The Danger of Comparison

Timestamps: 08:50 – 14:39

• The sense of unfairness among the workers is rooted in comparison, not reality.
• Pastor Joby (09:02):

  “Comparison is the thief of joy... You’re not comparing your reality to somebody else’s reality.”

• Culturally, comparison is heightened by social media—filtered lives abound.
• Memorable Analogy (13:40):

  “My favorite illustration is the family beach photo… I’ve never seen a happy person at the beach taking that photo, but on Instagram everyone looks perfect.”

Identity Versus Productivity

Timestamps: 15:50 – 17:57

• There’s a healthy distinction between our identity in Christ and productivity in the world.
• Pastor Joby (16:01):

  “You are saved by grace; you are not employed by grace. You have a job to do—get to work.”

• Performance does not earn God’s approval; faithfulness precedes fruitfulness.

The Call to Kingdom Purpose in Everyday Work

Timestamps: 20:07 – 24:39

• Our work, secular or sacred, is ultimately about serving the Master and cultivating God’s world; perspective is everything.
• Old preacher stories (e.g., the three bricklayers) and mission trip testimonies highlight that ordinary “jobs” are kingdom work with the right mindset.

The Issue of “Fairness” and the True Nature of Grace

Timestamps: 25:19 – 26:41

• The gospel is not about fairness; if it were, all would receive death. Instead, it is about divine, extravagant grace.
• Pastor Joby (25:45):

  “What we have earned is death. That would be fair. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus!”

When Blessings Become Burdens

Timestamps: 27:43 – 29:21

• The very things people prayed for can become sources of complaint due to entitlement.
• Quote (28:03):

  “Now an answer to prayer is the thing they’re complaining about. We do it all the time.”

The Lie of the “Middle Ground”

Timestamps: 31:51 – 34:16

• There’s no “middle ground” between abundant life in Christ and the path that leads to death.
• Mediocrity and casual Christianity are more miserable than outright rebellion.
• Quote (33:38):

  “Casual Christian is the most miserable person on the planet…”

Trusting God’s Plan Over Our Own

Timestamps: 34:29 – 38:45

• Story: Pastor Joby recounts a conversation with Ryan Kwan about his son Brennan, who demonstrated remarkable trust in his father’s judgment (and by analog God’s).
• We presume our plan is best; true joy and peace are found in surrendering to God’s wisdom.

Envy as an Offense to God

Timestamps: 37:11 – 37:48

• Envy essentially says, “God, you got it wrong.” It is rooted in unbelief of God’s goodness.
• Quote (37:19):

  “Envy is an affront against God... you’re saying, ‘God, you got it wrong.’”

Urgency of Response – The 11th Hour

Timestamps: 40:19 – 41:26

• The invitation of grace presses in even late in life, but the window doesn’t last forever.
• Quote (41:04):

  “If you’re hearing this, it’s not too late. But at some point, it will be too late.”

The First Shall Be Last – Upside Down Kingdom

Timestamps: 44:10 – 45:02

• The core message: to gain all, you must surrender all.
• Status, power, or spiritual “seniority” means nothing in the kingdom’s economy.

Kingdom Economics, Generosity, and Gospel Freedom

Timestamps: 46:06 – 47:05

• Quote read by Pastor Joby:

  “The kingdom of God does not operate on the currency of merit, but on the currency of grace. Jesus himself is the true worker who bore the burden of the heat of the day for us at the cross. He received what we deserved so we could receive what we never earned. The generosity of the Master is not injustice. It is the overflow of divine grace. The gospel frees us from comparison because our standing before God rests entirely on the generosity of Christ, not our performance.”

Practical Steps to Combat Comparison & Entitlement

Timestamps: 53:37 – 63:22

Pastor Joby shares four practical steps:

1. Celebrate Others
   • Authentically rejoice in someone else’s success, disconnected from yourself.
2. Thank Someone for What You Take for Granted
   • Express appreciation, especially for persistent, often overlooked blessings.
   • Memorable line (55:33):

     “Unspoken gratitude is worthless. So say thank you to somebody.”

3. Withhold a Complaint or Gossip
   • Intentionally refrain from voicing gripes or negativity.
   • Quote (56:35):

     “Do everything without complaining or arguing… and you will shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation.”

4. Make a Gratitude List
   • Write, for each year of your life, one thing you are grateful for. This shifts your whole perspective.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Comparison is the thief of joy.” — Pastor Joby (09:02)
• “Our problem is we think what we want is better than what God has.” — Pastor Joby (37:41)
• “Envy is an affront against God. Because essentially you’re saying, ‘God, you got it wrong.’” — Pastor Joby (37:11)
• “Unspoken gratitude is worthless.” — Pastor Joby (55:33)
• “Do everything without complaining or arguing… and you will shine like stars...” — (Philippians 2:14-15, cited by Pastor Joby, 56:35)
• “Jesus received what we deserved, so we could receive what we never earned.” — Read by Pastor Joby (47:05)
• “Casual Christian is the most miserable person on the planet…” — Pastor Joby (33:38)
• “You are saved by grace; you are not employed by grace.” — Pastor Joby (16:01)

---

Important Timestamps

• Parable’s context and entitlement: 02:24 – 04:03
• God’s generosity vs. entitlement: 05:48 – 07:18
• Comparison and its effects: 08:50 – 14:39
• Identity vs. productivity: 15:50 – 17:57
• Kingdom perspective on work: 20:07 – 24:39
• Fairness, grace, and the gospel: 25:19 – 26:41
• Grumbling turns blessing into burden: 27:43 – 29:21
• No middle ground—abundant life or not: 31:51 – 34:16
• Trusting God’s plan: 34:29 – 38:45
• Envy as offense to God: 37:11 – 37:48
• Urgency of grace—11th hour: 40:19 – 41:26
• First and last in the kingdom: 44:10 – 45:02
• Kingdom economics/grace: 46:06 – 47:05
• Practical gratitude steps: 53:37 – 63:22

---

Closing Charge

Pastor Joby (66:43):

“Check yourself before God. Have I allowed entitlement to creep in? Have I started to compare myself and my situation to other people?”

He concludes with a focus on the cross and the two thieves—every one of us stands before Christ as a thief in need of mercy, not a laborer with bargaining rights.

---

Final Prayer (69:14)

“Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you that you, the Master, came and chose us to come work in your vineyard. May we see it as a blessing all day, every day. And may we be excited to be door holders for your courts. In Jesus name, Amen.”

---

Summary in a Sentence:
Comparison and entitlement rob us of joy and obscure the goodness of God’s grace. The parable of the workers invites us to celebrate generosity, trust the Giver, reject comparison, and live with radical gratitude in God’s kingdom—where the first will be last, the last will be first, and all is grace.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with him. Now let's dive in.

[B]

Welcome back. This is the Deepen podcast. This is Pastor Oneh Mukatle. How'd I do?

[C]

You're getting better.

[B]

Okay. Hi, Pastor Joby.

[D]

What's up?

[B]

We were just saying before we started fire. What's the better way to say amazing sermon? Like, what. What do you like when people say they liked your sermon? Well, how do you like people to say that to you?

[D]

I don't.

[C]

I would say it was a banger. Oh, that's another expression.

[D]

My favorite would be if somebody. If there was some sort of life change involved.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

You know, like, my favorite thing is the amount of people that roll up here. And the wife says, after last year, when Stan Firman act like he's a different man.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

That is the. You know, everything else I just say. Thank you for saying that. I mean, I'm glad it's not boring or theologically inaccurate.

[B]

Yeah. You know, I was listening to Craig Gel, and he was talking about how the more generalized your compliments are, the harder it is for somebody to feel, like, impacted by specific.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And so. But I can't. I don't always know what to say.

[D]

Although it. It does hit different from. From staff members and preachers. You know, you guys teach the Bible in front of people, so it. It means a little bit more than you know, but whatever. I don't spend a lot of time trying to think much about.

[C]

Nonetheless, it was still incredible about.

[B]

It's incredible. Yeah. And I. I usually am limited to one page, but we have bled over onto a second page today, so well done. Get ready for that.

[D]

And Brett's not here. Oh, squeeze your leg. Give me a little kick into the Pastor Brit.

[B]

Well, let's. Let's dive in to this text. Pastor Joby, when you started, you had to get kind of like a running start. I think that's how I usually say it. Talking a little bit about 19 before we go into this parable of the workers in the vineyard. So what's important about making sure we know the conversation that this is coming out of?

[D]

So we're coming right off of what Pastor on just preached, the rich young ruler. So we don't spend a lot of time on that. But that is an. That is an entitled guy. He thinks he's owed the kingdom when Jesus is Like, yeah, all you got to do to get to heaven is be perfect. He's like, okay, I'm doing that. What else? You know, this is an entitled guy. And so, you know, so then Jesus tells the disciples, after the guy walks away, dude, it is really hard for rich guys to go to heaven, you know? And Peter all of a sudden makes it about him. What about us? Because we don't have anything. We gave it all up for you, boss. So what do we get? And so I think a big part of what Jesus is going to do, he's like, hey, dude, hold on one second. By the way, this is where the title of our season comes from with man, this is impossible. With God, all things are possible. So we're going from impossible to possible. And so he's like, yeah, dude, you're gonna get your payout in heaven is going to be incredible. But what you get is me, right? And then he ends. Here's the clue at the end of chapter 19. But many who are first will be last and last. First four. That means what I'm about to say here. So the first verse of chapter 20. So this whole parable is connected to that last thought and connected to the conversation that Peter has. So the labors in the vineyard are about the people who have been there the longest, that have done the most work, feel entitled to a greater reward. And Jesus is saying, peter, don't be that guy. Don't be grumbling because God gave you exactly what he told you he was going to give you, which is me.

[B]

I'm so glad you pointed that out, because then as you were preaching it, I noticed the two different times where that's kind of repeated.

[D]

Well, I think. I think, yeah, know, total speculation. You know, Peter's drifting off. He's like, hey, hey, we're talking about the first will be the last. Last will be first. Pay attention, dude. I'm talking to you.

[B]

Right?

[D]

So he starts it, he throws it in the middle, and then he closes with it.

[B]

Yeah. And there's so much here. And I was really struck by the different conversation that the master has with the people that he hires.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

So he goes first thing in the morning and then several other times during the day, and their conversation is a little bit different each time. He only really agrees for an amount with the very first ones. What do you think is there in the way that he recruited or cast the vision or brought those people in later in the day?

[D]

Well, I think a part of what Jesus wants us to know is, and I mentioned this in the sermon at the end, just in case you don't. You're listening to this and didn't listen to the sermon and you don't know what Matthew chapter 20 says. This is the parable about the master goes out and he hires people at 6am, 9am, 12 lunchtime, 3pm and then at 5pm with only an hour to go. And when payday comes, he pays the guys that only worked an hour, the same that he paid everybody. And this is a picture of salvation and how we can get envious and think that we deserve more. So I think what Matthew is making very clear, what Jesus made clear in the story is don't like, I don't know why people get mad at God for not giving him a thing he never promised them.

[B]

Yeah, it's good. Yeah.

[D]

He's a promise keeping God.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

And so they agreed we will work all day for a day's wage and then later they work all day for a day's wage and they are dissatisfied with because of what somebody else got.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and he is, he is a promise keeping God and he is the God who sits on his throne and does whatever he wants. So. So the other piece is you just got to put that into perspective. That like, this isn't. He's not an atm. He's not, you know, he's not a genie in a bottle that I get to rub and kind of say, hey, this is what I'm looking for. No, he, he. He's the sovereign God, the ruler of it all. And so you know what he, he says he's good. So. Because he's good, he's just. But this thing that we sometimes do is like, we play this, you know, he's, he's like a pet that I got. And I get to enjoy and pat and do the things and it's like, no, he's, he is holy.

[D]

It starts out, there's the master and there are laborers. Don't ever get those things confused. And so what he's going to do at the end is the guys ask the, they're. The Bible says they're grumbling against the master. So they're like, this isn't fair. Why'd they get so much? He does not placate their whining, he just reorients it. He's like, wait a second, I'm the master?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

What does it have? I can be generous with whoever I decide to be generous with. I gave you everything I promised you.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

So me being generous to somebody Else, what does that have to do with you? Yeah, it says more about you than me. I'm generous. You're being greedy.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

It really gets at what's going on here. I noticed one more thing, and I wanted to ask about it. That with specifically the group that he asks last. He says, why do you stand here idle all day? And they say, nobody's hired us. It makes me think of the person who would come to church with you. You just are assuming that they will say no. Do you know what I mean?

[D]

Like, dude, the overwhelming percentage on every poll I've ever seen, it's something like three out of four people would just go to church if somebody going to come with them.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I ask people everywhere, man.

[B]

Yeah. Don't say they're no for them. That's what I tell people.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Don't be afraid of the no. You know what I mean? Because then we. We post. It's like they've said no to me. It's like, no, no, no, no. I'm just. I'm just the mailman, like you say, you know, it's like, I want to invite you to come and hear about, you know, the savior of the world. And it's. It's. It's not me. I'm not asking you to come. Listen to me.

[D]

Right?

[C]

So it's. It's just get out. Getting out of the way.

[B]

Yeah. The. So then they. They. The end of the day comes, they come to the master and he says, bring me the last ones first.

[D]

Peter, pay attention. Here's the illustration.

[B]

Gives them the. The full day's wage. And then something happens in their minds and hearts. Like, okay, they. That's where they start to renegotiate. Because maybe before that they thought, yeah, they're going to get less than me. Yeah, but what. What's happening for them to switch? All of a sudden they think, well, we're getting a bonus now.

[D]

Well, it's comparison. Like, they begin to feel like they have earned more than they have earned because of the generosity of the master towards the people. That didn't work all day.

[A]

Right.

[D]

And so comparison is the thief of joy. Again, I talked about that AT&T commercial. That is the perfect example. And where they give the one little girl a sucker and she's all happy with it until they give her little brother a bigger sucker and she just yells, that's not fair.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And so what the AT lady does is placate her whiny feelings and says, here you go. And that is the. That is a Major problem in the ethos of this culture.

[B]

Yeah. You've used the illustration before of like HD HGTV shows.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And you turn those on. Your house is fine until you watch those, you know, totally watching these time. My kids don't like it. Watch these time lapse videos of people who find, like an old barn.

[C]

Oh.

[B]

And then they turn it into like a house or whatever. I think it's super interesting, fun to watch. But they're like, please, no more, dad.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But then you look at all this cool stuff and you think, and my house is just so ordinary.

[C]

When you compare. The sermon wrecked me in so many ways. Because, I mean, you will probably chat about it. You talk about, hey, we need to reposition ourselves. Like we're. We're on the welcome team. And I sat there and I thought about it and I was like, you know, the moment my following becomes about calculations is the moment I've stopped following. And now I'm negotiating. And that's. You see that? Like, it's like, hey, do you. Don't forget. Like, here's. Do you remember? Like, almost. Do you remember when I called you how everybody was like, you're gonna call these guys? Like, these are like the dropouts. We forget.

[D]

You know what I mean?

[C]

We're no longer on the welcome team at the door welcoming people. We've now moved to the back and now we're counting, you know, all the money and stuff. It's. It's a slippery slope. And. And so I had to think about that a couple times.

[D]

So what came to mind is Psalm 84. I just did a. I did a podcast thing, devotional with the Worship initiative with the Shanes in Texas last week, and they wrote a song based on Psalm 84 called welcome Home. And so it starts out. How lovely is your dwelling place, oh Lord of hosts. My soul longs. Yes, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. It's a whole bunch of that stuff. And then you get to a verse maybe you've heard before, verse 10, for a day in your courts is better than the thousand elsewhere. And then here's the line. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, then dwell in the tents of wickedness. Well, what you would do is open the door for more people to come in.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Don't ever try to be the bouncer for the courts of the Lord and keep people out. God is the judge. He will keep out whoever doesn't get in.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

But Whoever he welcomes in, we should welcome in and be very excited about it. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. If you're listening to this and you have not signed up, they'll text you every morning y the link to the Shane and Shane devotional. And they sit there and they'll talk about a song and then sing it. You'll sing it together.

[D]

And they just want you to sing out loud. That's the point of it. Not to listen to them sing a good song. So we did. We did that one. And a mighty fortress is our God.

[B]

Oh, come on. Somebody.

[D]

I was terrified. Is everybody singing? And then like, I'm like, my mic's like, right here. Almighty fortresses are God.

[C]

A lot of post production, I'm sure, bro.

[D]

Let's go. You know, you.

[B]

You mentioned that comparison is a lose, lose situation.

[D]

Correct.

[B]

Okay. And you've said that before. So talk about what are the two losses that are on both sides of.

[D]

See there, it's either pride because you feel better than somebody else, or it's really condemnation you feel less than. And it's really loose because you compare what you know about yourself to what you don't know about somebody else. You know, everybody's filtered life. You know, I've. Somebody was telling me this. Ally was telling me there's like a major problem with teenage girls right now. When they take a group picture, they fight over whose camera they want to use. They want to use their camera because their Snapchat filters are set up for their face and. Right. It's like a. It's a major issue. Or watch the filter fails on YouTube and people are like talking to people online and they look real pretty and then the filter breaks for a second. You're like, oh, my gosh. Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So you're not comparing. You're not even comparing your reality to somebody else's reality.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

And so of course you're going to lose. You know, my favorite illustration is the family beach photo.

[C]

Good one.

[D]

I've never seen a happy person at the beach. And I go all the time, especially families, I see individuals happy but with kids miserable. Somebody's miserable if the kids are having fun. Mama scared, kids are having fun, Dad's mad. You know what I mean? The people from Ohio are feeding the seagulls ruin everybody's time. But that picture at the end of the day, man, the golden hour when everything's just right. Everybody's. And then they filter it and they. And then you look at your life and you're like, why don't we get to do that. And so you just get beaten down by it. And I mean, listen, how brilliant is the enemy, man? We, we are a bunch of comparison junkies. And we wake up every day and we've got these things just screaming at us. Look at me, look at me. It's a dangerous thing. So same thing at church, man. It happens all the time. Right. And it can go either way. Like, the worst thing we could do at 11:22 is look what God is doing here and think we're better than somebody. Are you crazy? Or we're not as good as whoever.

[B]

Yeah. Or even just coming to church. I mean, like, it's prime pickings for you to show up and look around, be like, where, where do I stand on the. I mean, how many churches have you been a part of that were just like a fishbowl of judgment and comparison?

[D]

Yeah. And a lot of people that, they think that God is looking over the crowd too, and he really is proud of the people next to you because you think they all have it together. I, Dude, I know a bunch of these people you're sitting with. They ain't got it together, man, that. Everybody looks great here on Sundays. I mean, boy, Thursdays too. Everybody looks great. Most people look great. But man, they got struggles and.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean, demons, you know what I mean? So it's just a lose, lose proposition.

[B]

Yeah. What about like, okay, so there's a guy listening and he's maybe in sales or he's judged by his performance at work. And so it's. It's hard for him to draw the line between when is it unhealthy comparison versus a healthy, like measuring or maybe even so a mom or a wife who's thinking, I'm trying to look around and make sure that I'm healthy or doing things right, you know, I mean, when does it cross the line into.

[D]

Well, there's a difference between identity and productivity. I mean, you've been at staff meetings. When I tell our staff you are saved by grace, you were not employed by grace. You have a job to do. Get to work. Right.

[B]

Right.

[D]

You get to go to heaven by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. You do not get to come to work by grace and faith. You gotta. You have it. We pay you to do things and we expect things from you. No problem there. So that's. You gotta, like, are we talking about your identity or your productivity? These are different things. Now the good news is, regardless of your productivity, your identity is in Christ before Jesus ever does anything. God the Father speaks Over him out loud for people to hear. Think about that. Like, you're just at the baptism and you hear like, was that thunder? Well, I think I just heard, behold my son. And who am I? Well pleased. And because, dude, we. We all fall into this. I know everybody's like, no, my identity's in Christ. That's a good thing to say. You should say it so that you can think, you believe it. But it's easy for me to say right now because life's going really good. But I. I have to work really hard to not believe that my performance somehow gains my approval or, like, God likes me a little bit better right now. You know, if I pray, if I preach good, or if more people get saved or less, you know, more people get baptized and you got a war against it. It's in there all the time. I have to war against it. Yeah, maybe you guys are super secure.

[C]

No, that's. I mean, the identity, as you're saying it, I'm thinking to myself, like, for so long, I used to think, you know, I'm a warrior for the kingdom of God. And so it's all about what I do and how I do it. And when I do it. I just remember the Lord going, hey, you're a son before anything. But that doesn't mean that you don't go out there and do the work. And I loved it when you preached it in the sermon. You were like, hey, work was. It's a good thing. It was there before the fall, you know, So I think sometimes when you talk about how do we make sure that we're not, you know, doing the dance between the two. Well, first, just put them in their right place. My identity is in Christ. And then also, work is a good thing from the Lord.

[D]

Amen.

[C]

And he calls us to work because it glorifies him and it gives us joy. Joy. There's a. A flourishing that happens when we do that. And so I just flow into those things correctly.

[D]

You know, man, I gotta. I gotta do a deeper dive with this. But we recorded a bunch of Built for Moore's yesterday, and we had on Liam Colum, the. The head football coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. And he goes to church here, and he talked about all the things the Lord's doing in his life, and it was incredible.

[B]

It's awesome.

[D]

And so we asked him about. Then he asked him about the Houston game last year. I mean, we're on top of the world, and we're up by 19 in the fourth quarter and lose the game. And historically, what would happen in Jacksonville is that game happens and we lose the next four. They went on an eight game winning streak in the NFL. That's hard to do in and of itself, especially coming off that loss. How do you. So we're asking him how, how do you do this? And he didn't give a lot of details. So I'm going to have him disciple me on this. He says there's a difference between a hero and a warrior and too many people are trying to be the hero. But we've been called to be a warrior because, because the heroes like win the moment. A warriors knows, man, you might lose the battle, but we're in this fight for the war. You're going to get scarred, you're going to get beat up, but a warrior gets back up, gets his armor back on and gets back on, you know, on the battlefield. And so I'm going to have him unpack because I know there was a lot to it. He just mentioned it, you know, and so it's a bit of that. So, you know, Jesus is the hero. I am first and foremost his son. And I armor up and go to war and whatever he's called me to do. What's crazy is when you know you have the approval of God, you can get to work because you're not working for approval, but you do want to be fruitful. So I know that the, the, the Reward in Matthew 25 is well done, good and faithful servant. But don't blame your lack of fruitfulness on your faithfulness because oftentimes the fruitfulness follows the faithfulness.

[A]

Right?

[D]

So that thing can swing the other way. Because listen, man, I want to tell you, every 20 year old that has read John Mark Comer's the Relentless Elimination of Hurry and just say, hand me that book when you're 45, I'll give it back to you. Hurry.

[B]

Right?

[D]

Like do some stuff, man. The subtitle could be the Relentless Elimination of hard work.

[B]

Right.

[D]

For the sake of self care. You know what I mean? Dude, you're not the point. Yeah, the point of the laborer is not the laborer is to produce for the master. You know, so if you have a sales job, you should be a good salesman. And so I love what John Tyson shared with us when he was here last year for Saturated. He's a butcher in the back of a butcher shop in Australia. Just nothing but dead cows and knives and. But he changed his perspective. Like, I am a part of

[C]

the

[D]

cultural mandate that God has given to subdue and cultivate. I'm not cutting cows. I'm providing meals for families. And that is a, that is a very glorious thing. And so in Jordan Rayner's book, the Sacred of the Sacredness of Secular Work, I think is what it's called. His whole point is there is no such thing as secular work. The word literally means, secular means without God.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So if God is with us and in you, how could you teach secularly? I mean, the spirit of God. Now you, you probably have some, you know, rules around you that I don't like but you love because Christ loved you in the way that you teach. You know, regardless of what your job is. When you begin to see work that way, then it's different.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, there's this old preacher story about the three bricklayers. You know, that's what you go up to. One guy, what are you doing laying bricks and building a wall? I'm building a kingdom. The guy that. And they're all doing the same thing. Yeah. But the guy that knows you're building a kingdom sees it differently. I was on a mission trip with Rodney McLaughlin and he's from Brazil and we're in Brazil building a church in Kodo is the. It was the voodoo capital of South America. And I'm hot and tired and aggravated and we're putting stucco on the side of a wall and dude, I feel like I've got a left handed football bat, dude. Like the way the locals did it, they scoop up with their trowel and they throw it against it and it's perfect. And they hit it one slap. And I mean bro, I look like a gorilla at the. Just throwing poop. And it's just place it's not going good. I'm not having a good time because I'm thinking about what I'm doing. Rodney, who's 20 years older than me is got. He's doing the back breaking. Bend over. I'm trying to do the eye level so I don't got to bend over. And he looks up at me and I'm ready to complain. He's got, he's in his home country, he's got tears rolling down his face and he goes, who gets to do this? Who gets to build a church?

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And everything changed.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So he had that perspective that what I'm doing is as unto the Lord. Because the gospel will be preached here and children will be fed through compassion and marriages will happen here. You know, just the life of the church. And we got to build the building where the church happens.

[C]

Yeah. I love to sometimes, you know, when I travel or I'm visiting guys who aren't in vocational ministry and they get frustrated. I always say, hey, let's, let's take a couple steps back. Like literally, like, let's just perspective. Let's walk back and look, take a look at what you're doing. Like, look at this building. And you just go, how many people are in this building? How many families are connected to this building? And I go, what you are doing is necessary so these folks can come in and do what they do and feed the family. And, and, and now you're doing it with like kingdom perspective. Now you're adding eternity to it. It changes everything about everything, everything. And I think a lot of people just don't have that. They'll do the comparison thing with, well, those guys at church we get to do, you know, all the cool. They, they do nothing. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're all part of what God is doing in his kingdom. Let's take a couple steps back. Yeah,

[B]

the, you mentioned that when they do grumble to the master, this is different than some of the other parables. He doesn't, he actually deals with them with love.

[D]

You know, he says, he calls him friend.

[B]

He says, friend, I'm not doing you any wrong.

[D]

I had another word.

[B]

Amazing.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Isn't that amazing? But I mean, I want to repeat this because I gave a big moo when you said it. Sometimes we try to hold God accountable to a promise he never made. Yeah. And boy, that really just knocked me back. You start thinking about what do I expect of God? And do, do I have the receipts?

[C]

Sure.

[B]

You know, did he ever say that? And, and chances are a lot of my expectations are for things he never said he would give me. Like you said, why is. So why is fair not a biblical value?

[D]

Yeah, man. The book of Romans says that the wages of sin is death. So what we have earned is death. That would be fair. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean when you just baseline, just start with the gospel, you don't want fair, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

It's also not fair that we were born here and then we were born when we were born. You know, it's not, it's not fair that all of us can walk and talk. A lot of people that can't. It's not fair that our, we have our cognitive abilities. All of these are a blood bought grace gift of God. And the moment you start playing that that's not fair. You're just thinking about what you don't have, which is a shadow of just entitlement because you think you deserve to have something.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And so, dude, you can feel stressed or blessed. It's up to you. You just can't feel them both at the same time. And by the way, that's like a metaphysical reality.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Your brain cannot simultaneously feel gratitude and entitlement. It just doesn't operate that way.

[B]

Well, you mentioned the John Mark Comer book, and I think.

[D]

And it's a good book.

[B]

Well, I think a lot of young people are. Their mental health and anxiety makes them feel busy and hurried, but they're not actually hurried. You know what I mean? And so it's because all they do

[D]

is spend all their effort to just think about what they think about.

[B]

Right, Exactly.

[D]

And that's all ages, by the way.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

If you think about how you feel all the time, of course your. Your feelings are just going to be terrible.

[B]

It's like an echo chamber.

[D]

Yeah. You got to just go serve somebody, man.

[B]

And action and purpose. It's just like what you're saying with entitlement is statistically proven. When you, when you move and you get to work, it lowers all those feelings of. Of anxiety and sadness because you're actually focused on other things besides yourself. Here's another one you said that I thought was so good that they. When they grumbled to him, they started to see the blessing of God as a burden. And the master says to them, I'm not doing you any wrong. We agreed to this. You know, and so there's a lot of things.

[D]

Back it up. Take us a couple steps back. There's a bunch of people standing on the corner, and they're day laborers, and they got picked. And they were. Let's just. Let's just assume some of what they were thinking. They're praying, dear God, I hope a master picks me so I can have a job today. And now an answer to prayer is the thing they're complaining about. We do it all the time.

[C]

All the time, bro.

[D]

When we, when we, when we were married, you know, we first got married, you wanted to have babies. You're like, God, please give me a baby. And then you gripe about this baby God gave you. Right? You're like, lord, what have you done? He's like, I. You asked for this and I gave it to you.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And now you're going to complain about it. And then we do it about work, God, please let me get this job. You're like, gotta go in on our Saturday. So now the correlation is he. He's talking about salvation, man. So if you. If the. If the believer. Because I've had people ask me this, you mean to tell me they'll talk about prison ministry and they'll be like, so you mean to tell me I grew up in Sunday school and I did what was right and I didn't go see Terminator 2? And I've signed my true love weights card and waited and I don't drink or smoke or chew or. I didn't go with girls who do. And this rapist and murderer in prison gets to go to heaven too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So do you see your life with Christ as a burden? You think that's burdensome then? Dude, I don't know if you know Jesus. I don't know if you've tasted and seen. Yeah, like what? It's not a sacrifice.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, So I hope and pray my grandbabies have the testimony of. Yeah, God saved me from sex, drugs, rock and roll debauchery when I was 6. I just never went down that road, you know?

[B]

Yeah. Because it would reveal the person who says that, it reveals that they're kind of halfway believing the enemy's lie. Or maybe more than halfway. Right. That that stuff's really just a lot of fun and God's trying to keep you from that fun. Yes, that's what the temptation is telling you. And so they're sort of got one foot in both side. Well, I'm going to follow Jesus and give up and give up all that really fun stuff, you know what I mean? So you. You still got something in entrenched in you that to party and have all these sexual partners or whatever. Oh, that would be so much fun. But I'm giving it up for Jesus. No, no, no, no, no. Dig in a little bit more. You're not actually giving up something good. That'd be terrible.

[D]

I'm gonna give up pain for peace.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

Like, you're. You're just not. Not. Dude, listen, you got two options. There's a thief that wants to steal, kill, and destroy. There's a stranger calling out to you, and if you follow him, it's a journey. It's not a snapshot, dude, and it leads to death. Or there's a good shepherd and he's calling out to you and you're. You're like a little kid that doesn't understand. Right. But if you have any maturity whatsoever, you realize every step of obedience was the abundant life.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And I think that's really going to be a big challenge for a lot of people as they hear this, to wrestle those things down. Because God's design for you is good. His plan for you is good. His way is good. You have this illustration that you could use your vacuum cleaner the way you're supposed to use a hammer.

[D]

Right.

[B]

For a minute. Right. But eventually it's not going to drive the nail and you're going to be out of vacuum cleaner.

[D]

Correct.

[B]

Right. And the way that God designed all these things we're talking about, it's like it's designed that way for good. Don't try to bend against reality. You're just beating your head against the. The brick wall.

[D]

And all the data supports it. Sex is the best one to talk about because it's the one that people think what they want for themselves is better than what God has for them. And all of the data, if you just want to look at the science of it, the religious, monogamous, married to the same person, has the best sex life of anybody on the planet, period.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Not the playboy out there.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

We believe the lie. You know, I was thinking about, like, what you were saying now. It's like the enemy will convince us that there's this middle ground that you can live in, you know, and in reality, it's. It's life or death. Like, those are the options. But if he can create this middle ground of like, well, you can get. You can get Jesus and still kind of do this and, you know, it'll be fun to do. It's like, then. Then you're going to be like, yeah, obviously then I'm missing out on so much. It's like, no, no, no. The closer you are to Jesus, the more you realize it just keeps going. The goodness of the Father just keeps going on and on and on and on. And so it begs the question, are you walking with Jesus? How close are you?

[D]

When you say that, it reminds me of the serpent in the garden. He will not surely die.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Anybody seen Eve lately?

[B]

Right.

[D]

She died.

[B]

Well, he. He didn't want her to know what that death meant, you know?

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

And she believed him because he convinced her it wasn't immediate, which was true. You know, she didn't die instantly on the spot.

[D]

Correct.

[B]

But she died certainly.

[D]

Right.

[B]

It also makes me think of the screwtape letters. Like, if you think about the arguments that he makes, it's so often to, like, make him think he's good in this area. And also. Hold on to. Yeah. Would you say that That's Jesus's point when he talks about neither cold nor hot or lukewarm. Right. It's the person that you've talked about a lot lately, the. The church person who thinks, oh, I've got. I'm familiar, and I've got this, you know, that's maybe the most dangerous place to be. Because over here living like hell all the time, you know where. You know where you stand, you know, and then all in on here, you know where you stand. So somewhere in. That's a dangerous.

[D]

Yeah. Dude, casual Christian is the most miserable person on the planet because you can't actually feel free in church, because you just feel conviction all the time, because you're just, like, being disobedient. And then when you're out there being disobedient, you can't even enjoy that because you feel conviction all the time. I shouldn't be doing this.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And I'm gonna do it anyway.

[C]

I don't even know why people would want to live that way. Like, it's just. It's. It's. It's. And, yeah, it's just.

[D]

Well, it doesn't make sense sitting right here around the deepen table. But boy, when you're in the middle of it and the. The. The serpent is whispering lies and the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes are just emblazoned in your moment. You can just.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Get some. Some serious gospel amnesia. Amnesia. Real quick. Here's the thing. What we think we want, we think it's better than what God has for us.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So I texted Ryan Kwan while I was in the gym yesterday working on this sermon. Like I've told you before, I've been. I, like, get most of the notes done, and while I'm working out, I just keep working on it. And what came to mind, he was saturated a bunch of years ago. His son Brennan was little, and Brennan was a special kid, man. And Brennan had made, like, straight A's or something. And I may be messing up some of the details. And so Ryan takes him to Toys R Us and says, you can get anything you want. And he walks in the store, and he's just overwhelmed with all the choices. So he just takes his dad by the hand and he goes, dad, why don't you pick for me? You always make good choices. And I texted Ryan because they have lost Brennan at 16 years old. And he went to be with the Lord, and in a very tragic way. And I just said, hey, man, I am. Lord put you on My heart. And again, I've just decided if the Lord nudges, I'm just got to do it and be obedient to what God told me to do. I said, bro, I'm not trying to bring up heartache, but I do want you to know that your sermon and your son's word are still preaching to me all these years later, you know? And so what Brennan understood in that moment is his dad knows him better and will make a better decision for him than even he can. And so we think, God, I like, if you would just get on board with my plan, it will be better than whatever you have planned for me. And it can't be. So if you're single and don't want to be single, could you get to the place where you trust that God's plan for you is better than your plan for you? And I don't know why. You will know why one day when we see. When we get to glory, it'll all make sense, and you'll be like, oh, thank you, God. I mean, I know it's kind of a joke of a song, but Garth Brooks, Some of God's Greatest Gift or Unanswered Prayers. It's very theologically accurate. You know, you're in high school, and that's the love of your life. You're like, dear God, please let me marry her. And then he goes back to his reunion 20 years later, and he's like, actually, Lord, some of your greatest gifts, some of my prayers. Because, yeah, if God would give me what I wanted when I was 16, I would have, you know, I would have had, like, a Corvette or something, wrapped it around, you know, just done terrible things. I did not have the maturity to even know what I was asking for. And so in his goodness, he said, oh, I love you so much. No way.

[B]

Yeah. And you said, envy is an affront against God. Because it. Essentially, what you're saying is, God, you got it wrong.

[D]

You got it wrong.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And you gave him too much talent and you didn't give me enough.

[C]

Right.

[B]

It makes me think of what Dr. Piper says, you know, that the sin underneath the sin is unbelief. It's like we just don't believe God's good promises.

[D]

Yeah, that's it. That's a better way to say. He usually says it better than me. I'm quoting Garth Brooks, Making up. But I mean, smart stuff.

[B]

That thing that you said, like, our problem is that we think that what we want is better than what God has.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's why we would ever even dare to go to God and be like, wouldn't you? If you just listen to my plan? Yeah, it would be so much better. And I mean, I'm so glad God's patient because what a presumptuous thing to do to go to him with my limited perspective.

[C]

Like, sometimes I'll get frustrated as a dad with the kids because I'm like, no, this is going to be better. Like, you are going to love this. I know you're going to love this. And they're still fighting me in that moment. Like, I, I get frustrated. And then to know that, like, God is just. That's not God. Like, he'll still be like, listen, man, let's talk about this. Like, I have something way better for you. Keep your eyes on me, you know, so it's, it's the God. God loves us more than we could ever imagine. Even, Even when we make, when we mess up. Like, he's. I think you, you said it this. Jesus doesn't stop knocking until he stops knocking.

[D]

Dude. Yeah. Two things are simultaneously true. Like, it ain't over till Jesus says it over, that I just say it in one sentence. So, like, he's knocking and if you missed him at 6, maybe he'll be there at 9 and 12 and there. But he wasn't there at 8:30pm you know, there was a. There's a thing I thought about. I didn't share it. If you go all the way back to Exodus when all the, when all the plagues are coming. Have you ever. I don't, I don't know if you remember, this is such an obscure passage and there's frogs everywhere. And Moses goes to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh's like, can you do something? And Moses like, I can get rid of them right now. And Pharaoh's like, let's do it tomorrow. That's what he says. Why would you wait till tomorrow? And then. Because of Pharaoh's hardened heart. I don't know if I should say because, but the, the, the time lapse in the scriptures are Pharaoh hardens his heart towards God over and over and over. And then God hardens Pharaoh's heart. Yeah. Now I think I'm in the. God's the cause of all things. But at this one, there's a little window into the heart of Pharaoh right now. And he's thinking, let me just submit and get these freaking frogs out of here. But I'm gonna wait till tomorrow. And at some point, that could have been the moment where that final no was the last time that the master was going to drive by the corner to pick up laborers.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Because, I mean, some people. Dude, there are people listening to this right now. Based on the. I mean, there's like tens of thousands of people listening to this thing. You're in the 11th hour, and you have no idea. You have no idea. And I'm not trying to scare people in heaven. I don't think you can. I'm trying to urge you with the urgency of eternity.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

There are some people. You are in the 11th hour. Like, there's car wrecks and there's medical issues. You know what I mean? And so today is the day of salvation.

[B]

Pastor Trey was telling me about somebody he knows, guy in his 60s, used to skateboard and was out playing with his grandkids, got on a skateboard and slipped, hit his head. Brain dead.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

And just like that. I mean, I love what you said about it, though. You said if you're hearing it, it's not too late.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

And also it will be too late at some point.

[D]

Yeah, Right.

[C]

Those.

[B]

The both of those things are true. If you're hearing this now, you haven't missed your chance.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But this window is not going to stay open forever.

[D]

Yeah, that's the. We'll get there. The parable of the virgins in Matthew 25.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Everybody's invited till the party starts. But when the party starts, invitation's over, brother. So the reality is, is that Jesus will return and you will bow. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. The question is, Lord of what right? He will either be Lord of your salvation or your damnation, but he will be Lord. He will be glorified by your life, either to display his justice or his grace.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. That's why, like, right now is the most important moment of your life.

[D]

That's right.

[C]

Those listening, those watching right now, if you don't. Don't put it off. Don't. Like as you hear us having this conversation, it's. It's the master of the vineyard coming out again.

[D]

Right.

[C]

You know, you cannot read this and not make some connections to the. The parable of the. The prodigal son, you know, as we like to say, the parable of the loving Father. But. But it's the. The Father goes out twice. The. The master goes out five times a year, but the Father goes out twice. It's to receive the prodigal son who comes back, but then also to go find the older brother and to go, hey, man, it's the 11th hour, why don't you come in? You know, so he's constantly coming out. Every time you hear the gospel, every time someone invites you to a church, every day, he's coming out.

[D]

And to the person that thinks they're going to pull off the thief on the cross, do you think God doesn't know your heart and that's a depart from me, I never knew you kind of thing? Because to know is to love in the Bible. And Adam knew Eve and she bore him a son. There's knowing and there's knowing. And so, I mean, the question Jesus asked Peter in John 21 is not, are you going to do better? It's just simply, do you love me?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

That's the question.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And if you treat him as only a pragmatic tool in your own eternal journey, then you have not surrendered your life to the lordship of Christ, who loved you enough to die on the cross for you. You know?

[B]

Yeah. Isn't it first John when he says, don't be deceived, don't so deceive yourselves and think, I can say this.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And live this way. You know, God's not going to be mocked.

[D]

And man, you can't catfish God.

[B]

We have an excuse.

[D]

You cannot trick him with your online profile. Think about that.

[C]

That'll preach.

[D]

That's it.

[B]

Preach. Let's talk for a minute about the phrase the last will be first and the first, last. What does Jesus mean by this? I mean, is it about the order, the rank, what's. What seems obvious from the outside. What do you think?

[D]

I think it's the same thing as another way to say it is whoever seeks his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it. Same kind of thing. So. So make yourself first here and congratulations. That's what you achieve. All that this world has to offer.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

But surrender your life to Jesus, which means to make yourself the lowest, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And congratulations, the kingdom of heaven is yours. So it's all the way back to poor in spirit versus pride.

[B]

And spirit also reminds me of what he says to the Pharisees. Right. Like, there are many people who are tax collectors and prostitutes that are going to be reclining a table, you know, while you are on the outer. In the outer darkness. Right.

[C]

Cover it. Cover it. I was going to say it's revealing of the cost as well, you know, that. Let's not forget, economically, the master of the vineyard is also losing out a bit here.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Because he's paying folks that came in and Only did an hour the same economically. Any CFO would tell you, like, hey, that's not the way to run a business.

[D]

Right.

[C]

But that's the gospel is that like Jesus emptied himself, you know, and all of us, we receive the same gospel, the same inheritance, we are reconciled to the same Father. So there is a picture here that he's giving to them to say, hey, listen, this is kingdom economics. This is actually how it works. And I need you to know this because when I send you, there's going to be a lot of kingdom economics that we're going to be doing to further this kingdom.

[B]

That's a great question.

[D]

I got something I want to read. I want to make sure I give credit to the right person.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

There's a saying, you know, you can, if you quote it once, you misquote them. If you quote them a second time, you can say somebody once said, and then the third time it's yours.

[D]

Yeah, well, I just wrote this down from him, so I think it's Mike Leach, but I don't. If that's not right, I'll try to look it up. The kingdom of God does not operate on the currency of merit, but on the currency of grace. Jesus himself is the true worker who bore the burden of the heat of the day for us at the cross. He received what we deserved so we could receive what we never earned. The generosity of the Master is not injustice. It is the overflow of divine grace. The gospel frees us from comparison because our standing before God rests entirely on the generosity of Christ, not our performance. That's a summation of. Yeah, Christ's role in this. He is both the master of the vineyard and the guy that worked all day. Yeah, yeah. He's the just and the justifier.

[C]

I mean, his question is, is like a. I don't know, a dagger to the heart. It's like, are you jealous because I'm generous?

[D]

Correct.

[C]

Like, is that. Is that what we're putting, like, we're questioning him on his gener? Like, I don't want you to be generous.

[B]

Do you begrudge my generosity? Yeah, man, what a question.

[D]

And yeah, but you notice how it's always easy to be generous with other people's money. And yes, I'm talking about Marxism right now. It is anti biblical.

[C]

Yes, yes.

[D]

So Jesus is not a socialist. Jesus is not communist now. Yeah. But in Acts 2, they share everything. Yeah, but not with the threat of the violence of the Roman government. The government didn't take their things and redistribute them and the Bible says they sold their houses, which means they owned houses.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

And the spirit of God moved them to share, to, to sell some stored assets and be generous.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And then not everybody did that, though, because they met in houses. So they mean other people's houses. No, they met in the houses that they owned.

[B]

Yeah. And man, that conversation is a fascinating one because even, even soft versions of that ideology can make it, make it into, Especially younger people when you talk about, oh, should redistribute power or like, inherently wrong that this person has privilege. I mean, these, these whole concepts are from that same socialist Marxist belief system.

[D]

Yeah. It's demonic.

[B]

Yeah. Not the way the Bible clears clear lines of authority, clear establishment of those, those kinds of.

[C]

There is a kingdom and this kingdom has a king. Yes.

[D]

Right.

[C]

And he is fully in control and he does whatever he wants. And it's always good.

[D]

Every economist alive would say if you, if you flatten the curve right now and redistribute all the money in one generation, it all be right back to the same groups of people. Because hard working people have stuff, man. Because they work hard.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Period.

[C]

Yep.

[D]

So, yeah, I mean, it's easy to be generous with other people's money.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

But you could be, you want to pay more taxes. The, the IRS would gladly take all the. If you want to throw in some extra.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Because, you know, they do such a good job with it. Good gracious, man.

[B]

I mean, I noticed the repetition there in 14 and 15. You know, I choose to give. I choose. And they're not actually trying to be generous with his money. They're mad that he's, that he's generous with his money. Yeah. Which is crazy.

[D]

I might get this wrong, but the reality is something like 80% of millionaires, it's either one or two generations later, they're not. Their families aren't millionaires anymore. And billionaires, it drops to like 60%. So I know there's some kids that grew up and Daddy's got a lot of money and just hands it to them. It typically does not go good.

[C]

No.

[D]

Because they don't work.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And they feel entitled.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Well, then Jesus, at the very end of this little section, he's very clear about the gospel. He tells them, hey, the Son of Man's going to go be delivered over, be condemned, flogged, crucified, raised. Third time, I think, in Matthew's gospel. Why would he pick this time, do you think, to share that with them?

[D]

Well, one of the things you always have to like, you're completely reading that as a Westerner, you know, And Matthew chronology is not as important to him as it was as it is to us. So I'm just reminded of that in all the study that I do, because that's how I read it too. I think a part of the reason, I think, like, if I had about three hours to teach all this, I think the. Let the little children come to me into the rich young ruler, into Peter. Starting to feel a little entitled. So Jesus tells a quick, don't compare and think you're entitled. You celebrate everybody that comes to me. Then. Then the clarity of this is why I came. The next thing that happens. Bro, this is crazy. Jesus has just laid out for the third time his death and resurrection. Yeah, Period. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up and said, hey, boss, can you. Can my boys be in charge?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And he's like, I just. Did you not listen to the parable about the. You know what I mean? Like, first will be last. And she's like, okay, enough about you. Can my boys be first? So in all of that context, there's like this, this one, like, everybody's out of tune. And there's this one clear note right in the middle, which is Jesus saying, please tune your life to what I'm saying about my life, death and resurrection, and not to what you think this world, in regards to power or status or stuff, says.

[B]

Yeah, there's. Now that you say that you think. I think sometimes there's cyclical storytelling or narrative in this, in this style. And so you think about, like, what did he just. What did he close out with Jesus's self disclosure each time, you know, you know, the talking about the Pharisees and taking up your cross, the transfiguration, the law and prophets bearing witness. And now don't. Don't be entitled to your place in the kingdom.

[D]

Because then right after that, in my opinion. So there's two boys that are asking their mom to get us positions of power. And then right on the heels of that, Matthew shares about the healing of the two blind men. And all they do is ask for mercy. So those two are juxtaposed against one another. And it's like, this ain't how you do it, boys.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Two blind men have nothing and all they ask for is mercy. Son of David, have mercy on me. And they're like, this is how you do it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, it's good.

[B]

Well, Pastor W, you said that you don't often do this, but you gave this four Step, hey, how do you get out of it? And if you're feel entitled. It was so good. I want to maybe close by talking through those things again.

[D]

Yeah, I just made these up, but I mean they're rooted in Bible stuff. So when you feel the comparison, the envy that. That's not fair. What about me? Why does my brother in law get to do all these trips and I work hard, I don't get to. Whatever it is.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Put these things into practice and see what happens. Number one, celebrate somebody else and try to disconnect it from you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

You know what I mean? Like that, you know, like I like to celebrate my kids, but I get everybody's like, well, you must be such a great dad or at least a great wife chooser, you know, so this isn't like, like truly celebrate somebody. I think I've mentioned to you before when we baptize all those people, man. Yeah, Every baptism I see and do look at three baptisms on Instagram and all it'll show you is baptisms. And so I'm just going on and celebrating everyone. I can just, you know, let me just celebrate what God's doing in other places and I put my name on it, you know. Yeah, just do that because it's really hard to, to like be critical and celebrate at the same time. Yeah, that's. One second is thank somebody. And especially thank somebody for something that you take for granted. So Gretchen's out of town this week. I am. It's just me and Reagan. And it. It's perfect, honey. It's perfect. It will be when you get home because I'm gonna pay somebody to come clean it up because I just, I'm. I'm reminded in a few days of how hard she works and how much I take it for granted.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, I mean, you just assume that I open up my, the drawers and my underwears is going to be in there. I just assume. And so don't assume, man. Unspoken gratitude is worthless.

[C]

That's good.

[D]

So say thank you to somebody. Number three, this is going to be the hardest one for many people. Don't say this. Withhold a complaint or a gossip or a grumble. Just choose not to let it come out of your mouth. I know that guy next to you doesn't work as hard as you do. And everybody's going to talk about how terrible he is. Don't do it. Dude. That Philippians 2:14 and 15 is crazy, man. And I memorized it in the NIV. So do everything without complaining. Arguing Everything, everything. And you will shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation. Like, you want to be the light of Christ in your office. You think it's like, like reading Bible verses over. People just don't complain or argue. And it would be like they take the sun and plant it in the break room and it'll blind people.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Like, how come you're not complaining and I am. I'm telling you, I am allergic to it. I don't do good when people complain. You know, share the thing you said

[B]

earlier about Jocko about. He said, like, you examine yourself first when somebody irritates you.

[D]

Dude, I don't know if Jocko's a believer or not. I'm not sure. I hope so. But he's got a lot of biblical principles that he lives by. You know, in. In extreme ownership is kind of his thing. He has just decided, regardless of the circumstances, I'm just going to say good. And so I saw this little clip. I sent it to our little family group text. And he said, in an environment when I'm working with somebody and they bug me and they get on my nerves, I have to own that and say, what is wrong with me that I have some sort of unmet expectation from this person that I'm not getting what I want after this person and I have to own that.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean, that is a Christ like thing to say.

[B]

That's log inspect stuff there 100.

[D]

Dude, what is wrong with me that you get on my nerves?

[B]

Chances are the answer is a substantial one. Right. Something about what's going on inside of me is getting triggered.

[C]

It reveals a deep insecurity that you have no place in the hands of God.

[D]

Yeah. Because what you think is you owe me what I want from you.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And I don't like what you're bringing me. Yeah. And so ultimately, what I'm saying to you is, I don't love you. I love the way you make me feel.

[B]

Therefore, I love me.

[D]

Yeah, I love me. Thanks for helping a lot of me.

[C]

Me, me, me.

[D]

And then the fourth one is, if you've never made a gratitude list, do it. So however many years you've been alive, just write one thing down that you're just grateful to God for. They should be serious things. So I have things on my list like the Bible, salvation, the sovereignty of God, you know, things like that. And then there should be things that are. They may seem silly to everybody else, but you're just grateful. You know, the piney woods of South Georgia. I put that on there. You know, our church has a retreat center that not only do I get to go and write sermons there, but I get to disciple a bunch of people there. I just love it. Back to back national championships for Georgia. That made it. Gretchen's smile, my brother Russ, my dad's salvation. So what, what begins to happen when I read this thing? My in laws. Dude, I hit the jackpot on in laws. All of them. Russ's wife, Shanna. Bro, she's the best. Justin and Maggie, Gretchen's sister and her husband. Dude, they're the best. My father in law and mother in law, Randy and Joy. Bro, I just. I light up when I see him. And so is it just because we got lucky or is it because I've been thanking God for him for so many years? When I see him, I see a tangible evidence of the blessing of God in my life.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And so I don't know which one came first. They're awesome in and of themselves. But maybe you have to reason you got all these problems in your in laws is because you see them as a problem instead of a blessing. And so, I mean, I could just go on and on and on, you know, clean running water, cool fall mornings, living in Jacksonville, the beach, ministry connections, all these kind of things. Pheasant hunting in South Dakota. So when I begin to feel sorry for myself, the first thing I tell myself when I start like feeling sorry is I just look at, I look at myself in the mirror. Oh, cupcake, it must be so hard, me and you. Because I was watching something on YouTube and there's some British talk show thing. They all sit on couches. I don't know what it's called. This little British guy with his legs crossed like a girl is interviewing. And there's three, you know, famous people.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And the girl. What's that movie where they're all seeing Acapella? It's like a musical movie. Pitch Perfect. Pitch Perfect.

[B]

Oh, good.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I was like, that girl is on it and some other famous Hollywood actress is just talking about her hard life. And the Pitch Perfect girl just, she goes, she goes, oh, muffin, it must be so hard being you. And it's like, I don't know, some like super famous person. And it just like shifted. So I will look myself in the mirror and be like, oh, cupcake, it must be so hard being the pastor of the fast growing church with a beautiful wife and two healthy kids that love the Lord, all living in America with your GMC truck and your. You know what I mean?

[B]

10 minutes from the beach.

[D]

Yeah. Poor thing. I don't know how you do it all. So I just read this thing, man. I don't ever make it to 52.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Before I'm. It is a seesaw, dude. And if you plant your weight of your life on the gratitude side, then the entitlement is gone. It has no weight to it. Yeah, but if you get all focused on what you don't have, it's like you don't have any room to be grateful for all the great things you do have. So if you want to send me a complaining email, man, I'm telling you, I'm allergic to it. I'm allergic to it.

[C]

I started doing this a few years ago. I heard you talk about it a while ago and thought, let me write my own gratitude list. And it actually helps you see God for who he is. So, like, on my list, I've got coffee, which I. I'm just like, I'm so thankful that of all the things I mean, God took time to go, I am going to create coffee.

[D]

It changes the way you drink coffee

[C]

like you cannot believe. And then my wife. I mean, we all have our wives on there, who I love deeply. And then I just recently turned 41. And so I went, well, God, what I want to put on there. And I said, 1122. And. And the transition of 1122, I cannot walk away from that and be like, God, look what. What you've done. Like, look at our kids and my wife and our life. And it's so. It just. It. It again brings you back to God, who is the giver of all these things. And I. I'm in. I have a relationship with him. Like, I don't know how you can complain and grumble and it.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So if I've had a couple of conversations with people and they're getting gripey. So just warning. I mean, now that you do this, whether it's an employee or a family member or a friend, and I. And I begin to feel this sense now. I want to be a safe place where people can talk about all the things. But if it gets real gripey, I'll just go, can you send me your gratitude list? That's just what I say.

[C]

That's good.

[D]

And hopefully they're smart enough to be like, I might need to read over that, you know?

[A]

Right.

[D]

And often what I find on there is the thing they're griping about is probably on the list, like their family or their job or their. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So it'll change. Jesus says you can change the world just by not complaining and arguing. Or Paul does. Jesus gives him the words, though, because he is the living word that gives us the revealed word.

[B]

It goes back to the brick thing, you know, it's like they had the same information, you know, it wasn't an external change. The definition of a victim mentality is that you believe happiness is dependent on something outside of you being different.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

But when something inside of you changes, nothing outside of you has to. And they can change everything. We'll shout out Pastor Britt as well, because he has his regular list. And then he. Then he says, I'm going to make a list of gratitude to God for God.

[D]

I did that one too, because when I go to the sermons, I listen to what the guy says.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And do what he says. So he said a gratitude list to God about God.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Ultimate reality, truth, love, trinity, perfect community. Willing to create. Image bearers, willing to sacrifice himself for us. Glorious judge, righteous, willing to reveal himself in his word. Gracious, merciful, jealous. The source of ultimate knowledge. The giver of every good gift. Not only timeless, but outside of its bounds. Ever present here. Returning to make all things new. Never surprised. First, in essence, long suffering, ultimately beautiful, limitless, relentless Father, humble enough to put on flesh. Always in line with your own nature. Creative, worthy and desirous of our worship. Forgiving source of life, holding all things together. The proto toco from the dead, immutable conqueror of sin, friend of sinners, omnipotent miracle worker. Our ultimate source of satisfaction. Good, all knowing, never tired, never busy, but always working. Mysterious. Has said our source of gratitude, faithful even when we are not just slow to anger, patient. There's 52 things to be grateful to God about God.

[C]

And he loves me, bro.

[B]

You can spend. You can spend a lot of time on every single one of those just to think about.

[D]

Well, if you try to do this, yeah, you guys got an advantage because you're Bible scholars. But here's the thing, man. You think you know God? Try to write down a gratitude list, one for every year of your life about characteristics of who God is. My guess is for the average listener, you're gonna get about six and be like, I've run out of all the theology words I know. And then you're gonna have to dig into the Word.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Which is a really good way to spend your time. And I bet you won't feel all entitled when you do these things.

[B]

Yes, we can add that to the list. God is a self revealing God. He Wants to be known. He tells us all these things about himself. Well, Pastor Joby, we're out of time. Why don't you close us with whatever you have? But you ended this, the sermon, with a charge to us as listeners. Hey, check yourself. You know, check yourself before God. Have I. Have I allowed entitlement to creep in? Have I started to compare myself and my situation to other people? So.

[D]

So, yeah, the place in the sermon I ended was. I mean, the text we finished with was the gospel. Right. Jesus said, I'm going to be crucified. So we go to the cross and he is crucified between two thieves.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And every single one of us come to crawl. Come to Christ as one of those thieves.

[B]

Right.

[D]

The entitled guy doesn't get a lot of ink. And he says, if you are who you say you are, then save yourself and save us with you. And so that is not much different than, I worked all day and you only gave me this. And so is that your posture towards the Lord, the other guy, somehow, I mean, how does he know? Like, I do not. I don't know his religious background. You know, I mean, he's a thief. He's a murderous thief. When we say thief is not a strong enough of a term, by the way. They didn't, you know, they would probably just chop your hand off if you just stole stuff. And he somehow not. He knows who Jesus is in that he's going to be with the Father and that somehow he has permission to bring me with him. And he also realizes who he himself is. He's like, dude, do you know who you're talking to? This man has done nothing wrong, and yet we deserve to be here. And then he just simply asked for a favor.

[B]

Right.

[D]

So ultimately, that's how you get saved. God, will you do me a favor? Will you take my life? And then in. So you're going to give me eternal life. Okay. But you don't ever graduate from that position. Even you know, when you're praying, you're like, God, will you put your favor upon me and say yes to this? And. Or if I'm asking the wrong thing, will you put your favor upon me and help me understand why not. And even if I don't understand, to trust that it's good. And when you. You can't do that and live in the life of comparison because you're. Yeah, because you're. It's hard to. It's impossible to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and fix my eyes on your Instagram page or look down my nose at somebody else. And so that's how we should come to Jesus.

[B]

It's kind of like the 1010 life, right? Like, you choose joy. You can literally choose the joy that he offers you by focusing on the right things. Will you pray for us?

[D]

Be happy too? Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you that you, the Master, came and chose us to come work in your vineyard. May we see it as a blessing all day, every day. And may we be excited to be door holders for your courts. In Jesus name, Amen. Thank you for listening to the podcast the End.

[B]

You nailed it.

[A]

The reality is everything already belongs to God and when we give financially, we're acknowledging that we trust him. If you just watch this and feel led to make a donation, text the word donate to 441-122 or visit coe22.com donate your generosity is not only an act of worship, but an investment so all people can discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.