¶ Love and Freedom From the Rat Race
You know the problem with the rat race . What's that ? If you win the rat race , you're still a rat , all right .
That's not us anymore . No , right , right . Welcome back to the move where we are vibing with the book , 10 minutes at a time .
The next 10 minutes we're looking at Romans chapter 12 , verses 9 to 16 .
Yes , and the question is have you read it ? I've read it , you've read it . I've read it . Have you read it ? Check it out , make sure you read it .
We'll wait right here for you for just a second and welcome back 10 minutes starting on the clock . Three , two , one , let's go .
I had a professor once , just once , yeah , just once . He's a great , great man . He's um , he's since passed , but just awesome , awesome dude , and he , um he once told the story of what it means to live with integrity .
Okay .
And now it's . You know , it's anecdotal to some degree and there's some inconsistencies with analogy . Not in conciliatory , yeah , with the etymology of the word , but just for those who are in the know .
He says walking through the market in the time of scripture , right , particularly in New Testament time , and that if there was something that was made out of a candle , a pure candle , like made out of marble or something right or not , I'm sorry , like a figurine made out of marble I think is what he says he's like a true figurine would be one that had no
cracks or had no divots within it that were then covered up by some sort of expensive or wax that would substitute for the marble . So if you had a marble figurine , it's got a chip in it .
It's got a chip in it . Fill it up with the wax .
People aren't the wiser . People aren't the wiser . So , uh , wax in the Latin , I think . In Spanish it's Cera , Cera right , and to be without wax is seen Cera right , which is where we derive it , Sincere .
Oh , yes , check that out .
So he would say that sincere is to be wholly the thing , to not have any pieces of other right To be 100% sincere , to be 100% genuine is to just be the thing itself . So when Paul starts here , verse nine , let love be genuine . It reminds me of my professor and that story that let your love be without wax . Let it be fully .
There's no performative sense to this type of love . This love is fully transparent .
It's fully is there , and this is I guess we've been talking about this over the last couple of nights here at the church that we're at about this idea of sin , and that sin isn't so much the actions or the specific manifestation of a particular thing , but it's this thing that's deep seated within our hearts , this , this desire to , to rebel against that which
is pure and which is holy and which is good .
Yeah .
So , in the sense , our love , even if we're performing the right actions of love , could still be short of the actual standard if our heart isn't quite fully there , if it's not genuine .
That's right . That's right . So what you have when we talk about sin , right , I'm glad you you went there , because when we talk about sin , you know that with a love reality tour will make this presentation that we say think of a human . A human has three parts , biblically , at least this idea that it's body , soul , spirit , right .
Others might like prefer a spirit , mind , body right . That word psyche is yeah , when we say soul , we're talking about consciousness , mind , that whole deal right , but that in the Adam , one body , before we come to Christ in our new creation . It's not that there is a .
You have a body , you also have a mind you have consciousness , but what you don't have is Life-giving spirit . You don't have holy spirit within you , and the spirit that you do have is the spirit that's at work in the sons of disobedience .
So there is an absence of righteousness within you that would actually Cause you to see the character of God and not only come into agreement with it , but be empowered to live according to it , so that you are the thing itself , without Wax you know saying there is no hole .
There's that statement , my blaze , pascal . It's in a different context , but the idea is there that every man is born with God shaped hole in their heart . Now we use that to say that our life is incomplete without God .
But there's a certain sense that our being is Incomplete without the presence of righteousness , without the spirit within us because we were made to be that right we were Intended to be the figurine .
Yeah , that is sincere , sincere and so that , yeah . So when Paul says let love be genuine .
That's a challenge like that's .
That's that's if there's a bar , setting the bar very high unattainable but it's so good that you phrase it that way , because I Hear that and I agree .
Yeah , like if I'm thinking in the atom one right if I'm , if I'm looking at my own circumstances , my own ability to perform . Yeah , love yeah perform yeah , love , I can't do it . But that's the whole thing . Is that love ? And there's another translation that love be without hypocrisy .
Yeah , yeah .
That idea of hypocrisy is that you are an actor . That's where that word comes from .
That you're an actor on a stage performing something that you aren't actually In being so , what would change if you hear the Commandment to let your love be genuine ? But you hear it through Adam too ? Hmm for me , it then becomes empowering how so ? Because Paul is telling me that the ability to have genuine love is mine . So release it .
So it's available to me . Just , just , just let it be . Just believe that you are who he says you are . He is who he says he is . Spirit is within you and let your love be , genuine Right . Let your love be genuine . Um , what else do we have here ?
I mean , he gives a list of exhortations here that if we don't move on we're not even gonna get to All right .
well , let's strike at the heart of this . What is the the point of all this ? That that love , that spirit living isn't Performative , that it's this genuine act that's from the overflow of what you have received and that when you've received it you don't have to strive to try to get something .
So that then he tells you in verse 16 Live in harmony with one another , do not be hotty , but associate with the lowly . We were just remarking the kjv version .
Right , the kjv , I had it here , but it was don't put your mind or mind not lofty things , lofty things right that you don't pursue , trying to attain that which is haughty and of this world in high-po .
I don't , I don't need that because I had the idea that I have to Become a certain thing after attain a certain level of business or income or social standing .
Like , that's not something that we have to participate .
We are free from the rat race or free from that matrix , upon which this is the reality that I live with . You don't have to do that anymore , because you already have that thing and you know why , you're free from the rat race .
How's that ? One of my favorite people in the world , dan molar .
He says you know the problem with the rat race . What's that ? If you win the rat race , you're still a rat .
That's not us anymore . No , right , right . So we don't have to pursue Hottie things , we don't have to position people in places and attempts to try to get something , because that's evil right positioning people in order to Pursue your own end right . Don't do that right . This is don't be like Esau .
He was 13 because he saw a position Jacob in for his own end right .
I mean .
Jacob ended up actually Reflected that yeah , he was 13 . Don't be that way . Let love be genuine and , instead of pursuing the lofty things of this world , condescend to the brother of low estate .
Why do you think that that is the byproduct of spirit living ? Why do you think that once I've received the gospel , that's what comes out ?
One . The low-hanging fruit is like this is what God is like .
This is exactly what God is like . He did not esteem what's in Philippians .
He didn't count being equal to God something to be grasped Right . But he made himself a servant Emptied himself yeah . Emptied himself , and not just any kind of servant , but a man , and he served to the point of death , not just any kind of death , but death on a cross . So one is the heart of God .
That's the very nature of who God is . God doesn't exist , so that in one sense of the word , that he is exalted , he doesn't need to be exalted because he is already supreme . So his existence , his pleasure , is derived in giving and serving and lifting others up .
What I like . I like Paul when he highlights this for us in 1 Corinthians 13, . That one , it's the character of God , and appropriately so , but it's also just simply the way of love , and it's the way we were designed and created to live . This is the key that unlocks all reality to behave and act in this way , to just give freely .
And as you give freely , you get more in return , because it's better to give than to receive . But as we receive , we give and we participate in this thing that we call the beneficence of love , this great cycle of giving , receiving . And we constantly give to the brother or sister of a lowly estate and lift them up right , because that's what God would do .
We found that in our lives , right .
Yeah .
That when you give it's just , you get more than you thought you'd ever get back .
What's that thing that Zig Ziglar would say ? Like you know , this old school motivational speaker back in the day with the tapes .
Oh , I know Zig oh you know what's the thing that he's like .
Oh , I know , Zig .
You can get what you want by helping other people get what they want , or something , what's that ? I don't remember . I don't remember the adage , it's really good .
We'll have to look it up and
¶ Sincere Love and Good Gift-Giving
add it . And we're running out of time , man , go for it . Ah , man , just this thing about letting love be sincere , man , didn't we just have an experience today where , out of the sincerity of being compelled by love , we preach the gospel that then fed back into us today ? Yeah Right , and we're in that place . Ooh , we're done .
We'll have to share the story with you on the next one , but letting love be sincere gives good gifts . We want to tell you a story on the next go round about a way where being faithful to the call of just being love gave way much more to us . Just happy to see you .
But we'll tell you tomorrow . See you guys on the next episode .