First Impressions

Introduction

I think that’s everything. Appreciate Dean for the song service. I asked him to lead the imitation song that he that he picked out, and he found some other songs that went along nicely. And he was very gracious to only lead two because I’m a little bit of a loose canon on time frames. So he’s he’s he’s thinking of you guys in doing that, so it’s not like he didn’t want to lead more. and if we may get done early, I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ve been attending here for right at a year. And you know, when you come someplace new, you don’t quite know what to expect on some areas, and you don’t really know everyone, you know, so it takes a while to not only learn people’s names, you know, you kind of see, well, they usually sit over there, and they sit over there, and it starts to kind of sink in a little bit at a time, you know, but you’re trying to identify that and get all that.

So, what do you do before you really get to know everyone? You kind of have we had kind of names we’d say. Well, you know, there’s the there’s the pretty lady, there’s the pretty hair lady, there’s the tall, friendly huggy guy, you know, there’s the bald guy, there’s the shorter bald guy that always sits in the same spot back there, you know. getting back to the bald guy, you know, Woody, you know, and then Mike’s in that category too, but you know, when we came here, we had God gone to college with Woody. And in college, he was like Miami Vice preppy clothes wearing, okay? Pastels, zoot suits, the whole thing, okay? And so that paradigm has taken a little while to shift once we came here to his Wranglers and Boots that he’s got now.

But it’s interesting how your first impressions kind of set things with you. You know, there’s the high heel lady, all the different high heels, you know. the tall older guy that’s really nice and he brings the water, you know, he’s always really gracious. You know, the kids are like, we like that guy, you know. all the B name people. You know, we’ve got the Brumfields, the Bergner’s, the I know I know there’s more, you know. And then, yeah. Trying to get all those straight takes us a little while. The Egolf girls that we knew from Dry Creek Camp, you know, one of them married Thad, and another one’s married to a Wiggitton guy, you know. David Banning’s parents. Well, we didn’t know him as Robert and Martha, you know, was on a service.

Well, they’re they’re David Benny’s parents. Everybody knows David Benny is. the family with the triplets that we met at Clinewood one time when we went to church there, you know, they hey they’re here. Chrissy, who I was in chorus with at Florida College. you know, I mean, that’s you know, no tell them what you said about us. You know, we show up. I mean, I’ve heard, I’ve heard all kinds of things. I’ve heard man, were y’all Mormon converts, or maybe Catholic, you know, on the surface, or what’s the deal with the van? You know, for some of y’all that just started coming here, we’ve been called the big family, the Olympics by so I guess because of the summertime that was going on, you know.

It could be, well, you know, the nice red-headed lady with the skinny husband that talks too much. all that’s been said at one point and another. But my point is, my point is that oftentimes we’ve gotten to know you better. And we’ve been able to develop an affection and a genuine concern for a lot of you now. And we’re still working on that because it’s a process to you know to get deeper into a relationship to understand where you’re coming from and where we’re coming from and what everybody’s all about. But sometimes that doesn’t happen. And you know, my question is, why is that? Why do we sometimes not get any deeper than just the surface? You know, I’d like to suggest to you know, that holds us back.

1. We Keep God at Arm's Length

We’ve got a fear of being deeper because it exposes us a little bit. we could get hurt. You know, they could find out who we really are. Which, you know, if there’s a skeleton in the closet, you hope that it’s not something that would be offensive to someone, but you know, everybody’s got something. And we keep those, you know, okay. I had a guy that worked for me that was a karate expert, and had another guy that was a finisher, and he was one of those very close personal space people, you know, and he would come up to the karate guy and just get right on top of him. And the karate guy one day said, Sean, I’m gonna pop him, I’m gonna hit him, you know.

I’m gonna hit him, you know. And he said, and he came in one day and says, I did it. I did it. He said, I’m like, Mac, see this? This is my space. If you come in here, you’re gonna get hurt. Don’t come in here. And Mike’s like, Oh, my am I standing too close to you? He’s like, Yes. And on a professional level, you know, those boundaries are good, and even sometimes, though, I think we keep those up too much. And because I think all of us at some point in time have had our trust violated. Or been hurt in some way. But sometimes I think we do that with God, too. We keep him in arm’s length so we don’t expose too much of our inner self to him.

And can we do that? I mean, can we legitimately do that? And my answer to that and my supposition to you is that it can’t be done. Because Hebrews 4 12 through 13 says, For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit and joints from marrow. It is able to judge the desires and the thoughts of the heart. And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. So, you know, whether we keep God at arm’s length or not, he knows your business. He knows every bit of it. And I, this is a New England translation.

I’ve got a few that are New American Standard, but I like that everything is naked and exposed. And sometimes rather effectively, you know, because it’s a safety mechanism. And, you know, I do that as well. You know, I really can’t fault anyone. We need to work on that, I would think. But with God, there’s nothing hidden, and we’re going to have to give an account to him for everything that we do. Oftentimes, though, we don’t want to make that change. We would rather remain ignorant so that we won’t be responsible for very much. In fact, some people tell me sometimes, like, Sean, what you know new? I’m like, man, I try to know anything new, then I’m responsible for it. You know, and sometimes we go through life that way, and sometimes with our spiritual selves, we sometimes don’t want to be accountable for a whole life.

2. Are You Okay With Where You Are?

Because you know, it says those that have you teach, you know, are going to be held to a different standard. The elders are accountable for the souls that are under them. So I guarantee you they don’t do anything flippantly or lightly. And sometimes that’s a burden that people don’t want to bear. But sometimes we just would rather not know something and just keep everything at arm’s length. It’s the wrong thinking. Okay? Zig Ziglar says, that’s thinking. And you don’t need to do that. So, my question to us today, this evening, is are you okay with where you are? And that’s a question that we need to ask ourselves at all times. Are we okay with where we are? Am I just going to sit here and I’m going to hang out and I’m going to sit in the pew and I’m going to go through the motions?

And Tony’s had several lessons like this, but you know, we stay where we are, and we’re comfortable where we’re at. We don’t want to go in here. We don’t want to go over there. You know, what do you mean? Sit two rows further up, man. I don’t know about that. Or maybe go see this person or do that. Throw your bucket list in there. I mean, it could be it could be anything. The problem, though, is not lack of knowledge or ignorance, but it’s being unwilling to better yourself in that state. Okay? You must be a willing participant in the process. Unless we’re never going to leave where we are until you decide where you’d rather be. And I mean, people that complain a lot, you know, in my business, people come in and they’ll complain or they’ll they’ve got an issue.

Right? All of us know those people. They’ve got an issue. And you’re like, okay, well, what would you rather see? And they’re like. And I’ll come right back at them. If you can’t tell me what you would rather see, then you’re just complaining because you have no idea what you would rather it look like. Your personal situation, the work environment, whatever it is. You know, so until you know where you want to go and what you want to do or how you want to be, you’re, you’re never gonna, you’re never gonna leave your little spot where you’re comfortable. And that applies, shoot the gamut, guys. It applies everywhere to your professional life, family, definitely, your spiritual life. These are things that the wisdom in the Bible is universal.

Well, we’ve gone to a lot of business seminars and things like that, and Theresa will go with me a lot of times early on, and she’s like, Well, that’s in the Bible. That’s in the Bible. And I’m like, Yeah, but you probably wouldn’t give as many people the seminar if we told them it was biblically based. Which is sad to say. Now, some of them are, you know, but there’s no wisdom that’s from that’s not from above. So all wisdom, every good thing is from above. So you can apply it to any facet of your life. Acts 17, verse 30 and following says, Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed the day in which he will judge the world.

Now I don’t know about y’all, but that to me that gives me a little bit of motivation to want to get out of my little comfortable shell because ignorance is not an excuse. Well, officer, I didn’t know what the speed limit was. How does that work for you? I’ve tried it a few times. It doesn’t work. I’ll just let you know firsthand. You know, but sometimes, you know, do we want to play the ignorance card? But God, he’s overlooked it, but now he’s got a command for us. He’s directed us to get busy doing something and to improve our current state. So songs Dean Led, you know, Savior, you know, do we know you? You know, can you fully know someone at the very beginning?

3. Unconsciously Incompetent: You Don't Know What You Don't Know

No. Sometimes people ask me, what don’t you trust me? And I’m like, well, I can’t trust you because I don’t know you. It has nothing to do with me trusting you. You know, and sometimes we don’t trust each other because we don’t fully know each other. Sometimes we don’t trust God because I think that we don’t fully know God. So it all starts, it all starts right here. We’re gonna go through a little chart. Woody’s shaking his head. Yeah. Some of us have seen this before. That we all start out and we’re unconsciously incompetent. I know that’s kind of a mouthful. But basically, you don’t know what you don’t know. Well, I didn’t know. You know, Steve, you got students every day that they don’t know what they don’t know.

And until you, until you teach them and explain to them what they’re ignorant of, okay? This is this is basically you’re ignorant. You’re unconsciously incompetent. You’re just so bad that you don’t even know you’re bad. You know, at something. And it’s not anything you’re doing on purpose, you’re just ignorant. But until you’re taught and someone shows you, I mean, it’s the very first step. 1 Corinthians 3 2. I fed you milk and not solid food because you weren’t ready. In fact, you’re still not ready. And he goes on and talk to him about some other things. But that’s where this teaching comes in that we have out of Bible classes from, you know, age two on up to the adult class, and I know sitting in the adult class, I’m still learning things that I didn’t know that I didn’t know.

But I’m further along in the process than the two-year-olds, definitely, you know. but you know, we never can reach the pinnacle we end up with. Also, Proverbs 9, verse 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. And that’s kind of what we’re wanting to strive towards, and really we’re talking about is the knowledge of the Holy One, the knowledge of Jehovah of God. And how much knowledge of Him do we have? You know, is it just that? I know they said on the front row on the left. You know, or is it a little bit more knowledge of the Holy One than just that?

4. Consciously Incompetent: That's Where Training Comes In

So once we’ve learned a little bit, we become conscious of our incompetence. Like, man, I don’t know nothing. I’m just a complete idiot and neophyte when it comes to spiritual things. Or you can apply this to sports. Same things, the same curve. You can apply this to a new job. Same thing. A new school class. But you realize how deep it goes, and you’re a conscious and you’re aware of that. So what do you do about it? Well, I think it’s just better being ignorant, man, so I’m just going to kind of stay where I’m at. Not as much will be demanded of me. That’s where training comes in. And this is a this part of it, this training part, you can spend a lot of time there.

And there’s a lot of verses on that, and there’s a lot of depth that can be gone into. Just a couple of verses. Hebrews 12 and verse 11. Now all discipline, and Scott stole my thunder this morning, and Tony’s used this a lot, but you know what? That means it means this verse is very applicable. And we need to go ahead and chalk it away in our in our memory banks. All discipline seems painful at the time and not joyful, but later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those that are trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

So the end goal here is to not just remain at the state that you’re in, but to train to get stronger, to improve, to not be lame. So basically saying, you know, spiritually, you’re lame. You’re babes. You’re not where you need to be. And so this training, it’s painful sometimes. Any of us that work out, you know, I played a tournament yesterday, a volleyball tournament, and I’m I’m a little sore. It hurts. You know, and hit the floor a few times, and that doesn’t really necessarily agree with me. But you know, any of us that have gone and worked or worked out or done anything with our bodies, it’s not a happy time all the time. But then you’re happy with the results. You know, we all want the results, but you’re not gonna get them without putting some time in with some training.

5. Consciously Competent: That's Where Coaching Comes In

Titus 2, verse 11 through 12. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. So the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all people, and that grace, it, the grace is what trains us to reject godless ways. So basically, God’s word and the grace he’s given us, we need to receive that in ourselves as training to help us live better. We all agree with that statement. So once we’ve trained and we’ve worked, we become consciously competent. Alright, now what this stage is basically is that we’re doing it. We’re doing it and we’re doing okay, but we’ve got to think about it.

We’ve got to think about it. We see this in sports a lot where, you know, the safety is frozen for just a split second while someone cuts on him. He’s not unconscious yet. He’s having to think about it, and that split second someone blows past him. See that in basketball on the backdoor cut. We see it in every sport, you know, the that you want to name. There’s something there that the people that are consciously confident, they’re good at the skills. They can do it, but they have to think a little bit about it. And but that’s an improvement from where we were by being incompetent. We’ve gotten confident, and a lot of us kind of hang out right here for a long time. That, you know, we may have trouble making decisions in life about, well, do I do I do I stay home from church or do I do I go ahead and get up and go?

How bad do I really feel? You know, do I do I watch this movie or do I not watch this movie? You know, and so you’re having to consciously troll through some of these processes and decision making that perhaps maybe you shouldn’t have to think so much about, I’d like to suggest to you. you can plug in whatever you want to plug in there. I think I think you guys get the point. And that’s where this coaching comes in. And that’s some of what Tony does for us when he gets over the pulpit. He’s kind of encouraging you know, and us as well, who are receiving it, on how to not only be consciously competent, but to be able to move to the next level.

And to keep building on what you’ve already got a foundation of. You know, and so many times when we have problems in our life, it’s because we’ve kind of made the wrong decisions. We’ve thought through it, and we just we’ve made the wrong decisions, and what happens? We get punished for it. You know, maybe not, you know, God’s gonna bring a plague on us. I’m not talking like that. I know in business, people ask, Well, what did you do? I’m like, well, if I did something and I lost money, I’m like, man, that doesn’t feel good. I don’t want to do that anymore. And so I wouldn’t, you know, if I did something and you made money and it felt good and it was I enjoyed doing that.

You know, some things you do and you get paid for, and you’re like, man, that was like pulling teeth. I never want to do that again. You know, well, you don’t want to do that either. You want to be able to engage internally with doing the right things. You want to be able to do the right things, and you want to be able to make the right decisions, and you know what? Things are gonna feel better because wow, that you know you made the right decision. And the coach, in our case, that’s us with our kids a lot. We’re encouraging them, we’re coaching them, we’re training them, teaching them to try to make good decisions and how to sort through things in their life.

Find that in kids that I’ve coached in sports as well. But as a congregation and as Christians, we need that too, don’t we? Because we don’t all have it figured out internally on our own. So sometimes there’s a an elder, someone that we respect, that’s possibly hopefully in a position that we would aspire to be in one day. not just if you’re a female, you know, in a position of spiritual maturity, that you seek those people out and query them on, you know, I do that in business. Matrice’s like, you know, if you just took someone out to eat once a week that was where you would like to be, you know, it would be way cheaper than advertising, and you’d get a lot more out of it.

So we dropped the yellow page ad, and I did that for a while. You know, and it’s amazing what you can get out of that just by having some interaction and some dialogue with someone that is a little bit further along than you. And you know what? You’d be surprised at the number of people that are willing to help you do that if you reach out to them. You would. So after this stage, and you’re working on things, you’ve had some coaching, you know, pastors go along, this is 1 Timothy 4, 15 through 16. Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

Alright, he’s talking to Timothy here, and he’s saying, emerge yourself. Immerse yourself. and fill yourself up with that. Pay close attention to you and what you’re doing and to what you’re saying. Okay, because you’re going to affect other people with your actions. And, you know, this immersion or being absorbed in these things. You know, when they try to teach someone a different language, you know, one of the best ways of doing it is they call it immersion, and they send you to a place that’s all they speak is that language, and you’ve got to figure it out. And you either sink or swim. But you absorb a whole lot more that way instead of having a crutch. So we’ve got to make a decision whether we’re going to jump in or if we’re just going to keep testing the water with our toe.

6. Unconsciously Competent: You Just Do It

So when you move to the next phase, is that you become unconsciously competent. You just do it. And people say, Well, how did you make that decision? Or I don’t know why? How do you just know to do that? And you’re like, I don’t know, just do it. You know. And sports, they call it being in the zone. You know, how did you know the ball’s going to go there? Man, I can just tell. You know, and it’s not really anything that you’re processing in your brain. You react and you do it. And you know, you get in the zone and you can’t make a mistake. You know? and you’re just all over the place. And this is really where all of us need to be striving to get.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you’re perfect. Because none of us are. That doesn’t mean that you never struggle with making a decision of some sort or a problem in your life. That’s not what this is saying. It’s just saying that you’re able to make decisions in your life, with your family, with your job, that you’re not having to consciously dwell and focus on. Because you know what? The decision based is already made. You know, it talks about judgment. The judgment’s already lined out, it’s predetermined, it’s predestined. That’s what he’s talking about there. It’s already for determined what the answer is going to be. In other words, with us, it’s already predetermined that we’re going to get up and we’re going to come to services. There’s not a question, oh, how about today?

Well, I don’t know, man. The kid’s got a runny nose, or I don’t feel really good. I mean, unless we’re too sick to go into work or something else, we’re going to be here. Because that’s something that’s a foregone conclusion. It’s already determined. And so we’re not having to consciously think about that. You know, but in this stage, you need support.

We need support. Even the elders need support. Sometimes we think they’re over here on this little platform, little raised eyes over there, and they’re got it all figured out. And that’s not true. Ernie’s shaking his head. And there’s only one here. But we’re here to support each other. The elders receive that from us. We receive that from them. We give it to one another back and forth. Because even though you may be the best player on the team, if you don’t have someone to play with you, how’s that going to work out? I’ve seen that movie. It doesn’t end well. You know.

Doesn’t matter how good you are. It doesn’t matter how strong spiritually you are. It doesn’t matter how righteous you are. You know, you’ve got to have support. We support each other. I’m going to read, I don’t have this up on the board if you’d like, but let’s turn to Colossians 3. We’re going to be just good on time, I think. Good news. Let y’all know now. Colossians 3, starting in verse 12 through 17. And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you. With all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. And that’s our common goal, but we’re supposed to be admonishing each other. We’re supposed to be teaching and supporting one another by what we’re doing here. 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1, starting in verse 8.

And this is where he just talked about put your diligence and faith and moral excellence and your moral excellence knowledge. And he gets to this verse 8, and he says, For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, in other words, not stagnant, not stable, plateaued out. If these are yours, then increasing. Okay, it’s a process. A process doesn’t stop, folks. Okay? It’s not a one and done deal. It’s a process. They render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted. He’s forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble, for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things. And even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present in you. And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind. I read a couple verses more. But he wants them to be able to call to mind to remember. To stir them up, to support them in their walk as a Christian. Sometimes we go backwards.

For though you should, in fact, be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness because he’s an infant. But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil. Perceptions trained through practice. Means we’ve got to do it, folks. We’ve got to exercise it. And if we’ve got to keep exercising it, or we can go backwards. 2 Peter 2, 20 through 22, for if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome.

The last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it. And to turn away from the Holy Commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb. A dog returns to its own vomit, and a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire. Let us not be those, that person. Let’s not have that be us ever. Because it’s not a pretty thing.

Conclusion

Because we’ve partaken in the way of righteousness. We’ve known it. We do know it. But let’s not, let’s not be a dog eating vomit. I mean, that just that doesn’t create some mental image that kind of a little bit, you know. You know, that’s that’s not something that we want to do. So what we need to do is always improve and constantly press forward. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. So, this process is not a one and done. I’m pressing on, I’m moving forward, I’m moving up. And we need to do that. So my question is, do you know Jesus? Or do you know him about as well as just a couple that sits on the front row or second row?

Back. You know? How well do we know Jesus? How well do we know God? Because our depth of knowledge and relationship with him, I would suggest you is directly relational to our relationship with everyone sitting on these pews around us. John 10, verse 14 and 27, 28 says, I’m a good shepherd. And this is Jesus talking to the disciples. And I know my own, and my own know me. And those of us that have been in the John class, we know this verse. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. Now, are we sure that we know Jesus the way this verse is talking about?

Because if we do, no one’s gonna be able to snatch us out of his hand. And you know what? That to me, that’s a safe place to be right there. That’s that’s a comfortable place to be. That really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That we’re in God’s hand and no one’s gonna be able to take us out of there. But you know what? If you don’t put yourself there and snuggle up and work, stay in there, you’re gonna step off of your own accord. So again, how well do we know Jesus? And that’s my question that I’m gonna leave you with tonight. And we’d like to encourage you to never be okay with where you are.

Always be working. Always be a little bit discontent with the status quo because it doesn’t matter. The oldest person in here will tell you never have it all figured out, no matter how smart you are. So I’m going to leave you with those thoughts. And by way of invitation, that Dean’s going to be leading for us here in just a little bit. I’d like to appeal to anyone that’s been struggling with not doing what they should be doing. Whether it’s sin, whether it’s just making poor decisions that affect you or your family, or whether it’s something you need to publicly come and talk about, or just let us know that you need the prayers of the congregation. We’re here to help with that, or for someone that knows that they need to be baptized for the remission of their sins, we can help you with that now as we stand and sing.