Real Christianity in an Unreal World

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Can I greet you guys in my native language? If you don't talk to me, I'm going to leave now. Can I greet you guys in my native language? How you doing? That's the only Italian I know.

Tom, one of the things I forgot to mention about Tom, there's a problem in a lot of the institutional efforts that go out in our culture today, and one of the major problems is oftentimes we don't understand who our customer is and what our product is, and Tom gets it, and there are very few people that get it like he does, and it reminds me of back in the 40s and 50s when General Electric decided to advertise its washers and dryers on this new medium called television, and their advertising campaign failed because they mistakenly thought that their customer was the consumer, you or me. Their customers were never the consumer. Their customer was J.C. Penney and Sears and Roebuck. That's their customer.

If you don't convince them that your washers and dryers are valuable, it'll never get to the consumer. In the men's ministry movement, we've mistakenly thought that you men are our customer. You're not our customer. The customer is the local church, and we must never forget that. It's the local church where ministry like this really belongs, and Tom gets that, and his whole ministry is dedicated to making sure that he serves and loves and encourages pastors and leaders, and I'm sad to say that we missed that for many, many years, but we're starting to get that.

That's where it belongs, and so I really commend them for what they're doing in that area. This message is titled Real Christianity in an Unreal World, and I can think of no better way than to send us out of here with kind of a rallying point about approaching our culture in the right way. He mentioned Pastor Hayford, and I remember years ago, Pastor Hayford bringing a sermon, and he talked about what he called the opposing stream theory. There was a theory out there that at the end times, that the church is going to be victorious and spotless and white, and Jesus will come for his victorious bride. There's not a lot of biblical evidence to support that extreme theory, but there are people that lean that way.

There are other people that lean the opposite way. No, Jesus is going to come back to save the church. Darkness is going to prevail, and the church will be struggling, and Jesus will come back and save her. What Jack would say, Pastor Jack would say, both of those are true. He would have the opposing stream theory that basically says, all throughout human history, there are two streams in juxtaposition running in opposite directions from one another, and they're going in the opposite directions the field of good, the stream of good and the stream of evil, light and darkness going in opposite directions slow enough to where you could theoretically have a foot in both streams.

And that's what a lot of us are doing, by the way. We've got, we're confused about what stream we're really in, and we're in whatever stream we want to be in on any given day that suits us. You know, I've said this before, there are really two gods, not one. Over here is a god that we want, over here is the god who is. They are not the same god.

You pursue this god at your peril. The god who is is really, lives in heaven, and he has an opinion. And guess whose opinion don't count? We don't like that, okay? But at the end of the day, there are these two streams, but today what's happening, the opposing stream theory says, at the end times, these streams are going to be going against each other at such a rapid rate of speed that if you try to put a foot in both of them, it will rip you apart.

Guys, that's exactly where I believe we are in our culture today. There's been no other time that I can remember where darkness has been so dark, and the light has been so light, and we've got to be able to make sure that our light overcomes. By the way, in the universe, did you know there really is no such thing as darkness? Do you understand that? There's no such thing as darkness.

Darkness is simply what? It's the absence of light. Evil, same way. What is evil? Evil is simply the absence of God.

That's why you take God out of our culture and you see what we're ending up with. So the real question becomes, how do you deal with this? How do we, we can recognize that, you know, we really, we have a culture that's running amok, it's out of control, and there's a real failure on the part of us who call ourselves followers of Christ to really impact our culture for Jesus. Why? What are we doing wrong?

I'm going to read some Bible verses to you in rapid fire, and I'm going to emphasize some words as I do. You don't need to take note of this. I'm sure they're videoing or taping this. You can always go back and get the session and look at it later. So here's the deal.

We're going to practice this. When I say, get it, you say, get it. All right, here we go. Galatians 5, or 6, 7 to 10. Do not be deceived.

God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. To the one who sows to please the sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. To the one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. So let us not become weary in doing good.

It goes on to say, do good to all people. Titus 2, 11 to 14 is calling us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. While we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people, you and I, that there is very own eager to do what is good. Ephesians 2, 10, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Philippians 2, 3, and 4 says, do nothing out of selfish ambition and vain conceit.

But in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look at, not only for your own interests, but to the interests of others. Here is John 4, 31, 34. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something, and he said, but I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him food?

My food, Jesus said, is listen to do the will of him who sent me. Proverbs 21, 3, to do what is right and just is more accessible to the Lord in sacrifice. Get it? Matthew 21, 19 is the story of Jesus seeing a fig tree by the road. And you all know what happened.

He went up to it, rode up to it, and from a distance it looked great. But up close and personal, there was no fruit. And he cursed it and it withered and died. And many theologians believe that's Jesus depicting the church in the world. Whitewashed and looking good from a distance, but up close and personal, there's no substance.

It's Christianity with no substance. And many people would say in our own culture, we've got a Christianity. It is a mile wide and about a quarter of an inch deep. Our ministry, listen guys, is to be Jesus. To be Jesus to a dying world.

And I want to quickly share with you three principles involved in this whole idea of being Jesus. Principle number one is the idea of adopting behavior, by say behavior. Adopting behavior that lights up. Matthew 5.14 to 16 says, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people put a light under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, shine your light on men. Is that what it says? Is that what it says?

No. Just a very, very subtle change of words here guys. It does not say shine your light on men. What does it say? Let your light shine before men.

Guys, one of the first things I want to tell you is when you shine the light, all they see is the glare. I remember Pastor Hayford got up one time and the auditorium there was probably as big as this one, maybe even a little bigger. And so what he did is he had, he shut all the windows and he turned out all the lights in the entire auditorium. It was absolutely pitch black and he stood up on the platform with a little bitty birthday candle and he held it there. And he said, now, I don't know if any of you were here.

I can't see anyone in this auditorium, but there's not a person in the most remote part of this auditorium that can't see me. And it was such a powerful illustration of what we're supposed to be. We're supposed to be that light that people can see and people can be drawn toward. What kind of light are you? Are we adopting behavior that people can see?

Philippians 2.15 says, so that they may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. Is that where we are? It goes on to say, in which you, you and I shine like stars in the universe. 1 Peter 2.12 says, keep your behavior, your behavior, excellent among the Gentiles. So then the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Saint Francis has a great quote. He said, go out and witness the people, and if necessary, use words. Isn't that good? But what's our tendency? Our tendency is to try to argue people into the kingdom of God.

Guys, that doesn't work. It never has worked and it never will work. Colossians 4, 5 and 6, be wise in the way you act toward outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

John 12.47, Jesus said, I did not come to judge the world. I sent you to do that. What? It doesn't say that? Well, this.

NIV, New Italian version. That's what it says in my Bible. If it doesn't say that, why is that what you're doing? John 16.8, when he comes, who is he? In this context, it's the Holy Spirit.

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Christian, it is not your job. If you think that political posturing and maneuvering and arguing people into the kingdom is going to work, you're being deceived. The world is desperate for the real deal. They need to see it.

Years ago, I was teaching management people. This was in a retail context. A bunch of, about 150 or so store managers, retail store managers, I was teaching them about leadership. And I did something that worked out to be a pretty cool thing. And in order for me to really do this right, I need a volunteer, someone who's a smoker who wouldn't mind coming up that has a pack of cigarettes.

Anybody that, yes, come on up, just for a second. What's your name? Harold. Thank you, Harold. Harold's a smoker.

You don't have to do anything, just stand right here and I'm going to show them what I did. No, no, just put them in your pocket. So I asked for a volunteer to come up that was a smoker and I got some guy to come up. And so I'm going to show you what happened in this auditorium and where we were going with this. And I couldn't have planned this better.

I didn't plan it this way, but I'm going to tell you exactly what happened. So Harold comes up and I said, Harold, you're a smoker. He said, yeah, I'm a smoker. I said, I don't know how to smoke. Can you teach me how to smoke?

So what he did was he took the cigarette, so I go ahead and he handed me a cigarette. And so he gives me a cigarette. And so here's what I do. I said, I take the cigarette and I said, OK, Harold, I don't know how to smoke. Teach me how to smoke.

He says, well, the first thing you do is you put it in your mouth. So I went like this. Oh, man, that is horrible. And Harold's sitting there like, what are you doing? I'm doing exactly what you told me, man.

This is smoking. I don't like this. He says, no. Am I doing it wrong? He says, yes.

Give me the cigarette. And he said, no, no, no. So Harold says, OK, now watch this. Watch this. Now listen very carefully what I'm going to tell you.

You see this part up here with a little ring on it? I said, yeah. He says, see that white part right there? That little part right there? He says, no, that's the filter.

That's the filter. I said, OK. And then he says, down here, the brown part right there, and all that stuff is the tobacco. That's the tobacco. He says, now, listen carefully.

I want you to put the filter and only in your mouth. So I break it off. And I go like that. I go, no. What are you doing?

That's not what I do. Give me the cigarette. So, no, I'm not kidding you. Listen, this is what happened. I went through this with this guy for like, you know, like five minutes.

We went through an entire pack of cigarettes. We had cigarettes all over the floor. And so finally this guy from the back of the room, I didn't plant this guy. I don't know who he is. And this guy from the back of the room, a young guy, everybody's laughing.

And he gets up and he's walking up here. He's looking like he's going to do bodily harm, you know? And he comes up and now get the lighter out. You got a lighter in there? I sure do.

So he comes up and he grabs Harold. He pushes him aside. He grabs the lighter, grabs the cigarette. And he says, stop. I had no idea what he was going to do.

Watch me. Get it? Everybody put your hand on your chin. Okay, everybody look around. How many people have their hand on their chin?

Did I make my point? Are you imposing your faith? Are you exposing your faith? Are you cursing the darkness instead of being a candle? Guys, don't be preoccupied with reaping.

Just so. Just let Jesus shine through your life. The second one is to develop a healthy attitude toward others. In psychology there's something called the pygmalion effect. The pygmalion effect suggests that my attitude and assumption about people, places and things would actually be the reason why they are the way they are.

They did a study once with a class back in the 50s, eighth grade class of students. They tested these 20 children and found that five of them were gifted off the charts gifted. They gave them to the teacher and identified these five children as gifted learners. And at the end of the year they retested all the children to determine what they learned. And it turned out that these five gifted kids learned about 30% more than all the other kids in the class.

So it validated the original study. Then they broke the news to the teacher. They never tested any of the kids the first time. They simply picked five kids at random and told the teacher they were gifted. Whoa.

That's the pygmalion effect. Sometimes I like to say, gee, I wonder what it would be like if every teacher thought every kid was gifted. It's thinking the right way about people. In my life I didn't take that very seriously. I did a lot of harm as a Christian as I approached the culture around me.

It was probably about 20 years ago. I was on the Human Relations Commission in Colorado Springs. There were like 14 very liberal people and me. They didn't have a chance. They had cameras in the rooms all the time.

There was all kinds of heated exchanges going on. And I was just blowing people up. And they were into all these political things. And I was just an animal. I was like a bull in a china shop.

There was one guy, this guy was like one of these, I mean, he was a really bad guy. I mean, he was ugly, bad, just mean, just really believed totally the opposite of me. And he said in those days, I used to just destroy people like that, you know. And he said something in front of me that Amy was on the commission with me. At that time she was the head of public policy at Focus on the Family, you know.

And so the guy, I'm behind him. He says back to me and he says to Amy, you work for Focus on the Family? She said yes. He said, ha, the most un-American organization in this country. He said that in front of me.

At that time, that was the equivalent of bleeding in front of a shark. And so I said, excuse me, and the guy's a lawyer. He's an attorney, you know. And so he turns around and I said, you're a lawyer. He says, yes, could you help me with the body of evidence that you have accumulated that would lead you to such an incredible conclusion?

Just tell me what it is. His lower lip started to quiver. You know, he was so angry and so uptight. He couldn't think of anything. I said, hello?

That was a huge statement. Can you tell me how can you support that? He couldn't think of anything. And then finally he thought of something. He said, yes, I got something.

I said, what? Well, their position on prayer in the public schools. I said, really? Tell me, what is their position on prayer in the public schools? He had no clue.

And I started to destroy this man and I pulled him apart verbally, limb from limb, and I really liked it. And after we were all done as he was walking away, he probably said, I can't wait to go to Vince's church and find out more about Jesus. What do you think? I was 100% an idiot. Wrong.

What should I have done? Loved him. You think that man formulated his opinions overnight? No more than we did. I should have loved on him.

I should have taken him to lunch, got a chance to know him, let him really sense and feel the life of Jesus and me instead of trying to judge him and put him into a corner. Guys, we're doing this thing wrong. We're doing it wrong. Okay? You know, I was in another part of the country one time and I was teaching and I was headed to a pastor conference.

And I don't remember what it was. There was a big fear going on and people were battling stuff out in the OPED section of the newspaper because some city hired a painter to paint a fresco on the wall of a public building. It may have been in this area, I don't know. And everybody was upset about it because the pastors and leaders said that it was evil. So the guys driving me to the pastor's conference, you know, where I want to talk to all these guys.

And I said, well, do we have time to stop and see the fresco? He said, sure. So we went by and it's inside a building. It's not even on the outside, it's a big library. And the fresco, I'm not exaggerating, probably took up a wall the size of that entire wall.

That big, okay? And I said, okay, well, I'm not the most discerning guy in the world spiritually but could you show me in that fresco where the evil is? So he pointed to a pig at the top right left corner with a bone in his mouth. I said, that's the evil? He said, yeah.

I said, why? And he explained to me, he went through this elaborate explanation of years ago how in that area he had depicted the evolution of the area that he was in and he says that was black magic and he's going all through this stuff, you know? And so I get to the conference and the pastors know I went to see the painting, you know? And they're wanting to know what would I do? And I said, well, let me ask you a question.

You know, I went and looked at that. I said, you know, what hill do you want to die on? Is that a hill you want to die on? I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm going to give you a question that I think will help you test out what you should do. And this is a question that I think all of us Christians should ask ourselves as we're approaching the world around us.

And here it is. Is what I'm about to do or say more likely to draw people toward Jesus or push them further away? Simple question. And I think if we would ask ourselves that question more often, things would be a lot different. Luke 6.27, but I tell you also hear me, love your enemies.

Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. I don't know about you, but I have violated that verse a lot. And guys, we cannot afford to violate that verse.

This is what Jesus is calling us to do. He wouldn't have called us to love our enemies if we were never going to have any. 1 Corinthians 2.14, the man without the spirit. Listen, this is why we have this problem. The man without the spirit, the people on the outside, does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God.

They are foolishness to him. Because he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Come on, guys. Can you remember the time before you accepted Jesus in your heart and began to learn this stuff? This was foolishness.

My buddies and I used to pull up drugs and alcohol and watch Christian TV and get high and laugh at people. It was foolishness because we didn't see anything. You all know the story of Paul and Silas in prison. They're behind bars, they're in prison, and they're singing spiritual songs all night long. I love this illustration.

And the guard hears them. An earthquake comes and the Bible says that the doors open, the chains fell off. The guard outside realized what happened. He draws his sword and he's going to kill himself. Why?

Why was he going to kill himself? Because he assumed the prisoners left. A normal person would have. But Paul says, hang on, don't harm yourself, we're all here. The guard goes in, falls at the feet of Paul and Silas trembling, and he asks the question, sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Why? Why did he do that? I'll tell you why. Because he observed something in Paul and Silas. Listen.

That confounded him. And by the way, that story goes on. You know the rest of his family accepted Jesus. The rest of his family converted. And here's what I like to say, that we need to understand as men.

You and I are called, listen, to live a life that demands an explanation. Let me repeat that. We are called to live a life that demands an explanation. So that when people observe us and look at us, they go back away from that and they say, wow, that doesn't make sense. That goes against the grain of everything I know to be the norm.

And that's exactly, guys, can you do this without Jesus? No. You can do it, you can fake it, but it won't last. You can only do this real if you've got Jesus inside of you. The third thing is to be diligent and get out of your comfort zone.

That reminds me of a story I didn't intend to tell, but I'll just take a minute and tell it. I don't know if you guys remember this story, but back in the early 70s, I think it was a guy in Los Angeles by the name of Larry Walters. They affectionately called him the lawn chair pilot. And what he did is he was a frustrated pilot. He couldn't see very well, so he could never get his pilot license.

He's passed away now. But they have pictures. If you look up the lawn chair pilot on the internet, Google him, you'll see pictures. He went out and got 40 helium balloons. And each of these balloons are huge, like six, eight-foot-tall balloons.

40 of them filled them up with helium, and they were attached to a lawn chair in his backyard that was staked to the ground. So his idea was he was going to get these 40 helium balloons. He was going to sit in the lawn chair with a BB gun and release the lawn chair, and he would float up into the sky, and he'd control this as a sent and decent. If he got too high, he'd shoot some of the balloons. I guess when you're a frustrated pilot, this is a fun thing to do, I don't know.

So Larry, this is a true story. Okay? Larry releases the lawn chair, and he grossly underestimates the pressure in these balloons, and before he knows it, he's floating at 16,000 feet above the Los Angeles skyline. He's floating around, and he's frozen in his chair. So along comes a TWA pilot on approach to Los Angeles Airport.

And they actually have this recording. He's approaching the airport, and he sees Larry, and he says he keeps calls with her. He says, you guys aren't going to believe this. He says, what? There's a guy up here at 16,000 feet in a chair with a gun.

They said, what? He said, yeah. And so they get the helicopters out, and they get above this guy. I don't know how they got him down. They finally got him down.

They handcuffed him. They're taking him away, and he's on the news that night, you know? And I'm watching the news, and they asked Larry. They said, you know, were you scared? He says, yes.

He says, would you ever do that again? He said, no. He says, well, whatever possessed you to do that in the first place? He says, sometimes you can't just sit around. Now, you know, that's not how I would suggest getting out of your comfort zone, okay?

But that, you know, anyway. Numbers 32, 1 to 7. The Rubinites and Gaddites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazeir and Gilead were suitable for livestock. So they came to Moses, and Eliezer the priest, and to the leaders of the community, and they said, hey, all you guys. It really doesn't say that, but I can't pronounce those names.

The land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel are suitable for livestock, and after all, watch the logic here. We have livestock. So if we have found favor in your eyes, they said, let us, let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan. Moses said to the Gaddites and the Rubinites, shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here.

Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? Guys, you remember Jesus feeding the 5,000? The little boy with the loaves and fishes. You know how that story went, but let me act out for you how that story might have gone were it to happen today. Jesus, yes, little boy.

There's about 5,000 people out there, and it's about lunchtime. There's no Chick-fil-A around. I mean, what should we do? Should we let him go? No, I think we should feed him.

That's pretty funny. Where are we going to get the food? He says, where do you got another little basket? He says, I got these few loaves and fishes. That's all I have.

Okay, son, look, why don't you let me bless that and then you go ahead and feed him with that. That's pretty funny. That's pretty funny, Jesus. Look, I obviously do not have what it takes near Jesus to get this job done. Do you have a plan B?

No, son, I don't have a plan B. Listen, I know you don't think you have what it takes to get this job done, but I'll tell you what, let me bless what you have and you just go with that and it'll be okay. No, Jesus, you don't understand. I am not going to go out there and be made to look like a fool. You're going to have to pick somebody else.

It didn't go that way, obviously, but I wonder for how many of us is that the way it would go today? Listen to me, men. God is not interested in your ability. He's interested in your obedience because I got news for you. It ain't none of us able, but if you're not plugged into the power source, it ain't going to happen.

It ain't going to happen. Years ago, I had the privilege of speaking to an all-African-American church in San Diego, California, Bishop George McKinney. Some of you may have heard the name. One of the largest all-African-American churches in our country. It was a privilege for me to speak at that church.

I'd spoken a lot of racially mixed churches, but never all black. One little role, white people that came that knew me, and that was it. One of them was Italian, so I felt pretty good. They were pumping overflow into side rooms. I mean, it was huge, huge.

It was bigger than this congregation right here. Huge. And it was a three and a half hour service. And so for those of you who get tired after an hour, you need to get a life. And after the service, they don't go home.

They go out and have a meal out in the courtyard, and they come back in and they visit with their friends in the church. It was the closest thing to family I've ever experienced. I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about or how I was going to lead into it, but here's what I did. And have you guys ever had the experience of having words come out of your mouth before you engage your brain? I do it all the time.

It's like, whoa, come back. Too late. They're out there. But I knew what I was doing, I think. I came down at the platform.

The bishop and the choir and everybody stays on the platform in that culture. So they're behind me. I don't even know what they're thinking. And I come down at the platform. I'm the third speaker, even though I'm the main speaker.

Nobody knows me. I'm a white guy. This is exactly what I did. You know what? I am sick and tired of racial reconciliation, just like that.

Ethel, Ethel. Did you hear that? I did. Well, maybe we should trust him. I mean, the bishop invited him.

I mean, they're murmuring all over the room. Well, the first thing I'm thinking is, you know, Dakioli, are you crazy? Well, here's what I did. I said, there are more laws on the books in the United States of America to legislate racial reconciliation today than have ever been on the books in any country in the history of the world. There's law working.

And of course, we understand. Look, I said, don't hear me say we shouldn't have laws because there's only two ways to govern man. God's way and man's way. God's way is an inside-out process. The heart of man is transformed.

So basic laws governing human behavior work. You take God out of man. It's no longer an inside-out process. What is it? It's outside in.

You need more laws and social constraints. That's why our prisons are full because man without God is always going to go the wrong way. So law isn't getting the job done. Well, we're talking about it more than we ever have. Back in those days, Promise Keepers was carrying the banner.

Break down the walls. It's talking about it working. And everybody finally got to the point where they say, well, I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about it, but is it really working? Well, not really. And what I'm doing is getting him to a place where I want to make a point.

Law's not working. Talking about it isn't working. So what does that suggest to you? I'll tell you what it suggests to me. One of two things.

Either forget about it. Why? Why bother? Forget about it. Is that an option?

Is it? Well, actually it is. The people who think it's an option are called bigots. But if you're a follower of Christ, is it an option? No, because the Bible said we're to be reconciled.

So here's where I have them now. The Bible says it can be done. We understand it can be done. We haven't figured it out. Fair?

Yes. Do you want me to share with you the secret to racial reconciliation? Well, you got to imagine what they're probably thinking. Like, you are going to tell us. Yes.

I'm going to tell you the secret to racial reconciliation. Do you want to hear it or don't you? What about you guys? You want to hear it? Yeah.

About your heads. With your heads about, I want you to think of anybody that you know. I don't care who they are, where they've been, what they've done. Anybody that you know, picture them in your mind. That's radically in love with Jesus.

When you think of that person, you think, wow, Jesus's blood pumping in their veins. And then I said, I want you to envision that person. I want you to raise your hand really high if you can think of one person like that that has a racist bone in their body. Guys, I have never had a hand go up any place I've ever shared this. And so I said, okay, you can look up at me.

What does that suggest to you? Who do we need to be reconciled with? Say his name. Say it again. Say it again.

Why? Because there's no way I can love you. You. I don't care who you are, where you've been, what color you are. There's no way I can love you in my flesh the way my Lord and Savior Jesus calls me to love you.

But listen. Once I am so reconciled with him that he allows me to see you through his eyes. There is no way you are not the most precious human being on planet Earth. Church, you get your eyes off of me. I get my eyes off of you.

We focus on Jesus. Guess what? Everything else takes care of itself. We're doing it wrong. It was right after 9-11.

I was speaking in my local church in Colorado Springs, a very large church, probably a 12,000 member church. They all know me. You can't know everybody if you're up on the platform, but people know who you are. They recognize you. And so after that service, I went to the airport to fly out.

It was right after 9-11. They hadn't turned up the screening process at the airport yet, so you could still walk through with your shoes on. You remember those days? I walk through the airport, and I go through the screener, and the alarm goes off. The tall, gray-haired men.

This was on a Monday morning. I just spoke in on Sunday. This is Monday morning. I'm flying out. The alarm goes off, and this tall, gray-haired guy pulls me over, and he's going to scan me and wand me down.

And back in those days, if you did that, people were watching you. I was like, whoa. I mean, could this guy be a terrorist or what? You know, people are watching me, and it's kind of embarrassing, and this guy is deadpan. He doesn't make any…

He doesn't smile. He was just a really kind of a mean-looking, ugly guy. He didn't smile. Nothing. He just put his arms out.

I put my arms out, and he's wanting me down like that. Okay? Now, the old Vince, which was not long before this, I probably wouldn't have said anything to the guy, but my attitude would have been obvious by my nonverbals. It would have been kind of like… Isn't this a little ridiculous?

I mean, do I look like I got a bomb on me? I mean, do I look like a terrorist to you? I mean, maybe I did. I don't know. But the old Vince would have been visibly put out.

But I didn't even think about it. Because it was back around that time the Lord had been dealing with me. Vince, you need to love people more. You need to look into their eyes and understand how precious they are in my sight. So, I kept looking in this guy's eyes, and I tried to crack him up, you know?

And I like to use a lot of humor. I tried to break the ice. Nothing. Nothing. He leaves.

I'm sitting there. I put my shoes on, and I'm tying my shoes. The next thing I notice is two shoes facing me. And it was this man. He'd gone over to the conveyor belt, picked up my stuff from the conveyor belt, and he's standing in front of me holding my stuff.

And so, as I stood up to meet him face to face, this is what I saw, and this is what he said. Now, I'm the man holding Vince's stuff. Oh, by the way, Vince, great sermon yesterday. I thanked him, and I turned. I'm getting emotional now because I'm remembering this, and walked away, and I just lost it.

You know what he was doing? I'll tell you what he was doing. He wanted to know if what he heard from that platform on Sunday works on Monday. That's what he wanted to know. And shame on us if we're not giving that to him.

Shame on us if we're not the real deal. I'm going to close now, but I want to do one quick thing before I turn it back over to Tom. And I want you to bow your heads with me for just a moment, because I want to challenge you. I want to ask you a question, and I'll take a couple of minutes. Perhaps you're here today, and God is touching your heart.

You've been through a number of different sessions, you've been through some workshops, and you know who you are. God's tugging at your heart. It would be very easy to disqualify yourself and say, boy, God could never use somebody like me. But come on, guys, you've heard enough messages today to know that that's the lie of the enemy. It's the lie of the enemy.

That's condemnation, it's not conviction. Jack Hafer would say condemnation cannot take root in your life if conviction is responded to with confession. And all that simply means is give in to the Holy Spirit, not the enemy. The enemy says you're nothing. The Holy Spirit says I love you.

I may not agree with all the things that you're doing. I want to get that crud out of your life, but I love you, and I have a plan for your life. And most of you in the room right now have probably at one point or another decided to ask Jesus into your heart. And I have no doubt that you meant that. And that you would probably say, you know, I've probably been pursuing a God that I want versus the God who is.

And I need to turn that around and go after the God I know to be real. But perhaps that you're here today and you've never made a decision in your life to just give in. Give up and say, you know what, Lord, I'm tired of trying to do life my way. I want to surrender right now to you. I want to ask you, Jesus, right now, to help me start a new life of following you.

I want to invite you into my heart, and I want to start a new life of following you. If I've just described you, I'm not going to embarrass you or ask you to come forward. With everybody's head bowed, please. I would just want to like to pray for you. If you would say, Vince, I'm convinced now after everything that's happened today and all the things that are going on in my life I'm convinced that I don't want this just to be another event.

I want this to be the launch pad. I want this to be the place where I put that stake in the ground. And I make a commitment today to allow Jesus to be Lord and Savior of my life. If I've just described you, I want you to put your hand up all over the room right now. Just put your hand up all over the room.

Come on, be brave. All right, I want to pray for you. I want to ask you to do one more thing. One more thing. I want you to have the boldness right now to stand to your feet right now.

Everybody that just raised their hand. Stand up. Come on. Stand up. Don't worry about what anybody else thinks about you.

I want to tell you something. Nobody in this room died for you. Jesus did. Okay, that's the person that you're talking to right now. Nobody else.

All over the auditorium. Stand up. Lord, at times like this I am always overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed because when I look and see all of these men. Precious, precious men.

Whose stories are written in your book before one of them took their first breath. And it's at times like this that I just envisioned the angels in heaven rejoicing over these men who are saying to you right now, Lord, I'm tired of doing it my way. I want to invite you into my heart today. I want today to be the day that I remember, this date that I remember. I'm starting my walk with you.

I'm making a commitment, Lord, not a decision. There's a big difference. And I want to just say something to you men right now that are standing. Many of you will fall away because this is maybe it's an emotional moment. Please do not leave this place today without talking to someone or finding a way to get involved in a vibrant local church or a men's group so that you can sustain the commitment you're making today.

It's very, very important that you do that. Lord, I thank you for these men. I ask you to bless them, cover them and may nothing of the world, the flesh or the devil get in the way of your intended purpose for each and every one of them. And it's in Jesus' name did I pray and all God's kids said.