I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my life while driving. I’ve seen other drivers eat full meals behind the wheel. Once I saw someone eating a bowl of soup while driving! I’ve seen women put on makeup, men shave their faces, kids playing games on their iPhones. All of it is distracted driving, which is the number one cause of vehicle accidents and deaths in this country.

Distracted driving is when you do anything other than the one thing you’re supposed to do. It’s doing anything other than what you were told to do in Driver’s Ed. It’s doing anything other than what your car was designed to do.

When we get behind the wheel of a 4,000 pound car, we need to feel the weight of the responsibility – literally. We need to realize how powerful the big hunk of metal and plastic and rubber underneath us is. We need to acknowledge the fact that if we don’t drive the right way, bad things will follow.

We also need to feel the weight of responsibility in our lives. Just like distracted driving, distracted living can be harmful to ourselves and others. When we treat life any other way than how we’re supposed to, we get our eyes off the road. And we lose sight of what’s ridiculously important – our relationship with Jesus Christ.

A car was designed for driving. You were designed for living. And more than that! You were designed by God for abundant, everlasting, eternal life! We were all designed to live “up there down here.” We were put on this earth not to just go through the motions until we die. The point of life is not to die and go to heaven. It’s to live in a way that brings heaven down to earth.

Jesus taught us a lot of stuff that we’ve sometimes ignored. A big part of his teaching is found in the Sermon on the Mount. Right at the center of that sermon is his teaching on prayer. We call it the Lord’s Prayer for good reason. And right in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer is this line:

¹⁰ Your kingdom come,

your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

-Matthew 6:10

We Pray for God’s Kingdom

Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come. Not to wait around for it. Not to hope it happens. And not to bide our time until we die and end up in heaven. No. We need to pray that God’s kingdom shows up right here, right now.

Jesus told us in Matthew 4:17 that the “kingdom of heaven is here!” We don’t have to wait for it. In heaven, it will be impossible to ignore the presence of God. And you know what? It’s the same thing here on earth if we really pay attention. If we get our eyes back on the road. Find ways to acknowledge the real, kingdom presence of God in your life every day.

We Pray for God’s Kingdom and God’s Will

We all have a kingdom. You have a kingdom and I have a kingdom. In America, we don’t live in a kingdom. We live in a representative democracy. We choose our leaders, and we don’t choose them for life. But in our lives, we all follow certain rules and regulations and behaviors that align us with a certain kingdom. A kingdom is the way I really want things to go in my life.

When I decide that God’s will is better than my will, when I consciously decide to do what he wants and what he says is best, then I’m really living. Because I’m really living in his kingdom. And his kingdom is always better than my kingdom.

We Pray for God’s Kingdom and God’s Will Right Here

Where can God’s kingdom show up in the little corner of earth you call home? Where is God’s reign really absent? Where could his power and presence make the biggest difference? Where do you need him to show up?

It could be your school, your neighborhood, the “rough part of town,” or just your workplace. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, there are no limits. In fact, the places that feel most absent of God should be where we focus most intently our prayers.

How are you living out the kingdom of God in your life? Keeping your eyes on the road means that you find ways each day to do God’s will before your own.

This week I laid out a pretty heavy challenge to all of us, and it was heavy for me too. It’s something that I have to keep tabs on, keep checking myself to make sure I’m not slipping. I’m talking about Distracted Christianity. It’s when we get our eyes off the road, off our Rabbi Jesus. It’s so easy to get distracted with life, with careers, with finances – whatever! But none of it is as important as the ridiculously important job of being a follower of Jesus.

Throughout the years, we’ve been called a lot of different names. The one that’s seemed to stick is “Christian.” In recent years, some people have tried to escape the baggage of that name by using different terms or different names. One phrase I hear get thrown around a lot is “Christ Followers.” It’s sort of the same but different enough for some folks, I guess.

Whenever I think about this controversy over the name “Christian,” I can’t help but come back to this quote attributed to Mahatma Ghandi: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

That sentence may offend you. I think it offended me the first time I read it. But it’s easier to swallow when you realize he’s not talking about the truly committed Christians. He’s talking about Distracted Christians.

Like distracted driving, Distracted Christianity keeps our attention off of what’s really important…what’s ridiculously important. It keeps us from being radically transformed by the person of Jesus Christ.

We can put so much energy defending our version of “right” that we can lose sight of who we are. As a result it is very easy to create a form of hybrid religiosity that seems very different from what we read about Jesus in the New Testament. Instead of being transformed into Christ-likeness, we trade it in for something that’s a little like Christ, but different enough to keep our friends and coworkers happy. It’s different enough from Jesus to keep people from making fun or even persecuting us. It’s different enough from what we know of Christ to keep us in the game and climbing the ladder of success. It’s different enough to allow us to keep hating those who hate us, to keep hoarding what we think is ours, to keep living with little sins infiltrating our hearts.

It’s close enough to Jesus to pass a religious test, but different enough to keep us from being rejected by the world.

We don’t need to be close enough to Christ-likeness. We don’t need a religion that is like Christ, a little bit. We need a transformation that makes us like Christ completely!

The name “Christian” was first used by outsiders, by unbelievers to describe the followers of Jesus. They saw something different in us and had to come up with a whole new vocabulary. They recognized the transformation was so complete that a new thing was now on board. And it required a new team name, along with new team logo, uniform, colors and slogans – the whole thing! They realized something – and someone – was different.

Do we still look different? Sound different? Act different? Or are we so tragically integrated into the American way of life that we don’t make any difference at all?

The invitation “follow me” that Jesus laid down to his disciples 2000 years ago is still valid today. And it’s an invitation to transformation. Are you ready for it? What is it in your heart that needs to be healed? What has been distracting you from what’s ridiculously important? And how are you going to get your eyes back on the road?

There’s a big difference between smart and wise. You can be the smartest guy in the room. You can get a 1600 on your SATs. You can memorize the encyclopedia! But if you don’t know how to use what you learn, you’ll never be wise.

It’s obvious wherever you look that society needs wise people more than they need smart people. We have enough experts. What we really lack are people willing to roll up their sleeves and say, “Okay, where do we start?”

At Northbrook, I have a firm conviction and desire to be a wise church. That means we aren’t just simply a church in the community, but we exist for the good of the community. We don’t just think we have the answers, we put them into action. We don’t just tell people about Jesus, we show them. I hope that after a while, no matter what anyone says about our church, they will say that our community is better because we’re in it.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been in a series called Operation: Love My Neighbor. But it’s not just been information, it’s been action. If all we did was read the book of James, study the text, and then talk about what it means, we’d fall way, way short of the high demand that Jesus is asking of us. “Faith without works is dead,” after all. So instead, we got together and looked at how we can make an impact. How can we love our neighbor in the best way possible?

First, we encouraged you to do it by making it a rhythm of your life. Day in and day out, as you work, go to school, or just live in your neighborhood, how can you show Jesus’ love in real, practical ways? And how can you make it nearly automatic – a rhythm of life?

And then, we decided on two major projects. The first was to partner with Feed My Starving Children, a Christian organization committed to providing meals to the hungry all over the world. They work with local groups to hand-pack meals that are specially formulated to help malnourished children, then they ship them to distribution partners around the world, like Convoy of Hope. To date, they’ve fed nearly 2 billion children!

We had 417 volunteers on hand as we packed boxes, prayed over them, and provide 108,864 meals for starving kids in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. That’s what you did, Northbrook! That represents 834 total hours. There’s not a single person who could do that by themselves. But together, we were able to accomplish so much.

The next major project had a huge impact on our community. We served up lunch and handed out gift bags to local school teachers. Altogether, we were able to touch 1,700 school staff. If you know a teacher or are a teacher yourself, you know the long hours and dedication it takes. This was just one way we could say thank you to our educators for helping our community.

I hear a lot of things about our church. I hear about how friendly we are, how welcoming and fun we are, or even how big we are. But I really want to hear that we are a wise church, that we put what we believe into action. A wise church is a group of people who use their knowledge of God, the scriptures, and their applied life experience to make a difference in the world.

And as a believer, you can do that on your own anytime you like. It means you live a life that is praiseworthy because of your deep concern for people expressed in action. Living well, according to Jesus, is to give your life away so others can also live this vibrant, beautiful life of faith.

Operation: Love My Neighbor the series may be over, but it’s really just begun. I hope that you’re making a commitment to create a rhythm of life that includes giving of yourself every day so that others can know Jesus more.

This weekend I wrapped up a message series called “Operation Love Your Neighbor” with a message called “The Wise Church. The book of James is filled with wisdom. I mentioned 8 characteristics of wisdom from the book of James and 7 intentional practices I have observed in wise people. Here is the recap:

Wise People:

• Pray for wisdom (James 1:5) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10)
• Are Resilient: Hard times and temptations lead to maturity (James 1:2-4)
• Live Gods word as much as they study it (James 1:22)
• Great Listeners (James 1:19)
• Have a firm control of their mouth (James 3:3-12)
• Submit themselves to God (even when things are confusing)(James 4:7)
• Live in unity and harmony with others (James 4:11-12)
• Are incredibly Patient (James 5:7)

Wise people intentionally:

• Embrace and experience life events, the good and the challenging with grace
• Reflect deeply
• Pray Honestly
• Read the scriptures openly
• Process with others and are OK with being challenged
• Interact with people whose lives are radically different than their own and learn from them
• Give all of life in submission to God

We have bought into a cultural idea that this type of person is worth more than that one. We pay more attention, give more affection, and spend more time with people we think are more important. It’s not that we can’t have friends. Of course we can! But when we show favoritism based on things like the color of someone’s skin, the balance in their bank account, or the side of the tracks they’re from, there’s something wrong. When we show favoritism, James warns us, we degrade the value of the other person’s soul.

Favoritism and discrimination are inconsistent with our faith. That’s the bottom line. This Sunday we talked about and applied that to how we serve, when we serve, and who we serve. But it goes deeper than that. The fingers of favoritism can reach into our day-to-day lives as well.

And one place that happens, sometimes without us even realizing it, is with our family.

Do you play favorites? Do you prefer one kid over another? Do you show partiality to your son but hardly pay attention to your daughter? Don’t answer too quickly.

I’ve been reading up on favoritism and partiality while preparing for this message. One thing that I never really thought about when it comes to this passage, but really kicked my tail, was how our kids respond when they even think that there’s a favorite in the house – and it’s not them.

Kids who feel like their parents prefer their sibling over them tend to behave worse, get in trouble more, start drinking at an earlier age, smoke cigarettes, try marijuana, and even more into harder drugs. It’s true! It’s hard to comprehend how such a minor thing like picking favorites can be so detrimental, but is it worth risking?

Maybe you don’t think you’re picking favorites. But really think about it. Do you rarely show up for your youngest’s swim meets when you all piled into the car for every one of your oldest’s ball games? Do you spend more time with one child over another? Are you unconsciously telling them that you love one more than the other?

One thing to keep in mind is the words you use. Avoid saying things like, “I wish you would act more like your sister,” “We never had this problem with your brother,” or “I don’t think you should do that, because your sister never did.”

Your kids will be picking up the cues. So you need to be aware of them too. Here’s what Gregory Jantz, a research psychologist, says about it. “Children are not stupid. They can sense when this type of inequity exists. They can sense it even when the parent does not. Desperately they attempt to figure out what is wrong with them. The reasons they come up with can cause lifelong damage to self-esteem.”

But there is good news. Because when your family is close-knit, full of unconditional love, looking out for each other, no matter what mistakes you make when it comes to playing favorites, your kids pick up on the good things over the bad. The key is to have a good relationship with your kids, asking them for forgiveness when you mess up, and not coming down too hard on them when they do the same.

Some words get a bad rap. I think “religion” is one of them. Over the last ten years or more, we’ve swung the pendulum away from that word to other words, like “spiritual” or “relationship.” My faith in God is based on a relationship with Jesus, that’s a fact. But I don’t think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Religion can still be a positive word in the church.

Let me give you a quick and simple definition. Religion is the observable qualities of our faith. It’s about putting what we believe into action. Most of the time we do that in a church service, by praying or singing or bowing our head or reading the Bible together. It can be a baptism or a communion cup or a sermon. These are religious. But there’s more to religion than just words.

Practicing “true religion” according to James is more about how we share our lives with others. And in the first chapter of Isaiah, it goes even deeper. Our singing and your praying, our fasting, and your special events – they may be religious, but they’re meaningless if we aren’t serving and helping others. If we don’t take it from our heart to our hands, it’s not “true religion.”

And here’s the thing – all those religious expressions from reading the Bible to saying prayers to singing songs – they’re all about God’s love for the whole world. How he pours his grace out to all of us. How he paid such a high price in sending his only Son to die for us! When we sing and pray, we are proclaiming that truth. But do we back it up? A lot of times we say one thing but act another.

The observable practice of “true religion” is that we share our lives with the needy, the hurting, and the vulnerable in our community and our world. We make it the rhythm of our life. We find the needs around us and do what we can to meet them.

Where do you find the need in your community? Maybe there’s a widow or an older couple on your block, around the corner. Maybe they don’t have kids, or don’t have any living nearby. Maybe they could get a lot out of you raking their leaves, bringing them a meal, or just spending time with them and talking.

Where do you find the need in your country? How many kids go without families in the United States? Right now, there are over 400,000 kids in the foster system and 100,000 of them are actively waiting to be adopted. Each year 30,000 age out of the system, entering the real world without a real family. Have you ever asked what you can do to help them?

Where do you find the need in our world? Right now, 780 million people around the world are undernourished and lack access to clean water. It seems like such a big burden, a huge need, an insurmountable obstacle. But little by little we can change the world.

When your heart beats with the needs of others, your pulse will lead you into a rhythm of sharing. It starts with your neighbors right next door, but it spreads around the world. At the intersection of a stirred heart and opportunity, you will find “true religion.”

What can you do today to help someone in need? Who has inspired you to put your religion into action?

What’s it mean to remember? Whenever tragedy happens, we often here the phrase “never forget.” We plaster that phrase on bumper stickers, banners, and across billboards. But what does it actually mean? How are we living out our lives in a way that remembers tragedy and responds to God’s hope for the world?

Honestly? Many times we allow the memories to fade. Or we transform and twist them into our own slant. We blame others. We resort to name calling. We take sides and pontificate. We huddle up and lash out. We take to social media and add our own two cents to the endless string of human nature that pours out

I know that’s true because that’s what I do. Many times. I leave behind the deep goodness that emerged in the hours and days right after a tragedy. I become numb. I stare at the mirror but then walk away without any change of heart or action.

We need to make responding in deep goodness a part of the natural rhythm of our lives. This week we took a deep dive into what it really means to “hear and do” what Jesus says. And James tells us it’s just like looking in a mirror.

²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

James 1:23-25

Have you ever looked in the mirror, found a hair out of place or a spot on your chin or a piece of broccoli stuck between your teeth and not done something about it? It’s only natural to check our reflection and make changes. We need that same rhythm when it comes to the word of God.

John 1 tells an incredibly poetic story of creation, transformation, and divine intervention. He speaks of Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh. But as we continue reading we see that we are to become something too. The Word in us becomes a tangible life of a grander vision of God. Every time we encounter the words and works of Jesus, it’s so that we can do better, be better.

The Word of God is always redemptive rather than repressive. It’s not a way to hammer us into submission, but to guide us towards salvation. Each time we live out the heartbeat of God in his Word, we get a little closer to making it part of our life rhythm. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about making it real.

As we continue living out the Word of God in our lives – being doers, not just hearers – as we repeat it over and over, it has real opportunity to be redemptive.

How are you living out the Word of God this week? How has it been redemptive in your past?

It’s easy to lose heart when we see such an incredibly tragic act of pure evil. In recent weeks we’ve seen devastation from multiple hurricanes, flooding, and earthquakes. But this type of action stings harder because it’s an act of one human against many others.

But Jesus told us about such things and encouraged us to not lose heart. In John 16:33 he told us we would have trouble. And we are also reminded in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 that there will be evil in the Last Days.

Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind as we move on from this tragedy.

• We should never be surprised or caught off guard by evil. It should make us angry, sad, even remorseful. But it should never surprise us. God told us clearly that evil is a reality in this world. When men and women act only for themselves, the results can be devastating.

• The presence of evil does not cancel out the goodness of God. Through the greatest act of love (Romans 5:8) Jesus bore our sins and evil and curse on the cross (Galatians 3:3). If anything, God’s goodness always counteracts the evil in the world (2 Timothy 3:9).

• It’s okay to doubt, but don’t lose heart. Jesus is always real about our struggles. Instead of condemning us for doubts, he encourages our hearts (John 16:33). It’s okay to question God, but make sure you’re asking the right questions.

• Instead of asking “Why?”, ask “What?” and “How?” I’ve seen little evidence in scripture that God answers the “why” question. But he always gives us the “what” and the “how” – What can I learn from this? What can I do because of this? How can I use this to point people to Christ? How do you want me to live differently?

• Overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Jesus did just that on the cross with the greatest act of good ever. But we are called to do the same when tragedy strikes. Find someone to help. Give what you can. Hug those you love a little tighter. This is how good wins out over evil, when God’s people come together and work for each other.

A Prayer:

“Father, may you bind the hearts of those who love you. May you heal the hearts of those who have lost loved ones. And may you cure the hearts of those in this great country who have turned to evil, loving themselves more than others. Father, give us clear eyes to see you moving in the world, clear minds to find ways to act for good, and clear hearts to love beyond words. Amen.”

How do you like to be introduced? What do you like people to call you? On Sundays, I’m pastor Mike. But when I’m just hanging out around town, it’s just Mike. Unless I go to Starbucks, and they write my name down as “Mick” for some reason. To my kids, I’m Dad. Unless they want something, then I’m Daddy. They know how to pull on my heartstrings.

And that brings us to the book of James. There were lots of ways he could have introduced himself, a lot of titles he could carry around with him. He was Pastor James, or better yet Bishop James. He was known as James son of Joseph for most of his life. He would probably also answer to James from Nazareth. In fact, his name really isn’t James. That’s just our English way of saying the Greek translation of his Hebrew name, Jacob.

One title that he certainly had the right to was “Brother of Jesus.” You see, they shared the same mom, but not the same father. He grew up with Jesus, who has become the most famous figure in the entire world. But when he sat down to write this letter, a general message to all the Christians around the world, he calls himself something else – servant.

In the shortest words possible, he told us all we need to know about his faith, his purpose, and his motivation. What he was all about. It wasn’t who he knew, because he knew the biggest name in the closest way possible. It wasn’t how much he could gain from his life, but what he could offer. He chose the name servant because his rhythm of life led him that way.

We get to choose what defines us and what our purpose will be. Really, we do. There are lots of things in life that are out of our control. But when they come at us, we choose how we respond. And one of the ways we respond is by either taking or sharing.

How we choose what defines us will determine the rhythm of our life. What does your rhythm say? The rhythm of taking or the rhythm of sharing? It’s up to us. We can offer what little we have in the service of Jesus, or we can keep it all for ourselves thinking it’s so much more than it really is. But when we choose the rhythm of share, it becomes a regular lifestyle of giving ourselves away.

The next few weeks we’re going to really dig into what this means. We’re going to see how the rhythm of share is really about being hearers and doers of Jesus’ words. Anything else is like using sand as your foundation. We’re going to see that the rhythm of share gets interrupted when we only include some and exclude the rest. True sharing doesn’t pick favorites. And we’re going to see that the rhythm of share is the center of a faith that is alive and active, not distorted and dead.

But before we get to all of that, let’s just take a moment to think about how James responded to the question of, “Who are you?” He didn’t think being a family member of Jesus worthy to put on his name tag. Instead, he said, “I am completely at the disposal of Jesus. I’m fine with being a means to an end. I am satisfied in finding my purpose in serving someone else.” I hope we can mirror just a fraction of that attitude.

We’ve been parenting since the beginning of people. You would think we’d have it all figured out by now! But as each generation comes and goes, the times change and so do the rules. And each family has its own unique environment that they are shaping and that is shaping them. It gets real complicated real quick.

But there is one important thing that has remained the same all these years. Actions speak louder than words. God knew this, and that’s why when he was giving the Law to his people he put in instruction to help parents be better parents. Read what Moses passed on to the people of Israel.

⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

What was Moses telling a million and a half parents to do? What parenting advice did he give to this people, trudging through the desert on their way to a hopefully happy home? He told them to talk to their kids. This instruction is all about our words, isn’t it?

In one way, sure. This is Moses telling us the importance of passing down instruction to our kids. Making sure they know right from wrong through our words. Our children won’t know the truth unless they hear it from us, unless we impress it on their hearts. We need to speak these words to our kids, and repeat it often.

Our words are important. And it can’t just be a quick list of instructions, a story we rush through, or a command that ends with “Because I said so.” It has to be a topic of conversation. Spending time with our kids “when you walk along the road,” talking with them about these things.

But it has to be more than words, doesn’t it? Dig a bit deeper in that text. What did Moses say? “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Those are action words. Verbs. He’s saying, “Please talk about these things. But more than that, attach them to what you do.” It’s in our living them out that our kids know their importance.

Remember, Moses is talking about commandments. Commandments were always meant to be acted out, not just repeated for effect. Commandments are what you’re supposed to do, emphasis on “doing.” We pass down how we’re supposed to live, not by telling them but by showing our children.

This is one area that I know I’ve struggled with in the past. As much as I never wanted to say those four little words, there have been times when they’ve slipped out – “Because I said so.” But it’s always more influential and impactful to show our kids the right behavior rather than just tell them. When they see it in us, they’re more likely to repeat it themselves. And that gets to the heart of parenting. This isn’t about us, it’s about them. It’s not about how we can be served, but what we can do. It’s about creating an environment that reproducers believers who are trusting in God and walking with him. And that goal is worth all the hard work we put in as moms and dads.

How are your actions being repeated by your kids? What changes can you make today to produce better results?