Nate Schlomann
[0:00] Good morning once again Village. My name is Nate. I’m one of the pastors here and we are so glad to have you with us this morning. [0:07] Happy Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Happy Father’s Day to my dad. [0:12] Thank you for telling me about Jesus wherever you are. He’s probably out in the foyer right now. [0:17] I won’t add too much more to what Steve said about Father’s Day except for this. [0:22] On Mother’s Day we talked about the wrath of God. [0:25] And now on Father’s Day we’re talking about being subversive.
[0:29] I don’t know what’s going on there. I don’t know what that means. We didn’t plan that. [0:33] It probably just means we don’t really plan out our series too well in advance looking at the calendar. [0:38] But I don’t know. Take that for what it is. [0:40] In this series called Life we’ve been looking at what are the different aspects of the life of a follower of Jesus. [0:47] And so we started out with that on Easter talking about real life, the life that God gives us. [0:52] And so it’s these things that God puts into our life.
[0:55] Then we talked about forgiveness. God reconciles us to himself. [0:59] And then we started talking about some of the ways that that works itself out. [1:03] The big idea that we’ve been going through with this series is that our life is not our own. [1:09] We belong to God. He has authority to direct our life and to direct what we do and what living for Jesus looks like. [1:16] So we talked about being on mission. We talked about being generous. [1:22] We talked about being surrendered to God, being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
[1:27] So all these kind of ideas are now flowing into what I want to talk about this morning. [1:31] And really under that big umbrella of our life is not our own. Our life belongs to God. [1:35] And so this morning I want to talk about a subversive life. [1:38] And I know when I say that, you know, instantly we’re kind of like subversive. [1:41] You know, what’s that? It doesn’t even sound very Christian. [1:44] Is that something we’re supposed to do? That sounds like, you know, something we’re not supposed to do.
[1:48] Be subversive. Well, I know. I know it sounds like that. [1:51] That’s why we got to talk about it. So let me lay this out for you a little bit. [1:55] Starting out and then we’ll spend some time kind of walking through what a subversive life is. [2:01] And then we’ll walk through a passage in Matthew five where Jesus really shows us how to live a subversive life for his mission.
[2:10] So our mission as followers of Jesus is to rescue people who are lost and in rebellion against God. [2:16] And in fact, the scripture says that the whole world is in rebellion against God. [2:20] The scripture says that the systems and the processes of the world actually lead people to destruction. [2:27] They lead people away from God. And so when God rescues us and he takes us out of that worldly system, he doesn’t take us out of the world. [2:35] He leaves us here and he leaves us here to be people who work to undermine the systems of the world, [2:40] to see people rescued and returned to the rightful rule of Jesus.
[2:44] And so that’s kind of where we’re going with subversive life. [2:48] But I want to read a verse by Paul here and kind of work that out with you a little bit more just by way of kind of laying a foundation of where we’re going this morning. [2:57] But if you would turn with me to Philippians, chapter three, we’ll start there this morning. [3:02] Verse 17, this is kind of some thoughts from Paul here about living a subversive life of mission. [3:10] He says there in verse 17, brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. [3:19] For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
[3:27] Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with mindset on earthly things. [3:33] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:40] So first notice that Paul says we’re not any more a part of the world’s kingdom. [3:45] We’ve now been made a citizen of God’s kingdom. [3:49] Earlier this year, we spent some time walking through the kingdom of heaven, and it was a series called The Kingdom is Life and What is Like. [3:56] And we looked through different ways that we can recognize what the kingdom of heaven is like. [4:00] And that’s the thought that Paul has here. [4:02] We used to be a part of the kingdom of the world, but now we’re a part of God’s kingdom.
[4:06] That’s where our citizenship is now. [4:08] And that move from a citizen of the world to being a citizen now of God’s kingdom, that changes our perspective of the world. [4:16] Look again back at verse 18, because I want to also notice Paul’s attitude towards people who are part of the world’s kingdom. [4:22] Look how Paul talks there in verse 18 about people who don’t know Jesus. [4:25] He says they’re enemies of the cross of Christ. [4:29] They’re headed for destruction because they glory in their shame and their minds are set on earthly things.
[4:34] That’s that’s a rebellion against God right there. [4:36] These are not good things, but don’t miss what Paul says at the end of verse 18. [4:41] There it’s easy to miss, but he says he talks about them with tears. [4:46] So Paul’s life is dedicated to seeing peoples who who were enemies of the cross rescued from darkness and brought into God’s kingdom. [4:54] To the point where Paul is sorrowful that that’s not happening because they don’t want to be rescued from darkness. [5:01] And that’s mission right there.
[5:04] People are headed for destruction and Paul wants to see them rescued. [5:07] And this is the attitude he says that we need to imitate also. [5:11] So my first point this morning is that our mission is to subvert a world that’s rebelling against God. [5:17] Our mission is to subvert a world that’s rebelling against God. [5:21] So a subversive life is about a posture and an attitude towards the world. [5:25] It’s important because if we get this wrong, our approach to mission is going to be wrong.
[5:30] We’ve got to understand that the world we live in is a very real, hostile world that’s rebelling against God. [5:37] But our mission is to the very people who are rebelling. [5:41] And we’ve been rescued in order to rescue others. [5:43] And at one time we were also rebelling against God and we were rescued by Jesus. [5:48] We were brought into God’s kingdom. And if we want to see that same thing happen for people, [5:52] if we want to see them move from citizens of this world that’s leading them to destruction,
[5:56] to citizens of God’s kingdom, just like we were rescued. [6:00] If we want to do that, then that means we’re going to have to be on mission to hostile people, [6:04] people who are rebelling against God. [6:06] And so how do we do that? [6:08] How do we live on mission to people who are actively rebelling against God? [6:13] That’s why we have to be subversive.
[6:15] Because to subvert something is to undermine a system from within. [6:20] If you’re the one doing the subverting, subversion means to work against something [6:25] that you think is harmful and destructive for the sake of the people in it. [6:30] So as Christians, we have to see ourselves as citizens of God’s kingdom who are living here in the world. [6:35] We see that the world’s harmful and destructive for the people in it. [6:39] They’re headed away from God. They’re headed towards hell.
[6:41] We need to undermine that and work to subvert the systems of this world [6:45] so that instead they can be rescued by Jesus. [6:47] That’s what living a subversive life is all about. [6:50] But the key is, and this is why it’s important to see ourselves as subversive [6:55] and not just fighting against the world. [6:57] Because we don’t want to harm and fight the people that we’re trying to rescue.
[7:01] The people are not our enemy. [7:03] It’s Satan who’s our enemy. [7:05] Ephesians 6 says our enemies are not flesh and blood, but spiritual forces of evil. [7:09] So the point of living a subversive life is that we are subverting the things of this world [7:14] that lead people away from Jesus and not fighting against the people of the world [7:17] that we’re trying to rescue.
[7:19] So we need to be subversive. [7:21] We need to work against the things of the world for the sake of the people in the world. [7:26] So we’ve got to have that posture in mission. [7:29] Ed Stetzer is a pastor and a researcher who writes a lot about mission. [7:33] And he puts it like this. He says, [7:34] The world’s in open rebellion against God.
[7:38] And when we become followers of Jesus, we join the rebellion against the rebellion. [7:43] We live in a way that shows our allegiance is to Jesus [7:46] and to the way Jesus says we should live, because that’s for our own good. [7:49] We live as subversives in this world. [7:51] We’re the rebellion against the rebellion. [7:54] Jesus Christ is the true king and ruler of the world.
[7:57] And the world’s rebelling against him. [7:59] So we have to join on mission to be a rebellion against that rebellion. [8:04] Jesus had some things to say about this idea of living to rescue the people who live in a hostile world. [8:10] So turn with me now to Matthew chapter 5. [8:12] And that’s where we’ll be the rest of the morning walking through some things that Jesus had to say about this idea. [8:18] Starting in verse 9 of Matthew chapter 5.
[8:23] Jesus said, [8:23] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. [8:28] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. [8:31] For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [8:34] Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you [8:37] and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
[8:40] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. [8:44] For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [8:48] There’s something interesting happening here. [8:50] Because Jesus is saying blessed are the peacemakers. [8:52] And that’s our mission. Our mission is to make peace for people with God. [8:58] But then he says a bunch of other things that don’t really sound very peaceful, do they?
[9:02] He says that people are going to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, reviled, spoken evil of unjustly. [9:11] And generally these are the kinds of confrontations we think we can avoid when we’re being peacemakers. [9:16] It sounds to me like this is the kind of hostile world that Paul was talking about earlier in Philippians. [9:22] And so my next point this morning is that seeking peace with God brings hostility from the world. [9:27] I don’t think usually this is what we think of when we think of being a peacemaker. [9:33] You know, being reviled of and spoken evil of.
[9:36] But being a peacemaker in this sense is not just the kind of peacemaker where we’re just helping people to get along. [9:43] That’s not the kind of peacemaker that Jesus is talking about here. [9:47] The kind of peacemaker that Jesus is talking about here is ultimate peace with God. [9:51] And that’s a whole other thing. [9:52] Ultimate peace with God means putting God in his rightful place as King of the universe, [9:58] as the ruler, the one with authority over our life.
[10:02] Peace with God means submitting to who God is and his authority over all of life. [10:05] And that’s the only way to real actual peace. [10:08] And any other peace is a less than kind of peace. [10:11] And when you promote that kind of peace between people and God, [10:14] that’s going to bring hostility from a world that’s in rebellion against God. [10:20] So we can expect that. And that’s what Jesus is trying to let us know here in Matthew chapter 5.
[10:25] And this point about hostility is important because I think we naturally don’t want to think the world is as hostile as it actually is. [10:32] I don’t think we want to really feel that way about the world. [10:36] And that’s dangerous because if we don’t believe the world’s hostile, [10:39] we’re not going to see the need to subvert it the way that we need to. [10:43] And we’re going to end up going along with things and things and systems of the world [10:47] that are actually destructive towards faith in Jesus.
[10:49] So I think we’ve got to wrap our mind around this idea of the hostility of the world. [10:53] And I think one thing that kind of happens there is a lot of us have some Christian baggage when it comes to talking about hostility of the world. [11:01] A lot of you grew up in the church like I did. [11:03] And so when you think when you when you hear about hostility, the world, you think about things like, you know, getting rid of secular CDs and tapes. [11:10] You think about preachers, you know, standing at a podium preaching about all the evil morals that are going on outside those walls. [11:16] You think about, you know, political agendas.
[11:19] You think about the sky is falling in times kind of things. [11:22] Those are the kind of things that go through your mind when you think about a hostile world. [11:25] And that’s that’s not the kind of hostility that we’re talking about here. [11:29] The hostility that we’re talking about here is much more than any mere morality. [11:34] We’re talking about the rebellion of the world against the rightful rule of Jesus. [11:39] And the Bible is clear about this in terms of the hostility of the world.
[11:42] I’m not going to read through all these verses, but the references are in your handout. [11:45] James 4, 4 says that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God. [11:50] Colossians 1, 13 says the world is the domain of darkness. [11:54] Ephesians 2, 3 says that we are by nature children of wrath. [11:57] And 2, 12 says that we have no hope without God. [12:00] In John 15, 18, Jesus says the world hates him.
[12:05] So the hostility that we’re talking about is not just about morals that that offend our sensibilities. [12:10] That’s that’s way below the kind of hostility we’re talking about. [12:13] It’s about whether or not Jesus is king. [12:17] And the world doesn’t want real peace with God like that, because that would mean God has authority. [12:21] Instead, the world wants a fake peace. [12:23] The world wants to just get along to get along to whitewash differences and pretend like everything’s OK between them and God.
[12:31] And God does not like fake fake peace. [12:34] We read in Isaiah 48, 22. [12:37] There is no peace, says the Lord for the wicked. [12:40] Ezekiel 13, 10 through 11. [12:43] It says precisely because they have misled my people, saying peace when there is no peace. [12:49] And because when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash.
[12:53] Say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall. [12:57] So there can be no fake peace with God. [13:01] So how is it then that we make peace where there is no peace? [13:06] So how are we going to be peacemakers in a hostile world that’s actively rebelling against God? [13:12] That’s where subversive life comes in. [13:14] We have to see ourselves as the rebellion against the rebellion and learn to subvert the world by living for Jesus.
[13:21] And in the next verses here in Matthew chapter five, Jesus is really going to walk out for us just what that kind of life looks like. [13:29] And what it looks like to live a subversive life that shows the world for what it is and show Jesus for the king that he actually is. [13:37] So pick back up with me on Matthew five, verse 13.
[13:43] Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth.
[13:47] But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? [13:51] It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. [13:57] There’s a couple different ways we can take the metaphor of salt. [13:59] Salt is something that can add flavor to food. [14:02] Salt is something that can preserve food so that it lasts longer. [14:05] I think Jesus had the flavor thing in mind here because he talks about taste.
[14:10] But either way, I think the key point about, you know, whether salt is flavor or salt is preservative is the point that salt is distinct. [14:17] Salt is different. [14:19] Salt stands out. [14:20] And I think that’s really what Jesus is getting at here because he’s talking about how we’re supposed to live in a hostile world as ones who are part of God’s kingdom. [14:29] And Jesus says we need to be like salt. [14:30] We need to be distinct.
[14:31] And when we’re not distinct from the world, we’re no longer good for anything, he says. [14:36] And so I think the key here is how can we be subversive peacemakers in a hostile world? [14:42] One of the starts of that is by being distinct. [14:44] We’re subversive when we live differently. [14:48] So I want to walk that out a little bit. [14:49] I want to talk about what does it mean to live differently in a way that’s subversive and undermines the world’s systems that lead people to destruction actually brings people to being rescued in Jesus.
[15:01] When we live for different priorities and different purposes, that’s what makes us distinct. [15:06] And that’s what subverts the world’s rebellion against God. [15:10] Jesus says that the way to bring peace to a hostile world is to be distinct and different. [15:15] We’re not going to return hostility for hostility. [15:18] Again, we can’t do that because the very people that we’re trying to rescue are the ones being hostile. [15:23] So we can’t return hostility for hostility.
[15:26] Instead, we’ve got to be subversive by being distinct. [15:28] We’ve got to show the world around us that we have something much different to live for in the kingdom of God, much better that Jesus has for us. [15:37] Jesus has our own joy in mind. [15:38] Our mission is clear. [15:40] Our mission is that we’re supposed to use everything that God’s given us, all our gifts, all our abilities, all our talents, all our relationships. [15:48] We saw last week all our money, all our resources, everything that’s been given to us is to be used to see as many people as possible rescued from the world’s kingdom
[15:57] and transferred as citizens of God’s kingdom. [16:01] It’s a big mission, but that’s not vague. [16:03] That’s what we’re supposed to be about. [16:04] And when we live for that mission, people are going to notice that something is different about us and something that’s distinct. [16:11] And this is something that’s actually becoming a little bit easier in society right now because there was a time not long ago where we had much more cultural Christianity in society. [16:22] But that’s fading fast.
[16:24] There was a time not long ago where kind of having this veneer of following Jesus, appearing to follow Jesus, bought you status in society, got you somewhere in culture. [16:33] It was helpful for your job to at least appear to follow Jesus. [16:37] It was helpful for your place in the community to be a good church member and to at least put on a face that you’re following Jesus. [16:46] And so it was not as easy to be distinct by following Jesus when you’ve got a lot of people playing games and acting like they’re following Jesus. [16:52] Those days are fading away quickly. [16:54] You know, it does not help as much to appear to be a follower of Jesus.
[16:58] And so people aren’t pretending as much. [17:00] That leaves us in a good place, though, because if we actually are following Jesus, and that’s always been a subversive thing, it’s always undermined where the world was going. [17:08] But if we’re actually doing that, if we’re actually following Jesus, that’s going to allow us to be distinct, to be salt, to stand out and to show people that Jesus does have their joy in mind in following him. [17:21] So that’s a good thing. The good news is that we’re going to have way more opportunity to be distinct in the coming years. [17:27] We’ve already seen from last week that Jesus changes how we keep score with money so we can live differently by being generous with our money. [17:35] And that’s an important start. And we need to kind of follow that same line of thought out to all kinds of different areas of life.
[17:40] So I just want to spend some time walking through some ideas of ways that we can be distinct. [17:47] First is we’ve got to subvert the world’s definition of success.
[17:52] We’ve got to not define success by our stuff or our status, but rather we need to define our success by our ability to be and make disciples. [18:02] Success is being faithful in the places God put us. [18:06] It’s discipling our family, discipling our friends, and it’s making space for that in our life to where we can be on mission. [18:12] And sometimes to get those things to have space in our life to be and make disciples, sometimes we’ve got to say no to other things that are otherwise good. [18:20] You know, some of this Steve hit on last week, you got to say no, frankly, a lot of times to more square footage. [18:26] We’ve got to say no to opportunities that could be good opportunities.
[18:29] There’s times when we’re going to have to say no to jobs that might seem like good jobs, but they’re going to take us away from being in a place where we can be and make disciples. [18:38] And this is very, very subversive in a world that says you always need to aim for more. [18:45] Our measure of success has got to be not just aiming for more and more and more, but how are we being and making disciples?
[18:52] But don’t hear me say that hard work is somehow against the mission of Jesus. [18:56] It’s not. There’s some in here who need to live differently by growing up, getting a plan and working harder. [19:03] God’s not honored by laziness in the world would tell you that it’s none of anyone else’s business. [19:10] You know, that we’re not accountable to anyone. As long as you’re happy, you’re good. [19:13] That’s not true, because we’re all accountable to God. [19:16] And for some of us, the most subversive thing we could do in our circle of friends is get a better work ethic, work harder, work different.
[19:24] There’s all kinds of ways we can be distinct. The world tells us we can have it all. [19:27] Steve hit on this last week, too, and I want to hit on it again because it’s so important. [19:32] The world tells us we can have big careers, hobbies, quality family time, sports, community involvement, me time, whatever me time is. [19:42] It’s a lie. We can’t have it all. You can’t. You’ve got to prioritize what matters in life. [19:48] And you’ve got to think through what matters to you being and making disciples. [19:52] So we’ve got to prioritize our family. We’ve got to prioritize our church community.
[19:56] We’ve got to prioritize space for mission. And, of course, providing for your family fits into that, too. [20:02] But we’ve got to be subversive by denying ourself and serving others.
[20:08] Hunger, human trafficking, abuse, disease. [20:14] Everyone’s against these things. And everyone clicks stuff on Facebook. [20:18] Do we actually arrange our life to do something about it? [20:22] Do we actually arrange our life to be generous about these things that we know that God has a heart for combating? [20:28] We’ve got to be subversive by actually doing something. [20:33] We’ve got to be distinct in the way we raise our kids. Are we raising our kids to be successful in the world’s eyes or in God’s eyes?
[20:39] Do we trust that a healthy family is enough to raise men and women who love Jesus? [20:45] Or are we chasing some expectation of the world by trying to get our kids as many experiences as they possibly can? [20:52] Have we arranged our life to actually be families, have schedules that allow us to talk to our children, to eat meals together, to have conversations? [21:02] Or again, are we just being corrupted by the world’s expectations of all the stuff we’ve got to do? [21:07] Are we going to be subversive towards the world’s expectations of what kids need? [21:13] We’ve got to be distinct in how we educate our children.
[21:17] Don’t worry, I’m not going to take it easy on you here. I’m not talking about different forms of education. [21:22] But I am going to challenge you. I know we’ve got a lot of young Christian families with young kids in here, kids in school, about to start school. [21:31] And there’s something you’ve got to think about. The world will tell you that your kids’ education can be separated from discipleship. [21:37] You can’t believe that lie. Wherever your kids are educated, whether it’s public school, home school, private school, [21:45] you have got to realize, parents, that your job as parents is to show Jesus in every single area of life. [21:51] That’s your responsibility. And you have to subvert compartmentalism that the world will try to tell you that Jesus just fits in the religion box and maybe a little bit of the family box.
[22:02] But he doesn’t fit in everything else. You’ve got to fight against that. Jesus is king everywhere of everything. [22:08] And wherever your kids are being educated, it’s your responsibility to make sure that they see that Jesus relates to every single part of life. [22:18] That’s got to be a distinction of us as Christians. So we’ve got to make time for that. [22:23] I could keep going and going and going, talking about different things. [22:28] But my goal here is just to kind of get us thinking about, OK, what are ways that Christians are distinct in the world? [22:36] I’ve got to move on. I’m never going to get through all my verses in Matthew chapter five here.
[22:42] But pick back up with me in verse 14, because I think Jesus has a really important other thing to add here to how we can live subversive lives. [22:52] He says in verse 14, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. [23:03] But on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way. [23:07] Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.
[23:15] So as salt were distinct, but now Jesus adds another element to this by saying we’re also like. [23:21] So not only are we distinct, but we’re also need to be visible. [23:25] And this is an important part of understanding how we’re supposed to be subversive in a world that’s rebelling against God. [23:31] See, it’s possible to live differently in a way that nobody really notices. [23:37] And sometimes there’s no way around that. But that’s not very subversive. [23:40] No one’s going to be rescued if they don’t know that there’s a different kingdom that they need to be rescued to.
[23:45] And so my last point this morning is that we’re subversive when we proclaim Jesus clearly. [23:52] We need to learn to proclaim Jesus clearly in the ways that we’re different. [23:56] I worked at University of Richmond for a few years when we first moved here to Richmond. [24:02] And while I was there, you know, I was definitely salt. I was definitely different. [24:06] I was definitely living for different things, but I really wasn’t light very much. [24:10] I wasn’t different in the way that people knew why I was different.
[24:14] I didn’t talk enough about why I was living for different things. [24:18] And that frustrates me now. I wish I had talked more. [24:21] You know, we’ve got to be ready and willing to talk about the Jesus behind why we’re different and why we live differently. [24:27] No one’s going to be again rescued to a kingdom they don’t know about. [24:32] So we’ve got to talk. Being subversive does not mean being undercover. [24:38] It’s very important to understand that.
[24:40] It’s a little bit dangerous to be subversive in a world that’s rebelling against God. [24:45] We’re not outright fighting again because we’re not trying to harm the people that we’re trying to rescue. [24:50] So we’re not outright fighting, but we are working against the world systems. [24:54] We’re being subversive. And when you do that in a hostile world, you’re going to get noticed and you might even get in some trouble. [25:01] And that’s why it’s important to understand that Jesus tells us here in Matthew, Chapter five, [25:05] The world’s going to be hostile towards you when you’re seeking peace with me.
[25:10] No one is being rescued because of our private thoughts that we won’t share with anyone. [25:16] For example, if we have all these great thoughts about why God desired the family the way he did and why that’s a better way for people to live. [25:23] And we don’t share that with anyone. It’s not going to be light and salt to anyone. [25:27] You know, maybe that is just the salt and light that someone who is dealing with pain and hurt in that area that the world has inflicted on them needed to hear, you know, to cause them to investigate Jesus and turn to him. [25:40] They’re not going to know if you don’t share those things. [25:43] So we’ve got to be ready and willing and learn how to share Jesus in the differences that he makes in our lives.
[25:53] We have to think through why we live differently and be able to connect that to Jesus. [25:58] We have to know what we believe and why we believe it. [26:02] You can’t be subversive in a way that brings peace and hope if we’re just a mindless rule follower with a checklist. [26:08] You know, if we’re just doing what we do because we know we’re supposed to do it, that’s not light. [26:13] You know, again, maybe that’s salt. Maybe that is different. [26:16] But no one’s seeing Jesus in that.
[26:18] We’ve got to know the reasons why Christians believe what they believe and the reasons why Christians live how they live and be able to talk about it. [26:27] So I want to maybe walk through some examples of that, and we’re not going to be able to talk about each of these, but maybe at least get your mind thinking.
[26:35] It’s important to live differently by having healthy marriages and avoiding divorce. [26:40] But do you know why marriage between men and women is good for society? [26:45] You know why that matters? [26:46] Do you know why calling other things marriage is destructive to society or or is that just a rule you follow because you know it’s a rule? [26:54] Can you talk about that in a meaningful way? [26:57] Do you know why kids need both fathers and mothers in the home?
[27:00] Do you know why the difference between men and women matters for the gospel? [27:04] Or again, do you just repeat what you’ve heard? [27:07] Can you talk about how Jesus changes the stuff you buy and the things you spend your time doing? [27:14] If that’s not something you can articulate, is it because there is no difference with the way you spend your time and the stuff you buy? [27:22] Or are you able to talk about why you do those things for the gospel? [27:26] Do you know why the local church matters to your faith?
[27:28] Or again, is it just something you do because you do it? [27:31] Can you talk about why the community of the church matters? [27:35] Do you know why children are important gifts from God? [27:38] Can you articulate that in a society that increasingly sees them as an inconvenience? [27:43] Are you able to talk about these things? [27:45] There’s all kinds of ways, if we think about it, that we are distinct as followers of Jesus, but we’ve got to be able to talk about it if people are going to see light.
[27:55] Being light means explaining our salt. [27:58] And sometimes we want to just be one or the other, light or salt, and that’s not subversive. [28:02] We’ve got to have both to be subversive. [28:04] To undermine the world’s ways, we have to be able to talk about why Jesus’ ways are better. [28:09] And we’re not beating people over the head with this. [28:12] But when the opportunity arises, we’ve got to be able to have something to say.
[28:18] Another way we can proclaim Jesus clearly is to be committed to participating in the local church community. [28:25] Subversion is meant to be a community thing. [28:28] It’s not so much meant to be an individual thing. [28:30] You know, we can live a subversive life as an individual, be distinct, live different, be ready to talk about it. [28:35] And a few people are going to notice. [28:37] But if there’s a whole community of people doing that together, you know, together, living distinct lives, being able to talk about that, that’s something the world can really notice.
[28:46] The church is designed to work that way. [28:49] The church is designed to be more than the sum of her parts. [28:53] And that way, God gets the glory and not us. [28:55] So be involved in the church community. [28:58] Involve your family in the church community. [28:59] If you want your kids to follow Jesus, they need to see you committed to his bride.
[29:04] More than any program they could attend or lesson they could learn or place they could go. [29:10] What matters most when it comes to children coming to faith in Jesus is that they see their parents serving Jesus and participating in the church community. [29:18] And so if you want to be a peacemaker between your children and God, which should be your first mission, you’ve got to love the church and be a part of the church community.
[29:28] There’s also ways of being subversive that only the church can do together. [29:32] And here’s one important example just to get you thinking about this. [29:36] I mentioned earlier how it’s important that we know why God intended the family to be men and women and children need men and women in the home. [29:45] We live in a broken world. [29:48] You know, not every child has a mother. [29:50] Not every child has a father.
[29:52] And that’s because of the world’s brokenness. [29:54] But rather than using that as an excuse to not talk about why God designed the family the way he did, [30:00] the reality of that brokenness is where the church is supposed to jump in and be the family of God. [30:06] All right. That’s light in a broken world. [30:08] So if you want to be light, are we taking care of single mothers? [30:11] Are we taking care of single fathers?
[30:13] Are we being the church family to them in that way? [30:16] It’s an important way that the church can be together, distinct in a way that we can’t be on our own. [30:22] So we’ve got to commit to stop letting opportunities to be subversive slip by us. [30:28] There are people who need rescuing all around us, and some of them will only be rescued if we risk being reviled and mocked, [30:35] like we saw back there in Matthew 5, verse 9. [30:40] We can only be peacemakers between people and God if we risk being rejected.
[30:44] Don’t forget, one of the results of proclaiming Jesus clearly is that some people aren’t going to like it. [30:49] That goes along with being part of the rebellion against the rebellion. [30:53] If we’re rebelling against the rebellion, rebellion’s not going to like it. [30:57] When we’re living a subversive life and we’re talking about it, we’re proclaiming Jesus clearly, [31:02] some people are going to notice that, and they’re going to be hostile, [31:05] because we’re undermining their authority to live life the way they want it.
[31:08] That’s why Jesus tells us that’s coming there in Matthew 5. [31:12] But at the end of our section in Matthew 5, here in verse 16, Jesus also gives us great hope. [31:20] Because here at the end of the passage in Matthew 5, 16, he says that some people will be rescued. [31:26] He says some people will see us living differently and give glory to God, [31:30] and they’ll see the differences, and God’s Spirit is going to grab them and they’re going to be saved. [31:36] And that’s our hope, and that’s what we have to cling to.
[31:38] That’s worth any amount of hostility that we have to face. [31:42] That promise that some people are going to be rescued, that’s happened. [31:46] It’s going to continue to happen more and more. [31:49] And there is peace to be had with God through Jesus. [31:51] We can be peacemakers if we’re willing to be salt and light like Jesus calls us to be here. [31:57] That’s what we need to live for.
[32:00] As the band go ahead and comes up, that’s what I’ve got this morning. [32:05] I hope that you’ll just see and be encouraged that a subversive life is about living in such a way [32:13] that people see there’s a difference in us, [32:16] and that they want to know the Jesus that makes that difference. [32:19] Right now, we’re going to move into a time of communion.
[32:23] Every week, this is where we proclaim who Jesus is, [32:26] and it’s only because of what Jesus did on the cross that we are not in this world’s kingdom anymore. [32:31] That we are now citizens of God’s kingdom, that we have moved from all these systems of destruction [32:38] that only lead away from God. [32:39] We’ve been moved from that and put in God’s kingdom because of what Jesus did on the cross. [32:44] Each week reflecting on communion allows us to have time to remember that,
[32:49] time to thank Jesus for that, [32:51] to have time to remember that there’s other people who need that. [32:56] Let’s take communion in that light this morning. [32:58] Go ahead and pray with me real quick. [33:00] Father, we just want to thank you that we are citizens of your kingdom, God. [33:05] Right now, we want to pray just for any people who are on the minds of us as a church right now
[33:12] or who don’t know you, who are still in the world’s kingdom. [33:16] We’re still headed for destruction, God, and we pray right now [33:19] that they would be rescued, that they would see you in us, God, [33:24] and that they would meet you, and so we pray for them, God, save them. [33:27] God, thank you, and we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. [33:32] When you’re ready, then come.