Boss

Pastor Derek Wheeler

Boss • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Mark 10:35–45

Exodus 20

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Introduction:

Have you ever been bossed around?

Maybe by an adult, or a rather bossy brother or sister, or maybe by a friend who maybe has some slight control issues?

One of you share a quick story about a time that happened.

Thanks for sharing.

How does it feel to get bossed around?

Let some students respond

When those times happen, have you ever just wanted to scream, or maybe you have or actively do scream, “You’re not the boss of me!?!?!”

I’m sure you have, I know I have.

We all have at least one, some of us have way more than one person in our lives that always seems to be telling us what to do.

Parents, teachers, siblings, friends, youth pastor, etc....

Personal Illustrations

Let me tell you about a time when I felt bossed around by an authority figure.

It’s when I was a teenager actually, when I was in the 12th grade.

Mrs. Stewart | Home Eq | Quilting Project | Free Periods

At the time, I was convinced I was right, that I was making a stand for a just cause. Like I was Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves…this was my cause

BUT…in hindsight, as I look back, you know what I discovered?

I WAS TOTALLY IN THE WRONG

Here’s a fun fact for you:

When you’re a teenager, it’s really normal to disagree with adults, to question authority, and to feel like it’s you against the world.

And sometimes you may actually be right because, here’s a shocker, adults and authority are not always right.

However, what I’ve discovered and what I’m sure all of our leaders would agree with is this:

Most of the time, the teenage you isn’t always right

So when I said it was “normal” to disagree with adults, I meant it. But notice I didn’t say it was always the correct thing to do.

We naturally will want to be our own bosses, but sometimes we’re not the most qualified people for the job

Anecdotes

Here are some examples of times I’ve tried to be my own boss:

There was this other time in high school

Emily Kraft - Class President 9-11 | Removed senior year

See, when we always choose to be our own boss, we can be guilty of thinking that we are all that matters, and we can hurt others

Or when I was entering college, knowing that God, my highest authority, was calling me to youth ministry, but I bucked off that calling for several years, missing out on who knows what

When we choose to be our own boss, we can miss out on God’s best for us.

Now, most of you are familiar with the story of the Israelites, but for a refresher:

They were a people group (like Americans), who were slaves in egypt

God rescues them from their slavery and their bondage and their misery

He uses ten pretty awesome plagues to do so:

Then he literally splits the Red Sea in half for them to walk through to escape the Egyptians who were chasing them

It’s seriously amazing, because God showed up FOR THEM in a big way

And He says to them, follow me as we journey through the desert and at the end of the desert I will give you a pretty sweet new land, where you’ll be free!

Well, what happens?

Right! The Israelites start rebelling against the authority, against their BOSS, pretty quickly. And they do it over and over and over

So their journey keeps taking longer and longer until finally God decides to make them wander in the desert for 40 years

But sometime along their journey, God called Moses, the Israelites leader whom God had chosen for them up to the mountain and He gives Him a list of ten rules for the people of Israel, known as:

The Ten Commandments

Someone read for me

So the Israelites had been living in Egypt and during that time period they were exposed to and some of them probably worshiped a bunch of different gods (lower case g)

And so God says to them right off the bat, with commandment #1

“You shall have no other gods before me”

No other handmade images of animals or made up gods in your house.

And that word before doesn’t mean you can have other gods as long as God is #1.

Nope, it means you aren’t to have any other gods

You aren’t to worship any other gods

You aren’t to have anything to do with any other gods

Now, you may be sitting here wondering what in the world this has to do with anything we are talking about

And I get it, you probably don’t have a hand carved image or statue in your house that you bow down to

But don’t be mistaken, you have gods in your life, they just look different

And one of the biggest gods of your life is:

What do you think?

Let me tell you, one of the biggest is YOU.

You worship the god of you when:

You put yourself first

You push to the front of the line

You share some gossip that will make someone else look bad and in turn make you look good

You put someone down

You deliberately disobey your one true boss, God, because you are convinced you know better!

Sound familiar to any of you?

When Jesus was carrying out his redemptive earthly ministry, He had 12 dudes that hung out with him.

They were called what?

Disciples, right!

So if anyone wouldn’t have struggled with worshiping the god of themselves, it should have been the fellas who hung out with God himself, Jesus. But even they struggled with this

Follow along as I read verses 35-37

Now, James and John, they had a nickname. Anyone know what it was

THE SONS OF THUNDER

When I hear that name I think of these two guys lining up about to enter a WWE arena, with Aerosmith playing in the background.

But the nickname meant that they were brave, bold, arrogant in a way, even to the point of bossing around Jesus

And in this passage, they were focused on what seat they would have in Heaven, they wanted a position of prominence. They wanted to be the top dog

Now, look at Jesus’ response in verses 38-45

Verse 43 is THE verse of Jesus’ response:

“But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all”

So what does He mean?

He means this: You can defeat the god of yourself, you can defeat the idea that you are your best boss, by giving up your seat

We defeat it when we go last instead of first

We defeat it when we give instead of take

We defeat it when we serve instead of thinking we ought to be served

Now What?

So, how do you know if you’re guilty of worshiping the god of you?

- Are you acting selfishly.

Is it all about you all of the time?

- Are you constantly acting and speaking arrogantly about yourself?

Do your conversations always revolve around you and how awesome you are?

- Are you always on the defensive?

Are you always more concerned about being right and making sure everyone knows it?

Are you guilty of any of these?

And, yes, its true I could answer that question for most of you. Yes, I may see you are guilty of some of these things

But you need to be honest with yourself and realize this on your own. Where are you in your life. Are you your boss?

And if you are guilty, what can you do?

Act Selflessly

Go last. Put someone else first. Serve someone this week.

Find a neighbor who needs help cutting grass

When you come to youth group, make sure everyone else gets some food before you eat

Hold the door for people

Speak Generously

When you’re in a conversation, don’t turn it to you all the time.

Speak well of others, engage with what others are saying

Encourage one another, don’t tear them down

Your words are powerful. The book of James talks about the tongue, our words, being like a rudder on a ship. It’s small but it controls the whole ship.

So do our words

Respond Humbly

James also talks about being quicker to hear than to speak

Take this next week, take this summer, and operate under the assumption that you still have a lot to learn (because the truth is we all do)

Apologize when you’re wrong

Can I promise you something?

If you choose to continue serving the god of you, it will leave you empty, tired and broken.

When you serve the god of you, you hurt yourself, others, and you’ll miss out on what the one true God has in store for you

So this week, make it a point to serve the only God that is worthy, and that is God Himself.

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