I. THE CONDUCT OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER II. THE CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER III. THE CONDITIONS OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER IV. THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
______
We all want to know that our lives have counted, that we have made a difference in the lives of others.
A little boy was on the beach when the tide washed thousands and thousands of little shell fish upon the dry sand. He began picking up the shell fish and throwing them back into the water as fast as he could. A grown man walked up and said, “Son there are too many fish for you to throw back. You will not be able to make a difference.”
The little boy paused for a moment, and then picked up another shell fish and threw it back into the water and said, “I made a difference to that one.”
I want to be a man (an individual) that makes a difference!
In our text Paul says that he wants to "rejoice in the day of Christ that he has not run in vain, neither labored in vain." He wants to know that his efforts on them had not been wasted, that he had made a difference in their life.
“And of some have compassion, making a difference”
Do you want to be a difference maker?
I. THE CONDUCT OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER (14)
In our text Paul begins by saying "do all things." The Christian life is a life of doing. It’s not a life of sitting but a life of serving. We are to be "doers of the word.”
Faith that does not result in some kind of works is dead James says.
However, there is a way that we are to serve God, a manner in which we are to conduct ourselves.
A. Should be doing WITHOUT DISCONTENT
Murmuring is an expression of dissatisfaction and grumbling. It is complaining. The word "murmuring" means whispering or muttering, it speaks of private complaining or grumbling. One of the most unbecoming things a Christian can be is a chronic complainer (always finding fault), never contented, and never happy.
A monk entered a monastery in which he agreed to take a vow of silence. He could only speak two words every ten years. After the first ten years he was brought before the leader. He said, "Bed hard." Ten years later he was brought before the leader again. He said, "Food bad." Ten years later he was brought before the leader again. He said, "I quit.”
The leader said, "Well it doesn’t surprise me. You haven’t done anything but complain for the last 30 years."
Complainers are seldom difference makers; usually they are on the sidelines complaining about those who are making a difference.
B. Should be doing WITHOUT DISPUTING
“Disputings” means questionings, criticism. Some folk love to debate; they love to argue. They just love to hear themselves talk.
Murmuring, complaining and arguing are manifestations of discontent, and discontent is a rejection of God’s providential working in our lives.
A little old lady walked into a department store one day and was surprised when a band began to play and an executive pinned an orchid on her dress and handed her a crisp $100 bill. She was the store’s millionth customer. Television cameras were focused on her and reporters began interviewing her.
“Tell me,” one asked, “just what did you come here for today?”
The lady hesitated for a minute and then sheepishly answered, “I was on my way to the Complaint Department.”
I wonder, if there had been a secret video camera recording your life this past week, how much grumbling OR complaining would have been captured on film?
If we are going to be difference makers we cannot be complainers and disputers!
II. THE CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER (15)
If we are going to be difference makers we must become people of character. Paul says we are to be:
A. UNBLAMEABLE
“Blameless” simply means a life that can't be criticized, a life that can't be criticized. It is not referring to sinless perfection. It is referring to a walk that if free from condemnation. It means that you give no occasion for others to accuse you of having done wrong.
He is speaking of who we are before men. He is saying there should be nothing in our lives that would cause others to point a finger of accusation.
The lost world is looking for something to discredit your testimony so they can reject your Savior with a good conscience.
Some one once said, “I would be a Christian if it were not for Christians.”
A certain discreditable citizen met his demise. In conducting his funeral the preacher carried away with his own oratory, waxed eloquent in eulogizing the deceased. The widow, knowing the deceased better than the preacher did, whispered to her son sitting beside her, “Step up there and see if that is your Pa in that coffin.”
B. UNADULTERATED
“harmless” - speaks of that which is pure, unadulterated.
It is describing someone without hypocrisy. It speaks of one who is inside what they profess to be outside.
Jesus said the Pharisees were whitewashed tombs. Outside they were white and clean. Inside they were full of dead men’s bones.
We are to strive to have a life without fault and a life without flaw. That's God's desire for His people that their character and their conduct should be so pure that they cannot justly be accused, that they are above any criticism that is legitimate, there is no foreign element which contaminates their life.
C. UNMISTAKEABLE
"Sons of God" - We are to be recognizable. We must be conscious of the fact that when we try to live for Jesus Christ in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, our life will convict those before whom we live, and they look for excuses to reject what we say and the testimony of our lives for Christ.
What is it that primarily identifies us as children of God?
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” John 13:35.
A little boy stood outside of a store at Christmas time looking in the window. His clothes were tattered and torn. A lady moved with compassion brought him into the store and bought him a jacket and some clothes. When they were leaving the boy said, "Lady, are you God?"
She said, "No, but we are related." We are to be unmistakable children of God.
D. UNBLEMISHED - “without rebuke”
This ties all of them together. This means unblemished in reputation and in reality.
A businessman well known for his ruthlessness once announced to writer Mark Twain, "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the 10 Commandments aloud at the top."
"I have a better idea," replied Twain. "You could stay in Boston and keep them."
III. THE CONDITIONS OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER (15)
Where are we to live this life?
"in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world."
A. This dark world is DEPRAVED IN ITS ACTIONS - “crooked.”
“Crooked” - describes something as literally crooked, bent, deformed or warped (as a piece of wood becomes from dryness). It stands opposed to that which is straight. This world is not straight. It does not think straight, act straight, or go straight. We live in the midst of a world that is without morals, convictions, principles, or standards. To live straight is considered old fashioned.
B. This dark world is a DISTORTED IN ITS ATTITUDES - “perverse”
Perverse means distorted, twisted, warped.
Our world can get more upset about the destruction of a Spotted Owl and the cutting down of a tree than it does the murder of babies in a mother’s womb. Our society thinks that same sex marriages is just an alternate lifestyle rather than an abominable lifestyle.
We are supposed to live the Christian life right in the middle of a “crooked and perverse nation.”
Have you ever considered the prayer the Lord did not pray? Turn to John 17:15. He did not pray that we might be removed from the scene of danger because He knew we had a duty!
If our ultimate purpose for being here was to worship God, then God would have immediately transported us to heaven when we were saved God has left us here that we might "shine as lights in the world.”
IN PITY TO THIS DARK WORLD, CHRIST WOULD NOT HAVE THESE LIGHTS (believers) REMOVED OUT OF IT, ESPECIALLY FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE IN THE WORLD THAT WERE TO BELIEVE IN HIM THROUGH THEIR WORD.
The Bible never commands that lost people to come church; but it commands us to go to them and SHINE.
If we are to be difference makers we must both be around and befriend the lost. We are left in this world for them.
One Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me."
The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?"
The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?"
The mother replied, "Yes, that's true honey."
"And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, Mommy?"
Again the mother replied, "Yes."
"Well," said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?"
IV. THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE DIFFERENCE MAKER (16)
Paul says we are "holding forth the word of life."
The word of Life is the only hope for this world. The “word of life” is the Word of God which produces life. It is the Word which produces life. It is a life-giving Word.
Paul says we are holding it out like a lifeline. “Holding forth” refers to believers holding out or offering something for others to take; as one would offer food or a gift to someone. We do not have to defend it, we only have to declare it.
A. We hold forth that which can GUIDE. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” - Psalms 119:105.
B. We hold forth that which can Generate.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever,” -1 Peter 1:23. The preaching of the living Word will raise dead men.
Conclusion
Will you be a difference maker? Will you be a doer and not a complainer and a disputer? Will you allow God to mold your character? Will you forsake that which could bring accusation from the lost? Allow God to examine and purge your life of those things that only He knows about!
Let us be a difference maker!
7 | Page