As preached by Pastor Steven Furtick
0:00
We live in a time where everybody wants to be a public figure. We live in a time, And please don’t get mad at me for saying this, where even people who have a private account, spend their whole lives, posting stuff, and commenting on stuff to create an image and a projection of a reality that may bear no resemblance, the awkward golf claps really helped me; I appreciate that, to the reality of their situation, and Jesus’s brothers, pull them aside and say, we’ve got a great idea. Why don’t you show the world who you really are.
0:41
The interesting thing about the text and I’m gonna give this to you quick because the the nexus of this text is in verse five. It says that even Jesus brothers did not believe in him. And since they didn’t believe, they were trying to get him to perform. Anytime you have unbelief in your heart, it will cause you to try to perform to prove something that you don’t really believe. In psychological terms is called the fraudulence complex, or some call it the imposter syndrome. And it speaks about how many of us have an inability to internalize our strengths and our accomplishments. Psychologists call it the imposter syndrome, Because they say that many of us secretly deep down feel like we’re a fraud. Many of us secretly, deep down feel like we have so much less to offer than what people expect, and that even when people compliment us, we figured that the reason that they’re complimenting us is because they don’t really see us for who we are. And if they ever saw us for who we are, if they ever saw How stupid we feel, If they ever saw how inexperienced we feel, If they really saw how nervous we really feel, they would kick us out the room. It happens to fathers, it happens to mothers, it happens to leaders, it happens to teenagers.
2:17
It is the fear of being found out to be less than they thought you were, It is the fear that keeps you in a performance mode, It is the fear that keeps you spending money to look like something important; because deep down you’re afraid that you’re really not. It is the fear that keeps you overcompensating and you get in situations and rather than letting other people be the center of attention. You feel the need to overcompensate to show how intelligent you are, because deep down you don’t feel intelligent enough. So people think you’re cocky, but you’re really not cocky; Your scare with the conflict between who they think you’re supposed to be and who you feel like you really are. It’s called the imposter syndrome. It means that sometimes, even as I’m trying to fulfill my purpose, I feel like a fake. It’s not that I’m a hypocrite. It’s not that I’m insincere. It’s just that deep down inside. I’m a man who sometimes feels like a little boy. I’m a preacher who sometimes feels like a sinner. I want to be wise, but sometimes I feel like a fool. And I’m wondering, is there anybody here who lately has been up under the pressure of an expectation?
3:42
When you feel that the temptation, and the tendency is to prove it? I gotta prove, I’m a good dad. I gotta prove, I’m a good mom. I gotta prove, I’m a good preacher. I gotta prove it; When you do it to prove it, it takes the joy out of it. See, Jesus, Jesus didn’t mind performing miracles. He just wasn’t going to do it for the wrong motives. Jesus was going to Judea, he just wasn’t going to make a public spectacle out of his power. Jesus was ultimately determined to show the world who he was, but he wasn’t going to do it for the gram.
4:39
I think the key thing that He says in the text is not now; I’m going to Judea, which is the region where he would ultimately give his life, but not now. And it’s such a weird world we live in, in it? I mean, I’m so scared. For my kids, honestly, I don’t even know what to tell them about growing up in a time where we’ve always had the pressure. But now the performance; Now everybody gets to experience performance anxiety because we all perform our lives for one another all the time. Just constantly. I mean, if you, if you cook a good meal for your family, it does not count unless you make an Instagram story out of the meal.
5:33
This is a very common thing to preach about. It’s common because it’s killing us. Jesus said, If I go to Judea for the wrong reasons, and if I show up with the wrong motives, and if I live my life, to perform for others, rather than to glorify my father, it’ll kill me. The religious leaders will Waiting to literally kill Jesus. But I wonder what are the things that are killing you? It says that he purposely stayed away from Judea. What do you need to purposely stay away from in this season of your life? What do you need to purposely stop thinking about in this season of your life? Who do you need to purposely stop comparing yourself to in this season of your life? for me, is buck.
6:34
I was doing squats the other day, and chunks. chunks was watching me do these squats. And I was doing them deep, deep squats. Only do leg day once every six weeks, so I gotta make it count when I do it. And I don’t know if I can do it in these jeans. I should have tested this. I hadn’t done this illustration yet. But I mean, I was down deep on the squat. Now buck wasn’t there that day chunks was there and chunks was spotting me. And he said, What are you doing? And I said, I’m doing, I’m doing my squats, like Buck, but he said something so important. He said don’t do them like buck. Buck is built different than you. You’re gonna break your back trying to be like buck. And I wonder how we look to God trying to, you are going to snap your hamstring. You are gonna pop your quads, trying to, trying to be buck, get didn’t trying to turn trying to. I went on Instagram the other day. And I saw, I saw emmm Kevin Hart and I felt like a failure in my whole life. I felt like what am I doing with my whole life? What? What is the point of my existence? within 15 seconds; Here I am with a burden on me that I wasn’t built for by comparing myself to someone with a different color.
8:24
And please don’t judge me while I am in this vulnerable position. Because the truth of the matter is, some of you are hurting in ways that you don’t have to hurt because you are putting yourself in a position that you were not built to live in. Jesus said I’m not going to Judea, because you want me to go to Judea. I don’t have to post it to prove it. I don’t have to turn stones into bread to show that I’m the son of God. I live out of purpose. Not for popularity. I live out of purpose, not for the praises of men, but for the praise that can only come from God. And I wonder if there’s somebody today who is content to stay in Galilee, to know that it’s my season to be obedient. And that’s all I have to do. All I have to do is be obedient in this season of my life, and Jesus said, y’all go, I’m not going; Not now. Y’all go, I’ma stay, I’m purposely staying away, Because if I go here, to impress people with that motive, it’ll kill me. And trying to impress people, and trying to measure up to arbitrary standards that are changing so fast. It’ll kill your contentment, It’ll kill your joy, It’ll kill your marriage, It’ll kill your ministry. it’ll, it’ll kill your family.
10:05
Now, even Jesus couldn’t please everybody. And he was sinless and spotless. Jesus, Jesus Christ, the Son of God couldn’t please everybody, and we expect that we can. Even Jesus had to say, y’all are my family. I love you, but it’s not for me. And just those words, it’s not for me, y’all to go down there to Judea, show them what you’ve made of, because I think they were under pressure too. Honestly, I think probably it was a lot of pressure to be a sibling of Jesus. And you’re bringing home season chemistry, you know, and he’s turning water into wine like affecting molecular structures in real time. Lot of pressure, You got that weird brother. Yeah, the one who stays at the temple teaching people at age 12 It’s a pressure to feel special. And sometimes the pressure that we feel to be special does not come from God. It comes from culture who tells you that You’ve got to be so special so different, so unique, so set apart but you already are. You already are. You already are.. already set apart. Jesus, if you go down to Judea, you could, you could really you could show them who you are. You can. You can show them who you are. I don’t need to show them. I know, when you live out of that place, it affects you to be able to do it for purpose and not for proof, because really who you trying to prove it to? I mean, whoever you’re trying to prove something to isn’t paying attention, because they’re trying to prove it to somebody who’s not paying attention. And they’re proving it to someone who’s not paying attention. And so while we’re busy posting to each other, our results to prove to one another what we’re worth, our purpose is dying in the place of our insecurity.
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