The filled life

“Don’t settle for the full life- go after the filled life.”- Kyle Idleman

Still another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”- Luke 14:20

Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 5 of The End of Me by discussing the third guest to decline the banquet invitation. Pastor Idleman quips that this guest might be the hardest to criticize.  A slap on the back and congratulations might seem to be more in order.

The message many love songs and romantic movies convey is simple: the right partner will fill your emptiness.  Kyle cautions that idea causes many people to enter a relationship or marriage with a huge and false expectation- that another human being can fulfill you for the rest of your life= “You complete me.”

When the honeymoon is over, feelings of doubt or discontent may set in.  It is in those moments of grappling with doubt that the thought of God flickers in our heads.  Kyle says it is Jesus inviting us to the banquet.  Pastor Idleman summarizes Jesus’ message in this parable:

“Stuff.  Activity.  Romance.  And there could be others.  What would be your most likely reason for walking away.  What takes up space in your life that’s meant for God?”

Over a century ago evangelist Dwight L. Moody commented on making room for the Holy Spirit:

“. . . I believe many a man is praying to God to fill him when he is full already with something else.  Before we pray that God will fill us, I believe we ought to pray that He would empty us.”

Today’s question (from Kyle): What takes up space in your life that’s meant for God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Helpless to be empowered”

The filled life

The Great Banquet

Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 5 of The End of Me with an in-depth discussion of the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:16-24).  Pastor Idleman states it is important to understand that, in the Bible, a banquet often is a metaphor for the way God addresses the deepest needs of His people.  Jesus often used the image of a feast because it was a vivid and enticing image for His listeners.

Kyle observes that the best part of Jesus’ parables is deciphering who is who.  While some parables are simple and universal, others, like this parable in Luke, are pointed and specifically refer to certain people.  In most parables, God usually is identified as a king or master of an estate-definitely someone in a position of power.  But in this parable, Jesus is the servant.  The invitees are people of God who are too busy to attend.

The first guest has purchased a field and is eager to check it out.  Pastor Idleman states personal gain is the issue here.  Ironically, often people who believe they own property ultimately realize their property owns them.  The presumption of emptiness drives the need for consumer fulfillment.  Kyle summarizes:

“We hunt and we gather, and we can’t stop for fear of what a moment of reflection might say.”

As Mother Theresa would say, that moment of reflection might reveal a need for a living relationship with God.

Today’s question: What Scriptures help you fill your emptiness with God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “A hedge against emptiness”

The Great Banquet

Question: full or filled?

Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 5 of The End of Me by exploring the difference between a jar being full or filled.  He draws on Luke’s account of Jesus at a Pharisee’s house, during which Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14).

As the dinner commences and Jesus is being carefully watched, a man suffering from edema enters the room.  His body filled with excess fluid, the man’s health is an empty jar.  Of course, Jesus fills that jar and heals the man.  It should be a wonderful moment, but the Pharisees make no effort to question their preconceptions in the face of this miracle.  The question is: Are they full or filled?

Pastor Idleman explains the reason for the Pharisees’ static behavior.  They have no room.  They’re full to the brim with ideas so entrenched they are chiseled into their stony hearts.  The Pharisees have bought into Jesus being wrong.

Jesus makes a second attempt to get through the Pharisees’ ironclad defense by asking a really irritating question (v. 5): “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”  Jesus knows the answer.  The Pharisees know the answer.  Then Jesus tells a parable in one final attempt to get through, even though He knows the parable is likely to go in one ear and out the other.

Today’s question: Is your jar full of preconceptions or does it need to be filled?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Parable of the Great Banquet”

Question: full or filled?

Define fair

Today Kyle Idleman continues his description of six verbal symptoms of a prideful heart (Chapter 3, The End of Me).

You may be a Pharisee if . . .

3.  you catch yourself saying, “It’s not fair.”  Pastor Idleman emphasizes there is a major question here: how do we objectively define fair?  A lot of things are going to seem unfair if we feel we are more deserving or entitled than those around us.

Kyle supplies the following clue: if you have a hard time celebrating with others in their successes or victories and if you lack gratitude for the good things in your life, you’re probably suffering from a case of pride.  And if you feel entitled and discontented, you have no reason to be thankful for anything.

4.  you catch yourself whispering, “Did you hear about . . .” Gossip tends to put others in their “proper” place and underscores how superior Pharisees are.  Gossip provides a convenient stepping stone on our quest to be king of the mountain.

5.  you catch yourself saying, “I don’t need anybody’s help.”  Pastor Idleman observes that the Pharisee in the parable never asks for God’s help.  He’s got everything under control and checked all the boxes off- fasting, tithing.  The Pharisee is convinced God couldn’t get along without him.  Pride blinds us from realizing our desperate need for God.  If your prayers are filled with complaint and self-justification, you may have a pride issue.

Today’s question (from Kyle): In what ways do you take ownership of your own humility?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Pride is blinding”

Define fair

Your internal Pharisee

“God, I thank you that I am not like other people- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I have.”- Luke 18:11-12

Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 3 of The End of Me with a discussion of The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).  Pastor Idleman states people looked up to Pharisees because they were committed to Hebrew law and were likely to be upstanding, educated, and influential.  Although the Pharisees began with good intentions, eventually their faith became defined by an “unbearable, infinite collection of dos and don’ts, mostly don’ts.”

Luke clues us in that Jesus’ audience consisted of people  “who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else” (v.9).  Kyle observes that when we read such a description, we almost immediately assume Jesus is talking to someone else.  However, as soon as we assign negative descriptors to others, we become the very people Jesus is addressing.

The issue in this parable is pride versus humility.  Pastor Idleman explains:

“Fake humility expresses itself in a pride that is obvious to everyone but the speaker. . . . Ultimately our words betray us, no matter how much we guard them.”

In the next several blogs Kyle discusses six verbal symptoms of a prideful heart that indicate an internal Pharisee is about to flow out of our mouths.

Today’s question: How has your internal Pharisee been displayed following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “You may be a Pharisee if . . .”

Your internal Pharisee