We are able to overcome the temptation towards individuality and popularity when we selfless serve others in community with others...

This week, we have been looking at an event from history where Jesus was being enticed away from God and toward evil by the Devil. Tuesday, we looked on as the Devil called Jesus to jump off the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem. By calling Jesus to jump off the highest point of the Temple, the Devil was enticing Jesus to do the spectacular. The Devil was enticing Jesus to do something to satisfy a desire to win applause and be popular.  The Devil was enticing Jesus to do something that would set Him apart as someone who was radically different than everyone else and who was radically above everyone else. The Devil was enticing Jesus to express His radical individuality in a way that would win Him applause and popularity.

We talked about the reality that we all face this temptation. We are all enticed to attempt to garner the approval and applause of others. We are all enticed with a desire to set ourselves apart as individuals, to be spectacular, to be popular. We are all tempted to compare ourselves with others and to live as individuals in a way that we are viewed as popular.

However, the timeless reality is that there is no win in comparison. You see, when we live a life of comparison, we can only end up in one of two places. When we live a life of comparison, we end up in either pride or despair. When we compare our lives with the lives of other portrayed in social media, we often end up comparing our worst day with everyone else’s best day. And when we live a life of comparison with others, we are also comparing ourselves with the wrong standard. You see, instead of comparing ourselves with others in a way that leads us to either pride or despair, we are to compare ourselves with the life that Jesus calls us to, the life that is revealed by the life of Jesus and by the message and teachings of Jesus.

We also talked about the reality that the Devil will often entice us towards evil and away from God by misrepresenting what the message and teachings of Jesus actually say. So often, the Devil will use our partial knowledge of what the letters that make up the Bible say to get us to do something that the letters that make up the Bible say we are not supposed to be doing. You see, when we do not take the time to fully understand what the letters that make up the Bible say about an issue, we can be enticed into thinking that the letters that make up the Bible say something that they do not say about an issue.

The Devil will often use our ignorance of the message and teachings of Jesus to drag us away from the message and teachings of Jesus and Jesus and toward evil. Temptation will not only entice us to say "I know that Bible says, but". Temptation will not only entice us to say "I know what would Jesus do, but I don't want to do what would Jesus do".

Temptation will also entice us to say “Well I am not sure what the Bible really says about that, I only know one verse that kind of talks about that, but I am not going to take the time to make sure that I know what the Bible says when it comes to that”. Temptation will entice us to say “Well I am pretty sure that the Bible is not okay with what I am about to do, but I am going to take this verse and make it mean something that will make me feel okay with what I am about to do”.

You see, the point that the Psalmist is making in Psalm 91 is God's response of protection is to the one who obediently trusts in and loves the Lord. Psalm 91 is not a call to test the Lord. Instead Psalm 91 is about the Lord’s response to those who obediently trust in and follow the Lord and the message and teaching of the Lord, which is why Jesus responded the way that He did in Matthew 4:7. Let’s look at Jesus response together:

 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

Here we see Jesus respond to the enticement of the devil to do the spectacular so as to demonstrate our radical individuality in a way that would win us applause and popularity by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 6:6, we see Moses, who was the leader that God used to deliver the Jewish people from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt, call the Jewish people to keep the commands of the Lord and not follow the example of the previous generation of the Jewish people who refused to trust in the Lord and instead quarreled and tested the Lord.

Moses reminded the Jewish people of an event from history that is recorded for us in another section of another letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called to book of Exodus. In Exodus 17:7, the Jewish people, as they suffered from thirst in a desert location known as Massah, demanded that the Lord miraculously and spectacularly provide water in order to satisfy their thirst. Moses responded to the Jewish people demand for the spectacular by asking “Why do you test the Lord?”

Jesus quotes from this event from history to reject the Devil’s enticement toward evil as being a similar demand for God to do the spectacular instead of faithfully and obediently trusting God apart from testing God. Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, I see what you are saying here about the temptation towards popularity and individuality, but how do I overcome that temptation? How do I reject the temptation to attempt to garner the approval and applause of others?

And it is here, in this event from history involving a timeless temptation that we discover a timeless principle that enables us to overcome that temptation. And that timeless principle is this: We are able to overcome the temptation towards individuality and popularity when we selfless serve others in community with others. The timeless reality is that the antidote to the temptation towards individuality and popularity is to follow the example of Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus by selflessly serve others in community with others who are trusting God instead of testing God.

That is what we are such big believers in followers of Jesus investing their talents serving God by serving others as a part of a ministry team. That is why we have as a goal that everyone who attends the church where I serve would be investing their talents as part of a ministry team. We believe that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we leverage the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that we have been given by Jesus in a selfless way that serves others.

And when we are selflessly serving others in close community with others as part of a ministry team, we a positioned to reject the temptation to live in way that is attempting to set ourselves apart as radically different than everyone else and as radically above everyone else. You see, serving on a ministry team has the potential to keep you from getting enticed to do the spectacular because serving on a ministry team is not about doing the spectacular; it is about selflessly serving others in a way that results in the spiritual good and growth of others.

Serving on a ministry team has the potential to keep you from getting enticed to set ourselves as radically different than everyone else and as radically above everyone else because serving on a ministry team is about serving others in a way that places others first. And serving on a ministry team has the potential to keep you from getting enticed to by the desire to win applause, to be popular, to be glory hogs that are absorbing the glory that belongs to the Lord, because serving on a ministry team is about being in close community as part of a team that is focused on deflecting glory to the Lord.

So with all that in mind, here is a question to consider: When will you take the step to get selflessly serve others in community with others as part of a ministry team? Are you willing to selflessly serving others in a way that focuses on the spiritual good and growth of others and not the applause of others?