What Do You Treasure? (Pt. 1) | Francis Chan

I threw my back out yesterday, so I'm just going to be standing still and leaning against this thing. Um, but someone was praying for me in the back and um in the back um for my a lot of people prayed over my back this morning, but um it didn't work.

Um but uh so I'm gonna go to a different church next week. Um but I I I thought it was uh I you know I always I I believe God's sovereign and there's reasons for everything. And even, you know, as someone prayed for me, uh, she was saying how, you know, maybe it's because sometimes it could be that you try so hard in the flesh and God wants to do something today that that is at this extreme level that nothing in your flesh is going to help that.

Um and and and and and maybe it's a letting go of what you normally do because you know how to get in front of a crowd and you know how to teach and okay, let me just do this, get it over with, but but maybe it's because God wants you to just just stretch even deeper because there's something bigger he wants to do today.

And and I really believe that. And and and even afterwards, you know, as I'm I'm back there praying for you, I'm I'm thinking, God, what what do I want to see happen? And and what I want to see happen is something that is so massive. It was everything Dave was talking about just a few moments ago because okay, here's here's here's the truth about what I think.

I could be totally off, but here's what I think. I what I see in scripture is that following Jesus is about letting go of your old life, dying to yourself and being consumed with him and following him like what he says, you know, you if you live for this life, you're going to lose it.

If you try to hold on, you're going to lose it. But if you let go and pursue him, you're going to find life. And I really believe that a lot of us who grew up in church and are probably in this room right now, we're trying to have both.

We're trying to hold on and also gain eternal life. We're we're trying to not let go of our life. We just want to add the life that Jesus wants for us on top of what we want. There's this comfort and I have it too. And sometimes I think we've been told this lie that you can have both.

And I think a lot of us are trying to pursue both. And you're here pursuing both because you don't want to let go of certain things. And so the thought that this morning might be the moment when your eyes are open and you see Jesus so clearly that everything else just looks stupid.

Everything you've been dreaming of your whole life, you just go, "Wow, that's so dumb. That's so lame in comparison to God." I'm willing to let go of it all. I don't care. I don't care about my stuff here. I mean, and not just say it and feel it in your heart, but to where there's a physical response where you go, okay, I'm done.

I'm done. I'll sell my house. I'll sell my car. I'll empty out my bank account. I'll build hospitals in Africa, dig wells in India, whatever. Like, in fact, it's not a sacrifice to me. Like that that last quote we were, it it would actually be a huge joy because I really do believe in heaven.

I really believe it's going to be over. All the stuff on earth is over any second. And I'd be a fool to hold on to this stuff rather than letting go and really finding life. About a month ago, I was in China and um we got any Chinese here?

All right. Couple. Um, but I was in China and I saw the most beautiful church I've ever seen in my life. Um, I went, you know, I did the Shanghai, Beijing, did some stuff there, but then I went to this little village like like rural China, like way out in the sticks and uh, you know, and there was this little village of about 70 families. 70 families and they just live on this little hill, you know, grow their own corn and rice.

They got their animals. No cell phones. I didn't see any when I was there. Everyone was just kind of talking. It's weird. And uh just picture that. 70 families. Um but they had all become Christians. Like that whole little hill became Christian. And and so in the mornings you just see people just in the word on their own just serving God, you know, reading his word.

But as they were reading the word, they got convicted by the word and actually did something. And they said, "You know what? We're supposed to care for the widows and orphans." So they began adopting kids. Like every single family began adopting kids from the orphanage. So those 70 families adopted 160 children.

So every family adopted two to three kids and all of the kids had special needs. Cerebral pausy, Down syndrome, you know, missing limbs, you know, some they're just carrying them around the village, you know, that they're just drooling and, you know, can't communicate. And I mean just just picture this little village of 70 people, 70 families, each of them having two to three kids with special needs and the joy on their faces, the way they loved each other, the way they cared for each other.

Like I said, it was the most beautiful church I'd ever seen. And I never went to a church service. I'm just saying it's the most beautiful. But see, we so we equate church with this. When I go, "Oh, it was the best church." You're like, "Oh, how was the singing?"

I don't know. I I don't really care. Like the whole time I'm in this village, I'm going, "God, make me like these people." Like they die to themselves. That's what it means to die to yourself. It's not I'm going and visiting a ministry for an hour a week.

It's saying, "No, this is my life now. now 24/7 I'm going to serve these people. I'm going to bring them to my house. I'm going to care for them. I'm going to love them. Truly love them. It's not by hearing a sermon and feeling something in your heart.

It was like this action. I mean, when you do that, you are dying to yourself. And I'm just going, God, help me. Lord, I don't want to end my life like this. I still think about myself so much. And these people, man, they they they're servants. Make me a servant like them. free me from myself.

Help me to let go. And it's crazy because that verse that I I kept thinking about while I was there was how the last shall be first and the first shall be last. And I just kept thinking this little village, none of you will ever see it. I don't think no one really is going to know about them.

They're just doing their thing. And I just think, man, what's it going to be like when they come in the presence of God? And I was like, we didn't live for this world. We really didn't do it. We knew this was happening. We knew this was coming. And it just made me come back and go, "Okay, what would it look like right here in San Francisco? for the church to be the church where people didn't have to walk in this room to know that we're a church and judge our church based upon this room and these services.

But what would it look like? And it starts with this this surrender, right? It starts with us really dying to ourselves, not holding on to what we have and adding Jesus to that. Repentance was all about I was going this direction. I let go of that and I started heading this other direction.

See that that that's why Paul says in second Timothy 3, the passage that Dave read in the beginning, he says in the last days it's going to get terrible. It's going to get terrible in the last days. And then he goes on and lists the reasons why because he says people are going to become like this.

But the thing about that list in 2 Timothy 3 is he's not talking about the world. He's talking about the church. He goes, "This is why it's going to get ugly is you're not really going to notice the difference between the world and the church. All these things are going to start seeping into the church unnoticed.

And pretty soon it takes on the characteristic of everyone else to where we're not that different. I think that's why we love the picture of that village in China. You're going I I mean the whole time I'm there I'm like this is what you created people to live like.

This is it. This is it. You when you see something noticeably different you go wow that's awesome. But the Bible says in the last times it's going to get terrible because you could be sitting next to a Christian. You wouldn't even know it. the church will look so much like in the world and and he starts listing these things and at the end of it you know he says avoid such people that that's the crazy part to me I think in the NIV when Dave read he says have nothing to do with them remember this is God's word but I think the moment we hear a phrase like that we immediately go I'm not doing that'd be unloving to avoid anyone to have nothing to do with them.

So, let's just let's just cross that part off. See, God God wanted his church to look so different that he says if people are going to try to hold on to both and and be just like the world and just add Jesus to them, he says, "Man, see the church, we spend so much time judging everyone out there."

And God says, "No, I want you to judge the people inside." That's why in 1 Corinthians 5, he goes, "Judge those inside the church." And he says, "If they call themselves brother or sister and yet they live this way in this immorality," he goes, "Don't even eat with them."

And then he goes, "I'm not talking about the people in the world." He goes, "If that were the case, then you'd have to leave the world." He says, "I'm talking about those who are in the church." See, see, that was God's passion. goes, "I want this group to be so different that if everyone's trying to make it all one."

He says, "Avoid that." But but you look at this list and the crazy thing about this list is if you look at it, a lot of these things have so crept in to who we are that we don't even consider it a big crime anymore or a sin.

And that's exactly what the Bible says going to happen. He says in the last days people will be lovers of self. That's the first thing on the list. People are going to be lovers of self. It's going to be horrible in the end because people are going to love themselves.

And we hear that we go so because it's normal to us. Sociologists are saying this is the most narcissistic culture ever. The most narcissistic generation in all of human history by a long shot. I mean, it's we're we're so in love with ourselves. We think it's perfectly normal that everyone on earth makes a page about themselves.

What's wrong with that? Who else am I going to make a page about? And you're going to go home today. If you find a better picture of yourself, you're going to put that one on there. And you just keep posting, reposting, you know, putting your elbow out further.

Oh, yeah. Ladies, I know what's up. I got I have five daughters. Um, but we just go, that's normal. We talk about ourselves. We love ourselves. We try to put all of our accomplishments on a page for everyone to see because we want them to look up to us.

Isn't that the chief aim of man? And and and it's this idea that even in the church, we go, "Well, Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself." And so, I'm just working on loving myself so I can love my neighbor. See, I don't think I love myself enough.

And I go, I think you love yourself a lot. I mean, every time we get together, it's it's about you and uh how you can love yourself more. And and you guys, but but what does scripture say? People will be lovers of self. See that I think about going back to that village. those people if they love themselves what would they have done see true love is when you're like I I'm not thinking about myself I'm thinking about this kid in this orphanage it's rotting away and there's no one doing anything for him what happens if no one takes him I I see it's getting beyond yourself to wake up in the morning and start thinking about others to think about God what what do you want what do you want what do they need and to think about others, man.

That's what the Holy Spirit can do in you. He He He can change you. See, this is what we can be saved from. We got to be saved from this self-love. This all we're consumed by ourselves. You know, three times he uses that phrase lovers in uh in in 2 Timothy 3.

Lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure. that lovers of money. Again, this just creeps in. And we make all the excuses in the world. We say, "Well, I don't really love money. I just love the stuff it can buy. I've heard that." And in in a church setting, I'm like, "What are you talking?

That didn't even make sense." Okay. Lovers, we we just we we mask it. We hide it. We we we've just accepted. No, you just grab everything you can. Listen, a lot of you, maybe some of you already bought homes. Um, but others of you, you probably will at some point.

And here's what happened. It happened to me. You you you you go to a loan officer and you tell them how much you make. You show them all the bills. You show them everything else. You just they just look for everything. And then what do they tell you?

They tell you, "Well, here's the biggest loan you could get. Here's the greatest amount of house you can afford." And so, what does everyone do without even thinking? Okay, let's find one for that and maybe just a little bit more cuz I think I might make more next year.

We just It It's just man, those who have bought homes, right? Am am I am I lying? This is what we do. We find out what can we afford and then our immediate reaction because this is what the world tells us is then get it. You deserve it.

You earned it. Is there any thought of praying that through and going well maybe I know I could afford this but maybe I'll take this and give this to others because I'm thinking about others all the time. Like is that even a consideration? But instead, it's like, "No, let me get the biggest I can get.

Let me get the biggest salary I can get, and I'll give my 10% to the church or somewhere around there." But again, it's it's being these lovers of money. See, Jesus, those of us who follow Jesus, it's not saying, "Well, can I keep that mindset and add Jesus to it?"

And it's like, "No, because Philippians 2 says, no, we have a new attitude now." Our attitude is like that of Christ Jesus who didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped. I'm not going to hold on to this. And he goes, take the same attitude. Jesus didn't say, well, I deserve this.

I'm I'm God. And so, let me hold on to that. It says, no, instead he emptied himself and made himself nothing. took the form of a man. Not just man, he took the form of a servant. Not just a servant, but he made himself obedient to death. And not just death, but death on a cross.

And the Bible says your attitude should be like that of Christ Jesus. Take this attitude. He says, which which is yours in Christ Jesus. Those who are in Christ Jesus, we go, man, Jesus was beautiful. He could have had this and held on to this, but he emptied, emptied, emptied, emptied, emptied, emptied.

And you go, "Man, that's a great role model. I want to be that." I was just grabbing everything I could, but I like the way Jesus lived. He kept humbling himself, humbling himself, giving everything away till he finally gave his life away on a cross. And then it says, "Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

You see that the Christian life is about empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty because we know one day God will exalt us. It's this waiting for it, wait for it, wait for it. You know, it's just like ah ah ah I'm just giving more and more of myself, but I know it's coming.

I know that day is coming. That's what believers did. But Paul says in the last days, it's going to change. It's going to get horrible because people going to be lovers of themselves. They're going to be lovers of money and lovers of pleasure. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

See, some of you might even be here seeking pleasure rather than God going, "God, can't you make things better in my life?" And yet, the Bible is all about, "No, it's about letting go. It's about a race to the bottom. Go, man, I want to be the greatest servant on earth."

So when I stand before God, I've just emptied myself like Christ rather than the indulgent. You know, like the story Dave talked about Lazarus and the rich man. I want to be the guy that didn't just throw little scraps down off the table to some some homeless guy.

I really want to live like Christ. But a lot of us, we're lovers of pleasure. In fact, there are churches now that'll tell you, "Hey, come here and God will make you rich." And so people go, "I want to be rich. I'll go to that church. Come here.

We'll heal you of everything. Your back won't hurt." You know, it's just we'll we'll we'll fix everything. We'll take all the pain away. And and believe me, I do know that God is the one that makes certain people rich. And I know that God is the one that heals and can heal.

But his promise and his call was not come and you'll be rich. His call was come and die. Come and follow me. And we get everything mixed up. In fact, my daughter, my daughter when she was in, uh, junior high, one of my daughters when she was 12, um, the teacher tried to quote scripture and he said, uh, he or she said, it was a guy and and he said, uh, doesn't matter.

Um, I'm just trying to recall the story so I get it right. In class, he goes, well, it's just like Jesus said, it's more important to follow your heart than to follow the commands. And so my 12year-old daughter raises her hand and goes, "Are you sure that's in the Bible?"

And he says, "Oh, no, it's in there." She goes, "Well, I read the Bible. I've never seen it. Can you show me that verse tomorrow cuz it doesn't sound right." I'm at 12 years old. I'm like, "Right." So, she comes home. She goes, "Dad, I might have messed up, but is this verse in the Bible?

It's more important to follow your heart than to follow." I'm like, "No, it's not in there." And uh she goes, "Okay, good, good, good." So next day in class, she raises her hand and she goes, "Did you find the verse?" And he goes, "No, but it's in there."

She goes, "I don't think so. My dad reads the Bible a lot." And he says, "It's not in there." And uh he goes, "No, it is. It is." And so she asked again, and he still didn't have it. So it's like, "Just forget about it, honey. Just drop it.

It's not in there." Um, but it's interesting how we even try to sneak that in. Well, God wouldn't want me to suppress something I want. Doesn't he want us all to follow our hearts? And yet, if you read the scriptures, it actually says the opposite. In fact, in Jeremiah 23, I cannot see the verse number, but it's around 16.

He says th my back, my eyes. It says this. It says, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, "It shall be well with you, and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say no disaster shall come upon you." You know, this was Jeremiah's message was like, man, you got these prophets that'll tell you, go ahead, follow your own heart.

Nothing bad is going to happen to you. And Jeremiah is saying, God's saying, 'D don't listen to those people. See, these are the messages that are creeping into the church. But what was what was wrong with the book of Judges? What went wrong? It says everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

You do what's fun. You do what's brings you pleasure. You know, the crazy thing about that, this whole idea of that's creeping into the church that maybe is the mindset of some of you, you know, this, hey, just do what's in there. Do what you feel like doing.

You be you. That is the one verse that the whole satanic Bible is built upon. Do you know the whole satanic Bible revolves around one message? Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law. Where's this doctrine coming from? Do what you want. Do what's in here.

Follow your heart. Do what's right in your own eyes. You see how this is all creeping in and we're trying to take these world's teachings and mesh it with scripture. And I'm saying it can't. It's an exchange. It's not both. Look, the world says, "Love yourselves. Grab all you can.

Follow your heart." Jesus says, "Deny yourself, grab a cross, and follow me." These are opposites. They're opposing ideas. And Jesus says, "Yeah, but if you do this, you're going to find life." So this is the message of heaven. It's down here. Because we so believe, we deny ourselves.

Yeah, I could get this, this, this, this. But that wasn't what my role model Jesus did. He emptied himself. He made himself nothing. He took the form of a servant. And I want to pursue that. I want to race for that. And then one day, God's going to highly exalt me.

You see, it's denying yourself, grabbing your cross, and following his example. And that's the question I have for you guys. Look, I listened to Dave's message last week. Great. There's great teaching in this church. Here's my concern is we can take that teaching and just make it this vague, oh, that really appears to my heart, you know, and we'll say things like that.

Okay, well that's great. You got all these holes now. But my question is is what's going to change? I mean, seriously, I'm sorry. I'm just pretty black and white. Like, what are you going to do differently to the point where people look and go, "Whoa, I've never seen love like that.

I've never seen people sacrifice like that. Why are they living that way?" And then you go, "Because the things of earth have grown strangely dim." And uh I really believe there's something after this. I'm betting everything on it. And so it's not a big deal. It's not a big sacrifice to lose what I have here.

My question is, what are you actually going to do? Um, based upon what you heard today,