Rev. David Holwick ZF Spiritual Recovery series
First Baptist Church Step 4
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 28, 2001
Psalm 26:1-7
TAKING STOCK OF YOUR LIFE
Step #4: Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
I. Bar codes.
A. Fear among Russian Christians.
1) They think bar codes are tool of antichrist.
a) No one can buy or sell without mark of Beast. Rev 13:16f
b) On hand or forehead.
c) Like a UPC symbol?
2) In Revelation, everyone is marked.
a) Followers of God have his mark on their heads.
b) Invisible, but there.
3) Maybe a visible symbol on us would be good.
a) At a glance, people would know where we stand.
b) One look would reveal our true nature.
B. Bar codes serve useful purposes.
1) Bar codes find out what's missing in store.
2) Also find out what works - what is hot.
II. Christians need to take inventory.
A. It is a very powerful tool for personal change and recovery.
1) No one else can know us like we know ourselves.
2) We cannot change until we recognize what is wrong.
a) Most of us have a high capacity for denial.
Most Americans read the Bible selectively, omitting
those parts they don't like.
Nobody is guilty of anything.
Everybody is just a victim.
The call to repent has no meaning.
Dr. Calvin Miller of the Beeson Divinity School claims
that instead of repenting we play a nice little game
entitled, "It's not all that bad."
It sounds like this -- "Yes, I did have a brief affair,
but my wife was not meeting my needs.
I didn't divorce her, so don't call it adultery; it's
not all that bad."
"Sure, I sometimes drink too much, but never in front
of the kids.
I don't do any harm and it never causes me to miss a
day of work.
It's not all that bad."
#20738
B. Inventory needs to be done correctly.
1) Searching - dig deep.
2) Fearless - don't avoid the dark spots.
When Benjamin Franklin was 27 years old, he decided he
would take control of his life.
He selected 12 virtues he wanted to acquire, and kept
a daily chart of his progress in each one.
Whenever he missed the mark, he put a black dot beside
that virtue.
His goal was to ultimately have no dots on the chart.
This method contributed to Franklin's success as an
inventor, publisher, and statesman.
#20730
3) It involves both positive and negative traits.
4) It involves God. 1 Cor 4:3-4
a) When Paul was criticized, he responded his conscience
was clean.
b) But this didn't make him innocent - God is final judge.
c) Psalmist - request for God to examine him. 26:2
1> "Try" implies a test, perhaps a moral one.
2> Heart and mind - emotional as well as mental.
C. Several dimensions:
1) Moral.
2) Relationships.
3) Spiritual.
III. Moral inventory.
A. Reflect on the choices you make in life.
1) Psalmist affirms his unwavering faith and blameless life.
a) We lose it right there.
b) (Blameless did not mean "perfect" in this context)
c) Yet even though we would never claim to be perfect,
we have a pretty high view of ourselves.
Evidence for an over-inflated opinion of ourselves comes
from the College Board that administers the
Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT exam.
On that test there are a number of other questions
besides the ones about math and English.
For instance, they are asked to evaluate their
leadership ability.
Recently in an exam, seventy percent of the students
rated themselves as above average in leadership.
Only two percent rated themselves as below average.
Sixty percent rated themselves as above average in
athletics while only six percent said below.
When they rated themselves as to how easy they were to
get along with, 25 percent said they were in the top
one percent.
Sixty percent said they were in the top ten percent,
and absolutely no one said he was below average in
being easy to get along with.
#20734
B. We have all made bad choices.
1) Helpful exercise is to make a list of them.
2) Go farther - how have they affected you?
a) Effects of addiction.
b) (Rebecca to Sarah - be sure and study hard...)
3) What are you doing about them?
4) Are you willing to give them to God?
C. Acknowledge the positive - what you have done correctly.
1) How can others learn from it or benefit from it?
IV. Relationship inventory.
A. List objects of anger or resentment.
1) Institutions.
2) Principles.
3) People. (probably the biggest of the three)
B. Do your relationships honor God?
1) Sometimes we have two levels - church friends and others.
a) Either one can get you in trouble.
2) Few things can mess up your life as much as people.
a) Lead into temptation.
1> A.A. has members assess their sexual relationships.
b) Psalmist takes strong steps in this area by not: 26:4
1> Sitting with deceitful men.
2> Hanging around hypocrites.
3> Having anything to do with evil people.
3) Relationships can also give much strength.
a) Success of recovery movement is largely due to
interpersonal accountability.
b) Good friends are a big factor in improving your life.
C. Make your relationships better.
1) Nothing wrong with counseling.
2) Seek out people who will build you up.
3) Cut off those who don't.
V. Spiritual inventory.
A. Psalmist makes strong spiritual claims for himself:
1) He worships in innocence.
2) He praises God out loud.
3) He tells others of what God has done for him.
4) He loves God's temple.
B. Sample questions on a spiritual inventory:
1) How did you come to know God?
a) Are you sure you know him, or is it family heritage?
b) What have you learned about God this year?
2) What are your spiritual strengths?
a) How are you using them?
3) What are your spiritual weaknesses?
a) What are you doing about them?
C. Measure your life against the Bible.
1) Galatians 5:12-21 Acts of flesh vs. fruit of Spirit. ***
VI. A plan of action.
A. Once we know ourselves, do something about it.
1) Like Benjamin Franklin, turn your list into an exercise
of self-improvement.
2) Awareness that leads to no changes is useless.
3) It is not enough to be religious - bin Laden is religious.
B. We are not saved by our morality, but only by Jesus.
1) Psalmist's confidence comes from God's love and truth. 26:3
a) His plea - don't condemn me with others who deserve it.
2) Only the grace of Jesus can overcome our failings.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#20730 "No Black Dots," Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations By Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com; October 24, 2001.
#20734 "Everyone Is Above Average," by R. Curtis Fussell, referred to
in Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations By Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com; October 28, 2001.
#20738 "It's Not All That Bad," by Dr. Bill Bouknight, referred to in
Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations By Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com; October 28, 2001.
These and 18,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://illust.holwick.com
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Ten questions placed on back of congregational handout:
HOLWICK'S ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION Number: 359
SOURCE: Leadership
TITLE: Spiritual Inventory
AUTHOR: Donald Bubna
PAGE: 69
DATE: 1988 Fall
ILLUSTRATION:
Use of a spiritual inventory on visits can help deepen the spirituality
of a church. Typical questions are:
1. What's one joy and one struggle you're experiencing in your life or
ministry?
2. How would you describe your walk with God this past year?
3. Where do you feel you would most like to grow as a Christian?
4. Could you give me a thumbnail sketch of your spiritual history?
5. How did you first come to believe?
6. In your devotional life, what's one thing you've recently discovered?
7. How would you finish this sentence: I feel good about my walk with
God when....
8. What have been some of the ups and downs of your spiritual life
since you came to faith?
9. How has our church helped you in your spiritual development?
10. What do you need from me as a friend and fellow believer to go on to
maturity in Christ Jesus?
To use it, people must feel open with you, you must have a relationship
with them, and a soft approach works better than a hard one, and it is
better to be an encourager than a judge. An hour long call can cover it.
Joe Kong, a Cambodian Christian, was saved in Bubna's church and
discipled. He used this technique to plant over a dozen Cambodian
churches. He said, "Pastor, the way you developed me spiritually is how
I'm developing leaders for the Cambodian churches. It is a biblical
pattern, and it works."
#359
