The Courage to Be

In one of his most noted plays, Shakespeare asked “to be or not to be, that is the question?” It's a question we don't realize plays out in our everyday lives. This indecisiveness of what we may “be” or “not be” for the season, or for that day or even for that moment. To some people this phrase is as simple as choosing life or death. To live or not to live? But it's not that simple. Being is more than just existing. Being is accepting who you are in spite of who you are. Being is exuding everything that makes up you...every good thing, every bad thing, every insecurity, every mistake, every gift, every talent, every success, every failure, every dream, every secret, every hope, every fear and every other ingredient from your past and from your present that has made you who you are today. And it's because of those contractions...it's because of that weird, awkward mix of ingredients that make up you, that many people lack the courage to be.

The courage to be is the act in which a person affirms their own being in spite of those wonderful, weird and awkward elements of their existence that may conflict. It's not until we choose to confront ourselves and embrace ourselves with that courage that we will be better students, actors, daughters, sons, parents, musicians, scientists, artists, writers, leaders or anything else. Courage is that unction that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. Courage is the ability to move forward, “in spite of.” In spite of the circumstances around you, in spite of those realities that suggest that you should not move forward. Society is constantly pressuring us to be something or someone else other than who we are. It's not acceptable to just be 100% you and that be good enough. The majority of the people in this world have more courage not to be, than to be themselves because they feel as though it’s just not enough and they will give into any idea or any image that they feel will help them get ahead as long as they can be someone other than themselves.

Take Heidi Montag for example. The girl married to Spencer Pratt formerly of that MTV show the Hills. Recently her story was covered in People Magazine. The article was titled, “Obsessed with Being Perfect.” In one day she received 10 plastic surgery procedures on her, chin, nose, lips, ears, thigh, backside, stomach, neck and breasts, just to name a few. She went through excruciating pain and a few near death experiences during and after the surgery. She says, “I'm competing against the Britney Spears of the world.”She calls her surgeries an "investment for my career." But most alarming was that she said that these surgeries and transformations were intended for her to me “the best me.” This is how far we have gone as a society...especially in American culture....out of fear that we aren't enough. And this is how far she has gone in order become anything but who she really is, because in the world she lives in, that's not enough. And to some extent it is true in the business she's in, trying to keep up with the pop-stars and the glam and the high life. And I would even say the same is true for you. But we are not trying to keep up with anything. And if your attitude is one of merely “keeping up” then you may as well bow out of life itself.

Your goal is to have the courage to be all that you can be in whatever you're involved in. And being all that you can be simply means being all that you are. Psalm 139:14 says that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”... According to this Scripture, you truly are a Master Piece. God didn’t make any mistakes when He made you! Live like it!

The Important Question Is...

Matthew 16: 13-18 (NIV)
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

This scripture picks up at a place where Jesus’ disciples…his homeboys …his very own people were confronted with what seemed like a very silly question. What exactly did He mean? They watched him teach in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom. They were with him when he cured diseases and watched hundreds suffering with pain, those that were paralyzed and demon-possessed, being healed. They saw that the blind could see and the deaf could hear. They watched 5,000 being fed with five loaves of bread and two fish. They even watched Jesus defy all natural law and walk on water. And now, we come to a point where after all of that…after all that they had been through together, Jesus asked the important question. By this time Jesus had been preaching for many months and his fame has spread far and wide. The word had spread from village to village, “Have you heard about this man Jesus?” Along the dusty roads of Galilee men and women discussed him and wondered who he really was. He knew there were people that were speculating and talking behind His back. He knew that many thought they had Him all figured out. The religious leaders were jealous of his popularity. The Pharisees hated Jesus for not keeping with their traditions. Others speculated that he couldn’t be more than a mere reincarnate of dead prophets. Some knew Him as a great teacher and some knew Him as a great miracle worker and many of the common people grew a great liking of Him but they did not know Him. In 2009 Jesus would be a celebrity on the cover of every tabloid and magazine publication. His reputation would be smeared all over the internet and every rumor about Him would make the Headline news. I looked on my facebook page the other day and I saw that 9 of my friends had become a “fan” of Jesus. When I clicked on the page out popped a picture of a man with long brown hair and blue eyes and I saw people arguing back and forth on the wall saying things like, “I'm a fan of Jesus, but I don't know who that is in that picture. That’s now how I picture Jesus.” It seems as if everyone has Jesus figured out. But Jesus didn’t seem to be concerned about what others thought. He really wanted to know what His own thought and so He asks the second part of His question, “You know I hear what you say about what other people say but, Who am I to YOU?”

This was important to Jesus…

We all know what the world is saying about Jesus. We all know who the world is calling Jesus, “But what about YOU,” Jesus asks. It’s possible that we are no different than the disciples. As much as we would like to think of ourselves as strong Christians, the fact is we are weak. We would like to think we could never be caught in a situation where we would deny the Lord. Never hesitate to answer Jesus when He asks us the important question. But if He asked us, what would we say? In an age where technology has become our god and when education replaces wisdom and pop culture has become our idols, who do YOU say Jesus is? What have you heard about Christ? What lunchroom conversations have turned you off to Jesus? What television programs or preachers have made us turn our noses up? What cults have we watched and said, “There you go. That’s why I don’t go to church now?” What catastrophes have you witnessed that made you question the reality of a saving God? We can’t rely on CNN to broadcast to us the truth. We can’t rely on TBN to give us eternal life. We can’t even leave it to the Pastor to give us what Christ wants so badly to give us himself. Personal relationship is important to Jesus. And in our scripture, although God, He was a human being, that loved and cared and felt real feelings and had real concerns and it was one thing for Jesus to minister to those who he did not expect to know him, but those whom he invested in and prayed with and personally taught and trained, Jesus wanted to know that they knew Him. “You who have followed me and have known me from the beginning, who do you say that I am?”

So the real question for you this is, “Who do you say he is?” We’re not saved by good opinions about Jesus. We’re not saved because we have a good feeling about Jesus. It’s evident that at some point in our lives we found ourselves in our own remote areas with Jesus asking us the important question. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them,” but the important question for us this morning is, “When we hear His voice, do we know Him?”