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THE FOUNDATION FOR HAPPINESS
Exploding The Myths That Make Us Miserable - Part 1 of 6
07-10-11 Sermon
As you grew up, you were probably taught many myths, and as you became a teenager, you learned other ones, and as you became an adult, you’ve learned even other myths from the world. Most of them are purely harmless, but there have been some myths, some things that you’ve learned from the world, that just aren’t true, that really are very harmful to you, they have robbed you of happiness, they’ve lead you into guilt and shame. Some of the myths you’ve learned from the world may cause worry, and stress, and fear in your life. Some of them may create nagging depression. So, this morning we are going to begin a new series I’m calling “Exploding The Myths That Make Us Miserable.” And, we’re going to look in the next several weeks at myths that the world has taught us that just aren’t true; myths about yourself, myths about God, myths about life, myths about the future, myths about your past, myths about money. We’re going to look at myths about relationships and marriage, myths about heaven and hell and things in the afterlife. Because, if you don’t have the truth in your life, you get way off base.
Now, in America, one of the most common myths, is the myth that goes like this, tell me if you’ve ever heard it: “You now, it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere.” Have you ever heard that myth? (Myth #1: “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.” Now, that sounds so good, it sounds so broadminded, so tolerant, so unbiased, so politically correct. You know, “different strokes for different folks,” “you believe that, I’ll believe this,” “fine, that’s cool, we’re both cool.” The only problem with it is it’s absurd to hold that belief, it’s irrational. There are some beliefs that are exact opposites of each other and it’s not only absurd and naive, but it is also self-destructive to your life, as we’ll see in the weeks ahead.
One of our cars is a gold Grand Marquis and we were on vacation going somewhere and Nic and Rachael were following behind us. They pulled into a gas station behind the gold Grand Marquis that had pulled in there and when the driver got out to fill up the tank, it wasn’t me! They had started following the wrong gold Grand Marquis. They sincerely believed they were going the right way, following the right car, but they were wrong.
You can be sincere, but you can be sincerely wrong. The fact is that it takes more than sincerity to make it in life. It takes truth. There was a movie where these terrorists messed up the landing system of an airplane and as the pilots were coming down, they thought they were higher than they were and they believed they were okay but they crashed and burned because it was a false belief. There are some beliefs in your life that if you don’t correct, you’re going to crash and burn.
This morning, quickly, I want to give you six facts not myths, about what you believe because what you believe is extremely important. So, let’s just go right into it. Number one,:
1. My Beliefs Are My Choice. Nobody forces you to believe anything. I mean, if I don’t want to believe something, I don’t have to. If I want to believe in something, I can; nobody stops me, nobody forces me. If I want to believe Elvis is alive, I can believe it. If I want to believe in the Loch Ness monster, I can believe it. If I want to believe the moon is made of cheese, or the world is flat, I can believe it. Here’s the point: You can’t blame anybody else for your beliefs. You can’t blame your parents or your teachers because they’re not holding on to you, you’re holding on and you can drop those beliefs any time you wish. And, hopefully in this series, we’ll do a little replacement ministry to replace some of the lies that you’ve been taught about yourself and about life and begin to accept other beliefs. But, it is a choice. God even gives you a choice as to what to believe. Notice this example: Romans 1:25 says: “Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies . . . .” My beliefs are a choice and some of them need to be replaced.
2. My Beliefs Determine My Behavior. In other words, they determine how I act. Proverbs 4:23: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” Your life is shaped by your thoughts. Now, there is a belief behind every single action you take in life. Everything you do has an unconscious or conscious belief behind it. For instance, when you came in today and you sat down in that pew, you unconsciously believed it would hold you up. If you happen to go to lunch after the service, you pick up a menu, you’re going to choose something because you believe it’s going to taste good. It may not, but you make a choice. Everything you do has a belief behind it. Does that make sense?
Now, the problem is this: My beliefs determine the action even when they’re wrong, even were they’re false. For instance, if you believe you’re clumsy, how are you going to act? Clumsy. If you believe you’re unlovable, you will act unlovable. If you believe you’re a risk taker, you’ll find yourself taking risks all of the time. If you believe other people cannot be trusted, you’ll tend to treat them with suspicion, put up a barrier and wear a mask, and you’ll receive that kind of response. If you believe that God is unconcerned about you, you’ll never pray. If you believe that God is out to get you, like many people do, you’ll try to avoid God. The point is, even if your beliefs are wrong, they affect your behavior, so you need to examine them.
3. The World Has Taught Me Many False Beliefs. And, they’re all over. I love to read National Inquirer and similar headlines as I’m going through the grocery store. Now you know, in those magazines they’ve got a cure for cancer every week: “Eat mangos this week and you’ll never have cancer,” and we laugh at that and it’s funny, but there are a lot of things that just aren’t funny: There are Myths that really do mess up our lives. You know, it used to be people would say: “You know, I’ll believe it when I see it.” You can’t even believe what you see anymore. Did you know that? Because with computer generation and photo shop and things like that they are able to blend fact and fiction. So, even if you see it, it doesn’t mean it’s true. Television has blended fact and fiction in docudramas and reality-based programming, where everything on the reality-based programming is staged. So, just because you see something, you can’t believe it’s true. The world teaches us all kinds of myths.
Now, the Bible gives us some very blunt advice about this. 1 John 4:1: “Don’t always believe everything you hear . . . for there are many false teachers around.”
4. Untrue Beliefs Are The Cause Of My Emotional Problems And Unhappiness. A belief does not have to be true in order for it to affect you emotionally or cause emotional turmoil. For instance, let’s say this next weekend you’re going to go camping up in the mountains. And so you go up to the mountains, you set up your tent, you get in your tent at night, you close it all up, you can’t see outside, you’re lying on your sleeping bag, and you hear what you believe to be a bear pawing around outside your tent. Now, if you believe that’s a bear, you can’t see it but you believe it, your heart will start racing, your pulse will go up, adrenaline will shoot into your system, your muscles will tense up, and you will get emotional turmoil over something that isn’t true.
Now, that happens all of the time but you don’t realize it. You worry about things that aren’t true. You’re afraid of things that aren’t true. You often feel shame about things maybe you shouldn’t feel shame about. So, even when a belief is not true, it still causes emotional turmoil in your life. And, if you want to overcome stress, anger, or guilt, or depression, or worry, or perfectionism, or any emotional problem, you must listen. You must clarify and correct the false beliefs behind those feelings. And, that’s what we’re going to do in the next few weeks as we look at God’s Word and the truth of it.
Jesus said in John 8:32, there in your outline, “When you know the truth, the truth will set you free.” Now, that’s the goal of this series. My goal is that as we expose the lies that you have been taught by our culture and apply the truth to those lies, you’ll have a change of mind and, when you know the truth, the truth will set you free. And, you’ll experience new freedom, maybe from some hang-ups, some habits, some hurts that have messed up your life for 20 or 30 years, or more. It is the truth that sets us free.
Now, that brings us to the next point:
5. The Only Source Of Absolute Truth Is God. Romans 3:4, “God will continue to be true even when every person is false.” That is a fundamental question you need to ask yourself. Every person eventually has to ask this question in life, either consciously or unconsciously and that is this: What is going to be the authority for my life? What’s going to be the basis for my beliefs and my behavior? What’s going to be the guidebook that I rely on? What’s my north star? What’s my compass? What’s going to be the standard by which I evaluate my life? What am I going to base my life on? What is my authority; the final authority in my life?
Now, when it comes down to it, you only have two options: You either have the world or the Word, the Word of God. You either have what man says, and there are a million contradictory things that man says, or what God says. You will either build your life on what culture says, or on what Christ says. The world or the Word. What man says or what God says. Now, let’s examine these two. Which of them do you think is more reliable? The problem with what culture says, what society says, is that it just keeps changing. It’s shifting every day and what’s popular one day, isn’t popular the next day. And, the therapy that works today, isn’t the therapy that was so popular five years ago, and what’s working now, five years from today, we’ll say that we’ve got something else. And, five years from then, we’ve got something else. And it keeps changing. Why? Because man’s knowledge is increasing and they find things that work. God’s knowledge is ultimate and it’s always true.
Seventy-three million of us in America are baby boomers. That’s one out of every three people in America. That means you were born between 1948 and 1964. That entire generation was brought up on the best selling book of all time, next to the Bible, Dr. Spock’s Baby Book. And in Dr. Spock’s Baby Book, Dr. Spock expressed his opinions about what he thought was the proper way to raise children. And, an entire generation of Americans was brought up on that book. The only problem is, a few years ago, Dr. Spock, in his 70s, publicly held a press conference and said: “Oops. I was wrong. That’s not the way to do it. I’m sorry. Never mind.” The point is, an entire generation was raised on one way of parenting that studies later confirmed didn’t work. It didn’t work.
Do you know the average lifespan of a science textbook? Eighteen months, and it’s out of date because knowledge is increasing so rapidly. So, in a situation where something is changing every day, you don’t want to put your faith in something you can’t depend on tomorrow because you might go down the wrong path, and then they go: “Well, I climbed the ladder of success, got to the top and found it’s leaning against the wrong wall.” Look at this verse: Luke 21:33: “The law of heaven and earth shall pass away yet my word shall remain forever.” God’s Word has stood the test of time. You can trust it as your guidebook, as your authority, as your basis. Why? Because it is based on God’s character. That’s why you can trust it. And look at the next verse. What’s God’s character? “It is impossible for God to lie.” God cannot lie. In fact, God cannot even tell a half-truth because a half-truth is a whole lie. And, so, if you want something to build your life on that is solid, you better build it on God’s truth.
And that brings us to the sixth point:
6. Building My Life On The Foundation Of God’s Truth Is The Key To Emotional Health And Stability. Now, in this series, we’re going to look at the actual words of Jesus and what He has to say. Here are two interesting facts. Number one: 80 times in the Bible, Jesus says this: “I tell you the truth.” 80 times. “I tell you the truth.” 20 times in scripture, Jesus says this: “Now you have heard it said, but I say to you.” What’s He doing? He’s exploding the myths that make us miserable. You’ve heard it said, this is conventional wisdom, this is what everybody thinks, this is what’s on the talk show, “You have heard it said, but I say to you,” and “ . . . the truth sets you free.” In the passage from Matthew 7, Jesus says building your life is like building a house; you have to have the right foundation. And He says you can have one of two foundations: You can build your house on the solid rock, which is God’s unchanging truth, or you can build your house on shifting sand, which is the constantly changing opinions of the world. And He says if you build your life on shifting sand, you’re a fool. He’s very blunt about it. He says it’s foolish; it’s stupid to build your life on things that are changing every day. But He says build your house on the rock of God’s Word, unchanging truth.
Now, in Matthew 7, notice there, verse 24,: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Now, I want you to circle the two keys to stability. You want to be emotionally stable, you want to get it together, you need to hear and you need to practice the truth.
ii. THE FIRST STEP TO FREEDOM: A COMMITMENT
Now, hearing the truth is not enough, you need to practice it. Now, what does it mean to practice? What does it take to practice? Have you ever practiced the piano? If you’re going to practice typing, if you’re going to practice working out, if you’re going to practice learning shorthand ‑‑ it takes one thing; it takes commitment. And so, the first step to freedom, the first step to being released from hurts, habits, and hang-ups in your life that are messing you up, is you must make a personal commitment to truth, to become a person of truth. Romans 12, read it with me: “Do not conform to the standards or beliefs of this world but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.” Now, notice here, He says: “You can be transformed.” Let me ask you a question: Would you like to experience the kind of life God has always meant for you to live? Would you like to be freed from emotional hang-ups that keep you from being happy? It is possible; God can transform your mind. What does that mean? Replace the old myth with the new system of belief based on the truth. But, there’s one key to having that transformation happen in your life. The first key to freedom is one three-letter word and in that sentence it’s l-e-t. It says: “LET God transform . . . your mind.” That involves a choice, that involves a commitment.
So, as we start this new series, I want to challenge you, I urge you, I encourage you to make three commitments regarding truth in your life. And, if you do, you’re well on your way to emotional healing and health. Here they are:
1. I Commit Myself To Seeking The Truth. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (LB) says this: “There is going to come a time when people won’t listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who tell them just what they want to hear.” It sounds like astrologers to me, or at least psychic hotlines; they just tell you what you want to hear. “They won’t listen to what the Bible says but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas.” Why? Because it’s easier. You see, if you make a commitment to seek the truth for the rest of your life, it’s not always easy to seek the truth. It’s not always popular to seek the truth because often the truth contradicts popular opinion. It contradicts conventional wisdom while the world is saying: “Well, it’s okay because everybody’s doing it.” The truth is, it’s not okay. So, it’s not always popular to be honest and to seek the truth. And, I need to warn you that sometimes the truth is painful. Would you agree with that? Sometimes the truth is painful. Sometimes the truth is scary. Would you agree with that? Sometimes the truth is disturbing, it makes us all upset. Sometimes the truth is dangerous. Sometimes the truth is unpleasant because sometimes we don’t want to face the truth about our past. Or, we don’t want to face the truth about ourselves. Or, we don’t want to face the truth about our failures. Or, we don’t want to face the truth about our fears. And it’s painful, and it’s unpleasant, and it’s scary, but it is the only way to emotional health and stability ‑‑ to face it, to seek it, and know the truth; to admit it.
Look at this next verse: “Don’t follow foolish stories that disagree with God’s truth . . . .” What that’s saying is, if you’ve got an experience that contradicts the Bible, it’s a false experience. For instance, let’s say that I’ve had an experience over here and . . . . You know, a lot of the best-selling books right now are about angels or the after-life, or channeling, and they’re filled with myths and lies and they’re based on my experience as if that’s ultimate truth. If I have an experience and it contradicts what God says in His Word, do you know what I’m going to choose? No doubt about it, I’m going to choose God’s Word. Why? Because experiences can be false; they can be phony. Listen, if technology can create a virtual reality experience that’s false, don’t you think the devil can? Just because you’ve had an experience, doesn’t mean it’s right, or true, or correct. And so, just because you’ve had an experience, it doesn’t mean it’s true. It says: “Don’t follow stories that disagree with God’s truth . . . .” And so we use the Bible as a standard.
I’ve seen a bumper sticker that says: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Have you ever seen that? There’s only one problem with that. It ought to say: “God said it, that settles it, whether I believe it or not.” It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not, it’s still true. People say: “Well, my idea of God is . . . .” Well, who set you up as the authority? You’re just making that up. Why don’t you look at what Jesus said God is like. He probably knows a little better than you do. So, you don’t follow foolish stories. So, where is the best place to seek the truth? Look at what this verse says: “. . . the church of the living God contains and holds high the truth of God.” You’re in the right place. You’re with God’s people looking at God’s Word. That’s the best place to seek the truth.
So, I commit myself to seeking the truth. Number two:
2. I Commit Myself To Living The Truth. And this is a little bit harder. Ephesians 4 (LB), says this: “We will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because somebody has told us something different or cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times ‑‑ speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly ‑‑ and so become more and more in every way like Christ . . . .” Truth is not just something you know, it’s what you do, it’s something you practice, it’s something you apply, it’s something you obey, it’s something you follow. It’s not just some intellectual trip: “Well, I know the truth, I’ve got these doctrines down.” It’s something you put in your life; you ought to be a living Bible. Now that’s harder. 2 Cor 4:2 (GN) says: “In the full light of truth we live . . . .” I’m going to talk a whole lot about that in the weeks ahead: How to live out the truth as we expose these myths.
3. I Commit Myself To Believing In The Truth. Now, the wonderful thing about God is that He wants us to know the truth because it does set us free. And so, He has given us, the Bible, His Word. But, not only has He given us a Book to have the truth, He personally came to earth 2,000 years ago, took the form of a man, called himself Jesus Christ so we would have a living model of the truth as our example. He modeled the truth; He incarnated the truth; He embodied the truth. He said: “You don’t have to just read this, you can look at me; here’s how it means to live a truly true life.” Living truly, acting truly, talking truly, thinking truly, responding truly; look at Jesus. And so, we have not only a book, but truth in a person; God became a man. Notice in John 14: “Jesus said ‘ . . . I AM THE TRUTH . . . .”
Now, listen to this, I mean it’s pretty all-inclusive. First, He says: “I,” not religion, is truth; not a denomination is the truth, but “I.” Truth is a person and his name is Jesus. He says: “I am the truth,” not “I might be,” not “I hope to be the truth,” not “I could be.” He doesn’t say, “I point to the truth.” He doesn’t say, “I teach the truth.” He says, “I am the truth.” You want to know the truth, look at me, He says: “I am the truth.” Then He says, “I am the truth.” He didn’t say, “I’m part of it.” He didn’t say, “I’m some of it.” He didn’t say, “I’m the religious section of it.” He says: “I am the truth.” I don’t know a more all- inclusive statement than that.
I just don’t understand it when somebody says, “Well, I don’t believe Jesus was God, but I do believe He was a good person.” He couldn’t be a good person. He’s either who He says He was, or He’s the biggest con-man who ever lived. There is no gray area; it’s either black or white. I mean, for instance, if I came up here and I said, “I’m a good man,” a lot of you would say, “Yeah, Frank, you’re a pretty guy, you’re a good man.” But, if I stood up here and said, “I am the truth. No one cometh to the Father but by me,” that’s a whole different issue. Wouldn’t you agree? That kind of forces a decision. It either means I’m telling the truth or I’m flat out conning you. So, Jesus was not just a good man. He was either who He claimed to be ‑‑ God came to earth to show us the truth ‑‑ or, He’s a phony, He’s a fake. And, you bet your life on what you believe about it. You bet your life. He says: “I am the truth.”
Now, remember God has given you the freedom to choose what you believe. He doesn’t force any belief on you. God gives you the freedom to choose whatever you believe, but once you make that choice, you do not have the freedom to choose the consequences of that belief. And, if you say: “I don’t intend to accept Jesus for who He says He was. Oh, I think He’s a good guy. I don’t believe He was really God, though. I don’t intend to accept Christ as the truth and so I want to be separate from Him in my life.” God will let you do that; He’ll let you walk away, but if you choose to be separate from God now, you will choose to be separated from God for eternity and that is called “Hell.”
You say, “Frank, is there a real hell? Is hell a real place?” Well, of course there is. Jesus talked actually talked about hell more than heaven. Some people say: “ I don’t believe in hell.” Well, that doesn’t make it not real. I mean, I say I don’t believe in Kansas but it’s still there. (Laughter) Just because you say, “Well, I don’t want to believe it.” That’s not called belief; that’s called denial. Just because it’s unpleasant doesn’t mean it’s not true. Hell was made for the devil and his angels, not for people. But, when you choose to reject God, He says: “Okay, be separated from me.” Look at this verse: “. . . they are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it and let it save them, so God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts.”
Now, if you don’t get anything else, get this: How do you go to hell? There is only one way to go to hell. Are you listening? Do I have everybody’s attention? There is only one way to go to hell. There is only one way to go to hell. To refuse to accept and follow and love the truth. That’s the only way you can go to hell ‑‑ by rejecting the truth, by refusing the truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” How do you go to heaven? There’s only one way. There’s only one way to heaven; there’s only one way to hell. How do you get to heaven? It’s not by being good, not by getting baptized, not by taking communion, not by giving to the United Way. There’s only one way to heaven. It is: Accept and love and follow the truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Now you know. You can’t get before God one day at the judgment and He says, “What are you going to do?” And you say, “Well, I don’t know.” He’ll say, “What about July 10, 2011, when Frank said, ‘here’s how you get to heaven, and here’s how you get to hell.’ So, what’s your decision?
Now, you know how to get to heaven; you know how to go to hell. Accept or reject the fact that Jesus said, “I’m the truth, follow me.” So today say, “I want to step across that line; I want to build my life on the truth; I want to live it, believe it, love it, follow it, learn it, speak it, teach it, listen to it, defend it; I want to be a person of truth.
Let’s pray together. Would you bow your heads with me. Why don’t you pray a prayer like this. Say:
Dear Jesus, I’m tired of pretending that everything is okay in my life, putting on a show, acting like I’ve got it all together, when I know I don’t, and you know it too. I want to live a life of truth and so I commit myself today to these things. First, I want to become a seeker of the truth, even when it’s unpopular or not easy; I don’t want to live a lie. Number two, I commit to living and following the truth and when you teach me something to do, I want to do it because I know it’s right and it will work out best for me. And, I commit myself to believing in you, Jesus, as the truth. I accept you as the truth of my life and I want to follow you from here on out. In your name, we pray. Amen.
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