I came across a term in Harvard Business Review recently that was describing what
the author claimed was a social phenomenon, yet the Bible has been clear about long before they
got ahold of it in the business community. He was talking about how employees are now,
rather than leaving their jobs, withdrawing their hearts. He called it the quiet quit.
If you feel underappreciated and undervalued in the workplace, don't leave your paycheck or
your benefits. Don't walk into the office, stand up on the desk, burn something, throw
it in the trash can, light the place on fire, and go to jail. Just show up, but not really.
Just come at the last minute and leave at the first opportunity. Don't stay late. Don't offer
to do anything that's going to inconvenience you in any way. It's called the quiet quit.
That's what he said. He said this is not only a trend that we now have a cute name for,
but it is a human instinct. When I am giving to something where I do not feel I'm winning…
It may not happen all at once, and I may not announce it.
I may not throw a party. "This is my last day. Y'all can kiss my ring finger."
(This is going online, so I say things in a certain way so it can be acceptable.)
It's called a quiet quit.
When Paul says in 1 Corinthians (I'm going to illustrate this in just a moment, but first let
me preach the principle) that God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,
that's the expectation. When he says in verse 58, "Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move
you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord," that is the exhortation.
I wonder if God gave me this word today called The Gift of Victory to someone who is in the middle
of a quiet quit in their life. You have not announced that you are an atheist,
and you don't plan to. You didn't change your bio on Instagram to "IHateGod.com,"
but deep down in your heart, since you're not winning,
it seems like the only logical response is to quietly quit trying. "If I quit trying,
then when I don't win I'll understand why. If I quit trying, if I completely give in to the sin,
I will no longer have to resist it, so I won't feel weak, because I won't be fighting.
If I lay down and die and quit trying to be a joyful, positive person and completely give
in to the cynicism that tries to run the operating system of my life, I won't lose,
because I didn't show up. If I take my ball and go home, if I take my belief and go home,
the Devil can't whip me, because if he can't find me, he can't beat me. So I'm going to hide behind
excuses and pretend like I don't want it and settle for stuff I used to struggle against.
I'm not going to announce it, because if I announce it, somebody might come get me and
pull me out of it. So, rather than announcing it, rather than quitting in a way people can perceive,
I will just show up in my body, but I will not be present in my mind. I will not bring my
best. I will not bring my heart. I will not bring my ideas. I will not bring my playfulness.
I will not bring who I really am, because if I don't bring who I really am,
then you can't beat who I really am. I will hide behind the excuse that I don't want it anymore."
What could be more miserable than to live as a Christian
with the promise that God gives you the victory
but to live far beneath the reality of that promise;
to know you are forgiven but to live without victory over sin.
I saw a bumper sticker one time. It said, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
I'm like, "Dang, that's good, and that's kind of not true."
Okay, we're not perfect. That part is true, but just forgiven? Like that's the whole goal, right?
Like, "Hey, man! We run around. We lie. We talk just like everybody else. We're hateful
just like everybody else. We don't really have any different standard. We're just forgiven."
The world definitely wants to join our team. "Hey,
come to church with me. My life sucks just like yours. I make the same excuses you make.
I have the same old broken patterns you have. Come to church with me. Get some of this."
To be forgiven but not to live in victory is misery. "I know I'm supposed to be able to get
over this. I know I'm supposed to be able to forgive this. I know I'm supposed to be
able to say no to this. I know I'm supposed to be able to pray this away. I know I'm supposed
to be better than this. I know I'm bigger than this petty offense. But I'm forgiven."
So, you think the whole goal for life is for God to just get you
to fall into forgiveness and never get back up
and live in victory? I see a lot of people in culture these days, even in Christianity…I'm not
talking about the world; I'm talking about us…who are really good at falling into forgiveness. Hey,
I have to do it too. I had to do it Friday. Friday, I saw myself doing something so dumb.
I was like, "O God. If I was going to do something this dumb, why didn't I do it on
Monday so I'd have time before I preached to get this out of my system? That's too close to
preaching to be messing up like that." I had to ask him. "God, help me. Help me. I have people
coming to hear me talk, and I'm an idiot. God, help me." I have to do that too, but is that all
he died for, just so I can fall into the same pit over and over again? "I'm just forgiven."
And I'm just frustrated, because it's no fun if I'm not winning. It's no fun to come into
church and sing songs about victory and go back to defeat over and over and over again.
That's why some people just watch online every six weeks now. "I did a quiet quit. I didn't
stop believing in God, but I did stop coming to church." I'm not talking about those who
are in our eFam who are giving and contributing and serving and praying. That's wonderful.
I'm talking about the quiet quit. I'm talking about when you keep on watching
sermons in the background if you don't have anything more important. The quiet quit.
I'm talking about picking the Scriptures that align with your lifestyle and never
the ones that challenge you and only quoting the ones that make you feel good,
the cute ones. I'm talking about the quiet quit. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory!
He didn't die just so I could be forgiven. He didn't die just so I could fall. He died
so I can rise with him, and I expect resurrection because his death promised it. It gave me an IOU.
With him we rise. Say it. "With him I rise, just like he did."
So, there's an example of an expectation that the perishable will be swallowed
up in imperishable, and he uses the best example. If Jesus beat the grave,
what do you have permission to stay down in?
Because that's the ultimate, right? If I bench 300, you'd better get this 155. (I
did do that one time. I'm not going to tell you how long ago it was, but I did do it one time.)
Jesus said, "If I got up out of this…" Do not use forgiveness as permission for failure.
Am I preaching a good Christmas sermon or what? Y'all are like, "Where's the manger?"
All that little baby Christianity that just wants to keep Jesus quiet
and cute. What's the hymn that says, "The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes"?
Well, not only did he sweat drops of great blood when he went to the cross…
If we want to take Jesus like that, it's just a symbol of our salvation,
but he does not become the spiritual dynamic by which we overcome temptation in our lives.
Then what are we to do with the fact that when Jesus was dying on the cross… It said
he endured it, despising its shame, for the joy set before him. He wasn't just dying
up there… I know how this kind of message can sound. It can sound super Baptist. It's like,
"Stop sinning!" I'm not saying, "Stop sinning." I'm saying, "Stop stopping."
If I were going to say, "Stop sinning," then I would have had to reach a state of
sinless perfection, and I would be Jesus, and I would not be here if I were Jesus. I would
be in heaven with the angels getting ready to have my birthday party on December 25.
But thanks be to God. Don't you love the way he frames that? Verse 56:
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." Oh no! What am I going to do?
If the power of sin is the law that God gave so I would know how to live,
but that very law that had the power to show me how to live I was powerless to do because of my
sinful nature, then what? But thanks be to God (this phrase is very paradoxical) who gives us
the victory, which doesn't even seem to be a real thing, because a victory
is not something that is typically given. It's something that is won.
Think about it. When he said, "He gives us the victory," that in itself is a miracle.
Again, if somebody wants to give you socks this Christmas, they can give you socks.
If somebody wants to give you this Christmas… I mean,
what are you hoping for this Christmas? A microwave oven? Well, they can give that.
If Oprah wants to give you a trip to Australia, she can give you a trip to Australia. I can't do
that. I'm not on the Oprah level. But when he said he gives us the victory, it's almost confusing,
because it almost sounds as if God is co opting a participation trophy mentality of salvation,
like he's just going to give you stuff without you having to go for it.
That's why I'm really excited about the exhortation that follows the expectation. He said
he gives us the victory. Verse 58: "Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord." So, here's what I want to ask you today, brothers and
sisters. Like Paul asked the church at Corinth, I want to ask you on behalf of the Holy Spirit…
Are you more committed to verse 57 than you are verse 58?
Verse 57 talks about what God gives: the victory. Verse 58 talks about what you give:
yourself. If you don't give yourself to it and expect God to give it to you,
you are going to live your whole life frustrated, wondering why you're still
staying down in stuff Christ gave you the power to rise from. That's the message. God said,
"I'm going to give it to you, but then, because you've got it…" Somebody shout, "I've got it!"
I need you to shout that better than you shouted it. Say, "I've got it."
I've got the victory. I've got the joy. I've got the promise. I've got the assurance. I've got the
blood of Jesus. I've got the pardon of sin. I've got reconciliation. I've got the name of Jesus.
I've got the Great High Priest who intercedes with me. I've got wisdom. I've got knowledge that God
wants me to have. I've got the experience for the thing I'm going through. Now shout,
"I've got it!" Look at your neighbor like you have something to be proud of. Say, "I've got it."
I've got that thing. I've got it on the inside. You didn't give it. You
can't take it. I'm not asking you for it. I'm not begging for it. I'm not posting about it,
but that doesn't mean I don't have it. I got direction from God. I got new mercies when
I woke up. I got it in my cup of coffee. I got it when I lay my pillow. I've got it. I've got
the assurance and the hope of heaven. I have a heavenly calling. I've got a chain-breaking
anointing that makes it possible for me to triumph over the works of the Devil.
Let's give out three high-fives! Tell somebody, "I've got it!" I've
got that thing. I've got the anointing. I've got the victory. I've got the power. I've got
resurrection. It's in my bones! I've got breath to praise him. I've got strength to
praise him. I've got a right to praise him. I've got permission to praise him.
I've got the edge to do the thing he gave me
to do. I've got the seed of the Word of God. It's little bitty, but it's going to grow.
I've got faith.
I've got mountain-moving faith. I've got grace, gully-washing grace, sin-erasing grace. I've
got it! It's a gift. I didn't earn it, don't deserve it, but I've got it.
Couldn't work for it, couldn't climb to it, but I've got it. Tried to run from it,
tried to deny it, tried to get away from it, but I've got it! I've got goodness! I've got mercy!
You like it? My Dad gave it to me. I've got it. He put it on the tree, not under the tree. When
he died on the tree, on the old rugged cross, and his blood ran down, he gave me the victory.
Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.
He gave it to me, but sometimes I don't give myself to it. Paul said it's an expectation,
but there's an exhortation. If he gave it to you, you have to give yourself to it.
You can't quiet quit. You can't loud shout in church and quiet quit at home. Shout on that,
but you'd better keep shouting when it gets hard this week. You'd better get shouting
when you look at those bills this week. You'd better get shouting when it comes over you this
week and you think, "O God, I'm about to go crazy. I can't quit. I've got something
eternal, imperishable, incorruptible, the seed of the word of God."