Under the Influence of Experts | Sunday, April 19, 2020

Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. (Deuteronomy 1:13)

When the experts all speak true—but the truth still isn't enough—what does a people actually need?

Crazy Times and a Little Laughter

For the last six weeks we have all been hunkered down and hiding out as a nation, and things are very similar in other parts of the world. The goal here in America has been to flatten the curve. While I think we're all hopeful that we're accomplishing it, one thing is certain: the curves of Americans are not getting any flatter. We are making America curvy again.

I've come to treat the coronavirus shutdown like Christmas season 2.0. One San Diego radio station must have thought the same thing—I got in my car the other day and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was playing. It's one thing to have Christmas in July, but I'm not down with Christmas in April.

One of the ways we deal with challenging and stressful circumstances is laughter, and I hope you've been able to find some in the midst of everything we are facing. These are crazy times. I want to thank our team here at Cross Connection Church who has made Church at Home possible—especially Pastor Anthony and everyone serving alongside him, and Pastor Nick, who has handled video recording and post-production through many long nights. We have an absolutely amazing team, and I'm so grateful for them. I'm also grateful for our church's faithfulness in prayer and sacrificial giving during this uncertain time.

A number of people have asked me, "When do you think we'll gather together again?" I really don't know. As the priest in the movie Rudy said, "In thirty-five years of religious studies, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him." I had hoped we'd gather for Palm Sunday, then Easter. I'm praying we'll be together soon—and when we are, we'll have donuts. Lots of donuts.

God Is Furthering the Gospel

Two weeks ago I shared a message from Philippians 1, where Paul—under lockdown, under house arrest—wrote that his difficult circumstances had actually advanced the gospel.

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:12–14)

What we're going through as a world is doing exactly what Paul spoke about 2,000 years ago. That might not feel like much encouragement if you've lost your job and are worried about bills, but consider this: research shows church growth spiked by 300% in the last month, and 49% of churches studied are growing right now. Google searches for prayer, church, God, and church online have spiked significantly. The free system we use to broadcast, Life in Connection, has jumped from 5,000 churches a week to more than 20,000. Rather than turning people away from God, this situation appears to have caused people to turn toward Him.

A Stuck Church, Pushed Out

Before Jesus ascended, He said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." His mission was global from the very start.

But as so often is the case, His followers didn't fully obey. By Acts 8 the church was largely still stuck in Jerusalem—many teachers believe at least five years had passed since the commission of Acts 1. So what got them moving?

Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1)

It took persecution to push them out. I believe the church in America and the Western world has likewise been stuck. The early church used a great technological advance of its day—the Roman roads—to carry the gospel. In our time we have the greatest technological advance in history: worldwide communication on the internet. Last year many churches were still doing church only inside the four walls of their buildings. Just as persecution pushed the early church out into God's mission, this pandemic has pressed the church online—where we probably should have been all along.

We are seeing people who left the church years ago return and recommit. We're seeing skeptics begin to consider the Scriptures. This is an awakening Christians have been praying for, and maybe, just maybe, it could become a Great Awakening. God brings order out of chaos, and He is doing exactly that.

Back to Deuteronomy—and a Word About Politics

Before coronavirus we had been studying through Deuteronomy. I've taken a brief detour the last few Sundays, but I sense we need to get back to it—and what's fascinating is that the messages I preached from Deuteronomy before coronavirus are uncannily applicable to right now, almost as if some invisible power helped direct it.

I don't typically like to mention political things, because virtually every time I do I'm completely misunderstood. In our current moment, politics is more divisive than religion—more of a dividing line than race, creed, culture, gender, sexual orientation, or sports team. Americans are discipled by cable-news pundits for hours every night. I can't compete with that; you only get me for 40 minutes a week.

Because of all that, if I even reference something that seems political, you'll hear it the way you've been conditioned to hear it. If I say, "I'm not sure I fully agree with the path our leaders have chosen," one channel will convince you I'm against the president and another that I'm for him. I honestly can't win. So understand: what I'm about to say I taught here seven or eight weeks ago, before any of us heard "social distancing" or "flatten the curve." It is not partisan. You'll only conclude I'm speaking against your team if you think I'm an ill-willed person—and if you knew me before all this, you know I'm not.

Two Magnetic Poles

We're going to be challenged in the coming weeks and months—not directly by coronavirus, but by another, more virulent virus: an ideological virus, a thought-virus planted in our minds by our culture. There will be a massive magnetic pull in two directions.

One pole says we need to be cautious and careful because coronavirus is dangerous and deadly—and from everything we can tell, that's absolutely true. The other pole says we can't stay inside forever, that the economy and society can't function like this indefinitely—and that's true too. There are experts who will say it's dangerous and you'll be putting lives at risk; there are others who will appeal to the land of the free and the home of the brave, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to the truths we hold self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. There are experts on both sides.

We Need Wise, Understanding, Knowledgeable Leaders

Deuteronomy 1 teaches that we are in desperate need of leaders who are wise, understanding, and knowledgeable. I preached this on February 16th in a message titled "Wise, Understanding, and Knowledgeable."

Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. (Deuteronomy 1:13)

Thirty-four hundred years ago, Israel was preparing to take the promised land and establish a nation, and they needed wise, understanding, and knowledgeable leaders. So do we. And just like them, it is our job to choose them, because they will lead us. Whatever side of the aisle you sit on, the leaders we have at the local, state, and national level are leaders we have chosen.

Most of the time, when things are stable, we can get away with leaders who are merely average in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It is only in unstable, chaotic times that the ineptitude of leaders comes to the surface. Some of you just got tweaked—tempted to think I'm talking about your team. That feeling is only surfacing because you're already concerned your team is being inept, and this crisis is bringing it out.

Let me be clear: everyone's ineptitude is evident right now. No one saw this coming, and leaders responded quickly according to the information they had at the time. That's how crises work. I saw it after 9/11, and I saw it working with the Red Cross through the San Diego fires in 2003 and 2007. Things are chaotic at the start; then they level out and we see more clearly. Anyone pointing at the other team right now and saying it's all their fault is looking at this opportunistically—and I'm always suspicious of opportunism in the midst of crisis.

We need leaders who have knowledge, the ability to interpret that knowledge (understanding), and wisdom to know how to act in light of it. We also have, and need, commentators, critics, and experts on the sidelines. The leaders are responsible to lead, the experts speak to give knowledge, and the commentators critique the process. That's all well and good when their objectives are aligned—but we are so politically divided that this requires a great deal of wisdom and prayer.

The Twelve Experts

Israel had a problem we talked about five weeks ago. There was a group of twelve men—the only experts on the promised land in all of Israel. They had spent 40 days spying it out, then returned to report their expertise. We read the fuller account in Numbers 13:26–33.

Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there... We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." ... "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature... we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Notice: nothing the spies said was wrong. They gave a full epidemiological report of the promised land, and it was all true. They were more knowledgeable about that land than anyone else—they were the experts. But the knowledge of experts must be balanced with wisdom, understanding, and faith. That will be our challenge going forward. There is a big land with lots of pitfalls and battles ahead, and we will need knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and faith—trust in God.

Wisdom, Understanding, and Faith

Some of you watching have been bombarded by the data of experts and you're afraid. There are giants in the land—or rather, a microscopic virus, and we need to flatten the curve. You've gained knowledge about masks, ventilators, and epidemiology, but you may be lacking wisdom, understanding, and faith. Perhaps it is all that data flying at you that has pushed you to seek them.

Having studied the Scriptures for more than 20 years, I can tell you that wisdom and understanding are constantly connected to trust in God, the fear of God, and the Spirit of God.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. (Psalm 111:10)

I want to invite you to put your faith and trust in God today—to lean not on your own understanding, but to trust in Him. Jesus promised that those who come to Him and learn from Him will find rest for their souls. It's quite possible your soul, mind, and heart have been restless in the midst of all this. I invite you to put your trust in Jesus.

A Simple Prayer

Receiving the salvation of Jesus is as simple as A-B-C. A—admit that you are a sinner. B—believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place for your sins. C—confess your sins to God and ask Him to come into your heart. Right where you are at home, you can pray with me:

"Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I pray that You would come into my life, that You would forgive me of my sin and help me to follow You, by faith, in Jesus' name. Amen."

If you prayed that prayer, we would love to know about it. Go to the website on the screen and fill out the form so we can send you a New Believer's Bible as quickly as possible.

Serving Those in Need

To those of you who are already believers: as of Friday, an estimated 22 million people have lost their jobs because of the shutdown. In the early church, those who had the ability helped provide financially for those who did not. If you'd like to give to our benevolence fund for those in need, you can do so at heart.lifeinconnection.com. This is separate from our general fund, which we still very much appreciate, as we have obligations to our staff and missionaries around the world. But if you can give beyond your regular giving to help someone who has lost a job or whose savings won't stretch far enough, consider giving to our heart fund.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for the work that You are doing. I realize the message I've given can feel a little abrasive, but I absolutely believe this is the message You have for us at this point, because it is exactly what we had been going through in the book of Deuteronomy before we ever got to this crisis. I think You have been setting us up for this. So I pray, God, that You would help our hearts be open and receptive to what You want to speak. Just as Jesus said in Revelation, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches"—I believe You are speaking to Your church right now through this very text in Deuteronomy. God, open our ears, open our hearts to hear from You, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you; may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.