Raise the Standard
First and foremost we have to know what we believe. If we don’t know
what we believe we can’t go anywhere else. We have to know not only what
we believe, we have to know why we believe it. We have to know what we
believe, why we believe it, and never back down from that belief. We must
Raise the Standard.
At the ATF, we raised our youth banner. This is a banner – a standard
– a flag – an emblem – a symbol of our mission. When our military goes
to another country they take a flag with them. They have a flag on their
sleeve and it means something to them. We have this banner; we have these
cool t-shirts, but if all we do is buy an $84 banner and a $7 t-shirt
and it doesn’t mean anything. We’ve wasted money – that’s all. But this
thing is a standard – a physical symbol of the spiritual and physical
standard we’ve set in our lives. We have determined that we’re going to
develop this ministry mentality - this idea that we live every day for
ministry - for God. We don’t live for ourselves; we live for whatever
God has for us. This is our mentality - the idea we are not our own;
we are bought with a price.
“
It’s time to raise those standards. We should not look like the
world – ever. Period. End of story.
”
“Developing a Ministry Mentality” means that everything we do must
be judged by how it will affect people for eternity. If we don’t
understand that, we don’t know our standard. We have to go back and
find out what do we believe about Christ? What do we believe
about God? We talked earlier in the year about “Is God real?” We have
to start there. Is the Word of God true? If it’s true, is it all true?
We have to know what we believe.
We have to know why we believe it. Why is it important
that God convicted Jon of speeding? Does it say in the Bible “thou
shalt not speed?” No, but God got onto him for that. Someone is going
to see his truck and then see him drive too fast. What are they going
to think about Jon’s God? He’s driving 70 in a 30 and his truck is
very obvious. They see him pull into this parking lot; in this church;
get behind those drums; and they think, “what kind of a guy is that –
what kind of a God does he serve? I don’t want anything to do with that
God.” Jon’s decision to live or not live the standard affects those people.
We have to know what we believe. We have to know why
we believe it and we have to never back down from that belief.
We must raise the standard – the standard in our own life – the standard
of what God expects of us personally and then the standard of what God
expects from us as a group.
When we think of our youth scripture, 1 Timothy 4:12, we must
set the example. “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are
young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love,
in faith and in purity.” NIV We must set that
example. We must be that standard. Let’s look at this scripture in the
Message Bible, “And don't let anyone put you down because you're
young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love,
by faith, by integrity.” How are we going to show those around us
how to live? By how they see us live!
Raise the standard! The standard has been too low – Raise it up higher!
We have to set the standard for Christianity higher than the standard for
the world. Why is it that we often can’t tell a Christian apart from a
non-believer? Because the standard hasn’t been raised. It’s time to raise
those standards. We should not look like the world – ever. Period. End
of story.
First we have to raise the standard. Second we have to
live the difference. We’ve got to be different.
[Raise-Live-Guard]
[Live the Difference]
[Guard Your Heart]
[The Bottom Line]
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