The Most Valuable 14 Minutes You Will Spend Today

I want you to bring to mind the most influential man in your life. And 10 years from now, I say, all your kids are 10 years older, right? Your colleagues, you got 10 more years with them. And then I ask the question, imagine the most influential man in your life, and you popped into their mind. Because every man in here has the potential to be that kind of man. What kind of man are you going to be? Like, what if that man had a rightly ordered life, that Jesus was before all things in his life, that his golf game was not the most important? That getting the raise was not the most important, that making money was not the most important. But he lived in such a rhythm that he had time for the Lord and he had time for his family. And what if that man was a persevering man and he never stopped fighting for you? He didn't give up on his marriage, he didn't give up on his kids, and when things got hard, he didn't run to the bottle, he didn't run to drugs, he ran to Jesus and he was willing to endure whatever this world threw at him for your sake. Can you imagine this outcome? And imagine if that man was a humble man, a humble man. He didn't think less of himself. He just didn't think of himself that much. That no matter how low you felt, that he would go just a little bit lower just to pick you up. And imagine if that man was a serving man, that he demonstrated his love all the time. You see, the reality is, man, is one day, one day, every single one of us are gonna die. If Jesus doesn't return before we die, every single one of us are gonna die. We're gonna breathe our last here. What you want people to say about you? Oh, he was a good golfer. Man, you see the size of that buck he shot? Man, he could really demand his own way, couldn't he? I mean, he walked in the room and everybody puckered up. Is that what you want? Or do you want him to say, his life was rightly ordered, and he would be willing to lay down his life for me? He didn't make much of himself, and he just served. You see, all I want people to say about me, honestly, I don't care if anybody says anything about preaching or any of that stuff. I want them to be able to say he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. That's Acts 11, 24. I want him to be able to say he was a good man. He was a good husband and a good dad. I want to be a good man the way God describes goodness. So what about you? What about you? You want to be great? You want to be great? Great! You should want to be great because God is great and we're created in his image. You just got to reject the way the world does. So man, let's be great the way Jesus said to be great. Man, we need you. Your wife needs to know that you're a man of God. Your kids need to know it. Research proves my point. Did you know that when the mom is the sole responsibility within a house to bring the kids to church and to raise them up spiritually, that children at a percentile of 17% serve God into adulthood. But when the man does it, the number jumps from 17% into the 80s. So men, go open the Bible and read the Bible with your kids. Men, you go pray over the kids at night. And ladies, keep doing it as well. It doesn't dismiss you. But men, you need to be in the room. You need to wake the family up. Hey, we don't watch football on Sundays before going to church. We go to church and then watch football. As for me and my house, notice Joshua's wife didn't walk out there and say it. Jesus, his word and the Holy Spirit needs to be the authority of the house. But you are the head of the house. See, men, you are the head of the house. And that is a leadership role, but it's Christ-like leadership, which means that it's sacrificial and it's filled with servanthood. You are the head of the house to the extent that Jesus, like Jesus is the head of the church, meaning that you are ready, willing, and able to lay down your life as a denial of yourself for the benefit of your wife and your family. It is your job, men, to make sure that your house is serving the Lord. It is your job, husband. It is your job, dad, to make sure that This house's spiritual well-being is rooted and grounded in the word of God. It is your job, men, to protect the house spiritually. And you are called on as a sacrificial leader of the house. Meaning that my wife needs to know that I will lay down my selfishness. For her benefit, for the kids' benefit. Ladies, your role is, when you have a man like that, You honor that man, and you celebrate that man, and you defend that man, and you appreciate that man, and you notice that man, and you are grateful for that man, and you support that man, and when that man is tired, you go pick him up, and when that man is worn out, you go stand next to him, and when that man is on his knees, you don't kick him while he's down, you go get on your knees with him. Because your man needs your voice, he needs your tenderness, he needs your love, he needs your compassion, and he needs your wisdom. And she knows I've got a man, not a boy, a man. I've got a man, and he will lay down his life for me, he will fight for me, he will defend me. I've got a man that's leading our kids to Jesus. Please hear me. Men, you set the tone. Set the right tone. Set the tone for Jesus. Which means we are selfless and not selfish. Men are not defined by brawn or muscle or intellect. For some of you, men are defined by the measure of their sacrifice, by the greatness of their love. A man, a biblical man is a servant. Like Jesus, knowing all authority in heaven and earth have been given unto him. He gets up from the table to show his disciples the full extent of his love and he washes their feet. Then you can really step into what it means to be a man. So we're supposed to serve our children, our communities, our church, our wife. And we weren't given the strength that we have for our own sake. When you bend your knee to Jesus, that makes you a man. And then it is up to us to bestow manhood on this upcoming generation of young men. If you have young men without fathers, they're gonna start looking for male influences. They're gonna look for father figures. And if there's no good men that will lead them, the bad men surely will. And they do. And I'll tell you what, we're not going to legislate our way out of this. We're not going to just fund our way out of this. The most transformative thing that could happen in this nation right now is not some new law coming from Washington. It is the fathers going home, staying home, and doing the hard, unglamorous, irreplaceable work of raising their children and being men in their home. Masculinity in and of itself is not a bad thing. The world needs men and the devil knows that if he can get men to stop showing up, he can wreak havoc on the world. Where are the men like Jesus that will lay down their lives for their friends? Where are the faithful men? Where are the loyal men? Where are the sacrificial men? Where are the meek men? Where are the humble men? By the way, some people, I need to define this for some of you, because some people think that meekness is the same as weakness. Actually, meekness is the opposite of weakness. Meekness is power under restraint and used for a productive purpose. And Jesus is the ultimate example of this. Infinite power, and yet he washes the feet of his disciples. That's meekness. You teach, you mentor, you disciple, you encourage, you stand in the gap. And you are the kind of men that other men can follow. Boys think only about what they can get, but men, men think about what they can give. Christ gave all. If you want to look like him, then you got to give something to him. The world says real men don't need anybody, but the gospel says real men need somebody. And that's somebody's Jesus. And they're willing to put their hand up and say, that's me, I know, that's my king. He can do what I cannot. He's the one I require. You see, the strongest man in any room is the one most willing to admit they need Jesus. Real men stay. Real men don't run when things get uncomfortable, when things get hard. Real men stay. They stay at the table. They stay when it's easier to leave. They stay in the hard conversations. One of the greatest gifts a man can give is his presence. I love that my dad kept showing up, stayed. Who are the people in your life who didn't move, who stayed? I want to suggest to you that most of us are stable today. Most of us are in this room because of men in our lives who simply refuse to leave. You know, I'm 73 years old now, and I've done a lot of things in life and ministry. I've pastored things, I've traveled, I've spoken. People can... But one of the deepest regrets... In my life, if I were to look back, like there's not very much that I'd want to I'd want to redo in life, if given the opportunity, except this one thing, I would want to raise my family all over again, I would want to be a better husband to my wife, I was too busy, folks, listen to me on this. I was giving myself to all kinds of works and good works. There's nothing wrong with some of the a lot of the things I was doing. But the things that I was given to do. which should have been priorities you know for example I was like a man who goes to a great banquet and brings home leftovers for his family and I it's a shameful thing to have to say that as a pastor and it's only when you when you get older you look back and say God forgive me you know for you know giving my time to so many things now there were good things but the question is were Were they necessary things? But listen to me, young Christians especially. You know, you've been given a family, if you have a wife or a husband and you have children, give your heart, give your time, give your patience, your laughter, your love, give what you have for your family. Bring a healthy family into the house of God. Don't give your time to things that leave your family with leftovers at the end of the day. You know, you learn when you get older, and if you're wise, you would listen to those of us who have been there before, and give yourself for your family. Give yourself for your wife, your husband, your children, your grandchildren. Give your heart, give your time, give your love. If men would be these kind of men, we'd change the world. If husbands really loved their wives like Christ loved the church, if dads would be responsible fathers, everything would change. If we wanna change a community and a city and a nation, You let men stand firm and act like men, but not in the kind of way that the world says, but the kind of way Jesus says.