Canary in a Coal Mine

Welcome to the National Community Church podcast.

We're thrilled to be able to share this weekend's message with you from Dr. Mark Batterson.

You can find us on national.cc or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

On April 16, 1863, Dr. Martin Luther King penned a letter from a Birmingham jail.

He was responding to critics who questioned his tactics.

And this is what he said in that letter.

There was a time when the church was very powerful.

In the time when early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed.

In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion.

It was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Are you a thermometer?

Or are you a thermostat?

Are you being conformed to the world around you?

Or are you being transformed by the spirit of God at work within you?

What percentage of your thoughts and words, actions and opinions are a regurgitation of news media or social media?

And what percentage is a regurgitation?

revelation that you are getting from God's word. Are you living outside in? Is your emotional

state a reflection and reaction to what's happening around you? Are you taking your cues from

trending hashtags? Is your conscience taken captive by popular opinion, peer pressure,

or political correctness? Or are you living inside out? Is your conscience taken captive

by God's word? Are you shifting the atmosphere with faith, hope, and love? Are you living a

spirit-filled, spirit-led life? Well, those are a few of the questions we're going to talk about

today.

To National Community Church, DC, NOVA, in person, online, a joy to have our extended family from

here, there, and everywhere. We are in a series called Fan Into Flame. I want you to meet me

in 2 Timothy 3, and we'll get there in a minute. Now, in the 19th century, our primary form of

energy was coal.

There were thousands of coal miners in the 19th century.

There were thousands of coal miners in the 19th century. There were thousands of coal miners in the 19th century.

There were thousands of coal miners, and they were very difficult, very dangerous places to work

because of a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas called carbon monoxide. It was the invisible

assassin, and there was no way to detect it until a Scottish physiologist named John Scott Hall

Dane made an interesting connection. He knew that canaries have a unique anatomy that allows them

to absorb oxygen while they inhale and exhale. So they get like a double dose of the air that we

breathe, and that made them the OG carbon dioxide detector. If a canary stops singing in a coal mine,

you're in trouble.

You're in trouble. It's an early warning sign that something is wrong. 2 Timothy 3 is a canary in a coal

mine, and Paul doesn't pull any punches as he paints almost this prophetic picture. These early

warning signs are called in scripture signs of the times, the end times. 2 Timothy 3, 1 through

5. Here we go. But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. Now, the last days

require a little bit of context, okay? The Bible begins with a cosmology that we call the book of

Genesis. It tells us how we got here. And it also includes, in eschatology, we call the book of

that tells us where we are headed. Now, the Old Testament prophets, as well as the gospels and

epistles, reveal a wide variety of early warning signs. And each one is a canary in a coal mine.

There are technological, geopolitical, geological, environmental indicators that point to the

beginning of the end, which is the beginning of the end. And the beginning of the end is the end of the

beginning. This is really a new beginning. Okay, Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars.

Check. There will be famines and pandemics. Check, check. And there will be natural disasters that

increase in scope and scale. Check. What Paul does, I think, is give us psychographic indicators.

Because here,

here's the reality. In many ways, we are evolving. And it's a testament to God's

creativity. I mean, come on, we landed a man on the moon.

We have, I mean, with technology, I mean, we've, we found cures for diseases. Our technologies put

at our fingertips the ability to do things that, I mean, a hundred years ago would have been

unimaginable. And so, what an incredible evolution. But at the same time, would you agree

with me? We're also devolving. And this is evidence of the dual nature. We have a sin nature and a

Satan nature, if you will. See, we were born on a battlefield between good and evil. But friends,

the battle isn't just happening out there. It's happening in here, in me, in all of us.

Fight, fight that battle. And so, Paul is giving us some early warning signs so that we won't be

surprised. And so, here's what he says.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,

ungrateful,

unholy. Anything else? They will consider nothing sacred.

They will be unloving and unforgiving. I mean, that kind of sounds like

cancel culture, does it not? They will slander others.

Whew. And now our ability to do things that are unholy.

They will do that and then broadcast it on social media platforms where we're trolling and baiting

and shaming and blaming. I mean, it's pretty rampant. I mean, this is hitting a nerve ending.

They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless,

be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.

Whew. Catch your breath for a second. And my whole style of leadership is appreciative inquiry.

You want to find out what's working and do more of that. Celebrate what you want to see more of.

And positivity is one of my strengths. So, there's part of me that just,

kind of wants to read right over this. But the reality is we aren't doing ourselves any

favors because some canaries have stopped singing.

Paul comes to this conclusion, and this is the first application. He says, avoid such people.

Why? Because in another place, he says that bad company corrupts good character.

Can I just,

can I say this to our young people and to people who have made more trips around the sun?

Choose your friends wisely. I mean, Jim Rohn said that we've become the average of the five

people we spend the most time with. And I don't, I don't know if he can validate five.

But I think it's true that generally speaking, the trend line of our life for better or for worse,

is to be around people who are not. Who do you surround yourself with?

That's why, I mean, I want to hang out with someone like Dick Foth, who's been there and done that.

Long obedience in the same direction. I want to be around people that stretch my faith.

I want to be around people that see the potential in me and call it out.

Who hold me accountable, speak the truth in love. But I want to make sure I'm around people

who want what's best for me. And what's best for me is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Amen.

Charlie Tremendous Jones said, you will be the same person in five years as you are today,

except for two things. The people you meet and the books you read.

Who are you hanging out with? Are they having a positive or negative influence on your life?

And what are you reading? Like you are what you eat physically. You are what you read

intellectually. Let me a wide angle lens.

I think there are two ways to read the Bible. One is a window and the other is a mirror.

I kind of wish I had a window and a mirror up here, but you can picture it, right?

And I think both are legit ways of reading the Bible, but the sequence is significant.

We'll get there. I think the Bible is our window,

on the world. I don't just read it. I kind of look, I look through it

and I begin to see things from a God's eye view. This is where we get our worldview. This is our

epistemology. Scripture is the final authority in matters of faith and doctrine. And as your

pastor, I want you to hear me say, don't take my word for it. I am not the final authority on

matters of faith and doctrine. I am the final authority on matters of faith and doctrine.

This book is the final authority. And this is how we exegete the news. This is how we discern

what's really happening when what's happening is happening. This gives us prophetic insight

into the cultural moment. I like the way Walter Brueggemann says it. The task is reframing.

And this is how we do it, is reframing so that we can re-experience

the social realities that are right in front of us from a different angle.

Okay. Are you, are you tracking with me? So scripture is our window on the world,

but the apostle James said, it's also a mirror.

You need to, I need to take a long, hard look in this mirror, mirror, mirror on the wall,

right? Because this is where I discover,

my identity, who I really am. This is where I discover my destiny, what God has in store for me.

The Pharisees, okay, don't miss this. The Pharisees were experts at applying the law

to others. And I, and I think sometimes we're like, we read the Bible and like, oh man,

does this person need to know that?

Whoo. Wow. I mean, you would never listen to a message and try to apply it to someone else,

would you? So, so the tendency is sometimes to look through the window. And so what the Pharisees

then did is then they would, they would use this to take potshots at other people and,

and to throw stones. And there, there's a word,

for that? Self-righteousness. And for them, it was masquerading as holiness. But it was holier

than thou, which is the opposite of holiness. In fact, it's a form of hypocrisy. And so all of that

to say this, I want to look through the window, but man, we better look in the mirror before we

look in the window. Jesus said it this way. You might want to take the plank out of your own eye

before you deal with the speck in your neighbor's eye. How are we doing?

So the Bible is a window and a mirror. 2 Timothy 3, 14 and 15. But as for you, so again,

like all of these psychographic indicators, like, I mean, it seems like the,

the world's falling apart at the seams. The compass needle is spinning. Like, ooh,

doesn't paint a great picture. But Paul says to Timothy, as for you,

remain faithful to the things you have been taught because you know they are true.

And I would add this, true north, true north. And you know, you can trust those who taught you.

You have been taught the Holy Spirit.

You have been taught the scriptures from childhood and they are able to make you wise

unto salvation. I, I, you ever hear about the pilot who came over the intercom and said,

I had some good news, some bad news. The good news is we're making great time.

The bad news is we're lost. And it kind of feels like a commentary on the world that we're in.

We are making great time.

We, we have never moved at a, at a pace like this. I mean, wow. Like a 15 minute delay for a plane.

Like my life is terrible. And I got the middle seat, the middle seat. Are you kidding?

It's like the worst day ever. You try telling that to someone who is packing up their wagon

to go on the Oregon trail. Like what I'm saying,

is your problems would have been someone else's miracle a couple of hundred years ago,

like reality check, right? Um, where was I?

I've said this before, but let me say it again, because I think it's really important that we're

conscientious in the way that we, that there's an intentionality to what we consume in the way

that we live our lives. I think social media, uh,

and I, and I love it for a lot of reasons, but I do think it's the tree of the knowledge of good

and evil. I don't think we were designed with the emotional capacity to know everything about

everyone everywhere in real time. Like I just, and, and so the danger is doom scrolling.

The, the danger is getting sucked into these rabbit holes, the algorithm,

algorithms that are designed to outreach outrage, the, the algorithms that are designed

to just kind of keep us right in our echo chambers. And so what do we do? Well, we don't bury our head

in the sand. That's for sure. How do we process what's happening in the world? The racial tension,

the political polarization, how do we live from a place of conviction instead of just reaction to

everyone and everything?

It's easier said than done, but I like the way Karl Barth, the Swiss theologian said it. He said,

take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both,

but interpret the newspaper from your Bible. See, I think there can be a tendency for us

to filter our biblical theology through my personality, my history, my ethics,

my ethnicity, my political ideology. And the net result is called idolatry.

And that's what, let's not look at through the window at everybody else.

Let's look at in the mirror and make sure that my decisions, the way I think my worldview,

even, even position and posture are a reflection of this book. Why? Cause you're the only Bible

some people will ever read.

And so then the question is, is your life a good translation?

Let me pull up that Wesleyan quadrilateral for a moment. There is a methodology

for theology called the Wesleyan quadrilateral. And I think, can I do a little bit of teaching

for a moment? Just kind of turn this into a theology classroom.

We can study scripture or look at it from four angles, tradition, reason, experience,

and scripture. But the sequence is significant and we'll come back to that. Now, tradition

is the test of time. And so listen, don't dismiss orthodoxy when it comes to theology.

Like we have 2000 years of a lot of smart people, Jesus following, Bible believing, God fearing

people.

And so we have to be able to understand that we aren't just Johnny come lately. And I would

even say as a Protestant church, like for most of our history, the Catholic church is

much of our history before that. So I think church history tradition is significant. Like

it's how we got, there's a cumulative effect to how we got where we are. Reason is the

test of logic. And this is where I would say reason is a gift from God. Reason is a gift

from God. Reason is the test of logic. And this is where I would say reason is a gift from

God. Reason is the test of logic. And this is where I would say reason is a gift from

God. I would also say that our faith is not logical or illogical. It's theological. So it

adds God to the equation. We believe in revelation beyond reason, but, but reason is a gift from

God. Now experience is the test of testimony. And we overcome by the blood of the lamb and

by the word of our testimony. Like our experience is incredibly significant. And so we have

experience is the test of testimony. And we overcome by the word of our testimony. And we

significant. And your testimony is as unique as mine. I would also say I'm a data point of one.

And I can't like fully teach this, but Oswald Chambers is one of my rules of life. Let God be

as original with others as he was with you. So I think we just have to be careful that my experience

is my experience and your experience is your experience. But then we get to scripture, which

to me is the test of truth. And I think that's the test of truth. And I think that's the test of

truth. And this is where the, the, the sequence is significant. What, what, what, see, if you

filter everything through your experience, I'll just pick on experience. What you're going to end

up with is relativism where my truth is my truth and your truth is your truth. And then it's a

crap shoot. Like what do we do with all of that? You know, tradition, you're going to probably end

up in a box.

It's called legal. But, but I think what we've got to do is process experience, reason, tradition

through scripture. And like, Mark, this is so esoteric right now. Like bring it, bring it down

to earth. I'll just share one little thing that was a game changer for me. Probably. I heard Irwin

McManus say this probably 22 years ago. He said, don't let an arrow of criticism pierce your heart

unless it first passes through the heart. Don't let it pierce your heart. Don't let it pierce your

heart. Don't let it pierce your heart. Don't let it pierce your heart. Don't let it pierce your heart.

Don't let it pierce your heart. Don't let it pierce your heart. Don't let it pierce your heart.

Like that, that's what I'm talking about. It's about processing what's happening in the news,

what's happening in my life through the filter of scripture. Like why, why are you spending so

much time on this? Because, um, listen, feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but teach a man

to fish. You feed him for a lifetime. Like the only ceiling on your intimacy with God and impact

daily spiritual disciplines, one of those is a daily diet of the word. And we'll talk more about

this, but I've got to make sure that this is the mirror and the window that I'm looking through.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in California.

How do you get anywhere in Southern California? Wow, like I will not complain about our traffic

again. And I am not kidding. Like I had no clue. Am I going east or west or north or south? Like

I have no idea where all of those highways were going. If I didn't have GPS,

I would still be there. Like just driving around. I don't even know what they are. The 105, the 405.

I don't even know what those roads are called. What I'm saying is like, hallelujah. Because we

used to have,

the Rand McNally map. Do you know what I'm talking about?

And you would get it out of your back seat and you would open it up.

And you would follow those directions. But it was the 1987 version that got me to the,

like right, like I love GPS. We live in an incredible world where I can send a cell signal

off a satellite that's orbiting.

Earth that will trilaterate my latitude, longitude, and altitude.

Woo, within inches of where I am and get me where I need to go.

Lord, thank you for GPS.

How, how do I navigate the anxiety and the depression? How do I navigate the, the difficult

decision?

How do I navigate an election cycle? How do I navigate relationship issues?

Woo.

Just going to make it personal. It was a hard week for a lot of reasons. Um, like I'm not

complaining about this, but three days in a recording studio, 17 hours recording the audio,

book for a million little miracles, which Laura and I will give you a copy on November 17. It's our

gift to you. So don't, don't go buy it. Um, but I was physically spent. I mean, I have run marathons

and bike centuries. And when I come out of the recording studio, I'm like, there is like, I am

just wiped. And then do you ever get like kind of multiple pieces of news that sort of depress your

emotions?

And I, it just came out of nowhere, but I have a ministry friend who died of a heart attack at 55

this week. And I think what it did is it just dredged up all of these emotions because my

father-in-law died at 55 of a heart attack. And then another friend who I really love and, and

kind of walked with them. Their, their toddler has had six surgeries and they, they just found

out that the same surgery has to be repeated for the third time. And I was like, I'm not going to

do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this.

And it's just, it's heartbreaking to me because I'm like, and I think what happened is like, I was

just physically spent, emotionally spent. And I'll be honest, like I was in a funk on Friday.

Like I did not feel like a thermostat. I felt more like a thermometer. I felt like these things,

I felt like the external pressure was more than the internal pressure. Oh Lord, help me. Help me.

What, what do you do?

When you find yourself in those circumstances, I'm going to tell you what I do.

I make a beeline to the back of the book. And I'll explain what I mean.

On September 9th, 1965, James Stockdale was flying a mission over North Vietnam,

shot down, would spend almost eight years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton as a prisoner of war,

as a naval,

officer. He was treated worse than most. He was tortured. He was not given medical care. And

how do you, how do you survive eight years of that? He said, here's how he survived. He said,

I never lost faith in the end of the story.

This is so important right now.

Oh God.

Lord, those who are within the hearing of my voice, who have suicidal thoughts,

who feel like it's over with, who feel like the best is behind them.

Would you just pray with me right now? Lord, we pray hope in Jesus name. We pray that the reality

of the cross and an empty tomb would invade the dark corners of their hearts and minds and fill

them with hope.

That God, you have not given up on them. There is a hope and a future. That God, you have plans

and purposes that it is not over with. In Jesus name. Amen.

I want to let you in on a little secret.

We know how it ends.

And this is really important. I think what I'm saying is don't lose faith in God.

Don't lose faith in God. Don't lose faith in God. Don't lose faith in God. Don't lose faith in God.

Don't lose faith in the end of the story. God is writing a bigger story. God is writing

a better story. I'm going to tell you how I triangulate. Okay. I go to the back of the book.

I turn to the book of Revelation. And it's probably not the book I read the very most,

but sometimes I got to go back to the end of the book. And I read Revelation 5.11. Then I looked

and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times

10,000. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice,

they were saying, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and power and praise.

And then I go to Revelation 7.9. And there was a great multitude from every nation and tribe and

people and language standing before the throne saying, salvation belongs to him who sits on the

throne. And then I go to Revelation 11.15.

The kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,

and he shall reign forever and ever. Okay, let's go.

We're about to start a series, Stand in the Gap. And as a way of just kind of preparing us

for this election cycle, because someone's going to win, someone's going to lose.

Yes. And about half the country is going to be really upset and half the country going to be

really happy.

But I think how we posture ourselves and how we process this season is going to be really,

really important. And I don't control the outcome. But what I need to do, like, I would remind us,

we don't pray, our Father who art in heaven, my administration come, my party be done.

Like, no, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. I mean, I think if some of us were writing the

script, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a horse and he would overthrow the Roman empire

and he would take the throne of Rome, but he was aiming higher and longer at the throne of heaven.

My primary citizenship is in heaven. I am in the world, but not of the world. And so we'll process

some of this over the next couple of weeks. But I think if some of us were writing the script,

next month. But I just want to say one more time for the record, make a beeline to the end of the

book. And I'll see if I can close with this. The NFL season kicks off this weekend. So that means

I'm allowed one football illustration. So 2010, Green Bay Packers won the NFC championship. And

for whatever reason, and this is where I would say I do love social media.

Back when it was Twitter, that I would preach for tickets. And I really was half joking,

but a pastor from Texas took me up on it and said, you come preach and we'll get you a couple of

tickets to the Super Bowl. And the Super Bowl happened to be on Josiah's birthday. That's just

the kind of dad that I am. Okay. But, but,

like we, we get there, we walk into the stadium and I realized like, oh, wait a second. What if

they lose? Like, and, and like, it was the most nerve wracking experience ever. There was a moment

in the second half where the Steelers scored a touchdown. I looked over and my son, Josiah was,

was crying. And I have to say, it's probably one of my proudest moments as a parent.

And so they, they ended up winning the game and we flew home the next day and Laura had

recorded it. And so I actually rewatched the entire Super Bowl the next day. But guess what?

It was a very different experience. Like not as nerve wracking, very relaxing to watch it. Why?

Because I knew the outcome. Because I knew the final score. Because I knew the box score. Because

I knew who won. Come on. We, we know the final score. We, we know the, the box score.

We just have to live our lives that way. Oh man. There was a whole nother thing I wanted to do.

Maybe in the 11.

Oh man. That was like my favorite. That was like my favorite part of the message. And I'm like,

nope, not going to happen. Let me, let me just close with this.

Because you, you have your issues, right? The issues you're dealing with, the, the,

the demons you fight, the memories that just pop up at unexpected times,

the relationship issues that, the personal issues. And then, and then it's compounded by

what's happening probably in the world that you live in, your workplace or whoever it is that you

hang out with. And it's a lot. And so I want to show you a picture of a, of a little note card

that I keep in my Bible. And we'll put it, put it up on the screen. And I keep it in my Bible kind

of as a,

as a place marker for where I am, where I'm studying and the window I'm looking through

in the mirror that I'm looking in. And it's an A.W. Tozer. He said, whatever keeps me from my

Bible is my enemy. However harmless it may appear to me. I think that

I need to, we live in a world where everything is being politicized.

And I,

I would suggest that as those who follow Jesus, we theologize. And it's the verb form of theology.

It's treating everyone and everything in theological terms. And so maybe I'll talk

about this in two weeks. We have a theology of dignity. The image of God in me greets the image

of God in you. Even if you don't look like me, think like me, vote like me, I'm not going to

look like me. You're created in the image of God. And that, that means I can politicize you and paint

you into a corner, or I can try to theologize you and treat you accordingly. So I think scripture

is how we rewrite and overwrite all of the negative narratives, all of the, the false narratives.

And so if you want to learn more about the gospels, I want to talk about have you ever looked at a

book? I'm looking at a book on, I don't know. I'm looking at a SERIAL GOSPEL book and I'm

thinking I'm looking at a book called the Bible. And it's my, my, my, my favorite book.

I love it because it looks like, I'm going to read it and then you're going to read it,

but I got this the other day, I'm going to read this. You're not going to read it. You're

going to read it. I like it because it looks beautiful. It's like, And you know what people

Inspired, inspired, those original writers,

inspires us on the reading side of the equation.

This book is living and active.

We don't just read it, it reads us.

The goal isn't just to get through the Bible,

get the Bible through us.

Why?

Because it's useful for teaching, rebuking,

correcting, and training in righteousness

so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped

for some good works.

No, no, no, for every good work.

I will close with this.

I have a friend who started having panic attacks,

never experienced anything like that.

Happened to be a reading, a book by Randy Frazee

called His Mighty Strength.

And in that book, Randy told a story

about a similar moment where he was just paralyzed by fear.

He was fearful of what might happen to his kids

in an irrational sort of way

that caused him to be overprotective

and just kind of, you know,

live in a state of anxiety or panic.

And that's when his counselor gave him a cassette tape.

That's how old the book is, okay?

A cassette tape and told him to listen to the Bible

for 30 minutes a day.

And this is what he said.

Psychotherapists call it neuro-linguistic programming,

but I call it biblical meditation.

So here's what my friend did.

And I kind of love this.

He asked his mom and dad,

and this guy is in his 40s,

his parents are in their 70s,

but you're never too old.

He said, mom and dad,

like, I'm just, I'm really struggling,

just experiencing panic attacks.

Would you record some passages of scripture

so that at night I can just listen to it?

Let's not overcomplicate this.

Let's make sure that we're filtering our experience,

our reason,

our tradition through the good book in Jesus' name.

Amen.