Altar Ego – My feelings of inadequacy

Joke:  Bill was on the side of the road hitch-hiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a fierce rain storm.

The night was rolling on, and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few yards ahead of him.

Suddenly through the heavy rain Bill saw a car slowly coming towards him.  And as it drew level with him, it stopped.

Desperate for shelter and without really thinking about what he was doing, Bill got into the back seat of the car and closed the door.  That was when he realized there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn’t even on!

Mysteriously and soundlessly, the car started moving slowly forward. Bill looked at the road and saw a curve approaching.  Now he was scared, and he began to fear for his life.  But just before he reached the curve, a ghostly hand appeared through the window of the car, and turned the steering wheel.

Bill, paralyzed with terror, watched how the hand appeared every time they came to a curve.

When he saw the lights of a pub down the road, Bill gathered all his bravery and strength, jumped out of the car, and ran to to the pub.

Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and asked for two shots of scotch.  Shaking and half crying, he began telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just been through.  A silence enveloped everybody when they realized he was not drunk, but was for real.

About 10 minutes later, two guys walked into the same pub. They were also wet, and were out of breath. Looking around and seeing Bill sobbing at the bar, one said to the other, “Hey Bruce… that’s the idiot who got in the car while we were pushing it.”

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Altar Ego – “My Feelings of Inadequacy”

Today I’m starting a new series called “Altar Ego,” It’s based on a book by Craig Groeshel.   He spelled it altar ALTAR and not alter ALTER because looking at the old testament an altar — was a place where people sacrificed something meaningful or laid something down before God at an altar.

And the ego part is who we think we are, or who we believe we are.

And the truth is some think too highly of themselves; while there others who think too lowly of themselves.

Now let me say this before I go on.   We no longer need to lay anything down at the altar because as a follower of Jesus we laid it down at the cross.   And he dealt with it there.

However, I know we still have things in our life that we struggle with even as a new creation.  So, over the next few weeks I want to share some things and my prayer is we will not continue be who we think we are or who others think we are, but we will walk in who God thinks and says we are.

Today, I want to begin this series and talk about laying down our feelings of inadequacy.  We all have those feelings of inadequacy, and we’re going to give those to God by faith.

I don’t know about you, but when I spend time looking at others I can quickly get that feeling of being inadequate.

Maybe for you it’s comparing yourself with someone, you drive by a really nice neighborhood of homes and you go, “What do those people even do for a living?

And you feel inadequate because you don’t measure up.”

Or you go to a friend’s house and their house is spotless.  No clutter, you walk in and it even smells good.

Or maybe you’re a student and your best friend is smart and popular, and you study your buns off and make B’s and C’s, and your friend doesn’t even study and makes A.’s.

They graduated Summa Cum Laude and you you graduated Thank The Lorde.

Or maybe your like me, I don’t know if you ever feel this way, but I’ve felt spiritually inadequate at times. Maybe you’ve been around those “Super Christian.”

You know the type.  You’re in a conversation and you say something and something inside of them bubbles up and they’re like, “Oh yeah, that reminds me of Hosea 2:9 and then they quote it.  And you’re like, “How do they do that? Is that a book in the bible?

Or they pray you can just tell that it reached the throne room of  God.   And then you pray and your grateful if it hits the ceiling.   You’re like, “I stink as a christian.  I feel so inadequate.”

And if you feel that way, I totally relate.  I think, for me, the times I feel most inadequate is in ministry.  I look around and see others churches that seem to be doing great in outreach, their growing in numbers.   And if I spend much time in that mindset I can feel inadequate.   Discouraged even.

And in my mind, I’m thinking, “I don’t have what it takes.”

Why do we all battle with these beliefs and feelings of inadequacy?

Let me lay a quick foundation and then we’re going to look at the story of Gideon and see if his story will help us so we can become who God calls us to be.

Why do we feel inadequate?  Let me give you three reasons.  I’m sure there are many more but let me give you three.

Number one is we’ve received unfair criticism.  Somewhere along the way in your life, someone told you, “you don’t measure up.”  “You don’t have what it takes.”  “You’re never going to amount to anything.”  “I wish you were more like so-and-so.”

And internally, those messages have been burned on the hard drive of your ego.  And anytime you want to do something significant, you just hear those old messages replaying in your head and all you hear is, “I am not adequate or capable to do this.”

Number two is this: and this is going to sound a bit odd, but number two is, we receive unrealistic compliments.

“You’re the best.”  “You’re amazing.”  “No one’s as good as you.”  And inside we’re going, “You don’t know me, If only you knew me, I’m not that good, I’m not that amazing.”

And truth is I think we have done an injustice in our culture today for this younger generation telling them they are good at everything.

We give them participation trophy’s.   Everyone is a winner.

Here’s the truth church, no your not, there will always be someone who is better than you in some area of your life.

Vince Lombardi once said, “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

The truth is we all want to win in something.  But let me share with you a story of a team in Detroit you probably have never heard of.  Steve Hartman told the story, they are the Detroit Mechanics and they are an ultimate Frisbee team.

A professional ultimate frisbee team.  The travel all over to play this sport.

But, over the last 7 years they have lost every game they have played.   77 games.

And here’s what some of the players said about their team.  “You don’t get a lot of respect playing for the Mechanics.”  “Were the butt of a lot of jokes.”

And people ask why are they even still around and the answer is because the owner of the team who also happens to be the head coach refuses to leave.   He was even asked if he ever considered firing himself to which he replied, “yes, multiple times and I wish I could but nobody wants to step up and do this job.”

But in spite of all their losses over the years this team has come to a profound realization which is, with every loss there is a gain.

Again here’s what the players had to say, “you get a lot more patience.”  “Loosing is just another opportunity to grow.”  “You get a lot of resiliency.”

I told you they lost 77 games in a row, that was up until last weekend.  They went to Madison, Wisconsin and lost number 78.   But it was there after the game that there was also a huge celebration because the team scored more points then any other game all season and they were thrilled to be one step closer to the victory they know awaits.

Again the players said, “it will be so nice.” Another said, “It’s going to be wild, and I think I’m going to find out.”

The coach went on to say, “isn’t that the best thing we can give to people, to have them look back and say, I did that.”

See this team, they measure success not by winning but by improving.

And I remember back in the day when I was growing up, you actually had to be good at something to win an award.  I didn’t get an honorable mention for my time sitting with the principle.

Now, you just show up, “Here’s your trophy, you did great.”

And what I’m concerned about is that we have a whole generation that’s paralyzed with the fear of failure.

Because what they are thinking is, “I don’t even want to try because if I try, I may not be good enough, because you think I’m up here, but I know the real me.”

And they feel incredibly inadequate.

A third reason that is becoming more common place and the one I struggle with the most is unwise comparisons.

We just look around at the other people and say, “You know, I’m not like them.  “I’m not as bright.”  “I don’t have the fruits of the spirit like other Christians.”

There was an article that said social media is now one of the greatest causes for the feelings of inadequacy.

Because, you upload your picture of your trip to the park, and then you look at your friend’s picture sitting on the beach in Hawaii.

And you’re going, “my life sucks.  I don’t go on vacations and I don’t have movie star friends.

I’ve only got 20 subscribers on my YouTube channel.  Mr Beast has 271. . . . . ,million.

And here’s the biggest problem with looking to Facebook, and some of the other social media sites.   They are only showing a highlight for you to view, and not what might actually could or is going on.

And when we look at the highlight reels of everybody else’s life and we know what’s actually is going on behind the scenes in our own life.  We can get the feeling of being inadequate.

We see them with their kids, and their kids look perfect.  We see them on the beach with their perfect beach body and we begin to say there’s no way I could even attempt to wear what they are wearing not because it was inappropriate but simply because we would look more like the Michelin Tire guy.

And we feel so inadequate, because we’re comparing our behind the scenes with their highlight reels.  And suddenly, we hear those voices that tell us what we’re not when God wants to tell us what we are.

Let’s look at the story of Gideon.  Judges, Chapter 6, verses 11 through 16.

Judges 6:11 (NIV): The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

What was Gideon doing?  Threshing wheat in a winepress.

Now that may not seem too significant to you, but here’s the thing in Gideon’s day everyone knew that anyone who threshes wheat did it out somewhere up high so that when they throw it up, the wind would blow the chaff away and only the purest of the wheat would be left.

And yet Gideon was in a wine press hiding, why?  Because he was afraid of his enemies, the Midianites.

He was terrified of the enemy and this is what the angel says to him. . .

Judges 6:12 (NIV): When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

He called him a mighty warrior.

We will find out in a moment that is that last thing he thinks of himself, and the truth is if I was watching him do what he was going.  That would have probably been the last thing I would have thought as well.

I might of approached him and said something more like this.  You big scaredy cat, I thought the Lord was with you, but all your doing Is hiding you big baby Gideon.

But the Lord saw something in him that he didn’t see in himself.

But watch Gideon verse 13. . .

Judges 6:13 (NIV): 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

(Talk about that)

But again the Lord sees something different and tells him. . .

Judges 6:14 (NIV): The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

I love this watch this verse 15. . .

Judges 6:15 (NIV): 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

What I love about this verse is that God is calling someone who in his own wisdom, his own power would not be able to accomplish what he was destined to do.

But hear this church, when God calls you, he will also empower you, and lead you to do what even some enemy will tell you that you can’t.

1 Corinthians 1:26–30 (MSG): Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.

Gideon says, “But Lord, how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manassah and I am the least in my family.”

For you it might sound something like this,  “Well, I’m not talented enough.”  Or, “I can’t sing,” or “I’m not that bright.”  “I’m not as Godly.” “if you knew all that I had done,” “I’m not as talented as him.”

The list could go on and on and all of the inner me messages try to tell you why you can’t do what God already said you could do.

Judges 6:16 (NIV): The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

We need to lay down our ego at the cross, your altar if you will, because we are not who we think we are; we are who God says we are.  And we are going to start to walk in that calling.

Let me share three things that we can learn from the story of Gideon.

The first one is this, when you get those voices with those messages of insecurity and inadequacy, number one, remember that God’s view of you is different than you think.

I can say with confidence and certainty that God sees more in you than you see in yourself.  His view of you is different then your view of you.

In verse 12, the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon who is hiding.

Everything about his physical actions says, “I’m afraid.”  But the Lord says, “I am with you,” and calls him a what?  Calls him a mighty warrior.

God sees more in you than you see in yourself.

And I want you to know, for every single one of you, God’s view of you is different than your view of yourself.

Someone told you, you can’t, or you won’t, and all you hear is that voice inside you that says, “Here’s all the reasons why I can’t do what I believe God is calling me to do.”

But you need to understand that God’s view of you is different than you think.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT): For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

We are God’s what?  We are God’s masterpiece.

So we can what?  Do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Think about that long before you were even born, God had a heavenly “to-do” list just for you?  And God created you with everything in you to do everything that he called you to do.

God’s view of you is different than you think.  Others don’t see you as God sees you.

And that theme shows up time and time again all throughout the Scriptures.

Think of Rahab for a moment.   When everybody else looked at Rahab in the Old Testament, what did they see?

They saw a prostitute; they saw a harlot.  What did God see?

God saw someone who’s heart would be turned toward him, who would one day marry a Godly man named Salmon, who was from the tribe of Judah.

And watch this. . .

Matthew 1:1 (NIV): This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew 1:5 (NIV): Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

Others saw a prostitute but God saw divine potential.  God saw someone who was in the genealogy of the Savior of the world.

When others looked on David as a child, they saw a little shepherd boy.  God saw something in him that they didn’t see.  God saw a giant slayer.

Even after David sinned with with Bathsheba others saw him as an adulterer, God saw him as a man after His own heart.

Peter, who can forget Peter.  When he couldn’t walk on water, denied the Lord, not once, not twice, but three times, who messed up again and again, what did Jesus see in Peter?  Jesus saw a rock, in which He could build His church.  Jesus saw someone who would one day be the speaker at Pentecost.

When others see you or when you see yourselves, I came here today to tell you God sees more in you than you see.

God’s view of you is different than you think.  God has put more in you than you realize.

Number one, God’s view of you is different than you think.

Number two, God has given you more than you think.

Look again at verse 14, I love what God says to Gideon.

Judges 6:14 (NIV): The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

God says, “Go in the strength you have. Am I not sending you?”

There are some of you today, all you hear is the negative message from your inner me.  “I don’t have what it takes.”  “I don’t measure up.”  “I’m not good enough.”

I want you to know that God has given you more than you think; there is more inside of you.  He gave Gideon the strength and told him to go the strength he already had.

You have everything you need to do everything that God wants you to do.

Paul said it this way, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

God put more inside of you than you realize.

I love what scripture says; this is so powerful.

2 Peter 1:3 (NIV): His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God isn’t holding anything back from you.  He gives you everything you need for what?  For life and godliness.  Through what?  Through our knowledge of him who called us by his glory and goodness.

It’s in our knowledge of him that he gives us everything that we need.  Don’t you dare believe what somebody else said about you.  Don’t you dare believe those negative messages that your inner me continues to tell you you can’t.

God’s view of you is different than you think.  God has given you more than you think.

You can be who God called you to be.  You can walk in righteousness and truth because of the grace of God upon your life.

Number one, God’s view of you is different than you think.

Number two, God has given you more than you could think.

And Number three — ready?  This is a big one. It’s less about you than you think.

This is what the Lord said to Gideon, The lord said, in verse 16, “I will be,” what?

Judges 6:16 (NIV): The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

I will be with you

Do you remember when the angel appeared to Gideon Do you remember what he said.  He said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

It was less about Gideon and more about God’s power than Gideon ever realized.

Listen to me.  When God calls you to do something, it’s more about the presence of God than it is about your own power.

Zechariah 4:6 (NIV): So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

It’s more about his strength than it is about your strength.

It’s more about what Jesus did, then it is about what you do.

It’s less about you than you think.

I told you earlier that I feel inadequate to be a pastor.  And I do because I know my behind the scenes.

But here’s the good news, I’ve learned it’s less about me than I think.

It’s really not about me at all; it’s about him.

And when I step into His calling, I step into His strength, His power, His goodness, His grace, because it’s less about me and it’s more about Him.

And that’s how I can do what He calls me to do.

And that’s how you can do what God calls you to do.

I have received words over my life that still haven’t come to to fruition.  And if I’m being honest I sometimes wonder if it was really meant to be.   If I can really do what He said he would do in me.

Let me share one of those things with you.

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“But I’m not good enough.”  No, step into his grace.

“Well, I’m not smart enough.”

If he calls you, he will equip you.  You have everything you need to do everything He wants you to do.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (NIV): But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

His power is made what? His power is made perfect in weakness.

You are not who others say you are.  You are not who your inner me says you are.  You are who God says you are and he says you are his master piece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that he prepared a long time ago for you to do.

So, you lay down your inadequacy at the cross.  You lay it down and sacrifice that before God.  And when you stand up, you stand up and be who God called you to be.

Because God’s view of you is different than you think.  God has given you more than you think and it’s less about you than you think.  It’s really all about him.

Father, we come to with our feelings of inadequacy and all.

And listen for years for me, it was all about performance.  “Am I going to live up to their expectations?”

For you maybe it’s more internal, “I don’t like the way I act sometimes.” “I don’t feel like godly enough or good enough.”

Whatever it is for you.  I want you to know God sees and He knows.   And He’s able to do exceedingly more than you could ask or think.

Today my prayer is that you would be transformed.

I don’t know about you, but I want to become not who I think I am, not who others have told me that I am, but I want to walk out who you God has said I am.  Amen.

Prayer