Description
SWAGGER JACKER
I Think I Can
March 27, 2011
Ed Young
For every situation we face in life, we have a decision to make. We either convince ourselves that we can; or we tell ourselves that we can’t. It all comes down to swagger.
In this message, Ed Young unpacks one of the most powerful verses in the Bible—Philippians 4:13. And he shows us how this promise of God can empower us to experience a life full of swagger, because with him, we can do all things!
Transcript
Bring swagger back. In all of our campuses, Downtown, Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, and also down in Miami. Thanks so much for being here. All the freeways are closed. I almost did not show up to church today myself. The 114 was shut down, 121 was shut down, it’s gonna be amazing when these freeways open back up. I mean, you gotta work to get to church! You gotta drive to church with some swagger, don’t you? I’m telling you what.
Well, today I’m talking about Swagger Jacker. That’s weird, isn’t it? What is Swagger Jacker? Well hopefully today we will discover what it means to have swagger and also what it means for people and certain things to hijack our swagger.
Illus: I love children’s books. I really, really do. And I guess the reason I love children’s books so much is because my mother loves nursery rhymes. And she loved especially reading books to me. One of my favorite children’s books of all time, back in the day I loved this book, you’ve probably heard about it: “The Little Engine That Could”.
Have you ever heard that before? If you’ve never heard about it let me give you just a summary of it. “The Little Engine That Could”. It’s about a train an engine, and all these other engines did not really want to do this because they said they couldn’t do it or they didn’t feel like doing it, but the Little Engine That Could took this hill, took this mountain. Throughout the story, “The Little Engine That Could,” as it climbed this mountain said (because the engine talked in this book), “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
And as the mountain became steeper and steeper, “I… think… I … can. I… think… I… can.” And as a kid you’re reading along with your parent and you’re like, oh surely this engine can make it!
And then finally the engine gets to the apex of the mountain and as it cruises down it says, “I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.”
I love that.
I think I can. I think I can. I think I can… I… think… I… can. I… think… I.. can….. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I love that!
I loved that story so much because the story is all about confidence. That train had some serious swagger, didn’t it? It was little. Everyone said, no, no, that little engine can’t do it. But the engine tackled the problem and said, “I think I can,” and then, “I thought I could.”
A lot of us are facing mountains today. Let’s just be straight with one another. We’re facing maybe a marital mountain. Maybe you’re facing a financial mountain. Maybe you’re facing a mountain that is all about rebellion. You’ve got a student who is going his or her own way. Maybe you’re facing a dead-end career and you’re like, wow. It’s a mountain. Maybe you’re facing some sort of addiction. Maybe it’s drugs, maybe it’s sexual addiction, I don’t know. And you’re saying to yourself, “I can’t. I mean I can’t make my marriage work. I can’t get rid of this hurtful habit. I can’t really control my kids. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”
I understand. Because so often we face things and we face mountains and we say, “I can’t. I can’t.”
I think, though, it would be best to be honest with ourselves and instead of saying I can’t, let’s say what we really, really are feeling. “I won’t.”
“I won’t work on my marriage. I won’t work really make sure that my kids, when they mess up, are facing consequences. I won’t involve myself in the local church. I won’t really go to a support group offered here at Fellowship Church to get rid of some of this toxicity in my life. I won’t. I won’t do it.”
Because that’s the deal. The good news is that this book is not a children’s book. This book is THE book, the Bible. And the Bible is a book about “I can.” The Bible is a book about ‘I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.’ No matter what mountain you’re facing.
Life is full of mountains, life is full of hills. No matter what situation you’re facing or I’m facing, by God’s power we can have the swagger and the confidence to take mountains and to take hills and to go through this situation that we’re facing. In other words, God says you can make it. You can make it!
That’s why as a follower of Christ we should have the most swagger of anybody. Sadly, though, we’ve allowed the enemy to steal, to hijack our swagger, to take our confidence. Jesus called him out in John 10:10, he says, “The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy.” To steal your confidence, to kill your confidence, and to destroy your confidence. Then He said,
“I’ve come that you might limp through life.” No.
“I’ve come that you might barely make it.” No. Jesus said,
“I’ve come that you might have life and have it to the full.” He wants us to live a full life, a confident life.
Now some of us are like, “Wait. You’re talking about confidence in church? You’re talking about swagger in church?”
That’s right. God wants to swaggerfy your life! What is swagger? Swagger is how you present yourself to the world. Swagger is your style, your vibe, your flow. That’s swagger.
As followers of Christ, those of us here who know Christ personally, we should have Spirit-led swagger. We should have the greatest swagger of anyone. I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance says, “I’m the man!” Humility is, “I’m God’s man.” In humility, though, we have this confidence. I call it Godfidence. Who is the source of our confidence? God.
We think, though, that we can buy confidence. And we can to a certain extent. “I can buy this car, buy this house, buy this wardrobe, buy this piece of jewelry, buy this vacation home. That will give me confidence.”
And for a second it gives you a fast, temporary relief from the aches and pains of life. It gives you and gives me some confidence. But I’m talking about lasting confidence. I’m talking about real confidence.
Confidence is not defined – I’m talking about Godfidence – is not defined by what you have or where you are. Godfidence is defined by whose you are, who you are, in Christ. Real confidence – Godfidence – is God-ordained. And the reason we search for it so much, the reason we’re after it so much, is because it’s a character quality of God.
Think about the Garden of Eden, back in the day. Adam and Eve had this confidence, they had this Spirit-led swagger. One day, though, they looked away from the source, away from God, to someone else. And from that day forward, after sin entered the human equation, we have been struggling with confidence and swagger. God wants to swaggerfy your life and mine. God wants us to move with confidence.
But there’s this holy tension out there. Some people in the Christian camp are arrogant about their humility. Did you hear me? Are you picking up what I’m laying down? There’s a whole vibe in the Christian world, and they’re arrogant, they’re prideful, because they’re so humble.
That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s totally jacked up. What I’m talking about is somebody who understands that they offer God nothing, and when they offer God nothing and turn to him, he gives them everything. I’m in Christ and Christ is in me. He’s living his life through me. That is the source of Spirit-led swagger. That is the source of Godfidence.
So I’m not talking about this weird thing where we’re prideful in our humility. “Look how humble I am.”
People think that Christians should walk around with their heads bowed and their shoulders slumped. Are you kidding me? Think about the people in the Bible. Think about the matriarchs and patriarchs.
“I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
They would face this mountain, then …. “I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could, by the grace of God.”
Abraham, the father of our faith, left his country to follow God as an old guy. He said, “God, you’re gonna deliver me.” I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
They tossed Joseph in the pit. It looked like it was curtains for him. What did Joseph say? He had some swagger. “God will deliver me.” I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. He was promoted to the second-most powerful position in the land… I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
David, this Hebrew kid, walks out in the Valley of Elah to fight Goliath. He’s like, “Woo! This dude’s big! God will deliver me.” I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can….. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
Samson, the Biblical body-builder, who had a pride problem. It looked like it was over for him. He was captured by the enemy, eyes gouged out, in chains. The Philistines were making sport of him. He bowed his head and said, “God will deliver me.” I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can…. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
Throughout Scripture we see these things. Facing hills, facing mountains, facing difficulties, facing trials, facing situations.
Then we have Jesus in the garden facing the cross, securing your eternal and my eternal security and confidence by dying on the cross and rising again. What did Jesus say? “I know I can. I know I can. I know I can. I know I can. I know I can. I know I can. I know I can.”
And look what that secured. Your freedom and mine. Look what that secured! Your confidence and mine. I ask you, are you living with Godfidence?
Certain people and certain situations hijack our swagger. The enemy does. Again, what’s his agenda? Steal, kill, and destroy. Whenever you look whenever I look away from God for confidence, we’re going to have our confidence hijacked. God wants us flying at 30,000 feet. The enemy, though, wants to seize control and he wants you and me to waste our time chasing the dream of swagger. Swagger only comes from Godfidence.
If you have your Bibles turn to the book of Philippians 4:13. You might have walked in her, maybe you’re in the floor or in the balcony and you’re like,
“Ed, I’ve never been to church before. Did you say Filipino?” No, no. Philippians 4:13.
Paul was writing a letter to the Philippians while he was in prison. And if you want to talk about someone who understood confidence and swagger, just think about the apostle Paul. He was in prison frequently, beaten severely, exposed to death regularly. He’s in Folsom Prison (thank you, Johnny Cash), he’s writing this text. And this has some serious swagger.
“I can do all things,” he said, “through Christ, who strengthens me.” Once again, let me say it. God wants to swaggerfy your life and mine. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Everyone here can download that verse, we can understand that verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Let me break it down into four parts. The first one: I can. Turn to your neighbor and say, “I can.” You know what that is? That’s posture. I can. In Christ (I’m not talking about yourself); in Christ I can. I want to hang around with can-ers, not I-can’t-ers. I can’t make my marriage work. I can’t take control of my family. I can’t deal with this habit. Really, just say the real deal, as I said earlier. I won’t. In Christ, though, you can.
What kind of posture do you have? We should walk with the gait of God. The first part of four, I can. Posture, the gait of God. How are you walking? What’s your vibe? What’s your flow? How are you presenting yourself to the world? When people see you do they go,
“Whoa! That girl/that dude, they got some Godfidence. They got something that I want!” You can clap. It’d be a good place to clap.
The second part, I can do all things. Say, “Do all things.” That’s the second part. Potential. What’s potential? It’s the gift of God. God has given us this track. God has promised us that he’s gonna deliver us. He’s not promised us a pain-free life. You don’t believe me, just think about the cross. One of the parts of walking with God is suffering. Now when you say that you’re not going to sell a bunch of books. You’re not going to be invited to speak at a bunch of conferences, but let’s take the gloves off and get serious.
We are going to face difficulties in this life. Why? Because our world is not perfect. We’re not perfect, the world is not perfect. We live in a fallen place. We’re going to face mountains. We’re gonna face hills. We’re going to face troubles. That’s why we have got to rely on God to take us up the mountain, and down the mountain. Up the mountain and down the mountain. Your posture. Your potential, the gift of God.
So you’ve got the gait of God and the gift of God. I can do all things… Through Christ! Say, “Through Christ.” That’s the third thing. That’s my position. That’s in the grip of God.
Illus: I remember when I was, wow, in my 30’s. My kids were younger. We would cross a busy street. I would hold the twins by the hand and I could tell they wanted to let go of my hand but they couldn’t. My hands, their father’s hands, were stronger and are stronger than the twins’ hands. I was not going to let them go, even though they tried to release their grasp.
Once we become a follower of Christ we’re in. We can’t get out. Eternal confidence, eternal security. We’re in. We’re in. And that’s the grip of God. Isn’t it cool that we’re all a part of the family of God?
You hear the term ‘born again.’ What does that mean? Born again. A lot of people don’t know what that means. We all have birthdays. I just turned 50. I think it’s great. I’m fitty! Fifty years old. March 16, 1961, that’s my physical birthday. After I was a couple years old my mother read me that story, The Little Engine That Could. And I think I like it so much because it’s about confidence and swagger.
Anyway, I celebrated my birthday several days ago. That was fun. I also have a spiritual birthday. I was not born into the family of God naturally. I was born alienated, separated from God. I have a sin-etic problem, passed down from me. Because man is a natural-born sinner; so am I.
OK, I’m separate from God. One day, though, I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life. I accepted what he did on the cross for my sin. I realized the only way I could get to God is through Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He wasn’t saying, “I’m an option.” He wasn’t saying, “I’m one of many ways.” He wasn’t saying, “There are a bunch of different paths to get to one source.” No, no, no. It’s the exclusivity of Christ.
Listen to me very, very carefully. Truth is exclusive. Let me say it again. Truth is exclusive. It’s exclusive! The law of gravity is exclusive. It’s not like, well, there are different types. No, no, no. There’s a law of gravity. That’s truth. You either believe it, receive it, or not. But it’s in effect. Jesus said, “I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father except by me.”
“I’m it,” Jesus said. You either like it, you don’t like it, you question it, you circle the airport over and over and never land the plane, or you say, Jesus, I have questions but I’m gonna trust you. You’re God, I’m not. You’re the way.
Once you make that decision, once I did, the Bible says we’re born into the family of God. We’re born… what? Again! That’s what it means… born again. I’m born physically, now I’m born spiritually into the family of God. And once I’m born into the family of God, born again, the Father grips me, he grips my hand and I can’t get out. I can’t get out. That’s the confidence that we have. So I should live a swagger-driven life just because of that. Man, my security is sealed.
And then we’ve got people walking around like that because they like to sing or rap, play sports, act, or do whatever, and Christians are walking around like this? And those who are Christians want to be prideful in their ‘humility.’ Let’s all throw up together. Come on, now! It’s all about God. It’s about Godfidence.
I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance says, “I’m the man.” Godfidence says, “No, no. I’m God’s man.” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We can tap into Christ’s strength, we’re part of his family. That’s power, the grid of God. The power grid, the grid of God. Whoa!
So when I’m facing this situation in my marriage, with my kids, in this jacked up career, as I’m facing the situation on the court, on the field, in the classroom, as I’m facing this situation with the friend who betrayed me, by God’s strength and power, by his grid… I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I… think… I can….
You’re going to have some doubts. I’ve got doubts. Doubt your doubts. Feed your faith, not your fear. Without doubt there’s no faith. With no faith there’s certainty. What is faith? Confidence in God. You’re gonna have doubts, that’s cool. What are you feeding? What are you feeding?
I think I can. I think I can. And God will take you to the top. You’ll conquer and you’ll go through it. It might not be easy. Many will still bear the scars of it. There will still be lost loved ones. There will still be relational wreckage in certain situations. But by his grace we will look back as we go down the hill… I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
Every time, every time we take a hill, what’s happening? We’re building some serious Spirit-led swagger. That’s why when I read the Bible, it tells me all the mountains that these people conquered. That’s why I talk to other people who are swaggasauruses. And I can talk to these dinosaurs and look back in the past and see (one guy just got it… Swaggasaurus Rex. This series has its own vocabulary) see we’re not going to let the enemy steal confidence and swagger from us. When we talk about confidence and swagger it should be those of us who are in Christ. Godfidence.
Anyway, talk to these dinosaurs who have lived a long, long time like I have. I will tell you time and time again how a lot of people said, “Ed, Ed. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t start a church in Dallas/Fort Worth. You can’t buy 160 acres in the middle of the Metroplex. You can’t start a campus in Downtown Dallas, downtown Forth Worth, Plano, or Miami. You don’t got the money, man! You can’t! You can’t go on TV. This church cannot reach people all over the world. You can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t….”
Let me stop. In Christ, oh yeah. I think I can. I think I can. Have I been certain? Have I been certain in the decisions I’ve made as pastor of Fellowship Church for 20 years? No. I’ve never been certain. I’ve always had uncertainty. I’ve always had doubts, always had questions, always, always, always, always, always. Even when you got married you had them. Don’t raise your hand.
I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think… I… can… I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.
Now hear me again. I want to re-track. You know when I’m saying I think I can, I’m not talking about me. I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about believers in Christ and Christ in us. Every time I speak people go, “Oh yeah, but you said, ‘I think I can.’” No, no, no. Come on, man. Understand the concepts.
The apostle Paul, the context. Philippians 4:13 was a difficult one. Yeah, Paul wrote this verse. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. This is a maximum-strength verse, isn’t it?
Illus: When I go to the drug store and pick up a prescription I will peruse the aisles and look at all the remedies and pills and formulas. Everything these days is maximum-strength. You got a headache? Maximum-strength. Back ache? Maximum-strength. Oily skin? Maximum-strength. Hemorrhoids? No, I’m sorry. I can’t believe I said that. But I’m 50 years old. I can say things like that now. I can do crazy stuff because I’m kind of midlife, a little bit crazy.
So, everything is maximum-strength. This text is what? Maximum-strength. We’re not talking about little aches and pains of life. We’re talking about the real deal. The loss of a loved one. Questions that beg to be answered. Issues in the most important relationships out there. So, hey, you know this verse. It’s not Filipino 4:13, it’s Philippians 4:13. It’s a promise of God.
T.S. See this lectern right here? It’s a pretty cool lectern, high tech. Someone built it for us. I don’t know who but whoever did it did a great job. There are three legs on it. Here’s the Bible. The Bible is what? The promise of God.
Today Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
The first leg is the knowledge of God. You cannot plead ignorance. You cannot say, “Well, I just don’t know the Bible, man.” No, you know it! You’ve got the knowledge! You understand it. So you’re accountable by God because you know this.
The second leg, faith. What is faith? Confidence in God. You’re gonna have questions, you’re gonna have doubts. You move out, you move up the track, up the mountain, because God will see you through.
The first leg is what? Knowledge. The second leg is what? Faith. The third leg is – it’s a secret here to the Christian life – obedience. Obedience.
I don’t understand it, I don’t understand every little nuance. But God, I’m going to keep on going down the track you have for my life. You have an abundant life for me. There are gonna be mountains. I think I can. I think I can. I’ve got Godfidence. I think I can … I think I can…. God, I want to quit! God, it’s too hard to build this church! God, it cost too much money to buy this land. All these campuses! I want to quit! I’m tired. I want to retire. I think I can…. I think I can… This marriage is too difficult. These kids are driving me crazy. This habit is messing me around! I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.”
Knowledge, faith, and obedience. Godfidence. Do you have it?
I’m glad, church, that we’re a church full of I-can-ers. I’m glad, church, that we’re a church that says” I’m going God’s way. I’m going to walk with swagger that comes from Him, and I’m not going to allow the enemy to hijack my confidence. I’m going to be and I’m going to do what he wants me to do. I can. I can. I can. I can. I can because He can.
[closing prayer.]