Kerry Shook - Wipe Out Ego
I just love the reality game show, «Wipe Out». I just find it hilarious. So if I’m flipping through the channels I get stuck on it. I don’t get enough, I can’t get enough of normal people making a fool of themselves. It’s hilarious to me. You know, they’re normal people that, you know, aren’t professional athletes, but they’re doing their best, they’re giving it all they’ve got, trying to make it through an obstacle course, and then, all of a sudden, something comes out and just clobbers them, and knocks them awkwardly into the water. Or the one I love best is when they’re on a platform and they’ve got to jump to another platform that’s moving and so they try to time it.
They get real serious about it. And they gather up all their courage and they jump and they miss it by a mile. I love that. And they fall head first into the water. But do you know what I’ve noticed about «Wipe Out»? The people who win at «Wipe Out» are those who don’t care how foolish they look. They don’t care that we’re laughing at them. They don’t take themselves too seriously. But they take the game seriously, and they’re out to win. It doesn’t matter how foolish they look, they give it all they’ve got and they finish the course. And to win at the game of life, you can’t care whether or not you look foolish to everyone else.
You can’t care what everyone else thinks about you because there will be times in your life where God’ll ask you to do something that seems foolish. Where God will ask you to do something that doesn’t make total sense at the time, something that’s unexpected, that’s inconvenient. That he’ll ask you to do because he knows what’s best for your life. And so many times, we make our little perfect plan and we try to control all the outcomes and we make our convenient safe little plan, but it’s not God’s plan. In fact, someone said, «If you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans,» and that’s so true.
I think God just has to get a laugh at times when I make my perfect little plan that is so safe, so secure, and that just controls every little thing. It’s this perfect little convenient safe and comfortable plan and God must smile because he knows he’s getting ready to throw a wrench into that plan and just blow it up because he wants to push me out of my comfort zone into his great purpose for my life. He doesn’t want me to waste my life. You see, there will be times where God will ask you to do something that seems foolish and that’s because we’re always trying to put God into our own little box.
We’re always trying to fit God into a little box of our own human understanding, but God will not fit into a little box. God does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, where he wants. He’s God and you’re not. But what we try to do is play God because we think we know a little better than God how to do his job and we try to control things. But we’re gonna look at a famous war hero in the Old Testament, Naaman, because Naaman went to God for a miracle which was a good thing, but he wanted God to do it his way. He went to God for a miracle but he wanted God to meet him on his terms and do it his way.
And remember, when you want God to work in your life, he does it his way, not the way you want him to. But he does it his way. Why? Because he knows what’s best for us. That’s why sometimes he asks us to do something that’s inconvenient or unexpected or doesn’t make total sense at the time because he’s already in the future. He’s not constrained by time. He’s in the past, present, and future, all at the same time. And so he knows the decision you’re about to make in the moment is going to really affect what happens in your future. But we can’t see into the future so we don’t get it. We just have to learn to trust God because he knows what’s best for us and he knows what the future holds.
Well, Naaman turned to God for a miracle but he tried to dictate the terms of the miracle. So God asked Naaman to do something that seemed foolish to Naaman at the time, so that God could just turn Naaman’s plan on its head to take him to his knees, so that he would experience a miracle, so that God could wipe out the ego from his life. The one thing that was keeping Naaman from really experiencing all of God’s fulfillment in his life was his ego. And ego really stands for Edging God Out. And every one of us struggle in our flesh with ego and pride. We try to edge God out.
Whenever you’re trying to control everything, whenever you worry about something, you’re trying to control something that’s uncontrollable, whenever you try to control the uncontrollable, you’re trying to be God. You’re edging God out and you’re wanting to control everything, to do things on your terms, because you think you know better than God how to do God’s job. And God says, «I wanna be on the throne of your life. I wanna be in control».
And so there will be times where God will ask you to do something that doesn’t make total sense at the time because he wants you to learn to trust him because he knows what’s best for you. But it’s our ego that resists that. We wanna edge God out and we try to play God and it causes so much of the stress, so much of the anxiety, so much of the turmoil in our lives and relationships. And so I want you to open your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 5, 2 Kings chapter 5, and would you stand in honor of God’s Word? And it’s a longer passage so just follow along with me. It’s an amazing miracle of God, but I want you to see how God in his love and compassion for Naaman, wipes out his ego so that he can fill him with his grace and peace and healing.
It says: «Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman' wife. And she said to her mistress, 'If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.' So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, 'Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.' But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters in Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed? ' So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, 'My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, „Wash and be cleansed“! ' So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, 'Now I know there is no God in all the world except in Israel.'»
You can be seated. Now, Naaman was the commander of the army of Aram which was modern-day Syria. And Aram was the most powerful nation on the face of the earth at the time. And Naaman was the commander of the great army. He was famous in all the land. Everyone had heard about his great victories. Everyone knew about Naaman. He was a brave and mighty warrior. He was a man of integrity and valor. He was so loved and well respected by everyone in Aram, but the Bible tells us one more thing about Naaman.
It says he had leprosy, the most dreaded disease of that day. It was a death sentence. It was not only incurable, but it was a slow and painful death. In fact, with leprosy, your flesh would literally rot while you were still alive. Your fingers and your toes would rot and fall off first. Then limbs would fall off. It was terribly disfiguring. And so Naaman was this amazing guy who did so many good things and yet he had leprosy. And leprosy is really a symbol of our spiritual condition. Leprosy is really a symbol of the condition that we’re all in because every one of us have the soul-disfiguring disease that rots away the inside of our lives and is called sin.
Now, Naaman had built this wall of denial around him because everything in his life was just going so great. He had edged God out and he was in control, the master of his own fate. And everything was going great, until he got leprosy. And leprosy began to eat through not only his flesh but his wall of denial and ego and pride. And he started to get desperate. You see, he thought he could control everything. He thought he could handle everything. He looked down, I’m sure, upon people who didn’t have control, who didn’t get control of their lives, whose lives were spinning out of control and so he thought if you just work harder, if you just do more. Because he was in control, until leprosy. It ate away the wall of his denial and he realized he wasn’t in control, that he was desperate.
How do I know he was desperate? Because he sought the advice of a lowly servant girl. There was this servant girl serving in his house and she said, «Hey, there is a prophet named Elisha in Israel and he serves the one true God, he follows the one true God, the one true God who can heal you of your leprosy. You need to go see him». And he takes this insignificant little girl’s advice, this great commander. That shows me he was desperate and there will be times that God will allow you to get into a situation where you feel the desperation, where you finally realize that you can’t control this one, that you can’t fix this problem, you can’t fix that relationship, you can’t get through that barrier.
God will allow you to get to those places in life just to reveal to you the truth of your true condition, and it’s this: you’re desperately dependent on God for your very next breath. I’m dependent upon God for my next heartbeat. It’s just that I don’t often realize it. And I edge God out because things are going pretty well. I think I’ve got this under control, but the truth is we’re desperately in need of God every moment but God will allow you to get to that place at times where you feel it because then you can feel the truth that you don’t always feel. That you’re not always aware of, how much you need him.
Sometimes, God puts you in a place where you feel the pain and it eats through your wall of denial until you know the truth that you’re desperate without God. That’s right where Naaman was, and so what does he do? He takes this little girl’s advice and he goes to Israel. In 2 Kings 5:9 it says: «So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house». Now, focus on that phrase, «Stopped at the door». This is very revealing, because Naaman comes all the way from Syria, he travels all those miles with his huge entourage, and he also brings all these camels and horses and silver and gold, and he gets all the way to Elisha’s humble house and he stops at the door.
And I know a lot of people who get right to the door of salvation and they stop at the door. Why? Because they want God to meet them on their terms. Naaman wanted God to meet him on his terms. He stopped at the door because I’m sure he was thinking, «Well, Elisha will probably look out his window and see I’m out there. And he’ll probably go, 'Wow, I can’t believe it, the great commander, Naaman, who’s known all over the world, is at my house with his entourage. And look at all that gold and, wow».
And I’m sure he thought that Elisha was gonna run out of the house and go, «Oh, I’m so honored that you’re here. I’m not even worthy for you to come into my house, Naaman. I’ve never prayed for anyone so famous, so I’m gonna come out to meet you. You don’t need to come into my house because, I mean, you’re famous, you’re amazing. You’re so brave. You do so many good things. Wow, I didn’t know what to say. I know I’m making a fool of myself, but I’ve just never been in the presence of someone so famous. It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe this. Can I get your autograph before I pray for you»? No, Elisha wasn’t playing that game. And God doesn’t play that game either.
You don’t get to meet God on your terms. God is God, you’re not. It’s God’s way or no way. And so he comes right to the door and he stops and some of you are right at the door of salvation and you stopped because you want God to meet you on your terms, and it’s like, «Yeah, maybe that’s the way everyone else comes to Christ but, you know, I mean, I’d kind of like VIP salvation. I’m used to being, I’m a little different, you know? I mean, I’m different than everyone else and I like customization so I want customization salvation. I’d like for God to change it up a little for me, you know, so that I can be a Christ follower and», but it doesn’t work that way.
I don’t care if you’re a CEO of a major company, whether you’re the wealthiest man in the world, whether you have the most followers on social media, and you’re the biggest influencer in the world. God doesn’t care. God’s not playing that game. There’s only one way and everyone has to come the same way. Everyone has to humble themselves to receive the free gift of God’s salvation. Everyone has to humble themselves and admit, «I need forgiveness because I’ve got the soul-rotting disease of sin like everyone else and there’s only one cure and that’s the Savior, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the light, and I’ve got to come to the cross. The ground is level at the foot of the cross».
In the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and I’ve been there several times, Chris and I have had the privilege of going there and seeing the place where tradition says Jesus was born and the chapel was built over that place. You know, no one knows for sure if that’s really the exact place he was born in Bethlehem but what I love about the Church of the Nativity is not the ornate things inside the church, it’s the door. The only door to get in is this door that’s really low, and that’s on purpose. It symbolizes to get to Jesus, you’ve got to humble yourself like everyone else. And everyone has to bow down, unless you’re a really small child and come with that childlike faith. Everyone has to bow down. Everyone has to go the same way to Jesus.
The ground’s level at the foot of the cross. To humble ourselves and admit we need his forgiveness and humbly receive it, that I need it like everyone else, that we’re all in the same boat. Well, Naaman stopped at the door. Don’t stop at the door. Don’t stop at the door of salvation. Take that one little baby step over the threshold and humble yourself. Bow down and receive the free gift of salvation and purpose and healing and life. But I love Elisha’s response. It’s really God’s response through Elisha, and it’s hilarious.
In verse 10, it says: «Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, 'Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.'» Elisha doesn’t even go to the door. He just sends a no-name messenger to the door to go, «Yeah, the prophet of God sent me to tell you, and he told me to tell you that if you’ll dip yourself in the Jordan River seven times you’ll be cleansed, yeah. Okay, I’m out. See ya». And that’s it. That’s it. I love God’s response here to the prophet Elisha. God’s not impressed with all of the good works and the bravery and the valor and the courage of Naaman.
And God doesn’t play that game. And Naaman is furious. Why? Because his ego’s been injured. His ego has been injured and I’m sure he was thinking, «Who does he think he is? And doesn’t he know who I am»? He was furious about it. In fact, let’s look at his response in Scripture, in verse 11: «But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.'» He says, «I come all this way and the prophet treats me like that. He doesn’t know who I am. And who does he think he is»?
You see, Naaman wanted God to work on his terms. He wanted God to meet him on his terms. Naaman said, «Well, I thought it should go this way». Naaman had his own little plan of how he thought God should work in his life, and a lot of people want to follow Christ but they wanna do it their way. And you can’t do the God thing your way. You do the God thing God’s way or no way. God demands first place in our lives or no place. And so, Naaman says, «I think it should have gone this way. He didn’t do it the way I think he should have done it».
And some people come to Christ and pray to him. That was a good thing Naaman did. He came to God, but he wanted God to do it his way. God does it his way, not my way. When you want God to work in your life, just remember he doesn’t work the way you want him to. He works the way he wants to because he knows what’s best for us. And so, he says, «I thought that he’s gonna come out here and he was gonna be so impressed with me and then he was going to kind of wave his hand around and say some magic words and I would be healed and that’s the way it should have gone. That would have been so cool if he would have done it that way. But he doesn’t know what he’s doing. That’s the way he should do it».
And he’s so angry about it, because his ego has been injured, because God knew the one thing that was keeping Naaman from really finding total fulfillment. In God’s love for Naaman, he knew that he had to wipe out his ego and there was only one way to do that: for him to go through the river of humility. You know, sometimes people say, you know, «I’m a Christ follower,» but then they get into God’s Word and they see something in God’s Word and they say, «Oh, I’m excited about that. That’s great». But then they see something else in God’s Word and they go, «I don’t really get that one. That seems inconvenient. Let’s see what else there is». And they kind of skip over that one. And they just kind of pick and choose what parts of God’s Word they want to follow.
But if you’re a Christ follower, you just follow Jesus and you just obey. When he tells you to do something, you just do it. It’s like you get into God’s Word and he says to do this, and you just obey. Just do it, because he knows what’s best for you. And God knew the only thing holding Naaman back was his pride, his ego, and he had to go through that river of humility. But Naaman, fortunately, had some servants that loved him, which shows me that Naaman loved them and cared about them.
It says in verse 13: «Naaman’s servants went to him and said, 'My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, „Wash and be cleansed“! '» So he had some friends that tell him the truth. And a friend will tell you the truth whether you wanna hear it or not. It would have been so easy for these guys to say, «I can’t believe he treated you like that. You don’t deserve that. Who does he think he is? Let’s go back to Syria and you can dip in one of these great rivers because you know better than this guy. Can’t believe that».
No, they loved him and they told him the truth. And they said this: «Hey, if he’d asked you to do some great and courageous feat, like climb Mount Everest, you would have done it because you’re so brave and courageous. But he asked you to do this real simple little thing and you won’t do it. Is it pride»? And that’s basically what they’re saying and that took a lot of bravery. That meant they cared about him. If you got a friend that tells you the truth like that, you got a friend.
And sometimes, God will ask you to do something really simple but it’s inconvenient. And we wanna do something big and great for God. It’s like, «God, you know, I wanna experience an ocean of miracles,» but God says, «You’ve gotta go through the muddy river of humility first». You’ve gotta go through the muddy river of humility because to get to the ocean of blessings, the road always goes through the muddy river of humility and you come out in ocean of blessings. He took that step of faith and God took him a thousand miles ahead, and he came back and he said to Elisha, «Now I know there’s only one God, the one true God, the God who healed me. He’s my God».