Louie Giglio - Where Everybody Knows Your Name
For the next few weeks, we’re going to be discussing the idea of everybody. The reason why is that we’ve been praying, «Lord, how do you want us to shepherd the flock?» You know, that’s what 1 Peter says: those of us in leadership in the church that Jesus is building are ultimately responsible for shepherding the flock. As we guide this flock through a chaotic season, we are being the church. There is a small pocket of voices saying, «When is the church going to be back? When is the church going to be open?» I’m like, this church is open! The church is open; the church that Jesus is leading is moving across the planet right now. In our house, we love the great assembly, but it hasn’t been an option recently. However, that hasn’t slowed us down from being the church. We’ve had to adapt—same wine but new wineskins.
In the last few months, we have married people, and we’ve mourned the loss of friends and family—that’s what the church is about. We’ve walked with families through the NICU and the ICU. We’ve supported families through COVID and through crises. We’ve called, texted, and reached out to literally thousands of people with a personal touch. We’ve fed families, facilitated testing, and established a gathering and equipping site at Cumberland, for crying out loud! We have built a new gathering location during a pandemic! We have provided counseling and helped many people with counseling. We have assisted with paying bills and helped people find jobs. We swept up after damage was done in our city and helped damaged businesses get back on their feet. We have facilitated online connection points for the entire planet: for kids, students, young adults, community groups, family groups, and connect groups. We have created resources and content, daily devotions, Bible studies, and launched an entire new season of mentoring through Flourish. We are getting ready to host our first online Grove event. We have prayed, we have planned, and we have praised God in our parking lots. We haven’t stopped being the church!
The one thing we haven’t done right now is gather in large, jam-packed in-person gatherings, but that’s not stopping us from being the church. In fact, it may help us become more of the church that God is envisioning us to be. It doesn’t mean we won’t be back; we can’t wait until we are. We miss being back! There will be a moment when churches are packed, arenas are full, and stadiums overflow. Those moments are coming, but before they arrive, perhaps this is our opportunity to become more of the church God envisions—become that true community of faith that exists both in the gathering and outside of it.
We’ve been praying, and we still have 2020 rolling, unresolved as it is. We don’t know all the answers, and it’s not clear exactly what the path is, but we’re asking, «Lord, as we shepherd this flock and lead these people, where do you want us to go, and what do you want us to do?» The word that just wouldn’t leave my heart was the word «everybody.» There are a lot of people on the other side of the lens right now; there is a gathered church all over the planet right now—tens of thousands, and in aggregate, millions of people being the church. The word on our hearts right now for this season is everybody. You say, «What do you mean when you say everybody?» This is what we’re talking аbout: we want everybody that calls Passion City Church home to be found in a circle of community, growth, and accountability. We want to know that you’re in church—not just in a big gathering. We want to know that you’re in the Word; we want to know that you are in a good place with God. We want to know that you’re in a good place with people, and we want to know that you’re in a good place in life, and that happens when you’re found in a circle.
So that everybody finds their place at Passion City Church, everybody finds their place in the family of God. In that circle, you matter to God; you matter to us at Passion City Church. Through what happens in that circle, you know that you matter as God uses you to impact the city, and you matter to the world. This is church, and we want to ensure that coming out of 2020, people are connected into circles of community growth and accountability. If everybody gets into that zone, Passion City Church will come back into gatherings stronger than we were when we left the gatherings, and that is the goal for the next few months—everybody finding their place.
To put it in terms that Jesus might have used while teaching in the Gospels, we want you to see yourself as a healthy sheep in a well-kept flock with a good shepherd. We want you to envision your life, spiritually and otherwise, as a healthy sheep in a well-kept flock with a good shepherd. Jesus summed it all up in John 10:27 when he said, «My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.» Three simple phrases, but so much is packed in. He said, «I have sheep,» so it’s about everybody. Yes, there’s a flock, but I know the sheep; my sheep hear my voice, even over the clutter, the fray, and all the confusion. With all the noise and all the voices, they hear my voice, and they follow me. That kind of relationship and opportunity is on the table for everybody. Everybody, through Christ, can know the good shepherd and be led by Him in life.
In another place, in John chapter 10, He says, «These sheep of mine will go in and go out and find pasture.» In other words, they will come into the house, they will go out into the world, and they’ll find what we’re all looking for: that place where we know we’re cared for, where we’re fed, where things are in order, and where our lives are what they were supposed to be. Somebody’s going to lead your life today; somebody is leading mine. We talked about it when we discussed Psalm 23: «The Lord is my shepherd,» David said. That’s a declaration of who his shepherd is, but it doesn’t matter whether it’s the Lord; you’ve got a shepherd. Every one of us is being led today by somebody.
Jesus is present today, saying, «I’m the good shepherd. My sheep, I know them; they hear my voice, and they follow me.» So my first question today is: Is the good shepherd leading my life? Jesus opens all this up for us in John chapter 10, and I want to take just a moment to read the whole passage. Even though it’s a bit lengthy, it will do your heart good today.
John chapter 10, beginning in verse 1: «I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, which means everybody matters in the economy of God, and he leads them out. When he has brought out all of his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.»
I tell you the truth, down in verse 7: «I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep; so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he’s a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. Jesus said, 'I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay my life down for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also; they too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.' The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.»
Jesus is providing us with a picture of what the church can be. Yes, there’s a flock, and yes, there’s gathering; there’s all of us in Christ, but there’s also individuality—being known by God and being led by Him, sensing that we are cared for. There are two images in the equation: a good shepherd and the hired hand. You don’t want to be led by the hired hand. The way we know today whether or not Jesus is leading us, whether He is shepherding us, is by checking the meters in our hearts. Check the fear meter, the want meter, the stress meter, the hurry meter, and if they’re off the chart in the red, then you know the hired hand is probably in the equation.
He doesn’t really care about you; He doesn’t have your best interest at heart. He doesn’t have your well-being in mind. He’s just hustling to do a job and to make a buck, and you’re expendable in the equation. But Jesus said, «If I’m in the equation, you can trust that things are going to go well.» Here’s how you’re really going to know—it’s because I’m going to lay down my life for the sheep. In Psalm 23, it says, «The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.» If my want meter is off the chart today, like, «I need one of these, and if I can get that and this works out and I can accomplish this and add on that, then things will be good, and I’ll feel more peaceful, more restful, and more successful,» that might indicate that you’re not in touch with a good shepherd who has already given everything He has for you to show you that He cares for you, that He’s trustworthy, and that He’s going to lead you.
You’re always going to find yourself going in and out in good pasture with that shepherd. If you’re afraid—if anxiety is leading the show—that’s letting you know that somebody else is shepherding you, that some other voice is leading you. Psalm 23 makes me lie down in green pastures. I’ve been studying sheep, and they won’t lie down unless a few things are true for them. The shepherd I was reading said four things have to be true: They have to know they have safety; they have to know they have food; they have to be free of any irritants—by that, I mean there are no gnats or parasites or anything aggravating them. And fourthly, there has to be a sense of peace in the flock. There can’t be another sheep in the fold that’s going at it with them, or they’ll never lie down.
For Him to make us lie down in green pastures, He has to say, «I’m going to protect you; I’m going to feed you; I’m going to make sure the irritants aren’t going to get at you, and I’m going to establish peace between you and the people around you because I’m a good shepherd, and that’s the way I work.»
If my hurry meter is going off, where I feel like, «I have to rush to this and rush to that and I’m always exasperated,» it just lets me know that I’m hearing the wrong voice. Somebody else let us out, and we might not have made it to good pasture after all. It’s like me going up the Matterhorn. I’ve talked about that a lot. I went to Vermont; Mark and I are training to go up this formidable mountain and doing some on-site training when we get to Zermatt. He has a guide he’s hired; I have a guide that I’ve heard about. They’re Swiss mountaineers who have been up the Matterhorn hundreds of times. They know the way, and they’re giving us some technical and mental training on lower elevations before we summit. I love my guide; he is about my size, actually a little shorter than me. He’s kind-hearted, and he acts like he cares for me and likes me. We have a good rapport; our chemistry during our climbing routines is good, and he’s assuring me the whole time, «Louis, you’re going to make it. You’re going to make it up that mountain; just one foot in front of the other. That’s all we’re going to do.»
I’m really starting to believe in this guy! So we go up the night before our summit, sleeping at the Hornley Hut high on the Matterhorn, waiting for our guides to arrive. Later that night, Mark’s guide shows up, and I ask, «Where’s my guide?» He says, «I’m sorry to tell you your guide got sick, and he’s not going to be able to guide you tomorrow.» I’m like, «Uh-oh, not good.» He continues, «But we got a replacement guide, and he’s a boss! I mean, he knows all these mountains like the back of his hand; he’s as good as they come; you’re going to be in great hands.»
I’m thinking, «Okay, that’s good to know.» So he comes later in the night; I don’t meet him until the morning, so we don’t have a chance to really get to know each other. I find out in the process that he got called in on short notice; he was supposed to guide someone else up another mountain in the Alps the next day, so he’s got to get me up, get me down, get back to Zermatt, and then get to Zurich, get somewhere else, go to another mountain, and get another guy ready to go up something else tomorrow. His whole mentality is, «I’ve got to get you up and down as fast as possible.»
The best news of all: this new guide is six feet four. You might ask, «What does that have to do with anything?» It means that when he put his foot up to the first foothold while going up the Matterhorn, it was about like me trying to get my foot on the top of this table right here! I’m like, «I don’t think my foot can go there, and I’m not really sure how this is going to work.» We get up early in the morning; there’s a little huddle for the maybe 50 or 60 folks that are summiting that day in front of the Hornley Hut—it’s required. We slip out the back; we don’t even go to the meetup because he wants to get a head start on everybody.
We’re out in the pitch dark. He disappears, 120 feet of rope in front of me, and he says, «When I get up there, you’ll feel me tug the rope, and then you just go where I went.» His first step is like eye-level to me, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, and I’m like, «Oh no!» All day long—and I owe this guy my life, by the way. If you ever see this and hear it, I love you. Thank you! Shelley thanks you! Passion City Church thanks you! You did, in fact, save my life. But come on, man, your stride is unbelievable! I couldn’t—I mean, my little legs—this just wasn’t working.
The whole time it felt like, «We’ve got to go! We’ve got to go! We’ve got to go! We’ve got to go! We’ve got to hurry! We’ve got to hurry! I’ve got to get you up! I’ve got to get you down! I’ve got somewhere else I need to be!» Some of you hearing that right now are thinking, «That’s exactly what my life feels like right now! I can’t keep up—the strides are too big; the holes are out of my reach; everything feels like it’s just a day late; everything is a rush, a stretch, and a strain.» It may be because the good shepherd isn’t in the equation. It’s not His voice that you’re following; it may be a hired person who’s just temporarily in the scene—someone you’re in a relationship with or someone you went into business with or somebody you started listening to or someone you invited into your circle, and they’re not really looking out for your long-term best-case scenario.
It’s just a lot of push and pull to get it done. You’re sort of like a commodity in their equation, and today is a day to say, «You know what? I want to come back to this idea of being a healthy sheep in a well-kept flock with a good shepherd. I want to hear His voice; I want to know that He knows me, and I want to follow Jesus—the one who lays down His life for the sheep.» The way that this happens in our world is when you find yourself in a circle. Yes, you’re connected to the shepherd, but knowing that the shepherd wants to put you in a flock.
Christianity and church work best not when you’re soloing out here and popping into a few online messages and, when possible, a few online gatherings thinking, «I’m in church; I’m part of the church. I went last Sunday, and I might go next Sunday,» without realizing that somehow, you’re not growing the way God wants you to be growing. You’re not serving the way God wants you to be serving, and you’re not experiencing the miraculous power of the kingdom of God in your life. All the while, you can be in church but somehow possibly getting lost in the crowd. And then, when there wasn’t a crowd to get lost in anymore, you were just lost.
The best way to keep from getting lost in a crowd is to be found in a circle—in community with other people where you can grow, have accountability, and become everything God wants you to be. It’s kind of like going to a football game. How do you not get lost in a stadium of 90,000 people? Well, for one thing, you recognize some people you went to school with or some people you knew from work; it’s a surrounding you’ve been in before. But how do you not get lost in a stadium with 60, 70, 90, or 120,000 people? The way you don’t get lost is because of the tailgate you had before the game. You texted your friends; everybody knew the spot, and everybody brought what they were supposed to bring. You showed up at the appropriate time, and there were people you knew and maybe a few new people in the mix; you met some people you didn’t know before, but this was your crew. This is our tailgate; this is our circle, if you will. These are the people that I know. So now when we go from the tailgate into the stadium, I don’t feel lost in the stadium because I’ve got my people.
Maybe the game ends and we end up back at the tailgate post-game, and that’s what church looks like. It’s not just showing up at buildings; it’s not just saying, «I want to be in the crowd.» It’s saying, «Before we got to the gathering, I had my circle, and after the gathering, I had my circle.» I love the great assembly, but I also want to be known and included in what God is doing. That’s the way God intended it from the beginning when the church was born. We see this in Acts chapter 2. When the church was born, it was about everybody. It wasn’t for a select few super-spiritual people who gathered in a little Bible study and did a deep dive into some of the text, really coming to understand the things of God. When the church was born, it was an everybody idea.
You see it in the very beginning of Acts 2 and at the end: «When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.» Now, it wasn’t that God sent fire from heaven and said, «Oh, you’re going to get some fire, and you look spiritual, you’ll get a little fire.» No! The tongues separated and came to rest on everybody. Look at the next verse: «All of them—every single one of them—were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.»
Now, this particular miracle, as you know, was to preach the Gospel that day to people from all over the known world in their own languages by people who didn’t speak their languages. God didn’t say, «Hey, this isn’t going to be amazing. Watch out today; Tom over here is going to be able to speak to people from Northern Africa in their language, and it’s going to be an amazing miracle.» No! He was like, «Everybody’s going to be involved today. We’re going to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world right here in Jerusalem, and everybody is going to be a part of it because this kingdom, this Gospel, this miracle is for everybody!»
God wants you to be involved; He wants you to know that through Christ, you have access to all the promises, the power, the plans, and the purposes of God. It’s not just for the minister, for the pastor, for the church leader, or for the super-spiritual door holder. Everybody has access to the promises; everybody has access to the power; and everybody has access to the purpose of God. We see it at the end of the chapter. Now the church is born; the Gospel is preached; thousands of people get saved. We’re not trying to keep it small and do a little thing over here on the side. No! This Gospel was preached, and thousands of people put their faith in Jesus on day one. We’re a part of an exploding mission!
But how does that mission survive? It survives when everybody finds their place in the family of God. Look how the chapter ends in verse 42: «They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.» Every one—key word, everybody—was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers—just underscoring again, everybody—all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts and broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Is it temple courts or breaking bread in homes? Yes. Is it the great assembly, or is it a circle? Yes. Is it coming together and packing out gatherings, or is it gathering with two or three other believers and saying, «Let’s go deep in our faith, let’s get into God’s word, let’s pray together, and let’s do something together to change the city?» The answer is yes! God is all about the great assembly, and He’s all about gathering together in the temple courts, but He wants you to find your place in a circle—a community where you can grow and have accountability and become everything He wants you to become.
When this happens on both sides of the equation—the tailgate and the stadium—all working together, the church is stronger than it’s ever been. We have made this subtle shift of saying, «Hey, if I just show up to the big thing, I’m good, and then I can go do my thing, live my life, and go my own way.» That is not how Christianity works! That is not the way the church was born! That is not God’s plan and intention for you. His plan is for you to be in a circle, and in that circle, to find God and to grow in God like never before. If you’re saying today, «Well, I feel pretty good. I’m watching a talk online occasionally; I got my worship music; I got a new Christian book I just bought on Amazon, and I have a couple of friends who encourage me occasionally, and we text back and forth. I think I’m good; I don’t really know that I need to get in a circle,» I want to share some reasons why you need the circle and why the circle is what the good shepherd wants for you.
Number one: Jesus is in the circle. It says in Matthew 18:20: «Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.» Now, that obviously doesn’t mean that I can’t be out on my own anywhere on planet earth and be in fellowship with God; it just means that the way community is derived—the way the flock is established—is that two or more gather not in some name or for some cause, but gather in the name of Jesus. He’s there in the midst. It doesn’t mean He’s not somewhere else; it just means there’s a way to know Him that’s more powerful when you’re in the company of others who know Him.
That’s why the shepherd doesn’t just say, «I had a sheep, and I led my sheep, and we were good. I took my sheep in, and I took my sheep out, and my sheep had pasture.» No! He said, «I’m putting my sheep in a flock.» Why? Because it will be good for me as a shepherd. Hello! If the sheep reproduce, it would be good for me as a shepherd if the flock stays strong. It would be good for me if we had some little lambs. This whole idea, the picture, and the beauty of the shepherd is to say it’s not just about me and you—it’s about me and you in a flock together so that you can be strong and, ultimately, strong enough to reproduce.
What if this were our prayer? It’s 2020; we don’t know what’s coming for the rest of the year, but we want to be this Acts 2 church. We want God’s favor, and we want God to add somebody to our church who puts their faith in Jesus every single day. «Oh, it’s Wednesday? Great! Who put their faith in Jesus today?» «Thursday? Good news! Someone put their faith in Jesus!» «Friday? Yep! Somebody put their faith in Jesus!» Every day, every week, every month, somebody is standing on the promise of Jesus, accepting the invitation of a good shepherd, and therefore the church is growing.
What happened to your church when you couldn’t gather for six months? Seven months? Eight months? Well, we got stronger! When we came back together, it turned out there were more of us than when we split apart! Come to find out, church isn’t just about the gathering—though we missed the gathering. Church is about gathering with other believers and going stronger, deeper, and faster together in Christ and then seeing other people coming along in our flock. Jesus is in the circle. If you want to fully experience Jesus, get into a circle with some other people.
The overarching question starts to rise: Who’s in your circle? No, not, «Well, my husband, you know, we’re together; my neighbor, my best friend.» No! Who’s in your circle? Who’s in there with you? Or maybe another question is: Is there anybody you’re noticing right now who needs a circle? Are you not just looking out for yourself but thinking, «I wonder if I could help create a circle for them?»
The second reason why the circle is important is that in the circle, everybody knows your name. I remember back in the day, I loved being old enough to experience the '80s. Do you love the '80s? If you got to live through that! In the '80s, there was a pretty popular television show, and a little signature of the theme song would be known instantly. It goes like this: «Where everybody knows your name.» Doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from; you walk into Cheers, and you’re known. This is a picture of what community looks like, and it’s a picture of what church is supposed to be.
The chorus we can all sing along too: «Cheers, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.» There are people that know your name, but they’re not glad you came. We want to see that happen in the circle. But check this out; you want to be where you can see our troubles are all the same. That’s everybody getting in there in life and going, «Oh, I’m not the only one struggling!» We’re not the only people having a hard time in this area; we’re not defective. It turns out there are other defective people, and I can see that now because I’m not isolated over here trying to compare myself to everything on social media—I’ve actually got people in the circle who care for me and know my name. We strive for that in our gatherings; we have people in our gatherings looking for people so that we can learn your name, even in a gathering of thousands of people.
But in a circle, everybody knows your name. You don’t need a name tag. Everybody knows when you walk through the door, and hopefully, they’re glad you came. The third thing that happens in a circle is that your understanding of God grows. You might say, «No, I can grow with God just fine all by myself.» The scripture gives a different perspective, and I love how it says it in Ephesians chapter 3: «For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.»
That text is telling you that you’re not going to comprehend the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth of God’s love for you and the world by yourself. That happens together with all the saints; it happens in community; it happens in a circle. The fourth thing that happens in a circle is that you’re cared for, and you care for others. As a shepherd over our flock, that’s my number one concern, and it’s our team’s number one concern. We want everybody to know that we care, and we want everyone to be cared for.
How do thousands of people get cared for? People say all the time, «I don’t want to go to a big church. I want to go somewhere where I’m known.» I say, «Well, you don’t have to pick between a big church and a little church. There can be little church inside of big church, and that actually makes big church more powerful.» When there’s an amazing little church inside it, when there’s a tailgate before the game and a tailgate after the game, you get both the game and the communal experience. You get to experience the gospel and the explosion of Acts 2 while having the community we all crave, and you get cared for.
In a circle, you care, and people care for you. You don’t just show up and say, «Let me tell you my story.» You show up and listen to other people’s stories. Maybe this week it’s all about somebody praying for you, but next week it’s all about you praying for somebody else. This week they’re meeting your need, but next week you’re understanding somebody else’s need, and you don’t have to have a plan or program or degree or permission. You think, «I know she has a need; I can meet that need. I’ve been cared for; I’m going to care for somebody else; I’ve been served; I’m going to serve somebody else.»
You know how that happens? It doesn’t happen in a big gathering; there’s hardly ever a moment in a big gathering where you think, «Oh, I see Betty over there; I’m going to care for her!» No! That happens in a circle where you’re cared for and where you can care for others. The fifth thing that happens is you learn to defer in love. Look how Paul goes on in chapter four: «As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle.» My goodness! Can we broadcast that to the world? «Be completely humble and gentle.»
Gentleness, by the way, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. So you know the shepherd is leading, and the Spirit is operating when there’s a spirit of gentleness. It doesn’t mean that you don’t hold fast to truth; it just means you operate in that truth and out of that truth with a spirit of gentleness in your life. Why is that important? Because we’re all in process. Why is that important? Because you’re going to be in circles with people you don’t agree with. Why is that important? Because your neighbor isn’t going to see it the way you see it. Why is that important? Because we’re all coming to an understanding under the head of Jesus, under the authority of the scriptures, and we all see things differently.
As we’re operating under Christ and connected to Christ in our circle, we want to defer to people in love. So, we’re going to be completely humble and gentle, and then look at what it goes on to say: «Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.» There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. What our tendency will be is to create a circle with all people who think like us, look like us, and believe like us. The flock won’t grow unless you’re willing to be in a circle with some people who don’t see it the way you see it.
That doesn’t mean every opinion is equal; it doesn’t mean everybody’s view of God is the same. Everyone is invited to the table of the Lord, but it is the Lord’s table. Jesus says, «Whosoever will may come.» Everyone can come to the table of mercy and grace, but you’ve got to remember it’s His table. He will set the pace, serve the meal, create the atmosphere, teach everyone the manners, do the transforming, and get all the glory. But in the process, there will have to be some deferring in love if the flock is going to grow. If more people are to know Jesus, become saved, repent, change their lives, experience Jesus, be forgiven, be changed, be filled by the Spirit, and be raised up to brand new life, then there needs to be deferring in love. There needs to be some humbling and some gentleness in the equation, and I believe that happens best in a circle.
Number six: In a circle, you put down roots. It’s very unlikely that without a circle of growth and accountability, you’re going to develop the kind of root necessary to produce the fruit you want. We all want the fruit, but you’ve just got to look around and say: Who’s digging down and putting in the root? «Oh, I want my life to be this; I want God to do this; I want this favor on my life; I want to end up in this place.» That’s great, but understand you have to put a root down to get that fruit. That’s happening in a circle.
That’s what we read above: «I pray that you, talking about you guys together, will be rooted and established in love.» That’s in this community, together. Lastly, in a circle, you’re covered and you’re accountable. You know, accountability is one of those words we don’t like. We’re like, «I don’t like accountability! I don’t want anyone checking up on me. I don’t want that! I can get into legalism real fast, and I don’t want any of that in my life.» You kind of think, «I’m doing good; I don’t really need anybody prying into my life.» But accountability, if you think about it, just means «count ability"—that there’s somebody there who says you matter! There’s somebody there who says, «I know you; I know all of you; and I see how all these promises are for everybody. You can access all these promises; all this power; you can access this power and the purposes of God on planet Earth. You’re supposed to be a part of that; you’re counted in with all of us, and you’re covered here.»
That’s why I think CrossFit was such a phenomenon. I’m saying «such a phenomenon» like it isn’t one anymore. All of its various forms now have sprung up across the culture. It’s all about the circle. It’s not that there aren’t places where there are two football fields of individual workout stations; those still exist. But the pendulum has swung toward accountability. I’m going to go to a place—a box. I’m going to get in a crew. I’m going to have people; my name’s going to be on the wall; I’m going to be in the computer system; my workouts are going to be logged. Everybody’s going to have access to my results, and everybody’s going to be there covering me in the process.
So if I’m straining for something I’ve never reached for before, there are going to be two other people there to make sure I don’t wipe out. If I do pass out or throw up on the floor, there’s going to be somebody there to grab a drink of water. There’s going to be a covering for me there, and there’s accountability for me there. Talk to people; the results come in the circle. That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of lone rangers out there who have run a thousand miles and done amazing workouts, but for the average person, there’s got to be a circle, and there have to be people. There has to be somebody who counts them; they must become accountable. That’s what the good shepherd is all about.
This picture that Jesus gave doesn’t really energize most of us. Many of us have never been around sheep pens; we don’t know a lot about that process. When you think about sheep pen, you might be thinking, like I used to think—a split rail fence or posts with a wire fence that allows you to see in and see the sheep. But when Jesus said «sheep pen,» His listeners immediately knew what He meant: he was talking about a fortified structure, stone walls as high as a person, something that sheep couldn’t jump over, and something that would make a wolf think twice about trying to jump in. That pen of stone walls would have a tiny opening, just large enough for a sheep to get in; they would come in, one by one, and go out, one by one. Oftentimes, multiple flocks would come in at night to the same pen. The next day, the shepherd would say, «All right, guys, we’re rolling! Team Louis, here we go!» All of team Louis would respond, «Hey, that’s our shepherd! We know his voice!»
And he knows us; we follow him, and we roll out. The other sheep would say, «We don’t know that voice; we don’t know that shepherd; we’re going to hang out until we hear our shepherd’s voice.» Then, all the sheep would go out to good pasture because the shepherd is going ahead. When they come back in, the shepherd stands at the gate and checks them in. «There is so-and-so. There is so-and-so.» They all have names. I’m inspecting them; I’m checking them out; I’m making sure they’re healthy; I need to attend to any issues; I’m making sure they look good, feel good, and I’m counting them in so that at the end of the day, all my sheep are in the pen.
Then the shepherd wouldn’t close the gate and go get dinner. He was the gate. He would crouch down or lie down in the opening, rod in hand, keeping watch through the night. If a wolf or coyote came, he says, «This is the way in, and you ain’t coming through here.» The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. In that circle, that’s where He gets to do that for you; He’s doing that for you all over the board today.
It’s Jesus saying, «Do you know my voice? Because I know your name. Can you hear my voice? If you can, then follow it because the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He’ll run you ragged.» It’s like the picture of Jesus when He came into Jerusalem, weeping over the city, saying, «Look at them! They look like sheep without a shepherd—so harried, so frazzled, not knowing which way to go.» They need a good shepherd who can lead them in and lead them out so they can find pasture.
And I want to be that good shepherd for you. I was studying that gate, and I came across this Bible video. If you haven’t been to the Middle East or you haven’t been around shepherds anywhere in the world, you don’t know this picture. It just did something for my heart to see it and understand that’s my Jesus taking care of me. So I want you to watch this little short clip, and I’ll come back and pray for us.
So you have a place in the family of God; you have a shepherd. He’s placing under-shepherds in your life, but you have the good shepherd and a place with Him in the family of God. But you have to step in; you’ve got to find the tailgate. You can’t just substitute, «I’m not sure I’m ever going back to church. I watch five different churches online every Sunday, and it’s amazing! I watch this guy; I watch that person; I attend this church.» That’s not church! And I can say that because we’re one of the ones you’re watching. That’s good; it’s teaching; it’s encouraging, but that’s not a good shepherd leading you in by the narrow gate.
Jesus said that narrow gate leads to life; it does when you put your trust in Him for salvation. He is the gate that leads to eternal life, but He also leads you through that narrow gate every decision in life to life, and He wants to lead you today.