Mark Batterson - Fear Not, Ego is the Enemy
When I was a kid, I had my fair share of childhood fears, but right at the top of the list was Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch. There was a famous film, the «Patterson-Gimlin Film,» allegedly shot on October 20, 1967, and the following photograph is frame 352. Young children, please close your eyes. I must have seen this photo somewhere somehow, because that image was seared into my brain, and I was convinced that Bigfoot lived under my bed in my closet.
Now, most of you are too young to remember the Walton family on TV, but the Batterson family had a very similar ritual. At night, when the lights went out, from our respective bedrooms, we would call out into the night, my mom and dad, «Goodnight, Mark, goodnight, Don». I would say, «Goodnight, mom, goodnight, dad, goodnight, Don». And my brother, Don, would say, «Goodnight, mom, goodnight, dad, goodnight, Mark,» wait for it, «goodnight, Bigfoot». The parents, mom and dad, would come back in, do a closet check, make sure the coast was clear, and I would fall asleep, tucked very tightly under my covers.
Now, there’s an old acronym for fear, false evidence appearing real. In retrospect, if Bigfoot could have fit under my child-sized bed, it would’ve been Little Foot, or in my tiny little… Never mind the fact that all the purported sightings were in the Pacific Northwest, but I was convinced that he had migrated to Minnesota, yay to my very neighborhood. Well, welcome to National Community Church in person, online, campuses.
We begin a new series, an advent series, Fear Not. Last time I checked, hundreds of fears and phobias in the DSM-5. Now there are the usual suspects, fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of spiders, fear of speaking in public, fear of confined spaces, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of intimacy, fear of rejection. That said, according to psychologists, we’re only born with two fears, a fear of falling and fear of loud noises, which means every other fear is learned, which means every other fear can be unlearned. Faith is the process of unlearning fear, and that’s what we’re gonna do over the next four weeks.
Now, the question is, how? And there are lots of different ways to do it, but, 1 John 4:18 says, «Perfect love casts out all fear». As we grow in a love relationship with God, as we discover that love, as that love is revealed to us, the net result is fearlessness. When you fear God, which is the beginning of wisdom, and by the way, that means ultimate respect, or living in awe of an almighty creator. When you fear God, there’s nothing left to fear, and you begin to live out of that love relationship, and that’s where we’re headed. If you have a Bible, you can meet me in Matthew’s gospel.
Now, it might not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the Christmas story, but it is the first thing the angels announce. «Fear not, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people». «Fear not,» one of the most repeated phrases in scripture. Every time there’s an epiphany, this tends to be the opening line. Abraham, «Fear not, I am your shield, your very great reward». Moses, «Fear not, stand still, and you will see the salvation of your Lord». Joshua, «Fear not, for I am with you». When Jesus walks on water, «Fear not, it is I». When the women show up, and there’s an empty tomb, «Fear not, he is not here, he is risen, just as he said».
Over the next four weeks, we wanna look at the Christmas story through different sets of eyes, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, but we’re gonna start with a cautionary tale, Herod the Great. Ready or not, here we go. Matthew 2:1, «After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born, King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.' When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him».
Now the wise men ask an innocent question, or so it seems, where is the one born, King of the Jews? But it says Herod was disturbed, other translations say troubled or agitated. It’s almost like someone took Herod’s snow globe and shook it up. By the way, Dave Tress' creative team, brilliant, right? And an angel, Sawyer Zempel, and then Dave and Jen Cooley, who, by the way, are expecting, that’s how you get cast as Mary and Joseph, I’m just telling you. Play your cards right. If you wanna know what makes someone tick, pay careful attention to what ticks them off.
And by the way, I don’t just mean that negatively. Read the gospels looking for those moments when Jesus experiences a righteous indignation, for example, turning the temple upside down. What is it that triggers those strong emotions? I think, for Herod, it’s pretty revealing. Why does he get so upset? Well, the short answer is that the Roman Senate had given him the title, King of the Jews, which totally changes the story. The Magi have no idea, but Herod is triggered by what he perceives as a microaggression. On that note, can I suggest we’re too easily, too quickly offended? Now, let’s do our very best not to offend other people. Can I get an amen?
Let’s also do our best not to be offended by other people. Can I get another amen? Proverbs 19:11, I think it was 2011, it was my verse of the year, it has become a rule of life. «It is to the glory of the man to overlook an offense». My goal, no matter what you say or what you do, is to live unoffended. Just is what it is, that’s how I’m going to live my life. Now, «In an identitarian age,» says, Shadi Hamid, «the bar for offense has been lowered considerably». Instead of filling the gas with positive assumptions, we assume the worst. Why? People are more likely to withhold their true opinions if they fear being labeled as bigoted or insensitive. Lots of people touting tolerance right now, as long as you agree with them. Intolerance, by definition, is the unwillingness to allow another person their opinion.
Well, how do we navigate this as Christ followers? Let me give you a definition of biblical tolerance. It does not compromise its convictions. It does, however, give other people the same measure of free will that God gave you. There’s a lot of tension in that, but this is a very real story about a real person who took offense, and everything went south. This is where I would remind us of our four principles of peace making, listen well, ask anything, disagree freely, love regardless.
Listen to me, if you take offense and let it take root, it will kill Christmas. This story turns into a nightmare really fast. Why? Because when we take offense, we become defensive. When we take offense, it clouds our judgment, and when we take offense, miracles stop happening. What are you talking about? I’m talking about Matthew 13:57. It says that Jesus could not do many miracles in his hometown. Why? Because they were offended by Jesus. Like, this ruins the whole thing. So, can we just pause right here? Can I ask you to do what my counselor told me to do about a year ago, right now? He said, «Just take some time. Is there anyone or anything that you need to forgive»? I was like, «This should take a few minutes».
Couple hours later, I realized I had been repressing instead of confessing, I wasn’t really forgiving, I was kind of hanging on to some of these things, and man, my soul had become cluttered. I had to cut the cord to some of those offenses, just let go and pronounce forgiveness. Lord, help me to live an unoffended life. You’re gonna have an opportunity this week, just saying. Three very practical principles this weekend from the Christmas story, from the life of Herod, you can jot these down, numero uno, overlook the offense. Let’s start there. Overlook the offense. If you don’t, that offense will become a trigger, and that’s where you have to pay careful attention.
What triggers me? What kind of gets under my skin? Or what causes, not just a reaction, but an overreaction? I mean, Herod’s reaction here is out of control, we’ll get there in a second. When someone acts out of proportion to a situation, 9 times out of 10, they are reacting out of past hurt. Bob Goff says it this way, «They are not reacting to you, they are reacting to their entire life». This is so important right now, this understanding, because then that gives me the grace to grace other people. It doesn’t excuse people doing what they do, but it helps me have a little bit more self-awareness and a little bit more empathy.
Man, I’m telling you, lately, sometimes when someone like, «Wow! What? Where did that come from? Wow». My immediate reaction now is, «Whew, there’s gotta be some deep hurt there». 'Cause that wasn’t this, that was something else. Now, I’ve shared this before, but it is one of my favorite comics, so I’m gonna show it to you again. «For 43 years, Hank had successfully stuffed every feeling he’d ever had, until, of course, the morning when Fred asked if he could borrow a paper clip». There are these moments where like, «Bam».
Well, a few weeks ago I shared a message, sola scriptura, if content is king, context is queen. Shared a simple principle of hermeneutic, science of interpreting scripture, text without context is pretext. The Christmas story has a context to it. And I think what I wanna do is go a layer or two down because if you wanna understand the present tense meaning of scripture, you have to understand the past tense context. You have to understand history, geography, language, culture, genre. We love angel choirs, we love wise men bringing gifts, we love barn animals and baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, but the original context is not not complicated. In fact, I just ran across this.
In philosophy, there’s a concept coined by Martin Heidegger, called Thrownness. And the idea is this, you didn’t choose when or where you were born, or who you were born to, you were just kinda thrown into it. And so, Jesus is no different here, right? He’s thrown into a historical context. And so, in between the Old and New Testament, there’s about 400 years, they’re called the 400 silent years. It’s this intertestamental period, no new prophets, no books written that are included in the cannon of scripture, but history still happened. In the fourth-century BC, Greek empire rose to power, and it began to have this domino effect, including Judea. A technical term is the hellenization of Judaism.
Now, 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes comes to power and he tries to impose the Greek religion on the Jewish people. Sabbath is suspended, circumcision outlawed. He puts an idol to Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem, and then he sacrifices pigs on the altar, and he makes the Jewish people eat the unclean parts. Then he takes the broth from the pig flesh and pours it over sacred scripture. It’s the abomination that causes desolation that Daniel had prophesied hundreds of years before. It is a low light in Jewish history.
Now, in response to that Greek repression, there are these revolts, one of them led by Judas Maccabeus. But that Maccabean Revolt was quashed, and about 40,000 Jewish people were killed in the span of three days. Now, fast forward, 63 BC, Roman General named Ptolemy conquers Jerusalem. And under the Romans, the Jewish people are allowed to practice their religion, but man, they pay these taxes that are outta control. And this is when and where and how Herod the Great enters the equation. He was appointed by Mark Anthony, and again, by Roman Senate gave him the title «King of the Jews». He was the client king in Judea from 37 to 4 BC.
And Herod did some commendable things, he built the city of Caesarea, Laura and I have been there, it’s beautiful. He built the fortress at Masada, he helped renovate the temple. But make no mistake about it, he was a brutal dictator. He killed five Maccabean prince and princesses. He killed his wife, Mariamne, and then right before Jesus was born, a couple of years, he actually killed two of his sons out of sheer jealousy because their popularity threatened his throne. So none of what happens next should surprise us. By the way, around 4 B.C., a group of zealots captured a roman armory in Sepphoris, four miles from Nazareth.
According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, the Romans retaliated by burning the city to the ground and selling all of the inhabitants into slavery, an estimated 2000 Jews were crucified on Roman crosses. This happened four miles from where Jesus grew up, right around the time he was born. So when we say thrownness, when we say context, Christmas, man, it was not a pretty picture when Jesus was born. All of that to say this, Herod the Great was cray-cray. This is how Herod is portrayed by one medieval painter, I think, yes. This is not a picture, this is a painting, okay? But Herod calls together the religious leaders, asks them where the Messiah was to be born.
And you know, based on a prophecy 700 years earlier, Micah 5:2, «Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people, Israel». And that’s where we pick it up. Verse seven, «Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and found out from them the exact time when the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'» Liar, liar, pants on fire. An angel appears to Joseph in a dream, «Herod’s gonna try to kill your son». They escape to Egypt. It really comes down to this. I think simply put, ego is the enemy.
Is that okay for me to say? Ego is the enemy. You have to overlook the offense. And number two, you have to check your ego at the door. Ryan Holiday wrote a book by that title. In fact, that phrase is tattooed, I believe, on his right forearm. Ego is the enemy. Here’s what he says, «With success comes the temptation to tell oneself a story, to round off the edges, to cut out your lucky break and to add a certain mythology to it all. It’s the type of storytelling in which your talent becomes your identity, and your accomplishments become your worth». I walked into a staff members' office this week, and they had rules of engagement, «Assume the best, commit to verbalize, listen to learn».
But I love the first rule of engagement, «Check your ego». I might just add, «At the door». Let go your ego. You’ll remember that, some of you who are old enough. I tell young leaders all the time, «I wish you failure and I wish it early on,» because the reality is, success too soon is dangerous. Most people don’t have the humility to steward success before experiencing failure. I’m so grateful looking back on a failed church plant before this church plant, because learnt two things. One, the cure for the fear of failure is not success, it’s failure in small enough doses that you build up an immunity to it.
And you discover that God’s there to pick you up, dust you off, and give you a second chance. And second, unless the Lord builds a house, they who labor, labor in vain. Listen, I know what I’m capable of, and it’s not much. Without the Holy Spirit, I’m below average. With the Holy Spirit, all of us, all things are possible. I just think there has to come a point where each one of us experiences what I would call a «Copernican Revolution». When you’re born, the world revolves around you, and that’s okay. You need to be fed, you need to be clothed, you need your diapers changed. If you still have someone changing your diapers at 20, we got a problem.
At some point, it can’t be about you. It’s one of my favorite opening lines in any book I’ve ever read, «The Purpose Driven Life,» Rick Warren, «It’s not about me». At some point, you begin to discover that. See, if you don’t, what happens is everything becomes about protecting your ego. But when you do that, then you have to self-promote over here, you have to prop yourself up over there, you have to start building monuments to yourself. But you know what? The second you put pride on the altar, there’s nothing left to prove. Few things are more freeing than that.
Listen, Herod tried to kill the guy who came to save him from his sin. Does that make any sense at all? No, but it’s the ego that gets in the way. When you start operating out of ego, everything turns south. I have a theory of identity, and the theory is this, the more you have going for you, the more potential you have for identity issues. Why? Because if you have a lot of money in your bank account, it’s hard not to base your identity on your wealth. If you’re in great shape, it’s hard not to base your identity on your health. If you have a title or a position that comes with a degree of respect, it’s hard not to base your identity on that position. But I’m telling you right now, identity issues are usually idolatry issues, if you base your identity on anything other than the righteousness of Christ.
Again, listen to me, I’m not denying the success you’ve experienced, I’m not saying there aren’t hats that you wear that aren’t significant. I would also say in the same breath, I bet your LinkedIn profile doesn’t match up with the Apostle Paul. And he said, «I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord». I wanna share this 'cause it was just a meaningful moment to me. There was a pastor, almost every House of Prayer, we have pastors from across the country, someone that’s visiting with us. There was a pastor that said, «Hey, I feel like God gave me a word for you».
And he shared it with me, right after House of Prayer. He said, «Mark, this is what I feel like the Lord said, 'Mark, you are more than a pastor, you are more than an author, you’re a child of God.'» Is that not the highest privilege? Is that not the highest calling? The love the Father has lavished on us, that we could be adopted and called the children of God. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Now we start treating each other as brothers and sisters. I think it comes down to this, I am in Christ, Christ is in me, and that is the hope of glory. Overlook the offense, please overlook the offense.
Check your ego at the door. And number three, don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Many years ago, met with someone who was a member of the city council. And we sat down, had a wonderful conversation. And at the end of it, I said, «How can I pray for you»? And he took a moment, it was a very thoughtful response. He said this, «Pray that I don’t let fear dictate my decisions». That was not the answer I was expecting. Like, help me win, maybe? I’ve been praying that prayer ever since, not just for him, for me, for you, for almost anyone and everyone I meet. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions, that’s easier said than done.
As I see it, two options that lead to two outcomes. One, we can put our circumstances between us and God, two, we can put God between us and our circumstances. I’m not talking about denying reality, quite the contrary, confront the brutal facts with unwavering face, Stockdale Paradox, Jim Collins. Don’t ignore what’s wrong. But listen, those two options will lead to two very different outcomes. Over time, one of two things happens. If you put your circumstances between you and God, your theology will conform to your reality. If you put God between you and your circumstances, your reality will begin to conform to your theology.
There’s just a great danger that we begin to dumb down, water down and live down to the reality of the circumstances around us. That’s not what we’re called to. We’re called to something bigger and better, we’re called to live up to our God-given potential, our God-given authority, and that brings us back to Herod. Instead of overlooking the offense, takes offense. Instead of checking his ego at the door, his ego gets injured. And instead of letting faith dictate his decisions, fueled by fear. Verse 16, «When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, gave orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi».
Herod was an angry elf. Now we read right over this, but again, talk about thrownness. Understand that there were at least two grades in Bethlehem that were all girls, this painful constant reminder of what happened. I mean those parents living with the grief that certainly weighed down an entire generation. How evil do you have to be? How power-hungry do you have to be to kill innocent babies and toddlers? But Herod goes lizard brain, fight or flight, and that’s what we do. When we operate out of past hurt, we project our pain and it causes this collateral damage. Don’t think that you getting sanctified is about you, it’s about the people around you, 'cause forgiven people forgive people, graced people grace people, now we start treating people the way Jesus did.
Verse 17, «Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 'A voice heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they were no more.'» When you operate out of ego, when you operate out of offense, when you operate out of fear, life becomes a zero-sum game. It’s win or lose. I say this all the time, especially in negotiations, about anything. If it’s not a win for you, it’s not a win for me. It’s the fourth habit of highly effective people. It’s the opposite of a scarcity mentality where you have to lose for me to win.
No, no, no. It’s an abundance mindset that how can I add value to your life? 'Cause the second I do that, I just added value to my life. It makes it about everybody else. Herod’s world became so small, I mean, my goodness, he’s killing off his wife and his children until the only guy left in the room is a guy who’s just really angry and really hurt and really scared because his whole life is about protecting this fragile ego he has. If he could have just let it go, he could have experienced the miracle of Christmas. When things go good, don’t play God, and when things go bad, don’t play the victim. Let me land this plane, is there a fear you need to face?
I just wonder over the next four weeks, as we poke at this story from different angles. There are different people who have different fears, right? And those fears are usually a byproduct of our unique history and personality, things that have happened to us. And so, are there fears that we need to face? Now, you know me. I think all truth is God’s truth. Listen, in psychology, there’s something called exposure therapy. I think it’s actually pretty effective 'cause, in my experience, if you try to avoid your fears and run away from them, you will be running your entire life. The other option is to actually expose yourself to them.
You’re afraid of dogs? Well, therapists will often create very safe, in fact, often show videos of healthy interactions with dogs to begin to rewire the synapses in your brain. And then you need a positive interaction, then we kind of build on that. And life is usually two step forward, one step back. If you’re afraid of speaking in public, we won’t pull you on stage, we won’t do that, but maybe get in front of three or four people and talk. You’re afraid of heights? I recommend half-dome, 'cause that’s how I confronted my fear of heights, to get to the top of it. Exposure therapy, I think, is a wonderful thing.
And what happens is we realize that the only thing we had to fear in so many instances is fear itself. But let me come all the way back to where we started. I think the best way to face your fears is to fall in love with God all over again. Perfect love cast out all fear. Few years ago, speaking at a conference in the UK, Archbishop of Canterbury was doing a Q&A, and he was asked the question, «What do you think is the greatest challenge we face as Christ followers»? He said, «Every Christian I met cannot quite believe that they are loved by God».
I want you to hear this and we’ll just end right here. God doesn’t just love you, he likes you. He likes you. You’re the apple of his eye, he’s rejoicing over you with singing. You are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works prepared for you in advance. You are his beloved son, beloved daughter, and whom he is well pleased.
Few years ago, Summer and I wrote a children’s book, «God Speaks in Whispers». Is it okay if I just end with a little, you’re never too old for a bedtime storybook, right? Can I just end with the last four pages? 'Cause I think this is for big people too. Here we go. «Above all else, know this is true. That God is singing all around you. And what is he saying in that voice, still and small? That you, my dear, are his favorite of all». I hope you feel seen, heard, and loved. In Jesus' name, Amen.