Michael Todd - Raise the Rim
You know, that sounded like a good idea in theory, but before I actually came out here, and as I think about this, my heart is beating this fast, and I’m sweating off my edge. I think there’s a message in what just happened: I was strong at a low level. If the rim had stayed at the six-foot mark, I was really confident when we started. Then they raised it up a little bit, and it scared me for a second. But then I went and put on the cold jersey, and I got into my character; I was still able to dunk at that level. However, when the rim was raised to the regulation height of 10 feet, I was not able to participate in strength anymore because I have been practicing my whole life on the wrong level. May I suggest to you that many of us are yelling we’re getting stronger, but we’re getting stronger at the wrong level? We are comparing ourselves and patting ourselves on the back for an «AAA» level that is lower than the standard.
I’m about to preach this thing in the building! I’m coming for you today. If you thought that today you were just going to get a nice little pat on the back and go on your way, no, no, no! Today I’m coming for you because what I’m realizing is there are so many believers playing this game of life, spending their entire lives working off the wrong standard. At the moment they get put in the real game of life, all their effort, energy, and practice are not useful. The crazy thing is that if I had been practicing on 10 feet my entire life, I have the genetics, the ability, and the opportunity to dunk like Micaiah. But I have not been working on the right standard, and today I’m challenging every person.
This is the season for our church: let’s not just yell «stronger» because a lot of people are getting stronger. By whose standards is it? The standard you made up? Is that the standard your family showed you? May I submit to you that the standard you’ve been living and playing by may not be the standard that will qualify you for what God has for you. There are too many people in this room, myself included, that would rather lower the rim to feel like we’re successful. We would rather lower our morals, the way we talk to people, our integrity, our character, our relationships. Let me stop! Some of y’all are dating people who are six-foot goal people! Oh yeah, we’ve been together so long, but baby, that ain’t even the standard!
We’ve been doing jobs, taking bribes, and writing off people on our taxes that haven’t been around for six years. But it’s okay because that’s the low-level standard you saw growing up. That business partner you looked up to when they entered your life showed you the underhanded and unintegrated. It looks successful out here, but to God, it looks like it’s below the standard. So today, in this week of «stronger,» I want everybody to look at your neighbor and tell them the title of my message: «Raise the Rim.» Come on, somebody say «Raise the Rim!» Find one more person and tell them to «Raise the Rim!» It’s time for us to raise the rim in our marriage. It’s time for us to raise the rim in our integrity. It’s time for us to raise the rim in our families. It’s time to raise the rim in our stewardship.
And you see how many weak claps I got? No, no, no! Don’t clap now! Don’t buy now! Don’t fight now! You’re exposed. The reason is because with the right angle, the dunks I do on this level look the same as the dunks some people perform on regulation. If you see it right, if the cameraman was just right, that’s why Instagram and Facebook, a lot of times, we’re just angling the lens. You’re not a really good father but you took the picture, «Girl Dad!» Uh-huh.
Let me stop! You haven’t been present for years! You’re not really… We’re trying to angle it so the lower level looks like it’s really something that’s a standard. But today I’m coming to challenge you: no longer will Transformation Church play out at our old level! We’re going to… everybody say with me, «Raise the Rim!» Now the crazy thing about it is, when the rim went to the regulation 10 feet, I couldn’t dunk anymore. It wasn’t as impressive. No matter that you were cheering for me, I still did not have the ability to reach. But it’s better for you to try at the standard than to fool yourself for your whole life at a low level. Okay, I’m a preach this thing to y’all today, so y’all gotta stay with me!
The reason everybody is celebrating Kobe and his accomplishments is because he did amazing things, but he did it at the standard. There was one game in 2006, January 22nd, where Kobe scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. Now, 81 points! If you’ve never played a game, that’s video game numbers! And he scored 81 points, but the reason we recognize it is that he did not do it outside of the standard. If he had done it on an 8-foot goal in his backyard with no referees, we would not be talking about it!
And many of us are acting like our great accomplishments are great, but they don’t really count because they were outside the standard of God. The reason it’s an amazing feat is because he did it on the regulation height. He did it with referees, with an opponent, and he still scored 81 points! What God is saying is He wants you to get stronger to the point that it doesn’t matter who your opposition is. It doesn’t matter what rules and regulations have been put on you—because you’re black, because you’re white, because you’re overweight, because you don’t have an education—He said you can do all of it and still excel with a standard! Somebody needs to give God praise right there!
But see, most of you don’t understand what a standard is, so let me help you. A standard is something set. Everybody say «set.» It is established by an authority. It’s a rule that measures the quantity, weight, extent, and value or quality of something. See, Kobe didn’t set the standard for what the NBA court looked like. He didn’t establish that the three-point line is 23.9 feet away from the goal. He didn’t set the standard that the free-throw line is 15 feet away from the goal. He didn’t set the standard that 10 feet was regulation height, but he played within the standard and was able to excel. My problem with Christianity today is that we have people who are trying to excel, but they’re doing it outside the standard of God. So when God sees somebody claiming Him but not playing by His rules, He has to step back and let you fail at that until you truly realize you have to play by His rules.
Let me just give you a point because some of you are still stunned. You don’t know what’s happened so far in the service. You cannot get stronger on a low standard. Write it down! You cannot get stronger on a low standard. If I play on this six-foot goal for the rest of my life, I will never have the ability to achieve what is actually in me to do. I just wonder how many people in this room have so much more potential inside them, have so much more to give, have so much more to deposit on this earth, have so much more to give away that you’ll never reach your potential because you’re playing on a low standard.
I begin to think about why people who have never met Kobe are crying, getting tattoos of another grown man on their body forever. I begin to think that it wasn’t because they had a personal experience; it’s because he took the standard as his bottom place of living. The standard was not what Kobe was trying to achieve; the standard is where he started. Let me stop because so many of us are trying to figure out, «Is that sin? Is that sin?» «Well, if I let him touch it, but I don’t…» Oh, I’m in your house today! «Is that sin?» «Well, if I lie on my tax returns this year but pay it back next year…» See, we’re just trying to attain the standard instead of letting the standard be the place where we start. As a child of God, I’m not trying to reach this place when I get blood, but by Jesus Christ, I start off as the righteousness of Jesus Christ! And too many of us, because we’ve let the wrong thing define our standard, we’re playing below our ability!
How many of you are dunking on a six-foot goal in your marriage? Oh no, you’re married, got the ring and everything, but you still let people slide into the DMs! «Well, honey don’t worry, they’re from high school.» Dunking on the six-foot goal, you’re doing it all! So what are you doing? How many of you are dunking on a six-foot goal when you want to look nicer, so you go to a store, buy clothes, and put your armpit stains on it? I’m coming for you today! And you wear it, you take pictures on the gram, and then you have the nerve to return it! You put the receipt and the tag back on it, take it up to the cashier, and have an attitude when they ask you if you wore it. «Yeah!» And some of you right now have clothes on that you plan to do the same with better after this service, and some of you are like, «What’s wrong with that?» You’re dunking on a six-foot goal! That’s a poverty mindset!
I’m Annie’s security when we leave here, but my God owns everything! So if I only want to wear it once, He can bless me so much that I buy it and give it away! But you’re so stuck on a six-foot goal! You think about your needs when we leave here, «They might ask me to take this back.» Okay, you’re dunking on a six-foot goal when you talk to your kids! How do you have the nerve to talk to them disrespectfully and then expect them not to talk back to you disrespectfully? You’re playing on a six-foot goal! It’s time for you to raise the rim! You cannot talk to them and scream at them out of emotion, and then when they get mad, shout, «I’m your mama!» That doesn’t matter! They are reaping what you sow! Stop what they are doing! They’re dunking on the six-foot goal!
Let me stop! All I’m saying is it’s time to raise the rim! Somebody say «Raise the Rim!» We’ve got to raise the rim in our integrity. We’ve got to raise the rim in what we’re doing! People are looking, and when they’re not, we’ve got to raise the rim on how we talk to people! We have to raise the rim on how we love people! The standard can’t be the achievement; the standard has to be our starting place! Somebody yell at me, «Raise the Rim!»
Okay, so the question you have to ask yourself is: who made your standard? Was it culture? Was it your big brother? Was it MTV? Was it your favorite singer? Was it your favorite athlete? Who defined the culture for you? Because remember, the standard has to be set by an authority. May I submit to you that the only authority that should be setting standards in this world today is the Word of God. Write this point down: «My standard is the Word of God!» Come on, somebody say that! Somebody say, «My standard is the Word of God!» Even if it’s not right now, say it by faith: «My standard is the Word of God!» Now let me convince you and make my argument for why the standard should be the Word of God, because anytime somebody is the authority or creator of something, it means they were there before it happened. When they’re there before it happens, they’ve taken into consideration everything that might happen when it’s formed.
I want you to see in the Word, John 1:1: «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.» And check this out: «The Word was God.» Verse 3 says, «Through Him, all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made.» Do you see how clear that is? The only person who should be able to set the authority or the standard in my life is the one who was here before anything ever came to be. That’s why I say boldly, «My standard is the Word of God!» Somebody say it one more time: «My standard is the Word of God!» And this has to be in all areas of my life! We can’t just pick and choose where the standard of God applies to our lives! I know this is basic teaching for some, but it needs to be the foundation. Cast aside your excuses!
Don’t forget that you’ve been making up things that make your life comfortable instead of listening to the patterns and the set rules and standards, and regulations that the Word of God sets for us, and this is why I’m coming to you with my favorite scripture ever to figure out how to find the right standard. It’s Romans chapter 12, verse 2. It’s literally the scripture from which we got the name for Transformation Church. But look what it says. When we talk about standards, it says, «Do not be conformed to the standards of this world, but let God, the authority, transform you.» It always starts on the inside, with a complete change of your mind. That means God’s going to change your mind before He changes your money.
See, if God blessed you with what you really asked for right now, it would leave you in the same place you’re in right now because the thing that really is important to change is your mind. He’s going to change your mind before He changes your marriage. If I promise God I better just go home; I’m going to pray for her because if she changes, then I will be fine. Whatever. Who is there? If you would stop pointing at what they are doing and say, «But what am I doing?» Can I love? I know they’re difficult to work with, but can I do something different? Can I love better? What I’m trying to say is the only one who can create real transformation is not the zeros in your bank account, is not Instagram followers, and is not anything else except God changing your mind. But what is He doing when He changes your mind? He’s resetting a standard. I know that’s what culture taught you, but that’s not how you treat women.
I know that’s what your greedy uncle told you, but that’s not how you treat money. I know that’s how you had to defend yourself to get ahead in life by tearing other people down, but that’s not the standard in the Kingdom of God. So, you cannot expect the blessings of the kingdom when you don’t use the methods of the kingdom. There are too many people out here wearing a big cross necklace talking about Jesus Christ but will cuss you out faster than a sailor if you cut them off or take their parking spot at Target. That woman was like, «That’s true. I did cuss out. Yeah, I did it.» Somebody say, «Raise the rim.»
So, all I’m asking everybody to do is think about this from this point on. We’re not going to talk about everything you did before you got here today; we’re going to let that be washed in the blood. But when you leave here today, will you play at the standard? You know something? As I’ve been watching and diving into all of these Kobe clips and interviews and all this other stuff, I found one that took my breath away. I found Kobe in high school in a dunk contest doing way better than I just did at 33. When he was 15 years old, take a look at this real quick. He’s 15; that’s unbelievable! It’s the McDonald’s chicken nuggets—they have hormones. It’s all gangly. He jumped over kids! That’s child abuse!
Now, I want you to think about this for one second. Kobe was 15 in that clip, dunking at the standard he decided to challenge himself with because if he started dunking on the standard young, it was the level he would be playing on for the rest of his life. And this is what I want to say to every young person in the room: you do not have to wait until you get older to hold up a standard. You don’t have to go through all of the trials and tribulations that your mom and them, your cousins, and everybody else went through. You can start dunking on the standard right now! You can have purity right now! You can handle your money right! Y’all don’t believe me?
The Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:12, «Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young, but be an example, or be the standard, to all the believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, in your faith, and in your purity.» What’s your excuse? «I’m too young.» Well, all my friends… I can’t. And God’s saying, «If you would just raise the rim, maybe it would take a little time to get used to not cussing people out. Maybe it’ll take a little time to figure out how to actually tithe and set aside 10% of your income when you’re working your first job at Burger King and want to have it your way.» But God is saying, «I want it My way.»
Y’all attach that later. He said the problem is that all your examples have played at a low level for so long that now when they’re older and try to raise the rim, doubt comes in, fear creeps in. «How can I trust God? I’ve been wiling out my whole life; now I want to be celibate at 35, dry in a barren land, want to strike a rock and let water come from the rock.» You just say, «Oh, Lord, pray for me.» It’s always harder to try to set a standard when you already have a habit. For some of us, it’s going to be easier to raise the rim because we haven’t formed a habit yet. But for others of us, this is why you’re here: you need the power of the Holy Spirit to help you not just raise the rim and make it but also to break the habit of doing what you’ve been doing, raise the rim, and then do what God’s called you to do.
Everybody shout, «At the standard!» Okay, so write this point down: getting stronger in God’s standard requires sacrifice. What most people want to do is raise the rim but still use the same amount of energy that they used at a low level. «Well, I didn’t really have to pray before when I gave one dollar every time I came into church, but now you’re asking me to actually give 10% of my income? I got to pray every day!» You said to love your enemies only at the low level. Love the people who like me. So if you like me, I love you. But you’re telling me I have to go back to work tomorrow with that nasty, stanky attitude. Heaven don’t know her.
See, I used to start saying dumb stuff that doesn’t matter. If they’re your enemy, God tells us as believers to raise the standard and love them anyway. «Well, they talked about me.» Love them anyway! «They slapped me.» Turn the other cheek! Now, my mama told me… who is your standard? My mama told me if they hit me—okay, let’s be real. How many people’s parents told you that if you got hit and they hit you first, make sure you’re suspended? That young man is sitting there; he’s four years old. Where’s his fairs?
Now listen, watch; whose standard is actually the standard? I’m just coming. Some of you are so frustrated right now because it’s challenging your core beliefs. «But my mama told me.» But she’s not the standard! Oh Lord! But my husband told me he’s nice, but he’s not the standard! Well, a successful person told me you have to… they might have money, but they’re not the standard. Until the Church of Jesus Christ goes back to the unchangeable, unmovable, unwavering standard of the Word of God, every election will throw us around; every time somebody dies, our faith will be shaken. Every time we lose, we will think God has forgotten about us. And He says, «Why is all of this happening?» It’s because you have a low-level standard. Somebody shout at me and say, «Raise the rim!» That whole section is mad at me right now! That whole section!
So, what type of sacrifice are you talking about, Pastor Mike? I’m about to give you the cheat code: I found this out in my whole life. Sacrifice only has to do with three things. Okay, write this down. All God wants you to sacrifice is your time, your treasure, and your talent. That’s it! He wants time from you; He wants your treasure; He wants your talent. And the crazy thing about the talent, treasure, and time is He gave you all of them. You missed it! See, that’s the real problem. If you think your time is yours and your treasure is yours, you have the audacity to think that what you came to this earth naturally inclined to do, somehow you deserve that.
So the problem is a stewardship issue: that God gave us something, and we are not willing to give Him back what He freely gave to us. And so the problem with me not being able to dunk was not that I didn’t have the ability; I didn’t give my time to practice. I didn’t give my treasure to it. I could have paid somebody to help me jump or work me out, but I didn’t want to train for that; I’m not going to the NBA. And I did not give my talent to it. The thing that is very funny to me: write this down — the reason many people never reach greatness is not because they don’t have what it takes; it’s because they won’t give what it takes! No, no, I’m going to say that one more time because some of y’all just got it! The reason why many people never reach greatness is not because they don’t have what it takes; it’s in you! But it’s because you won’t give what it takes.
You won’t sacrifice what it takes! People don’t know how many hours it takes me during the week to think, research, pray, and ask, «Does this sound stupid? Does this make sense?» to get up here for an hour and do what I do. Some people think, «He just naturally gives it; it doesn’t take thought.» Don’t get it twisted; I wish it was that easy! But the gift that you see today wasn’t because God raised the rim and said, «I want you to pastor a church.» Do you know how many times I had to run up to the goal of being a leader of a church and lay it up? I couldn’t dunk when I started this! See, everybody wants to raise the rim and automatically be able to windmill and 360 dunk, and it doesn’t work like this! It took me years of sacrificing my time, my talent, and my treasure.
Do you know how many conferences I’ve paid to go to, to listen to people instead of buying shoes? I listened to old white men tell me… but see, people want this, but they don’t want to sacrifice for it! People want what Kobe had, but they won’t sacrifice for it. And the problem is, when you raise the rim and you get a standard, you now have to be committed to a sacrifice. I’m asking Transformation Church—God’s asking us to raise the rim. Will you sacrifice your time? Will you join a belong group? Will you actually serve on a team? There are hundreds of kids over here that, if you showed them the standard, they wouldn’t have to be healed and reworked like you did. I’m asking for men to actually get in the game and start raising and helping teach little children the Word of God from a male’s perspective—not just the voice of God being a female, their mama, their auntie, their granny, but there are men of God who will stand up and say, «As for me and my house, we’re raising the standard!»
Oh, but I forgot; the game is on! And so you would rather give your treasure to a cable company that distracts you from purpose than to say, «You know what? I’m going to sow my time into a young man who maybe lost his father or a young man whose father is absent.» I already have my own kids, but you know you reap what you sow. Maybe that time where you’ve been disconnected from your kids and they’re not listening anymore—if you would sow that same thing into somebody else’s children, then God would bring along somebody else to be able to—they don’t hear me! Y’all don’t understand how the Kingdom of God works. It’s in reverse. Everything you need, you give. Everything you want, you give it away! And that’s why I’m telling you—it’s time for us! Everybody say, «Raise the rim!»
You know Kobe was known for his, I’ll say it like this, he was known for his really just unnecessary sacrifice. Like, he already made it to the league; he came out when he was in high school. He was 17 years old when he got into the NBA. Think about your 17-year-old. That’s enough making millions of dollars! But he decided that his sacrifice was not just going to be because he made it to the standard; he was going to give more. Now, I could tell you that, but I’m going to let one of his opponents tell you. Jay Williams has a specific instance that happened that shows you the type of sacrifice that Kobe was willing to give. Check this out: «I go back into the room, and then I sit on the bench and get ready for the game. Who do I see?
I see Kobe Bryant already working out. So once I set my foot across that line, I started working out. So I worked out for a good hour, hour and a half, and when I came off after I was done, I sat down and, of course, I still heard the ball bouncing. I looked down, and this guy is still working out! I think he was working out like he was in a game. It wasn’t like his moves were nonchalant or lazy; he’s doing game moves. You know, it’s the same thing, and I’m like, at least my shoes… am I gonna see how long this goes on? I’m there watching, 'Twenty-five minutes? You got to be kidding! ' Okay, I think I’ve seen enough. Go play! '»
The sauna gets ready for the game that Guinea drops for games, okay? After the game is over, I’m like, «Half-ass this guy.» I have to understand why he works like that. So, in the afternoons, I’m like, «Hey, why are you in the gym for so long?» It’s because I saw you come in. I don’t want you to know that it doesn’t matter how hard you work; I’m willing to work harder than you. Wow, you just inspire me to be better.
Now, he was willing to give that level of sacrifice for a game; are you willing to give that level of sacrifice for your God? The sad truth is many of us aren’t. Even after God has done everything for us, somehow we think that what we have is ours. If God asked you for what was in your wallet right now, you would throw a fit. If He asked you for your home, you would go crazy. If He asked you for time every week to help kids learn how to read, you’d spend that time casually on Instagram, comparing yourself with people when God said, «I just needed a sacrifice of your time, your talent, and your treasure.» But look what Romans 12:1 says. He says, «Friends, do this thing because of God’s great mercy to us.»
How many are thankful for God’s grace and mercy like this? Okay, come on, let’s remember where we used to be. He said, «Because of God’s great mercy to us, I appeal to you. I beg you. I ask you, please think about this: offer yourselves as a living sacrifice.» Oh my God, that’s everything—that’s your time, talent, and treasure. Offer it to the authority of God, dedicated to His service, and pleasing to Him. This is not just that song you sing, not your favorite worship song; this is true worship that should be offered. If we’re going to do this, I want you to understand it’s saying it should be offered. All I’m asking us to do is raise the rim. As we raise the rim and we get to the standard, I want us to have the audacity to commit to the sacrifice it’s going to take to do it.
I know many of us don’t want to do the sacrifices because the rim is too high, and we would rather play on the goal we made up. I don’t like the goal here; it’s moved too far. I don’t like it here either because I don’t have any authority. I’m not submitted to anything. I can make up my own rules, and I can make it as comfortable as I want it to be. Let’s play a game where I only get to shoot, and I only get to score, and it’s all about me. Let’s see who gets to ten faster—one, two, three, four, five. This is how most of us look in our lives because there’s no standard. «Look at me! I set my own rules for relationships. Look at me! I do what I want with my money. Look at me! I treat people how they treat me.» And God is saying, «Is that really what it’s about? You setting your own standard, subpar to what I called you to do?»
So, the sacrifice is easy; a child could come play on this. But for a maturing believer, this is below the standard. Church, I hope you hear my burden today. The world’s not coming to a God whose children only win on a standard they set. If Kobe Bryant was dunking on this goal with all of his ability, everybody would think he was crazy. They would say, «He broke the backboard. That man needs to be checked in.» But isn’t that what believers look like? «Yeah, look at me, I’m dressed nice, but you’re mean to everybody. 'God, I give you all the glory, ' but you don’t give in the offering.» I know I am. The reason I want you to sit in this is if the fans leave early, I’m sorry. You know when your team gets down and it gets uncomfortable, and they’re not really a die-hard fan; they don’t ride with the team. They just come to cheer when it’s good and then come when we talk about «We got the keys, the keys.»
But then when you start talking about changing and transformation, they start leaving early. It’s okay, though; they can catch it on the rebroadcast. Let me get back into it. I was about to go down a whole situation. Okay, so we got the standard—everybody say standard—and we’re going to sacrifice—everybody say sacrifice—but now you need a strategy. See, the problem with so many people is they get the standard; they’re willing to sacrifice, but they don’t have a strategy. Now let me help you understand something: you don’t need a strategy if you don’t have an opponent. The only reason you need a strategy is that you’re going up against something. The problem is most of us are living our lives as if we do not have an opponent. It’s like you’re playing pickup ball in the game of life, but the reason you need strategy is because the moment you decide you’re going to live pure, the enemy becomes your opponent.
He sends every distraction your way. This is the truth: people can dam you that didn’t even like you. Like those on the outside may say, «Are you getting stronger?» «No, I gained five pounds.» But if you think so, somebody say, «I have an opponent.» That means you need a strategy, and most of us don’t have a strategy for how we’re going to live pure, a strategy for how we’re going to stay accountable, and a strategy for what we’re going to do with our wealth, our time, our talent, and our treasure. That’s why I’m begging you: strategy. Write this point down: it is preparation for opposition. You only study games for the team you’re about to play. So many of us need to be in our Word, and we need to get in a small group. At the end of this month, we need to be accountable because that is part of the strategy. Somebody say strategy.
In this year, you will have opposition. Most of us are playing like the devil doesn’t want to trip us up. Let me prove it to you: John 10:10 says, «The thief, our opponent, the devil, only comes to steal, kill, and destroy.» It’s easy to dunk with no opposition, but when the enemy comes and stands in front of you—Makana, come back up here real quick. Okay, this is the thing you have to realize: he wants to take away your purpose. But look what God says, «My purpose, the reason I came, is to give you a rich and satisfying life.»
Where’s the ball? Who’s got the ball? Son, under the goal, get the ball. Let me show you something. This young whippersnapper—stand under the goal, son. Stand under the goal. I’ve been praying and fasting. What fast? I’m about to dunk on you, son! I want you to know you’re the devil; you’re slewfoot, and your mama is ugly too—just kidding, not your real mama! I love his real mama, Tami, I love her. I want you to try to block me when I come in to get on your face. Give me the ball, son! Now, the only reason I was actually able to dunk on somebody who actually does this is because the rim was at a low level. Could you raise the goal up, please? He can’t move because I can’t dunk if he was there.
My point is to be able to dunk with an opponent at the standard; I gotta have a strategy. Now, some of you don’t know this because you don’t play basketball, but the easiest dunk to make is an alley-oop. I don’t have to carry the ball all the way; I just have to get high enough to tip it in. This is the grace of God: if you partner with Him in strategy, when He says, «Get in a small group,» that’s for your safety. That’s an alley-oop for you. You don’t hear me! When He tells you to give ten percent of your income, He says because, «I’m going to rebuke the devourer for your sake.» That’s it! When God tells you to give, He says it’s because He has something better coming behind—that’s the alley-oop.
So many of us are missing the strategy of God because we won’t take the time to acknowledge that there’s an opponent. But my Bible says, «Greater is He that’s in me than any defender that’s in the world.» If you’re going to have a strategy this year for God to make you everything you’re called to be, let’s give God a shout of praise in this room right now! Okay, I need five more minutes because I gotta give some of y’all strategy. How many people in this room and watching online need a strategy for purity? They fake! They didn’t even want to write suits! Like, «Oh, did you see it?» Okay, we’re a hot church—humble, open, and transparent. You can be married, and you all think because you get married.
How many people need a strategy for purity in this room? Okay, let me give you strategy. Psalms 119:9: «How can a young person stay pure? By obeying the Word of God.» I just gave you strategy. The Brenda Todd version, the BTT version, says, «By hiding yourself in the Word of God.» When I was trying to get out of pornography, when I was trying to stop seeing women as objects and see them as the queens that God made them to be, I had to dive into the Word of God. I could not watch what everybody else was watching; I could not listen to everything that everybody was listening to because I had to have a strategy to see the results that God wants us to see.
So many people come up to me like, «Pastor, I deal with the same thing you deal with—pornography, man—and I just want to know what can I do.» «Lay hands on me.» «Bro, me laying hands on you ain’t going to do nothing. I can only pray and agree with the standard, sacrifice, and strategy that you’ve set in place.» Too many people want to break through in an area they’re not willing to go through. They want to go around it, and God says, «You got to go through it.»
Remember the children of Israel did not go around the wilderness; they went through it. Oh God, I want to preach! The children of Israel had a strategy, but they disobeyed the standard. They started creating golden calves, worshipping other gods, and getting distracted. What they did is they sacrificed, but they sacrificed on the wrong level. Moses was up in the mountain hearing from God, and they were supposed to be worshiping and praising the God that Moses was talking to. They said, «Let’s lower it down to six feet, and let’s take all our gold and our jewelry off. Let’s melt it together, and let’s build a golden calf. Maybe this six-foot god can answer our big prayers.»
They started wrestling and worshipping a god that was at a low level, and they turned an eleven-day journey into a forty-year death march. Nobody from their generation—except two people—got into the Promised Land that God gave them because they didn’t keep the standard; they weren’t willing to sacrifice; and they didn’t have, everybody say, «strategy.» How many people need strategy for a healing? You need healing in your body? James 5:16—you ain’t ready for this! «Confess your sins.» What does that have to do? «Am I off the right? If I didn’t make up to standard, this is the standard of God. You need a healing? Okay, confess your sins. To who? To who?» «She gossiped so much.» Well then, why see your friend anyway?
See, because if the people in your circle can’t help you heal, maybe you’re in the wrong space. It says, «Confess your sins one to each other; pray for each other.» That means you don’t need a pastor, a prophet, or an apostle to get your healing. I know this makes some pastors and leaders mad because they want to be the ones to touch you and give you what a man of God has for you. Jesus says, «The greatest apostle, the greatest said that greater works you all will do.» It’s like you’re waiting for me to do something. I gotta go because the greater one, the Holy Spirit, is going to come and not just be on the outside; He’s going to be on the inside, and He’s going to give you, everybody say, «power.» He says, «Yeah,» He says, «confess your sins one to each other; pray for each other so you may be healed.»
«Oh, you need a strategy for healing.» And He says, «The earnest prayers of righteous people have great power and produce wonderful results.» I’m trying to give you real-life strategy. Is this strategy helping anybody in the room right now? Does anybody need strategy for communication? You need your communication fixed? You’re about to cuss everybody out? Okay, here we go. Ephesians 4:29: «Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification—that it may impart grace to the hearers.» That means if you can’t edify with your words, shut up! I feel a holy shut-up coming. Oh, shut up! Some of you all are about to say some things, and you’re going to hear, «Shut up! That’s God telling me how many people need a strategy for their finances.» Okay, come on, I’ve got one: Proverbs 3:9. «Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.»
Watch the promise: then your barns, or your bank accounts, will be filled to overflowing, and your vats, or your investments, will brim over with new wine. I’m talking about a strategy—a standard that’s willing to sacrifice your time, talent, and treasure, and a strategy from the Word of God to see. And I’m going to give you one more. How many people just need a strategy for your life? A strategy for your whole life? All right, my favorite scripture in the Bible: Matthew 6:33. «But seek first"—everybody say first—"the kingdom of God and his righteousness.» That’s above the likes, above the bag. Some of y’all say, «I’ve got to secure the bag,» don’t pass the mic, above the bag.
«Well, I just need to be in a relationship, and I know you will be honored by our union.» Yeah, we can twist scripture for all kinds of stuff. «Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.» Righteousness—not perfect standing, but right standing with God, and that can only happen through what Jesus Christ did for us. «And all these things"—look at the promise—"will be given to you as well.» Have you ever forgotten something, and it was the thing you wanted? And then they gave you bonuses? It’s like buying cologne at Dillard’s. Some of y’all don’t know anything about this because you get it from the man on the corner, but if you ever—yeah, some of y’all got a man who sells oils.
You know, and why does that oil bottle last for six years? Like, somebody else still has the same cologne from high school. Like, okay, anyway. But if you ever buy cologne or perfume from Dillard’s or Macy’s, they give you the cologne, but then they give you all this other random stuff as well: tote bags, deodorant, and samples from brands. I mean, it’s just—but that’s what living at the standard of God does. He says, «I’ll bless your family, and I’ll bless your business, and I’ll give you the love of your life.» Y’all are going to have to work on it, but it’s going to end up glorious. And I’ll bless your kids because I’m a generational God. I don’t just stop with him; I’ve got from Abraham to Isaac.
Okay, I’m done. Write this last point down: When you submit to the standard, then you surrender to sacrifice and sell out to strategy, you will see success. The thing I think about Kobe’s life—20 years at the same organization. That man came into the league at 17 years old. He is probably one of the most successful NBA players to ever play the game. He had 18 All-Stars, four league MVPs, two Olympic gold medals, and five NBA championships. If we were to categorize success in that lane, Kobe Bryant was massively successful. The reason I’m so passionate about this moment and why I used him as an example is that almost at this very time last week, he, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people took off on a routine helicopter flight, and minutes later the reports began to flood in that every person on that helicopter had transitioned into eternity.
And we’re talking about a standard, a sacrifice, and a strategy so we can see success. Many of us feel like we have an infinite amount of time to make those decisions. This whole week I’ve been asking myself, as a father of two daughters and one son and a husband to one wife and somebody who aspires to be successful in the area that God has placed me, it made me question what success really was. Is my success a big auditorium? Is success a million Instagram followers? Is success ten million dollars? What is success? And the Holy Spirit dropped in my heart what success is, and I want to share it with you today and hope it changes your perspective on life. Don’t ever forget that I said this: true success is obedience to God. True success is doing what God asks you to do. If he asks you to teach those kids where you’re getting paid not enough, God says that’s true success.
If he tells you to stay in that marriage where it’s really hard right now, that’s true success. If he tells you to give what you’ve got and he’ll take care of you on the back end—what’s true success? Obedience to God. Why are you saying that, Pastor Mike? Come lower this goal one more time, because what’s happening is if success, in God’s eyes, is this ten-foot goal that we should be playing on, what we keep doing is lowering the standard. And when we lower the standard, success is other things. «I want to be famous,» so success for me is fame. «Success for me is people being impressed with me.» Success for me, and we’re playing at the wrong level. It’s time for us to raise the rim. The thing that always impacts me when I think about Kobe’s life is all his worldly accomplishments: eighteen All-Star games, four MVPs, two Olympic gold medals, five NBA championships. When he transitioned into eternity, none of them mattered.
Think about it. Think about it: 41 years of working for something. My question to you, as people mourn and grieve and hurt—and his family is probably going through something that none of us can imagine, and we’re praying for them. A lot of people keep asking me, «Why would God do this? Why is Kobe gone?» And I don’t have the answer for that, but maybe a greater question that you should be asking yourself is, «Why are you still alive today?»
I’d be a horrible pastor if I didn’t challenge all of us to raise the rim. Let’s not live at the standard that the world says. Let’s not love at the standard that the world says. Let’s not give at the standard that our family showed us. Let’s find our standard in the Word of God. Let’s sell out to a sacrifice that might hurt, but it’s going to build more with our talent, time, and treasure than anything we could do on our own. Let us get a strategy, and let us see eternal success. I’m living my whole life so that when I transition, I hear from God, «Well done, my good and faithful servant,» and all of heaven would stand up and clap and shout—not because I did everything that the world said I could do, but because I obeyed God. And I did what God asked me to do. I will have reached true success. If that’s you in this place, I want you to stand all over this place. If you’re watching online, I want you to lift your hands. I want to pray for you right now.
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I’ve tried to convey this word in the most practical way that I can, but today, Father, I need you to do the heavy lifting. There are people in here, Father God, who are lowering their standard, and today we’re asking you to raise the rim. Help them raise the rim on how they treat people, how they love people, how they give, how they serve, how they honor people. And God, I’m asking that our lives will change from today forward. We will not conform to the standards of this world, but we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In Jesus' name… somebody say, «I agree.»
If you’re in this room right now, everybody just please—this is the most important part of the service because we can leave out of here and never see you again. That’s a vapor! And there are some people in this room whose eternity is unsure. You’ve been living at your own standard; you’ve been doing your own thing; you’ve been setting up your own goals, cheering at the wrong level, and God’s saying, «Hey, right now you can make the greatest decision of your life and raise the rim.» There are some Christians in here that need to rededicate their lives because you’ve been living too long in your own ways.
If that’s you in this room and you’re saying, «Pastor, I want to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior,» or «I want to rededicate my life to God today and raise the rim,» I want you to lift your hands all over this place. Come on! I see you! I see you! I see you! I see you! I see you! Come on! You can do better than that— the rim is going up right now! The rim is going up for you, transformation agent! Hey, we’re a church that is a family; nobody prays alone. I’m so proud of you today! As we pray this prayer, your eternity is going to be established, and now you have the choice to live at a new standard. Can we all pray this prayer together? Everybody say:
God, thank you for sending Jesus to show us how to live at the standard. Today I give you my life. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for being raised again. Today I give you my life. Change me. Transform me. I’m yours. In Jesus' name, Amen!