Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

One of the major causes of human suffering is the fact that people see life from many different perspectives.

While we were in Duluth we went to a park where we stood on a bridge and watched a bus load of junior boys and girls eat their lunch on the rocks below.

A lovely stream flowed over the rocks creating a beautiful site with falls and pools of water.

Further down a number of fishermen were on the bank.

It was a picture of pleasure, but pain was nearer than anyone could suspect.

A young couple came past us on the bridge, and they made their way down the stream, and then down into the valley where a very small island had formed, and a delightful pool awaited the swimmers.

The girl sat on the sand, and the boy in his early twenties pulled off his shirt and dove into the pool.

We were impressed with the natural pool, and standing in the hot sun we could enjoy vicariously the refreshing feeling of the swimmer.

The rocks hid him from our view, but soon we noticed that he came climbing up on the rocks holding his neck.

It was obvious he had experienced some sort of injury.

He made his way back to the girl, and she quickly gathered up their belongings, and they retraced their path back over the bridge where we were standing, and into their car.

I was deeply curious as to the nature of the young man's problem, and so I walked over to the only other swimmer in the pool who was also leaving the area because of the accident.

I asked, "What happened to the other young man who was swimming?"

He said, "One of the junior boys had thrown a rock into the pool and it hit him in the neck as he was under the water, and it cut a gash.

They were heading for the hospital for stitches."

Everybody in that beautiful setting was there for pleasure, but because people find their pleasure in different ways the end result was pain and suffering.

Junior boys see such a setting as a place for throwing rocks.

I cannot imagine a boy not wanting to throw rocks into that water.

For the young couple in their twenties it was a place for a refreshing swim.

Both perspectives were legitimate, for it was a lovely spot for both activities, but just not at the same time.

Both could have been enjoyed without pain had they been experienced at different times.

But here were two people trying to practice perfectly normal and acceptable behavior, but behavior which became incompatible when practiced in the same place at the same time.

There is nothing wrong with track events or stock car races, but to try and have them on the same track at the same time would be a disaster.

The point is, you do not need to be doing anything wrong to cause suffering.

Even right and good things create suffering.

You cannot be content to ask only of your actions, is this right or wrong?

You must also ask, is this selfish?

Is this behavior which is good for me a risk of the well being of others?

It may be an okay thing in itself, but is it appropriate in the circumstance?

By broadening our perspective on life, we can prevent suffering which is caused so often by a narrow self-centered perspective.

The accident we saw could have easily been prevented by all of the people involved.

The swimmer could have seen the danger of this environment with junior boys swarming all over the place.

He could have waited ten minutes to swim, and all could have shared the joy of the setting without pain.

A few minutes of sacrifice for the sake of the others enjoying their activity would have prevented the accident.

Or the leaders of the youth could have seen that the young man was going to have his own way and swim in that risky environment.

They could have warned the boys to cease all rock throwing.

Neither of these things happened because everybody was operating from a narrow selfish perspective that saw only self-interest, and was oblivious to the interest of others.

Nobody was being evil, and nobody wanted anything but pleasure for all, but a too narrow perspective led to pain.

According to Paul in the text here in Phil.

2, the whole history of man would be one of suffering without hope had Jesus had a narrow selfish perspective.

Had He said, "It is in my best interest to cling to equality with the Father," there would not be any plan of salvation.

The whole plan depended on Jesus seeing beyond a selfish to a sacrificial perspective.

The sacrificial perspective sees life from the point of view of the interests of others.

Because Jesus saw what was in our best interest, He paid the price necessary for our salvation, and He prevented perpetual pain by eliminating everlasting suffering for all who receive Him as Savior.

Paul is using Jesus as the prime example of how all of us can prevent suffering by developing a proper perspective.

There are only two basic ways in which all of us see life, and the one we chose as our perspective determines whether we are a part of the cause, or part of the cure.

The selfish perspective sees life only from the point of view of its effects on one's own interest.

The sacrificial perspective sees life from the point of view of the interest of others.

Paul says that one of the goals of Christian growth in Christ likeness is to shift your perspective from the selfish to the sacrificial.

This is no small task, for it goes against the grain of our selfish nature, which Satan and the world encourage and support.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are all allies in strengthening the selfish perspective of life that causes so much suffering.

The majority of the influences in our culture push us to the selfish perspective.

It is only by refusing to conform to the world, and by being transformed by the renewing of our minds by surrender to the Holy Spirit, and obedience to God's Word, that we can move from the selfish to the sacrificial perspective.

I want to look at how these two perspectives change all of life so we can see why it is worth the cost of moving from the one to the other.

Let's begin by looking at-

I.THE SELFISH PERSPECTIVE.

The first thing we need to do is set the record straight, and make clear that self-interest is not a sin.

We are made to be responsible for ourselves, and we have an obligation to have self-interest.

People who lose this are not fine specimens of humanity.

They are the people who have lost their pride and self-respect, and no longer care about how they look and live.

They become their own worse enemies.

It is curse to have no self-interest.

It is self-interest that motivates us to be our best, and achieve excellence in some area of life by persistent use of our gifts.

Note Paul's language carefully in verse 4.

He says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interest..."

He did not say they should have no self-interest.

He was saying they should not have such a perspective of self-interest exclusively.

It is not that they should not look at their own interests at all, but not that only.

Only is the key word here for clarification.

There is no point of feeling guilty because you care about yourself, and the things that matter to you.

That is not only normal and natural, it is the way you are expected to see life.

To have no self-interest is to be sick, and in need of healing, for it is healthy to have self-interest, and unhealthy not to have it.

The problem is the extreme which makes self-interest the exclusive concern.

Then it becomes the negative we call selfishness.

Paul in verse 3 says, "Do nothing from selfishness."

Selfishness is bad, but self-interest is good as long as it does not become exclusive.

When it becomes your only perspective it is a vice and not a virtue.

There is a big debate on whether selfishness is good or evil.

Both sides have a good case because it is matter of degree.

If you mean by selfishness, a concern for the self, and a focus on self-interest, then you are right; it is a virtue.

But if you mean by selfishness, and exclusive interest in your own well being regardless of others; then you are wrong.

So many debates are like this.

Opponents are talking about two different things, but using the same word to describe them, and so they think they are in radical disagreement when in reality they are not.

It is important to define our terms so we know exactly what we are talking about.

The selfish perspective that we are looking at as the cause of so much preventable suffering is not self-interest, self-respect, or self-esteem.

These are all vital to good mental health.

We are looking at that perspective on life that is self-centered to the exclusion of others.

A person with this perspective makes decisions and takes actions based solely on what is good for him or her regardless of the consequences for others.

The drug dealer, for example, has no concern about the destroyed brains and lives of his victims.

All he sees is the growing bank account in his name.

Self-interest is all he can see.

It is this exclusive nature of his view point that makes it so evil, and the cause of so much pain.

The druggist, no doubt, enjoys seeing his bank account rise as well, and he has an interest in people using drugs for the sake of his own benefit.

But he is respected because his perspective takes in the interest of others.

He dispenses drugs, not for his own interest exclusively, but for the benefit of all who use them.

This broadened perspective makes all the difference in the world.

He is concerned about himself, but not only himself.

He has to have great concern for all those he serves so as to be careful and accurate for their sake.

The Prodigal Son was seeing life from the selfish perspective when he took his inheritance and left home.