The title of my sermon tonight is, what if everyone were like you?
What if everyone were like you?
And my text verse tonight is Titus chapter 2 verse 7 where the Bible reads,
and all things showing thyself a pattern of good works,
in doctrines showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.
So the Bible says that we should show ourselves a pattern of good works,
meaning that other people could look at us and pattern themselves after us,
and follow our example.
So the question is, do you want people to follow your example?
Do you want them to be like you?
Do you want them to follow your pattern?
Could you look at them and say, follow me as I follow Christ?
Could you look to them and say, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord?
What if everyone were like you?
Would that be a good thing, or would that be a bad thing?
Flip over, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3.
While you're turning there, I'll read for you from Philippians chapter 3.
Brother, and be followers together of me.
Paul was able to confidently say that, be followers together of me.
And mark them which walk, so as you have us for an ensemble.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping,
that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
So there are a lot of bad examples out there.
We need to be a good example.
We need to be a pattern of good works.
We need to be someone who can say, be a follower of me.
Use me as an example.
I can be a pattern of good works for you.
Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 8.
Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail night and
day that we might not be chargeable to any of you, not because we have not power, but
to make ourselves an ensemble unto you to follow us.
I mean, here's Paul saying that he went through extra hardships, extra struggle, just in order
to make sure that he provided an example for other people to follow.
He wanted people to be like him.
He was setting a good example.
Flip back just a few pages to 1 Timothy chapter 4, just a few pages to the right in your Bible.
1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 12, it's a pretty famous verse.
But the Bible says, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Even a youth, even a young person is known by their doings.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.
And even a young person should strive to be an example or a pattern of good works for
others to follow.
So I want to go through several things tonight.
I'm just going to list a whole bunch of things.
And some of these might hit a little close to home, so don't be a snowflake about it.
But I'm going to maybe hit a little close to home or step on some toes tonight.
But I just want you to ask yourself that question in sincerity.
Let me just say this right now.
I ask myself this question all the time.
You know, well, what if everyone were like me?
What if everyone did it this way?
Would that be good or would that be bad?
Because I think that's a pretty good question sometimes to ask if we're figuring out whether
what we're doing is acceptable or not.
What if everybody did this?
Or here's another good question for you parents.
Is this what I want my children to be doing?
Do I want my children to grow up and do what I'm doing and be like I am?
Because we're to be a pattern.
We're to be an example.
And whether we try to be or not, we're all an example to someone.
We're all a pattern to someone.
Someone's looking at us and following our example for good or for ill.
So here are some things to ask yourself about.
You know, what if everyone were like you?
Okay, how about church attendance?
And I realize I'm kind of preaching to the Sunday night crowd.
Maybe this point would have been a little better for the Sunday morning crowd.
Hopefully they're at home right now tuned in on the live stream, eating some chips,
drinking a soda.
You know, I hope they're comfortable in their pajamas.
But you know, church attendance, you say, well, I'm just kind of a Sunday morning only
guy.
Okay, well, what if everyone were like you?
Then that would mean that we'd have 300 people here on Sunday morning and then Sunday night
would roll around and you know who'd be here?
Just me.
If everyone were like you, if you were a Sunday morning only.
You're not.
Okay, that's why you're here.
But think about that.
You know what?
You know what would happen?
I'll tell you exactly what would happen.
If I showed up every Sunday night, week after week, and I was the only one here, I'll tell
you exactly what would happen.
We'll cancel the Sunday night service.
And if I showed up every Wednesday night and I'm the only one here, then I would cancel
the Wednesday night service if nobody comes.
And let me just explain something to you.
That's what 90 some percent of evangelical churches have done.
Why do you think these churches don't even have Sunday night?
Why do you think they don't even have Wednesday night?
Because nobody showed up.
I remember we spent some time when I was a teenager in the wilderness of the neo-evangelical
movement.
We got out of independent fundamental Baptist churches and we got into some NIB rock and
roll type churches.
They were still considered very conservative.
But to us it was super liberal because we'd grown up independent fundamental Baptist.
So we went to a church.
It was called First Baptist Church of Elk Grove.
It was part of the North American Baptist Convention.
They used the modern versions and had the rock band and everything like that.
It was a modern contemporary style fun center.
When we went to that church, we only went to Sunday mornings.
And there were about 2,000 people in attendance between their two services on a Sunday morning.
It was a pretty big church.
We didn't go to Sunday night.
We didn't go to Wednesday night.
We were just kind of checking it off because we weren't really that jazzed about the preaching.
We weren't really that jazzed about the church.
I was just a young person at the time.
I think I was 13 or whatever years old.
One time they announced, hey, we're having a series on the book of Revelation on Sunday
night.
My dad thought, wow, that sounds cool.
I love the book of Revelation.
I love Bible prophecy.
It's going to be interesting to hear this.
So we showed up on Sunday night.
It was our first time to a Sunday night service.
We got there.
It was a huge auditorium.
And literally, there were way less people than are here right now in the service.
There were literally less than 100 people there or something.
And everybody was just gathered.
It was like this giant auditorium.
And everybody's just gathered in the first few rows just right there at the front of
the auditorium.
And we thought it was kind of cool because it felt pretty intimate.
Because you're used to going to this giant church.
There's thousands of people.
The pastor's really far away.
We were like right there in the pastor's class with like 75 people or 80 people or whatever.
But you know what?
That's why those type of churches are canceling the Sunday night service because it's an embarrassment
when you have 2,000 people there on Sunday morning.
And then Sunday night, it's 50 people.
It's 80 people.
There's hardly anybody even there.
And they're like, what's the point?
What's the use?
So ask yourself this question.
Do you want the Sunday night service to continue to exist?
Do you want the Wednesday night service to continue to exist?
Then show up.
That's your vote to keep it rolling.
And every time you show up to church, you're voting to keep the door open and saying, hey,
I want to be here.
I want to hear the preaching.
And again, our church doesn't really need this that much because we have a great rate
of people coming back.
You know, because we have about 300 on Sunday morning.
And then Sunday nights are usually around like 225.
We're a little down now from the summer and throwing people out and everything.
But you know, we usually, you know, two thirds of the people are back on Sunday night.
Two thirds of the people are back on Wednesday night.
That's great.
But let's keep it that way.
Amen.
But why is that?
Because the Bible says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner
of some is, he said, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So if our parents and our grandparents in the forties and fifties and sixties and seventies
and eighties and nineties, they all went to church three times a week.
Why would we need it less now?
Why would we scale back as we see the day approaching?
We need more as we see the day approaching, not less.
And so if everyone were like you and, and let me just flip that over since you're here
on Sunday night.
Hey, if everyone were like you, we'd be running 300 on Sunday nights as well.
But if everyone were like you, okay, try this on.
How about being late to church?
What if everyone were late to church?
Think about that.
What if we got here and it's like, thanks everybody for coming, please take your seats.
And there's two people, imagine.
And then a visitor walks in and there's big giant space and three people in here.
And then everybody just slowly kind of trickles in over the next.
Wouldn't that be ridiculous?
So you know, you're those that are consistent and you know, what's funny is that sometimes
it's the same people who are consistently late.
They're so consistent, like they're exactly five minutes late every time or exactly 10
minutes late.
I mean, if they could just, they're doing great on consistency.
They can just shift a few minutes over because they're getting ready on time in some universe,
but it's just, we can just shift it over a few minutes.
Then they'd actually be on time with the rest of us, right?
You know, being on time is important so that you can get here early and fellowship a little
bit as well.
Talk a little bit, mingle a little bit.
That's part of why we go to church also is to fellowship.
So it's good to get here a little early.
It's good to hang around a little bit and fellowship and talk afterward if you can,
unless you have somewhere to go or something like that.
And look, if you get here late, don't be one of these people who's like, oh, we're three
minutes late, turn around, we're not even going.
It's okay to be late.
I'm not saying don't be late, especially if you work late.
I'd rather see you walk in halfway through the sermon and your work clothes than not
to come at all.
I'm talking about people who are just being late because they're just not caring enough
to get here on time.
That's what I'm talking about.
You know, if we're, if we're to honor the Lord in everything that we do, it's respectful
to show up on time, right?
And if everybody did it, the whole thing would be a mess, wouldn't it?
If everybody showed up late.
How about this?
Singing.
Sing.
What if everybody sang quiet, super quiet or not at all?
Like some people do ask yourself this question, what's the title of the sermon?
What if everyone were like you?
Now maybe you sing out and I'm not talking about the quality of your voice.
That's not important to me.
I'm saying those of you who sing out, imagine if everybody were like you, I mean, we'd be
raising the roof with praises to God.
It'd be amazing if everybody sang out, it would sound great.
It would be powerful, right?
Or what if you're one who kind of just prays the Lord, prays the Lord, love to you.
What if everybody did that?
Can you imagine this weird humming drone to a whole lot of trees?
You know, the Bible says, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
church, will I sing praise unto thee.
The Bible says to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
The Bible says to sing out with a loud voice.
With a loud voice, the Bible says, to lift up your voices and sing praises to God.
What if everyone were like you in the area of singing?
What about we pass the offering plate?
What about if everybody were like you in regard to tithing versus non-tithing?
Go to 1 Corinthians 9.
Think about this now.
If you don't tithe, think about what if nobody tithed?
Then we wouldn't even have this building.
There'd be no air conditioning.
There'd be no staff.
I'd be out working a full-time job.
I wouldn't be able to do a lot of the works that I'm doing.
Brother Segura, Brother Garrett-Cursway, they wouldn't be able to do the work that they're
doing.
So basically, a ton of the works that we do would just not be happening.
Here's the thing.
It would be a bad lifestyle because I did that for the first four and a half years of
pastoring the church.
I worked a full-time job, more than full-time job, in order to take care of my family.
I pastored the church at the same time.
I did that for four and a half years where I was literally working like 75 hours a week
at my job.
I was driving 80,000 miles a year and taking flights all over the place, just trying to
make enough money to survive with my family and also to pass the church.
I did that for four and a half years where I was just 100 percent making money out in
the world and pastoring the church.
Then I switched to a hybrid for a while where I was getting paid half from church and I
was able to scale back my business.
I did that for many years.
For several years now that the church has grown a lot more, now I'm full-time pastoring.
But imagine if I were still, right now, working 75 hours a week in the fire alarm business.
The films that you see produced there that I work with Brother Paul Wittenberg on, they
wouldn't have happened the same.
We wouldn't have got as many of them done.
They wouldn't have the same quality.
Obviously, he does most of the work, but still, I participated in that.
We worked together as a team.
All the soul-winning, the mission trips, the soul-winning marathons all across the country,
and just being able to run this place the way that we do.
What about all the tens of thousands of dollars of materials we give away, DVDs, CDs, USBs?
Where do you think all that stuff comes from?
Somebody has got to pay for that stuff.
Something has to pay for it.
Well, you say, but Pastor Anderson, when the plate goes by, I throw in a $5 bill.
Here's the thing about that.
If every adult threw in a $5 bill, we would not even be able to pay the rent of this building.
Let alone any salaries, let alone any DVDs, or even the invites that we hand out, the
church activities that we put ... I mean, everything costs money.
I'm not one of these preachers that gets up and talks about money.
I rarely talk about money.
I'm not one of these that tells you, hey, you need to dig deep, and we need to have
full paycheck Sunday, and if you're not given 11% or more, you're not right with God.
I don't believe you preach that.
Here's what I believe and preach.
The same thing I've always believed and preached for the last 11 and a half years, and even
before I became the pastor, and what I practiced from the time I was a little boy, is that
if you give your 10% to the Lord, that's the whole duty of man.
Anything you give above that is a free will offering.
It's not to be guilted or pressured.
You give your 10% because the tithe is the Lord's.
The tithe belongs to the Lord already, and you be a good steward of that, and then anything
you give above that is at your will.
We don't have fundraisers here.
We've never had a fundraiser.
We've never had a building fund.
We never had a missions fund where we set up a thermometer and said, hey, this is the
goal.
We never had a special offering.
This is the only church on the planet that I know of that never had a special offering
or a thermometer or a big fund.
It's not about, oh, man, we just want money.
We just want people to donate.
Any donation that people give out of the goodness of their heart, hey, it's going to go to the
work of the Lord, and it goes toward getting a multitude of people saved.
Our church has had almost 8,000 people saved one-on-one this year, not counting preaching
to thousands in schools and all the millions, literally millions of viewers on the internet.
We're just from one-on-one talking to people because we have a great force of soul-winning
warriors here, but you know what?
Tithing is a New Testament teaching, and people will try to say, oh, forget tithing.
It's Old Testament, but here's the thing.
That doesn't make any sense because if God ordained for there to be full-time servants
in the church, pastors and deacons, then how in the world could that even happen without
tithing?
It won't work.
Your $10 bill, your $20 bill, your $5 bill doesn't pay the bills.
That's just a fact.
The rent that we pay right here for this building alone is, I believe, approximately $7,700
a month, and you say, oh, that's crazy.
We're using every inch of it.
It's used for church.
It's used for storage.
It's used for offices.
We use it.
We jam it out.
We pack it.
And you know what?
That's a good deal.
Other places would cost more than that.
A dollar a square foot is a pretty good deal, and then we pay another $700 for the place
up on 35th and Cactus, so it's like a total of $8,500 almost or something.
Where do you think that comes from?
It doesn't come from people just throwing in a $5 bill.
It comes from people obeying the Lord and giving their tithes.
Now look down at your Bible in 1 Corinthians 9.
This is what the Apostle Paul is saying.
Am not I an apostle?
Am I not free?
Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?
Are not ye my work in the Lord?
If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for the seal of mine apostleship
are ye in the Lord.
Mine answer to them that do examine me is this.
Have we not power to eat and to drink?
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as the other apostles, and
as the Brethren of the Lord, and Cephas, who is Cephas, Peter?
He said, Are I only in Barnabas?
Have we not power to forbear working?
Who goeth to warfare any time at his own charges?
Who planted the vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof?
Or who feedeth the flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
Say I these things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also, for it is written in
the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.
Doth God take care for oxen?
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes?
For our sakes no doubt this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope, and that
he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
If we have sown unto you spiritual things, it is a great thing if we shall reap your
carnal things.
If others be partaker of this power over you, are not we rather?
Nevertheless we have not used this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder
the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple?
And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
Listen don't buy into this house church garbage that says, oh the pastor shouldn't be paid,
he's supposed to be like Paul and make tents.
You know what Paul just said, if you're actually paying attention to the reading just now?
Paul said that out of all the apostles, of which there were at least eighty-two, out
of all of the apostles, that the only ones who did not work full time as preachers were
he and Barnabas.
And that he and Barnabas were the only ones who weren't married.
So that means that Paul and Barnabas are single guys, and by the way they didn't always pay
their own way, because there were times when Paul talks about other people supporting him
from Philippi and other places, where they're paying for his way.
Now when he was amongst the Thessalonica people, he saw that they were lazy and they weren't
working, so he wanted to set an example so he worked full time, day and night, just to
show them how to work.
And there were other times that he made tents, but then there were other times that he also
lived off of preaching the gospel.
But here's the thing about that, Paul is a single man, Barnabas is a single man, and
they were the exception, not the rule.
And by the way, Paul wasn't a pastor of a church, you can't even be a pastor of a church
unless you're the husband of one wife, and unless you have faithful children.
And so Paul was an apostle, but he's not a pastor, he was single, but what about the
other 80 apostles, like Peter, who were married?
And you know what happens when you're married?
Guess what happens when you're married?
What comes next?
First comes love, then comes marriage, right?
You have kids, okay?
So the apostles are married, they had kids, and they did not, you say, no, no, they all
had jobs.
Oh really?
What was Peter's job?
Because I remember his original job was what?
Right, and Jesus told him to do what?
He said, to follow me, he forsook the net, he forsook fishing, and the one time he ever
went fishing again, Jesus confronted him and rebuked him and told him, hey, the first time
he told him, from henceforth, thou shalt catch men.
He didn't say, now you're going to keep fishing, because God forbid you get paid for working
as a preacher.
Wrong.
That's a false doctrine.
It's a false, you'll hear the Mormons talk about it, and other people where they teach
this false doctrine of, oh, does your pastor get paid?
Does your plumber get paid?
Does your electrician get paid?
Does the carpenter get paid?
Does the janitor get paid?
Does the landscaper get paid?
And you know what?
They that labor in the word and doctrine, the laborer is worthy of his hire.
And I make no apology about being paid, and you know what, back when I didn't get paid,
for the first four and a half years, when I worked just without getting paid and worked
another job secularly out in the world, you know what, I always said, hey, pastors should
be paid.
It's just, I'm not taking a paycheck.
I like my job.
I'm able to make it work.
I don't need that.
But that's what Paul's saying the same thing.
Just because he's working and making tents, he said, look, God ordained it different.
God ordained that they which live of the gospel or preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
And here's the thing.
I remember sometimes people would come to me in those early days like, oh, man, I love
how you work a job and you don't get paid, and I'd say, and they'd say, well, my pastor
back home, you know, I'm like, whoa, buddy, your pastor back home is doing it right.
That's correct.
I preach more about it back then because I didn't want people to get the wrong idea that
I was somehow criticizing an institution that God had set up.
And look, honestly, I would have just continued working that full time job and pastoring or
at least doing half and half.
But the Lord worked it out to where my business ended up coming to an end.
Long story.
But it worked out.
It kind of forced me to shut down that business and to go full time.
And you know what?
Looking back, though, I thank God for that because you know what?
The lifestyle that I was living there for a long time was not a healthy lifestyle.
And at the time, I felt like, oh, I can do this forever.
But you know what?
Looking back, I was going to get burned out.
And looking back, my family was suffering just from me being gone so much and not having,
you know, at least some time with family.
It was too much.
Now, you go through periods in your life where you have to do what you have to do.
Some people go through periods of intense training at a job or maybe they have to work
two jobs for a while.
But you know what?
You can't just live your whole life in a way that's not sustainable.
And I think that it's superior for pastors to be paid, and I've always preached that
from the beginning, because it's biblical that God has ordained that they that preach
the gospel should live of the gospel.
It wasn't God's will for Peter to go fishing.
When the guy is one of the ultimate preachers of all time, Peter, what do you think he should
be doing?
Preach.
I mean, look, do you wish that the apostle Peter would have spent more time fishing and
less time doing his job as an apostle?
Look, I wish the apostle Paul would have spent less time making tents.
Why would you want him to spend time doing that?
Anybody can do that stuff.
You say, well, anybody can do your job.
Okay, come do my job.
Really?
Because we have a big shortage of people to send out to do my job.
So if this job is so easy to do, well, you know what?
Come give me your application after the service, and let's get you dialed in.
Let's find a bunch of qualified people to go do my job.
It's a bunch of baloney is what it is.
And it's a bunch of house church people where it's five people in a living room talking
about how tithing is unscriptural.
It's seven people in a living room talking about how we got three pastors and four church
members.
Too many chiefs and not enough Indians in these house churches.
I knew of a church that had like two pastors, and I think they were the only two men in
the church.
Not kidding.
They like ordain each other, and they give themselves all these titles.
Meanwhile, back at Faithful Word Baptist Church, we're winning 200 people to the Lord a week.
Well how do we win 200 people to the Lord a week?
By working at it full time.
It's by us getting here early, staying late, thinking about this stuff seven days a week.
We're not thinking about our worldly jobs.
We're thinking about this.
And hey, you want me to go get a job and just phone it in three times a week, great.
But think about what if everyone were like you?
Would this place even be able to operate?
Would we even be able to...
And look, I'm not asking you to dig deep.
I'm asking you to do what God commands you to do.
And you know what?
The Bible here doesn't say, hey, in the New Testament, tithing's repealed.
No.
What he says is that the preachers in the New Testament live off the gospel the same
way those who worked at the altar lived off of it.
He said right here in verse 13, do you not know that they would minister about holy things?
Who is that?
What group of people is that?
The Levites.
Not just the priests, but also the Levites, right?
The Levites.
Do you not know that they would minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple?
And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar, even so hath the Lord ordained,
even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
The same way the Levites ministered about holy things.
Should they have just not eaten anything?
Oh, sorry, you guys can't eat.
That's why he started the chapter.
Look at the beginning of the chapter.
Verse number four, have we not power to eat and to drink?
Sorry, Levites, you can't eat.
Just do all this work or just take down the tabernacle, set up the tabernacle again, slaughter
all these beasts, do these animal sacrifices.
But sorry, no fruits and vegetables for you, no grain for you, no meat for you, nothing
to drink for you, hew your own wood, draw your own water, do it all yourself.
Is that what the Bible taught about spiritual workers in the Old Testament?
No.
They dedicate themselves day and night to the work of the Lord.
That's what the Levites did.
That's what the priests did.
And in the New Testament, we don't have Levites, we don't have priests, guess what we have?
The workers in the local church, the New Testament worker.
We have the pastor, we have the deacon, we have other servants of the church, but we
don't have this thing of, well, tithing's abolished.
Really chapter and verse on where tithing's abolished.
It doesn't say that.
And anything that's not specifically changed in the New Testament, we go with the Old Testament's
teaching.
Because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You go with the Old Testament's teaching unless it's specifically repealed, and it's not.
And don't take me to, you know, oh, not by constraint but willingly.
You know what that's about?
Alms.
That's talking about giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem.
Let's get some context.
Okay?
It has nothing to do with supporting.
And again, I don't want to go on and on about that, even though I just did go on and on
about that.
How about this while we're making people a little uncomfortable?
Go to Matthew chapter 9.
How about littering?
Look, I hate littering.
I hate it.
It dries out.
I can't even believe it sometimes.
Like when we go to certain areas and you just see just trash lining the street.
Isn't it just unbelievable?
And I'm just always asking myself, what kind of a person throws their cup out the window?
Every gas station has what?
A trash can.
And eventually you got to fill up on gas.
Look, throw it in the foot area.
Throw it in a little wastebasket.
Throw it behind your head while you're driving for crying out loud.
And when you get to the gas station, put it in the trash.
It's insane, isn't it?
To just eat candy, throw it on the ground.
Eat your food, throw it on the ground.
You know what?
If you do that, you're a derelict.
You have no character.
It's sad.
It's ridiculous.
What if everyone did like that?
We would just live in a trash dump.
We would live in a trash can.
And look, you and I have been, I'm not going to name any names of places.
Some of you know the places that I'm talking about.
Where we go soul winning and there's trash everywhere.
And you know what?
I used to wonder, who would do it?
Who would do such a thing?
But then I noticed my children, when they're really small, three years old, four years
old, that you'd give them something, they'd eat it and throw it on the ground.
And then I realized, you know what it is?
Because parents never taught their kid not to do that.
Because a toddler will do that.
But good night.
I remember one time my brother was given a soda by my grandfather.
Because they had this rule that you could have as many sodas as you wanted, you could
have as many Martinelli apple juices as you wanted, but you had to finish the whole thing
and you had to throw it away when you were done.
And they discouraged us from drinking the soda.
As they said, you know, the sodas are there because we know you like them.
We'd prefer you to drink the apple juice or something more sensible.
But you can have as many as you want, but it has to be finished.
If you start it, you got to finish it and you got to throw it away.
So one time my brother and his cousin, they each took off carrying a can of soda, took
off into the woods because my grandparents lived in the woods.
They come back three hours later, no can.
And my grandpa says to them, where's that can?
And they said, well, you know, we threw it away, threw it out, you know, into the woods.
And he said, go back and get it.
Well, it turned out they'd thrown it off a cliff.
I'm not kidding.
They had thrown them off a ravine.
And my grandpa was one of these kind of alpha male, it was just like, if he tells you to
do something, you do it.
You know what I mean?
And he didn't have to even discipline you for you to know that you just, you don't disobey
grandpa.
So you know, they went back into the woods, they climbed all the way down to the bottom
of the ravine, they searched, they found the two cans and they brought the cans back and
presented them to my grandfather.
And you know what?
My brother hates littering more than I do.
I mean, my brother hates littering.
And when we go on a hiking trip or whatever, he's always telling me, hey, pick that up,
you know, pack it in, pack it out.
You know, and he's always really strict about it.
Why?
Because you don't forget a lesson like that.
When you climb down into a ravine to get one soda can, that drives that in, right?
Okay, how about at church?
Don't litter at church, right, just leaving your trash, leaving your junk everywhere.
You know, clean up after yourself, right?
And it's a good opportunity to teach your kids, right, to clean up after themselves,
teach them at home.
What if everybody did like you?
This place would look like a movie theater or something.
Popcorn everywhere, drinks everywhere, just spilled everything.
No, we don't, you know, don't be like that.
What if everyone were like you?
Okay, how about this?
Soul winning.
What if everybody did as much soul winning as you do?
Would that be good or bad?
If you don't go soul winning at all, ask yourself this question.
What if everybody were like you?
If you don't do any soul winning, you know what would happen?
Literally Christianity would just die off the face of the whole earth.
And I realize that that's not humanly possible because Christ said that, you know, his church
would endure and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it and so forth and
that obviously there are going to be a lot of believers when Christ returns.
But the point is though, if everybody did soul winning like you do or don't do, ask
yourself, would the world be a better place or a worse place?
Now if you do a lot of soul winning, think about how great it would be if everybody did
it like you.
Everybody would hear the gospel over and over again.
But if you don't go soul winning, but you're glad that somebody else goes soul winning,
wait a minute, what if everybody were like you?
What if everybody were like you?
Or what about this?
What about when the church is going through some kind of persecution and you say, well,
I'm going to stay home.
I'm going to stay home because there's protesters or the media or whatever.
And I'm thinking of brother Roger Jimenez because his church went through an intense
battle a year ago.
And you know what?
It was actually worse, what they had going on outside of their church was worse than
anything we've ever experienced here, much worse than anything we've ever experienced.
Who was there?
I know a lot of you traveled there and were there.
Okay.
Now imagine this, because I know there are some people who stayed home, just say, we
don't want to go through that.
We don't want to endure that.
Well, think about what if everybody would have been like them?
Think about that.
You know what would have happened?
The media would have showed up, 500 sodomites would have showed up and pastor Jimenez is
inside preaching to 20 people and you know what they'd do?
They'd mock that, they'd ridicule that and they'd say, oh yeah, this guy is not even
a real church.
It's just his family.
Nobody's even here.
Think about how they'd have a field day with that.
But as it stood, what was the attendance?
Like 200 and what was it?
300 people.
Yeah, they had like 300 people.
We sent like 75 people from our church or 80 people from our church just to bolster
him.
And then he had 200 some of his own people show up or people from all over the area.
Most of his church members were in their place and then the media showed up and they couldn't
say that.
They couldn't mock it.
They couldn't really scoff at it because there's 300 people in there singing praises to God,
listening to Spirit-filled preaching.
But what if everybody were like that one who just kind of stays home, just kind of sits
that service out.
He'll be back next week, but you know what I mean?
And look, I'm not, if somebody made that mistake, I'm not trying to hit on that a year later
or something.
Right?
Because obviously we learn from our mistakes, we move on, people need to live it down.
But that's not the point.
The point is it's a perfect illustration of what if everyone were like you.
If you sit out and God willing, we never have to have any type of event like that at our
church, but I'd say the odds are pretty good that eventually something like that might
happen at our church.
You know, who knows?
Stranger things have happened, right?
So what are you going to do?
Are you going to be the one who, who shies away and stays home?
What if everybody did that?
That'd be pretty rough on the pastor, wouldn't it?
And whose head is really on the chopping block more than anybody else?
The pastor.
I mean, when they, when they come and start rounding people up or start persecuting people
for hate speech or whatever they're going to call it, who do you think is the first
one that's going to get arrested?
Joe church member or Joe pastor?
Think about it.
He's the one who's got his head on the chopping block.
He's the one whose face was all over the, he's the one going to the grocery store and
everybody's whispering and pointing at him.
Can you show up?
Think about that, right?
What if everyone were like you?
Soul winning.
What if everyone were like you?
Look at Matthew chapter nine.
This is a famous scripture.
Matthew chapter number nine.
And this is a powerful scripture.
It says in verse number 36, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion
on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.
Man sayeth he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his
harvest.
Look, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
Well, what if everyone were like you?
There'd be no laborers or if you're a great soul winner, forget great soul winner.
Who's a great soul winner?
I'm not.
You know what I am though?
Be a consistent soul winner, right?
It's not about being a great soul winner.
Just show up with the Bible in hand, preach a thorough gospel with the Holy Spirit in
your breast and a tear in the eye.
You're going to get people saved whether you're great at it or not.
If you love the Lord and if you love people, you're going to win souls.
Be a consistent soul winner because if everyone were a consistent soul winner, the whole world
would hear the gospel so many times, they'd just be up to their ears in it if every Christian
would be a soul winner.
What if everyone were like you in the area of soul winning?
That's a pretty good question.
What if we were to even just step outside of church subjects because this is church
related stuff.
What if everyone were like you on church attendance?
What if everyone missed Memorial Day just to go to a barbecue or stayed home for Christmas
to have a little more family time or skip this and skip that?
Then the church would just be empty on those days.
What if everyone skipped it for the Super Bowl?
Then we'd shut it down and play the Super Bowl.
That's what churches do.
Nuts to that idea.
What if everybody showed up late?
Visitors would think they showed up at the wrong place.
They'd think they're in the wrong time.
They'd leave.
What if everybody sang like you?
What if everybody tithed or didn't tithe as you tithe or do not tithe?
What if everybody littered like you or didn't litter like you and cleaned this place up?
I'm not talking about the church building.
I'm talking about America.
I'm talking about Arizona.
I'm talking about Tempe.
It's insane the amount of trash.
I see people do it.
I see people just throw a cup out the window.
It's just like ... I want to just pick up other people's trash, but I'm thinking it's
not sanitary and there's so much of it.
I can't even put a dent in it.
People need to learn to have character in that area.
This might be a little close to home, but what about this?
What about in church?
What if everybody got up and got a drink and went to the bathroom as much as you?
I realize there's times when you need it, but here's the thing.
The people who actually need it, because there's times when everybody needs it.
There could be situations.
There could be health issues.
You're back from three hours of soul winning and you rush in the door or you come straight
from work.
Sure, but I'm talking about the recreational users tonight.
I'm talking about the kids that just want to get up and move around a little bit.
They get up and they drink like a camel and then, of course, what do they need?
The bathroom.
Well, here's the thing.
What if everybody did that?
What if 300 people ... Let's do the math.
What if 300 people used the bathroom in a service or 300 people drink water?
Again, there's times when you need it, but I'm talking about kids that are just every
week, they just time it, their body's a clock, their pituitary gland just tells them that
at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sundays and at 730 p.m. on Wednesdays, it's just a time for them
to just do a complete fluid change and just drink and bathroom.
You know what I mean?
Look, what if everybody did ... Well, there's four bathrooms.
There's 300 people.
Would that even really work if you even gave each person just one minute to do that?
Look, I'm not trying to discourage people.
Obviously, there's always going to be people who need it, but I'm talking about the recreational
users.
I'm talking about people who are just doing it for something to do and their kids are
just abusing it.
Just ask yourself a question.
What if everyone did that?
We should always ask ourselves these questions about all areas of life.
You think about people on welfare.
What if everyone were like them?
There'd be nobody to pay for it if everybody just took free money and handouts and subsidies.
What if everyone were like that?
No one would pay for it.
We could go on with a whole list of things.
I've got lists and lists of things, but I think I've sufficiently made the point is
that whenever we look at the way we live our lives and the way we do our church attendance,
the way we do our giving, the way that we do our soul winning, the way that we do our
Bible reading, our prayer life, our church attendance, showing up on time, being late,
all of these things, we should always ... Our singing, we should just always ask ourselves,
what if everybody were like me?
That's just a good question to ask yourself a lot.
What if everybody did it like me?
Another question to ask is, what if my kids did it like me?
Like it or not, your kids are going to do it like you because of the fact that everything
brings forth after its own kind.
The primary application of that is talking about animals reproducing the same kind of
animal, no evolution.
Another application of that is that you will bring forth after your own kind.
When your kids grow up, they're not going to do what you tell them to do.
They're going to do what you do.
They're going to be like you.
So just every time you commit sin, ask yourself, is this what I want my kids to do when they
grow up?
Every time you're tempted to sin, ask yourself, so is this what I want my kids doing?
Because they're going to do it.
Well, they don't know about it.
They're going to do it.
They're going to find out about it.
They're going to figure it out.
Because we all figured out our parents' sins.
I'm just saying, kids, they live with you.
They see if you read your Bible or not.
They see if you talk about the Bible or not.
They see if you sing hymns or not.
They see if you pray or not.
They see what you do.
They see if you go to church or not.
They see if you skip church.
They see if you do soul winning or skip it.
They see the sinful things that go on.
And we're all human.
Nobody's perfect.
But you better take a long, hard look at yourself and ask yourself, if my kids grow up and to
be exactly like me, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
And we should ask ourselves that question in every area of life.
And what if everybody were like you?
Would the church even function?
Would Christianity even thrive?
Would anybody be getting saved if everybody were like you?
Let's borrow our heads and have a word of prayer.