Is It Wrong to Be Like Oprah? — Francis Chan

Last weekend was like the greatest weekend in the history of Cornerstone Church. I mean, I have never I've never seen the church so alive as when we're in Mexico. I mean, I wish everyone could have been there.

Giving Rather Than Receiving

I mean, it's just we were different we acted differently. We worship differently. Everyone was so alive. Because we went there to give you know. You go there to give and then you understand what the Bible means when it says it's more Blessed to give than to receive.

Everyone's over there after spending, you know, seven hours getting there. You know working all day Saturday serving in some capacity and then when we came together to worship Sunday morning. It's just it was different.

We were so filled with life and. And I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose that. I want to come back and go. Okay, now we're back in Simi Valley. So give to me something, you know, let me come and consume.

Let me go back to church to consume because do you realize you can come here and actually give you can actually walk through the doors walk into the foyer and actually be looking who can I serve and you'd be amazed and How much greater your worship experience would be if even here in Southern, California?

You came to give to other people and serve other people. It was the greatest trip though. Absolutely. Let's I Don't want us to lose that. I don't want to lose that giving attitude words were back. We're gonna be doing plenty of trips to Mexico plenty of different missions opportunities and things because I think there is something real about it.

I think it's great when we go into another environment and for some of you is your first time and it just blows your mind. When you look at the need I want to do services in the inner city, you know. Why don't we all go down to Compton and and have service down there and serve people there?

You know, let's just the church the church needs to be alive. We need to be doing things, you know. Do you not just showing up same place same old thing? I mean life is supposed to be an adventure people were filled with this spirit.

You guys are just in the class. All the other services have been dead, okay, this is good though, this is good. You guys are the ones that must have gone to Mexico. It was up, but it's just It's gonna make for a long service to if after every sentence you guys clap.

But uh, but that's okay. That's okay. We can do that. We can do that. Um, but it was cool I mean just for some of you a man there were tears or people serving, you know I'm lady 60 years old going. I think those the greatest day in my life, you know.

It's just experience giving like that in that type of environment I'm just saying I don't want to lose that. I so don't want to lose that. Did you come today desiring to give. Was it the same mentality now that we're on the other side of the border.

Because it's so easy to lose that yeah I got I get home Sunday night and it took us like 10 hours to get back because there's some issues of at the border but It didn't take everyone that long but we we did and I got pulled over and everything else, but I didn't even have to bribe talk myself out of it and.

But all sorts of things. But then get back Sunday night jump on a plane the next morning to go to Lima Peru okay, now Lima Peru what. Okay because I Did not know what Lima Peru was all about. What do you think about?

Okay, when you think Lima Peru, what comes to your mind? Tropical. Mm-hmm. Dry dirt, what's that? Enchiladas, oh I Can't hear well Chichen Itza, oh the ruins are they there? Okay. I didn't know. Okay.

Much you beat you. Okay. Same to you. Okay. What what else? What do you think Lima Peru? What comes to your mind? Mangoes. Air pollution. All right soccer good. Primitive Oats, oh the oats. Yeah, Kevin and Jessica oats our missionaries are down there.

Okay. Yeah when I thought Lima I thought tropical. Doesn't it sound tropical. Lima Peru, you know, it just it's like this beautiful tropical little place on the coast. It's ugly. It's it's not tropical at all.

You try to find a tree in Lima. It's just it's it's brown. It's just dirt it's just this desert the Sun never comes out there's always just a haze. So the sky is always gray. Everything's just brown and there's amazing poverty in Lima.

Poverty and Displacement in Lima

Did you know in Lima that there's there's been this religious persecution in some of these areas? There's been a cult called the the shining path and and just like in in Sudan Africa where you know. These rebel groups will chase everyone out of there because they're running for their lives and they go to northern Uganda.

So now you get all these refugees same thing has happened in Lima Peru people have been chased out of their homes and they have come To Lima, but now you're going to place unlike Uganda. That's got some natural resources.

Lima's got nothing. It's a desert. You've just chased all these people into this desert in the last 10 years the population of Lima has grown from 850 ,000 to 8 million in 10 years so imagine all these people coming to this desert area to find a home.

And so they they set up the this little these little shantytowns all over the place where they just find wherever they can to make. Four walls and as and a roof, you know, if you're lucky of something of some sort, but but picture, you know.

Seven million people that are displaced in this place. It's about 85 80 85 percent just severe poverty here in Lima and I Was shocked. I was shocked. I didn't know all this stuff about Lima. I went with Children's Hunger Fund, which were a big part of here in Cornerstone but one of the cool coolest things one of the first day first day I go there and Many days in my life.

I wake up. I just go God do something crazy in my life today I don't want to just wake up and live another day. Okay do something show me you're around show me something great and first day I go to this place and you know those food packs that you guys packed for CHF we get those boxes.

You know, we we went out distributing some of those I mean could have been some that you packed, you know, and we go and we're distributing this this box at this one home I mean you can you can call it a home.

It's it's it's about the size of that wall these walls like you know about this big and and there's a four people living there it's a single mom and just two handicapped kids who can't walk and And and a daughter and so what's she gonna do?

She can't go work. She can't leave the her handicapped kids at home alone. And and so it's a situation like that and there are so many situations like that I mean so many husbands have left I mean just all these single moms and kids and orphans everywhere and and I'm passing this this this box to this lady.

Who you know, this will tire over for a few weeks, you know, but it's food. It's it's it's exciting to them. It's like wow a box, you know, and we're able to share that. You know someone from the States, you know cares and loves and there's a lot of love in this box, you know.

It's not just the food. It's someone someone cares about you. And but but anyways, I Come to find out, you know after talking to the translator a little bit that just the week before Someone hit from America had brought Wheelchairs to her two wheelchairs.

So for the first time her two boys could go and then I find out it's someone from our church or his church the week before. That's just so nuts on middle of a slum in Lima Peru with eight million people in this one home and someone else from Cornerstone Church was there the week before delivering, you know Wheelchairs, you know, it's just the craziest thing.

I'm going wait a second someone from Johnny and the friends I go was it so and they're like, yeah, I translate from like it goes to my church I mean, it's just like this crazy thing of just seeing the love of Christ through Cornerstone Church.

I mean, there's there's nothing like it and then I you know, then I go and visit our missionaries. We have missionaries in Lima Peru Kevin and Jessica Oates. A lot of you guys remember them. He used to head up our Our Bible Institute and that was a huge loss to us when we lost Kevin it's like man you ran our whole Bible Institute.

He taught us so much of the scriptures. Kevin is doing an amazing job out there. He's teaching at the seminary, but he didn't speak Spanish. So he had to go learn Spanish first and now he's teaching Greek in Spanish.

Okay, you know so that's what Kevin is doing and and he's training up pastors there and then Jessica Jessica's a nurse his wife's a nurse and so she's been doing these these mobile medical clinics. But I want to show you some pictures of the area.

Medical Ministry in Manchay

They live, you know that they're ministering in this area is called Monchi. This is just a small small section of it. They're actually 300 ,000 people that live just in this area this little shanty town 300 ,000 and there's a small area and there's like eight to twelve of these.

Eight or twelve of these that surround Lima where they're just they just live up in the dirt. Here's here's their homes. I mean, they're just trying to find anything. They don't own the land they just find a piece of land try to find some wood and and just put up something to put their family in and.

So here's your typical home as you can see everything. That's just what you see everything every day. It's just dry. It's just gray. It's just here's your whole life your whole existence in there a lot of these single moms I mean some of them just tons of kids, you know, just nothing for them to do.

Jessica like I said, there's been doing these mobile medical clinics. Where she'll get a team of people and they'll they'll go to a certain area and maybe you know. Rent out a church or something like that and just do like a one-day clinic and try to see as many people as they can.

And then Kevin Kevin's preaching at a local church. And like I said, he's teaching in the seminary. And go ahead and go to the next one so this is this is just a typical countryside area. And and they there's no water obviously no running water anything like that.

But a truck will come by every once while a water truck and people will run down with a bucket and scoop some. You know water out of the bucket and but they have to pay for it's not the government. It's just they just get some water from some vendor.

And the water they get I'm sure is pretty disgusting but it's water at least there's something for them to drink. And so they'll just run down do that. That's that's their existence. And the tough thing is I was talking to Jessica about it in that area of 300 ,000 there's no medical care.

There's she said there's one little clinic but she says you wouldn't even want to go there she says that everything's misdiagnosed. She goes she's explained how this one lady, you know came to her just going.

Yeah, they told me I have this liver disease that they just can't cure. You know, that's where my skin is dry and Jessica checks her on goes. No, all you need is lotion. It's just you know, it's just it's like a crazy.

I mean the things that she runs into she goes. You got to understand what these people are about though. They'll come in and kids are you know, they've got an eye injury. They'll have something over the eye.

I'm like, what is that? And it's some cloth that's soaked in urine and blood or whatever else and they just believe it'll cure. They'll bathe their kids in urine, you know cuts they'll pour urine I mean, it's you know she'll talk about babies that come in and you know with with different diseases and and and what they do is they'll catch a Pigeon and have the the pigeon poop and water and they'll mix it up and put in a baby bottle and have their baby drink.

Believing well that okay. I mean this is the medicine they have this is what? 300 ,000 people. You're not just in one area. That's just one area and there's there's a few of these. This is the one that Kevin Jessica have landed in and and so what she was trying to do was set up a medical clinic.

You know just something there and and so she showed me the area and they had a few walls. I'm like, well, what what happened shows we ran out of money. I'm like, how much more money do you need and she goes just five thousand.

I'll put on the roof and finish off this building and I can start working and so immediately I call the church and go you Guys just just wire them ten thousand dollars, you know saying buy some medicines.

I mean we had money from those pictures you bought, you know, so it's like, okay, just just wire it over. Oh, yeah, and It was so cool, you know, and she's like really you guys will do that I'm like, of course, you know, and she just goes, you know, this is the greatest day of the year.

It's Jessica's day. I think this is the greatest day of the year for us. This is just the best news and and so I'm talking to them and and just trying to figure out what are the needs and She says, you know, honestly, we need some help here.

I mean, it's it's the two of us Jessica has gotten one one nurse practitioner that's helping her now, but now as we're setting up the clinic I mean understand picture all of Simi Valley Moore Park thousand Oaks Newberry Park all of them going to two girls for their medical care.

Okay, try to picture that everyone's seeking after them and you're all living in those conditions, too so that's what it is out there and She's saying any help just someone to even teach and I'll teach you medicine and they can in turn just teach the people.

Look urine doesn't solve everything, you know, whatever just the the basic obvious. Here's what aspirin is for. Here's what this is for just basic hygiene those types of things. She's even if even if someone would help me watch my kids so that I can be out there more.

Because you know, they have a one-year-old baby and she's and she's pregnant again and she's like four or five months pregnant. And so she goes I'm gonna have both babies and it's just gonna be really tough and she's been trying to find child care but it's just it's not easy out there and.

Building a Church, Clinic, and School

Because we have these dreams. They have these dreams and they've become my dreams and they've shown me the pictures of what they want to build in this area in Manchai, they want to build a church a nice church so that people can come and worship.

They want to build a real medical clinic that'll cost about two hundred thousand dollars. They want to build a school where they can educate some of these kids and teach them English. Because if you can speak English and Spanish, you'll be out of your poverty.

I mean, it's that valuable out there. They want to they want the church. You know. We were talking about how maybe we can make the church the place where people can come and get clean water. Somehow and and basically we're talking about a million dollar project, but we need laborers.

We need people who know about construction that may be able to go over there and and organize the thing. We need people who'd be willing to teach people who help with the medical clinic. And and I just thought you know what?

I Told them, you know, I'll ask the church see if people would be interested. Maybe we can get some of you to move down there for a year a year or two invest your life in something like that. And it's it's crazy it's crazy down there I'm not gonna lie to you there is a city in Lima there is a an area that's pretty.

What do you call it established modernized? Whatever, you know, I'm basically there's McDonald's or Starbucks. There's Kentucky Fried Chicken, you know, there's there's there's Applebee's. Okay, so, you know, so there's like a normal part of town not normal.

That's wrong word. It's it's. What? Developed. Yeah a developed a part of town. But it's it's still dangerous a ton of crime and You know, Kevin and Jessica live in an area. That's it's pretty protected, you know, and you kind of need to.

But it's still not totally safe. And and I I don't want to paint like this. Oh, yeah, go it'll be beautiful. It'd be easy. No, it's it's it's crazy, you know, leave Simi Valley and move to Lima Peru. That's that's crazy.

But at the same time, isn't there a sense in which It would be crazy not to I mean when you when you look at what you know of Scripture and what you know of the need there and Lima is not unique to the world many places like this.

Isn't there a side of you of you? I'm not this isn't just coming from me, but isn't there a side of you that even thinks it's kind of crazy not to Invest a couple years my life into something like that.

True Religion and Care for the Vulnerable

Just just think about it. It's hard for me to talk about anything else when I get back from a trip, I just got back Friday and and it's hard for me to talk about anything else because. And it's not it isn't unique to me.

It's unique to me because I go and I go to these place and I have opportunities go and I thank God that I get. To go to these places because I believe if you visited this place this week your heart would be the same as mine.

I mean Bill went with me and he knows exactly what I'm talking about right now. I mean you can't think about anything else and when you go it's it's not that I'm this godly man. It just happens that I I get blessed and get to go on some of these trips but if you went you would come back with the same feelings that I have where you get back you jump into your bed and You go.

Wait a second right now. Right now as I'm sitting in this air-conditioned room. They're still over there and some woman is mixing up pigeon poop and water for her, baby. You know and then hoping that that'll cure whatever disease he's got and and.

So it's just hard to even focus. It's hard to concentrate. You just go. There's so much suffering going on and as the church. That's what we need to be all about. I mean, that's what we preached on last weekend, right?

What did Todd leave us off with what's true religion caring for widows and orphans in their distress? That's the religion that God sees as acceptable that's what God wants from the church. Caring for widows and orphans in their distress.

So what else is there to talk about? That's true religion according to the Bible is to care for widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. But uh, you know I'm not gonna spend my whole message on that.

I'm gonna leave it there. But and we're gonna talk about it more next week. We're gonna jump into James this week and we will hit this next week next week. We're gonna solve world hunger. Okay, so we'll save that for next week.

You guys think I'm kidding. That's that's what's funny. You just just show up next week. Just show up next week. But now right now we're gonna we're gonna transition to switch gears. Would you guys just just pray with me?

Father I I Want Cornerstone Church. To just set the pace and to practice true religion and God to for us to pioneer to start something that truly would change the world. Father because we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us God.

So there's nothing on this earth that we cannot do and help us to truly believe that about ourselves not because we're great. We're nothing. But we worship a great God who can do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine.

According the power that lives within us and so father. I I pray for great things. I thank you for Kevin God. That's amazing that he's out there Teaching Greek in Spanish. I thank you for Jessica that she's out there with her two babies just trying to care for medical needs.

God that just. And I pray for those in this church that are gonna go and and help Create this this place of refuge. In that area God where people will hide in you and find security in you. God, I pray that you make it happen because it's way over our heads.

But God, I know you can do it and guide us now Lord as we open your word in Jesus name well this. This is this week. We're gonna talk about James chapter 2. It talks about favoritism. Favoritism and it kind of relates to what we've been talking about about who we care about who we lift up.

James 2 and the Sin of Favoritism

I remember last week that the passage ends with true religion being caring for the widows and orphans and keeping oneself Unpolluted by the world that means unstained. You're just pure. You think the way God thinks you see things the way God sees it.

Even though you hear these messages from the world and you're bombarded by the world all week long. You're not stained by it. You think the way God wants you to think you act and live the way God wants you to live.

That's what God wants of us. Now one of the areas that we get stained and polluted is what he goes into here in chapter 2. Which is the area of the way we view people and so in chapter 2 verse 1 He says this my brothers as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't show Favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes and a poor man and shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say here Here's a good seat for you.

But you say to the poor man you stand there or sit on the floor by my feet. Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Okay, so basically he says my brothers he goes don't show favor to him.

The word favoritism is literally translated respecter of persons. Don't be a respecter of Persons. Don't assume that one person is more important than another don't treat people differently and it's interesting because I love the phrase he goes as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ don't show favoritism.

That's very important as Believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ see if you believe That right now if you are a believer like he's talking about here if you're a believer that right now in heaven.

There is this glorious being. Okay, right now as we're sitting in this room. There's this being in heaven who the Bible says dwells in Unapproachable light there's this being where we would look at just go.

Oh. We would just be in awe. In fact, if we saw him in our human bodies the Bible says we would just die. Because he is so holy and so unapproachable in that sense. And he goes so if you believe there's this being sitting on the throne up there.

That's so glorious. Then you should not show favoritism toward people. You should not be a respecter of people. You should understand of all people that there's God and there are people. There's not different levels of people when we are in the sight of God.

There's just God and then there's just a bunch of little flesh-and-blood. You know people that walk around the earth like Isaiah 2 says, you know. Why do you regard man who has but a breath of life in his nostrils?

You know, why would you why would you lift up a person when he doesn't even know if he's gonna take another breath. If there's God and there's man and as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we shouldn't have any distinction amongst ourselves as people and honestly.

This was an embarrassing passage to me. Embarrassing because I always assumed in my pride. I assumed that I was not one to show favoritism. I just thought come on, you know, I see people that are star-struck.

There's so-and-so I'm like Weird, you know, I mean who cares it's like oh you signed this, you know. And they're so star-struck by different people and I'm just like I am so not like that but then I'll talk to a famous person and Suddenly, it's like I'm like thinking about what to say.

I'm thinking about everything. I can't talk, you know, and I'm I'm just realizing Okay. So what does that say about me? I'm a loser, you know, I I I do the same thing like wait a second. Why am I speaking to this person differently?

Because I'm a respecter of persons. And the Bible says we we can't be that way we shouldn't be that way. It's gonna happen everywhere else. Right. There's certain people on this earth that wherever they go, they'll get special treatment, right?

And at the same time there are people who are rejected by the world and wherever they go, they'll be rejected. And that's okay. What's not okay is when they come to church and it's the same thing and that's that's been some of the frustration.

You know, I and I admit it's in my it's in my heart too. But for example here at Cornerstone We've had over the last 12 years. We've had some pretty famous people visit the church and they'll sit here and It's sad.

Because they get treated at Cornerstone the same way they get treated outside of Cornerstone. People like did you see who I sat by, you know, it's a hey, will you sign my Bible? You know what whatever it may be.

It's like there's a flocking and there has been the famous people have come to the church have gotten no Different than what they get in the world that maybe they were coming here. Just hoping maybe they'll just treat me like another person here.

Maybe I can I can blend in because they believe in the glorious Lord Jesus Christ that they'll see me as just another person and care about my eternal well-being rather than a signature or a picture or whatever else there may be but but it hasn't been the case and in the same way there have been people who typically have been rejected in the world and they come here and You know what?

It's kind of the same thing here. I mean We got to somehow get past this. I mean, that's what the Bible is saying. We shouldn't be shown this special attention to people whether it's because of their wealth their fame or anything else.

We just should not be respecters of people. We respect God and then we just love people all equally the same. Can we get there? I mean just just imagine if you came in this morning. Try to imagine this you sat down in your seat.

Okay, and Tiger Woods sat next to you this morning. Okay, just try to picture that you sat down your normal seat and suddenly Tiger Woods sits down on your right side. Whoa, that's weird, right? And then Oprah sits in the next seat next to you and.

Would you be distracted right now. Okay now why. Why. See, we got to get to this heart of why would that distract me so much? But it would now let me ask you another question. They're still sitting next to you.

Okay Tigers on your right Oprah's on your left and then suddenly God appears on the stage the glory of God. This being who just let's say he allows us to get some glimpse. He allows us to live through seeing him in our in some veiled form.

He's on this, you know throne just filling up this whole place, you know. Just glory of God at that point. Will Oprah and Tiger be a distraction to you? At that point suddenly doesn't matter right. Because all you're interacting with is no way God and me God and me why.

Because we have in our sights the glorious Lord Jesus Christ. You see that's the problem here is that we forget we forget who God is we take our eyes off of God and Suddenly we become a respecter of persons.

All we see are the people we put them in these different systems and these different classes. Because we forget as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ all we should see is there's a great God out there and Then there's people and our job is because of all the mercy that God has shown us that we're out giving to people sharing with people showing mercy to people that's all this is that's all this is and and and and.

That's why we can't be consumers. We got to come here and say, you know, we're gonna give and if a famous person comes I don't want anything from a famous person. Why do I need to to know this person the Lord's my shepherd I shall not want.

I'm not gonna look at them the way the world looks them. Hey, can I have an honor? Can I have a picture can I have you know some money, you know, can I have this or that? I'm not gonna treat my boss the way everyone else treats them, you know of trying to get something from them of oh, man.

Maybe I'll kiss up to this person because they can help because I want I want I want I want that's the core of the issue. Is where people who want something from other people whereas the Bible says the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want if we are people who really get all of our fulfillment from the Lord and Satisfaction from that glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

Then we can walk into the church and give and show mercy as God wants us to. But we don't instead we show favoritism and you go. No that doesn't happen at Cornerstone. Oh, yeah. I Had a hidden camera.

Testing the Church's Welcome

Okay last night in the lobby. Okay, and I just wanted to know. Okay, how friendly are we as a church? Let me just stand at a table and Let me put someone else, you know next to me and you know, one of our high school kids kind of a punk-looking guy.

You know, not too bad. Just a little ring through his lip, you know, let's just let's just see you know what do we show favoritism or people gonna greet me and not him and. And so here's here's the video from From last night.

This is this is this is fun and we got a little counter on it shows you how many people Say hi to me. So there there I am and you can't really see. So just standing at the table and there's the other kid.

Oh, there's some people greeting me interesting now. They actually talked to the kid for a second. They asked him to take a picture of us. So that doesn't really count as them talking to him, let's say here's another guy coming out greeting me and there's lonely boys still lonely.

Well, so we're talking talking talking cool, here's a book. Hey read it. Okay. I'll try it. All right. See you later. Oh, here's another guy. Hey, I brought you something cool. Okay. Okay. Good. Good.

Thanks. Now, I appreciate that. All right, you want to talk to my friend now? Okay. Hey buddy. What's up, man? Good to see you. All right, cool. Rock on. Here's it and hey brother, I love you man, it's good good.

And then An usher here is talking to him. So good job Ed one more usher is talking to him ask me how he's doing. Yeah. Okay, here's some more people talking to me ignoring him. See what else happens. Hey, what's going on?

Oh Todd. Yeah, Todd and Lisa. All right. Okay, so You guys that that's what I'm talking about. It's like Are we really that different from the world? Honestly, we'll walk in and we'll zoom in on maybe someone who has something to offer us someone that we'd like to talk to you.

But are we looking to show mercy? Are we show looking to care for people or even in the church? Are there these classes and different people that will talk to and other people that will ignore? It feels like high school sometimes, you know, remember you walk in there's the popular kids.

They're the you know, the geeks there's whatever else, you know, and there's just certain Systems like that and and the people that are, you know popular in high school or popular in the church. You know, it's the same type of thing and the Bible saying look there shouldn't be a difference.

If there is a difference if we do show preference, we should show preference to the poor. To those who are typically rejected like it says in verse 5 Listen, my dear brothers has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world.

To be rich in faith and inherit the kingdom. He promised to those who love him. But you've insulted the poor isn't it the rich who are exploiting you? Aren't they the ones who are dragging in the court?

Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? He goes hasn't God chosen those rejects on the earth that to be rich in faith hasn't God chosen them to be his own children.

Don't you understand God has associated himself with the poor with the rejects of the earth. God's associate they're his children now suddenly you're rejecting God's children. The glorious Lord Jesus Christ is going.

Those are my kids those they love me. They're crazy about me and you're rejecting him. And he says it's the poor that have chosen. I mean isn't he's just saying in general. It's typically the poor who are crazy about God.

Doesn't mean that there aren't rich people who are also rich in faith. It's just it's rare. Typically, we're complacent. We've got God, you know, we've got so much stuff and we believe that we've built the security for ourselves.