(The Foundation and the Building) the Most Important Thing in Life — Zac Poonen

Majoring on the Majors in the Christian Life

I want to speak today on the most important thing in the Christian life. There's a phrase called majoring on minors. You probably heard it. What it means is that among a lot of things that we have to do in life, some very important, some not so important.

If we spend a lot of time doing the things that are not so important, we won't have time to do the things that are really important. That applies in all areas of life, whether in our home or in our work.

And a lot of people major on minors. And that's very true in the Christian life too. When you look at all the Christian denominations, there are so many of them, and many of them have got something they major on.

And if that thing you major on, what they major on is not what the Bible majors on. And they are majoring on minors. And that can happen to us too. So it's very important to see from Scripture, not from our own understanding.

When we come to the Word of God, we must recognize that our human understanding that we have got from Adam is corrupted by sin. It's worldly in its thinking, because those are the values we have acquired from childhood.

And we have to change our way of thinking if we want to understand what the Bible majors on. Have you ever wondered why there are some Christians you've met in your life who never seem to lose their passion for Jesus Christ and to serve Him ever.

Every time you meet them, they are, as it were, on fire for God. I'm always delighted to meet such Christians. Have you ever wondered why there are some sins that even after 20 years you never seem to get rid of?

There's a reason for both these things. It's because you're majoring on minors. And that man whom you see who has a growing passion for Christ and to serve Him has learned to major on majors. And that man who's got victory over sin in areas where you're continuously defeated, the difference is you're majoring on minors and he's majoring on majors.

So it's very simple, it's just like in the rest of, you know, in the world, why is it two students of equal intelligence go to school and one tops his class and the other does pretty badly and one goes on to do well professionally and the other is mediocre.

Both are of equal intelligence. It's because one majored on majors and the other chap with equal intelligence majored on minors. So, what is the most important thing in the Christian life? Only God can tell us that.

Conformity to the Image of Christ

I want you to turn to Romans chapter 8 and verse 29. Romans 8 verse 29. Here is a word called predestined. Predestined. Predestination means, you know that pre means before. Destination you mean, you know, when you get into a train and you want to go to Delhi, that's your destination.

And when you get your ticket, you have determined beforehand, you're predestined where you're going to land, Delhi. God also, it says in the word of God, before we were born, before Adam was created, before the worlds were created, God who knew the future, knew each one of us by name.

He knew where we would live. He knew what century we would be born in, which year we would be born in. Jesus says, He even knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows every detail concerning us. And knowing everything, He predestined something.

He determined a destination for you. He got a ticket for you on this train of life to reach a particular destination. And I want to tell you, that destination is not heaven. A lot of people think it is.

It's not. It says here, He predestined us, verse 29, to become like Jesus Christ, to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that Jesus Christ in heaven might be the firstborn among many brothers who look just like Him.

You know, heaven, God was so delighted with His Son, that He wanted to populate heaven with a whole lot of people who look just like Jesus. That was His goal. He said, I want heaven to be full of people who are like My Son.

And He chose different ones in different centuries from different countries. You there, and you, and you, and you, and you. You're chosen to be like Jesus, to populate heaven. That's your calling, brothers and sisters.

Now, if you get sidetracked from that onto something good, but which is not God's destination, you can miss the goal. And the sad part of it is, this train runs only once. If you missed it in this life, you've missed it forever.

And all you can do is spend the ages of eternity regretting, regretting, even if you're in heaven, that you did not live on earth for the things that God chose you to live for. It's not enough to go to heaven.

I tell you honestly, I'm not interested in just going to heaven. I want to accomplish what God created me for before I leave this earth. Many times I have prayed to the Lord and said, Lord, as much as it is possible for a human being, a child of Adam, who is born again, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ on this earth, I want to do that.

As much as it is humanly possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, I want to do that. And I'm willing to pay any price. I want to go as far as I can in being conformed to the likeness of Christ in my character, my speech, in my actions, in my attitudes to people, in the thoughts I think when I'm by myself in my prayer life.

I want to preach like Jesus. I want to pray like Jesus. I want to live like Him. I want to use money like Jesus used money. I want my attitude to everything. I want to treat my enemies like Jesus treated His enemies because I've seen my destination.

Evangelism Must Flow From a Christlike Life

A lot of exciting things along this way and along the journey, but I don't want to get sidetracked. I don't want to jump off at some station which is not the final goal. A lot of things along this way.

You know, and you can get excited with something which is good but which is not the ultimate goal. For example, take something very good like evangelism. Can you think of anything better than that? Reaching lost people with the gospel.

Such a good thing. And I'll tell you what I have seen through 44 years of being a Christian. A lot of people have made evangelism their goal. And they're not Christ-like. They're reaching people, reaching people and they're behaving in such an un-Christ-like way that people are being turned off.

They say, your life speaks louder than your words. And the name of Jesus dishonored. But they have a tremendous passion for evangelism. To give out tracts, to reach people. They don't realize that the way they live, their family life, the way they behave at home and the way they conduct themselves, their attitude to money and so many things are canceling out the message they preach.

So you see the danger of even being involved in evangelism if you don't make your goal becoming like Christ. It's like a station. You get excited with evangelism and get off at that station. I don't want to get off at that station.

And you come to another station where you find somebody laying hands on people and everybody's falling down on the platform. And you say, boy this is an exciting station to get off at to see everybody falling off like that.

And the train moves off and you're still falling down and getting up on the platform. Well, people who want to do that can do that. But I've got a destination to reach. I want to tell you that. And I don't want to get sidetracked to all these exciting things that I see on various platforms along the way because I see that God determined a destination for me.

And everything I do must be in the light of that goal. Must I do evangelism? Definitely. Like Jesus did it. Not any other way. Must I be filled with the Holy Spirit? Of course. Like Jesus was. All the things in relation to in scripture to me are like you know a jigsaw puzzle.

Every Spiritual Gift Must Fit the Picture of Jesus

Supposing you trying to make a jigsaw puzzle with 200 pieces and each of those pieces I mean it doesn't have any picture or meaning to it. But when you put it all together if you can see the face of Jesus you got it right.

So to me evangelism, gifts of the Holy Spirit are all little pieces in this big puzzle you know serving others worship, praise, everything. Even worship and praise is such a good thing. I know people are so taken up with it that they don't think that that's a spirit that must continue all through their life.

They praise the Lord on Sunday morning and then go home and yell at their wives Sunday afternoon. Actually that's not Christianity. That's a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that you take out all by itself and concentrate on that on Sunday morning.

I don't want to concentrate on that. I want to put that piece of the jigsaw puzzle called praise and worship into that face of Jesus and find its proper place there. That's what I mean. I believe in praise and worship.

I believe in serving the Lord. But I say the whole jigsaw puzzle is the face of Jesus. And if I don't see the total picture I can get taken up with one favorite piece of my jigsaw puzzle. And different people have got different favorite pieces.

And each thinks we've got the most important thing because that's the thing they like. Majoring on minors. And when God Himself has made a destination for me that that picture on the jigsaw puzzle must be reproduced in my character.

I say Lord that's what I want. Everything in life must fit into this overall goal. Like a little piece of the puzzle to make me like Christ. And it says here in the previous verse verse 28 that God will help me in this because He's gonna cause everything that ever happens to me to work together for this good purpose.

Those who are called according to His purpose means this is the purpose described in the next verse. So God is gonna make everything around me over which I have no control to work in an amazing way to bring me to this goal this destination of becoming like Christ.

God Uses Trials as Personal Training

He's gonna arrange difficult people across my path to teach me humility and patience. He's gonna put me along with irritable annoying people neighbors and co-workers because I have to become like Christ.

I have to learn patience and I have to learn long suffering. He's gonna put me through difficult financial circumstances so that I learn to be frugal like Jesus was. He's gonna make the meal that's cooked in your home one day not so tasty so that He can deliver you from the love of food and gluttony and make you like Jesus who was not a lover of food who used food for health but didn't worship it like a lot of people do.

See, God is sovereign and I'm excited when I think that Almighty God who runs this universe can look down on this small speck of dust called planet Earth and on that speck of dust find an even smaller minute speck of dust called me and take so much interest in me to plan everything so that I can become like Jesus.

Isn't that exciting? And when you see it I say, Father, how do you love me? I mean, you don't put me in a class with 50 students and teach me. You give me personal, private tuition. Each one of us the Holy Spirit gives you personal, private tuition and that's why your experiences are different from the experiences of other believers around you because you're not in the same class.

He doesn't put 50 people in the same class and give them all the same homework. No. That's in worldly schools. In God's school every student has got private tuition. Only God can do that and I'm thankful that I'm getting private tuition.

That's why I don't compare my lot with yours and you shouldn't compare your lot with mine. No. Because I'm in private tuition and I have certain weak subjects so he gives me extra tuition in those things and you've got certain weak subjects and he'll give you some extra tuition in those subjects.

I mean, if your weakness is physics and mine is math why should God give me extra tuition in physics? He's got to give you extra tuition in physics. He's got to give me extra tuition in mathematics or English or something like that where I'm weak.

That's where I need to not ever compare myself or my lot with anybody else in the whole world. That's why I'm not jealous of anyone. That's why I'm not in competition with anyone. I'm having private tuition.

See the folly of believers who wonder why God's dealing with me like this and why other people are having an easy time. It's because he loves you, brother, sister. He wants to make you like Jesus. There's a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Bearing the Image of the Heavenly Man

Here's what the Bible says about Jesus Christ and about Adam. Now we came from Adam but we've been cut off and put into Christ. We've been fixed into this tree called Christ. We've been transplanted, taken out of Adam and put into Christ.

And if so just like the characteristics of Adam were ours when we were part of that tree. Now it's these characteristics that should now be part of ours. 1 Corinthians 15 it speaks here about verse 47.

The first man is from the earth earthy. That's Adam. The second man Christ is from heaven. And verse 48 this applies to us. As is the earthy so also are those who are earthy. Now we know that very well.

That we all lived for so many years as unconverted people with the character of Adam coming forth from us gushing out like rivers of living water not living water sorry dead water you know anger and bitterness and jealousy and all the filthy things that gushed out of us and now we've been planted in Christ.

Why are you content with trickles of goodness and trickles of patience and trickles of humility and trickles of purity why are you happy with that? As is the earth so also are those who are earthy and verse 48 as is the heavenly so also are those who are heavenly.

And just as we have listen to this this is a promise just as we have born the image of the earthy verse 49 we shall also bear the image of the heavenly I want to take that as a promise from God Lord just as for so many years I have born the image of the earthy of Adam so faithfully I believe your promise is true that I shall bear the image of the heavenly that there are that things are going to change in my life as I allow the Holy Spirit to get me focused on my destination and major on that while I do all these other secondary things it's very important it's the most important thing in the Christian life that in everything I never lose sight of my destination if I gotta go to Nagpur I'm not gonna get off at Hyderabad or if I'm going to Delhi I'm not gonna get off at Hyderabad or Nagpur or Etarsi or Gwalior no I wanna get off at Delhi whatever interesting things there may be along the way I can enjoy them.

I don't lose sight of my final destination and I'm not going to get off the train and branch off into some on some tangent into some side issue which however exciting it may be is not God's final destination for me.

God's bought a ticket for me and I know where that ticket is for it's for my final destination to be like Christ. And the Bible says that if I have this hope in me 1 John 3 .3 I will purify myself as He is pure and everything I do will be in relation to that total picture of Jesus.

Showing Heaven's Values in Ordinary Life

So when I look at Jesus I see a heavenly man who lived on this earth and he spoke and lived bringing the values of heaven before people. I am to bear that image. People who meet me talk to me must see that this man's interested in something outside of this earth.

Do people get that impression from you when in your place of work that your sense of values is different. I am not saying that we preach the gospel to everybody at our place of work. That may not be appropriate.

There may be a time and a season for that we got to do it only when God opens the door. But I am talking about your whole value system. Do people see your value system is different. I remember when those refugees from Sri Lanka some years ago came to the refugee camp in Tamil Nadu some of our brothers contacted them and many of them a number of them were converted really gripped.

And then in that refugee camp one day one of those brothers their hut caught fire. He was not there and his hut caught fire and everything in his hut was burnt. And you know these refugees had come from Sri Lanka with all the everything they owned there they converted into cash and brought it as currency in Indian Rupees and they had it in their hut.

And I don't know how much he lost 50 ,000 Rupees or something in currency notes all burnt up everything gone. And when he came back from where he had gone people told him you know your hut is burnt. And they thought he'd be so distressed that all his life's earnings were burnt up.

And he wasn't. He said well in any case I'm only a pilgrim. And if God allowed it to be burnt that's fine. I can start working again and earn something. He was a fisherman now. He would not have said that two years earlier when he was not converted.

But because he was born again and his born again was a thorough new birth and he was radically gripped by the message of discipleship that he heard in our midst his life changed more in two years than other people have changed in 20 years.

It's not a question of time. It's a question of how soon we get focused on what is most important. He got focused on what is most important pretty quickly what is the most important thing. So when his mind was renewed to think and to place a right value on earthly things and heavenly things.

Transformation Begins With the Renewing of the Mind

He didn't get so disturbed when that type of misfortune took place. It says in Romans chapter 12. Romans 12 you know it says how this transformation into the likeness of Christ takes place. It says in Romans 12 verse 2.

Don't be conformed to this world but be transformed. That is into the likeness of Christ by the renewing of your mind. So there it tells us that transformation begins in our mind. Just like conformity to the world also is first of all in the mind.

You know when a person dresses in a very worldly let's say a sister dresses in a very immodest worldly way. The problem is not with her dress. No the problem is with her mind. The worldliness is not in her dress.

The worldliness is in her mind. And if you get her to change her dress and wear a modest set of clothes you haven't changed her. Not at all because her mind is still the same. It's the wolf in sheep's clothing.

And first she was the wolf in wolf's clothing. Now you got the wolf to wear sheep's clothing and you think she's a believer and make her sit there like a pious saint. She's not a pious saint. She's just a wolf.

In fact she's more dangerous when she's a wolf in sheep's clothing than when she's a wolf in a wolf's clothing. So changing the dress doesn't change a person. Now I want to say to you that you can come to the meetings in the church dressed in a particular way.

But has it changed in your mind. Worldliness is in the mind. If you don't deal with it there you're just a hypocrite pretending to be holy on the outside.

A Christlike Value System

And the same way holiness is also in the mind. From there it penetrates all our life. In other words to paraphrase those words it is in your value system. You see in our mind we have a certain value system a value system that we have developed through many years of living in this world.

We went to school and developed a certain value system. We learnt in the world that winning is everything. That's a very popular statement in leadership circles. Winning is everything. When I say winning is not everything for me.

If I've got to cheat other people and trample on other people and win like that and I don't want to win. I certainly want to win but not at the cost of exploiting others and depriving others of their rights and doing all that and cheating and no to be upright and Christ-like is everything for me.

And then by all means come first in your class by all means excel in your profession. But not at the cost of losing Christ-likeness and uprightness of character. That's because of my value system. Now another person doesn't have that value system.

He says making money is everything and he doesn't care how he makes it. Well I'm not against people becoming rich or getting a good salary. It's all a question of how you do it. It's all a question of what you're living for if it comes as a result of your seeking God's kingdom first and other things just being added to you.

Okay. But if you spend your life pursuing that you got the wrong value system. So in my mind I have a certain value system. I place value on certain things and I don't place value on other things. For example why are you disturbed if you heard 20 people say bad things about you does it disturb you.

You heard 20 people say some really nasty things about you which are not even true. It disturbs you because your value system is this man's opinion is very very important. It used to disturb me. It doesn't disturb me so much.

Now because I have changed my value system. I have changed my thinking and convinced myself from God's word which is true that man's opinion is fit for the garbage bin. Okay 20 opinions 20 pieces of garbage.

And I have also convinced myself that God's opinion is very important. Now 300 years ago in France 400 years ago there was a lady in France 450 years ago or something like that lady in France called Madame Guillaume in 1600 she lived right and she made this statement once.

Listen to it carefully. I'm more afraid of one reproach of my conscience than of the outcry and criticism of all human beings. Boy imagine if you can say that that I'm more disturbed by one voice from my conscience than all the evil speaking of all the men in the world.

If you can live like that boy I tell you you'll be Christ like pretty quickly won't take long. You change your value system. See the voice of my conscience is very important. What people say not so important now if the man who gives me his opinion is a very very godly man who loves me then his opinion may be important because his opinion may also be God's opinion.

That's different. But if worldly people say something about me I couldn't care less for that the voice of my conscience be far more important. That's what I mean by changing my value system. If I lose something spiritually that should disturb me more than if I lose money.

I mean we're all disturbed. If we lost money I don't mean five or ten rupees. But supposing you suddenly lost twenty thousand rupees one day maybe some people who can write it off. But for most of us that would be a tremendous shock to lose twenty thousand rupees.

But what if you lost the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon your life. Would that also disturb you. I don't feel the anointing today in my life. I don't sense the anointing of God in my service for you.

I feel I've lost some of that fire that passion that devotion. God it seems to have gone. Does that disturb you. Or is it only twenty thousand rupees that disturbs you. I'm not saying money is not important.

I'm just saying we got to put it a little lower down in the scale than the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying money is garbage. No money is very useful but put it a little lower down the scale than the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Change your value system. You know Jesus had a proper value system. Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was stealing his money all the time. It didn't disturb him. It's okay. If he steals what can I do. I'm not gonna kick up a row over that and fight with him.

I hope he'll change. But Jesus lived. You know you remember in Gethsemane how he prayed. Oh Father. Don't let me lose that fellowship with you. Don't let me lose my fellowship with you on the cross. Can you take away this cup from me.

That's what disturbed him. The possibility that for three hours on the cross fellowship with the Father would be broken. It disturbed him so much that he prayed and prayed and prayed for one hour in Gethsemane.

And he didn't even pray for two seconds. When Judas Iscariot was stealing his money. That's value system. As is the earth these so are the earthy. As is the heavenly so are the heavenly. And as we bore the image of the earthy we are to bear the image of the heavenly.

Prioritizing Christlikeness Over Religious Activity

Why haven't we pursued this. Because it has not been a major in our life. We majored on minors. Coming to meetings. Good. Coming to meetings is much lower down my value scale than becoming like Christ.

What if I'm locked up in a jail for preaching the gospel. And I'm in jail like in communist countries. People were in jail for years. I can't come to the meetings and I sit there for ten years. Am I gonna lose miss out on God's plan for my life.

Impossible. Because going for meetings is good. But if I don't have the opportunity for it it's okay. I can still be like Christ. That doesn't stop. The reason why some people never lose the anointing and never lose the passion is because it's a top priority in their life.

The reason why some people get victory over sin in their life and their home life becomes smooth and peaceful is because it's a priority in their life. The reason why some people's homes disintegrate even Christian homes is because their home life is not a priority.

Other things are priority. Other things which are not a priority in scripture. Making money getting on in the world. That's good provided it's lower down in the scale. Jesus was a carpenter for at least twelve years.

He worked hard but he didn't work hard to become the richest carpenter in Nazareth. He worked hard to support his family. And his priority was not getting a name in Nazareth as a great carpenter shop.

No. His priority was fellowship with the Father and blessing poor people and helping widows and things like that. And you spend your life doing that. You're not going to be the richest carpenter in Nazareth.

No so it's all a question of priority. And you get your priorities. Right. And I guarantee my brother sister you will find more change in the next one year than you have seen in your entire Christian life till now it's all a question of priorities.

Have you is your destination and God's destination for you the same. Or have you got some other destination. What is your primary aim in life. The heavenly. You know I thought about that when we were praising the Lord.

Christ Welcomes the Lowly and Challenges Religious Formalism

And that verse we read from Psalm 8. I want you to turn to Matthew 21 where that same verse is quoted. It says here that Jesus was rode on a donkey and entered Jerusalem and came into the temple. In Matthew 21.

And as Jesus entered the temple it says here verse 14. The blind and the lame came to him and he healed them. And then the chief priest listen to this. Now you hear you see the contrast between religious earthy people and a spiritual heavenly man.

Sometimes we confuse a religious earthy person with a spiritual heavenly man. I mean we don't confuse worldly earthy people with a spiritual heavenly man that we can distinguish quite easily. Oh that's a worldly person.

This is a heavenly person. But sometimes many of us can confuse being religious with being spiritual. Now here the religious people the chief priest described the most religious people in Israel. They saw the wonderful things that he had done.

And then they saw the children crying out in the temple and saying Hosanna to the son of David. They became angry. They said children shouldn't be yelling in the temple like that. Nobody should be yelling in the temple like that.

There must be dignity and decorum in the temple like a funeral service. Right. And Jesus. Jesus had quite a different opinion about this. He said to. They said to him don't you hear what these fellows are doing ruining the decorum of the temple.

And Jesus said to them haven't you read what it says in Psalm 8. Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes thou has prepared praise for thyself. And he said in another gospel it says. If these people stop praising me the stones will stop praising me.

Now why did Jesus get so excited when he saw all those people praising God. Because I'll tell you why. Because he came from heaven. And heaven is full of people yelling the praises of God with such a loud voice.

It says it's like thunders. We're not even one percent of that. He came from heaven where people not just praise God but praise God with such a joy and radiance in their faces. And then he came to earth.

And for thirty-three years he saw these long-faced glum sour looking people complaining murmuring but would come religiously to the temple and talk about God. And then he saw these children excited and praised.

That reminds me of heaven. And he got so excited. Well these serious long-faced long-bearded. I mean the face is long enough. But they had a beard as well looking at these children. And Jesus took the sight of the children.

I like that Jesus took the sight of the most unlikely people. He took the sight of a woman caught in adultery against all the self-righteous Pharisees. He took the sight of the children against all these so-called religious leaders.

He took the sight of a thief on the cross. He was always taking the sight of the under dog the person who was poor he went and put his arms around lepers. And boy I want to bear the image of the heavenly in my life.

I'm sick and tired of this false sense of dignity and decorum that the children of Adam have taught me. I want to change my value system. I want to think like Jesus. And if it offends people. Well.

It offends people. Jesus spent his life offending people. He he didn't start out his life saying oh I must tread very carefully not offend anybody. You know once we read in Matthew 15 that the disciples came to Jesus once and said do you know that what you just said offended the Pharisees he said leave them alone.

Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be rooted up. Why are you worried about that. They got offended. They got offended. That's it. Let's seek to please our father. I mean we don't go out of our way to offend people.

But if in the process of serving God praising him and becoming like Christ and becoming more heavenly we offend a lot of religious people. So be it let them be offended until they change and become heavenly themselves.

Then they won't be offended. We're not here to argue with anybody but when we see that Jesus was this way that's the way I want to be. Because he is the only one who came to earth and showed us what heaven was like.

Following Christ Even When It Costs Everything

We've got all these crazy ideas of what a spiritual man should be like and they're all wrong. Jesus is the perfect example of what it means to be spiritual. Actually I want to be like him. I want to be tender towards the leper.

I want to be forgiving towards the woman caught in adultery. I want to be forgiving to the people who crucify me and assume that they don't know the evil of what they are doing like Jesus was at the same time I want to take a whip and chase out of the church those who make money in the name of religion.

That's what Jesus did. I want to be like that. Of course that'll make you unpopular. As long as you're just comforting the widows and putting your arm around the leper and washing their feet. Nobody will be disturbed.

But once you begin to shake their traditions a lot of people get disturbed. But actually we're going to continue to do that. And if you continue doing that they may finally crucify you like they crucified Jesus.

They crucified some of the apostles too. Ok. Fine. It's the best way to leave the earth. Can you tell me a better way to leave this earth than by being crucified. Try and think of that. How do you want to die in an air conditioned hospital room with drips and all that type of stuff.

And fellows coming there and saying prayers for you. And then a grand funeral with a very expensive casket. And all types of people saying things about you which were never true in your life. And you go.

I don't want to go like that. I want to go as a martyr for Jesus Christ. It's the best way to go from this earth. I'm not saying I'll get that privilege. I think it's a tremendous honor to be a martyr for Christ.

Not everybody gets that honor. But I say Lord if you give it to me I'll take it. I hope you'll say that too. It's the best way to go like Jesus. Can you imagine a better way to die than the way Jesus died.