The Most Powerful Person Alive Is the One With Nothing to Lose

Sermon outline

Every Christian is a leader whose influence must serve Christ and not self, and like a mother who is all in, the believer who has nothing to lose and makes himself available becomes the most powerful person the devil cannot touch.

1. Set your mind on the Spirit, not the flesh

   There is no condemnation for those in Christ, and the church does not appease the flesh but crucifies it. The mind set on the flesh is death and hostile to God, while the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. You cannot live in sin Monday to Saturday and please God on Sunday. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead gives life to your mortal body.

   “You can't be fleshly and carnal and expect the blessing of the Lord.”

   • Romans 8:1-11

2. The most powerful person has nothing to lose

   We are heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him. The most empowered person is the one who knows there is a price to pay, including suffering, and is at peace with it. Loving, leading and helping people costs you something, knowing they may reject or betray you; when you no longer hold on to earthly things or your reputation and simply look to Jesus, the devil has no leverage.

   “You're not holding onto earthly things. It means that you have nothing to lose. That is the most powerful individual in the world.”

   • Romans 8:12-17

3. Like a mother, the call changes everything

   A woman becomes a mother the moment she learns she is pregnant, and everything about her changes because she wants the best for her baby. A disciple and leader is the same: once you receive the revelation of Jesus and your calling, you can no longer live, talk or keep company as before, and you start praying, reading the Word and seeking what He expects of you.

   Illustration: Takeaways every night give way to whole food, carrots, broccoli and gem squash; coffee and cold drinks are refused, all for the sake of the baby.

   “Look at your neighbor and say, you are a leader.”

4. Who are you leading for?

   Jesus gave His followers one mission: go and make disciples, not build a brand or a following. Leadership does not come with a title or a corner office; biblical leadership simply means influence. Your words land on hearts, your choices are watched, and your attitude shapes your workplace, school and family. If we lead for ourselves we are not leading, we are selfish, and that selfishness leads to death.

   Illustration: Young people leaving school say they want to be the boss so that people must just listen to them, without realising there is a process to the corner office.

   “If we are leading for ourselves, then we're not leading, we're selfish.”

   • Matthew 28:16-20

5. The church is not a grocery store

   Many believers see the church as existing to meet their needs, picking what they want and leaving when they like. Then attendance replaces obedience, convenience replaces commitment, and consumption replaces the commission, and believers grow spiritually obese. Fellowship, teaching and worship are not the mission but the preparation for it; training is never the goal, obedience in the field is.

   Illustration: The fastest-growing churches are by the malls, so people can step out of church straight into lunch and the grocery shopping. A mother never says 'but I'm here, aren't I'; she is all in, as a bride does not choose a husband because he is convenient.

   “Training is never the goal. Obedience in the field is.”

   • Hebrews 10:24-25
   • Matthew 10:8

6. Key one of five: availability

   He names five keys to the Great Commission in Matthew 28, availability, worship, submission, obedience and power, and deals only with the first. The eleven, disillusioned and some doubting, still showed up at the mountain, and that is where they received the commission and the promise that He would be with them always. A gifted believer who is not available is useless to the kingdom. The disciples were not perfect, so stop waiting to be perfect before you become active.

   Illustration: A 'promise' from 'Wesley 1:2': people will betray you, leave you, say you are not nice and reject you, and none of that changes your heart position. And a mother woken at two in the morning never says get out; she says, what's wrong, talk to me.

   “Your greatest ability is your availability.”

   • Matthew 28:16
   • 1 Corinthians 13:1
   • Isaiah 6:8
   • Matthew 26:40
   • Mark 16:15-18

7. Carnality at home, and honouring your parents

   Being warm to work colleagues and treating your family like dogs at home is carnality, the Romans 8 life of the flesh. Invest in your family, your marriage, your church and the people you lead, and put Christ first so that everything else is added. Honour your mother and father while they are alive, even though they were imperfect; every parent was a parent for the first time.

   Illustration: The children in the video said they loved noodles, but their mothers still made sure the chicken curry and rice were cooked.

   “It's not what we do at their funeral, it's what we do when they are alive.”

   • Matthew 6:33

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