Sermon: Saul, the Driven King Summary: Part of ordering our inner life means evaluating our motivation, which should come from the call of God rather than an inner drive to succeed, which can be very self centered. Characteristics of the driven person, who is always unsatisfied, stand in contrast to the called person who experiences the peace of God. Becoming called involved honest times of appraisal of motivation in which we learn to surrender to and depend on God. Know: God wants people who have no other motivation than to conform their will and character to his Feel: The emptiness and futility of a driven life. Do: Reflect on the characteristics of being driven and which appear in our lives. Text: 1 Sam 13:8-12; 15:3-12; 18:5-9 Scripture Reading: John 6:15 Intro: 1. Last time we looked at the need to order to order our inner life a. Jesus was one who looked into the heart b. This is probably why Jesus chose the ones he did - Not on the basis of their ability, looks, family, etc. - They didn't understand, but they were drawn to him - Jesus called those drawn, but not those driven c. Scripture Reading, Jesus left those who tried to use him for agenda 2. In our scripture reading we see people that may have been driven a. They followed Jesus, but Jesus wasn't ready to lead them b. Reason: They were driven by their own agenda c. Jesus didn't want driven people, but called people 3. We need to put away drivenness I. Understand what drivenness really is A. Most organizations value driven people B. Characteristics of the Driven person 1. Often gratified only by accomplishment a. Sees life only in terms of results b. If no results, a waste of time c. Rather fly than drive - scenery is a waste of time 2. PreOccupied with Symbols of Success a. Understands concept of power & wants to weild it b. Symbols of status: Title, office size, special priviledges c. Concern for notoriety - 3. Caught in the Uncontrolled Pursuit of Expansion a. Want to be part of something that is getting bigger b. Don't appreciate achievements, want more 4. Limited regard for integrity a. Become so preoccupied with success and achievement b. Spend little time with the inner self c. Ethics begin to slide, become deceitful, even to self 5. Tend to possess limited or undeveloped people skills a. Projects are more important than people b. People are only important in how they can be used to fulfill their goals c. Successful people can be seen as competitors d. Usually a wake of bodies behind the driven person 6. Tend to be highly competitive a. Each effort is a win-lose game b. Winning is evidence that he is important and valuable c. Likely to see others as enemies to be beaten 7. Often has a volcanic force of anger a. Cannot take constructive criticism, disagreement, etc. b. Anger can come out in verbal brutality, humiliating insults, or vindictive acts. 8. Tend to be abnormally busy a. Too busy to pursue relationships with people, or God b. Never think they accomplish enough, always doing more c. Attempt to impress people with fullness of schedule d. Sometimes moan and complain about being so busy, but would have it no other way C. Gerald: Always complain of having to be so busy, 16-18 hours a day 1. If he was at home, his mind was elsewhere a. Call during dinner, spend rest of time on the phone b. Never talked to kids or wife c. Always seemed stressed out 2. People didn't last long working for him a. Demanded so much from them b. He was given to explosive anger c. Fired a lady because she wanted time off to be with a sick child, he told her to hire someone 3. Did not do well with interpersonal relationships a. In social situations, was bored with conversation b. Tended to withdraw and drink too much c. His friends? - No one except business associates d. What asked what was important outside of work: - Could only think of house, car, boat, season tickets - All of which he was too busy to enjoy anyway 4. "He is miserable to work with, but he sure gets things done!" D. In almost every organization, there are driven people in key positions 1. Many organizations value them a. They get things done b. They are success driven c Sacrifice growth of people for accomplishment or accumulation d. Drivenness with destroy a person and those around him 2. But you don't have to be a corporate type to be driven 3. Do we have any examples of driven people in scripture we can learn from? II. An Example of the driven person: King Saul A. I Sam 9:1-2 - Saul had some qualities that could become assets or liabilities a. Rich family, nice looking, large in stature b. Gave him an advantage from the beginning c. Had a series of early leadership successes - His immediate success made him unaware of his limits - Apparently didn't reflect on need for others or God - It became about accumulating more success d. Eventually begin to see signs of a driven personality in Saul B. Look at the progression 1. Saul was gratified only by accomplishment a. 1 Sam 13:8-12 - He became impatient at Gilgal - Took matters into his own hand, sacrificing - It was downhill from there b. 1 Sam 14:24 - Pressing the people - No soldier was to eat until Saul avenged himself - Until "I" have avenged…what about his men? - Get the idea that it is now all about Saul 2. Interested in the Symbols of Success, 1 Sam 15:3, 9-12 a. Saul did not kill the king or some of the livestock b. Built a monument to himself c. Would be an impressive parade to bring back spoils 3. Highly Competitive, lacked integrity a. 1 Sam 18:5-9 - Angry about David's success, paranoid b. 1 Sam 18:10-19f - Plotted numerous times to kill David c. 1 Sam 19:33 - Saul threw spear at Jonathan for helping David d. 1 Sam 22:13f - Killed 85 priests for helping David 4. Saul became a miserable, stressed out person a. 1 Sam 16:14-23 - Saul needed David's harp to soothe him b. 1 Sam 28 - reduce to going to a fortune teller c. What would he hade scored on a stress test? d. 1 Sam 31 - Saul died ingloriously by killing himself C. Charles Spurgeon: "Success exposes a man to the pressures of people and thus tempts him to hold on to his gains by means of fleshly methods and practices, and to let himself be ruled wholly be the dictatorial demands of incessant expansion. Success can go to my head and will, unless I remember that it is God who accomplishes the work, that he can continue to do so without my help, and that he will be able to make out with other means whenever he wants to cut me out. " D. What should Saul have done? 1. His inner life was probably in shambles 2. He probably took little time to even think about his inner life 3. Was he a man of prayer? Did he have a devotional life? 4. Some time in self reflection would have been good… III. Do a self appraisal A. I may be tempted to think this doesn't apply to me 1. I'm not a corporate type in a fortune 500 company 2. You don't have to be a corporate type for this to apply a. You can be in ministry and be driven b. You can be a housewife and be driven c. You can be a High School student and be driven 3. Can be an active Christian and be a driven person a. Driven by desire for superior Christian reputation b. Driven by desire for approval or complements of people c. Driven by desire for unique spiritual experience d. Driven by desire for a form of leadership which is nothing more than desire to dominate rather than serve 4. Every one of us needs to do a self appraisal B. ILL: An appraisal of your inner life may be the last thing you want to do 1. It is easier to focus on the surface things - you can see them 2. We had a lot of repairs on our building, roof, parking lot, doors 3. The most important? -- The furnace a. Without the repair, we get to breath carbon monoxide b. Not something you can see on the surface 4. Only way to detect need for repair - regular seasonal inspection C. We could do self appraisal from several perspectives -- 1. We could say that this is not a godly way to live and to stop it - Not very helpful 2. We could spend time talking about why people are driven a. Grew up lacking the blessing of the words, "well done" - Some grew up with put downs and shame - Some people can become chronically driven - Time to let it go - Forgiveness b. Grew up in an environment where driven is a way of life - Don't know anything different c. They may not be connected to God the way they should - 1 Sam - Saul's "first' altar -1 Sam 14:31 - didn't wait when he got no answer - God never answered after this - Saul just kept going for more achievements - Saul never took time to connect with God 3. We could evaluate ourselves on these characteristics a. Question yourself on each characteristic of drivenness b. Use a scale of 1 to 10 D. The most helpful is to determine how to move from driven to called 1. God doesn't just want us to not by driven 2. God wants us to be called 3. That will be next week's sermon Concl: 1. God is calling you today (invitation) 2. That calling is a call to a new way of life and thinking a. It is not about my significance, but God's b. Not about my achievements, but God's c. Not about my image, but God's d. Not about me at all, but about God 3. If you have characterics of drivenness, there is hope -- a. Peter appears to have had characteristics of drivenness b. Before his conversion, Paul did as well - Phil. 3:1-16 c. What changed them? - Jesus always asking Peter questions that caused self-evaluation - For Paul it was a dramatic realignment of his life with Christ 4. Take time to reflect on your motivation - What are you driven by? - Your desires, or God's calling? =============================== Sermon: Driven vs. Called (part 1) Summary: Part of ordering our inner life means evaluating our motivation, which should come from the call of God rather than an inner drive to succeed, which can be very self centered. Characteristics of the driven person, who is always unsatisfied, stand in contrast to the called person who experiences the peace of God. Becoming called involved honest times of appraisal of motivation in which we learn to surrender to and depend on God. Open (choose one) - What is the most difficult exam/appraisal/evaluation you have had? The easiest? - Who do you think of as the most successful person you know? Explore 1. Very briefly take note of these characteristics of drivenness: 1. Often gratified only by accomplishment 2. Usually preoccupied with symbols of success in whatever walk of life he/she is in 3. Caught in uncontrolled pursuit of expansion, accomplishments, etc. 4. In the pursuit of success, typically has a limited regard for integrity 5. Limited/undeveloped people skills, people are important for what they can do for you 6. Highly competitive. It is about winning, being the best, etc. 7. Volcanic force of anger 8. Abnormally busy 2. Discuss the characteristics of drivenness do you see appear in the life of king Saul? What kind of stress did he suffer from? (If you are not familiar with Saul - Note: 1 Sam 13:8-12; 14:24; 15:3-12; 16:16-17; 18:5-11; 18:23-25; 19:9-11; 20:30-33; 22:11-19) 3. What was the nature of Saul's prayer life? In what way could this have contributed to his drivenness? (1 Sam 14:35-37; 15:30; 28:6-7) Apply Keep in mind that you do not have to be a corporate type or professional athlete to be driven. Anyone can be driven, whether a High School Student, Ministry Leader, Housewife, etc. 4. What are some of the negative components of stress in your life? What are some things you stress over? 5. In what way do some of the characteristics of the driven person that appear in your own life? 6. Identify and catalog the motives that energize you as an involved Christian. What should your motivation(s)? 7. What are some ways we can become less driven and more called? How can we help each other from falling into the trap of a driven life? Prayer