Nickname

Several years ago, my wife, Lori took me on a date to a surprise location.  She told me to wear workout clothes.  We ended up arriving at a kickboxing gym.  The trainers sold us hand wraps and boxing gloves and got us all signed in.

“One more thing,” said the owner, “we need a nickname for you.”  “What’s that now?” I asked.  “Your nickname will be displayed on the big screen every time you work out.  What do you want us to type in?”  “Can I have a minute to think about it?”  “Nope.”  “Lori, did you come up with something for you?”  “Yep.”  Not helpful.

Honestly, I froze.  I’ve been called a lot of things and had a few nicknames—most of which are inappropriate to be displayed.  I had no clue, then suddenly it came out of my mouth.

I will tell you what I said, what my moniker is, but let’s admit those kickboxing people raise a pretty good question:

What do you want to be known for?  If you could choose one word to describe your life or what you want your life to be, what would it be?

What Do You Want to Be Known For?

The good news is Jesus handed us the answer.  In one of his more famous teachings, Jesus tells us what not to be known for, and what to be known for.

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.  As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.  Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.  But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.  Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.  Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!  Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” –Matthew 13:3-9 (NLT)

This story called for some clarification:

“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds:  The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.  The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.  But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.  The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.  The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” –Matthew 13:18-23 (NLT)

What moniker do you want to be known for?  Jesus suggests four possibilities.

1.  Resistant

The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved. –Luke 8:12 (Living Bible)

Some of us have hard hearts.  God’s Word and God’s love have not penetrated our lives.  We’re resistant, callous, harsh, rigid, and inflexible.

And it might not be all our fault.  The devil has stolen our joy and our hope.  Extenuating experiences may have caused us to be closed.  But some people are just plain hard to deal with.

2.  Shallow

Comedian Pat Paulsen once admitted, “Deep down, I happen to be very shallow.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. –Mark 4:5-6 (NIV)

Some of us are shallow.  We’re superficial and flutter from one thing to another.  The roots are thin, short, or maybe non-existent.  Many folks wither when the heat is on.

3.  Stunted

The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. –Luke 8:14 (NIV)

We all possess wonderful potential, but some of us never reach anything close to it because of three issues: 1.  The cares of life; 2. The riches of life; and 3. the pleasures of life.  Those concerns choke us out, crowd us out and curb our growth.

The best player on UCLA’s Ultimate Frisbee team I played for suddenly up and quit.  I questioned him as to asked him why, and his answer stuck with me:  “I cam to UCLA determined to be the best doctor I could be, now all I want to do is get high.”

His smoking was choking him.

One last label is seen in the punchline of the story:

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”—Mark 4:20 (NIV)

4.  Fruitful

We are like plants from a seed.  Will we be fruitful?

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. —John 15:8 (NLT)

Here is the question:  Where are you?  How is your heart?

Are you hard?  Are you stubborn, resistant, crusty, set in your selfish ways?

Are you shallow?  Are you always looking for the next trick, the next big thing?  Do you get distracted easily and tend toward withering?

Are you stunted?  Is life, both the good and the bad, choking you out?

Are you fruitful?  Are you producing a crop?

Where are you?

And where are the people in the front rows of your life?

Do you have any friends or family members who are just not interested in the ways of God?  I invited several workout buddies to church this Easter season.  One man overheard and asked, “What’s going on?”  I said, “I’m inviting people to church, do you have a church to go to on Easter?”  “No,” he snapped, “and I don’t want one!”

Is there anybody in your life who is at a shallow stage?  They turned to Jesus for a moment, but then wilted.

Do you have colleagues who are stunted?  They talk about Jesus, and want to make a difference, but there’s work, and the timeshare, and softball, and kids’ sports, and all sorts of stuff—some of it great—choking their growth.

We were in Rancho Santa Fe, California (the city with the current highest per capita income in the United States) last weekend and we walked through the car show they display downtown every Saturday.  I saw a Lamborghini Urus—an SUV.  It looks like a Ford Edge or a Honda CRV.  You can get a new one starting at $245,000.  Riches have choked off that owner’s brain.  If you’re going to buy a Lamborghini, don’t get the SUV!

Do you know anyone who is fruitful?  Do you have friends, associates, coworkers, family members who make a huge impact in life?  Do you know people who are always making a difference?  They keep blessing people and God keeps blessing them!

I suspect all of us want to become fruitful.  But how do we do that?

How Can We Become Fruitful?

Those in the resisting, rigid stage simply need a breakthrough.  They need patience, maybe a little plowing.

Sometimes the breakthrough is preceded by a breakdown.  Tom Petty may have been on to it when he sang about a breakdown: “It’s alright.” 

Those in the shallow stage frankly need deeper roots.  Start reading the bible more, get in a group with other believers.

At Excel Leadership Network we meet together through connection events, cohorts, coaching and conferences to sharpen each other, and to deepen each other. 

Those in the stunted stage need to—and this is difficult—discard something.

It might be to cast that worry up to God.  He can fix it, or make it turn to good, we can’t.

It might be to give something away.  Riches get a hold of us; generosity loosens its grip.

It might be to fast from something.  Give up that pleasure for a time.

Those in the fruitful stage simply need to keep it up.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. –Luke 8:15 (NIV)

Fruitfulness takes time, patience, a noble and good heart and hanging in there.

Back to the kickboxing nicknames.  The first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Preacher.”  Lori confessed, “That’s not like you at all!”  It’s not a great label, but it clearly establishes that I’m a believer and I hope to have a positive influence on others.  The name actually has opened up a number of doors so I can attempt to make a difference at the gym.  When folks call me “Preacher” or “Preach” it also reminds me that there are people sitting and watching on my front row.

Lori chose a better nickname.  Hers is “Progress.”  I wish I had thought of that.  We don’t have to be perfect, but we can make some progress.

We can move from hard and closed to open and teachable.  We can move from shallow to rooted.  We can move from being preoccupied with the worries, riches, and pleasures of life to being more passionate about the things of God.

And we can make progress in bearing fruit.  We can exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Perhaps we could influence one life, then another, and perhaps even thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

One of our goals at Excel has been to plant one hundred churches per year. We have signed thirty and then sixty church-planting couples per year. We even advanced a “Doing a Hundred” emphasis. We know that God causes the fruit, but as we allow God toto good and noble people, as we allow him to spread his love through us, hopefully, transform us in we will be known as fruitful leaders.