04.Feb.2009 Jesus is the Key to Unlocking Who We Are
Matthew 16: 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
We are all leaders because we have to lead ourselves. Self leadership plays such a huge role in getting things done. This year is about moving and growing. We have to use those moments when we think we are going to break as growth moments.
This is the passage in which Peter gets a revelation of who Jesus is. What I really want to focus on is this: in the moment in which Peter gets a revelation of who Jesus is, Jesus turns around and gives Peter a revelation of who Peter is. When you get a revelation of who Christ is, you find out who you are. You will never know who you are until you know who Jesus is – when you understand that he is the Messiah, that Jesus is God, that Jesus is the master of your life. When you come into that understanding, you find out who you are and you can start moving towards the future God has for you. If you don’t find out who you are, you can never fulfill the plans and purposes God has for you. We all have fruitfulness and destiny inside of us. Jesus is the key – the keys to the Kingdom that unlocks everything inside of us so that the Kingdom begins to flow out of us.
When God unlocks you, that is an incredible day. A lot of Christians are still locked up by ritual and religion and have never discovered God’s freedom. I know a lot of people that are emotionally locked up and guarded. They aren’t free in who they are. Keys are designed to one thing – lock and unlock. That’s all they do. So if Peter’s revelation of Jesus and subsequent revelation of himself cause Jesus to say now I am going to give you keys, it makes me wonder what the keys are for. Then Jesus starts talking about binding and loosing, but I think it is much deeper than that. It goes to this whole concept of knowing who you are.
Let me put it another way: Knowing who you are could also be called being self-aware. It’s almost like sometimes you understand yourself so well that you have these “out of body” moments where you step back and observe your life. You can look and see how you act, react and function in life, and look at yourself honestly, you can get a good perspective on where you are and where you are going. You will know your strengths and weaknesses. You will understand your giftings and the traits inherent in your personality, temperament and makeup. You want these moments. Until you can step back and observe, you are traveling through life blindly. We start to get really real with who we are as people, which is the true context of this passage.
Self awareness means having a deep understanding of your own emotions, strengths, limitations, values and motives. With regards to your emotion, it’s good to know how you function in relationships and what makes you feel pressured emotionally. Until you understand your strengths and limitations emotionally, you are going to have difficulty in all of your relationships, including your relationship with God. God is emotional. He gave you your emotions. God has a heart for people. If we are constantly trying to lock down our emotions, we are going to struggle in every relationship. Emotional intelligence is highly powerful for connecting with other people.
People with a strong self awareness are realistic and honest with themselves to the point that they can laugh at themselves. They are “self absorbed” or proud. Emotional self awareness means that you can read your own emotions and recognize their impact. Being self aware means that you can be tuned in to your inner signals. You are a three part being: physical, spiritual and our soul, where our emotions live. The spiritual dimension of me longs to do what’s good. The physical and soul elements of me house the sin. With training and strengthening of my spirit, I gain the strength and ability to control my body and soul and do what is right. The spirit is constantly warring with our mind and body. We have to feed it and give it strength, just as we do with our mind and body. The term “you are what you eat” also applies to the spiritual, if you are feeding on untruths or old revelation. This also applies to the soul. What you read and enjoy affect who you are and how you act. Be careful what you absorb or take in. Fill your emotional world with things that are going to gear you towards a kingdom mindset.
Emotional self awareness means that I am tuned in to my principles and my guiding values. That is what integrity is – living within the principles I have laid out for myself. Principled restraint is a kingdom principle – it helps you get strong and move forward. Emotional self awareness means that you can see the big picture in complex situations. You are candid and can speak openly. Self honesty is critical in leadership. You have to be able to be honest about your shortcomings. If you can’t, you develop a dysfunctional view about what reality is. If you can’t get real with yourself and identify what is wrong, you can grow, change or move forward. Don’t cop out and say “That’s just who I am – you have to accept it!” You are who you are from past experiences and learned behaviors, but when you connect to Christ, you have to let the old things pass away and establish new things in your life. It begins by getting real with your self. The only person that can get real with you is YOU. It’s hard to watch someone’s life unravel, because you can’t change them and they don’t want to listen.
I had to get really honest with myself early in my marriage. My family was well to do and I was an only child, so I got everything I wanted and was very self centered. When I got saved, I had to change all of that. When I became a father and a husband, I had to change my self centered nature. The first several years of our marriage was a nightmare, but what helped us was learning to get real with ourselves and each other. The more we got real, the better we did. The trigger for getting God to work on me was getting real with myself and my emotions. The more I got honest and recognized my shortcomings, the more God’s word went to work in my life. Moral excellence brings me closer to God. We often think the opposite way – if I get to know God better, my life will change. But God says “No, here are the principles. Live according to those and you will get closer to me.” I draw near to God and he draws near to me – not the other way around. I get honest about my world and the word of God becomes real to me. It becomes powerful and starts changing my world.
One of the highest forms of leadership that you will ever walk in is when you can empathize and make adjustments to connect with others rather than making them connect with you on your level. As leaders, we want to teach people how to get moving on the journey, but we have to connect with and communicate with them where they are. Prayer for me lately has been all listening – less talking (“God I need, God I want”) and more listening (“God here I am – show me, teach me”). The more I have done that, the more God has shown me things about myself and shown me things that are holding me back and stopping me from reaching goals and dreams.
With self awareness you have to have accurate self assessment, biblical self confidence, emotional self control. You have to have transparency. You have to be open, adaptable and flexible. You have to be optimistic and take initiative. When I am emotionally self aware, I position myself for God to use me and do something powerful through me.
“You are the Christ” – that was an amazingly powerful statement, made in the center of a symbol of Roman power and oppression. Ceasaria represented Rome’s worship of Caesar. Amidst all of this, Peter says “No you are the Messiah – you are the object of worship.” And then Jesus says “This is who you are,” and once we get that revelation of who we are in Christ, our lives begin changing so quickly. Things move and change so quickly! When you get honest and decide to make changes – when you stop being a victim and decide to start working on you – you position yourself for God to something mighty in you and through you.
