Last week I spent a lot of time talking about your interpersonal relationships, specifically with your spouse and family, to connect the entire point of the message to your relationship with God. In the same way that we would not want to be married to someone who has a consumer mindset, we don’t want to interact with God in that same way. That consumer mindset is completely detrimental to your relationship with God, or anyone else for that matter.

Last week I spent a lot of time painting the idea of a consumer mindset as a negative thing and I stand by that. The last thing you want to do is live your life in a mindset where everything around you is something to consume, something to take, something from which to get something. It makes you use people and things, take advantage of people and things, and it makes you a selfish person in anything just to get from it. And while it might seem that a selfish mindset like that allows you to get more, what actually ends up happening is that you alienate yourself not just from the relationships around you that would help you become everything you were meant to be, but even if you have everything you ever wanted, you are going to end up hating what you’ve become.

Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
This also means wealth outside of God’s blessing brings sorrow. How do you get God’s blessing? You do it God’s way.

That contributor mindset on the other hand, one where you are constantly thinking about others, how to help others, how to build others, how to develop others, how to serve, how to give, when you think like this, the result is that you actually have joy in the life that you live.

Proverbs 11:24-25
24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. 25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

A consumer mindset makes you selfish. A contributor mindset makes you selfless. And don’t believe the lie that selflessness means that you will be constantly run over, taking advantage of, and used. What you’ll find is that when you have a mindset of a contributor and you surround yourselves with people who have that same mindset, everyone gets better. The hard part is identifying those takers in the group that need to be converted to a contributor mindset or need to be redirected away from your life.

I want to give you a little bit of a different angle on consuming today because in the weeks that are coming, it’s important that you have this part of consuming down or else it’ll be very difficult to embrace what we talk about moving forward.

While I have painted a consumer mindset negatively, consuming in and of itself is not a bad thing. You have to eat in order to live. Your car has to use fuel to operate. Consuming is not inherently bad, just like money. Money is not evil. The love of it is, what you might do with it is. But money isn’t.
In the same way, consuming is not inherently bad either.

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

If you love money and chase after it with your heart, it is going to end badly for you. In the same way, if you just love to consume and all you’re looking for is something else to get, it is going to end badly for you, as well.

This is one of the reasons we constantly say here that, “God doesn’t care what you have, he cares what has you.” A great way to determine if something has you is how willing you are to let it go. Could you put that drink down? Could you put that cigarette down? Maybe you don't have an addiction like that, but you get real perturbed anytime somebody mentions giving or serving at church. At Freedom, one of our core values is that generosity is a privilege. We are honored to be able to give and when we give we honor God. But you can't give something that has a grip on you. So if there's anything in your life that evokes an instant negative response in you, it's worth a deep dive into whether or not you have that thing or that thing has you. A consumer takes and keeps, but a contributor can’t wait to give and pour out. So if you’re more concerned with what you are getting than what you are giving, you might want to check your heart and makes some adjustments. Selfish consuming does not get God’s blessing.

You have to eat to live. You have to drink to live. Again, consuming isn’t evil. The why behind it might be, though.

I want to help us reframe what, how, and why we consume today, and the reason for this is simple: you can’t contribute from an empty vessel. But much in the same way you are what you eat, you are also only able to contribute out of what you’ve consumed.

Let me ask you three questions today around consuming that I pray will reframe how you consume in the hopes you can embrace the mindset of contribution God wants to get you to.

1. What are you consuming?
If I'm gonna make the case that you are what you eat, it's pretty important to start with a question of what you're consuming. Now we can talk about your inputs: What you're listening to when it comes to music, what you're watching on television or movies, what your social media algorithms are feeding you. All of these are incredibly important, and truth is, if what you are consuming in those areas is not beneficial to you, then stop it. You can't consume that poison and then expect to see health in your life.

But let me take it a step further than just the initial inputs. What are you feeding yourself, especially in light of what's going on around you? For instance, when everything is good, and you don't really seem to have any issues, What about when things don't go like you expect, or what about when there are plenty of things in life you could worry about or be afraid of? What do you consume in those moments?

In 1 Samuel 28, King Achish, a Philistine king, was about to march against Saul. Right after Samuel died, Saul had banned all mediums and anyone who consulted the spirits of the dead.

1 Samuel 28:5-7, 15
5 When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. 6 He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets. 7 Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.” 15 “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul. “Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.”

Samuel prophesied destruction on Saul, not just his destruction, but that of the army of Israel as well. Saul was faced with a situation exactly like I was talking about just before. This wasn't a time where things were great, but where he was faced with extreme stress. Worry, fear, anxiety, all of those emotions were screaming at him. Notice how Saul, when he was under that pressure, reverted to that which was in his character: Fear, rejection, faithlessness, all of which he exhibited his entire life. BTW - this is our flesh’s default, even after we’ve dealt with issues. Your natural flesh response will be your old nature. The Cross kills it, Baptism buries it, the Spirit keeps it dead.

1 Samuel 28:20
Saul fell full length on the ground, paralyzed with fright because of Samuel’s words. He was also faint with hunger, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.

That is interesting. He’d not eaten anything, but he had consumed. He’d consumed those negative things that he thought would give him a positive outcome. What he was consuming had nothing to contribute to himself or his situation, and the result is that not only did he physically fail, he failed in every area.

What are you consuming? When the pressure is on and the ground is fertile for anxiety and fear and worry, what do you consume in that moment? Do you succumb to those negative emotions, wildly expecting a positive outcome, or do you wrangle your flesh in that moment, and choose to submit to the Spirit’s leading?

Saul had a choice on how to respond and he actually had it modeled before his very eyes. If you remember the story of David versus Goliath, right before David shows up on the scene, Saul is hiding in his tent, terrified of the giant below with his army. David doesn't do that. David speaks from a place of faith and trust and believed that God would deliver them. David spent his life consuming God and his faithfulness. Saul spent his life consuming fear, rejection, and anxiety. You have a choice as well. What are you consuming?

2. What are you feeding?
I've lost right around 40 pounds over the last several months and this past week in Albuquerque we needed to get to the airport and we thought we would just grab a bite there. There weren't a ton of options but one thing that I wanted so badly that I had not eaten in a long time was Panda Express. We got our food and I sat there and I said to Tony, "My heart says, ‘I’m happy,’ my belly says, ’It's too much,’ and my rear end says, ‘What are you thinking?’ I was not eating for sustenance in that moment. I was eating for comfort.

How much of what you consume every week is about comfort rather than contributing?

If you want to know one thing that will drastically shift what you consume, it's comfort. And you know, we placed such a high value on comfort. Even here, when you walk into this building, we want you to be comfortable. We want people to welcome you, we want the room to be the perfect temperature, we want the seats to be soft and comfy. We want your coffee to taste good and your donuts to turn to pure protein. We want all of these things because we want to clear any obstacle you might have from experiencing God. That's why we focus so much on the experience here.

But, and I'm sure you've learned this in your life, even good things can turn into bad things. If you get so comfortable in here that you stop growing, you stop being discipled, you stop contributing or don't start to begin with, that's bad. Remember, my job is not to make you feel good. It's to help you be good.

Getting comfortable opens the door for so many bad things. Selfish things. Greedy things.

Luke 12:15-20
15 “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” 16 Then he (Jesus) told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
Is it amazing how in the story the man spends his whole life building something, pouring into something that matters, creating sustenance for his family, and God blessed him and the work of his hands and he had more than he could eat.

Now pay attention here: he had the opportunity to take that excess and contribute. He had the opportunity to be wildly generous, and bless other people. But rather, he just wanted bigger barns so he could sit back, be comfortable, and just satisfy his flesh. “I have enough.”

We are all consuming, but what are you feeding? Are you feeding comfort and complacency in your life which has caused you to stall out in your relationship with Jesus? Are you feeding that anxious and fearful mindset inside of you where you literally lay awake at night stressing about 40 different variables that probably won't even happen? Are you feeding this mindset where Jesus is something you do on the weekends and situational damage control when things hit the fan? Are you feeding that mindset that says I'm not going to give and I'm not going to serve because of some past church hurt or being too complacent to engage? Are you feeding that addiction because it's just easier to feed it than to fight it?

You're either feeding something that gets you closer to Jesus or something that takes you further away. What are you feeding?

3. What should you be consuming?
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.

I'm pretty sure you could follow the path here to see that we're going to end at a place where the thing we consume is Jesus. He clearly tells us in John 6:35
I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will not hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

But what does this is actually mean in reality? How do you actually do this? Think about this: how many times a day do you eat something? Maybe have breakfast, maybe a shake, maybe you have no breakfast at all but you do have a coffee. You have lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks all throughout the day. We're consuming all day long.

Now, how many times a day do you ingest a moment with Jesus? And you can't count those moments when you "just think about" Jesus. Me just thinking about my cup of Café Bustello with Italian sweet cream does it mean that I have consumed it. If you only consume him once or twice a day, you're probably running a calorie deficit and a vitamin deficit and while it might help you trim some fat, at some point it's going to be detrimental to your spiritual health.

Is that you right now? Do you see yourself to be what a Christian is yet you don't do what a Christian does? What I mean is when it comes to consuming things of God, it's nice that you came to the restaurant or sat at the dining table, but are you gonna eat anything?

What am I asking you to consume? Time with Jesus where you focus your attention on him, and more than just a moment. Talking with Jesus where are you share what you're so afraid of or even excited about and you let him speak encouragement to you. Hearing his word that gives him the opportunity to change what you've been believing and embrace the truth of who he is and who you are and how you could contribute.

In John chapter 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. The disciples have gone into town to get food and the woman comes to draw water. They have a conversation and that consisted of phrases like, "I can give you water that will make you never thirst again," and, "God is looking for those who worship and spirit and in truth.” Yet, we get towards the end of the story and she has a moment where she sees Jesus, truly sees him, in spite of her failures, in spite of her many sins, in spite of her pain. She understands who is there before her, not just a man, not even just the Messiah, but the bread of life, living water. In that moment, she really did taste and see that Jesus was good and the result is, she became the first gospel evangelist in the history of the world.

Imagine that:
She went from broken, used, abused, and worthless to being filled with joy, overwhelmed with love, excited to tell the worst of her story so people could see the greatness of God’s story. She went from consuming shame and guilt and brokenness to consuming the bread of life and the living water, and the result is that she stopped focusing on what she was consuming, and she ran as fast as she could to tell others, to contribute.

You see, she consumed what she should've been consuming, and the result was that she couldn't wait to contribute to somebody else experiencing the same thing.

I find it fascinating that the disciples came back to offer Jesus food, but he said he didn't want any. They were confused. “Where did he get food?” They didn’t understand. He said to them, "I have food you know nothing about." They couldn't see what you need to see today: There is fulfillment and satisfaction indescribable once you begin consuming the right thing.
And what's amazing is that it's not just that you get Jesus, it's that you get to be a part of what Jesus is doing by contributing to others hearing the gospel, being encouraged, growing, being discipled, serving, giving, and becoming contributors themselves. We read the story and we see ourselves as the woman at the well. That's OK once you first meet Jesus, but Jesus wants you to see yourself as him in the story, not just the one that was consuming, but the one who was contributing. The fact that she didn't just stay at the well and talk about how good the food was, but rather, rushed to feed others is evidence that when we consume the right thing, we can contribute the right things. Her biggest failure that she was trying to hide became the first line of her Gospel message.

So here's how we land today: I just want you to taste and see that Jesus is good. I don't know a better way to do that then to give you an opportunity to encounter his presence.

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.

I'm sure you have needs today, but let's just spend a moment focusing on the most important need, and that's you experiencing God.

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Let’s pray.
Let's start by repenting for consuming the wrong things,
Let's ask God to turn our hearts towards him,
Just follow after me and let's experience him.