{"id":9535,"date":"2022-12-21T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=9535"},"modified":"2023-03-20T15:55:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T20:55:09","slug":"its-not-what-you-do-its-whose-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2022\/12\/21\/its-not-what-you-do-its-whose-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Not What You Do, It’s Whose You Are"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the movie, \u201cBatman Begins,\u201d there is a scene in which Bruce Wayne meets his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes, after having been away from Gotham City for some time.\u00a0 Bruce has returned and is beginning to secretly fight crime as Batman.\u00a0 But in public he is living out a \u201cspoiled rich kid\u201d persona to further mask his identity as Batman.<\/p>\n

When he runs into Rachel in the midst of one of his more outlandish displays of immaturity, he tries to explain to her that what she is seeing is not who he really is.<\/p>\n

Rachel replies by saying, \u201cBruce, deep down inside you may still be that same great kid you used to be\u2026But it\u2019s not who you are underneath\u2026it\u2019s what you do<\/em> that defines you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not who you are underneath\u2026it\u2019s what you do<\/em> that defines you.\u201d\u00a0 And in typical Hollywood\/Comic Book Character fashion, Bruce, as Batman, goes on to try to define himself by what he does as a superhero crime fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not who you are underneath\u2026it\u2019s what you do<\/em> that defines you.\u201d\u00a0 OK for Hollywood; maybe OK for fictional superhero crimefighters\u2026but not good spiritual anthropology.\u00a0 In fact, it sounds more like a humanistic psychology.<\/p>\n

Worship leaders face the very real temptation to constantly assess their value based on performance.\u00a0 \u201cThat was a great set!\u201d or \u201cI wasn\u2019t \u2018on\u2019 today.\u201d\u00a0 I often try to remind worship leaders that \u201cyou\u2019re probably not as bad as your worst Sunday; nor are you as good as your best Sunday,\u201d as far as performance goes.\u00a0 The goal is to have a long trajectory of faithful ministry unto the Lord.<\/p>\n

In Exodus 3 Moses is in a conversation with God.<\/p>\n

You remember the conversation\u2026 (verse 13) \u201cMoses says to God, \u2018Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, \u201cThe God of your fathers has sent me to you.\u201d And they ask me, \u201cWhat is his name?\u201d\u00a0 Then what shall I tell them?\u2019\u00a0 God said to Moses, \u2018I am who I am.\u00a0 This is what you are to say to the Israelites: \u201cI AM has sent me to you.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Moses asked God His Name\u2026when he asked God to define Himself, God did not define Himself by what He does, He defined Himself by Who He Is\u2026I AM.\u00a0 It is indicative of His Nature\u2026.I AM\u2026 \u201cThe Self-Existing One.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think of all the ways God could have described His Himself by His actions.\u00a0 \u201cI created light\u2026I created water\u2026I created the world\u2026.I created man\u2026I created you...I created Pharoah\u2026.I created the Israelites and the Egyptians\u2026.I put the stars in place\u2026The sun and moon are in their places because of me\u2026I made all the planets, moons, and stars you can see, and myriads of others you cannot see\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

No, He simply said, \u201cI Am.\u201d\u00a0 God does not define Himself by what He does, but by Who He Is.\u00a0 It is the nature of Who He Is that is expressed in what He does.<\/p>\n

In the Gospel of John, Jesus defines Himself by Who He Is rather than what He does.<\/p>\n

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  1. I am the bread of life.John 6:35<\/li>\n
  2. I am the light of the world.John 8:12; 9:5<\/li>\n
  3. I am the door.John 10:9<\/li>\n
  4. I am the good shepherdJohn 10:11<\/li>\n
  5. I am the resurrection, and the life.John 11:25<\/li>\n
  6. I am the way, the truth, and the life.John 14:6<\/li>\n
  7. I am the vine.John 15:5<\/li>\n
  8. I am\u2026I am (Ex.3:14)John 4:26; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:13, 19; 18:5, 6, 8<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The world says, \u201cIt\u2019s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you.\u201d\u00a0 OK if you\u2019re a superhero crime fighter\u2026But what if you\u2019re just a regular person like you and me?\u00a0 What if you\u2019re a worship leader struggling with anxiety about performance?\u00a0 What about when you stand to lead worship and the enemy is whispering in your ear that you\u2019re not gifted or talented enough to be in that position?\u00a0 Or he reminds you of some sin in your past? Be careful who you allow to judge your significance and to assess your success or failure.<\/p>\n

    Remember who you are<\/em> in Christ.\u00a0 According to Ephesians:<\/p>\n

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    1. I am in Christ. (1:1)<\/li>\n
    2. I am seated in the heavenly places in Christ. (1:3)<\/li>\n
    3. I am chosen in Christ. (1:4)<\/li>\n
    4. I am adopted through Christ. (1:5)<\/li>\n
    5. I am in the beloved. (1:6)<\/li>\n
    6. I am redeemed in Him. (1:7)<\/li>\n
    7. I am given an inheritance in Him. (1:11)<\/li>\n
    8. I am trusting in Him. (1:12)<\/li>\n
    9. I am sealed in Him. (1:13)<\/li>\n
    10. I am made alive together with Christ. (2:5)<\/li>\n
    11. I am raised and seated with Him. (2:6)<\/li>\n
    12. I am created in Christ. (2:10)<\/li>\n
    13. I am brought near by His blood. (2:13)<\/li>\n
    14. I am growing in Christ. (2:21)<\/li>\n
    15. I am a partaker of the promise in Christ. (3:6)<\/li>\n
    16. I am given access through faith in Him. (3:12)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What I do doesn\u2019t define me\u2026.how well I perform doesn\u2019t define me\u2026what I am underneath in my relationship with Christ is what defines me.\u00a0 My significance is determined based upon my relationship with Him, not my performance.<\/p>\n

      Our significance is not found in what we do or accomplish, it is found in our recognition of Who Jesus is and of our relationship to Him.<\/p>\n

      Peter saw it.\u00a0 When Jesus asked of him in Matthew 16, \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d\u00a0 Peter answered, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\u201d\u00a0 And it was Peter\u2019s understanding of that truth that enabled him to write to you and me and all believers\u2026<\/p>\n

      \u201cYou are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises<\/em> of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.\u201d\u00a0 I Peter 2:9, 10 NKJV<\/p>\n

      And later Peter says to us, \u201cHis divine power has given us everything we need<\/em> for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.\u00a0 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature\u2026\u201d 2 Peter 1:3, 4 NIV<\/p>\n

      What is it that defines who I am?\u00a0 It\u2019s not what I do\u2026it\u2019s who I am in Christ.\u00a0 I agree with Jesus.\u00a0 He says to me, \u201cApart from me you can do nothing.\u201d\u00a0 And I also thank God for the words of Paul, \u201cI can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.\u201d<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s not what you do\u2026it\u2019s whose you are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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      \n\t\t\"\"\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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      Dr. Wes Tuttle is an accomplished worship leader, musician, and songwriter. Dr. Tuttle\u2019s songs have been recorded by influential worship leaders like Don Moen, Paul Wilbur, Bob Fitts, John Chisum, Aline Barros, Robin Mark, Juanita Bynum and Judy Jacobs. Wes is an ordained minister and holds an A.A. in Music and a B.A. in Religion from Emmanuel College.\u00a0 He holds an M.A. in Counseling from Liberty University and a M.A.R. with a concentration in Cross-cultural studies from Liberty Theological Seminary. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty Theological Seminary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":9537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1,171,1325],"tags":[1458,1404,16,1031,1454,1357,570],"class_list":{"0":"post-9535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-discipleship-ministries","8":"category-general","9":"category-leadership-2","10":"category-worship","11":"tag-1458","12":"tag-article","13":"tag-discipleship","14":"tag-discipleship-ministries","15":"tag-q4","16":"tag-wes-tuttle","17":"tag-worship","18":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"Wes Tuttle","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/11\/DM-WORSHIP-2022-Q1-Article-Graphic.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-2tN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}