Paul Tripp: The need for ministry is so pervasive and so profound that you will never live a single day without bumping against many, many, many places where ministry is needed. But, here is what you have to do...you have to ask God to open your eyes to somebody else's need but your own.

Kate Crowley: From Paul Tripp Ministries, this is Right Here, Right Now, connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Here, now, is Paul Tripp.

Paul Tripp: Did you ever wonder what God does with all of His time? Now, I'm being serious here. If you were asked what God is up to right here, right now, what would you answer? If you had to, sort of, describe God's present job description, what would it be? What is the thing that God is seeking to accomplish in this universe that He so wondrously created? Do you know that God doesn't just care about people's hearts and souls as if we were disembodied spirits? He cares about everything that He made. He cares about our bodies; He cares about the surrounding, natural world. God cares about it all.

There are two places in the Bible that clue us in to what God is working on in the present. In Romans 8, Paul says that the whole world is groaning, waiting for redemption. You simply see this brokenness everywhere. And then, John, in Revelation, records God saying, as he is seated on the throne, "I am making everything new." Right here, right now, God is in the process of completely restoring this terribly broken world and everything in it.

God is in the process of lovingly fixing everything that sin has broken. The great Christmas hymn says it very well. It says that He comes to make His blessing known. Now hear this, "...far as the curse is found." And, do you know that this work of the complete rebuilding and restoration of the world, God has called you to be part of it as well, right here, right now?

Music: "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere"...Songwriters: Malcolm J. Rebennack, Doc Pomus

Sometimes I wonder
Just what am I fighting for?
Oh, I win some battles, uh huh!
But I always, always lose the war
I keep right on stumblin'
In this no-man's land out here
But I know
Ohhh, Ohhh yes, I know
There must be a better world somewhere
Must be a better world somewhere
Flyin' high
Some joker clips my wings
Just because he gets a kick
Out of doing those kinds of things
I keep on fallin' in space
Or just hangin' in mid-air
But I know
Ohh yes, I know
There has just got to be a better world somewhere, out there

Kate Crowley: You are listening to Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp. Paul looks at "Survival Skills for a Fallen World," and there's more to come. Paul can now be heard each weekday at 11 A.M. on WFIL. It's his goal to reveal the hope found in Jesus Christ. Be sure and share this ministry with your friends.

There are many resources available on our website including a stimulating new book by Paul called Lost In The Middle. Just visit paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, paultripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org. More on "Resisting Spirituality" on Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp.

Do You Have One Life or Two?

Paul Tripp: Now, I want to ask you a strange question, but I actually don't think it's that strange when you take time to think about it. Do you have one life or two? Maybe you are thinking, "Okay, Paul, I have no idea what you're talking about."

There are many Christians who actually live in two completely different worlds. The first world that they live in is the world of their everyday life, you know, those repetitive, mundane, daily situations and relationships, locations, daily duties, the daily things that all of us do almost without thinking every day. You know...the family, the work, the cooking, the leisure, the job, the driving here and there...those things. This is what we tend to call, "My life!"

Then, people often have a second world which is the world composed of ministry. It's the world of the men's and women's group. It's the world of the small group or of teaching Sunday School. It's the world of the short-term missions' trip or the world of formal evangelism. You see, there are two worlds: the 'my' world and God's world; my life and God's calling, and those two worlds don't really touch. The view of ministry, when you're in this 'two worlds' model is that you step out of your life into episodic moments of ministry. So I step out of my life to lead a small group, or I step out of my life to go to a short-term missions' trip.

You see, my life is over here, and ministry is over there. But there's a problem with this view. There is a problem with this lifestyle that totally separates life and ministry. And the problem is this...this view of life and ministry tends to give you the mistaken notion that your life really does belong to you, and what ministry is about--is giving back portions of the life that belongs to you--to God for His use.

Now, what is actually true is that God owns everything in my life. I do not have any shred of life that actually belongs to me; it all belongs to the Lord. You see, what you need to know is that your Lord is in the business of making all things new, and that He has chosen you to be part of what He is doing on earth. This means this...that every dimension of human life is, at the same time, a forum for ministry. Life is not separate from ministry. Ministry is life, and life is ministry, and our God of restoration has called for us to live restorative lifestyles.

You see, if you are one of God's children, if you really do belong to Him, He lays claim to your life. Your life is ministry, and ministry is your life. And, in fact, the two worlds that we talked about...God's world and my world...don't actually exist that way at all. God owns it all, and He's called me to be part of what He is doing on earth.

Music: "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan

I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose
Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light
And I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

Ambassadors of Restoration

Paul Tripp: You don't really have to be confused about how you fit with God's amazing plan of universal restoration because there is a wonderful word that the apostle Paul uses to get at this ministry lifestyle that God has called each of us to. The word is 'ambassador'. Now, what a loaded word this is! Think about the job of an ambassador. Think about America's Ambassador to France or to Saudi Arabia.

See, an ambassador only ever really does one thing. The one thing that he does full-time, 24/7 is represent. You see, the thing that an ambassador is sent to do, is chosen to do...is to represent the will, the desires, the work, and the agenda of a king that he represents, a leader that he represents.

You see, God is that King. He is that Ruler of all things, and God has called us to live as His ambassadors, right here, right now where He has placed us. And so, that means that we have to approach life with this ambassadorial lifestyle. You see, this is a way of living that's not defined by what we would like to see happen, what we would want out of our situations and relationships, but rather it's a lifestyle that's driven by what God is seeking to accomplish in us, and through us, and in our world in those situations and relationships.

Now, if you put the word 'ambassador' next to the way we normally think about ministry, you begin to realize that we just tend to get it all wrong. You see, we have tended to be comfortable with a huge gap in our lives between our everyday, mundane existence and our world of ministry...my life from God's world. The truth is that God has put you right where He wants you because He wants you to be His ambassador in that place where He's put you, and God never gets a wrong address.

He never has you at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people in the wrong circumstances. No! God wants you there because He wants you to exercise your ambassadorial lifestyle. He wants you to be a representative so that that work of restoration, that He is so zealous to do, will grow in the place where you live.

Remember, by this ambassadorial calling, every dimension of human life is at the very same time of forum for ministry; work is about ministry; leisure is about ministry; parenting is about ministry; marriage is about ministry; neighbor to neighbor relationships are about ministry. Life is ministry, and ministry is life.

Let me list for you the things that we sort of get wrong in our shrunken-down, bifurcated definition of ministry. Our view of ministry is often limited by people. We only think that it's the trained professionals who actually do ministry. For example, we think of our pastor as the minister of the church. That means everybody else isn't, and that means it's okay for everybody else to be passive. Or, we think of the missionary as being (in quotes) "in full-time Christian service." And that means that everybody else isn't. And so, our definition of ministry tends to be terribly limited by people.

It's also limited by place. We think there are certain locations where that formal ministry takes place. Sunday morning is a time where ministry takes place. It's a service of worship with Sunday School or teaching, the small group...is a location where ministry takes place, but all those other places in life are not about ministry. They are not ministry locations.

Ministry, third, is limited by schedule. There are only certain times in our, already-too-busy lives where we can schedule in episodes of ministry. I schedule a meeting with the board of the church. I schedule a time to go to small groups. I schedule a week of short-term missions.

Not only limited by people, not only limited by place, not only limited by schedule, but also our definition of ministry is just limited by definition. There are only certain things that really qualify as a ministry. It's when I'm sharing or teaching God's Word that I'm actually doing ministry.

But here are the questions of a true ambassador. Here is the first one: What is God up to right here, right now? What is it that He's working on?

Second question: In what way is He calling me to participate in what He's doing right here, right now?

Third question: How should that shape the way I live every day?

You see, all of this is about widening our definition of what ministry activity looks like, and realizing that God's call to us to be instruments of ministry in His hands is not so much a call to certain set of activities, but rather a call to a lifestyle of ambassadorship, a lifestyle where we are seeking to do everything we can to be part of this thing that God is doing in making all things new.

You see, you'll never be in a location where there's a lack of need for ministry. In fact, the need for ministry is so pervasive and so profound that you will never live a single day without bumping against many, many, many places where ministry is needed. But here is what you have to do. You have to ask God to open your eyes to somebody else's need but your own, and that is very hard.

We can be so blind; we can be so busy; we can be so incredibly self-focused that there are ministry needs right in front of our eyes, and we simply don't see them. You see, you will never be in a location here on earth where ministry is not needed.

This world is in desperate need of God's amazing power, of God stunning wisdom, of God's amazing grace. And, do you know what it means to be an ambassador? It means looking for opportunities; it means being willing to complicate your schedule and to open your home; it means being willing to invest your time, energy, and money; it means praying that God, in His grace, would open your eyes and soften your heart. It means looking for opportunities to represent the most exciting and most important work in the universe...restoration. And that restoration is taking place right here, right now.

I would ask you this question: What set of values, what bright golden dream determines how you spend your time? What is it that you're working on that determines what your schedule looks like? Is your schedule set by the values of your own little kingdom interest, and your eyes are blind to all the ministry opportunities that are around you because you're so focused on what you want, and what you need, what you care to accomplish on a given day, where you're going, and where you're coming?

Are you so absorbed in your kingdom that you don't have eyes to see the amazing opportunities that God is giving you to be part of His kingdom work? If you're an ambassador, it means looking for opportunities to represent the most exciting and most important work in the universe; not the work of your kingdom, but the work of God's kingdom.

God is in our world now; He's in it for good, and the work He's doing is to make all things new. He wants to make His blessing known "as far as the curse is found," and He asks you to be a part of that work.

Music: "This is my Father's World"...Songwriters: Mattbie D. Babcock and Paul Mickelson

This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears,
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres.

Shalom: What Was Broken and What Needs Restored

Paul Tripp: In the Bible, there's a wonderful Hebrew word that captures what has been broken in our world and what needs to be restored. That word is 'shalom'. Listen as I read what Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. writes in his wonderful book, Not the Way It's Supposed to Be.

"As the great writing prophets of the Bible knew, sin has 1,000 faces. The prophets knew how many ways human life can go wrong because they knew how many ways human life can go right. You need the concept of a wall on plumb to tell when one is off. These prophets kept dreaming of a time when God would put things right again.

They dreamed of a new age in which human crookedness would be straightened out, rough places made plain, the foolish would be made wise, and the wise humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would flower, the mountains would run with wine, weeping would cease, and people could go to sleep without weapons on their laps. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect.

Lambs could lie down with lions. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder. All humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood. And all nature and all humans would look to God, walk with God, lean toward God, and delight in God.

Shouts of joy and recognition would well-up from valleys and seas, from women in streets, and from men on ships. This webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call 'shalom'. We call it 'peace'. But it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies.

In the Bible, 'shalom' means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight, a rich, rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied, and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator, and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom He delights."

(please note: words quoted accurately, but form displayed may vary from the printed text.)

Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be. You see, but the fact is, things aren't the way they're supposed to be. We're not living in the restoration of shalom right now; it has not been fully restored. Shalom lies at our feet, terribly shattered. Shalom has been broken by sin, and its God's zeal to restore shalom. And right now, He's in the process of making shalom--shalom again, and He wants you to be part of that process.

He wants you to have your eyes, not just on your life, not just on your relationships, not just on your activities, not just on your purposes and your plans, your hopes and your dreams, your wants and desires. God wants you to have your eyes on shalom. He wants you to be looking for where shalom is broken around you. He wants you to pick up the shattered pieces of shalom, and, by His grace, glue them together again. Until shalom is fully and completely restored, this world is broken. But this world will be restored someday. It will be what it was meant to be, and God has called you to be part of His restoration of shalom.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: Well, what about you? What filled your eyes yesterday? Were your eyes filled with what you need, what you want, what you desire, your purposes, your plans, your hopes, your dreams, your goals? Did you have the eyes of an ambassador, or were you blind to the needs around you, blind to the work of restoration?

Or, what about you? Are you trying to live in two worlds? Is your life that you live every day, that world of the mundane, repetitive things that you do every day, completely, totally separate from the world of ministry? Or have you caught God's zeal for the complete restoration of shalom? What excites you more...the glory of the personal plans of your kingdom of self; or the transcendent glories of the world- restoring purposes of the kingdom of God? Are your eyes open? Is your heart soft? Do you live like you really do believe that every dimension of human life is, at the same time, a forum for ministry?

Remember, you have been invited to be part of the most important work in the universe, and remember, as you begin to live as an ambassador, that God has called you to be involved with everything that He thinks is important. And there are needs wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, and whomever you're with.

Shalom, all around you, is shattered, and God has called you to be an ambassador to represent His work of putting shalom back together again. Are you living as an ambassador? Is your heart soft, and are your eyes open? Are you committed to representing God's work of restoration?

Kate Crowley: "Becoming a Messenger for the Faithful One," Paul Tripp with "Survival Skills for a Fallen World," on today's edition of Right Here, Right Now. In his book, Lost In The Middle, Paul Tripp talks about the hope that can only be found in the grace of God. That's Lost In The Middle, available on our website, paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, paultripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

And while you're there, you can hear today's program, once again, or sign up for the daily podcast. If you would like a CD of today's broadcast, it's available for just five dollars. You can order a copy, as well as other video, audio, and print resources on issues that are important to you. Check them out at paultrippministries.org, or call us at 1-800-551-6595. That's toll-free 1-800-551-6595.

By the way, you can help us spread the ministry of Right Here, Right Now across the country. Go online at paultrippministries.org, and click on 'Ministry Support', or write to us at 7214 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19135.

If you'd like Paul to take part in your local ministry as a guest speaker, go to the 'Events' link at paultrippministries.org, that's T-R-I-P-P. And, be here tomorrow when Paul helps us focus on worship when he continues his series "Survival Skills for a Fallen World."

This is Kate Crowley, and for all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, we want to remind you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here. right now.