Paul Tripp: Your life has a mission; your life has a purpose; your life has direction. There really is a reason for you doing everything you do. You are in pursuit of some kind of kingdom, and you may not even know it.

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: We live in the 'YouTube' age. I don't know if you've ever seen that site, but it has videos on every topic you could possibly ever think about. We live in an age where everything is videoed all the time. We live in an age of the omnipresent video camera and the DVD. We live in a visual age. And everywhere you go, you see people with video cameras, and sometimes you see people with video cameras videoing people with video cameras. We're putting life on the DVD.

Now if someone would sit down before their flat screen and watch the DVD of your life, what would they conclude about you? What would they say you are living for? What would they say is your mission in life? How would they view the way you interact with people? What would they say about the way you treat your family, the way you respond to your friends, the kind of relationship you have with your neighbors? What would they say that you are living for?

Now, turn the camera toward yourself. Pretend that you are videoing you. What are you really living for? Whose dream are you after? Whose kingdom do your words serve?

You see, your life has a mission. Your life has a purpose. Your life has direction. There really is a reason for you doing everything you do. You are in pursuit of some kind of kingdom, and you may not even know it. You serve the purposes of some kind of kingdom, and you can be completely unaware of it. And every word that you speak serves some kind of king.

Music: "Disease Of Conceit" by Bob Dylan

There are a whole lot of people suffering tonight
From the disease of conceit.
Whole lot of people struggling tonight
From the disease of conceit.
Come right down the highway,
Straight down the line,
Rips into your senses
Through your body and your mind.
Nothing about it that's sweet
The disease of conceit.

Kate Crowley: And you are listening to Right Here, Right Now. There's more from Paul Tripp's series titled, "What About Your Talk?" in just a moment. If you haven't had a chance to visit Paul's website, he wants you to know there are valuable resources including his book, War of Words. Just go to paultrippministries.org. That's paultrippministries.org. Right now, here's Paul Tripp with more Right Here, Right Now.

We Are All Pursuing Some Kind of Kingdom

Paul Tripp: I hope this isn't too presumptuous of me, and I hope it doesn't offend you too much, but I know you have the same problem I do. I know this because, just like me, you are a sinner living in a fallen world.

I know it's hard to admit. It's easier to think of everybody else as a sinner, and it's hard to admit that you're one of those too, but that's all of us; none of us have escaped the drama of personal sinfulness. And I know that it's hard for you not to have your life absorbed by your desires, your needs your plans, your hopes, and your dreams. It's hard for each one of us not to shrink our lives to the size of our lives. It's hard for you not to take your life as your own. It's hard not to enthrone yourself as king and forget The King that you have been welcomed and chosen to serve.

When I get up in the morning, my first thoughts are not about the needs of others. I would like to say they are. My first thoughts are about me. My first thoughts are about how I am feeling and what I need and want to get done on that particular day. And on the way home, I would like to say that my heart is filled with visions of ministry, but that's not what's going on. On the way home at the end of the day as I sit in traffic, I think about how I would like to spend my evening.

Now, there's a way in which this is very natural. But there's a way, also, that this is very dangerous. It's easy to be setting up my own kingdom and not even know it. It is very easy to try to squeeze the kingdom of God into the tiny, little, available spaces in my already too full, claustrophobic kingdom of self, and it will never fit there. The kingdom of God is way too big to fit into my claustrophobic, little self-kingdom.

Do you remember your DVD that I just asked you to watch? It's a story of someone working for the success of a kingdom. So here's the question: What kingdom is being worked on in your DVD - yours or God's? Everything you've ever said is said in the pursuit of one of these two kingdoms. Everything you've ever said has been said for the success of one of these two kingdoms. It's just the inescapable spiritual reality of our lives. You can't avoid it.

We've been thinking about our talk, and what does this have to do with our talk? It has everything to do with it. Here it is: When you take your life as your own, then you take your words as your own, and when you take your words as your own, they immediately lose their shelter from difficulty. When you become your own king, you take your life as your own. And when you take your life as your own, you take your words as your own. And when you take your words as your own, they immediately lose the shelter from difficulty that serving God with your words provides.

And so, here's the big, unavoidable question. Here's the thing that will explain every part of your personal video. Here's the ultimate, bottom-line question. Are you ready for this? Here it is: Whose kingdom are your words serving? Whose kingdom are your words serving?

Music: "At The Mercy" by Songwriter: Paul McCartney

At the mercy
At the mercy
At the mercy of a busy road
Who can handle such a heavy load?
At the mercy
At the mercy
At the mercy of a busy day
We can think of nothin' more to say
If you show me love, I won't refuse
I know you'd never make me choose
Between the love I got
And the love I'd lose
Sometimes I'd rather run and hide
Than stay and face the fear inside
At the mercy
At the mercy
At the mercy of a busy day
Who can bare to turn their head away?
At the mercy
At the mercy
At the mercy of a busy road
We can watch the universe explode

Kings, Kingdoms, and Ambassadors

Paul Tripp: We Americans are strangely attracted and attached to the British monarchy. When Princess Diana died, there were Diana products all over the place, a thousand Diana magazines, Diana mugs, Diana plates, Diana scarves, Diana picture books. It was an incredible thing.

Seeing as we fought for our freedom from the monarchy, it seems a bit of a strange thing. But I think I understand it. We are attracted to the monarchy because, secretly, we would all like to be king. We wonder: "What would it be like if I ruled my world?"

You know, there are moments in your job when you would like to be king of your boss, even if just for one day. There are times, in traffic, when you would like to be the king of the highways, able to determine when you could be on the road and no one else could. There are times when you run to the grocery store just to quickly pick up one thing, only to discover that the store is packed with other people that you would like to be the king of the grocery store, able to empty the aisles for quick shopping.

There are times when you want to be king of the family, commanding an instant respect and the kind of order and comfort that you want there. There are times when you want to be king of your marriage or king of a friendship, able to control how you are treated and served.

Yes, we all secretly wonder what it would be like to be king. But that desire for kingship goes in the opposite direction from what God is doing in your life. You see, God's grace is all about kingship. But you have got to get this. God's grace is all about freeing you from the bondage to your own rule and welcoming you into the service of a better king who rules a better kingdom.

God did not give you His grace so that your little kingdom would work and be successful. No, He gave you His grace in order to invite you to a better kingdom. His grace is not just about the comfort of forgiveness, acceptance, deliverance, and power. His grace is also a call to a brand-new way of living. This new way of living is not driven by the needs, wants, pleasures, desires, purposes, goals of the kingdom of self. No, this new way of living does not have my personal definition of pleasure as its goal. No, that never works.

God knows that when I live for physical, earthbound pleasure, I will never be satisfied. The experience of physical, earthbound pleasure always leaves me craving for more pleasure, which leaves me craving for more pleasure until I'm hopelessly addicted.

So to free me, God has to call me out of my slavery to me. He has to reach in and pry me out of my little kingdom of one, and He calls me to invest the energies of my life in the purposes of His kingdom. It is only when I am practically, functionally living for Him where the rubber-meets-the-road in my daily life that I get free from my bondage to me.

And here's what all of this has to do with your words. You are always speaking in pursuit of one of these two kingdoms: You are always speaking for a king--either the king that is you, or the King that is the Lord. There is some grand vision that propels your words; there is some treasure in view every time you speak; there is something you go after in your talk. Your words always reveal that you are either trying to be the king or you're serving The King. There simply is no neutral ground in between. What kingdom owns your words?

Paul really does get at this in Galatians 5, verse 13:

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love. The entire law summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Paul is talking about those two kingdoms. You have the kingdom of self. How does he summarize that? He says, "You have been called to be free. But do not use your freedom [Here it is.] to indulge the sinful nature."

What is the mission of the kingdom of self? Its mission is self-indulgence, self-satisfaction. I know what I want; I know when I want it; I know how I want it; I know where I want it; I know why I want it; I want what I want. And I want to co-opt you into the service of my kingdom, and when you're serving my kingdom purposes, I like you. I'm thankful that you're in my life--cards and flowers.

But when you stand in the way of what I want, I'm spontaneously irritated, and I use words to communicate my rage for the fact that you have not been part of my pursuit of my kingdom purposes. Wow! Don't use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; don't just be driven by your desires, and your wants, and your needs. That's the one kingdom, the kingdom of self.

And then, he points to the kingdom of God, and he says this: "Serve one another in love. The entire law is summarized by a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

You know, if I was writing the Bible, and I wrote the phrase, "The entire law is summarized by a single command," what I'd probably write next is: "Serve God above all else." I'd write: "Serve God above all else." But that's not what Paul writes because he knows it's only the people who love God above all else who will ever, successfully, love their neighbor as themself.

You see, if I'm speaking for me, invariably, you will get in my way, and I'll speak to you unkindly. But if really what I'm living for is God, His glory, His will, His way, His purpose, then, what my desire is is not to use you to get what I want; my desire, rather, is to serve you in a way that honors God.

Now what happens is this: These two worlds, these two kingdoms are at war in your world of words. These two kingdoms are colliding and crashing in your world of words, and when they collide, there is a whole lot of carnage going on. Your world of words is a war between the kingdom of self and the kingdom of God. It's a war for control. What kingdom will control your words? Am I on God's mission, or am I on my own? Am I speaking to please Him or speaking to please myself? Am I speaking for my glory or for His glory? What kingdom do my words serve?

Music: "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes"

I will lift up mine eyes to the hills
From whence cometh my help
My help cometh from the Lord
The Lord which made heaven and earth
He said, He will not suffer thy foot
Thy foot to be moved
The Lord which keepeth thee
He will not slumber nor sleep
Oh, the Lord is thy keeper
The Lord is thy shade
Upon thy right hand
Upon thy right hand
The sun shall not smite thee by day
Nor the moon by night
He shall preserve thy soul
Even forevermore
My help, my help, my help
All of my help cometh from the Lord

What Kingdom Are Your Words Serving?

Paul Tripp: In any of your relationships, have you ever been where this father was? Have you been there? Have you ever considered what's behind that kind of encounter? Have you ever considered what propels you to handle a situation in that manner and speak in that way? That kind of angry talk is all about a kingdom, but it's not about the kingdom of God. When I speak to another human being that way, I'm not speaking to them that way because they are a sinner. No, I speak to them that way because, in their sin, they are in the way of the purposes of my kingdom.

Let's say that Josh really is messing up. Would he benefit from that kind of encounter? Let's pretend that you're up in his face so he can feel your breath, and you're beating him with words. Do you think that Josh is going to say to himself, "My, this is helpful? This person loves me, and this person is helping me to see my heart."

Josh is never going to respond that way. No, at that moment, I've enthroned myself as king, and I have forgotten the true King. And because of that, I say words that I should never say, in an attitude that I should never have, in a manner that is anything but helpful. Yes, when I am yelling that way, I'm on a mission, but it simply isn't God's mission.

Boy, I don't know about you, but I can relate to those moments. I've had my 'Josh' moments. You have got to recognize that in those moments, you are seeing the war between those two kingdoms rage in your life. Yes, by God's kingdom, Josh does need help. Yes, Josh does require parenting. Yes, it probably is important to talk to him, but you can't talk to him that way. That's the other kingdom.

It's a kingdom of self that is angry that you have to deal with this mess one more time. It's angry for the way Josh complicates your day, and complicates your week, and complicates your life. Josh is in the way of the order, and the control, and the comfort, and the pleasure that you want, so you lash out at Josh. But you're not lashing out because he's a sinner. You are lashing out because of his sin; he is in the way of what you want. Those words are not about the kingdom of God. They're about the kingdom of self, and because of that, they don't help; those words harm.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: I think that the fact of the matter is that most of us live with kingdom confusion, and we don't even know it. It sounds like weird language. Let me make it more practical for you. We say that we want to live for the kingdom of God. We want to have God's will, God's plan, God's glory, God's work on earth as the central motivation of our lives. But we again and again confuse the kingdom of God with the kingdom of self.

We say, "We want to serve God," but we end up serving others. We say, "We want to be free," but we give ourselves to the old addictions of the kingdom of self again and again. We say, "We want to speak for the King," but we end up speaking for another king again and again. And that king is us.

The problem with the kingdom of self is that it's a costume kingdom. It so easily masquerades as the kingdom of God. And so, my self-centered obsession with the success of my job, I tell myself is just about being a good provider for my family. My angry, self-righteous criticism I see as a commitment to speak the truth to people without fear. You see again and again in my life, the kingdom of self will masquerade as the kingdom of God. And so it's important to recognize this truth. There is specific and concrete help for us. There is!

2 Corinthians 5:15 says that Jesus came so that those who live would no longer live for themselves. Jesus came to exercise His grace so that the power of sin would be broken so that you could be free from your addiction to sin. He came to liberate you and me from our self-imposed prisons of self so that we could experience the true freedom of the kingdom of God, so that the respect of a certain person, the acceptance of a certain person, a certain type of situation, a certain position wouldn't so hook us and enslave us that it would control all of our lives without us ever being able to be free. No, Jesus purchased that freedom for us. He was willing to suffer what He suffered because He knew that it was the only way to give us the freedom that we require. Again, He came to liberate you and me from our self-imposed prisons of self so that we could experience the true freedoms of the kingdom of God.

Now, what this means is that it is really possible for you to speak for the King of kings and Lord of lords. It really is possible for you to honor God with your words. It really is possible for your words to produce a good harvest. It really is possible for lasting and fundamental change to take place. God's grace really does make it possible.

Kate Crowley: "Speaking With Grace," Paul Tripp on Right Here, Right Now from the series, "What About Your Talk?" Be sure and invite a friend to join in. You can learn more about the power of words from the book, War of Words. In it, Paul Tripp examines the importance of God-honoring speech. That's War of Words. Log on to paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, paultripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

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Tomorrow, more from the series, "What About Your Talk?" I'm Kate Crowley, and on behalf of Paul Tripp Ministries, reminding you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now.