The Importance of a Positive Attitude (and the Danger of a Negative Attitude) in Serving the Lord

Introduction.   Let’s begin our lesson this evening with a few observations for the book of Proverbs. 15:13, 15; 17:22

•         (Prov. 15:13). In Proverbs 15:13 word for “sorrow” in the Hebrew has to do with “wounds” or “injuries” rather than simply “grief.” The idea may be that the one who dwells upon the “wounds” of the heart develops a “broken spirit” (not in the sense of humility, but in terms of ineffectiveness.

•         (Prov. 17:22). In Proverbs 15:13, 17:22 the word for “merry” is the same word.  The KJV translates it most frequently “rejoice” (11) or “glad” (4) or “joyful” (3).  Perhaps the idea is that the one with a grateful, thankful disposition brings to others a “cheerful countenance” and “does good like medicine.”

•         (Prov. 15:15).The word in Proverbs 15:15 translated “merry” is 361 times translated “good” in the KJV. “Afflicted” here doesn’t seem to refer to what happens to us that we cannot help, but what we allow that affliction to do to us. The idea is perhaps is that the one who dwells upon his or her afflictions will find life to be “evil.” On the other hand, the who has a “good” outlook on life will have a “continual feast.”

Theses verses show the importance of what could be called “positive thinking” or in turn the danger of “negative thinking.”

A.      World’s emphasis on positive thinking. This is often stressed in areas having to do with salesmanship and self-improvement. You will hear people talk about the importance of visualization—i.e. you must picture something in your mind in order to make it happen. Some of this is valid, but some becomes almost a belief in new-age powers of the mind (which the Bible does not teach).

B.      Denominational approach to positive thinking.  In the religious world you sometimes see an emphasis on positive thinking that says...

1.      “Nothing can go wrong for the believer” or...

2.      “Even when things go wrong the believer should always be happy”.

C.      Brethren often have concerns about “positive preaching.”

1.      I share the concern that if we are not careful we will be influenced by culture, and denominational thinking to act as if we must only preach those things that are uplifting and happy.

2.      The truth is that we often need to be rebuked and warned about that which is negative by nature.

3.      You can’t make things like sin, hell, and falsehood “positive.”

D.      A Scriptural attitude is positive. Not unrealistic, not out of touch with life’s hardships, or oblivious to them, but always hoping for and believing the best is possible.

Our goal this year at Olsen Park is to focus on personal service. This evening we are going to talk about the importance of a positive attitude (or on the other side of the coin) the danger of a negative attitude in serving the Lord.

Definitions.

A.      What is a positive attitude?  Or at least, what do I mean in this lesson by a positive attitude? One that...

1.      Hopes for the best

2.      Looks for the best

3.      Believes the best is possible

B.      What is a negative attitude? Or, again, what do I mean in this lesson when I speack of a negative attitude?  One that...

1.      Exaggerates life’s difficulties or shortcomings

2.      Ignores the good in life or others

3.      Imagines the worst possible outcome will happen

C.      Disposition. Are there positive and negative people? 

1.      Sometimes we do see those people that seem to be either always positive or those that are always negative.

a.       I remember an elderly lady where I preached years ago that you hesitated to ask her how she was doing because every time you did she would begin to complain about every possible thing you could imagine.

b.      She was a negative person.   

2.      Most people vary between positive and negative attitudes depending upon life conditions—positive or negative things that happen to them in life.

a.       The challenge for a Christian is not to allow our circumstances to dictate our outlook.

b.      Our brethren in the past faced persecution, hardship, and trials we cannot even imagine. The very worst we face hardly compares to what they went through and yet retained their faith, hope, and joy. 

D.      How Attitude Can Influence Service to God.

1.      What I want to talk about this evening is how important it is to recognize the bearing that our attitude has on our service, and the service of others.

2.      Without a positive attitude in our service to God we will be crippled, ineffective doomed to a life of spiritual immaturity and discontentment!

3.      Does that seem like too strong a statement? Consider with me how important our attitude is in service to God.

Our Attitude Is Important When It Comes To...

I.  Personal Growth.   

A. Our attitude will effect our expectations of ourselves.  For example:

1. Positive attitude will say...

•         “I can overcome temptations”

•         “I can grow in service to Christ”

(That will make a person try to overcome and try to grow)

2. Negative Attitude will say...

•         “I’ll never be able to resist!”

•         “I’ll never be like so, so!”

(Will the person who looks at himself this way try to resist?Will he try to be like brother or sister so, so? )

B. Someone might say—“But you don’t know how often I’ve failed!” (Does that mean you have to fail, or will always fail?)

C. Paul Chose to Cling to A Positive Attitude

1. “Forgetting those things that are behind” (Phil. 3:12-14).

2. What was behind Paul? Persecution of the church! (1 Tim. 1:12-14).

II.  Family Relationships.

A. One of the most damaging things to a marriage, to relationships between a parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, or aunt and uncle—niece and nephew is a negative attitude.  Look at how it works...

1. Negative Attitude will say...

•         “So, and so just tries to frustrate me!”

(Well, how often is that the case? or How often have we done something to them which motivates them to frustrate us?)

•         “If only so and so was more______”

(Fat/Thin; Patient/Assertive; Responsible/Easy Going, etc.)

a. In psychology they have what they call “self-fulfilling prophecies.”

b. The idea is that (in general) the way we communicate to others what we think of them often turns out to be how they end up being.

c. Example: Someone who is nagged about being lazy starts to think of himself as lazy. Someone who is nagged about being a bad mother (or father), starts to think of herself (or himself) as being a bad mother (or father). 

d. Often a negative attitude about something will actually promote the very things we feel negative about to begin with!

2. A Positive Attitude will say...

•         “I know they have their faults but they have some fine qualities!”

•         “They put up with my faults—I can bear the few they have.”

B. The Bible teaches positive attitudes in the family (Eph. 5:22-29; 6:1-4).

III.  Dealing with Brethren. 

A. There is a strange way in Christ that our views of our faith often hinge on our views towards our brethren. 

1. If we have a positive view of our brethren we find faithfulness to the Lord’s church a matter of ease. 

2. Yet if we feel irritation towards one another the Lord’s service becomes a drudgery.

3. The irony of this is that at any given moment in our lives as Christians we could probably find a whole list of things to feel good about (when it comes to our brethren) or a whole list of things to be irritated about. 

4. What makes the difference?  Our attitude!

B. A Positive Attitude will say...

•         “So and so is really showing some growth in Christ.”

•         “I really think I could encourage them in this or that.”

•         “They did a fine job with that task!

C. A Negative attitude will say... 

•         “Brother so, and so irritates me so much.”

•         “They meant to do such and such that hurt my feelings.”

•         “Could you believe they did that in services?”

D. What good is accomplished with this attitude?  None!  It doesn’t help the other person or yourself. 

1. Someone might say—“Yes but it is realistic”  

2. Well it might also be unrealistic because it fails to take into account the person’s effort, past struggles, growth, present temptations, etc.

3. We don’t always have all of the information.

E. A positive view of our brethren is our duty (Col. 3:12-15).

IV.  Personal Evangelism.

A. I can think of no area in our service to the Lord where a positive or negative attitude can display immediate visible consequences more than in the matter of personal evangelism.   Think about how this works...

1. A Positive Attitude will say...

•         “Maybe if we try this, we could win some souls.”

•         “So, and so shows some potential, maybe with some work...”

•         “People can change, if only I am ready to help them!”

(Example:  This is somewhat like kids and forgotten change in a pay phone or vending machine—most of the time it is empty, but sometimes that child gets a “king’s ransom!”

a.       The Christian with a positive attitude will be like that kid and the pay phone!

2. A negative attitude will say...

•         “We’ve tried it before, it won’t do any good!”

•         “Nobody wants to do what’s right”

•         “So, and so will never accept the truth!”

(Do you think this kind of attitude will find any change in the pay phone?

B. We mustn’t confuse a respect for authority with a negative attitude. 

1. In matters of evangelism, benevolence, or whatever let’s make certain we have scriptural authority before we act.  If we don’t—don’t act. 

2. When we do have authority we must give it all we have.  Young people you can help us older people with this. We can become jaded because we have tried things that didn’t work for us. It is harder for us to have that optimism that it will work next time. Don’t let us stop trying.

C. People want to blame the church or the message or “old fashion” approaches for people not obeying the gospel. 

1. I don’t think all that has much to do with it at all.  I think most of it is our personal attitudes. 

2. It may be...

•         We aren’t prepared to teach others.

•         We lack the confidence to share the message.

•         We are so absorbed in doubting that people will do  right that we don’t look for those that might!

D. Biblical Examples.

1. What if Priscilla and Aquila had doubted?  (Acts 18:24-28).

2. What if Paul had left Corinth? (Acts 18:8-11).  We must act in the hope and confidence that good can come from our efforts.

V.  Facing Trials.

A. Optimism in the face of hardships and trials is what many see as being “out of touch” or “unrealistic”. 

1. Is it unrealistic, or simply the best alternative?

2. When things cannot be changed externally we can either internalize all the bad things (so it is bad inside and out) or internalize positive thoughts to battle all the bad things on the outside.  Think about how this works...

B. A negative attitude will say...

•         “This isn’t fair, why should I have to go through this?”

•         “Nobody cares, or understands what I have to face!”

(In Christ there are always those who care, we may have trouble showing it as we should, but we do care)

C. A positive attitude will say...

•         “This is hard but I’ll make it through it and heaven will be worth it all!”

•         “Others have faced things far worse than this”

(The one thinking this way will not only prevent hardships from destroying them, but actually encourage and prepare others to go through similar trials.

D. Paul’s attitude in harship (2 Cor.  4:8-10).  This is overwhelming optimism!

1. Don’t tell me that optimism isn’t a part of the gospel!  

2. We are to follow apostolic example. Philippians 4:9 “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” 

3. Paul displays the approved apostolic example of being optimistic in the face of adversity!

VI.  Our Relationship with the Lord. Finally we must guard our attitude regarding our relationship to the Lord. 

A. What do we think about service to Christ?  Is it a joy or burden?

1. The Positive attitude will say...

•         “God really cares for me and has greatly blessed me!”

•         “I want to do everything the Lord commands me.”

(Is this an attitude only the mature can possess?  It is an attitude we can choose to have ourselves!)

2. The negative attitude will say...

•         “Doing _____ for the Lord is the biggest pain in the world!”

(Fill in the blank - Church attendance?  Bible study?  Abstaining from some sin?)

•         “Why is God so picky, if only I could do what I want to do!”

B. We must realize, and remind ourselves daily that everything that God commands us, requires of us, or expects of us is for our good. 

1. It is to protect us, help us grow, and shape us into the kind of people that can live with Him in peace, joy, and happiness forever! 

2. How we see this service is up to us!

C. “For our good always” (Deut. 6:24-25).

Conclusion.  The Bible teaches us to have a realistic view of life, others, and ourselves, but we must also cultivate a positve attitude in an effort to improve life, ourselves, and others.