I know. It’s not the best grammar in the world, but since it’s a quote, you have to go with what was actually said—so there you have it.

Do any of you actually remember this line from the movie, “An Officer and a Gentlemen?”

The main character—a navy cadet (played by Richard Gere) was trying his best not to wash out of the program, but the odds were truly stacked against him.

• He came from the wrong side of the tracks (BTW How are you supposed to know which side is right or wrong?)
• He didn’t have any family to fall back on
• He was dirt poor
• He was extremely rough around the edges (raised by wolves might be more accurate).
• He had a chip on his shoulder the size of Yosemite’s Dome of the Rock

Regardless, he fought and fought to hang on even though his sergeant and direct supervisor seemed to have it out for him. Yeah, there was a tension between the two of them that seemed ready to explode at any given moment. In fact, the moment I am referring to in the title of this post was it.

Both men were trained in martial arts and decided to settle their mutual loathing with a fight until one could not get up.

If you like ‘Ultimate Fighting’ it was a pretty good battle. However, the sergeant was the victor and fully expected the young cadet to quit after the bloody beating.

He was sadly mistaken. So, in anger, he kept berating his cadet and verbally pushing him, hoping to hear those two words he’d longed for that would spell the end of having to lay eyes on the misfit cadet.

Those word?

“I quit.”

“Why don’t you just leave?! You aren’t cut out for this. We don’t want you here. You don’t fit. What else do you have to see to get it through your thick skull?! Why don’t you just quit?!!!”

Then there was silence as, once again, the sergeant gave the recruit an opportunity to bow out with what little dignity he had left.

Two words…”I quit.”

He never heard them. Instead, through a blood filled mouth and split lip the cadet uttered these words,

“I got nowhere else to go.”

Not the two words the sergeant wanted to hear, but six words that melted that hardened officer’s heart and resolve in an instant. He’s never seen anyone else fight so hard against such steep odds. In a moment, he went from, ‘this guy is not officer material’ to ‘this guy is exactly the kind of leader this world needs!’

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Nice story, huh? But it’s just a story. However, in real life there was a godly leader who seemed to realize this same lesson very early on in life.

I’m talking about King David. As you read the story of David in the Old Testament and read his own words and prayers throughout the Psalms, you see clearly a man who followed God, not only because He loved God, but also because he realized that when it came to the words of eternal life and things that matter most.

He had nowhere else to go.

The difference between David and the cadet was that David almost always seemed to realize this valuable truth on the front end of adversity rather than in hind sight like most of us. We see this in passages such as Psalm 70:1–5,

¹Save me, LORD God!

   Hurry and help.

    ²Disappoint and confuse

   all who want to kill me.

   Turn away and disgrace

   all who want to hurt me.

    ³Embarrass and shame those

   who say, “We told you so!”

    ⁴Let your worshipers celebrate

   and be glad because of you.

   They love your saving power,

   so let them always say,

   ”God is wonderful!”

    ⁵I am poor and needy,

   but you, the LORD God,

   care about me.

   You are the one who saves me.

   Please hurry and help!

 David does not try to deal with this in his own strength until all other options are exhausted, he comes to God first and last. He truly believed he had nowhere else to go.

One other quick example of a group who learned this precious truth early enough to do great things for God

John 6:67–69

 ^66-67After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

 ^68-69Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

 Translation? When it comes to what really matters most—love, mercy, forgiveness and matters of eternity. You alone, Jesus, are the answer. I’ll stay with you. Besides, I got no where else to go!

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For all the faulty theories out there about how to please a higher power, or connect with God—it’s amazing how few consider something as simple as faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Fairly straight-forward, wouldn’t you say?

So it seems that what ever little path or method of getting God’s attention that doesn’t begin with simple, heartfelt faith is doomed from the start. But this morning in my quiet time, God reminded me that it’s not just ‘starter faith’ that He’s after, but rather, a lifetime of ever growing faith and love. This morning I was reading from the first chapter of 1 Timothy. Here’s what I read:

² I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith.

   May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Warnings against False Teachings

 ³ When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth. ⁴ Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations,^a]’>[a] which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.^b]’>[b]

 ⁵ The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. ⁶ But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.

Paul is urging Timothy to take up battle stations against the false teachers who are trying to move the fired up, ‘salvation by faith alone’ believers into a stale, religious, works way of relating to God. But that isn’t relating at all. And it’s certainly not moving forward and maturing. It’s going backwards toward spiritual adolescence.

You see, not only is it impossible to connect with God without faith for salvation (at the beginning)—it’s also impossible to grow to spiritual maturity traveling any other road then the road of faith.

Check this scripture out Galatians 3:3

First in the New International Version:

³Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Now brace yourself. The Message is much more blunt.

^2-4Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

Still digging in?

Try this:

The Contemporary English Version

³How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God’s Spirit started in you?

Take your pick. I’ve got more!

And I’m not trying to be sarcastic (it comes without effort I’m afraid). It’s just that pastors seem to deal with this, “feed me, I wanna go deeper, I have some concerns, Evangelism isn’t my gift, Missions isn’t for me, I can’t afford to give, I’m too busy to serve,” garbage more than just about anything else and it gets tiring!!!!

Official: Rant Over

Just one more thing: If you are not a transformed person—all your “spiritual knowledge” and “pharisaical one-upmanship” is a complete waste of time!

But I leave you with this:

The beatings will continue until we get it!

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In the story of the Prodigal Son the emphasis is almost always on the…well, the prodigal son.

Thus the name I suppose.

Only we gave that story that name—not Jesus. And, as the story kicks off, 2 sons are mentioned not one. Take a look for yourself,

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons…

See? I wasn’t lying. And here’s the problem with throwing all the focus of the story onto the one son…

It’s really about God.

That’s right, the story is about what an awesome, forgiving and loving God we have, not on the slick ingenuity of the young runaway to come home again.

Honestly, the kid was starving and pretty much out of options. Ingenuity?

More like common sense.

But here’s the real danger with focusing on just the younger son who took the money and ran—-you risk coming to the conclusion that what he did is the only way to miss God.

But there are a lot of ways to miss God’s best for your life—more than one way to miss the boat.

Sure, the prodigal represents selfishness and rebellion. He’s the obvious sinner who needed to be broken and repentant. But what about his legalistic, overly opinionated, unmerciful brother?

That dude was pretty quick to run down a list of all the great things he’s done. But, as you come to the end of the story only one thing he did is crystal clear.

He missed God.

There’s more than one way to miss the boat.

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