Today I want to talk about the StereoTypical Christian statement “Everything is going to be ok”…
 
This has become the go to quote for and from Christians whenever someone is going through something…
 
Many of us say this when we don’t know what to say or when we don’t want to take the time to dig into the issues people are dealing with…
 
The hope is that there are also many times when we say it because we truly believe it to be true…
 
Regardless of how it’s used I want to look at the “original” or “StereoType” of this statement to see if the way we use it is a good copy or a perverted counterfeit…
 
“Everything is going to work out” comes from Romans 8:28 which says…
we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
 
I think we need to look at a few more verses to really be able to see the heart of what is being said here…
 
Romans 8:24-28
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
 
The heart of the statement “Everything is going to work out” is this:…
 
Because I have a sure hope in what I do not see…
 
I eagerly wait for…
 
I am lost but I know the Spirit intercedes on my behalf…
 
The God who searches hearts and minds hears the Spirits requests for me…
 
and… I know that because I love God and have been called according to His purpose… “Everything is going to work out”
 
If this is what we are saying as Christians then let it be the most StereoTypical statement we ever use…

What a heart we can have if we long to be StereoTypical Christians…
 
The is the heart of God… The heart of Faith, Hope, and Love…
 
In Psalm Psalm 51:10 David says…
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 
After Romans 8:28 says…
we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
 
Listen to what follows…
 
Romans 8:31-38
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
2 Timothy 1:12
12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

So what is a stereotype?…
 
Definition Stereotype: 
1.  a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing;
2.  a relief printing plate cast in a mold made from an original plate.
 
There is a difference between a “Stereotype” and a “Connotation”…
 
Definition Connotation:
an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. Example: "the word “discipline” has unhappy connotations of punishment and repression”
 
Isn’t it interesting that the example of a negative “connotation” used in the definition is for the word discipline which is the root word of disciple which is what Jesus calls us to be…
 
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
 
Make disciples… Baptize them… Teach them…  I am with you always…
 
Although discipleship, teaching, learning, and commandments may have a negative connotation in this world they are powerful kingdom words describing the blessed experience of the Christian life and what should be Stereotypical of all Christians…
 
Romans 12:2
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
 
See we have to reclaim the meanings of these words and the emotions and thoughts that these words invoke…

The “Stereotype” I want to look at is that of a “Christian”…
 
What do most people mean when they say “Oh I heard he’s a Christian now” or “I heard she gave her life to Jesus”???
 
How has something so amazing been reduced to a short sentence with a mile long list of negative connotations?…

Becoming a Christian today to the world means becoming weak, soft, lifeless, restricted, sad, fake, hypocritical, and judgmental…
 
Part of the reason becoming a Christian has been “stereotyped” this way is because God Himself has been “Stereotyped” and misrepresented and oversimplified…
 
Romans 1:22-23
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man
 
When the incorruptible Holy God is viewed like a mere man with faults the stereotypes placed on Him and the negative connotations are such a perversion of the truth…
 
The other reason Christians have been stereotyped the way we have been is because of our behavior…

Acts 11:15-26
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life." 19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
 
These are literally the “Stereotypes” of our faith… They were first called Christians in Antioch…
 
Remember the second part of our definition for “Stereotype”:
2.  a relief printing plate cast in a mold made from composed type or an original plate.


Think of original plates for printing money and having the foresight to create a mold from the originals in order to ensure that when they got dull and the money they print began to lose it’s desired clarity and consistency they could replace the plates and have the exact same clarity and consistency from the first bill ever printed…
 
If we have the clarity and consistency of the originals we read about here in Acts we are blessed and it would be hard for people to “stereotype” us the way they do…
 
I want to be like the “stereotypes” of old and I want to be “stereotypical” for those that I lead and those that come after me…
 
They were led by the Spirit to do things they had never done before in their lives…
 
They challenged each other as to why they made the decisions they made and evaluated if their actions were fruitful or not…
 
The fled from persecution but not to hide… The preached the good news wherever they ended up when they had to flee…
 
They established themselves in locations and taught for a year straight making sure people understood the depth of what God had done through Jesus…
 
They were called Christians because they resembled Christ in power and authority and fruit and love and sacrifice…
 
Acts 4:13
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
 
The Disciples and apostles bore His image and now just like printing molds others were beginning to bear the image of Christ…
 
2 Corinthians 3:18
we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.