Elevation with Steven Furtick - The Secret Scoreboard

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

We know how to play the game, but are we playing the right one?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. When we say game changer, you know, every year I pick a word several months in advance and try to really build my teachings. Really, rather than pick the word, I try to see what God is speaking. find a word that describes that. It works better that way. And I thought it was a little corny game changer. You know, you hear that like three times a day, ESPN, but it sounded like a gatorade commercial to me more than a sermon series. But it really, it'll mean something different when we're done with the series than it does going into it. And you'll see that. And today,

I just want to lay a foundation from the pulpit from Matthew chapter six. And last year's series was called Waymaker. So apparently I'm on this like waymaker, game change. I'm going to do Cake Baker in 2019. See how, if I could make a trilogy out of it. But Matthew chapter 6 will be a good place for us to start from the sermon on the Mount. This was my dad's favorite scripture.

He used to read it every day. And then I would use it against him when he wasn't acting right. I'd be like, you read it, but are you living it? So I used the Bible against him as a weapon. All right, Matthews chapter 6, verses 1 through 4, and I can't wait to share this with you. Very powerful principle. It's practical, but it's also on another level very profound. And I think the best lessons are that way.

And so here's what Jesus said. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. So this might mean you have to delete some apps on your phone. Do you know what I mean? Well, if you do practice your acts of righteousness in front of others to be seen by them, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. That's scary. So when you give to the needy, for instance, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites

do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. The title of this message is the secret scoreboard. When my kids first started playing recreational sports, I went out and I turned to the person next to me and said, hey, they need to turn on the scoreboard.

And Elijah was playing tee ball at the time for the mudcats of Mint Hill. I said, they need to turn on the scoreboard. It was his first game. Brother looked back at me. He had several kids that already played t-ball. He said, ah, they don't keep score at this level. And when Elijah got in the car after the game, I said, congratulations on your first win. He said, when? They didn't keep score. I said, I did. The first thing I did when that man said they don't keep score at this level, I found an app on my phone. and I decided every game that he played, I was going to score it myself. And I told that boy, the following.

I said, when you get in this car after the game, you ask me if you won. And I will tell you whether or not you won. I am your official scorekeeper. I believe God wants to look at somebody today. Y'all aren't going to help me preach after three weeks off. And one of the first things that God does when he assumes control of your life is he becomes your scorekeeper. Because by default, we tend to let everybody else keep score. And it's hard to know, am I winning in real life, especially in adulthood, am I winning?

I wonder that all the time. I feel like in some areas, it's the weirdest thing. I will win for a season. And while I'm winning in those areas for that season, the other areas that are also important to me suffer. And I can't keep up because it's like I'm playing five sports at once. Do you know what I mean? It's like the family thing and the financial thing.

Those don't always work together. Sometimes those seem to compete against each other. And it's hard to keep score, especially because now we live in a world where there are permanent reminders of everybody else's score. And even though they're not playing the same sport, they don't have the same calling, the same circumstances, the same situation, we're all living on the same platforms being fed the same false images and wondering, is their life really that much better than mine or are they just a better photographer? The game has changed because back in the day, you used to compare yourself to a really small circle of people,

people, whoever was around you. That's why I grew up thinking I was a good guitarist because I didn't have any really good guitarist to see on YouTube. And so whoever else played guitar, all three of us, that was my standard of comparison. But the game has changed. Now it's no longer possible to feel really good about yourself for any length of time because the standards have shifted. the game has changed. Touch somebody say the game has changed. When Jesus preached this sermon,

the Bible says at the beginning that he went up on a mountainside and sat down and his disciples came to him and he began to teach them. It began to teach them. So like the text speaking physically has Jesus in a, let's say physically the text is describing elevation. He went up on a mountainside and sat down and began to teach them. That is the physical motif of the text. That's the beginning of it. But really what he was about to do was more like excavation, which is that he was going to dig out beneath the surface.

I'm not changing the name of the church, but excavation would be a good church name too, because when you have a really good encounter with God, when you really, really meet Jesus, the first thing that he begins to do is challenge your values. values. And we want him to build our life up and build us and raise us and all of these wonderful promises that are indeed in his word. But if he does not first dig out a deep enough place in our hearts and a foundation that is steady and stable enough, then even what he builds in our life will be subject to situations and circumstances. And so the first thing that proves the presence of God in your life is that he will begin to challenge.

your values. You know how you can know if you met with God were your values challenged? And I'll prove it to you. When he started preaching because you look highly skeptical right now. I won't lie. I thought you're going to be more energetic with an extra hour of sleep, but apparently not. It's all right. It's all right.

I'll slow down a little bit. When he started teaching, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Well, right off the bat, I'm kind of confused because Jesus is telling me that it's not those who look like they're winning a lot of times, who are really the most blessed. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.

What's a blessing about being hungry and thirsty? For righteousness, for they'll be filled. And with each of these statements is commonly called the beatitudes, Jesus is giving a new definition of blessing. And one thing that you'll notice about it when he defines it is very contrary to the cultural values, which are very external. You know, everything is about how you look. If God blesses you, it is going to show up as a physical manifestation in your life. But when Jesus showed up, it changed the game because in a religious system that was corrupted by the elevation of appearances over the real condition of the heart, Jesus begins to challenge

the values not only of the world, but of the religious, not only in the streets, but in the synagogues. I've noticed the church is really good at challenging the values of the world. When it comes to sexuality and entertainment and Disney, that's 20 years old, but some of y'all will remember when the church was really good at challenging the value system of the world. But the first thing that Jesus did, it seems to me, is to challenge the value of the church. And so in order to do that, he begins to dig. And it really changes the game because it seems almost like an inversion. It seems like something is being flipped upside down.

It's almost as if when Jesus comes on the scene, he's less concerned with playing the game right, and more concerned with playing the right game. Some of us are playing the wrong game. And we spend a lot of our lives trying to figure out how to play the game right. But the question becomes, this is the game changer. Not are you playing the game right, but are you playing the right game? And sometimes it takes us half our lives to realize, I've learned to play the game right, but I wasn't playing the right game.

Wouldn't it be tragic to spend your whole life to get good at a game that you weren't even supposed to play, to win the approval of people who don't sit on a throne anyway, to get really good at something that isn't good for you? And I see this more and more, more and more as it becomes easier for us to get sucked into systems of comparison and analysis that have nothing to do with real value, we start getting good at winning, but winning at what? Winning at what? And the game has changed.

It's changed so much for young people. When I was growing up, it was different in terms of social media. Even the games that I played as a kid, the video games I played as a kid, were much different than the games I see my kids playing today. It was an entirely different level of nobility involved in... The games I used to play, we were doing real things. Important things. When I grew up playing games, we were saving princesses.

We were training to win heavyweight titles. In order to do that, we had to face opponents like Sola Poppinski and King Hippo and Don Flamenco and the second Don Flamingo and Pist in Honda and the second bald bull. Real stuff, you know? Things that transposed into actual life skill. The other day, I was watching my kids play a game on their phone and all they were doing, and it was very, it was very, it was very, It was very fascinating to me. I just watched them for like five minutes. All they were doing was tapping the screen. And I watched for a little while before I realized there's absolutely no strategy to what they're doing right now.

I didn't know the game that they were playing because I don't play games on my phone. I read my Bible because I'm a pastor. But I walked over and I said, what is that game? What are you doing? And they said it was called Cookie Clicker. They said, it's old dad. It's an old game. as old as your games, but it's an old game for us. I said, cookie clicker, let me see it. How do you play?

They said, you click the cookie. I said, all right. And then what? Like up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, BA start? Does that the... They said, no, you just click, you just click the cookie. See, these kids don't have to think like we had to pay. They said, you click the cookie. I said, all right, and then what? They said, then you get more cookies. When you click the cookie, you get more cookies. I said, and then after you get more cookies, what do you do after you get more cookies? They said, well, the more cookies you get, the more cookies you can get each time you click. I've been doing over here for the last 30 minutes. No Princess Zelda, no Princess Toadstool. Clicking cookies to get more cookies, to get more cookies,

to get more cookies to get more cookies I said let me try that it was addictive I loved it millions of cookies and I couldn't need any of them clicking

let me ask you a question have you been clicking on stuff playing a game without asking the question what is the goal of this game have you ever argued with somebody and then you realize that even if I win the argument, even if I win your approval, even if I win your friendship,

it's not worth winning. If I have to win it, even if I make you like me. And that's what he was doing. He was telling him, quick clicking. Jesus was saying this. He was saying, quick clicking. Tell somebody, quit clicking. Quick clicking. And ask a different question. It's not, am I playing the game right? You know, because you can get that right and succeed materially, relationally. You could get status. You could get power. You can get position.

You can even be a really good preacher. But if you don't do it for the right reason, you can get all the cookies that you want, but you can't dunk any of them in milk. If it's not real. Am I preaching okay? Everybody over 50 that ever clicked on worthless stuff and found out it wasn't worth clicking on. Make some noise. God, the church is old. Did you hear that? That was a roar. Twelve and a half years ago, if I'd ask that, it wouldn't have been, oh, that made me feel

weird, but it's good. It's good. It's multi-generational. Amen. There's some wisdom that you get. Jesus gives it on multiple levels. And six times he does this thing in the sermon on the I wish I had time to show you all of it. He sets up a construct like this, you have heard it said, but I say to you. You've heard it said, and then he would quote from the rabbinic tradition that they had been handed through the law of Moses, but I say to you, then he would correct the values, because he was speaking to people who had perfected the appearance of religion. But he understood that if the behavior is right, but the belief that is beneath the behavior is not right.

If your values are shallow, your victories will be empty. And why didn't you write that down? I worked all week on that. Gaston, I know you've got your pins out. I have faith in you. If your values are shallow, your victories will be empty. So I'm winning at what? I'm winning at what?

And Jesus went up on a mountainside and he sat down, but then he began to teach them. He's digging beneath the behaviors to identify the beliefs. Like one of them that he said, he said, you've heard it said don't murder. But I'm telling you if you're angry, even if you don't murder, you will suffer the consequences of that anger and eventually will either lead you toward taking out. action on it, or it will deteriorate your spiritual condition to the point that you might as well have gone ahead and done it because you're living in a prison of hatred. And whether or not you acted out doesn't matter because beneath the behavior is a belief that led to the behavior.

This is what we mean when we say Jesus was the game changer. Because he didn't just play the game. That's why they killed him. He touched lepers that they wouldn't touch. He spoke with women who they devalued. He challenged their social values by associating with people who ethnically and religiously had nothing in common with the Jewish people. And that's what they hated about him. He didn't endorse their values to run his campaign.

He challenged their values. He got beneath their actions and challenged their values. Matter of fact, he did it not only in terms of hatred and murder and adultery, but he did it in terms of other areas. Like one thing he said was, you've heard it said, love your neighbor. But that's easy. I say love your enemy. See, that changes the game. Grace changes the game.

I said the grace of God is a game changer. When the grace of God really becomes operative in your life, what Jesus is saying when he says, Love, your enemy is you can't insist on God relating to you one way, and then you turn around and relate to people another way. So if you want God to be gracious to you, that grace has to flow not only to you, but through you. And if it's not flowing through you, it didn't really flow to you. If you don't give it, you don't got it. And I'm sorry for my grammar, but my theology is spot on. It's a game changer.

And we beheld his glory. The glory acts of the only begotten father of the father full of grace and truth. So when grace shows up, it changes the game. And the Bible actually says that when Jesus finished, teaching all these things, the people were amazed at his teaching. Not because he was so funny, not because he was so succinct, not because of the human wisdom, but he taught as one who had authority and not as one of their teachers of the law. Well, what was it that the teachers of the law were teaching that had no authority? They were teaching on the basis of appearance.

And that's what he's correcting in Matthew chapter 6. It's not a giving script. It's a scripture about intention. So when you give, he assumes that you're going to give, not if, when. He's making the assumption that your actions will align with your values. And I've learned that the greatest way for me to know whether I'm winning in my life is not to ask people, or not to consult certain external, scoreboards that can tell me how I'm doing. Because my bank account is a bad indication of whether I'm winning or the car I drive or any of that.

But when my actions match my values, I'm winning. And it's cool when you can get to that place. Not that I live there all the time, but when I'm there, I know it. And I can feel it. And when I'm living from that place, I don't need others to notice. because my father is keeping score. Maybe we need to shut down some scoreboards that are visible in our life for a little while and get in the car like Elijah got in the car for me, and he would ask me every game,

did we win? And I never lied to him about it. I always told him. Sometimes I said, no, y'all play terrible today. Honestly, it was painful to experience. I love you anyway, but that was awful. Am I winning? And the game has changed now.

I mean, it's crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy because now, can somebody please explain to me what are V-bucks and what do they do? Right. Well, that's what I thought at first. They buy stuff. Like, okay, so my kids are playing Fortnite and they ask me, will I give them V-bucks? Graham asked me, will you buy us some V-bucks?

Now, my first hurdle was. that real-world money is now being exchanged for, I'm telling you, man, these games have changed for money on a game. And so I told Graham that I would buy him some V-bucks. And I think I bought him like, you know, $5 billion for $10 or something like that. I don't know the system, but I bought him some V-bucks. And then I went in and I said, let me see what those V-bucks do that I just bought you. I said, what are you going to do with the V-bucks?

He said, I'm going to buy skins. Because on the game, I was watching him go around with a pickax, killing people with a pickax and stuff. You know, great family values. And I said, do you get a sharper axe or something with the V-Bucks? He said, no, I'm buying skins. I said, well, what do the skins do? Do they protect you from other people? He said, no, the skins don't give you any in-game advantage.

is just for people to see. So now I'm angry because I just spent my real money for you to wear something that doesn't help you at all in the reality of a game that is already virtual. Now I'm mad because I'm spending real money.

Can I have a counseling session for a moment? I'm sick of spending my money on stuff to make me look good that doesn't really make a real difference in my soul. V-BORS. I'm a grown man, and I've got to get to the point where I don't need validation from people to do what's right because it's according to my values. You don't give so people will see you.

Jesus isn't saying that you have to write your checks in a closet and put it in the mail and no one can ever know and don't get your tax-exempt status when you give. Jesus is saying, if that is your reason, then that will be your reward. Your reason determines your reward. I feel like preaching that. And if the reason I'm doing it is to be seen, then that's my reward. So if they see me and if they say that I did it good, then that's my reward. But if I have a deeper reason, then I have a greater reason.

reward. And here's a game changer for me. I have this Sunday school way that I see the Bible sometimes that messes me up because I imagine stuff like when it says your reward in heaven or your reward from your father. I always used to picture like a corner of heaven where there was like pots of gold. It was like lucky charms and leprechauns than the Bible. But it was like these big rewards in heaven, treasures in heaven. But you know, it was like, you know, I'm probably not going to need gold in heaven because up there it's called gravel. You see what I'm saying? There's not a value, a monetary, it's like V bucks in heaven, so it's not going to really buy anything.

But now I'm realizing that this is not a passage about, hey, man, give, and then when you get to heaven, it's going to be like, you know, your Uber is going to be a Maybach. It's not like getting this reward in another place. It's about getting it from another place. Then your father, this was the key to unlocking the scripture for me. It said he sees what is done in secret. That used to scare me. Oh, God is watching me all the time. But now I see that it means he's keeping score.

And that means nobody else gets to. And when I live that way, there is a certain validation that only comes from him and living according to the values that he's given to me, and the world can't give that. And when I'm not living in alignment with that, then I get the car, and the car is my reward. And when the smell of the car is gone, then so is the thrill of owning it. If I do it for people, then I have to get it from people. One scripture I like to think about when I'm having a pity party is one time when Paul was talking about preaching the gospel. And in certain situations, Paul would say, don't pay me, I don't want any money from you.

I want something from God. And he wasn't always doing that, but when he explained it to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 9, he goes, hey, I got nothing to brag about. I preach because I'm compelled. In other words, God called me to do this, so I almost have to do it. But if I do it out of obligation, then it's just a discharge. But if I do it like it's a privilege, then it's a reward. So the revelation for me was that my reason determines my reward. So if I'm doing this for you, then you hold my reward.

But if I'm doing this for him, it applies in every area of life. It applies to giving. Jesus said this. He said, I didn't come to abolish the law. I came to fulfill it. That's what he means by the game changer. I didn't come to play the game a little better, keep the law a little better, like put more on top of it. I came to change the reason that you do it.

So one of those things is giving. In the Old Testament, you would see an obligatory system of giving, where I bring the tithe because I have to or else I'm under a curse. And so I bring God the first fruits of my produce and the first fruits of all of my increase because I have to. It is obligation-oriented. That's how most of us live. But grace changes the game. Jesus said, I didn't come to abolish it, but to fulfill it.

In other words, I came to give you a different reason. Now it's not that I'm doing it because I've got to. I'm doing it because of the grace. of God, am I saying this right, Lord? It's a shift in perspective. And sometimes you keep doing the same things, but you find a deeper reason to do it. And then you find meaning in your life. But if you're not careful, you run around all your life changing the things that you do, but you find no meaning in the things. Because as long as you have shallow reasons, you get empty victories. But when your reason gets deeper, when you start saying, you know what, I'm giving

to God, I'm serving God, not because I have to, or not because people might notice, or not because I'm going to go to hell if I don't, but just he's been good to me, just because I know that my Redeemer lives. That's why. Me and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Whatever is your reason controls your reward. You believe that? You believe that if you have a devotion just so you can post on Instagram that you had it with a picture of your coffee mug sitting next to Colossians, Chapter 3, verse 7.

Do you believe me that if that's why you did it, that's what you get out of it? And when it only gets 12 likes, don't cry, because I preached Matthew 6, 1 through 4, and I told you that if that is your reason, then that is your reward. I see it like a game show in my mind. Tell them what they've won. It's like, you know, absolutely nothing. Because you did it for the reason. And people will go, I left that church. Why did you leave that church?

Because I got burned. Were you in the cooking ministry? You see the scar? Is it nasty? I get it. We get hurt. But sometimes the reason that we got hurt is because in our heart, part, what we needed from people was too much.

And we shouldn't have been doing it for people to begin with. The applause died down by 73 percent. It always happens when you challenge the values. And I noticed a trend in my preaching a couple years ago that bothered me, so I've been working on it, where I was preaching a sort of theology that was a little perverted in this way, not on purpose, but you just shift toward it. You say, if you will, God will, and God's going to, and you fill in the blanks, you know, like, if you obey God in this area of your life, it will produce a blessing.

So it was a cause and effect. What I'm coming to understand is, while that's true on the surface, the real blessing is built into the process. The real blessing is built in. When he says, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing when you give. That means that it ought to be so automatic because you've operated out of your values to the point like these guitar players. Is there a guitar anywhere around here?

When they play, there's got to be one, right, L.J? When they play, they don't have to think about, I would play y'all talk dirty to me by poison, but that's not appropriate for church. That's the first song I learned, though. That's why I think about when I see electric guitar. They do this with the right hand and this with the left hand. But they don't see, these hands, if I've done that enough, this hand is going and this hand is going and the left hand,

what is this, glycerine by bush, I think I'm playing, of all those songs. Child of the 90s. And if you've done it enough, it's not even a thing. And Jesus said, I would like for you to get to the point where my grace has changed you enough that you don't have to think about it or pray about it. God, should I give to further your gospel in the earth? I just need a sign. How about your common sense?

And so he challenges my values. And that's what I've always loved about this moment in our church when we are getting ready to give or when we're calling people to serve. You know, it changes the game. Because when your intention in coming here is in what you get, then that's your reward. When your intention in coming is to give something that God. put inside of you. You are no longer dependent on people. And that's the blessing. The blessing is built in to the process. And I think we need to take our scoreboard back. I think we've adopted the world's values in some ways that have caused us to win some victories that are empty.

Then your father who sees what is done in secret, he will reward you. Not with pots of gold in heaven, not with V-bucks and cookies, digital cookies, cookies made of pixels, compliments from people and empty status that can be here one day and gone the next. When you have crappy values, you will never. never have lasting joy. And popularity is a crappy value. That's in the Greek, crappy values to serve.

And position is a crappy value. I'm going to work my way up. Excavation before elevation. Pleasure is a crappy value. It's a great byproduct. It's not bad to feel good and enjoy stuff, but when that's the goal of the game, it's a terrible value. And when my values are shallow, my victories are empty.

So I want God to run my school board. How about you? I need that. Come on, I need that. It's too stressful. It's too stressful. Life is too stressful, and too many people have too many different opinions, and there's too much to keep up with, and I can't do it anymore.

So I want my father who sees what is done in secret to keep score for me. And I want him to make a lot of people. the decision. Was that good? Am I a good dad today? Because I certainly can't ask my kids what they think about that. I can't. Because what I will need to do to be a good parent in some seasons will mean sometimes that I am not popular. But if I'm parenting according to purpose, if I'm living according to purpose, I don't have to consult all these other sources. Say this out loud, God is my source and He is my reward God is my source and He is my reward God is my source and He is my reward

Now clap your hands if you want to live that way We're gonna get around these values over the next few weeks. I'm not teaching only on giving or tithing or any of that I'm gonna be teaching on principles of faith and principles of faith and principles of vision and principles of value. That's what we've always done at this church. I never stood up on this stage and preached from an emergency that we needed people to give. And I won't start now because there is none. But now there's an opportunity coming up as this year ends for thousands of you to begin to operate according to kingdom values, putting God first. What a lot of people begin to do during this season that I think is so appropriate is they begin, they begin

that practice of tithing. That's the first 10 percent. And rather than just giving some one-time gift, some spontaneous gift, they get systematic and strategic to begin to align your actions with your values. Because otherwise, what is it? It's just rhetoric. Your actions reflect your values. And so thousands of people during this season will begin to tie the first 10 percent to God and go online and set that up in a recurring way and then thousands will bring an above and beyond gift and we'll use that to build the church and build the kingdom and preach the gospel and we'll show you in the weeks to come some videos and testimonies of what God is already doing around the world thousands of you online

that just click on and click off now God's going to call you off the bench into the game off the bench in the game because when you get in the game that's when you start to discover who God really is not when you sit and spectate but when you participate and sacrifice and God is calling on us in this season to get in the game and make a difference in the world for the glory of his name and I feel like making a difference I want my life to count for something beyond what I can see So the worship team is going to come now and we're going to sing again. Would you stand to your feet? I'm going to worship God Please don't leave. It's so stressful when I say stand and 500 people start heading for the car and we don't need any of that that. But I want us to take a moment and seal the word that God spoke today. Are you excited

about this season of faith? Come on, clap your hands if you're excited. Father, we ask you now that you would align our values with yours. Sometimes what you value and what we value are so different, and we need your help in those areas. Sometimes we're looking at the wrong scoreboard, and we feel like we're failing because we're allowing the wrong people to run our scoreboard. Sometimes we feel like we're failing because we're considering all the wrong columns and not the ones that are inside the ones that matter. So I speak over your people today, a blessing of affirmation and validation that can only come from you.

I pray that you would speak even in these moments the words that we need to hear, that we would align our values with your voice and your voice alone that rises above every storm, transcends every season to believe and know that your great. is enough for us. In Jesus' name I pray, and the whole church said amen. It is so. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot

and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.