Uncommon Path: Passionate Leadership Rooted in Faith - Joseph Gallagher

Hey, uncommon Leaders, welcome back. This is the Uncommon Leader podcast, and I'm your host, john Gallacher. Today's a special day, as you'll be hearing from a very unique voice today, my son, joseph Gallacher. I've been holding on to this recording, waiting for the perfect time to share with you all. See, joseph is a man marked by passion Passion for rock climbing, passion for his new wife, amy, whom he just married this past weekend, and a deep passion for his relationship with Jesus. One of the things about the wedding this weekend that impacted me the most was when Joseph's friends shared stories over and over About their friendship with Joseph. A common thing, you guessed it passion. Joseph is currently a staff associate for the Young Life Organization in Boulder, colorado, where he has a burden to see a movement of students come to know the Lord. This episode comes nearly two years to the day after his first official sermon, so it's not your typical leadership talk, but if there's anything I've learned is that the uncommon often hides in not so typical places. So imagine exhibiting the kind of passion Joseph displays in this sermon in your daily work. What could that make possible? The answer is straightforward Uncommon marriages, uncommon friendships and an uncommon big impact in business and life. So get ready for an experience as we dive into this episode packed with passion, faith and a perspective only Jojo Gallacher can bring. Let's get started.

Good morning. My name is Jojo Gallacher. I'm the kids director here at the well and it is an honor and a privilege to be preaching here today. I'm also excited to have my family here, who has supported me in my pursuit of ministry here in Boulder. I've inherited a lot of qualities from my family that have shaped the way I Look, spirit or physically, how I look spiritually and how I think mentally. I've also inherited a lot of physical qualities from my parents, of course. Unfortunately, I've inherited qualities that are a blend of their genes, my mom being five foot two and my dad being six foot four. I'm a nice five foot nine. So, as you heard, I'm 22 and doctors say adult males can grow until they're 22. So in April I'll let you know if I hit the mark Praying. Hopefully so, but inheritance are inheritance, are unique. Inheritance are things that you receive from your predecessors. This can be qualities, but it also be physical possessions. The Bible talks about how God's chosen people are heirs to be the greatest Covenant that could ever be offered to somebody. And because of Jesus Christ, we too get to be a part of this wonderful covenant. We can go through life not knowing the promises that God has set out for us. Sometimes we can get stuck in the motions of life and forget that God has given us and Forgot the gift that God has given us and why he has given these gifts to us. This message is for the followers of Jesus who want to steward that gift that God has given them to the best of their abilities. This message is for the followers of Jesus who are continuously trying to earn the inheritance that God has given them so freely. This is the message for the person who does not know who Jesus is, and I want to share with them the greatest gift they could ever receive and praise God. He has shown us how to steward this inheritance very well. Jesus shared with many people during his three dense years of ministry of what it looked like to be adopted into the family of God. It is because of Jesus and his perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection from the dead that we even have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of God. But Jesus also warns those of what it looks like to reject the very gift he was offering to the world. Jesus gives a great warning in Mark, chapter 12, verses 1 through 12, and a great affirmation in Luke, chapter 15 that Describes the two different ways that we, as followers, are to try and receive and steward our inheritance. But before we dive into the message, I want to define what it means to receive an inheritance from God. If we open our Bibles to Ephesians, chapter one, I'm going to be reading from verses 11 through 14,. And Paul writes to the church of Ephesus In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who was the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Paul is telling the church that these people that when they place their faith in Christ Jesus, they have inherited the ability to praise Christ for who he is, him being the true Son of God and therefore being adopted into the family of God, being in the community with him forever and ever. Even beyond our days, the Holy Spirit inside of us is the affirmation that one day we will be with Christ in his kingdom. This inheritance means that followers of Christ are free from praying their own way to eternity with him. But in Mark, chapter 12, jesus gives a warning of what it means to take our inheritance into our own hands. As you're turning to this passage in Mark, chapter 12, verses 1 through 12, I just want to share the context of who Jesus is specifically speaking to. Jesus was sharing this warning to the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees. These are the people that are smart, educated men who claim to know how to follow God. There's also a group of people that follow Jesus in the town that are listening. Jesus warns them of what it looks like to try and take hold of their inheritance with their own hands. Jesus is also speaking to the people in the crowds witnessing this encounter so that they too may learn what it means to have an inheritance in Christ. So, as we open up our scriptures in Mark, chapter 12, this is what the word of the Lord says. It says in verse 1,. And he began to speak to them in parables. A man planted the vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away and he handed Again. He sent to them another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully, and he sent another and him they killed. And with so many others, some they beat and some they killed. He still had another one, a beloved son. Finally he sent to them saying they will respect my son. But those tenants said to one another this is their heir. Come, let's kill him and the inheritance will be ours. And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become a cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it was marvelous in his eyes and they were seeking to arrest him. But the people feared, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. Let's pray God, you are so good. You loved us so well as you told us this story, not just telling it to these people, but allowing us to receive this and to learn how to steward this inheritance that you've set before us well, god, we love you daily. May we become better followers of you, better disciples, better children and heirs. God, we love you so daily. It's in your sons name I pray amen. As you see, these men that Jesus was speaking to, they were a loss for words because they knew the parable address them specifically, as you heard at the end. But what exactly was Jesus addressing? Jesus even quoted Psalm 118, showing them that Jesus himself was the cornerstone that they were rejecting. A context of Jewish culture is that Jewish people were God's chosen people. They were to inherit the promised land of riches because of their bloodline from Abraham, but these people must be cleansed and purified by the work of the law. These men found their righteousness and pride by the lineage of their family and their obedience of the law. These men were trying to take an inheritance with their own hands, even though they were not entitled to it. So here's an illustration. Christmas time is right around the corner. It's definitely one of my favorite times of the year. I've been listening to Christmas music since September. So if you're not doing that, we have a prayer of confession later, so it's all right. But Christmas time is right here. And imagine someone gives you an unbelievable gift. I used to think of those Lexus commercials where a family would walk outside and there's to be like a giant, you know six-figure car just sitting in the drive with a big red bow on it, like person's, like standing right now. It's like, ah, see what I got, see what I brought, imagine this. But then the person that's looking at this car pulls out their checkbook and it's like, oh, how much is this gonna cost me? I bet you would throw that person off, right? I bet you would throw off the person who was trying to give that car to you. I bet it would be even frustrating to see the person who was trying to give the very gift you gave, the very gift you gave them. This is essentially what the Pharisees were doing when they found their righteousness and their pride in their good deeds and obedience in the law. They were trying to pay for the very gift that God was trying to give to them freely. Now I wanna give you another analogy, and this one's for a more modern context. I know in Boulder it's hard to own a place, so a lot of us have to rent. You know, especially me being a young 22-year-old male I'm not owning a house right now. So this analogy captures even more of the imagery that Jesus is painting to the Pharisees in our own modern context. Imagine that you are living in an apartment and you pay rent. Imagine your landlord continues to ask you for rent and you keep trying to ghost them. You keep trying to go off the radar, trying to ignore them when they're trying to get from you what you owe. Imagine your landlord continues to ask for rent and he sends a person. He sends a person to your house to collect the rent and your thought is you know what? I wanna beat this guy up, I wanna send him right back where he came from, right, and you send that person away. Sounds pretty fishy. Now this is where the story turns wild. Imagine a landlord sends his own son to collect the rent and all of us being very logical people, you say, hey, if I kill his son, that means I own the apartment. Right, so you get him, you knock him out, you cut him down and guess what? You are now the official owner of the land that you have been living in, right? No? But this is the logic that this parable is telling, but also how illogical that sounds to us. This is how illogical it is to try and earn your own inheritance. Jesus being the authority that he is, he knew how to address these letters, not only by his presence, but also addressing these people to the very scripture they claim to know and love. Let's look back to the parable in Mark, chapter 12. Back to verse one, and he began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them the sum of the fruit of the vineyard, and they took him and beat him and sent him away empty handed. Again, he sent them another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so, with many others, some they beat and some they killed. In this parable, the people who are living in the land of the vineyard are the very people who are rejecting and killing off the servants of the landlord. The people of the vineyard were continuously rejecting each servant that was sent to them. This parable is actually referencing the man many prophets that God has sent to these people. William L Lane quotes in the Gospel of Mark commentary that in the Old Testament the prophets are frequently designated the servants of God, specifically in Jeremiah 725, amos 3.7, zechariah 1.6, and it is natural to find a reference in their rejection in the words of beating some and killing others. Jesus is showing these Pharisees that they too are rejecting the servants of the God that they claim to worship. They're rejecting the very Son of the God they claim to love. Jesus shares with them in an awesome way by shaping this parable after a story that these leaders more than likely already knew. Commentaries believe that Jesus was making reference to the vineyard in Isaiah chapter 5. If you'd like to open to it, it'll be Isaiah chapter 5. It'll be verses 1 before, and look for the parallels in the scripture. Let me sing for my beloved, my love song concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines. He built a watch tower in the midst of it and he hewed out a wine bat in it and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, oh inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard? When I look for it, it yielded grape. When I look for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? As you continue on the story, it actually proceeds that God said he was going to destroy this vineyard because of this fruitlessness that was coming from the sky. God was going to physically rain wrath on this vineyard because it lacked the fruit that was essential. The parallels are striking between these two stories, but there's a slight difference. The vineyard that Jesus told the leaders spoke mainly of the people working the farm, striking down servants that God has sent, and the vineyard discusses that the yield of the harvest was not to the quality that the landowner expected or even deserved. It was a fertile land with no stones, that was completely cleared, yet the fruit was not acceptable. The Bible references the fruit of the Spirit that we bear as followers of Christ In Galatians, chapter 5, and me being the kids director that I am. There's a couple songs that reference the fruit of the Spirit and I'm going to spare you guys today, both for my own sake, of me sweating. I don't want to sing the fruit of the Spirit song, so I'll just go ahead and read it to you. The fruit of the Spirit that are said in Galatians, chapter 5, are this Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the fruits that a follower of Christ bear because of the Holy Spirit that's inside of us. If you remember what we talked about when we defined inheritance because of Jesus Christ, that is something we bear Essentially because of trusting in Christ. We begin to see a change in our lives when we trust in Jesus and are adopted into the family of God. Because of Jesus, our lives cannot look the same as they did separate from a relationship with Jesus. Jesus, in a way, is telling these religious leaders that they are not bearing the fruit that will display if they were truly a child of God or a true heir of his kingdom. Jesus drops one more bomb on the leaders, the ultimate warning of what it looks like to reject Jesus as the Son of God. As we open back up to Mark, chapter 12, we were reading in verse 6, he had still one another, a beloved son. Finally, he set him to them, saying they will respect my son. But those tenets said to one another this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours. I took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenets and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read the scripture? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Jesus told these leaders to their faces, essentially, that he was not only going to be rejected by these people, but he was too going to be killed and cast it aside, just as the other servants were. But the result is not going to be the same. The rejection of the Son has a greater result, as I emphasize verse 9. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenets and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read the scripture? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. What is Jesus doing here? Why would Jesus tell people these things? In my own sinful nature, if there's a person that was mean and horrible, I would probably let them walk into the very thing that was going to be coming to them. If they continue to go on in their kind or in the ways that they were living in my own sinful nature, I wouldn't even give a warning. But Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus shares a warning with these leaders, because that is what love looks like, but he also shares a warning to the people around them not to model their lives after these leaders who claim to know God yet find their righteousness in their own deeds. I remember as a kid we had an old Lexus LS350. It was my dad's dream car and my brother got it after him and you know definitely a lot of burnouts and wheelies in that thing and I just put the nail in the coffin when I got it after that. But this ride was pretty sweet, especially in its heyday. It was one of the most beautiful cars and it was awesome to have that as a son. And we had a neighbor that also coined the term sexy Lexi for this car. So you can tell like I'm trying to paint a good picture. It was navy, blue, red, super low fake wood. I'm painting a picture real car, I promise you it was awesome. This Lexus was one of the old cars that still had the cigarette lighters in the console. So you know me as a little kid. I would click in these cigarette lighters and pull them out and they would have a giant growing red light that would be on the end of it. I mean, I wasn't a smoker as a six year old so I didn't understand, but I definitely loved to play with it. But I continuously got warnings from my family to stop playing with cigarette lighter. I'll continue to click it in, I continue to pull it out, look at the red glow, then I'll get the warning. Get it, stop playing with it. And one day, probably after the I don't know countless warnings from my family, I clicked it in for a quick second and pulled it out and I wasn't even glowing. I'm like you know what this thing's not even that hot. Put my finger on it. You already know Sings the heck out of my finger. Man, that was the worst burn I ever got on my finger and it was after these countless warnings that my own father gave me and I still went listening and guess what? I got burned. It was a bad burn. Jesus was warning these men that they do listen to this warning. They are, if Jesus are. Jesus was warning these men that they do not listen to this warning. They too are going to get burned. Jesus is also telling the people around the Pharisees if they live their life to be like these Pharisees, they are going to get burned. The story sounds a lot like a story of despair, of destruction, but I want to shed light on how this story is one of the greatest stories of hope you could ever hear. There's another parable that Jesus told of a person who had an inheritance, and they took that inheritance and squandered it in their own ignorance. It is the story of the prodigal son. This story is in Luke, chapter 15, and for the sake of time, I want to paraphrase this story, but I want to tell you what it is. There's a story of a son that walked up to his father and essentially, the son asked his father for inheritance now, before his father's either even passed, essentially telling his father I wish you were dead so I could have my wealth that is coming my way and this father not being but like me, of course gave the son the inheritance. So the son took his wealth and he went into town and he proceeded to spend it as he pleased. And as we know from the story or if you never have heard it he didn't invest it. Well, there wasn't a Robin Hood app that he could just buy stocks on. No, he spent it. He spent it on drunkenness, on sexual relations, he spent it on some of the things that he thought would fulfill him yet never did. And at the end of his inheritance he was found at his lowest. He even started working for a farm and even at this point he was begging to eat from the very place the pigs were eating, because he was so hungry and so lost. Thinking to himself, he thought perhaps he could go back to the father. Maybe, if he can make himself a servant to the father, he might take him back and somehow earn a place at the table of his family. So as the son went back to his home and he went over the hill, the father saw him and the father did just wave and wait for his son to mosey his way over to him, you know, be on his hands and knees and kiss him at the feet. You know, the father actually ran over the hill as soon as he saw his son, and the father just didn't walk up to him and give him a pat on the back in a shake of the hand. No, he embraced him and he kissed him and you wrapped him in rich, delicate, awesome clothing. Then he commanded for his servants to go and kill the fattened calf because they were going to throw a feast, because once their son was lost, but now he is found. This is a story of a person that wasted their inheritance Yet, by the grace of the father, was welcomed back, and welcomed back in open arms and an embrace and a grand feast. Are these two stories that we're listening to? Are these two parables contradicting to each other? And the answer is no, they aren't. They're more similar than you think. They are great painting of what the gospel is. The venue workers are continuously taking the gift that God has given them and using it to their own glory, to their own benefit. They finally reject the son that was coming to save them and because of this they have reaped the destruction that they have sown. The prodigal son has burned the very gift his father gave him, then returned to him, knowing that only he, the father, could mend the very wounds that he couldn't mend himself. The boy, who deserved destruction, was welcomed with grace. I do not know why Jesus was telling the leaders this parable, but it is clear that if we choose to reject the gift that was given to us, we will reap destruction. We can think to ourselves how could these religious leaders be so foolish and reject Jesus? But there's an awesome quote by John Piper that has shaped the way I looked at who Christ is and how much I value him. The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this you could have heaven with no sickness and with all the friends you ever had on earth and all the food you ever liked and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or natural disaster. Could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there? Could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there? When you first hear this question, it almost seems obvious that this is what we want. We want to have these pleasures, but it is deceiving. It's almost self-contradicting. I don't think the question is underplaying the niceness of these things. They're pretty good things, but I instead believe it immeasurably underplays the greatness of who Christ is. So what do we do? What do we do with this knowledge? We can talk all day of what it means to be adopted into the family of God, but what does it mean for you as a follower of Jesus? What does it mean for the one that feels they have rejected Jesus? What does it mean for the very person that doesn't even know who Jesus is or what it looks like to be an adopted child of God? What does it mean? First, if you feel that you have taken your inheritance and burned it into the ground, just as the prodigal son did, I plead that you do not lose hope and to repent and run back to the Father, the one that could heal the wounds that we have caused. You may feel your sin is taking you too far from reconciliation, but we will welcome you with open arms and embrace you. Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sinner's death, bearing the wrath of God on his own shoulders, so that you would not have to take the punishments in your own place. The way to accept this free gift is to have a relationship with Jesus and to trust that he is who he says he is the Lord of all creation. Second, if you feel that you're trying to earn your inheritance by building your righteousness with your own hands, I plead with you lay your hands down. You may feel that your goodness can help you achieve these fruits of the Spirit, but only through Christ can we truly experience these gifts. I promise you this is not contradiction to the first point. You know I'm telling you like hey, do something, hey don't do something. No, that's, I don't want to confuse you. When you are given a present, do you have to give a down payment on the gift before you open it? No, all you need to do is receive the gift that has already been paid for. And finally, if you feel like this message does not qualify for you because you are not a follower of Jesus, I want to extend an invitation to join us in this faith journey. We have tables over here that teach you what it looks like to be a part of our community here, what it looks like to be a part of a church fellowship, to where we get to grow and disciple one another and love one another and sharpen each other's iron sharpens iron. We want you to join us if you feel like you are not qualified. The story is in a prosperity gospel where, when we obediently follow Jesus, we get these riches and gifts and feast, because that's not always the case. I don't want to tell you something that is not always the truth, and this especially isn't karma, where the universe gives you what you deserve based off your actions. This message is far greater than those things. The truth is that when we follow Jesus, we get the greatest prize of all. Jesus. When we step in these directions as believers, that is when you take the first step of stewarding your inheritance. Well, let's pray. God, you're so good. I just get so excited when we get to share such a good news that you have saved us from your own wrath, god, that you loved us so dearly that you would not allow us to take a punishment that was so heavy, so you put it on your own son. Thank you, god. I just prayed that as we walk out of this place, we learn not only what our identity in Christ is, but, god, you are so far greater than anything else this world could provide. Thank you for loving us so well, senior sons, in my prayer, amen.

That wraps up another episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Thanks for tuning in today. If you found value in this episode, I encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues or anyone else who could benefit from the insights and inspiration we've shared. Also, if you have a moment, I'd greatly appreciate if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback not only helps us to improve, but it also helps others discover the podcast and join our growing community of Uncommon Leaders. Until next time, go with Grow Champions.