“The Cost of Misalignment”

Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 02/22/26 (4th Sunday Message)

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{All scriptures are NIV84 unless stated}

 

{Message start:}

 

Message Title:

The Cost of Misalignment

We are finishing our series “Aligned.” This is how we define it.

Aligned

To Bring One’s Life, Heart, Actions, And Direction Into Agreement With The Lord’s Purpose

We’ve talked over the last 2 weeks about our purpose.

1 Peter 2:9 (NCV)

9 But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

You were chosen.

You were designed with a purpose… you were created with a design.

Aligned:

Your Purpose Is Designed To Give The Glory To God!

The Lord has a design for you!

Last week we established that even in that design… he has others there are there to help you.

We see in the beginning:

Genesis 2:15

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

He created Adam.

he gave Adam a job.

The Lord then talks about Adam.

Genesis 2:18

18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper

suitable for him.”

a helper “suitable” other translations:

NKJV - a Helper Comparable to Him ESV - a Helper Fit For Him

NLT - a Helper Who Is Just Right For Him

And another translation I’ll share later. The Lord created Eve as a “helper.” To help Adam with what?

• not the job Adam wanted to do.

• but what HE (the Lord) wanted him to do.

Remember your purpose is something that will give him glory.

There are others you can work with that will help you do it!

 

Aligned:

The Lord Says We Need Suitable People With Us!

Suitable people…people who are fit. people who can help.

The job gets easier with two!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 - tells us two are better than one.

We can operate in purpose alone… but two are better…

Aligned:

You Can Do More When You Have The Right People With You!

This shows there is power in numbers!

However…

you can’t just have ANYONE with you.

Proverbs 27:17

17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

The bible says as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. The bible uses the word “iron.”

Iron is a type of metal.

But the bible doesn’t just say ‘metal.” It specifically says “iron.”

A specific metal is sharpened by THAT SAME metal. They have to be like metals.

this also means that people can sharpen each other…. if they’re “similar” to each other.

if they are like minded… Are they built the same?

Do they have the same goals?

Are they going the same direction? do they have the same faith?

Back to Genesis 2:8

the other translation I told you about.

I will make a helper suitable for him. make a helper “fit” for him. comparable… just right…

The English Septuagint offers a specific word that fits perfectly.

 

Aligned:

(NIV) “…I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Septuagint) “…let us make for him a helper like him.”

a helper “LIKE” him.

if we don’t see it already.

Let’s look at the Hebrew word translated.

 

Aligned:

(Strong’s Concordance)

Suitable - Sameness, Oneness, Equal, Like

As iron sharpens iron…

we sharpen one another.

This is why we have to be “like” those we work with. Like metals sharpen like metals.

when you mix the metals it goes from being sharpened to being used.

 

Aligned:

You Need People “Like You” In Your Lives To Sharpen You!

Too many times we’re trying to sharpen ourselves with people who are NOT like us. We have people around…but they aren’t like us.

They aren’t purposed like we are. They aren’t going the direction we are.

they may not even believe in the same God we do!

You aren’t being sharpened…you’re being used!

 

Aligned:

Even The Sharpest Scissors Begin To Dull If They Cut Enough Paper!

So who you are aligned to is either sharpening you… or dulling you….

Aligned:

There Is Nothing Neutral! The People Around You Are Either Sharpening You Or Dulling You!

You have to see those in your circle.

be careful who you have in that circle.

1 Corinthians 15:33

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Don’t be misled.

don’t be confused

don’t think you are the exception:

Aligned:

What Happens When You Have The Wrong People With You?

When you have the wrong people with you…you’re misaligned. We have examples

Examples of Misalignment:

 

Aligned:

• Samson and Delilah (The Called And The Compromise)

In the book of Judges we hear of Samson. Strongest man ever.

tore a lion apart with his bare hands.

He was supposed to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

Samson spent too much time with them. Samson marries a Philistine woman.

but she is ultimately killed by the Philistines because of their feud.

Samson get’s revenge and keeps beating them. even killed 1,000 of them at once.

When they couldn’t defeat him by force… They turned to his heart.

Judges 16

Samson meets and falls in love with Delilah.

Judges 16:5

5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so

we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

The Philistines tell her to find the strength of his strength. they offer her 1,100 shekels of silver.

that’s about 28 pounds…PER RULER. there were like 5 of them.

so they were offering over 130 pounds of silver. at THAT day and time…that’s not chump change.

I read that an average worker could earn maybe 1 shekel per month. what they were offering Delilah was over 450 YEARS of labor wages!

that was generational wealth! She doesn’t pass up that amount of money…

Aligned:

When The Enemy Can’t Defeat You Outwardly, He’ll Work Inwardly!

She knows he is in love with her.

So she goes to work constantly trying to get Samson to reveal his weakness.

3 times she asks him the source of his strength. he gives a random way….

and she does it and it doesn’t work.

finally it works and Samson is now captured.

 

Aligned:

The Problem Wasn’t Where She Was From. The Problem Was Who She Was Aligned With!

You have to be careful to guard that which you hold dear.

You never know who’s on assignment from the enemy!

You never know some of the people you run with who you care for so much…

don’t care that much about you.

and will SELL YOU OUT if the price is right.

Samson was misaligned.

 

Aligned:

• Rehoboam and His Friends (The King and the Counsel)

1 Kings 12:1-15 tells about Rehoboam He was being made king.

The Israel assembly goes to him and says

‘your father was hard on us. Please lighten the load and we’ll serve you.’ Rehoboam says to go away 3 days and he’ll give them an answer.

He asked the elders who served his father Solomon.

they said “if you become a servant to them, they’ll serve you.” That’s in line with what Christ said.

“the greatest among you will be the greatest servant.” But Rehoboam listened to those he grew up with.

1 Kings 12:10

10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’—tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

“courage you with scorpions”

some translations say “whips with thorns in them” “chains”

They encouraged him to be even harder on the people! “how dare you talk about my father!”

maybe it was a show of power to be strong on them.

But it gets Rehoboam in trouble.

the moment he tells Israel that he will be even harder… Israel gets up and rebels.

the kingdom splits.

Israel crowns Jeroboam king…

Rehoboam is left with almost nothing.

 

Aligned:

Who You Listen To When Under Pressure Can Determine Your Future!

You have to be careful of the people you have speaking into your life! Rehoboam chose to listen to his running buddies instead of actual wisdom.

it was the wrong people…

it was the wrong direction…. it was the wrong wisdom…

Aligned:

The Wrong Circle Will Cheer You Into Collapse

You can have a cheering squad of the wrong people… they will hype you right into destruction.

You have to make sure you’re listening to the right people!

 

Aligned:

• Lot and His Neighbors (The Chosen and the Culture)

In Genesis 12 - the Lord told Abram to leave his country and people and go to the place the Lord wanted.

Abram takes Lot with him.

In Genesis 13 - the land couldn’t support Abram’s and Lot’s stuff. they both were wealthy. - flocks and herds and tents.

but he land couldn’t support both Abram and Lot.

too much for either…not enough for both.

Abram and Lot decide to separate.

Abram tells him to look at the land and HE can choose where to go.

Genesis 13:10

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Lot looks up and sees the best of the land in one direction. Lot wants to do this.

Genesis 13:11-13

11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

This is saying that Lot went to what he thought was the best place he could ever go. but he ends up near Sodom.

he went for the land without seeing what was there.

So it falls apart in Genesis 19.

Genesis 19:1

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

Biblical Commentaries on this passage say that him sitting in the gateway meant he was a leader.

The gate was a place of legal proceedings… business transactions…

judgment…

and was also a place where elders and officials had seats.

 

Aligned:

Lot Had Not Just Lived Among Sinners, He Became A Leader!

We know this because Lot insists the 2 men come to HIS house. immediately….

don’t go anywhere else. you don’t know this place.

And EVEN when the men surrounded Lot’s house… and demanded the men come out…

Lot says to them:

Genesis 19:6-7

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my

friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.

He called them his friends in some translations. brothers in others.

Lot was a foreigner originally.

but living around them long enough… they become brothers.

This is why we have to be careful who we have around us.

 

Aligned:

What Starts As Proximity Eventually Turns Into Participation!

1 Corinthians 15:33

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

{closing}

We see 3 examples of how we can be attached to the wrong people.

 

Aligned:

Samson Was Aligned To Someone Who Used Love To Intentionally Derail Him

She did it for money.

she succeeded…

and handed over the man who loved her… to eventually his death.

Scripture doesn’t say if she got the money. she wasn’t remembered for her wealth. she is remembered for her betrayal.

Aligned:

Rehoboam Was Aligned To His Past Friends and Trusted Them Over Wisdom

these same friends who he trusted… cheer him into ruin…

and they disappear from the story.

 

Aligned:

Lot Lived With The Wrong Crowd For So Long He Aligned With Them

We know Sodom was destroyed for all the things that were going on there. We know Lot had social standing and lived comfortably.

they were integrated into the culture.

It’s possible this is why she looked back when it was destroyed. she was missing the comfort

missing the identity social position

These three examples make us ask the questions:

 

Aligned:

• Who/What Am I Emotionally Attached To?

it might not always be a relationship.

it could be a friend, mom, dad, brother, sister or even friend

Aligned:

• Who Am I Listening To?

it’s sometimes hard to trust people.

the people who have proven themselves over the years tend to have our ear. but we have to make sure they aren’t leading us the wrong way

Aligned:

• What Environment Am I Putting Myself In?

We can sometimes place ourselves in situations knowing WE don’t do it.

we can be around others who sin consistently without us doing THOSE things. but over time…they pull us closer to them…

eventually we turn to the things they do.

 

You Can Work With Anyone But You Can’t Align With Everyone!

Psalm 1:1

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

Let’s remember to look at those who are in our circle… They are either there to help us…

or there are there to derail us.

If you know they’re the wrong people… don’t keep them close.

Make sure you’re being sharpened…and not dulled.

1 Corinthians 15:33

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”