Main Character Energy

We’ve been studying the life of Gideon and the hero’s journey that God has called him on. At the time, the Midianites were savage, ruthless barbarians who had been pillaging the areas, taking crops, women, and children. God’s people needed to be rescued. He chose Gideon, but Gideon needed a little bit of encouragement. God said I want you to sneak down to the camp that has 135,000 Midianites because there is a conversation happening in the camp that I want you to hear.

Judges 7:13-15 (NIV)

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped.

God wanted to encourage Gideon, so he said, let me show you what I’m already doing. Go down the valley and listen because I’m already in their heads. They had this dream, and they thought that meant Gideon was coming for them and will take them all out. What’s interesting is that barley was known as the poor man’s bread. God used the barley in the dream to represent Gideon because he had such a small army.

Have you ever heard someone say main character energy? On Tik Tok, there’s this hashtag called main character energy. It’s got 5 billion views and is even referenced in the urban dictionary as “a person that unintentionally lives, breathes, and is like the protagonist in a story or series.” It’s a person who makes decisions based on what the main character would do next. On Tik Tok, you will see people making fun of themselves and others acting like it’s all about them.

It’s time for you to choose the main character in your life. Some choose their kids as the main character or even a significant other. You get to choose who the main character will be and who everything will revolve around. If you want Jesus as the main character in your life, there are a couple of ways to discover if you have His main character energy.

1. When Jesus is the main character, you have His gifts.

God gives everybody gifts. How he’s wired you together says so much about what he wants to do with and through your life. In our growth track class, we say your design determines your destiny. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit, but before we even get into that, we have to talk about Jesus. He makes it clear that there’s only one Lord. If you talk about having a main character, you got to understand that main character energy comes from Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV)

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Paul says we have to talk about the fact that there is one Lord, one Savior, one God, and one main character. So before we can talk about gifts, we have to talk about who Jesus is because it’s all about him. I’ll say it this way; God may not be that interested in blessing your plans. God may not be that excited about your dreams. He might look at your dreams and be like, “Wow, that’s small. I wanted to do something more significant through your life because it never intended to glorify you with it. I’ve always intended to glorify myself with your life.”

When God looked at Gideon, he narrowed the army down to 300 guys to fight the battle. God wanted everyone to know that it was Him that pulled off this battle, not anyone else. He wants everyone to know that He is the main character in this story, all worshiping glory, adoration, exultation, everything needs to go to him. That should be the aim of our life, too. Life shouldn’t be all about ourselves. We need to be the supporting character and not the main character.

When you support what Jesus and others are doing, that’s called service. Now everything isn’t about you. It’s about all the different lives that you get to touch. If you want to have an exponential amount of influence in your life, stop being the star of the show; be a supporting character. The lives around you will watch what God can do through your life.

1 Corinthians 12:4 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit that distributes them.” The word gift is interesting because, in Greek, it’s the word charismaton. The root word is charis which is where we get the word grace. We understand that grace means undeserved. So altogether, it’s an undeserved gift. You can reread the verse and substitute the word gift for grace. “There are different kinds of grace, but the same Spirit.”

John 1:17 (NIV)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

When we talk about grace, Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s grace. Romans 5:8 tells us, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We didn’t deserve him, yet he came for us. Have you ever noticed somebody who just seems to have ease in certain areas of their life? You look at them and think, “Man, they just kill it at business.” There’s a grace on them for business. Maybe there’s somebody who makes parenting look easy. There’s a grace on them as a parent. Sometimes God gives gifts for seasons or assignments that will help carry you.

2. When God is the main character, you have His grace.

Sometimes I call out to God when things feel too difficult or exhausting. It’s in those seasons that I need the grace of God. The other day someone told me you make things look easy. I knew that it wasn’t my own doing but God’s grace. Even when I don’t know how things will turn out, I surrender my good and bad days to Him. Some of the weight you’re feeling may not be from the main character; it could be the weight of you trying to be the main character. Main character energy doesn’t put weight on your life. He gives strength to your life.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV)

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

The Greek word for working is energēmatōn. From this word, we also get the word energy. God will share his main character energy to help us when we need Him. It won’t be your energy; it will be His energy. I don’t know about you, but I want that kind of energy. I want the type of energy that comes from my Helper and Strength in time of need. I need energy that does not run out during my times of depletion and tiredness. You might feel like you’re running on empty, and it’s a weight you’re putting on yourself. It’s an expectation that He’s not asking you to live too.

Ask yourself where the weight is coming from. Do you have the right people around you? Because you know God will ask you to do hard things. Following God isn’t always easy; he will ask you to do hard things. When things get complicated, don’t be quick to quit. One of the fruits of the Spirit is faithfulness. Jesus said, let your Yes be yes, and your no be no. Let’s be people that if we say we’re going to do something, we do it. If we start something, we finish it. You’ll come out stronger on the other side of those hard things when done with God.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul shares with us in Corinthians that he prayed for God to remove a situation or area in his life that was holding him down. Instead, God said, “My grace is all you need; my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Main character energy overflows on me in my weakness, giving me the ability to stand on God’s grace and do what He’s called me to do.

Gideon is listening to this dream that the Midianites have, and God’s already working it out. Gideon didn’t know that the battle already belonged to God. Instead, He thinks, “I need to sharpen my swords.” That’s when God’s like, let me encourage you. I’m already doing the heavy lifting. I’m already working it out right now. God didn’t need Gideon to deliver the Midianites. But Gideon gets to be a part of what God is doing. He gets to join the winning team, even though the victory never belonged to him. The victory is from Jesus. He’s the main character.

About ten years ago, I had this conversation with my friend, who shared how great his life was going. He got a new car, his bank account was full, and a girl had just left his house. Then he noticed that my life looked different than his. He started talking about God and said he didn’t know what to choose since there seemed to be so many other religions with different gods. I said, “Well, it sounds like you already chose who God is.” He’s like, “what do you mean?” I said, “You just told me about this super expensive car you bought. Why did you get that car?” He said he got it so girls would notice and pay attention to him. I said, “You told me you’re making a lot of money and spending it on things that bring you entertainment.” He agreed. I asked him, “What about the girl that just came over? What is that she all about?” He said, “She brings me pleasure.” I said, “Your decisions, choices, and what you do is about bringing worship to yourself. It’s about making other people adore you. You’re the main character in your story. You’ve chosen to be your own god.” He said, “I don’t want to be God.” That’s when I shared about repentance. Repentance is when we say I don’t want to be the main character anymore.

We’re not designed to hold worship. We’re designed to give worship. God’s inviting you to say I don’t want to be the main character anymore. I will stop lying to myself because I never was the main character, anyways. I want to step aside and worship Him. I know I need to repent and change some things in my life. I want to stop being the main character and choose to be a supporting character in his story and plan. Once you make that decision, life will no longer be about you; it’ll be about Him. He is the main character in our story.