1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,840 Good to see you. If, if you've got a Bible, go 2 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:04,280 and get that out, get that open. If you don't, that's OK. 3 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:08,280 We will have every word of the biblical text on the screen for 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:09,560 you. So just keep your eyes either 5 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,160 here or there. We are in the book of Titus. 6 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,600 Everybody say Titus. Lovely voices this morning, 7 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,360 Titus. We are spending 18 weeks 8 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,200 together in this little book, exploring every nook and cranny 9 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,160 of it. And this is week, I think 6. 10 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,160 And so we have been taking our absolute sweet time. 11 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,320 And this morning we are going to be in verse 9, what Paul is 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,280 doing in the book of Titus is he's instructing Titus, who is 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,160 operating kind of as the chief leader on this island called 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,520 Crete, over these new young fledgling churches that have 15 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,040 sprung up. And he's teaching Titus how to 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,080 build a church. And so that's really the way to 17 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,080 read this book best is it's really just a manual for how in 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,080 the world do you do it? How do you be a church? 19 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,720 That's why we called this sermon series How to Be a Church. 20 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:12,600 And to quote the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball, it's hard not to be 21 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:18,400 romantic about the church, who the church is, what the church 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,400 could be. The church is the hands and feet 23 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,400 of Jesus. The church is the bride of 24 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,720 Christ. The church is the community of 25 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,720 the people of God. One theologian referred to it as 26 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:39,280 the loveliest place on earth. The New Testament calls it the 27 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:44,040 pillar of truth. Eugene Peterson called the 28 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,720 church a colony of heaven invading the world. 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,040 It's a hospital for sinners, not a museum for Saints. 30 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,720 It's a beautiful place and it's hard not to be romantic about 31 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:06,040 the church, but we also have to remember that the church is 32 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:13,480 primarily made-up of sheep. That's one of Jesus favorite 33 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,920 illustrations for what you are. What I am and what this is, is 34 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:25,120 we are sheep and who like sheep, wolves. 35 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,920 So by necessity of the very character of what a church is, a 36 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:35,720 flock of sheep wolves are attracted to the church. 37 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,160 And so that's what Paul is going to start talking about. 38 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:44,800 What do you do with these wolves that pop up, these people who 39 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,840 intentionally want to devour and destroy the church? 40 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,200 And as we think through this subject of what? 41 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,560 What is a wolf and what are they out to do? 42 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,560 And how do you spot them? How do you not harden your heart 43 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,360 so that you become one? We will invariably talk about 44 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,840 the relational and social hardships that are part and 45 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,640 parcel of belonging to a church. Somewhere along the way, we'll 46 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,880 even teach ourselves. What does it look like to drama 47 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,160 proof the church? And after 40 minutes of teaching 48 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,160 and preaching, if the Lord has put something into your heart 49 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,800 that helps us drama proof this church, that'll be a win. 50 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:24,960 Amen. So let's hear from the Bible 51 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:26,120 first. Go ahead and stand if you're 52 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:33,320 able. So in verse 9, this is a 53 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,480 continuation of a thought unit that Paul already started all 54 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,360 the way back at verse 5. He's he's telling Titus, the 55 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,920 first thing you got to do if you want to build a church is you've 56 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,920 got to find, develop, train elders, pastors, overseers, find 57 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,760 these people, make sure they've got these character 58 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,880 qualifications. And then Paul pivots in verse 9 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,200 from character qualifications to the one skill or competency that 60 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,240 these elders must have. He says in verse 9 he must hold 61 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,280 firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able 62 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:12,480 to give instruction and sound doctrine, and also to rebuke 63 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:17,040 those who contradicted. Why, that doesn't sound very 64 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,160 that doesn't sound very nice. Paul. 65 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,079 I thought Christians were supposed to be nice. 66 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:27,240 Well, he says, for there are many who are insubordinate, 67 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:33,440 empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the 68 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,240 circumcision party. They must be silenced. 69 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,680 Why? Since they're upsetting whole 70 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,280 families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought 71 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:47,680 not to teach, one of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, 72 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,520 said Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. 73 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,560 This testimony, Paul says it's true. 74 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:03,080 Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the 75 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,840 faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands 76 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,760 of people who end up turning away from the truth. 77 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,520 To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and 78 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,200 unbelieving nothing is pure. Both their minds and their 79 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,600 consciences are defiled. They profess to know God. 80 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,680 There's an appearance of spirituality, but they deny Him 81 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,920 by their works. They are detestable, 82 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,720 disobedient, unfit for any good work. 83 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,520 Do you ever just read a Bible verse and think, man, I would 84 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:46,720 love to preach on that? That's not how I felt about this 85 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,400 one. Heavenly Father, would you make 86 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,280 this text come to life? I have had to. 87 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,800 I have had to spend an inordinate amount of time in my 88 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,480 prep this week focusing on my own heart. 89 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:10,440 This this text has made me I want to preach passive 90 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:16,120 aggressively and with bitterness and our church deserves better 91 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,160 than that. And so I just would you make me 92 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,200 pure of any other motive. Would you, would you purify my 93 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,720 heart so that I don't make this sermon about my experience with 94 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,600 with the church because that would not ultimately be helpful, 95 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,080 Lord. So just purify my heart and help 96 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:35,480 me help me preach from, from a place of, of purity of 97 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,560 conscience. And I just, I just want to 98 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,480 preach in a way that even with a text like this that I didn't 99 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,000 want to preach that nobody wants to hit nobody signs up for a 100 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,040 sermon on this Lord, and yet it's hearing your words. 101 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,480 So it, it needs to be preached. And so I pray that it would be 102 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:53,400 preached in a way that yes, is helpful. 103 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,720 Yes, that leads to clarity, but somehow, some way would it lead 104 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,320 to greater joy in Jesus. That would be awesome. 105 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:03,880 And that's what we ask your spirit to do. 106 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,520 So it's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 107 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:08,440 prayed. Amen. 108 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:20,800 You can have a seat. Insubordinate, empty talkers, 109 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,040 deceivers. What's actually going on here? 110 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,200 OK, so what's happening is these are young churches, which means 111 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,360 that they're really, really fragile and new. 112 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,080 And they're on this little island called Crete. 113 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,680 And Paul's instructing Titus on how in the world do you shepherd 114 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,240 these communities? How do you take these young, 115 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,000 immature communities and make them into a church? 116 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,560 And he says, Titus, go find, build and install pastors and 117 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,280 then make sure they've got the right character qualifications 118 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:53,080 and then train them to drama proof the church through good 119 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:54,680 doctrine. And one of the great things 120 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,160 about preaching this text is that I don't have anybody in our 121 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,920 church in mind. So I don't have to like stand up 122 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:05,040 here and be like I'm preaching responsibly to some wolf in the 123 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:06,480 church. I'm actually just preaching 124 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,960 proactively from the text. And so that makes this a little 125 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,280 bit of an easier sermon. But the basically the gist of 126 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,680 this is, is Paul Tantitis drama proof the church through elders 127 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,920 who have good doctrines. Very practically, this seems to 128 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,760 be what's going on in in this text. 129 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,600 People are creeping into these churches and these particular 130 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,080 people that Paul is referencing, they're they're viruses. 131 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,400 They're viruses. I know that's strong language, 132 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,720 but Paul uses strong language. They are people who are allergic 133 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,880 to health and they thrive off of drama. 134 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,600 Again, Paul's language is probably stronger, right? 135 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,920 Insubordinate, empty Tuckers, deceivers. 136 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,040 Jesus uses the term wolf to describe these people. 137 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,240 Jesus's own words in Matthew 7 quote, Beware of those who will 138 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:04,680 come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous 139 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,880 wolves. In fact, Jesus goes so far as to 140 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,320 say that the pastors who do nothing to protect the flock 141 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,920 from these wolves are not good pastors. 142 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,080 In fact, Jesus says they're not pastors. 143 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,480 This is what Jesus says. He says, quote, he who is a 144 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:24,920 hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, sees 145 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:29,720 the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf 146 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,160 snatches them and scatters them. So Jesus says the pastor who 147 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,160 does nothing to protect the sheep from the wolves, and he's 148 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,280 not even a pastor. Jesus says he's he's just a 149 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:41,800 hired hand. Yikes. 150 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:48,000 So let's go deeper and let's get a more accurate picture of who 151 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,880 these people are. Exactly. 152 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,360 The thing that's happening in these churches is this 153 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,560 self-righteous self appointed leaders. 154 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,200 Always beware in the local Church of a self appointed 155 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,320 leader. Somebody who appoints themselves 156 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,760 a pastor, appoints themselves as a leader, has not gone through a 157 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,960 process, has not had eyeballs of other elders and pastors 158 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,840 training them and just says, you know, I feel like a pastor. 159 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,680 So today I'm a pastor. self-righteous, self appointed 160 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:22,720 leaders. What they're doing in here is 161 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,600 they're rising up and they're preaching a false gospel. 162 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,800 This is what Paul's were hinting at when he uses the phrase in 163 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,600 verse 10. He calls them what? 164 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,680 Especially those in the circumcision party. 165 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,720 So what exactly? What's going on here is these 166 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,000 are people who are preaching a message that is contrary to the 167 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,440 gospel of Jesus. They're the circumcision party. 168 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,240 What that means is that they're going around saying no, no, no, 169 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,800 no, no, no, no, no. I don't care what Paul says. 170 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,400 A person is not saved by faith alone in Jesus, which is the 171 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:56,480 gospel. Amen. 172 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,200 That's the biblical gospel. You're saved by faith alone in 173 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,840 Jesus, apart from works of law. These wolves are coming in. 174 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,000 They're saying no, no, no, no, no, yes, you got to believe in 175 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,640 Jesus. He got that part right. 176 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,440 But they also have to do Old Testament works of the law, 177 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,760 believe in Jesus, yes, but also you need to get circumcised. 178 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,960 You probably should not eat certain types of food. 179 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,840 You also have to do all of these ritual cleansings. 180 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,280 And if you can juggle all those responsibilities, then you can 181 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,760 earn salvation. They're taking the gospel, 182 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:34,080 they're preaching a false gospel by adding things onto it. 183 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,040 This is key. I need you to hear me. 184 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:44,320 Anything added to the gospel, Jesus plus this Jesus plus that 185 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,520 Jesus plus you got to earn it through obedience, Jesus plus 186 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,960 works of the law. Anything added to the gospel is 187 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,320 not a simple addition to the gospel. 188 00:11:54,640 --> 00:12:00,040 It morphs it and transforms it into a different gospel, a false 189 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,000 gospel. OK. 190 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,240 Anybody who adds anything to faith alone in Jesus is 191 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,040 preaching a gospel contrary to the biblical. 192 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,120 It's it works this way. I've used this analogy in the 193 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:12,400 past. You guys didn't like it. 194 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,160 I'm going to use it again. It's like a really good bourbon. 195 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,560 OK, If you have a really good bourbon and you decide you want 196 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,600 to make a cocktail with it and you add stuff to it, it's not a 197 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,720 simple addition to the bourbon. It spoils and dilutes the 198 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:27,840 bourbon. Yeah, that's right. 199 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:30,560 I thought you guys were Baptists. 200 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,320 So. I mean, so I've heard Joseph 201 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,160 told me. That's what happens when you 202 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,320 make a cocktail like that Now, it cuts, dilutes the the purity 203 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,200 of the thing. That's the way the gospel is. 204 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,960 Any addition, no gospel cocktails. 205 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,800 You can't mix the gospel with earning your salvation. 206 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,280 It dilutes it into a false gospel. 207 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,600 That's what's going on here. That's why in verse 14, Paul 208 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:57,960 describes it with a little bit more detail. 209 00:12:57,960 --> 00:12:59,440 If you got your Bible, look at verse 14. 210 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,920 He says these are people who are devoted to Jewish myths in the 211 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,280 commands of people who turn away from the truth. 212 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,760 I studied John Calvin on this about 500 years ago. 213 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:16,120 He said, you know, it's they're making up frivolous myths that 214 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,920 are really attractive to the carnal mind in order to keep the 215 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,320 minds of people in a state of suspense without ever leading 216 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,840 them to Christ. So we don't know exactly what 217 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:29,600 myths they're making up here, but they're obsessed with all of 218 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,000 these old Jewish myths that aren't in the Bible. 219 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:36,640 And it's, it's what might actually be going on too, is 220 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,240 the, the main myth that happened in in Crete was actually the 221 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,840 myth of Zeus. So huge myth in the ancient 222 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:45,800 Roman world. One of the reasons why the Roman 223 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,640 world hated Crete, this little Isle and island. 224 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,240 And one of the reasons why Paul says that their own poet said 225 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:58,520 that they're evil and liars and lazy beasts is because they 226 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,200 claimed and told the rest of the world that Zeus was actually 227 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,640 born on the island of Crete and died on the island of Crete and 228 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,480 that they had Zeus's tomb. It was their way of trying to 229 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,040 say, hey, we have something special to Rome. 230 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,760 And the rest of the world was like, bro, what are you smoking? 231 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,560 Zeus? Zeus is immortal. 232 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,600 He didn't die there. And so on Crete, you actually 233 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,800 have a bunch of Zeus worshippers, which makes me 234 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,680 believe that maybe one of the myths they're bringing into the 235 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,120 church is, yeah, you should worship Jesus, but also Zeus. 236 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,400 But yeah, I make your church about Jesus. 237 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,000 But damn media, it's not going to hurt to also throw a little 238 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,920 bit of Zeus worship in there. And it Paul's like, no, no, no, 239 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,800 no, no. That stuff is leading you away 240 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,680 from Jesus. And that's why Paul's main 241 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,520 exhortation, his main strategy to drama proof the church is to 242 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:55,600 what? Install good pastors who have 243 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,560 good theology. Verse 9. 244 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,000 He says they have to hold firm to the trustworthy Word as 245 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,400 taught. He's talking about the teaching 246 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:09,200 of the apostles, which is the New Testament, so that he may be 247 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,520 able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also rebuke 248 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,520 those who contradict it. That's why at, at Frontier, 249 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,360 we're not perfect. Our elder team is not perfect. 250 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,160 We've got 3 elders right now. We're going to install three 251 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,040 more in a couple weeks. It's going to be great. 252 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,400 But we have a rigorous, rigorous, rigorous elder 253 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,120 development program where we need to make sure that we're all 254 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,960 on the same page with character and, and also with theology. 255 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,880 Like it's, it's notorious in the city of Des Moines how rigorous 256 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,560 our process is. It's like 12 to 24 months of 257 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,120 ongoing training. I had a pastor in the area come 258 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,720 up to me randomly in the coffee shop a couple months ago saying, 259 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:48,360 what are you working on now, Cole? 260 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,200 Another boot camp to beat the crap out of your elders, right? 261 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,360 So like it's notorious for being really, really robust. 262 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:57,960 I was talking to a pastor from Waterloo a couple of years ago. 263 00:15:58,200 --> 00:15:59,840 He was like, what's your elder process? 264 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,680 And I was like 25% of the way through explaining it. 265 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:10,400 And he goes, what, your pastors read books for you guys? 266 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,800 And I was like, brother, they don't just read books. 267 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,960 They write essays too, and have to defend their doctrinal 268 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,400 positions to the other elders. He's like, how do you get? 269 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:30,000 I just want anybody with a heartbeat, with a pulse that 270 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,240 will share some of the eldership load with me. 271 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,280 How do you find these people? And I'm like, I don't know. 272 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,400 I honestly, I think part of it is like when you have a high 273 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,000 standard for elders, that's who you tend to attract. 274 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,760 And so when you say, hey, we're not going to lower the bar on 275 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,360 theology in this church, I don't care how smart you are, I don't 276 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,080 care how sparkly or good looking you are, we're not going to 277 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,640 lower the bar for theology. So you're going to spend 12 to 278 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,200 24 months studying, debating, thinking about theology. 279 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,280 It's going to be brutal. What good elders do when they 280 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,520 hear that is I want a piece of that. 281 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:10,160 What wolves do is they go, no, no, no, I don't want I don't 282 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,319 want to process. I want a really quick ladder 283 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:18,480 when I can rise to the top. So you can't skip this part like 284 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:23,079 it's God's word says they must hold firm to the trustworthy 285 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:25,839 word as taught right in verse 13. 286 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,400 He says they need to be able to rebuke those who preach a false 287 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:37,720 gospel sharply, sharply. Strong words doesn't sound nice. 288 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,760 And yet the qualification character wise for elders is 289 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:48,320 they need to be kind and gentle, but also they need to know when 290 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:56,520 to hold the line. Tough and tender, gentle but 291 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:01,200 rebuke wolves sharply. Why such strong words silencing 292 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,800 wolves, rebuking, why such strong words for this? 293 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,400 And this is the key. I want you guys to hear me here. 294 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,440 It's because of the nature of these wolves. 295 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,880 When we're talking about wolves, when Paul's talking about empty 296 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:20,120 talkers and deceivers, Paul is not talking about grouchy church 297 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,040 members. OK? 298 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,000 You just have to deal with grouchy church members. 299 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,880 I told one for I was like one of my buddies who's a pastor. 300 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,280 I'm like, look, not everybody who's a pain in the rear end is 301 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,480 a wolf. Sometimes sheep just crap a lot 302 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,920 and you got to pick it up. That's just part of that's part 303 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:45,400 of being a shepherd. So I've heard these are not 304 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,240 faithful church members. They're not church members who 305 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,040 disagree with pastors. You guys are actually welcome to 306 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,000 disagree with pastors in this church as long as you don't seek 307 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,120 to actively undermine them. He's not talking about people 308 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:00,880 who have questions about the way the church operates. 309 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:02,760 That's normal. That's just being a good church 310 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,440 member. He's talking about people who 311 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:14,800 are allergic to health, thrive off of drama, and take a dark 312 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,680 pleasure in the destruction of the church and her leaders. 313 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,280 Go deeper with me. Here's where it gets unnerving. 314 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,720 And Titus, these wolves are doing it. 315 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,800 What's their reason? Look at verse 10. 316 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:31,120 They're doing it for, quote, shameful gain. 317 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,560 In other words, their spiritual predators who are praying on the 318 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,560 fragility of these young churches. 319 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,760 Now, we don't know exactly what type of shameful game they're 320 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,200 seeking. Some theologians out there think 321 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,280 that the shameful game is financial. 322 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,600 So in other words, they're seeking financial compensation 323 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,560 for performing these ritual ceremonies that they're saying 324 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,560 that people need to do in order to be safe. 325 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,040 So if these guys are right, it would look something like this. 326 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:00,240 Hey, now you have to believe in Jesus and get ritual cleansing 327 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,360 for all the meat that you eat. And by the way, as God would 328 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:08,640 have it, I can also be the person who cleanses that for you 329 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,120 for a small charge. It could be. 330 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,360 It could be that I don't personally, I don't think that's 331 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,600 it. I think the shameful gain 332 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,760 they're seeking isn't financial, though it might be. 333 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,600 I think it's actually just followers in an honor shame 334 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,240 culture. People really liked having 335 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,920 followers. And So what these wolves do is 336 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:31,400 they see these young, fragile churches that lack elders right 337 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,960 now, by the way, as an opportunity to gain themselves 338 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,040 new followers. This is what wolves do. 339 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:47,120 They profit from division. And since they benefit from 340 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:52,760 division, what do they stir up? Division. 341 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,280 Be aware of anybody who benefits from division. 342 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,120 People who benefit from division will also stir it up. 343 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:07,200 Look at verse 11. There seems to be a deliberate 344 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:12,560 strategy. Even they are upsetting whole 345 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,480 families. In other words, they seem to be 346 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,120 strategically targeting family units, bouncing around 347 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,080 methodically from family to family. 348 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,680 Seeking what? Bouncing around from family to 349 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,040 family, trying to find out who is willing to carry their virus 350 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,440 and spread it. So think, think here. 351 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,960 I need you to hear me. Just hear Guy hear this again. 352 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,320 These are not cranky church people. 353 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:44,240 These are people who have the appearance of spirituality, but 354 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,200 who are secretly, inwardly malevolent. 355 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,000 If I had to guess based on the text of exactly what this looks 356 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,640 like, what Paul's talking about, I think it's something like 357 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,920 this. These are people in Creep who 358 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,280 are putting on a spiritual mask, going from family to family, 359 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,920 saying, hey, can we get coffee? Like the Lord has just laid 360 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,760 something really heavy on my heart and he wants you to hear 361 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,520 those. You got brother, sister, you got 362 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:14,400 to know. Oh man, God's telling me to say 363 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,640 this to you. And I don't get any pleasure 364 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,760 from saying this, but I just, I need you to know that Paul is a 365 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,480 liar and that you can't trust him. 366 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,000 OK? He's, he's not preaching a true 367 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,200 gospel. He's just preaching 1/2 gospel. 368 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,320 It sounds great that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus. 369 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,880 It's just not true. It hurts me to have to say this 370 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,080 about Paul. We should pray for Paul. 371 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,200 We should pray for Paul. But Paul's, Paul's wrong. 372 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,920 Paul's wrong. Faith in Jesus isn't enough. 373 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,960 You also need to get circumcised. 374 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,440 You also can't eat meat. You also have to do ritual 375 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,800 cleansing. Paul's Paul's a liar. 376 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,880 We should pray for him. Do you see the spiritual mask 377 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,880 there? That's why Jesus literally says 378 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,120 that the wolves will be dressed in what? 379 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:05,280 Sheep's clothing? What's that look like? 380 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,080 Probably close to what I just said. 381 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:16,040 Lots of religious spiritual mumbo jumbo with the aim of 382 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:19,320 making your relationship with your church toxic. 383 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,160 And again, I know you didn't sign up for this sermon, but 384 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,920 just come a little bit deeper with me. 385 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:28,320 Edwin Friedman, he wrote a legendary leadership book, 386 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,320 Failure of Nerve. I quoted every other week. 387 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:33,920 He's not a Christian, so he has a different word. 388 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:35,920 He doesn't use the word wolves to describe these people. 389 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:41,200 He uses the word virus and Friedman makes 10 observations 390 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,760 about the similarities between the way that these people 391 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,640 operate in organizations because he says they're any organization 392 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,040 or multiple human being. Viruses are attracted to that. 393 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,600 And so he makes 10 observations about the way these people 394 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,240 operate and the way that biological viruses operate. 395 00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,080 I'm going to spare you. I'm not going to give you all 396 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,960 10. I'm going to give you 5 of these 397 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,080 observations. And as we walk through these, 398 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,760 maybe, just maybe just resist the temptation to picture other 399 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,320 names and faces and just self assess and just ask yourself, 400 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,200 hey, are these are these things true about, about me? 401 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,480 And they're fantastically, I think, astute observations. 402 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:22,000 Friedman says #1 like viruses that have no outer membrane, in 403 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,400 order to protect their integrity, these people tend to 404 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:30,080 be easily hurt injustice collectors wherever they go, who 405 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:37,120 are always given to victim attitudes #2 like viruses who 406 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:41,400 have a parasitic quality to the way that they bond, these people 407 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,040 bond in parasitic ways too. They tend to idolize their 408 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:46,760 leaders. This is the best church ever, 409 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,080 man. Paul's the best leader ever. 410 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,000 Paul is awesome. They idolize the leader until 411 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,240 the unrealistic expectations fail, whereupon they crucify 412 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,800 their gods. This is the best church. 413 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:03,520 Paul's the best, and then Paul accidentally has to reschedule 414 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,040 his dinner appointment with them. 415 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,360 And then they're like pulse, pulse the worst. 416 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,600 There's a parasitic quality to the bonding #3 like viruses that 417 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,320 are limited to either being turned on or off. 418 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:21,000 These people tend to be entirely unable to relate to people who 419 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,520 do not agree with them on everything. 420 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,880 If there's not 100% agreement about everything, there's just 421 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:35,240 an just unwilling to even engage in a relationship #4 like 422 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:42,040 viruses, they tend to ooze into, if not directly interfere with 423 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,840 the relationships of others. Why did we see this in Titus? 424 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,080 What's the strategy in Titus? In Titus they are strategically 425 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:58,200 targeting family units, actively working to upset them, losing 426 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,880 into the relationship. This is an old strategy. 427 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,960 This is precisely what the serpent does in Genesis. 428 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,240 What does the serpent do in Genesis? 429 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,520 He oozes between Adam and Eve's relate. 430 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:13,920 You got to read like when biblically literally. 431 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,520 Not trying to be hyperbole here, but biblically, when you read 432 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,120 about the character of Satan, you have to recognize that 433 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:29,000 Genesis to Revelation, Satan is literally a drama queen like 434 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,040 that. Like that's his, that's his MO, 435 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:33,640 he's a drama, that's what he does. 436 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:38,320 He seeks to find a relationship and inject drama into it. 437 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,120 Adam and Eve in the Old Testament, right? 438 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,080 Your relationship with the church in the New Testament 439 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:50,600 agents of division, these people ooze they you know, you know, 440 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,520 you might be hanging out with one. 441 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,360 If you always hang out with this person and you leave with a 442 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:01,360 smaller, darker, diminished view of the church. 443 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:11,000 There's they want want to spoil your experience in the church. 444 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,000 Which brings me to the fifth and most important observation I 445 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,600 think Friedman makes, which is number 5. 446 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:22,120 Like viruses, they find light and truth, the element that's 447 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,520 most healthy to other forms of life. 448 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,680 They find light and truth to be toxic to their nature. 449 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,080 In other words, they are allergic to health. 450 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:37,200 Like they hate being around healthy environments. 451 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,360 They hate being around healthy people. 452 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,160 If there's not drama, their lives don't feel satisfying, so 453 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,120 they have to stir it up, right? They find they find health 454 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,120 repulsive. When you experience joy around 455 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:54,600 these people, your joy feels like a condemnation to them. 456 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,840 So it elicits bitterness rather than joy. 457 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,200 And they try to cut you down when you're in the presence of 458 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,800 somebody, when they're they're allergic to health. 459 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,720 So that when they're in the presence of somebody who's like 460 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:08,720 passionate about Jesus, their responses, Oh, it's just because 461 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:13,920 she's a fake, you know, actually worship Jesus so passionately on 462 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,680 Sundays because she's performing like they'd find it alert. 463 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,120 They're toxic to be around health. 464 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,280 Oh, he's he's a good worker or he's a good husband. 465 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,040 It's because he's a normie. Like viruses, they thrive off 466 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,960 darkness the way that viruses thrive off of bacteria. 467 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,400 So again, if there's not drama, then life feels boring. 468 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,120 And so like that empty talkers and Titus, they make it their 469 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:40,320 goal to go around and stir it up. 470 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,040 And our, our church has been very fortunate. 471 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,680 I think we planted this nine years ago and we've had a 472 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,560 really, really drama free church for the most part, for the most 473 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,920 part, But still, it still happens, right. 474 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:00,000 And I, in my opinion, this is the hardest thing about being 475 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:07,600 part of a church is that you can't, you can't stop the church 476 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,680 from experiencing drama. You can't like just think of it 477 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,520 this way. Imagine you have a home that you 478 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,720 love and you're building it, and it's your home and you take 479 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,160 responsibility for it and you want it to be a beautiful home. 480 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,960 So what do you do? You you study as much as you 481 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:25,760 can. You try to pick out the exact 482 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:27,640 right artwork to hang up on the wall. 483 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:29,000 So your home looks beautiful, right? 484 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,800 You You get exactly the right furniture, and you strategize 485 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,000 about where to put it and how to organize it so that people feel 486 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,680 comfortable when they walk into it. 487 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,720 You study the dietary habits and needs of your family, and then 488 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,640 you stock the shelf with exactly the right groceries. 489 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,040 You spend all this time planning it, but imagine that as you're 490 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,080 building your house, there's something different about this 491 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,520 house. Unlike other houses, this house 492 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,440 you're not allowed to put a lock on the front door. 493 00:29:54,440 --> 00:30:00,960 Can you imagine that you're building a home, but you can't 494 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,720 put a lock on the front door? What's that mean? 495 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,240 That means that while you're working your rear end to make 496 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,960 this home beautiful because you love it and it's yours. 497 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:19,360 Anybody can walk off the street and walk through your house and 498 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:25,280 eat your food, screw up the furniture, make a freaking mess, 499 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,640 and then walk out and do it to the next house. 500 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,560 And what's that mean for you? If it's your church, If it's 501 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,120 your home, it means you're stuck cleaning up the mess. 502 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,240 It's like a house with no lock, right? 503 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,880 In that same way like the church, you can't put a lock on 504 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,760 the front door and say, OK, welcome to Frontier. 505 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:53,200 No dramatic people allowed, no sinners allowed. 506 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,960 You can't do that. You can't do that. 507 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,680 And as a result of that, anybody can and will walk into this 508 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,960 church that you're praying for, laboring for building, and they 509 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,920 can say whatever they feel like saying, spread whatever gossip 510 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,840 they want to try to spread. And then they can just freaking 511 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,000 leave whenever they want. And it leaves you to do what? 512 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:22,840 To clean up the mess, reorganize it and keep building it. 513 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:28,040 And that that just it happens and a church, you've experienced 514 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:29,640 it. If you haven't experienced it, 515 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,840 you will experienced it. And it's really hard. 516 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,680 You get left with the mess and you got to clean it up and then 517 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,320 keep building. That's what belonging to a 518 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:42,800 church is like, right? Like every faithful church 519 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,720 member knows this pain. Somebody comes into the church, 520 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,080 you disciple them and you invest your time and your energy into 521 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,840 these people. And then you, you spend time on 522 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,040 a daily basis lifting them up before the throne of Jesus, 523 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,200 praying for them. And on Christmas break while 524 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,840 you're at your parents house, you take out and you take a 2 525 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,080 hour phone call to help them work through their issues. 526 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:07,960 Because you love them and you're investing them. 527 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:09,640 You're giving them your time and your energy. 528 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:11,240 You want to see them become like Jesus. 529 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,000 And then suddenly you discover that for the past year they've 530 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,360 been undermining you and spreading gossip about you 531 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,160 behind your back to everybody besides you. 532 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,000 For the last year you experienced that. 533 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:23,800 And when you do, you need to know two things. 534 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,760 Number one, it hurts and #2 you can be healed by Jesus from 535 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,840 that. It hurts. 536 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,440 It's going to happen. You're going to invest in 537 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,840 somebody and they're going to turn around or they're just 538 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,800 going to walk out with the middle finger and you're going 539 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,600 to be like, gosh, all right. And you can't put a lock on the 540 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:48,040 front door of the church and say, no dramatic people, no 541 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,120 sinners allowed. If you do that, you become a 542 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:55,200 dead, legalistic church who only lets people who think, talk, and 543 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,120 look exactly like themselves into the church. 544 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,400 Is that an option? No, it's four centers. 545 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,800 It's four screwed up people. Can't put a lock on the front. 546 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:06,720 You can't stop the drama from happening. 547 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,680 Here's what you can do. You can, number one, drama proof 548 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,200 your church to the best of your ability. 549 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:15,000 And then #2 you can have a strategy for healing when you 550 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:16,480 experience it. Let's talk about the first 551 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,000 thing, drama proofing the church. 552 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:19,680 I'm going to be really practical. 553 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:21,560 I'm going to be really specific here. 554 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,680 I'm going to give you 1 tool. It's it just one tool that if 555 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,840 you use it as a church, it is actually incredibly simple and 556 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,400 incredibly effective to drama proof the entire church. 557 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,080 Simple, practical, and effective. 558 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,000 If you're a note taker, write this down. 559 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:38,400 Write this down, write this down. 560 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,040 If you're just a remember, remember, remember, remember. 561 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:42,400 Here, here it is. Here's my tool. 562 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,200 When a person sits down with you and begins to undermine the 563 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,120 credibility of a person in our church, Let's be hypothetical. 564 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,760 Let's let's say Broseph Johnnifro. 565 00:33:58,440 --> 00:33:59,800 Yeah. Yeah. 566 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,880 You sit down. Oh, gosh. 567 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,400 Is that why the name is familiar? 568 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,960 So somebody sits down and starts to talk about Broseph Johnnifro, 569 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,480 about concerns undermining the credibility of this person in 570 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,800 the church, bringing charges against them, are intentionally 571 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,400 seeking to destroy your trust in their leadership. 572 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,040 When you are in that conversation, which is heavy, 573 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,239 please, please, please ask them one question. 574 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,280 And this is the tool I want to give you and it's effective and 575 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,960 it's simple. Ask them one question. 576 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,760 How was that conversation with Broseph about that? 577 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,480 Tell me about what was it like talking to Broseph about these 578 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:51,840 concerns? And if that individual says, oh, 579 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:56,159 I actually haven't talked to Broseph about it yet, what I do 580 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:59,920 is I tell them I can't have this conversation with you until you 581 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:01,840 have that conversation with Broseph first. 582 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,400 I'll go with you. I'll sit with you in the 583 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,320 conversation. I can mediate if you need me to. 584 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,400 But until you have that conversation with Broseph, the 585 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,080 New Testament forbids me from having this conversation with 586 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:16,240 you. And the reason why this is so 587 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:19,640 effective, why this question, it's so effective? 588 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:23,240 Because what it does is it actually discerns the motive of 589 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:27,720 the person's heart. So if the person's concern is 590 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:32,920 really a godly concern about Broseph's heart and health, what 591 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:37,080 they'll do is they'll hear you say that and they'll go have 592 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,520 that conversation with Broseph and you'll know that was a 593 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,480 genuine godly concern. I've had probably, I would say 594 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,720 just shy of 10 conversations with church members over my last 595 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:52,600 nine years who came before me with a legitimate concern about, 596 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:57,640 about my leadership where with a soft spirit, right? 597 00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,720 They've, they've said, Hey, brother, I just want you to 598 00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:02,480 notice. I've, I've seen this thing in, 599 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,920 in your life. Can we, can we talk about this 600 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,560 thing? I've, I've noticed and every 601 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,680 time those conversations have been an extraordinary blessing 602 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,560 to me. I've walked away from those 603 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:15,760 conversations thinking, I think that person was right. 604 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,200 I think I got to work on that. I'll bring them before the 605 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,440 elders and be like, hey, have you noticed this pattern in my 606 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,040 life? And then you, it's such a 607 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,960 blessing. So if you genuinely have a 608 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,560 concern about a leader, why would you hide that gift from 609 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,640 them? It's such a gift to have those 610 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,720 conversations. And if a person hears you say, 611 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:34,600 hey, have you talked to Broseph about that? 612 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,280 And they go, oh, no, I shoot, I should. 613 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,040 What does that tell you? It tells you that that's a 614 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,520 genuine concern. However, if that person is not 615 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,680 willing to have the conversation with Broseph, what does that 616 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,360 tell you? Tells you that his concerns are 617 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,240 less motivated by his love for Broseph and probably more 618 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:55,120 motivated by a dark pleasure to spoil your relationship with 619 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,280 him. And there are people, I'm sorry, 620 00:36:57,280 --> 00:36:59,880 you just I wish, I wish you could come to a different 621 00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:01,680 conclusion. I would like to read the Bible 622 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:02,840 and come to a different conclusion. 623 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,240 You can't, if you can't read the Bible and come to a different 624 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,600 conclusion. There just are people out there 625 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:12,800 who experience a sick joy in destroying healthy communities. 626 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:18,240 Not most people. Most people are awesome right 627 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:20,360 there, image bearers of God. They're fun to be. 628 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,640 They want you to be like Jesus sometimes, right? 629 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,840 Some sheep poop a little bit and that's part of it. 630 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:27,240 But like, most people are awesome. 631 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:32,000 But like, Paul's not talking about hypothetical people. 632 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:40,880 There needs to be like, I I Della made me laugh so hard a 633 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:43,680 couple weeks ago. We were driving in the car and 634 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,120 we were listening. Don't judge me to blink 182. 635 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,120 Really loud. Yeah. 636 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,120 Blink 182. And for the first time in human 637 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:56,160 history, it was a situation of the child rebuking the father 638 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,880 for listening to Blink 182. So we're listening to Blink 182. 639 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:01,440 I can't even remember what the lyrics were. 640 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,040 The lyrics were something about a girl named Josie. 641 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,160 And I don't know, it's Blink 182. 642 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,640 So it's probably like, oh, Josie sucks. 643 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,920 I don't know what, something like that. 644 00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:16,200 And I was listening to it. I was just listening to it. 645 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,360 And this squeaky, beautiful little voice in the backseat 646 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,160 goes. I turn the song down. 647 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:25,240 So I turn the song down and, and Della goes, what did he just 648 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,200 say? And so I, I think he said that 649 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,320 Josie sucks. No, no, no, no, no, no or 650 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:35,280 something like that. And and she goes, Josie is my 651 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:39,600 friend. Do you think he's writing about 652 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,560 my Josie? I was like, no babe, I don't 653 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:51,000 think Blink 182 from 18 years ago was writing about your 4 654 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,400 year old buddy Josie. So no, it's OK. 655 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,200 He's not talking about that, Josie. 656 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:02,440 And she goes, she goes, she goes, Dad, I never want to hear 657 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:08,920 that song again. It's like, OK, OK, so I shut the 658 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,680 song off. But sometimes you there's just 659 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:15,280 songs that get sung and played that you need to shut off. 660 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,440 What is that in Della's heart? That's relational love and 661 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:21,400 maturity. Sometimes you just need to shut 662 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:25,560 off songs. All right, so let's like map 663 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:33,040 this out a little bit. Suppose this person has a 664 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,400 concern with this person. Suppose that person has a 665 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,720 concern with Broseph. And so they go and have the 666 00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:41,480 conversation with Broseph. You know what that is? 667 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,120 That is a godly friendship that they're both really lucky to 668 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:46,000 have. Amen. 669 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:48,760 Now, let's suppose that's not what happens. 670 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,600 Let's say that person has a concern with Broseph and they're 671 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:56,160 kind of nervous about having that conversation. 672 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,080 So they go over here to have this conversation. 673 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,280 This person says, hey, what was that conversation like with 674 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,040 Broseph? And they're like, I haven't had 675 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:04,200 it you're yet. You're right. 676 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,040 And they go have the conversation with Broseph. 677 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:11,480 That is a godly relationship. Sometimes you just have some 678 00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:14,160 relational incompetency and you're like, Oh yeah, you're 679 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:15,240 right. I should probably should talk to 680 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:17,040 Broseph about that. That's totally cool. 681 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:18,200 That's just part of being a church. 682 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:20,360 Now suppose they have a problem with Broseph. 683 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,640 They go over here and this individual says hey. 684 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:26,160 I can't have the conversation with you until you talk to 685 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:27,520 Broseph. And they go, oh, yeah, OK, 686 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:30,520 totally. And then they go here. 687 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,320 No, no, no, I shouldn't have this conversation with you. 688 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,440 And then they go here, and it doesn't take here and it doesn't 689 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,560 take here and it doesn't take here. 690 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:43,880 And they get a little reactivity and they get a little bite. 691 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,000 And that person's like, oh, wow, this is a big deal. 692 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,040 Oh, man. So they keep going back there, 693 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:51,520 increasing momentum. Oh, wow. 694 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,240 We should start a blog. You're right. 695 00:40:54,240 --> 00:41:00,080 We should do right. If if that's the strategy, I 696 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,760 don't know what to tell you. Like that Looks. 697 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,840 It smells like a wolf. Sounds like a wolf. 698 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:13,280 I don't know what to tell you. It looks like a wolf, right? 699 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:16,600 Targeting family units individually. 700 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,000 Upsetting whole families, right? These types of things, they 701 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,360 don't happen often, but when they do, they're heavy for 702 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,400 church members. Church members want to they want 703 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:30,600 to have an experience with church where church is the place 704 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,120 where they learn about Jesus and become more like Jesus. 705 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,800 And yeah, we sin and we need to forgive one another, but like, 706 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,560 it's where I learn about God. They don't want it to feel like 707 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,240 another middle school dance full of gossip. 708 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,080 And so it just gets heavy when this happens. 709 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,880 And so Paul's instructions are elders, you've got to step in 710 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,720 and protect people, right? The exact thing is silencing 711 00:41:52,720 --> 00:41:56,000 them. I like we are a low control 712 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:57,520 environment. Like I'm going to be honest with 713 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,520 you, our elders, we're not controlling people whatsoever. 714 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:05,320 But at the very least, like we can't be faithful to the 715 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,320 biblical descriptions if we're not at least willing to have a 716 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,440 conversation with somebody practicing this and saying, hey, 717 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:14,160 do you even think that this is a good fit? 718 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:16,560 Right. We like, we don't, we don't, 719 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:20,320 we're not going to carry around torches and like, put muzzles on 720 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,120 people. Like sometimes. 721 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,800 And I've probably I've only had this conversation two times in 722 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:29,680 nine years where I've had to sit down and say, hey, so there's 723 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,480 been this pattern. I love you. 724 00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,200 I want what's best for you. Do you want to have this 725 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:37,160 conversation? Is this church even a good fit? 726 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:43,640 It's OK if it's not a good fit, but it can't turn into like a 727 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,800 middle school dance. And you know what? 728 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:51,000 We also need to round out the opposite impulse, right? 729 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,920 If one impulse that needs to be rounded out is, oh, let's be 730 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,440 naive about people and never think that somebody's a wolf, 731 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:58,240 that you can't live with that naivety. 732 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:02,120 On the other side, though, you also don't you don't want a 733 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:06,200 church filled with trigger happy people either, like trigger 734 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:10,480 happy pastors who call everybody who disagrees with them a wolf. 735 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:13,280 That's not good either. That's the opposite error. 736 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:15,800 Like there's also a type of leader who gets too much 737 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,600 pleasure labeling everybody who disagrees with them as a wolf. 738 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,560 And what he does is he weaponizes biblical texts like 739 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:25,760 these against everybody who disagrees with him and wants to 740 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:28,400 challenge him. If somebody disagrees with 741 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:32,160 something he said on the Sunday sermon, he says touch not the 742 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:37,840 Lord's anointed. Or if somebody doesn't think 743 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,120 he's the greatest leader and as God's gift of planet Earth, he 744 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,680 calls him a wolf, that's not good either. 745 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:47,840 Unhealthy pastors, when they weaponize these texts, they end 746 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:50,600 up crying wolf so that you can't even see it, right? 747 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,040 And sometimes they use these texts to always avoid 748 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,560 accountability. So also beware of pastors who 749 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,720 always cry wolf because look at Paul's intention here. 750 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:01,880 He doesn't. He's not trying to. 751 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:05,840 It's not a power struggle. He's not trying to protect the 752 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:07,480 power of the elders. What's his? 753 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,960 What's his MO? It's not to help leaders avoid 754 00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:15,920 accountability. What is it? 755 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,760 It's never, never, never when it's healthy. 756 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,440 It's never, never, never about power. 757 00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:23,960 Verse 13. He wants these churches to have 758 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:28,920 soundness or wholeness and health, soundness of faith. 759 00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:32,680 It's about the health of the church, protecting the wholeness 760 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:35,040 and the soundness of the church, right? 761 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:39,120 Drama proofing the church helps the church not get trivialized. 762 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,560 Some people's faith, it gets chewed up and spit out, not by 763 00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:46,600 arguments, but through just the triviality sometimes of the 764 00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:50,200 Western church. It's like, man, these all these 765 00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:52,400 guys care about is gossiping about each other. 766 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:53,920 I thought these were the people of God. 767 00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:57,400 And sometimes it's that the trivialization of a person's 768 00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,880 faith that makes them have a negative experience with the 769 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:02,040 church. And so that's the point of drama 770 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,600 proofing is to make sure we can stay focused on Jesus. 771 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,560 So you can't keep drama from ever happening in the church. 772 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:21,080 He can drama proof it though, to keep it from spreading so it 773 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:24,280 gets dealt with. But that means that if you're a 774 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:26,360 part of a church, I hope you are. 775 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:28,400 If you build a church, I hope you do. 776 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,680 I hope you spend the rest of your life building an imperfect 777 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,720 church for Jesus. That means that by virtue of the 778 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:38,000 fact that it's a flock of sheep, you're going to get bit by a 779 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:41,120 wolf. Some of you have, some of you 780 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:46,000 will be, all of us will be. And so that like the question 781 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:51,560 is, OK, wolf, OK, what do I do when I get bit by a wolf? 782 00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:54,120 I've got 30 minutes of preaching to do. 783 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:57,280 I'm going to do it in 6 minutes. What do I do when I get bit by a 784 00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,600 wolf? Sister, brother, I want you to 785 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:03,520 remember the saying that hurt people hurt people. 786 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:08,200 That is mostly true. One Christian theologian said it 787 00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:11,680 better. He said pain that does not get 788 00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:15,840 transformed gets transmitted. You hear that? 789 00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,800 So the first thing you have to do is you got just let it hurt. 790 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,880 Like when you invest in somebody and they turn around and bite 791 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,640 you or they just peace out with the middle finger to the church. 792 00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:31,920 When that happens, I'm telling you it's going to hurt. 793 00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:35,200 Your job is to not harden your heart. 794 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,160 Just a lot of pastors don't have the courage to say this. 795 00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:43,040 I'm going to say it. Just let your heart hurt for a 796 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:45,320 season. Let it hurt. 797 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:47,800 Let the thing hold your heart in your hands. 798 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:50,480 Just let the sucker bleed out a little bit. 799 00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:55,960 Let it sweat out the toxins. Hold your heart before Jesus. 800 00:46:55,960 --> 00:47:00,440 Like a cookie without gluten, just falls apart. 801 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:08,280 Poetry, bro, you need to study it. 802 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:16,280 Just let it fall. Just let it fall apart, right? 803 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:17,360 We're there. I should spray it out. 804 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:21,800 You just got to let it fall apart, man. 805 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:25,480 But hurt people hurt people. So let it hurt. 806 00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:30,120 And then after a season, don't be a coward. 807 00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:35,320 Do not harden your heart. Do not avoid people. 808 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:45,960 Do not start every relationship with an unfair level of not 809 00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:49,240 trusting people. So you've got to be courageous. 810 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,640 Hurt people, hurt people. Pain that doesn't get 811 00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,520 transformed gets transmitted. So once you've allowed your 812 00:47:55,520 --> 00:48:01,920 heart to hurt, your next most important thing is that if hurt 813 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:04,720 people hurt people, which is true, you need to know that the 814 00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:08,680 gospel is literally the good news that I hurt God heals 815 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,880 people, hurt people, hurt people, but I hurt God heals 816 00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:15,000 people. So your responsibility after 817 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:19,720 that is to go before Jesus, take your pain and just give it to 818 00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:22,200 Jesus. Like I just love this about 819 00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:24,840 Jesus. I love this about Jesus. 820 00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:30,440 Jesus is the God who knows pain. There's no relational pain you 821 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:32,680 can experience. There's no social pain or 822 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:36,680 betrayal you can experience that you could bring before Jesus. 823 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,680 And ever hear Jesus say, what's that like? 824 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:45,240 He has experienced it all. He's experienced the wrath of 825 00:48:45,240 --> 00:48:48,280 God being laid on him. He's experienced betrayal of his 826 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:51,920 closest friends. He's experienced being spat upon 827 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,800 and rejected by the very people that he came to save. 828 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:59,480 He knows every iota of relational pain you could ever 829 00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:02,040 go through. And this is the strange thing 830 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:04,040 about Christianity. Just test this, OK? 831 00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:08,160 The strange thing about Christianity is how comfortable 832 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:12,320 suffering and pain is within the framework of Christian theology. 833 00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,120 It is so comfortable within the framework of Christian theology. 834 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:20,200 Like the thing about I could never, ever, ever. 835 00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:22,600 I couldn't. You cannot convince me to 836 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:27,800 believe in a distant, abstract, nameless, faceless God who's way 837 00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:29,720 out there and doesn't know what pain is like. 838 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:35,200 I would never trust that God. By definition, that would not be 839 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:37,560 a God. If there's a God who doesn't 840 00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:40,520 know what pain is, like, he's not omniscient. 841 00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:43,640 And if he's not omniscient, he's not God. 842 00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:46,880 And so like, if you have a distant, abstract, nameless, 843 00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,360 faceless, yeah, sure, God probably exists and then you 844 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,520 experience pain. I guarantee you that what that 845 00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,800 pain is going to do is you're going to go, oh, how can God be 846 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:57,400 real in a world where they're suffering? 847 00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:02,880 What pain does, if you have a relationship with a distant God 848 00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:06,080 is it makes you question the existence of that God. 849 00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:10,800 Jesus is not a distant God. He's not a God who's way out 850 00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:14,480 there. Jesus is the God of the cross. 851 00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:19,920 He is the God who was crucified. He's the God who knows what 852 00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,840 nerve pain feels like. He is the God who, when you look 853 00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:26,360 at Christ crucified, that's not a one time event. 854 00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:30,440 That's his nature. It's a central revelation of who 855 00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,440 he is. That's what he's like. 856 00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:37,000 If you know a God who is close to you and suffering for you and 857 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,680 knows pain, when you experience pain, which I hope you don't, 858 00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:43,560 but you will, when you experience pain, it doesn't make 859 00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:45,720 you question that God's existence. 860 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:49,640 It confirms that God's existence because in the pain and 861 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,120 suffering, you don't say, how could God be real in a world of 862 00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:56,480 suffering? What you do is you say, oh, my 863 00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:59,320 suffering proves the existence, that Jesus is real. 864 00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:02,000 The world's filled with suffering because I worship a 865 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:06,040 God who suffers. And so, strangely enough, what 866 00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:09,680 pain and suffering and relational pain does if you have 867 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:14,840 a relationship with Jesus, as it doesn't drive you away from him, 868 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:19,880 it drives you to him. The very pain that you thought 869 00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:24,480 would destroy you actually increases your joy in Jesus. 870 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:28,520 The very pain that you thought would make you question the 871 00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:34,680 existence of God actually drives you so close to Jesus that you 872 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:38,720 could. It has been pain and betrayal in 873 00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:42,240 my life that has made me feel so close to Jesus that I swear to 874 00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:47,560 God I can close my eyes and I could picture Jesus and I feel 875 00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:52,760 so close to him that I can, I can literally lean forward and 876 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:58,440 rest my head on his chest and feel his heartbeat extinguish on 877 00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:02,520 that cross. I picture him. 878 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:05,720 He's not nameless, He's not famous. 879 00:52:05,880 --> 00:52:08,280 He's not, he's not nameless, He's not faceless. 880 00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:12,200 He's not way out there. Picture a 1st century Jewish man 881 00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:21,200 hanging on a cross, nails through him, spit dripping from 882 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:27,160 him, experiencing the wrath of God, crying out for God, 883 00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:34,160 experiencing pain and betrayal. And I swear, when you do that, 884 00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:38,680 when you picture that man on the cross, the voice of the 885 00:52:38,680 --> 00:52:44,160 universal human experience will whisper, If God's not like that, 886 00:52:44,160 --> 00:52:49,120 then God can't even be real. When you picture a man suffering 887 00:52:49,120 --> 00:52:53,160 on a cross for you, I guarantee you the voice in your heart will 888 00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:56,720 say that must be what God is like. 889 00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:03,600 That's what God is like, and we'll drive you closer to Him. 890 00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:09,120 It's so strange. The wound that you thought would 891 00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:14,920 kill you becomes the very opening through which Jesus 892 00:53:14,920 --> 00:53:22,800 administers Greater Julian, Him. It's the cracks that let the 893 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:28,080 light in. It's the wounds that I hope you 894 00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:29,800 don't experience. I just know you will. 895 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:33,600 It's the wounds that invite the joy in. 896 00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:38,800 The very pain that sought to destroy you actually serves your 897 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:40,720 joy. And I'm going deep here. 898 00:53:41,240 --> 00:53:44,800 I'm going deep because when you experience relational pain, 899 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:50,200 sister, I need you to have a gospel big enough that it makes 900 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:52,560 the pain serve your joy in Jesus. 901 00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:58,280 So what's going to happen if you commit to building a church, 902 00:53:58,280 --> 00:53:59,880 being a part of a church? It's going to be great. 903 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:01,040 We're going to have a lot of fun together. 904 00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:03,440 We're going to laugh together. We're going to eat together. 905 00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:04,680 We're going to talk about Jesus together. 906 00:54:04,960 --> 00:54:06,200 You're going to get bit by a wolf. 907 00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:09,240 You're going to put yourself in danger to wolf attacks. 908 00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:11,680 But here's my promise to you. By the grace of the Great 909 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:18,360 Shepherd, the God who suffers, you'll survive them, Amen. 910 00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:25,240 And the Great Shepherd will heal you and it'll increase your joy 911 00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:31,440 and Jesus will build his church. And Satan, that great and mighty 912 00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:34,400 drama queen, will not prevail against him. 913 00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:40,560 Amen. Heavenly Father, I pray that you 914 00:54:40,560 --> 00:54:45,240 would you would make us a church that is drama proof. 915 00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:49,640 Can't put a lock on the front door because it's your church 916 00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:53,520 and it belongs to you. And so we got to be open to 917 00:54:53,520 --> 00:54:56,800 messed up, screwed up people who don't have good friendships and 918 00:54:56,800 --> 00:54:58,760 don't know how to have good friendships. 919 00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:03,280 And maybe they're just socially immature sheep who don't know 920 00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:05,360 how to handle conflict, or maybe they're wolves. 921 00:55:05,720 --> 00:55:15,360 So, oh Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, give us the wisdom to know who's 922 00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:22,480 a sheep that just you need to be prepared to do a lot of cleaning 923 00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:29,640 up and who's a wolf. Give us the wisdom so that we 924 00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:31,720 don't need to live with suspicion because I would hate 925 00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:35,160 if the thing the sermon, this sermon, I would hate it if the 926 00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:37,200 main thing it did was fill people with suspicion. 927 00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:39,560 People should not be filled with suspicion. 928 00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:43,240 Our first impulse towards other people should be like, wow, 929 00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:46,080 image bearer of God. How awesome, man. 930 00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:48,480 I would love to see them become more like Jesus. 931 00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:51,000 I want to pray for them. That should be our first impulse 932 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:52,960 with people. And so, Lord, would you help us 933 00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:58,160 hold on to our tenderness and softness of heart and also give 934 00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:01,160 us the courage to know when to say, hey, this far and no 935 00:56:01,160 --> 00:56:05,440 further. That is a that's a social 936 00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:07,600 spiritual maturity that only the Holy Spirit can give. 937 00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:10,080 So would you give that to us, Jesus? 938 00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:12,960 It's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 939 00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:13,400 prayed.