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Well, that being said, once you 
heard head on over to Joshua 22,

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we'll start in the Old 
Testament. 

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I'm excited for this. 
But before we do that, I want to

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show you a picture of a woman. 
We got that picture right there.

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Anybody remember who this is? 
OK, All right. 

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This woman's name is Susan 
Boyle. 

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Back in 2009, she she was like, 
she was the viral moment. 

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And so back in 09, she stepped 
up onto the stage of Britain's 

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Got Talent Completely unknown 
contestant. 

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I'm going to be honest with you.
She looks like somebody that 

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would have put me in time out 
when I was in the 1st grade. 

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She does she just, you look at 
her and you would not have 

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assumed. 
Now, many of us, we already know

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her story a bit and we're going 
to talk about it this morning. 

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So you already know what to 
expect. 

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But a lot of times we don't. 
And let's be honest, when it 

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comes to a reality show, yeah, 
we like to see the really good 

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performers, but we also really 
like to see remember William 

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Hung? 
Anybody remember we, we like to 

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see the ones who show up there 
and they're like, I had no idea 

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I couldn't sing. 
It's it's a disgusting part of 

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our, of our internal being, but 
we have it right. 

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So we see her walk up there. 
She's just from a small village 

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in Scotland. 
She spent her whole life caring 

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for her mom. 
Her mom, you know, needed help. 

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She wasn't dressed like a 
celebrity. 

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She seemed very awkward standing
there talking to the judges. 

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And they asked her what her 
dream was. 

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And she said she wants to be a 
professional singer. 

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And the audience doesn't believe
her. 

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You can go and you can look up 
this video clip. 

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Everybody's laughing when they 
see her walk out there. 

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And then it goes over to the 
judges, and the judges are kind 

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of rolling their eyes and 
they're looking at each other. 

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You can tell even the judges are
expecting. 

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They are prejudging. 
That's where you get the word 

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prejudice from. 
And then the music starts and 

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she starts singing I dreamed a 
dream from Les Mis. 

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Look, if I didn't already offend
you, maybe this will. 

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I don't really like Les Mis. 
I mean, it means the miserable 

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ones. 
And that's how I feel every time

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I watch it. 
It is so depressing, but this 

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rendition is so beautiful and 
you can watch the change happen.

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You can see it in the eyes. 
You can see it in the body 

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language of the audience and the
judges as they start realizing, 

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oh, this lady's for real. 
And as they look over there, 

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they are leaning in. 
She gets massive marks. 

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And she goes on. 
And I mean, she's been very 

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successful. 
By the way, just as a fun fact, 

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she never even moved out of that
small town. 

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She's about 20 miles, 20 miles 
West of Edinburgh. 

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And she just, instead of buying 
a mansion, she bought the house 

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next to her and then connected 
them and just stayed in her own 

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little town. 
It's it's kind of crazy the way 

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that she decided to do this. 
But Susan Boyle is a good window

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to look at today's message 
through. 

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Because a lot of times you see 
somebody and you start to fill 

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in the gaps. 
When the audience saw her, they 

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automatically said, oh, we're 
about to get a really bad 

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singer. 
We're about to laugh. 

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No, you weren't. 
You were about to cheer for her.

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It's really interesting because 
Susan Boyle didn't become more 

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more talented in those three 
minutes that she was singing a 

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song than she was before that. 
The only thing that changed was 

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people's opinion, because they 
listened and they had more 

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information. 
They had looked at her 

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appearance and they had listened
to a few sentences and convinced

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themselves they already knew her
story. 

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I don't think this was a problem
for Susan Boyle. 

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I think this is a humanity 
problem. 

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We do it all the time. 
Somebody walks past us after 

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church and they don't say hello,
and we decide that they're upset

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with us. 
Somebody leaves the ministry and

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we become convinced that we know
exactly why. 

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Somebody says something that 
comes across a little harsh, and

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before we've ever had a 
conversation with them, we've 

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already assigned A motive to 
their action. 

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So we're not just observing what
happened, we're actually writing

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the story ourselves and filling 
in all the details that we don't

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actually know. 
And we don't call that judge 

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mentalism. 
We call that discernment. 

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Discernment is a gift from the 
Lord. 

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But just because you feel like 
you know details doesn't 

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actually make it discernment. 
And this gets even worse when 

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you've known somebody, because 
then when somebody says 

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something good, you're like, 
well, you don't know them like I

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do. 
Thank God that they don't know 

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them like you do. 
Because we have a tendency to 

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pick up biases as we go along 
the way too, don't we? 

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So we tell ourselves we're just 
good at reading people, and 

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we're convinced that we've 
figured them out. 

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As it turns out, this is not a 
new problem. 

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Long before television shows or 
social media, the people of 

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Israel nearly went to war 
because of something. 

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I'm excited to share this story 
in Joshua 22 for two reasons. 

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First of all, in this series, as
we're talking about the open 

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secret of sin and we're trying 
to tackle things that the church

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00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,440
in general tolerates or 
applauds, I want you to also 

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00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,000
understand this. 
I have never heard this story 

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preached, and that's pretty 
rare. 

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Maybe you have. 
It's not a competition. 

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I don't want to know, I have 
never heard this story preached 

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before and the Lord really 
placed this on my heart and I 

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hope that this helps paint this.
So I want you have a little back

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story before you read this. 
At this point in the Old 

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Testament, Moses has died, 
Joshua was the one being 

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mentored by Moses, and Joshua 
has faithfully led the people 

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across the Jordan River. 
After years of battles, the 

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promised Land has finally been 
conquered. 

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What you do need to know is that
the tribes are beginning to 

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settle into their inheritance 
that God had promised Abraham 

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centuries earlier. 
After centuries of slavery, 

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generations of slavery in Egypt,
decades of wandering in the 

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wilderness, and years of 
fighting to possess the land, 

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now Israel is finally home. 
So this should be a really good 

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moment for them. 
But not every tribe was going to

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settle in the same place because
before Moses died, the tribes of

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Reuben and Gad and the half 
tribe of Manasseh asked if they 

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could inherit land on the 
eastern side of the Jordan 

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River. 
And Moses agreed, but only on 

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one condition. 
He said, yeah, you can settle 

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here on this side of the river, 
but you need to still continue 

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with us and help us conquer the 
rest of the promised land. 

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Once we've conquered the whole 
promised land, then you can 

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return to the land you want for 
your own. 

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And they said, sweet, good deal,
we're in. 

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So that's what they do. 
They help them conquer it. 

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All the land has been gotten 
now, but these guys are now 

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settling in back over on the 
other side of the river. 

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Now on their journey home, 
something happened that changed 

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everything. 
We're going to read a few verses

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here and there, starting in 
verse 10. 

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It says while they were still in
Canaan and when they came to a 

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place called Gailioth near the 
Jordan River, the men of Reuben,

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Gad and the half tribe of 
Manasseh stopped to build a 

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large and imposing altar. 
The rest of Israel heard that 

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the people of Reuben, Gad and 
the half tribe of Manasseh had 

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built an altar at Gailioth at 
the edge of the land of Canaan 

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on the West side of the Jordan 
River. 

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So the whole community of Israel
gathered at Shiloh and prepared 

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to go to war against them. 
Now you may be saying, well, why

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war? 
They're just building an altar. 

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Well, because there was 1 altar.
There was 1 altar of the Lord 

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where sacrifices were to be made
in this era of Israel's 

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existence. 
And to be fair, they're not 

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really reacting out of nowhere. 
Throughout the law, God 

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repeatedly warned Israel about 
establishing rival places of 

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worship because false worship 
has always been the doorway to 

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idolatry. 
And they remembered what 

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happened to Bail of Pior and all
of these other things that 

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you're about to read about. 
So for the rest and most of 

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Israel, they're seeing this 
altar get built and all of a 

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sudden they're like, great, 
we're in the promised land and 

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they're bringing idolatry into 
the promised land, The very 

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thing that we drove out. 
So they just said, you know 

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what, we're going to have to 
take them out. 

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Go over to verse 15 when they 
arrived in the land of Gilead, 

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they said to the tribes of 
Reuben, Gad and the half tribe 

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of Manasseh. 
The whole community of the Lord 

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demands to know why you are 
betraying the God of Israel in 

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that interest in the whole 
community. 

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You ever have somebody come up 
to you and say, people are 

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saying, and then you're like, 
who are people? 

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Oh, well, I I don't think it'd 
be appropriate for me to tell 

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you the next time that happens, 
you say, well, I don't think 

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this conversation is appropriate
either. 

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Anyway, they said, how could you
turn away from the Lord and 

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build an altar for yourselves in
rebellion against him? 

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Was our sin at Payor not enough?
To this day, we're not fully 

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00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,800
cleansed of it, even after the 
plague that struck the entire 

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community of the Lord. 
These are all things that are 

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00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:08,560
documented that you can read, it
says. 

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And yet today you're turning 
away from following the Lord. 

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If you rebel against the Lord 
today, he will be angry with all

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of us. 
Tomorrow, I will say this, I 

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missed the day when we were a 
little bit more bold and we were

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willing to say, hey, people of 
God, this is not OK. 

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I love you. 
I'm not casting you out. 

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But this is not all right. 
I mean, we need a little bit 

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more of this, don't we? 
Then they said, if you need the 

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altar because the land you 
possess is defiled, then join us

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in the Lord's land where the 
Tabernacle of the Lord is 

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situated, and share our land 
with us. 

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But do not rebel against the 
Lord or against us by building 

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an altar other than the one true
altar of the Lord our God. 

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00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,480
Didn't divine anger fall on the 
entire community of Israel when 

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00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,000
Akan, a member of the clan of 
Zirah, sinned by stealing the 

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00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,000
things set apart for the Lord? 
He was not the only one who died

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00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,520
because of his sin. 
This is the priest. 

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00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,280
This is Phineas. 
And to be honest, this speech 

191
00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,680
sounds pretty convincing. 
This could be a political rally.

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00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,400
He is passionate and he is 
sincere, and he really means 

193
00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:05,960
that he's trying to protect 
God's people. 

194
00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,720
He does not have an agenda other
than to protect God's people 

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00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:10,920
from idolatry. 
And he doesn't want them to 

196
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,200
repeat the mistakes that had 
already brought judgement on 

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00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:18,000
God's people, assuming that his 
conclusion is correct. 

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00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:22,040
Because then the eastern tribes 
finally get the opportunity to 

199
00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,320
explain why they built the altar
in the first place. 

200
00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,480
Verse 21, the people of Reuben, 
Gab, and the half tribe of 

201
00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,520
Manasseh answered the heads of 
the clans of Israel and they 

202
00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,720
said, the Lord, the mighty one 
is God, the Lord the mighty one 

203
00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,480
is God. 
He knows the truth, and may 

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00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,400
Israel know it too. 
Oh my gosh, I love this so much.

205
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,440
You know what I'm going to start
saying, man, the Lord knows the 

206
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,200
truth and may you know it too. 
That's a good comeback, right? 

207
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,880
You're welcome, they said this. 
We've not built the altar in 

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00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:54,400
treacherous rebellion against 
the Lord. 

209
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,080
If we have done so, do not spare
our lives this day. 

210
00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,600
If we've built an altar for 
ourselves to turn away from the 

211
00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,200
Lord, or to offer burnt 
offerings or grain offerings or 

212
00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,160
peace offerings, may the Lord 
Himself punish us. 

213
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,960
The truth is, we built this 
altar because we fear that in 

214
00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,560
the future your descendants will
say to ours, what right do you 

215
00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:15,520
have to worship the Lord, the 
God of Israel? 

216
00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,800
The Lord has placed the Jordan 
River as a barrier between our 

217
00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,600
people and you, people of Reuben
and Gab, You have no claim to 

218
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,760
the Lord, so your descendants 
may prevent our descendants from

219
00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,680
worshipping the Lord. 
So we decided to build the 

220
00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:32,200
altar, not for burnt offerings 
or sacrifices, but as a 

221
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,480
memorial. 
It's not even a real altar. 

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00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,080
They said this. 
It will remind our descendants 

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00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,000
and your descendants that we too
have the right to worship the 

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00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,480
Lord at His sanctuary with our 
burnt offerings, sacrifices and 

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00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,280
peace offerings. 
Then your descendants will not 

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00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,360
be able to say to ours you have 
no claim to the Lord. 

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00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,080
If they say this, our 
descendants can reply. 

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00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,760
Look at this copy of the Lord's 
altar that our ancestors made. 

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00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,720
It's not for burnt offerings or 
sacrifices. 

230
00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,160
It is a reminder of the 
relationship that both of us 

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00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,640
have with the Lord. 
Far be it from us to rebel 

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00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,720
against the Lord or turn away 
from Him by building our own 

233
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,920
altar for burnt offerings, grain
offerings or sacrifices. 

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00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,640
Only the altar of the Lord our 
God that stands in front of the 

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00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:16,520
Tabernacle may be used for that 
purpose. 

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00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:18,840
We'll see. 
The whole story suddenly changes

237
00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,080
once you actually have a 
conversation with the other side

238
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,320
of it. 
That altar had never been 

239
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,120
intended as a rival place of 
worship, not for idolatry, and 

240
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,400
not as an alternative source for
the Lord. 

241
00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:29,680
They understood the way that it 
worked. 

242
00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:31,360
They're actually kind of forward
thinking. 

243
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,000
And by creating this altar in 
such detail, they would be able 

244
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,040
to say, look, does it not match 
what the altar that you have 

245
00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:39,960
over there is? 
Because you got to remember, 

246
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,320
baggage is really heavy for most
people, right? 

247
00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,000
Well, what happened originally 
had Joseph, who was second in 

248
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,080
command of Egypt, saved 
everybody's lives. 

249
00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,280
And then it said, eventually, if
Pharaoh came up who knew nothing

250
00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,720
about Joseph or his people, 
sometimes enough time goes by 

251
00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:55,880
that we tend to forget all of 
the good and we tend to forget 

252
00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,440
how the Lord has moved. 
And now we use our discernment. 

253
00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,320
So they're saying, you know 
what? 

254
00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,120
We don't want this to happen. 
We want to be honest and we want

255
00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:07,280
to make sure that we're 
included. 

256
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,360
I don't think that we're all 
that different today, guys. 

257
00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,480
We watch somebody's behavior or 
we hear one conversation, or we 

258
00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,080
read 1 social media post, or we 
notice just one decision. 

259
00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,440
And before we've had a single 
conversation with them, we have 

260
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,720
supplied the motives ourselves. 
And that's the first thing that 

261
00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,360
I want to talk about today is 
that judgmentalism always 

262
00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,360
assumes motives, always assumes 
motives. 

263
00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:29,880
It's one of the most dangerous 
things you can do. 

264
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,600
We'll be in First Samuel 17 in a
few minutes if you'd like to 

265
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,960
read along in person. 
But let me ask you this. 

266
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,280
Have you ever had one of those 
moments where you became 

267
00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,200
absolutely convinced that you 
knew what someone was thinking, 

268
00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:43,200
only to find out later that you 
could not have been more wrong? 

269
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,920
Anybody just just might. 
OK myself too, right? 

270
00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,320
Happens all the time. 
So I want you to imagine this 

271
00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,520
happening on a Sunday morning. 
I touched on this earlier. 

272
00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:56,960
You know, you walk through the 
lobby, someone you've known for 

273
00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,440
years walks right past you. 
So you smile and you wave, and 

274
00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,280
they don't even acknowledge you.
They just keep walking. 

275
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,640
By the way, has that ever 
happened to anybody here? 

276
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:06,960
Right. 
OK. 

277
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,480
Then after service, you notice 
they leave without stopping to 

278
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:10,720
talk to you. 
And by the time you get home, 

279
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,040
you started putting the pieces 
together. 

280
00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,000
They're upset about something. 
Maybe it was something that you 

281
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,480
said. 
Maybe it was that one sarcastic 

282
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,160
remark that you made. 
Maybe they've been talking about

283
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:21,880
you to someone else. 
Oh, well, I haven't noticed. 

284
00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:23,680
They've been getting closer to 
that person, and that person 

285
00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:25,920
doesn't like me, so now they 
probably don't like me too. 

286
00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,840
Good job Sherlock. 
You have not had one single 

287
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,760
conversation with them about it,
but somehow you've already built

288
00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,480
the entire story. 
A few days later, maybe you 

289
00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:39,840
discovered that their father 
suffered a stroke that morning 

290
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:41,640
and they weren't ignoring you at
all. 

291
00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:43,480
They were distracted, 
overwhelmed, and trying to hold 

292
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,440
themselves together and they 
actually made it to church on a 

293
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:46,640
day that most of us wouldn't 
have. 

294
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:49,640
Nothing you observed was 
incorrect, right? 

295
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,800
Every single action that you saw
in that scenario was correct. 

296
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,200
They really did walk past you. 
They really did leave early. 

297
00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,720
The problem wasn't what you saw.
The problem was everything you 

298
00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,120
added to what you saw. 
So I think that's one of the 

299
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,400
easiest traps for us to fall 
into because our minds don't 

300
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,960
like unanswered questions. 
We just don't. 

301
00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,120
How many of you have been in the
middle of ATV show and you start

302
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,200
to look up, OK, like, does this 
person die on the TV show or 

303
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,240
what happens to so and so tell 
the truth. 

304
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,920
OK, what about a book? 
You know? 

305
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,320
Yeah. 
So we do this sometimes we don't

306
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,640
like unanswered questions. 
That's exactly what happened in 

307
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,560
Joshua 22. 
Israel didn't invent the altar. 

308
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,760
The altar was already there. 
They saw it. 

309
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,120
They just didn't really know the
reason. 

310
00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,600
And all it took was a question. 
Phineas, the priest, he gave 

311
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,880
them a whole speech. 
He didn't even ask them. 

312
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,240
He just gave them a speech and 
they said, OK, can we get a word

313
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,320
in edgewise? 
The same thing happens to, to, 

314
00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:45,560
to these biblical figures again 
in one of the most familiar 

315
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,840
stories in the Old Testament, 
but this time it happens inside 

316
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,360
of a family, not a group for 
worship. 

317
00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,840
If you've arrived at First 
Samuel 17, we are talking about 

318
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,160
what happens just before David 
and Goliath. 

319
00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:00,520
Whenever we think about this 
chapter, we immediately think 

320
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,640
about slaying the giant, right? 
Five smooth stones. 

321
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,440
What does that mean? 
Who are the giants in my life 

322
00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,520
and how do I conquer them? 
And how does the Lord bring me 

323
00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:08,680
the battle? 
And that's all good stuff. 

324
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,640
That's for a different sermon. 
David, you need to know, is 

325
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,160
still the youngest son in 
Jesse's family. 

326
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,760
He is spending his days watching
the sheep while his brothers get

327
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,680
to do the cooler stuff. 
As a matter of fact, the three 

328
00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,760
oldest brothers are serving in 
King Saul's army. 

329
00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:22,960
This would have been every 
little boy's dream at that 

330
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:24,120
point. 
They wanted to serve in the 

331
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:25,880
King's army. 
They wanted armor. 

332
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,760
They wanted swords. 
They wanted battles. 

333
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:32,880
And he is the sheep guy. 
And one day, his father, Jesse, 

334
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,320
says, hey, I know you get tired 
of watching the sheep. 

335
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,200
This is my interpretation. 
You want to do something else? 

336
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,440
And he's like, yeah, do I? 
And he's like, cool, here's some

337
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,320
cheese and here's some bread. 
I want you to take this to your 

338
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:44,760
brothers because they're 
probably hungry. 

339
00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,800
The very first Grubhub in 
Scripture. 

340
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:53,880
And so he doordashes this over 
to them. 

341
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,080
He doesn't get a chance to chase
glory or anything. 

342
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,480
He's not really trying to prove 
himself. 

343
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,680
He's just obeying his father and
delivering lunch. 

344
00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,280
And so when David arrives on the
battlefield, Goliath comes out, 

345
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,480
and if you know the story, you 
know that he starts mocking 

346
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,040
God's people. 
And David starts asking the 

347
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:10,880
soldiers why no one is standing 
up to him. 

348
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,280
He's looking at all of these 
people that are trained for 

349
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,480
battle. 
And they said this giant is 

350
00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,240
cursing the people of God. 
Who's going to answer him? 

351
00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,000
He's shocked because think about
it. 

352
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,400
If you're a little boy at home 
and then you get to show up on 

353
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,600
the front lines, what do they 
say? 

354
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:27,880
Like never meet your heroes, 
right? 

355
00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:29,880
So then he's out there. 
He's like, I can't wait to meet 

356
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,680
these brave men of God. 
And he shows up with this 

357
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,080
cheese, and he feels like he's 
the bravest one there. 

358
00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,040
So he starts asking what's 
happening? 

359
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,280
Why is nobody standing up to 
Goliath? 

360
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,480
And his oldest brother, Eliab, 
overhears the conversation. 

361
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,160
David has just heard that 
whoever can kill this giant will

362
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,440
receive one of the King's 
daughter as a wife and be exempt

363
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,720
from ever paying taxes. 
How many of y'all are ready to 

364
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,200
kill a giant today? 
OK, All right. 

365
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,400
And David asked the soldier 
standing nearby. 

366
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:06,119
What will a man get for killing 
this Philistine and ending his 

367
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,240
defiance of Israel? 
And then he says this. 

368
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,240
Who is this Pagan Philistine in 
any way that he's allowed to 

369
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,440
defy the armies of the living 
God? 

370
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,920
What a great thing to say. 
There's nothing wrong with what 

371
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,400
he said, except that his older 
brother heard him. 

372
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,800
And man, it's hard to get on the
same page as your sibling right 

373
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:24,760
now. 
If you're here with your 

374
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:30,400
siblings today, sorry. 
All right, these men gave David 

375
00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:32,800
the same reply. 
They said yes, that is the 

376
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,080
reward for killing him. 
And when David's oldest brother 

377
00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,200
alive heard David talking to the
men, he was angry. 

378
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,440
What are you doing around here 
anyway? 

379
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,480
He demanded. 
What about those few sheep 

380
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,000
you're supposed to be taking 
care of? 

381
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,400
Emphasis mine. 
I know about your pride and 

382
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,400
deceit. 
You just want to see the battle.

383
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,080
Didn't even say thank you for 
the cheese. 

384
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,800
David said what if I done now? 
I was only asking a question. 

385
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,160
He walked over to some others 
and asked them the same thing 

386
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,120
and received the same answer. 
He's trying to figure out what's

387
00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:08,480
going on because he can't 
understand why warriors aren't 

388
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,800
warring. 
One of the saddest parts of the 

389
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,280
story is that Alive never 
questions what David is doing, 

390
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,440
he questions why David is doing 
it. 

391
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,360
Could you imagine if Alive said,
why are you asking that 

392
00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:23,440
question? 
You, you got an idea. 

393
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:25,400
This guy's pretty scary. 
If you've seen him, he's got 

394
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,560
extra fingers and toes. 
Like, I mean, this guy's big. 

395
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,600
Do you have ideas? 
Instead, he's just like, I know 

396
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,000
why you're asking it. 
That's where the danger comes 

397
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:34,160
in. 
That's when you know it's not 

398
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:35,760
discernment and it's judge 
mentalism. 

399
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,600
The irony is that we know 
something that a liab doesn't. 

400
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,480
We've already been told why 
David is there. 

401
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,640
His dad sent him to bring them 
ancient Lunchables. 

402
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,560
More than that, God himself is 
actually orchestrating a moment 

403
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,280
because David is about to face 
Goliath and become the greatest 

404
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,480
example of faith in the Old 
Testament. 

405
00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,600
A liab couldn't see any of that 
because he had already convinced

406
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,440
himself that he understood. 
The second you've convinced 

407
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,240
yourself you already understand 
someone or a situation, you have

408
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,200
closed the door to any new 
information. 

409
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,280
Isn't that a little terrifying 
when you think of it like that? 

410
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,440
I wonder how many relationships 
have been strained because we've

411
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,000
done exactly the same thing. 
We didn't just notice what they 

412
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,720
did, we just decided why they 
did it. 

413
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:18,800
We assumed they were trying to 
hurt us. 

414
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,440
And then we say, well, I'll just
put distance there. 

415
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,920
They won't hurt me again. 
Or we assumed they wanted 

416
00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,760
attention or they had selfish 
intentions, or we assumed they 

417
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:27,520
don't care. 
I'm not even going to ask for a 

418
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:29,960
show of hands this time. 
But I want you to ask yourself 

419
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:31,960
if you ever watched somebody 
walk up to the altar and start 

420
00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:38,600
worshipping and thought they 
don't mean it, you're welcome 

421
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,120
for not asking for your hands. 
You know, there was a there was 

422
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,720
a man who lived most of his life
in complete obscurity. 

423
00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,760
He was not an Olympian or a 
celebrity, wasn't even a police 

424
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:50,880
officer even though he wanted 
to. 

425
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:52,840
He was a 33 year old security 
guard. 

426
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,840
His name was Richard Jewell. 
Anybody know that name? 

427
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,880
Got a couple of people good. 
He was a security guard working 

428
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,200
at the 1996 Summer Olympics in 
Atlanta. 

429
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,680
And if you remember those 
Olympics, you'll remember that 

430
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,360
Centennial Olympic Park, because
that was the gathering place for

431
00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:10,240
visitors all over the world. 
And it wasn't just where the 

432
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,520
Olympics happened. 
They had like concerts and music

433
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,480
events and different things 
happening in the evenings. 

434
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,120
And so the atmosphere was one 
giant celebration. 

435
00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:20,440
People from all over the world, 
athletes, spectators, things 

436
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,320
like that. 
And on the night of July 27th 

437
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,160
that year, one of those concerts
was taking place and it looked 

438
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,760
like any other evening except 
Richard Jewell walked through 

439
00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:31,800
the crowd and he noticed 
something that didn't seem 

440
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:33,800
right. 
Underneath the bench near 1 of 

441
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,720
the concert stages was a 
military style backpack that 

442
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,360
nobody seemed to notice and 
nobody knew where it came from. 

443
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,920
And so he alerted law 
enforcement and he started 

444
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,400
helping the police officers move
and relocate people away from 

445
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:47,600
the bench. 
And it's a good thing he did 

446
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,680
because that backpack exploded. 
It had a pipe bomb inside of it 

447
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,440
and it ripped through the park. 
It killed a woman, injured more 

448
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,080
than 100 others and another man 
later died of a heart attack 

449
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,720
while they were rushing to try 
to cover the story. 

450
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,080
Investigators said that Richard 
Jewell's actions saved many 

451
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,680
lives because he began clearing 
that area before the explosion 

452
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,880
ever happened. 
And for the next couple of days,

453
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,640
if you remember from back then, 
America celebrated. 

454
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,520
This guy was like, he was the 
hero. 

455
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,400
But after a couple of days the 
whole story started to change. 

456
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:18,360
Why? 
Because they didn't know who put

457
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,080
the backpack there. 
So now it became leaked that one

458
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,400
of the stories they were looking
into was, did Richard Jewell put

459
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,200
that backpack there so that he 
could alert others so that he 

460
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:29,920
could be a hero? 
Because he had always wanted to 

461
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,120
be a police officer. 
He had always wanted to be a 

462
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:33,640
hero. 
He had always wanted to do these

463
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,200
things. 
Before you know it, they're 

464
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:36,960
interviewing people that watched
him grow up. 

465
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,480
They're asking them what they 
think of his motives. 

466
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,720
This guy loses his job and it 
takes months for things to clear

467
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,760
up for Richard Jewell. 
After 88 days of investigation, 

468
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,200
the Justice Department finally 
cleared Richard Jewell. 

469
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,120
He had never planted the bomb. 
Years later, authorities would 

470
00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:56,840
capture the real bomber. 
His name was Eric Rudolph, and 

471
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,960
he confessed not just to that 
bombing, but to several other 

472
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,560
ones too. 
Richard Jewell had been exactly 

473
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:02,920
who people first believed he 
was. 

474
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,280
He was a man who saw danger, 
acted courageously, save lives. 

475
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:08,680
But we're suspicious people, 
aren't we? 

476
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,400
And so we love a heroic story 
and we love watching somebody do

477
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,720
something amazing and have an 
achievement, but we love 

478
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,800
watching them fall too. 
It's pretty gross. 

479
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,680
And so we love seeing him save 
all of these people. 

480
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,120
Oh, but wasn't a delicious story
to think that the very hero was 

481
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:26,920
the villain was the one that had
placed it there. 

482
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:29,280
And then we started talking 
about it like we knew Richard 

483
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,320
Jewell. 
This is what happened back in 

484
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,200
1996. 
I was 13 years old and I was 

485
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,440
still talking about it with 
people because it makes for a 

486
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,800
great story. 
TV has maybe ruined us in a 

487
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,640
couple ways, hasn't it? 
But here's the thing, While this

488
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,400
happens, he still carries the 
stigma. 

489
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,160
He still carries it along with 
him. 

490
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:53,600
And so this man who was accused 
had a real trouble getting 

491
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,520
gainful employment again, either
because they knew who he was, he

492
00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,480
was too famous, or because they 
didn't trust him or they hadn't 

493
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,240
heard all the details. 
You also have to keep in mind in

494
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,680
the 90s, we didn't have all of 
this news coming straight to our

495
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,840
phone with push notifications. 
Tragically, in 2007, he was just

496
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,400
44 years old. 
He he died from complications 

497
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,000
related to heart disease and all
of that. 

498
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,960
He never really got to live out 
his dream even though he saved 

499
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,560
so many people. 
I've always thought it's pretty 

500
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,800
heartbreaking because people 
didn't just evaluate what he 

501
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,320
did. 
They became, they became 

502
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,200
convinced that they knew why he 
did it. 

503
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,200
I think this is one of the 
reasons why I think that judge 

504
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,760
mentalism has become such an 
open secret in the church 

505
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,480
because very few Christians 
would say I'm a judge mental 

506
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,560
person. 
We know we're not supposed to be

507
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,080
judgmental, so we wouldn't say 
it, but we've become very good 

508
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:42,520
at giving it a more respectable 
name. 

509
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,080
So we call it discernment. 
A lot of times we call it 

510
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,760
wisdom, we call it conviction. 
And sometimes those things 

511
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,960
really are biblical. 
The problem is when we believe 

512
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,080
that we have all of the 
information on why we feel 

513
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,520
conviction. 
A lot of times I'll get a red 

514
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,120
flag when I'm talking to 
somebody and I just think it 

515
00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,080
means I'm supposed to be on my 
guard and intercede and pray for

516
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,800
them. 
But I know sometimes people say 

517
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,000
like, oh, I get a weird feeling 
around them, so I avoid them. 

518
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,080
You know what normally happens? 
That person feels avoided. 

519
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:09,840
They feel more and more like an 
outcast. 

520
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,240
They act weirder and weirder. 
You get more and more red flags 

521
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,200
because now you feel weird 
around this person and they're 

522
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,480
feeling weird. 
And before you know it, there's 

523
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:16,800
a blow up and you're like, I 
knew it. 

524
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,400
I knew it. 
You actually helped create it. 

525
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,880
That's the way that it goes. 
It is possible to possess 

526
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,680
discernment without becoming 
judgmental. 

527
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,000
But it is also possible to 
become judgmental while 

528
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,200
convincing yourself that you 
have discernment. 

529
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,120
Here's what I mean. 
The difference is that 

530
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,800
discernment evaluates what God 
has clearly spoken about. 

531
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,720
Judge mentalism goes beyond what
God has said and starts 

532
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,360
assigning motives or measuring 
how spiritual they are. 

533
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,440
This means we need to be honest 
enough to ask where this 

534
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,400
temptation shows up in our own 
lives. 

535
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,800
So, couple questions here that 
we need to ask ourselves. 

536
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,520
Sometimes it shows up in the way
that Christians celebrate 

537
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,600
holidays. 
Let's talk about that or choose 

538
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,640
not to. 
Maybe one family puts up a 

539
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,280
Christmas tree and another one 
doesn't. 

540
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,720
Or one family celebrates 
Halloween by handing out candy 

541
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,120
and another one keeps their 
lights off and spends the 

542
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,840
evening praying. 
The problem isn't that 

543
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,320
Christians come to different 
convictions. 

544
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,440
The problem. 
The problem is that we are under

545
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,400
different convictions about 
their convictions. 

546
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,640
Romans 14 makes room for this. 
Paul writes this One person 

547
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,560
considers one day more sacred 
than another. 

548
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,520
Another considers everyday 
alike. 

549
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,760
Each of them should be fully 
convinced in their own mind. 

550
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,680
Why doesn't he just tell us what
are the parameters for a holiday

551
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,480
that we can celebrate? 
You may not know this, but the 

552
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,160
Bible doesn't tell you to 
celebrate Halloween. 

553
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:38,720
It also doesn't tell you to 
celebrate Christmas. 

554
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,560
It's not a command. 
It's a cultural thing that we've

555
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,280
got here. 
Sometimes we've got, you know, 

556
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,000
not sometimes. 
Every year we put some lighted 

557
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:48,680
trees up here around the end of 
the year. 

558
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,680
And there's always somebody 
who's like, I wish you didn't 

559
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,200
have those up there. 
You know, they have Pagan 

560
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,040
origins. 
Did you know that? 

561
00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:00,520
Pagans have God origins. 
Those pagans were created in the

562
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,400
image of God. 
Those trees were created because

563
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,960
God created them and said they 
were good before somebody 

564
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:06,440
decided to do something 
different with it. 

565
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,200
I don't live in fear over what 
other people do. 

566
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:11,960
I don't send my kids trick or 
treating though. 

567
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:13,800
I just think it's weird to tell 
them all year. 

568
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,040
Don't take candy from strangers.
But on this one I'm like, it's 

569
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,960
OK, they're wearing a mask. 
Do it this time. 

570
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,000
Enjoy your ride in that white 
van on the way home. 

571
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,440
Like I just, I'd never do it, so
that's why I don't do it. 

572
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,840
But it's not a religious thing. 
The traditions are weird, aren't

573
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,520
they? 
Don't get me started on the bone

574
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:32,680
collector that we call the tooth
Fairy. 

575
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,640
All right. 
The moment the judge mentalism 

576
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,600
enters the picture is when we 
stop saying this is my 

577
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,160
conviction and we start saying 
anyone who loves Jesus would do 

578
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:46,560
it my way. 
Sometimes judge mentalism shows 

579
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,880
up in thinking about what people
watch or listen to or read. 1 

580
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,520
believer won't watch a 
particular movie. 

581
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:53,880
Another one has no issue with 
it. 

582
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,960
One family avoids certain music,
and another family feels free to

583
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,360
enjoy it with wisdom. 
Scripture teaches us to guard 

584
00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,360
our hearts, but it also warns us
not to condemn one another over 

585
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,200
matters of a conscience. 
I remember hearing one family 

586
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,960
tell me this house is safe for 
little ears. 

587
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,360
No rated R movies in this house.
And I'm like, well, don't let 

588
00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:17,960
them read the Bible, right? 
And then we had a movie come 

589
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,160
out, I believe it was in 2004. 
Anybody ever hear of a little 

590
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,600
movie called The Passion of the 
Christ? 

591
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,760
Big fat R rating right there. 
And they watched it as a family.

592
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,520
I said, what happened because 
I'm an instigator. 

593
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,200
What happened in the R rating? 
And they're like, well, this one

594
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:40,680
had Jesus in it. 
I remember asking one person one

595
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,000
time, they were like, we don't 
watch any movies with witches in

596
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,640
it. 
And I said, oh, cool. 

597
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,920
And I said, did you ever, did 
you ever watch Wizard of Oz with

598
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,160
your kids? 
And they said, oh, yeah, but 

599
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,600
that was a different time, like 
it was an older movie. 

600
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,360
I said, OK, because Glenda says,
are you a good witch or a bad 

601
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,720
witch? 
What's your conviction? 

602
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,000
OK, so I'm not here to tell you 
what to watch and what not to. 

603
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:05,800
That's literally the whole point
of this. 

604
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,840
Paul writes this in Romans 14, 
three, just a couple of verses 

605
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,080
ahead of where we were a moment 
ago. 

606
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,120
He says those who don't eat 
certain foods must not condemn 

607
00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:15,400
those who do, for God has 
accepted them. 

608
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,400
Now, the issue in the book of 
Romans, there is food and if 

609
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,120
it's been sacrificed to a false 
God or to a demon or something 

610
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,240
like that. 
But the principle applies far 

611
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,600
beyond food. 
We cross the line when we assume

612
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,960
we know somebody else's 
spiritual maturity based solely 

613
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,040
on a playlist or a television 
show or a movie they watched 

614
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:33,800
without ever knowing the 
convictions that they have. 

615
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,400
There are movies I've been 
convicted to not watch or walk 

616
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,480
out of that you all would be 
like, oh, that's fine to me and 

617
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,040
probably vice versa. 
I'm not here to be the mediator 

618
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:44,640
between you and God. 
I don't know if you've heard, 

619
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,200
but there is one. 
Anyway. 

620
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,680
Sometimes it also shows up in 
outward appearances. 

621
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,840
Churches have divided over hair 
length, tattoos, piercings, 

622
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,120
hats, what parts of skin can be 
shown, whether you wear suits 

623
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,480
and dresses or 1000 other 
external things. 

624
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,000
But when Samuel was ready to 
anoint Israel's next king, God 

625
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,040
reminded him of this. 
People judge by outward 

626
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:08,840
appearance, but the Lord looks 
at the heart. 

627
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,720
That doesn't mean that outward 
choices never matter. 

628
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,680
When we go to Guatemala, the 
ladies on that team will also 

629
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,160
bring some longer skirts because
we honour the culture and what 

630
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,240
is normal in that culture, 
right? 

631
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,400
We do that. 
If you show up to church here, I

632
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,280
mean, you just want to attend 
here, I'm pretty OK with what 

633
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:26,600
you wear. 
Please don't show up in a 

634
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:35,680
bikini, Michael. 
But one time was one time too 

635
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,560
many. 
This never really happened, OK? 

636
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,400
Just never really happened. 
Please don't show up with the 

637
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,320
intention to draw eyes to you. 
But if you see somebody show up 

638
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,520
wearing something you wouldn't 
wear, don't assume that their 

639
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,440
intent is to have eyes drawn to 
them either. 

640
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,040
Leave them alone with their God.
All right? 

641
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,200
Sometimes if we're honest, 
judgmentalism shows up in 

642
00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,920
something that is as simple as 
perceived disrespect. 

643
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,480
Somebody walks past us like I 
talked about without speaking or

644
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:05,440
what they say just hits US the 
wrong way. 

645
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,640
And so I would just remind you 
that James gives us some very 

646
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,640
simple advice in James chapter 
one verse 19, he says, 

647
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,000
understand this my dear brothers
and sisters, you must all be 

648
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,720
quick to listen, slow to speak 
and slow to get angry. 

649
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,440
I want to talk to the people who
swear by that verse. 

650
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,960
Quick to listen, slow to speak 
and slow to get angry. 

651
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,520
You got 2 slows for one quick. 
OK, take your time. 

652
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,840
Relationships are that 
important. 

653
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,840
I think that's probably the 
challenge for us this week. 

654
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:39,840
The next time you find yourself 
saying I know why they did that,

655
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:41,440
I want you to ask yourself one 
question. 

656
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,560
Do I actually know or have I 
simply written the missing 

657
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,640
chapters? 
It's just fan fiction. 

658
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,400
Because only one person has ever
looked into a human heart and 

659
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,680
been right 100% of the time. 
And his name is welcome to VBS. 

660
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,800
We all got it right, So we 
talked a lot about 

661
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,480
judgmentalism. 
Let's talk about discernment 

662
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,560
before we wrap up this morning. 
What is discernment then? 

663
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,320
Well, discernment always asks 
better questions. 

664
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,000
The next part should feel like a
breath of fresh air for those of

665
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,400
us who have been feeling some 
conviction. 

666
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,600
If judgmentalism assumes 
motives, then what does biblical

667
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,800
discernment actually look like? 
This is not really a sermon 

668
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,200
about ignoring sin or pretending
that everything is OK 

669
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,040
Discernment is a biblical 
command. 

670
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:26,120
It's also a biblical gift. 
So we're called to test what we 

671
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,760
hear, recognize false teaching, 
and to exercise wisdom. 

672
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,720
But the answer isn't to stop 
discerning. 

673
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,160
The answer is to discern the way
that Jesus did. 

674
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,600
So one of the biggest 
differences between 

675
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,400
judgmentalism and discernment is
judgmentalism is satisfied with 

676
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:42,040
the appearances. 
You don't ask the questions. 

677
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,320
But discernment is willing to 
slow down long enough to seek 

678
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,040
understanding. 
Judgmentalism doesn't need to 

679
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,680
seek understanding. 
It already has it, but 

680
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,160
discernment recognizes there are
parts that we have not heard 

681
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:54,480
yet. 
Can you imagine what that would 

682
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:59,840
do to a church if we never 
assumed A motive or intent or a 

683
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,040
heart posture of anybody in our 
church? 

684
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:03,920
Can you? 
That's the church I want to go 

685
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:05,040
to. 
I'm going to be honest with you.

686
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,360
If I heard that that church 
existed in Havelock, y'all 

687
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:08,720
wouldn't even see me here right 
now. 

688
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,280
I'd be over there worshiping. 
But this is impossible to do 

689
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,200
without the Holy Spirit inside 
of us. 

690
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,840
So this is the goal. 
This is the challenge. 

691
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,840
Imagine walking into a church 
where people didn't immediately 

692
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,800
assume the worst about one 
another. 

693
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,160
I want you to imagine a church 
where somebody stepping away 

694
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,760
from a ministry wasn't 
immediately met with rumors. 

695
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,520
It was met with Ohio. 
I guess their season shifted. 

696
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:35,520
I want you to imagine husbands 
and wives who asked help me 

697
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,480
understand what you're feeling 
before assuming that they 

698
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,280
already knew. 
I want you to imagine parents 

699
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,280
that became curious about their 
kids before they got angry with 

700
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:44,840
them. 
We're just friendships where 

701
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,360
people believe the best about 
one another until facts prove 

702
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,560
otherwise. 
But the fact is, we're too 

703
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,520
afraid of getting betrayed by 
our friends and our family and 

704
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,360
our church and our pastors and 
and our politicians. 

705
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:56,760
Actually, we've already assumed 
that one. 

706
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,400
But we're too afraid of getting 
betrayed to actually offer 

707
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,800
trust. 
But the the answer isn't to 

708
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,320
offer blind trust. 
It's to ask better questions. 

709
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,520
Jesus was so good at this, but I
really believe that's one of the

710
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,000
reasons why the early church was
so compelling to the world 

711
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:13,920
around them. 
They were not known for 

712
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,440
believing the right things. 
If they were known for that, 

713
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,320
then the outside world would 
have believed the same things 

714
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,360
they did. 
They weren't known for that. 

715
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,840
They were known for the way that
they loved one another. 

716
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,880
How many of y'all have almost 
been talked out of your faith 

717
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:32,800
from a Christian? 
OK, that kind of community in 

718
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:35,400
the early church can only exist 
when people are willing to 

719
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,120
replace assumptions with 
conversations. 

720
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,000
It's why we have the saying 
here, and I don't care if you're

721
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:43,240
sick of it, conflict means 
conversation. 

722
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,920
We abide by that here. 
We need to because if you don't 

723
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,160
have a conversation, you don't 
have the information. 

724
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,320
This church was known for the 
way they loved each other. 

725
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,280
And when I think about that, I 
cannot help but think about 

726
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,000
Jesus. 
We'll be in Mark chapter 10. 

727
00:33:57,680 --> 00:33:59,960
No one who has ever lived 
possessed greater discernment 

728
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,800
than the Son of God. 
And Jesus never guessed what was

729
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:04,320
in anybody's heart because he 
already knew. 

730
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:06,400
As a matter of fact, one of my 
favorite scriptures, it says 

731
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,280
Jesus loved them, but he didn't 
trust them because he knew all 

732
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,360
about people. 
Like, oh, I feel that. 

733
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,040
But listen, Jesus knew people's 
thoughts before they spoke. 

734
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,040
He knew their past. 
He knew their struggles, He knew

735
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:19,800
their motives with perfect 
accuracy. 

736
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,280
If anyone, whoever lived had the
right to skip the questions and 

737
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,199
move straight to the conclusion,
it was Jesus. 

738
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:28,280
And that's not the way that 
Jesus chose to minister. 

739
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,400
So in Mark 10, Jesus is making 
his final journey towards 

740
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:33,880
Jerusalem. 
Crowds are surrounding him. 

741
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,400
He is known for miracles, and 
he's going through the city of 

742
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,040
Jericho. 
And sitting beside the road is a

743
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,120
blind beggar named Bartimaeus. 
When Bartimaeus realizes that 

744
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,800
Jesus is passing, he begins 
crying out for mercy. 

745
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,760
And the people around him tell 
him to be quiet because in their

746
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:49,960
minds, he isn't worth 
interrupting Jesus. 

747
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:53,520
But Bartimaeus refuses to stop 
calling out. 

748
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:55,400
And eventually Jesus does 
something that changes the whole

749
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,160
story. 
Check this out verse 46. 

750
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,960
When they reached Jericho and as
Jesus and his disciples left 

751
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:02,680
town, a large crowd followed 
him. 

752
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,960
A blind beggar named Bartimaeus,
son of Timaeus was sitting 

753
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,920
beside the road. 
When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus

754
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,720
of Nazareth, Nazareth was 
nearby, he began to shout. 

755
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:16,600
Jesus son of David, have mercy 
on me, be quiet. 

756
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:21,880
Many of the people yelled at 
him, church folk, and he only 

757
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,000
shouted louder. 
He said, son of David, have 

758
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,320
mercy on me. 
When Jesus heard him, he stopped

759
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:27,560
and he said tell him to come 
here. 

760
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:29,600
And I just this is my 
interpretation. 

761
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,080
I picture all those those 
Pharisees, all those church folk

762
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,440
going, oh, this is a good idea, 
Jesus. 

763
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:34,360
Yeah. 
I was just about to get them. 

764
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,360
Bartimaeus. 
There you are, buddy. 

765
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,160
Come on. 
Hey, have you eaten today? 

766
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:40,560
Do you want a sandwich? 
All right. 

767
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,680
He said tell them to come here. 
So they called the blind man and

768
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,440
they say to him, cheer up, come 
on, he's calling you. 

769
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,480
These people have probably never
encouraged Bartimaeus a day in 

770
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,720
their life. 
Bartimaeus threw side his coat, 

771
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:59,280
jumped up and came to Jesus. 
And then Jesus has something 

772
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,840
that used to confuse me. 
He says, what do you want me to 

773
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,320
do for you? 
Is that not a little confusing? 

774
00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:07,800
I mean, you got the Son of God 
who's known for healing people, 

775
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,560
physical healing is doing these 
miracles and a blind man is 

776
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,000
brought over to him and he's 
like, so how can I help you 

777
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:18,720
today? 
Well, he says, my rabbi, I want 

778
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,920
to see. 
And Jesus said to him, go, for 

779
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,360
your faith has healed you. 
And instantly the man could see 

780
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,160
and he followed Jesus down the 
road. 

781
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,200
I was always fascinated by that 
question. 

782
00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:29,280
What do you want me to do for 
you? 

783
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,120
Because at first it does feel 
strange. 

784
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,480
Jesus is standing in front of a 
blind man. 

785
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,160
Once you'd imagine somebody 
walks up to you, they're only 

786
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:37,800
wearing pants, their ribs are 
showing. 

787
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,800
And you have this like foot long
sub and you're like, what do you

788
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,960
want? 
OK, Jesus is standing there. 

789
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,200
He knows the answer. 
And even if it wasn't obvious to

790
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,960
all the eyes around them, Jesus 
has perfect discernment, right? 

791
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,000
So why does he ask? 
I don't think Jesus asked that 

792
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,160
question of Bartimaeus because 
he needed the information. 

793
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,480
I think he asked it because he 
wanted to give Bartimaeus 

794
00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:03,000
something that the crowd had 
never given him. 

795
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:06,400
He wanted to make sure that this
person knew he was not a burden,

796
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,000
pun intended. 
He wanted this man to feel seen.

797
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,560
Discernment asks questions. 
Every single spiritual gift 

798
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:15,800
you're ever given is not for 
you. 

799
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,360
If you're given an 
interpretation, it's so that you

800
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:19,640
can interpret what somebody else
says. 

801
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,480
If you're given a gift of 
healing, it's not for your own. 

802
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,520
Boo, Boo. 
It's for somebody else's injury.

803
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,840
If you're given some sort of 
gift, it's always for someone 

804
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:27,800
else. 
Can you imagine? 

805
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,680
I have the gift of leadership. 
Oh, well, who do you lead? 

806
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,720
It's for me. 
It's a special gift that God 

807
00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:36,680
gave me. 
I'm my own little leader. 

808
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:38,200
I don't leave the house. 
I don't like people. 

809
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:42,400
Oh, OK. 
Good job, leader. 

810
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,600
Think about it. 
Gives you the gift of giving. 

811
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:47,600
I'm just. 
I'm. 

812
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:49,280
I'm very giving. 
Who do you give to? 

813
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:50,560
Well, I'm waiting for the right 
moment. 

814
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:52,600
Really. 
You look like a hoarder. 

815
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,840
So every spiritual gift you were
ever given us for somebody else.

816
00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:00,840
So when God gives you 
discernment about somebody, why 

817
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,360
is it that that's the moment 
that we assume that that's for 

818
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,720
our own personal knowledge? 
Oh, God gave me this gift of 

819
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:09,480
discernment so that I would know
to stay away from that person. 

820
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,360
I hope they go to heaven, but I 
won't be a part of the process. 

821
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:13,840
That really is what you're 
saying. 

822
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:17,920
What would happen if then God's 
like, hey, there's something 

823
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:22,560
going on with Cody and you're 
like, I bet there is. 

824
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:26,960
No, we're laughing, but that's 
what we do. 

825
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:28,600
We get this feeling, we get 
this. 

826
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:29,920
We call it a check in our 
spirit. 

827
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:31,760
That's not even biblical 
language, but that's modern 

828
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,600
Christian language. 
I have a check in my spirit 

829
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:35,800
about that person. 
Cool, Check it off. 

830
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:38,800
It's a list. 
Now go and check it off. 

831
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:46,920
Cody, you doing all right? 
The voice says yes, but the 

832
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,520
heart says no. 
That's what it means. 

833
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,400
A lot of times we as Christians 
were like, I just have this 

834
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,320
empathy burnout. 
I can't ask everybody how 

835
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:56,960
they're doing. 
I can't be there for everyone. 

836
00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,440
No, But you can be there for the
ones that God has laid on your 

837
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,600
heart. 
And if you would go there and be

838
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,920
there for the people that God 
laid on your heart, and you 

839
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,000
would do the same thing and you 
would do the same thing, 

840
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,760
everybody would be covered. 
Even your discernment is not for

841
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,800
you, but it is from God. 
And you and I, we have to know 

842
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:18,360
how to steward that. 
OK, Jesus looked at this man and

843
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,920
he said, tell me what you need. 
Could he not have just from 

844
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:24,960
where he was? 
Oh, Bartimaeus is crying out. 

845
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,160
God, would you heal him so I can
keep going? 

846
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,640
I've got a mission. 
He didn't do it. 

847
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,960
I've been guilty of avoiding 
somebody in Walmart before. 

848
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,720
I'm going down 1 aisle and like,
well, I guess I'm going around 

849
00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:38,080
the meat department. 
I've done it. 

850
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,720
And I know I'm not the only 
person I've done it because it's

851
00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:43,720
just, it's been a day. 
And God knows my heart, which 

852
00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:45,680
should also be terrifying, 
right? 

853
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,360
Because He knows the moments 
that I've been callous and cold 

854
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:52,080
and removed from people. 
I'm so afraid that He's going to

855
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,320
make me be there for somebody I 
don't have the energy for. 

856
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,880
God would never do that, but He 
would give you the mission that 

857
00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:01,040
you are equipped for. 
So learn to listen to Him. 

858
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,840
The church should be the safest 
place in the world for us to 

859
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,680
tell the rest of our story. 
This should be the place that 

860
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:09,600
you can walk in and say, I need 
to see. 

861
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,760
This should be the place that 
you should be able to walk in 

862
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,760
and say, I am so jealous. 
I am so prideful. 

863
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,200
I am struggling with envy. 
This should be the place that 

864
00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,640
you could walk in and be like, 
here are all of my problems. 

865
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:23,360
Somebody help me. 
And instead we walk in and we're

866
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:25,280
like, I'm blessed and highly 
favored. 

867
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:29,600
And then you side out your 
spouse and you're like, we'll 

868
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:34,920
talk about this in the car. 
Would it not? 

869
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,920
Can we not walk in and be like, 
hey, how are you guys doing 

870
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,960
today? 
And then you just say, you know 

871
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,240
what? 
My wife and I are fighting and 

872
00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:44,080
we're going to get through it. 
We always do. 

873
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:45,200
But man, we could use some 
prayer. 

874
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,080
Oh, what a scandal because you 
know what we're afraid of? 

875
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,280
Then somebody's going to go 
like, I heard Blake and Cassie 

876
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:54,400
are fighting and then people go 
fighting in a marriage. 

877
00:40:57,760 --> 00:40:59,800
You know what's cool? 
This morning I was just standing

878
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,760
right over there, my friend 
Andrew right there. 

879
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,640
He's like, how are you doing? 
I'm like, I haven't slept well 

880
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:06,680
several days this week. 
And there's just a couple things

881
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:07,600
that are really, like waiting on
me. 

882
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,000
He's like, can I pray for you 
right now? 

883
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:13,160
And I said, no, I'm the pastor. 
No, that's not what I said. 

884
00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:14,920
I said, yeah, you can pray for 
me. 

885
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:16,680
Let's do it right now. 
And we did it. 

886
00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:18,840
We did it normally before 
service. 

887
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,000
Mr. Jerry Morris, if you know 
him, what a man of God. 

888
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,280
He feels this conviction to pray
for me before every service. 

889
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,320
Well, he's out of town, so he's 
asked John McElroy to pray for 

890
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:28,920
me. 
And John made sure to do it. 

891
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:30,960
I got prayed for by father and 
son today. 

892
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,280
Double prayer. 
Take that devil, right? 

893
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,080
But I'm not afraid to say like, 
man, it's not a good day. 

894
00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:40,600
I took somebody back this 
morning who was like, I hope 

895
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:42,360
you're having a great weekend. 
And I'm like, it's OK. 

896
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:44,840
But I do have some needs. 
Thanks for asking. 

897
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,440
Now they can pray. 
You want to know one of the 

898
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,240
reasons that we don't tell 
people that we have needs 

899
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:53,080
because then they're going to 
ask, oh, well, how can I pray 

900
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,280
for you? 
Can I, can I offer a burden for 

901
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:56,840
you to lift off of you? 
You don't have to tell them 

902
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:58,600
every single need in 
specificity. 

903
00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:01,800
You can say got some anxious 
things happening. 

904
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,320
I've got people I'm talking to. 
Depression is coming after me. 

905
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,080
I'm not going to let it win, but
I'd love you to fight this 

906
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,360
battle with me. 
I've been dealing with a lot of 

907
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:10,600
anger. 
Anger's been coming up and I'm 

908
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:11,920
not able to get rid of it right 
away. 

909
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,480
So, you know, just give them 
something. 

910
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,120
If you and I believed prayer the
way that we say we do, we would 

911
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,160
be asking everybody to pray for 
us. 

912
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:23,240
Everybody. 
I feel lonely. 

913
00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:25,400
Can you pray for me? 
I feel angry. 

914
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:27,680
Can you pray for me? 
I'm struggling against lust. 

915
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:29,480
Can you pray for me? 
These are the things that we 

916
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,880
need to say to other people. 
This is what separates the 

917
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:33,000
church from the rest of the 
world. 

918
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,840
As I was studying for the 
Message this week, I've watched 

919
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:42,280
way too much television. 
So the problem is I've watched 

920
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,200
so much television. 
I don't really know how to 

921
00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:47,160
create an illustration out of 
one show that everybody knows. 

922
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:54,440
So I've got 3, one of them's 
been around for years. 

923
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,120
It's called Undercover Boss. 
Any fans? 

924
00:42:56,720 --> 00:42:59,400
OK, Undercover Boss, The the 
whole premise, if you haven't 

925
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:01,680
watched it, it's simple. 
It's normally the CEO of like a 

926
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,200
huge company will disguise 
themselves as an ordinary 

927
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:07,480
employee and they'll spend 
several days working alongside 

928
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:09,280
people on the ground level of 
their company. 

929
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,520
And these people on the ground 
level don't know they're working

930
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:13,560
with, like the big boss that 
they would have never come into 

931
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:17,640
contact with. 
And it's watching the employees 

932
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,600
reveal who they really are. 
That is actually the most 

933
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,760
compelling thing. 
Whenever I've watched it, it's 

934
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,640
not been seeing the CEO go, oh, 
this is the way it is down here.

935
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,360
It's seeing how some of them are
like, yeah, the boss wants this,

936
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:30,560
but we clock in 15 minutes late.
The people that cut corners 

937
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,840
there or the ones that are like,
yeah, I don't do that. 

938
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:34,360
Nobody sees it. 
But integrity matters. 

939
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:36,360
And there's normally, they 
normally go out of their way to 

940
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,040
highlight both sides of it. 
It's the people that say it's 

941
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:41,240
the right thing to do and I'm 
paid to do a job. 

942
00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:43,480
And normally those people, 
they're in for a really good 

943
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:45,120
surprise by the end of it when 
they realize they've been 

944
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,120
working with their boss. 
But by the end of the episode, 

945
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,600
it's that person, the one who 
took the time to know the the 

946
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:54,560
new person standing in front of 
them instead of making 

947
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:56,400
assumptions about them, that 
walks away with the greatest 

948
00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:58,320
reward. 
They went and they tried to 

949
00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:03,080
equip and train their boss's 
boss's boss's boss because that 

950
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:05,040
was a new person and they knew 
what it was like to be new. 

951
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,040
If you don't watch Undercover 
Boss, we'll go for a little bit 

952
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,040
of an earlier generation. 
I grew up on a little show 

953
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:15,560
called Mr. Rogers. 
Mr. Rogers spent decades 

954
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:18,400
teaching children something that
the world still hasn't learned. 

955
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,800
He believed that behaviour 
always has a story behind it. 

956
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:25,200
And so he was asked one time, 
you know, like, how do you 

957
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,880
handle these difficult children?
Well, he said, instead of asking

958
00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:30,480
what's wrong with this person, I
just asked, what has this person

959
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:32,800
been through? 
It doesn't mean you let them 

960
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:35,640
continue to do what they're 
doing, but once you understand 

961
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:38,680
them, once you ask a better 
question, it's harder to be just

962
00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:41,200
angry and dismissive over 
somebody when you know their 

963
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:43,960
story and their struggle. 
It's totally different. 

964
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:47,560
I'm sorry if those two shows 
didn't hit you. 

965
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:50,480
How about Ted Lasso? 
Any fans of Ted Lasso? 

966
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:51,640
I know it's a church. 
You can say it. 

967
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:55,640
Lots of lots of swear words. 
Sorry if you've seen that show, 

968
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:57,040
though. 
One of the most famous lines is 

969
00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:01,920
be curious, not judge mental. 
And the show credits that to 

970
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:04,720
Walt Whitman. 
But there is no, there is no 

971
00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:07,040
evidence that that's true. 
But it's still a great quote. 

972
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:09,840
He's somebody who is an 
outsider. 

973
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,920
And there he decides to become 
curious, even though people 

974
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:15,960
aren't really curious about him.
It's interesting that these 3 

975
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,880
completely different television 
shows made for three different 

976
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:21,400
audiences, all landed on the 
same principle. 

977
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:24,800
One through ACEO in disguise, 
one through a gentle neighbor 

978
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,800
talking to children, and one 
through an optimistic soccer 

979
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:29,760
coach. 
All of them, in their own way, 

980
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:34,080
are reminding us that people are
almost always more complicated 

981
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,680
than our first impression would 
allow us to believe. 

982
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:40,040
And the difference here is that 
Jesus didn't just teach that 

983
00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:41,680
principle, He lived it out 
perfectly. 

984
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:45,200
Over and over again. 
Jesus chose to slow down and 

985
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:47,360
engage with people and ask them 
questions. 

986
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:50,400
He didn't need the information, 
but because people needed to 

987
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,920
know that they had been seen 
before they had been evaluated, 

988
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:55,600
even though he's the one that 
could do it. 

989
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,080
Remember the woman that's caught
in adultery and they're all 

990
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:00,200
ready to stone her. 
And he said, all right, well, 

991
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,680
whoever's without sin, go ahead 
and throw the first stone, which

992
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:05,200
is really kind of cool when you 
realize, oh, there was somebody 

993
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:09,640
without sin there because Jesus 
could have thrown that first 

994
00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:11,360
stone. 
I mean, I want you to think 

995
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:12,880
about it. 
If immediately after that he 

996
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,280
said he who's without sin throw 
the first stone, all he had to 

997
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,920
do was throw 1 stone and they 
would all be justified in 

998
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:22,160
murdering her. 
And instead he waited you 

999
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:23,560
without sin. 
You want to go first? 

1000
00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:24,680
You don't want to? 
How about you? 

1001
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,840
You want to no. 
And one by one it says they all 

1002
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,800
walked away. 
He asked questions, but then 

1003
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:33,200
what did he say to her at the 
end? 

1004
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:36,720
He said go and sin no more. 
He didn't let them do whatever 

1005
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:39,440
they wanted, but He wanted them 
to know that they mattered. 

1006
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:42,680
One of the reasons I love the 
way that Jesus interacted with 

1007
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:44,560
people is because he didn't just
give us something to believe. 

1008
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:46,160
He gave us something that we can
practice. 

1009
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,920
We can do this too. 
I wonder what would happen if 

1010
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:51,560
this week, every time we were 
tempted to assume somebody's 

1011
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:53,520
motives, we intentionally 
replaced our assumption with a 

1012
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,440
better question. 
So let's take a look at some of 

1013
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:58,480
the better questions. 
Instead of saying I know why 

1014
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:01,440
they did that, how about we ask,
what information am I missing? 

1015
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:04,720
That question would save us a 
lot of relationships because we 

1016
00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:06,320
almost never possessed the whole
story. 

1017
00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:09,680
We know what someone said or 
what they did, but we almost 

1018
00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:11,840
never know what happened before 
they walked into the room or how

1019
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:13,440
that day or that week had been 
going. 

1020
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,440
But humility recognises that 
your perspective is always 

1021
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,320
incomplete. 
Always incomplete. 

1022
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:21,880
Another question worth asking is
this. 

1023
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:25,320
Have I talked to the person or 
have I only talked about the 

1024
00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,160
person? 
And this sounds like. 

1025
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:30,640
Yeah, yeah, I know that. 
Well, if we knew that we would, 

1026
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:33,240
we would walk it out. 
One of the easiest traps for 

1027
00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:36,240
churches to fall into is this. 
We process somebody's decisions 

1028
00:47:36,240 --> 00:47:39,160
with everyone except the person 
who actually made them. 

1029
00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:42,080
And it starts with, I need 
counsel, I need advice, I need, 

1030
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,240
I need prayer, I need, can you 
help me walk through this? 

1031
00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:46,880
And then we ask all of these 
people and then months later 

1032
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:48,200
it's like, oh, did you talk to 
that person? 

1033
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,000
Oh, no, I appreciate you 
following up. 

1034
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:53,720
I decided it wasn't worth it. 
Well, it was worth it. 

1035
00:47:54,200 --> 00:48:00,080
One, 2-3 people in a row. 
Did you talk about them or did 

1036
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,880
you talk to them? 
Third question to ask yourself, 

1037
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:07,040
is this, am I trying to 
understand or am I trying to be 

1038
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,520
right? 
Most of us are insecure. 

1039
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,280
And because we're insecure, when
we go to people, we want to hear

1040
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:14,880
that we're right. 
We want to hear that we made the

1041
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,000
right decision. 
We want to hear that it was 

1042
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,640
right to make distance from that
person or is right to say that 

1043
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:21,160
to them. 
Or yeah, you could have done 

1044
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:23,280
that better. 
But oh man, that word but gets 

1045
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:24,480
us in a lot of trouble, doesn't 
it? 

1046
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:27,240
These are two different 
pursuits. 

1047
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:30,560
If your goal is simply to prove 
your conclusion, I'll only 

1048
00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:33,280
listen for evidence that 
supports what I already believe.

1049
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:36,800
But if my goal is understanding,
I'll listen differently because 

1050
00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:39,160
I'll ask better questions and 
I'll leave room for the 

1051
00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:40,920
possibility that I don't know 
everything yet. 

1052
00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:43,520
And the last thing is this, this
is important. 

1053
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:48,120
If someone were making 
assumptions about me today, what

1054
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:50,600
would I hope that they do? 
Why don't you think about that? 

1055
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:52,880
Maybe you already have somebody 
in mind that you think might 

1056
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:55,280
have judged you in this room. 
I don't know, and you leave 

1057
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,440
today. 
If you found out, if you found 

1058
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:00,400
out that they had an assumption 
about you, what would you want 

1059
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:02,640
them to do? 
And I think for most of us, we'd

1060
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:04,120
say, well, I'd want them to ask 
me about it. 

1061
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:07,000
If that's what you'd want them 
to do. 

1062
00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:11,280
Guess what you should do? 
Do unto others or whatever. 

1063
00:49:13,720 --> 00:49:16,080
I have a feeling every one of us
knows the answer to that one. 

1064
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:20,440
Matthew 712 says do to others 
whatever you'd like them to do 

1065
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:23,040
to you. 
That's a pretty simple command. 

1066
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:27,000
Don't get me wrong, it's 
difficult, but it is simple, 

1067
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:31,680
isn't it? 
Here's what I've learned after a

1068
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:34,440
lot of years of ministry. 
Very few church conflicts begin 

1069
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:38,440
with bad theology. 
Many of them begin with bad 

1070
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:40,160
assumptions. 
Somebody will leave a church 

1071
00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:43,680
faster over a fight with another
person than they will over a 

1072
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:45,240
theological point they disagree 
with. 

1073
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:50,080
And that's something. 
I wonder how many churches could

1074
00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:54,080
stay whole and not split if 
people would learn to ask one 

1075
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:56,320
more question. 
There's a lot of power in that. 

1076
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,720
Number one, before we end this 
morning, I want to go back to 

1077
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:02,200
the very beginning and show you 
in Genesis 3 something. 

1078
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:05,000
And I need you to know that for 
this whole series, even though 

1079
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,800
we end it next week by talking 
about pride, which is the sin 

1080
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:11,040
under all other sins, I want you
to understand this is the 

1081
00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:13,520
message I was waiting to get to.
This is the heart of it. 

1082
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:16,640
We've got some spiritual warfare
that is coming up. 

1083
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:19,800
We've got some spiritual 
messages, some supernatural 

1084
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:21,520
things that happen in the Bible 
that we're going to be 

1085
00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:23,200
unpacking. 
And I just need you to know that

1086
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:25,720
these little sins that we allow 
in, even though we belong to 

1087
00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:28,160
Jesus, we're washed by the 
blood, we're going to heaven, 

1088
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:31,800
but we allow these things in. 
These are the things that are 

1089
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:34,200
allowing the devil to have a 
foothold and to get into our 

1090
00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:36,640
lives. 
If you want to go to war the way

1091
00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:39,400
you're supposed to and not be 
like Eliab and all these other 

1092
00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:42,080
people standing there staring at
a giant but not doing anything 

1093
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:43,280
about it. 
If you want to be like David, 

1094
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:46,080
that says what makes them think 
they can get away with this? 

1095
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:48,600
If you want to push back 
darkness in Eastern North 

1096
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,640
Carolina, in your family, in 
your home, and I hope you'll 

1097
00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:53,240
join me with this, This is where
we're going. 

1098
00:50:54,720 --> 00:50:56,520
But I want you to see this from 
all the way back in the 

1099
00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:59,280
beginning, Genesis 3, starting 
in verse 7. 

1100
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,520
This is right after original 
sin. 

1101
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,360
It says at that moment their 
eyes were opened. 

1102
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:09,880
This is Adam and Eve. 
And they suddenly felt shame at 

1103
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:13,000
their nakedness. 
So they sewed fig leaves 

1104
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:16,800
together to cover themselves, 
which is interesting. 

1105
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:19,000
I wonder if they had done any 
sewing before this. 

1106
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,520
We don't have any evidence of 
it, and if you ever seen fig 

1107
00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:25,600
leaves, they don't. 
They don't seem like the best 

1108
00:51:25,600 --> 00:51:27,360
option if you're trying to cover
yourself. 

1109
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,160
When the cool evening breezes 
were blowing, the man and his 

1110
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,640
wife heard the Lord God walking 
about in the garden. 

1111
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:37,360
So they hid from the Lord God 
among the trees. 

1112
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:40,000
Do you understand how 
heartbreaking that sentence is? 

1113
00:51:40,240 --> 00:51:43,080
Every single evening the Lord 
came to the garden and walked 

1114
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:46,160
with them. 
Every single evening, remember 

1115
00:51:46,160 --> 00:51:49,040
the old hymn and he walks with 
me. 

1116
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:52,520
This is where it comes from. 
For the very first time God 

1117
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:59,240
shows up and they're not there. 
Then the Lord God called to the 

1118
00:51:59,240 --> 00:52:00,120
man. 
Where are you? 

1119
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,800
Oh, look at this discernment, 
asking a good question, even 

1120
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:07,000
though he knew where he was. 
Adam replied. 

1121
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:09,000
I heard you walking in the 
garden, so I hid. 

1122
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:10,600
I was afraid because I was 
naked. 

1123
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:14,160
Who told you that you're naked? 
The Lord God asked. 

1124
00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:17,200
Have you eaten from the tree 
whose fruit I commanded you not 

1125
00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:19,880
to eat? 
Here's what's interesting. 

1126
00:52:21,480 --> 00:52:24,040
That fruit is what opened their 
eyes. 

1127
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:25,760
There's a lot we can unpack from
that. 

1128
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,440
Why didn't the devil just slide 
on up there as a serpent and 

1129
00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:29,600
say, hey, did you know you're 
naked? 

1130
00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:33,280
We can, we can see everything. 
What's the concept of naked? 

1131
00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:36,080
There was no concept of naked or
clothed because there was no 

1132
00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:40,760
concept of shame. 
And all of a sudden, man and 

1133
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:43,880
woman became self-conscious. 
It's the worst thing that could 

1134
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:45,600
have happened to them. 
It was all about God and his 

1135
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:47,440
gifts and his garden. 
And all of a sudden that was 

1136
00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:49,680
about Adam and Eve and their 
garden and their condition. 

1137
00:52:50,240 --> 00:52:53,160
And as their heavenly Father 
showed up to be with them, their

1138
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:54,840
first thought wasn't, we need to
spend time with them. 

1139
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:56,880
Their first thought wasn't, oh 
good, God's here. 

1140
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:59,600
God, we did something terrible 
and now we know we're naked. 

1141
00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:02,120
Can you help us? 
They took it into their own 

1142
00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:04,200
hands. 
This is what we do. 

1143
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:10,280
And when we feel shame, we try 
to cover our shame normally 

1144
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:13,440
through judgmentalism. 
Whatever we're dealing with, 

1145
00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:15,560
whatever we're ashamed of, we 
tend to look out at somebody 

1146
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:17,040
else and say, well, at least I'm
not them. 

1147
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:19,560
I say it kind of as a mostly 
joke. 

1148
00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:22,320
But when people are like, oh, I 
can't believe you watched WWE, 

1149
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:24,000
you know, it's scripted, right? 
And I'm like, well, good. 

1150
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:25,560
I hope you don't watch anything 
that has a script. 

1151
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:29,640
But I'll normally say something 
like this. 

1152
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:30,760
Yeah. 
But you know what? 

1153
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:31,960
Those characters are kind of 
messed up. 

1154
00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:33,560
But those are problems I don't 
have to solve. 

1155
00:53:34,240 --> 00:53:35,600
It's sort of like a release for 
me. 

1156
00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:38,760
And you may be sitting here 
right now saying like, well, I 

1157
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:39,920
don't think a Christian should 
watch that. 

1158
00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:43,840
Don't you judge me. 
All right, the first inclination

1159
00:53:43,840 --> 00:53:47,200
Adam and Eve had was to cover 
themselves with their solution, 

1160
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:49,040
what they thought would help 
them. 

1161
00:53:50,080 --> 00:53:53,000
I wonder if that's why so much 
of our judge mentalism today 

1162
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:56,760
comes from our own weaknesses. 
We spend so much time measuring 

1163
00:53:56,760 --> 00:53:59,280
everybody else because we're 
already constantly measuring 

1164
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:01,960
ourselves. 
We don't know how to be good and

1165
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,680
kind and fair to ourselves, so 
we sure don't know how to do it 

1166
00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:06,640
for other people that exist 
outside of our body. 

1167
00:54:08,400 --> 00:54:09,960
The gospel doesn't work like 
this though. 

1168
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:12,400
One more verse. 
It's in that same chapter, 

1169
00:54:12,400 --> 00:54:17,840
Genesis 3 verse 21 and the Lord 
God made clothing from animal 

1170
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:22,160
skins for Adam and his wife. 
You know how beautiful that is. 

1171
00:54:24,240 --> 00:54:27,200
Adam and Eve tried to cover 
themselves and then God truly 

1172
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:29,640
covered them and took care of 
what they were self-conscious 

1173
00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:32,920
about. 
The fig leaves weren't enough, 

1174
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,040
because fig leaves are never 
meant to save anybody. 

1175
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:37,800
They were trying to solve a 
problem that only God could 

1176
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:39,120
solve. 
Is that not the story of the 

1177
00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:41,080
entire Bible? 
Is that not our story? 

1178
00:54:41,080 --> 00:54:42,800
We're trying to solve the 
problems that only God can 

1179
00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:45,320
solve. 
Humanity has spent thousands of 

1180
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,200
years trying to cover sin with 
performance and religion and 

1181
00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:50,840
comparison and morality and good
works. 

1182
00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:53,480
And then Jesus comes and does 
for us what we could have never 

1183
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:56,600
done for ourselves. 
And that is why judge mentalism 

1184
00:54:56,600 --> 00:54:58,760
is so dangerous. 
Every single time I appoint 

1185
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:02,320
myself as the judge over someone
else's heart, I have forgotten 

1186
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:04,960
that I am standing in front of 
them. 

1187
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:09,040
But one day I'll be standing in 
front of God in his presence. 

1188
00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:12,160
And not because I judged 
correctly, but because Jesus 

1189
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:16,360
covered me. 
It reminds me that every person 

1190
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:19,720
I meet is somebody Jesus died to
redeem, not someone for me to 

1191
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:21,200
evaluate. 
So here's what I'd like for all 

1192
00:55:21,200 --> 00:55:24,720
of us to do this week. 
This is your actual homework. 

1193
00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:27,880
I want you to pay attention to 
the stories you tell yourself 

1194
00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:30,880
when you're sitting alone and 
your mind starts going, The next

1195
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:33,160
time somebody disappoints you, 
the next time your husband or 

1196
00:55:33,160 --> 00:55:36,120
your wife lets you down, next 
time your your mom or your dad 

1197
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:37,720
says something you're like, 
that's that. 

1198
00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:39,000
That's what he always does. 
Nope. 

1199
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:41,280
Stop yourself. 
Pay attention to the story that 

1200
00:55:41,280 --> 00:55:43,840
you're telling yourself. 
Anytime something rubs you the 

1201
00:55:43,840 --> 00:55:47,480
wrong way, resist the temptation
to finish the story in your 

1202
00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:49,720
mind. 
Instead, ask yourself one 

1203
00:55:49,720 --> 00:55:52,400
question. 
Do I actually know this or have 

1204
00:55:52,400 --> 00:55:55,080
I assumed it? 
If it's someone that you have a 

1205
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:58,200
relationship with, I want you to
have the the courage to replace 

1206
00:55:58,200 --> 00:56:00,160
one assumption with one 
conversation. 

1207
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:03,360
One conversation? 
Hey, you probably didn't mean 

1208
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:05,600
anything by that, but when you 
said this, it kind of hit me the

1209
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:07,480
wrong way. 
Maybe they didn't mean anything 

1210
00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:09,600
by it, but you know what they 
just learned I shouldn't say 

1211
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:13,360
that to them. 
Normally we have more than one 

1212
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:15,760
conversation about people when 
we assume, so we might as well 

1213
00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:18,320
just replace all of those 
conversations with just one with

1214
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,920
the actual person. 
I have a feeling that that 

1215
00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:23,200
decision could save our 
friendships and our marriages 

1216
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:25,120
and our families. 
And I really think it would 

1217
00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:26,920
preserve the unity of this 
church too. 

1218
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:29,040
I'll just close by telling you 
this. 

1219
00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:32,640
I really want liberty to be 
known as a church that loves the

1220
00:56:32,640 --> 00:56:36,000
truth enough to pursue it, but 
also loves people enough to hear

1221
00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:38,840
from them before judging them. 
And I want us to become the kind

1222
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:40,800
of church where people know that
they're going to be listened to 

1223
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:42,960
before they're labeled. 
Because underneath envy and 

1224
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:46,320
bitterness and anger and even 
judgmentalism is 1 sin that 

1225
00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:48,360
consistently feeds them all. 
And its pride. 

1226
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:51,760
It's when we look at everything 
through the filter of ourselves.

1227
00:56:51,760 --> 00:56:53,120
And we'll talk about that next 
week. 

1228
00:56:54,080 --> 00:56:55,960
Would y'all stand up as we close
and worship this morning?