The Other 6 Days
As the church, we spend most of our thought, time and effort working towards our weekend gatherings; with the majority of our lives being lived outside of Sundays. The Other 6 Days Podcast is designed to help us be more intentional about the ways we can "show up" for the gospel the other 6 days of the week.
The Other 6 Days
IN the world, but not OF it | The Other 6 Days | Episode 41
In this episode, we start off with some fun talking about those guilty little pleasures... the things that we enjoy, but are not probably not that great for us! We then jump right into some conversation about what it means to be IN this world, but not be OF it. We address the tension Christians must manage as they keep their eyes fixed on heavenly things while still keeping their feet firmly planted here on the ground. We continue the podcast with a segment called "Scriptures & Sayings" where we compare & contrast some various Scripture references and cultural Christians sayings to offer some context & clarity. We talk about the dangers if we don't get this right provide some takeaways & advice on how we can participate in it all and then end the podcast as always with some helpful information and resources on the topic.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Other Six Days, where we chat about life outside of Sundays and what it means to live from our gatherings, not just for them. I'm your host, cj McFadden, here again with Pastor Ricky Jenkins, and today we are here to talk about what it means to be in the world, but not of it how we keep living as Christians and the tension of keeping our eyes fixed on heavenly things while keeping our feet on the ground as we engage in the mission that God has called us to. But first we always like to start off with something a little fun. What are those things that you absolutely enjoy, ricky, but you know are not great for you? Like when you get to heaven? You're praying God. Please make a heavenly exception or redeem this thing somehow. Oh mercy.
Speaker 2:Is there a genre you want me to hang out in for this? Yeah, let's go. Food, okay. All right, that's an easy one. Man, I just wish that it was okay to have steak in the morning, sushi at lunch, steak in the evening, to where? The next day you start the day with sushi in the morning, Okay, and then steak for lunch, yeah, sushi again in the evening. And do that for five days a week, yeah. Then on the weekends, just have nothing but fried food platters, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, fried oysters, fried clams, fried chicken, fried fries, fried like artichoke thingies and like fried fried green beans, like the tempura green bean stuff that you dip in the chipotle sauce. It's just fried things. Yeah, I like that ah, man, I love how you?
Speaker 2:I got a problem. Hey, we we're just dreaming about this, you know, yeah, we don't do this oh man, mine's, dude, mine's, mine's just a simple pleasure.
Speaker 1:Del Taco I love, man. Crinkle fries, man, yeah, those crinkle fries, yeah. And then I got two chicken soft tacos and a burrito. But I can eat that all the time. I mean, I do sometimes which I shouldn't.
Speaker 2:When I work late, like late, late, and either went out of town and behind on a sermon you know I'm leaving the office at like 1130. Yeah, you leave the office because you kind of feel I've already failed. Yeah. Yeah, like my schedule's botched, I'm a failure.
Speaker 1:That's exactly what I did.
Speaker 2:I should finish this failure well and go to Del Taco Fail well.
Speaker 1:That's exactly what happens. I literally there's a slight shame as I pull in through the drive-thru. I know that I shouldn't be, like you know what, but I'm going all the way with this. I'm in.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, here's the thing about living in our community. Right, it ain't many black pastors. So like they know, like low key you know, and I can see it Like you know, the first couple of years, the Wendy's people, the Del Taco people, hey, pastor Rick, oh hey, how you doing, and then I kept going. So now they're like they don't even act, like they know me, because they're like I don't want to shame him because he's been in here four times this month. He got a problem. I'm praying for my pastor.
Speaker 1:He mentioned his image from the stage, and so I don't want to contribute.
Speaker 2:That's right. Have a good night, sir. God bless you. I mean thank you, see you sunday uh.
Speaker 1:Another one for me, oddly enough, is salt. I think I could salt everything if my blood pressure would handle it. So we found this seasoning called slap your mama cajun seasoning. Oh dude, it's like it's basically lowry's seasoned salt with, uh, like tajin, but like a Cajun spice Mercy. Oh man, it's good. Yeah, it's really good, but I have high blood pressure, so of course, indian salt is my choice. Have you?
Speaker 2:had orange pepper seasoning yet no, so you got lemon pepper, right. Yeah, yeah, they didn't come out with orange pepper. Oh, my goodness, it's so good Pepper, oh it's so good. You just get your chicken just salt and pepper it and low onion powder, right, and then you just drench it in orange pepper. Yeah, you know I always slow smoke on the trigger and all that kind of stuff. Then I crisp it on the egg. Yeah, it will set you free.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:I try that for sure. Mercy is so good, oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Sl Good, oh, okay, slap your mom, I got to try that. Yeah, it's a good one. So you guys have probably heard the phrase in the world but not of it a few times. It's probably made most popular by an early 2000s clothing line called Not of this World, or N-O-T-W as the cool kids used to call it. But let's start by unpacking what is generally mem. When we say in the world but not of it, we say end the world but not of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know. So Jesus was so. So Scripture says I think it's somewhere in John or 1 John, I can't remember I think it's John but it says for this purpose, 1 John, for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. One of the things Scripture gives nomenclature to concerning the enemy, the evil one, is that he is the prince of this world, meaning that there's a dynamic that ensued once humanity fell into sin, right, that gives Satan, who's a fallen angel, right, some semblance of hegemony $200 word for power and authority in this world. Right, and so we, the prince of this world, which means that there are a lot of um, um things, for lack of a word, that are on some level under this evil one's control. Yeah, right, and so that's, that's a reality that deal with this, which is why the Bible says for this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the enemy. So we've come to saving faith in Jesus. I'm not free, like I'm free from the penalty of my sin, but I will have to contend with the presence of sin until I am fully, fully, fully brought into his eternal kingdom.
Speaker 2:And so we see a lot of homage to that in scripture, where Jesus says several times that, john 15, as it is, you do not belong to the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, john 17,. They are not of the world when he was praying, for even as I am not of the world. And so we see this Greek word, cosmos, which is kind of all that, all that you know, all there is that can be seen. Cosmos, right, the cosmos, it's an expansive term, but essentially, you know, we are called as Christians to be these ministers of reconciliation, these ambassadors, these representatives of a future and coming kingdom while we're passing through this earthly world, right. And so that's some of the metaphors that we see in scripture that can help us see why Jesus has so many times to be in the world and not of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, no, absolutely yeah. Not of this world means freedom in Christ, so it's affiliation with Christ. So the idea is an identifier, right With the like. You said really well that we're passing through, so we're in it for a tits temporal, so we're in it for a bit, but long-term our affiliation is with Christ. That's exactly right. The beauty is that Christ came to set this captives free and where his image bearers set apart to co-labor in his redemptive work in the world as well is another way to put it. I had found this statement. I know we were just talking about it beforehand, but Aurelio Beretto was a successful designer who had the gospel shared to him by a school principal in 1998. And he took his business acumen, started C28 and the Knot of the World clothing line in the early 2000s, and then a community of online artists combining scripture and art, as well as rap and rock artists were wearing it. And I didn't know this, but during those 15 years of operation, over 19,000 people prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior through its influence. That's amazing, yeah, it's amazing. So he took that you know, a common use phrase and then use that to kind of reach people for the gospel, which was where it kind of popularized a little bit from so good.
Speaker 1:So now I want to do a little segment with us. I'm calling scriptures and sayings. I want to introduce a couple of often quoted scripture and sayings that we've heard around the topic. Then, and sayings that we've heard around the topic. Then we'll do some compare and contrast as we have some conversation to hopefully help bring some context and clarity to each of them. So the first is the scriptures 1 Corinthians 9.22, when Paul says To the weak I became weak to win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all possible means I might save some. So we often hear things like it's okay to do anything short of sin in order to reach people, or I became like the world in order to reach it. What do you say to that? Yeah, so good.
Speaker 2:I think that's true. I think Jesus said in Luke six that a good man, out of the good purposes of his heart, will bring forth that which is good, but an evil man, out of the evil purposes of his heart, will bring forth that which is evil. And then Jesus is for. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, which was Jesus' way of saying what's in you you will eventually capture with your words. And so our words are always an indicator of the utmost longings of our heart and our soul. And if we're not careful, if we're in a season of our life where Jesus is not per se the driver's seat but our flesh is, things like this come out per se of the driver's seat, but our flesh is. Things like this come out right. And I start reading scripture with a lens to titillate my flesh as opposed to satisfy my soul by accomplishing the will of God.
Speaker 2:Ie Paul is saying he ain't saying that I did everything but sin. He's saying in empathy and in humility, in the same way we see Jesus doing it in the scriptures. I humbled myself, I dumbed things down, I denied privileges that I had earned and was owed so that I could do whatever it took to win people. He's not saying I sinned, he's not even saying I came close to it. He's not even talking about that. He's literally saying I stretched like Jesus, stretched from heaven to earth. So I stretched from my position as a Pharisee born on the eighth day, circumcised the tribe of Benjamin. Yet here I am, around these Gentiles whose breath smells like bacon and they're cussing and they're not doing any of the law. They don't wash their hands the same way, they don't eat the same thing, but I stretched to get in their space so that I can win them over to the Lord Jesus. And I think when we say stuff like hey, you know, no, that's OK, don't worry about it, you know, we're really exposing something else going on in our hearts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, that's so good. Yeah, I wrote down. We should never send to fit in or win.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wrote down. We should never send to fit in or win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like playing with fire and hoping not to get burned with this approach. And so, yeah, I'd read Paul wasn't compromising, really, in order to fit in, he was foregoing, like you said, some of the traditions, cultural practices and comforts in order they may reach audiences that he was called to bring them the gospel. And then also, too, he said he was cooperating with their over-, their, over restrictive behaviors for some of them, so as not to be a stumbling block. That's right. So, like you said, dumbing it down, you know, and meeting them where they're at right, that's it. That's it, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's almost like this, you know, and I want to be careful with this metaphor yeah right, but it you know, I'm an African-American pastor in a region that is 2% African-American.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, and so in many ways I have left things that I was more comfortable with Right. Also, some things would prefer, not all. I'm really glad to be with these beautiful white people. You know what I'm saying. Really glad to be with these beautiful white people, you know what I'm saying. But I have left a certain sense of familiarity and commonality to do what God has called me to do, and it's beautiful and I love it. And no one should feel sorry for me because I want to. I was kind of gifted to do it. But, to use a metaphor, but that has nothing to do with sin. That's one thing to do with sin and I think anybody listening has some kind of banner that they can wear where they can celebrate how you've had to stretch to bless somebody else and to reach somebody else and to witness to somebody else, and you can come close to say it. Every mama listening is like I know exactly what you mean. I got to stretch to bless these children and keep from killing them.
Speaker 2:We all do that for the sake of Christ.
Speaker 1:That's so good. Our next one is James 127. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. The idea is that this instruction to do do some good deeds and hunker down into holy huddles and just wait for heaven. So what do you say?
Speaker 2:Oh, man, how many times have we seen that? For all of us who are listening, who've come up in church, we've seen this more than the others, right? So this is the late 80s, early 90s, when every church was building a family life center. Right Now, hey, we about to build one too. But, but this is but. But what happened is? It became, um, it became entertainment for church people instead of evangelism for lost people, right?
Speaker 2:So what ends up happening is that Johnny grows up in the church. Johnny has only seen the Christian basketball team, he's seen the Christian softball team, he's seen the Christian Frisbee team, he's in the Christian choir, he's on the Christian track and field, he's in the Christian lemonade stand, and Johnny has never, ever, ever had to bear witness to the fact that maybe there's people outside of this bubble. Yeah, right, that I was actually commissioned to, yeah, and sent to, and that's not even because why I'm a pilgrim passing through it. My whole idea is just to kind of keep us up in our little igloo, our safe spaces and all these sorts of things. It's why I always tell people there's some people in our church who say, well, kids got to go to prof school, got to go to prof school and I say, yeah, but let's not act like God ain't at work and can't use a public school to bear witness on who he is and all that kind of stuff. So, anyways, no, that's really good yeah.
Speaker 1:Well that when you don't, when you get into those holy, when we talk about holy huddles and we have for heaven and all that, I mean you miss out. You know, first Peter 315 and Matthew 28,. You know the Great Commission. You know God has called us to reach the lost and to make disciples. That's right, we don't get the luxury of hunkering down. Yes, indeed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, indeed, and it's nuanced too, cj, because there are those. We're a disciple-making church, yeah, so we believe in producing fruit that can produce fruit, right? Yeah, so one of the things we throw caution to with our small groups, it's like, man, I love that you've been walking with your group for three or four years. That's beautiful, building one another up, holding one another accountable. But, man, we actually mourn the same group of people meeting together for 30 years. We mourn that. I think it's beautiful, there's something sweet in it.
Speaker 2:And I'm not saying you don't get to have friends for 30 years and accountability. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, man, with the bulk investment of your time and energy for the gospel, what does it mean for me and CJ, and me and CJ this is actually me and your testimony right, you were at my group for a couple of years or so. We journeyed together, we did life together. I was leading that group and you came to a place where it's like, man, god's doing something in me and there's some guys that want to hear from me. I'm going to break off from this group and I'm going to go pour into them. And now you got your own discipleship group and one day those guys are supposed to break off and do their own.
Speaker 2:It's how we reach the planet, Right? And so that holy huddle thing can be nuanced, because if we're not careful, we'll just kind of stay at what we think are justified spaces. Yeah, of holy huddles. The holy huddle has changed. Yeah, it's not the family life center anymore, right, it's like it's a small group or it's. You know what I mean?
Speaker 1:yeah, so, yeah, we gotta be careful of all that more of a decentralized holy now see, now there you go.
Speaker 2:That's. I love that, like that's exactly right. Yeah, decentralized holy oh, that's good.
Speaker 1:That's good. That that's awesome. So it seems like James is telling us though I just want to touch on this to keep ourselves unstained from the world, while Paul seemingly contradicts this same message by telling us that he has become all things to all people in order that we might save some Sure. So actually, I think you kind of answered that in the first part. What's the deal with that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. James is quite clearly talking about, you know, james, the Proverbs of the New Testament, right, yeah, yeah. So James is talking about moving forward in the will of God and accomplishing these deeds that glorify his name, and. But it's an and Right, and so you do this, do that comma and keep yourself from the world.
Speaker 1:So he's just telling you what to do and to be Christianly.
Speaker 2:Paul is saying how to do it, how to be it? Right that I'm supposed to be weak and go to the weak and I'm supposed to do all things?
Speaker 1:except sin in order to win the law. So it's just. You know what I mean. Yeah, Paul's just finishing.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right. Which goes back to the point that when we bend these things, it is exposing something else in the heart that is way more addicted to comfort than Christ. So that's what we got to open our eyes to.
Speaker 1:That's good. I'm glad you mentioned that, because that piece actually came from a position that someone was holding on it and they're looking for you know, hey, these two things seem to contradict each other and we're working with that and culture on every front, that's it.
Speaker 2:That's it so good.
Speaker 1:Colossians 3.2, set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things. So the quote is you're too heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. Is there such thing as being too heavenly minded?
Speaker 2:I think there's a such thing. It goes back to the holy huddle. You know what I mean. Sometimes you can have a heavenly huddle. I do. I do see that there is a way, let me. Let me tell a story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was, uh, at a birthday party. Um, there's a sweet family that um is so kind to us and they have this beautiful pool and they've allowed us to have birthday parties at their home for our kids. Uh, and you know, there's like a hundred kids terrorizing the property and me and this dad we're just floating in the pool. It's a hot day, we're floating on floaties and the Israel war had just broken out. Uh, so this is last year anyways.
Speaker 2:Uh, and me and this dad are talking about Israel and it's just so sad and we're praying for Israel on this kind of stuff. And you know, he I remember him saying yeah, but you know what, ricky, I'm saved, my wife saved, my kids are saved. You know Jesus comes back. I'm good, you know, and I think that's saying to believers to go home and turn on the news and wait with bated breath. I think he's saying get out in the street and tell if we knew a bomb was coming tonight. We tell everybody. We know and I think that's the idea, and I think what that gentleman was exposing Right, is that right?
Speaker 2:Like my business is fixed Right, so I'm good, I got to worry about nobody else and so, but the phraseology, the cliche, is right. It's so heavenly minded you ain't no earthly good. I've always took that to mean this idea of religiosity. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. That man you so up in the clouds with your religion, your Pharisaism, your, you know all you do is spit out verses and all you do is show off your godliness instead of live out your godliness.
Speaker 1:That you're actually called, you're not helpful.
Speaker 2:You're not helping us anywhere. What do you think?
Speaker 1:oh man, I never. I actually never thought of it from that standpoint because mine was always the, the tickets punched, I'm good to go. Sure, of course, I lost out on the call, uh, you know, the call of god to go. Uh, that is other centric. And then you're saying, though, from a religiosity standpoint of know that I'm staying up here, that actually I've rendered myself useless to the people around me.
Speaker 2:Well, it's it's it's Colossians. So he's dealing a lot with legalism and Colossians Right, a lot of legalism that he was dealing with. Well, there was this lady and I grew up in the old fundamentalist sanctified church. Yeah Right, you couldn't do nothing. So he's like no fun and you'll go to heaven. And there was this lady. I'm going to give her a new name, so I'm going to call her Mother Esther. Okay, that's not our name.
Speaker 2:Well, the young people would want to sing the new gospel songs. So, kirk Franklin, you know all this kind of stuff. So we would do our. We're 14, we're 15, and we're singing our songs. But it used drums and drums were like a note in my church for some years. Well, mother Esther, I can remember it was our turn to sing and the church is packed and we're just rocking, you know, singing whatever we're singing. Mother Esther is sitting on the front row with her fingers clogging her ears, like she's not listening, waving back and forth. That is terrible. That is being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good, because all you did was show off your own self-righteousness and all you did was show a whole group of kids that we can never talk to you about our faith.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good. I mean, I like that story, mother.
Speaker 2:Esther, yeah, yeah, yeah, she's dead, so you know I can't offend her. Yeah, edit that out, zach.
Speaker 1:Well, cs Lewis states in Mere Christianity, if you read your history, you'll find that Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next. So I thought that was a really poignant, profound statement. Amen, remember that one Amen. What would you say is a major danger if we don't get this right?
Speaker 2:Like this whole idea of being, you know, communion with the saints, my plowing into scripture to bring the scripture to bear upon my life Right. All of these things produce what Galatians 5 calls walking by the spirit. So you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and my point is this what we need is balance Right. And my point is this what we need is balance right. What we need is a certain kind of temperance to know when to be heavenly focused, when to be earthly focused, but really how to hold them both in tension. It's a tension to manage, not a problem to solve, and I don't know how we do that outside of the spiritual disciplines. So balance is the key, but that happens with presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:I think, though, what's the old prayer the saints used to pray in the old church? Search your hearts, o God, and be there. Found anything that's not like you, take it out and strengthen me, and I think, on this subject matter, I would encourage everybody listening to say search my heart, lord. Am I so in the clouds that I'm not a witness down here?
Speaker 2:Or am I so engaged that what's going on down here, and this is how you know that heaven, that something other than heaven, has become your whole Ooh, wow, that's good. And so I think we can kind of mess with that. In an election year, yeah Right, I've got so many of the saints at Southwest saying, hey, are you going to talk about election or not? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'm going to do a message. Okay, good Cause, I'm so scared, I'm so terrified, I'm so this, I'm so, that's it. I understand that. But, um, you know this, you know whoever win ain't going to figure it out. So you, you, you do know this thing's kind of going south either way. Yeah Right, and I know what that means. I know that's not, that's hard for us to hear. We got kids and great, you know. So I'm not messing with that either, but I'm saying sometimes that's an indicator that my, my, my hopes are starting to be divested towards earthly realms and that. And so search my heart, oh God, yeah, heart, oh God, and be there for anything that's not like you.
Speaker 2:So there's the first, I'll say, 400 years of Christian history. We had no hope in this world. There's an emperor that hated us and was crucifying us and throwing us to the lions. The Romans could not stand us. We were weird. We followed one God and everybody followed a hundred Right. Ours was Jewish ship, a carpenter from the Podunk town who died in a shameful death. We were weird. Our gods, their gods, were always celestial beings who were up in the clouds, who would have never muddied themselves with humankind. Ours left the celestial realm to come and take on flesh and die a shameful death. And then we're crazy enough to say, yeah, but he didn't stay there and he got up. We were nuts and we were mocked and ridiculed and killed because of it.
Speaker 2:So we never had hope that this was it, but we knew where we were going and our hope was fixed in that, and we knew then that the only resolve then was to tell many people who would listen that there's something better than this. And so my point is and as we go to the next point is we need to rediscover our Christian heritage, because that is who we have always been. And, hey, I don't want America to get worse.
Speaker 1:I really don't.
Speaker 2:I don't want America to get worse. I really don't. But it is because that's what my Bible says. But here's my hope this whole world, the old gospel lyricist said, is not my home.
Speaker 1:That reverend, you done got me happy. That's why we're going and telling people about a life with Christ. Yes, indeed, yes indeed. Well, on both ends, you said it. You know we either mess it up. We either mess up the message or we miss out on the mission.
Speaker 1:So, like, balance is key, right? Yes, so you use the analogy I'm going to steal from you in a sermon that you did before, close to the voice but not too far away to translate it to others. So I thought, yeah, and it was just really powerful. And you know, john 10.10 says I've come that they may have life and have it to the full. This is both present life now and an eternal life after. So to live a life with joy in the midst of all of the things that happen here on earth and to showcase a lot of what we do right and word and deed is to showcase what Christ is done, has done, is doing and is going to do. So we live in the tension, like you said. As we say, look it. Yeah, I have a future hope, but let me show you some hope now, here and now. I've got hope here and now, in the midst of it all.
Speaker 2:Amen, amen. Well, and that hope works. Yeah, to just echo your point and praise the Lord on it, that hope works. I've put hope in other things. It didn't work, and if it worked it didn't work long, and if it was working it wasn't working, right, yeah?
Speaker 1:It was a cul-de-sac hope that's a dead end.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, our hope is sure in Christ and in the world to come. And we have so many saints in our church, precious, wonderful saints, who are in a season of suffering. Yeah, you know, and I went to see one of our dear friends in the hospital just yesterday, right and going through a storm, but the hope she had, yeah, because she knows who she is, because she knows who she is and she knows who she is, yeah, I came out of there happy, because our faith transcends hospital rooms, it transcends election seasons, it transcends wars and rumors of wars, it transcends recessions and depressions. And it's hard and I'm not trying to be masochistic to say that we love pain and gore, but this is why he died.
Speaker 2:This is why he rose again, that we would have a hope that is fixed and firm and sure, even in the storm. Trust me, I'm going to restore it all, amen.
Speaker 1:What's some practical takeaways or advice on how to balance living in the world but not of it? Like, how can we participate in God's story?
Speaker 2:Yeah, living in the world, but not of it. Like, how can we participate in God's story? Yeah, fyodor Dostoevsky, the Christian novelist, russian novelist, how did he put it? If one is to be capable of love, he must first see himself as God intended him to be. So, he said, for me to navigate my way in the world, it starts and ends with identity, right, and so, my brothers and sisters listening, it's always going to be impossible to navigate from an improper framework of identity.
Speaker 2:You know, so you must ask God's help, study God's word, that you see yourself as God sees you. Cause that's the ballgame, because half the time the issue ain't the issue, it's the uncertainty, right. But once you have certainty about oh, wait a minute, oh, ok, that's not freaking me out, because someone told me that this is what this is like, but that he called me into it anyway. And so we always hear Southwest, we talk about the saveness and sentness distinction. The saveness and sentness distinction. I wrote a paper in my PhD seminar in my systematic theology. It was called Advanced Theological Prolegomena and essentially you had to kind of that.
Speaker 2:The fulcrum right of my theology is identity, and that identity is crystallized in scripture where Jesus says I think it's Matthew 22, right, that you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul and strength. But the second commandment is like it, that you should love your neighbor as yourself. And on these two, christ says, depend the law and the prophets. And it's from this that we get the metaphors that we use how the cross flowed vertically but also horizontally. Right that God sent his son to die on a cross for me, to redeem me to him first and foremost, but also to redeem me to others and the creation.
Speaker 2:And it's this idea that when I put my trust and faith in Jesus, I was at the same time saved by God and sent for God. That part of my Christian witness and identity is that when God says to looks at me, he says Ricky is now saved, and then, and then, thank you, lord, excuse me. And at the same moment he said to a sinner that he is also now sent, and so the Latin fathers called it the Missio Dei, that in his personhood, his nature. Missio Dei is Latin for the sending of God, and it's the idea that, in his very nature, the sending of God, and it's the idea that in his very nature, he is not stationary. Yeah, when he is dynamic In his nature, in his person, in his holiness, he is the God who is on the move.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, and that's why even God is not a holy huddle. Yeah, he has sent himself into the earth and now he says sons and daughters, you're made of my image, so you get to do, and you got to do what I do, and you go and you are the sent ones of God, which means because I have this identity now that changes everything. Yeah, so I don't just live at 49197. Did I just put my address out there? Anyways, I didn't say that, yeah, we'll chop that out. I don't just live there, I've been sent there to those neighbors.
Speaker 2:Hardly maybe two families go to church and God in the heavenlies says that's not a problem. I put Ricky and April and those kids there to bear witness to my name. So it's just. You know, god is intentional, right. My barber is not just the one who cuts my hair, well, but he wants me there every Saturday to bear witness because I'm set to those brothers. You know what I'm saying? It just changes the game and I think that helps us navigate elections, that helps us navigate economic downturns. We realize I've been set here. So, anyways, that's a long answer to that and I don't know if that's practical. Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1:John 17, 18,. Jesus said as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, amen.
Speaker 1:And yeah, we realize the brokenness. I have sent them into the world. And, um, yeah, we, uh, we realized the brokenness, but we recognize the redeemer. Uh, god is in the is in the business of redeeming broken things. Uh, he is redeeming all things to himself. Colossians one, 20.
Speaker 1:So it reminds me of like, uh, I heard it before in the analogies, but this reminds me of Kintsugi, and so it's that broken Japanese pottery that, and it's more beautiful, more valuable than ever after it's been broken and then restored. And so I just find, like it's just such a beautiful picture of that. And so, john 17, 22, the glory you have given me, I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. And so this is another thing I wanted to add to what you said with unity, they will know that we are as disciples by our love for one another. That's right. And so you know the heavenly minded, holy idols, you know, and the world not of it. And just remember, it is about unity, it's about reaching and bringing others into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and so, and introducing them to our Savior and our soul, so good. So any other thoughts or thoughts or ideas there?
Speaker 2:nothing but yes and amen, and maybe a set of us that we would think more deeply, pray more earnestly about this world that we are passing through, um that we wouldn't so separate ourselves, that we wouldn't see ourselves as sovereignly sent to make change and to bear witness to this truth that there is a savior that is coming to the world, that this vapor, james says that we have in this life is an intentional vapor, and God is in the divine chess piece that is time, has said in 2024, I want them there for my purposes of the earth. You are bigger than what you think. You are, friend, you are more. God is way more intentional than what you think he is. You are not a mistake, you're not inconsequential, you're not a coincidence. You are sovereignly chosen by God to live for him in this moment. So I just want to encourage us, and that is good news.
Speaker 1:That is good news. Thanks for sharing, riggie. Well, there you have it, guys. We want to thank you for joining us on another episode of the Other Six Days podcast. Be sure to hit that subscribe, follow, share and like and, as always, spread the word and take what you've heard and turn it into something you can do to further the gospel in the world around you. Until next time, peace.
Speaker 2:That's good, cj. You're so good at this oh thanks man, you got a gift Seriously.
Speaker 1:Like that's a gift. I cut a little bit out at the end there, but you know. Yeah, I think that was Wes. Thank you.