1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,560 Season two of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:14,240 with your hosts, Ben and Spencer. Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,880 the powerful lens of love. In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,000 fresh insights and gaining deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,360 in practical ways. So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love in the 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:34,440 context of the Bible intersect to transform our lives. 7 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:40,520 We're back and we're looking, well, maybe worse than ever. But if you're on the YouTube, 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,020 we switched to a different camera and now you can see us better. So we're you're either 9 00:00:44,020 --> 00:00:49,320 you're welcome or you're we're sorry. Well, it all depends. Yeah. If they liked what they 10 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,800 saw before or if they didn't like what they saw before. So yeah, it's not good when your 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:01:00,560 wife is like, hey, maybe use the fuzzy camera again. Uh huh. Uh huh. Yep. All right. Well, 12 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,540 we're going to this is our last filler episode. We're going to be starting the mini series 13 00:01:04,540 --> 00:01:10,380 in the Book of James next week. We were just finalizing scheduling people. But summer in 14 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:16,200 Alaska is just stupid. Yeah, no, it is. It is pretty crazy. It's trying to get trying 15 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,720 to get people scheduled and they're like, oh, I'm going this way and I'm going here. 16 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,600 Uh huh. Yeah. Uh huh. And when you have a good weather day, because I mean, summer in 17 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,920 Alaska, it's weather still hit or miss. Right. But when you have a good weather day, it's 18 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:33,720 like we better move the podcast outside or on a boat or something. Otherwise, people 19 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,600 aren't going to show up. Yeah. I had a conversation with a pastor friend of mine in Kodiak and 20 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,360 he was talking about on Sunday morning. He's like, yeah, we either have 80 people or 20, 21 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:47,200 depending on how good fishing is that day. So it but you know, that's about right. Yeah. 22 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,520 Well they go from, you know, it's like fishers of men, fishers of fish, like they're just 23 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:55,360 going back and forth. So yeah, that's probably not the correct thing to do. But today we're 24 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,280 going to we're going to do and this is going to be kind of like a sporadic mini series 25 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,560 is what I'm going to call it where we're taking a word that we think is probably misunderstood 26 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,160 or maybe not put in its proper context. And we just have a conversation about it. And 27 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:16,920 today that word is hypocrite. Hypocrite. Hypocrite. It's a fun word. Uh huh. Which by the way, 28 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:21,440 is not related to the Hippocratic oath. Those are spelled very differently. I know because 29 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,640 I went to go try to spell this for my notes and I definitely put hippo instead of hypo. 30 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:33,240 So that was my mistake. Yeah. So a couple of things interesting about this. So hypocrite 31 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:39,880 is a is first of all a Greek word. I believe it's upokri sot kri tas and it means play 32 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:47,280 actor and it actually has a lot of bearing in in in like tragedies and acting and the 33 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,560 Coliseum and and presentation plays and stuff. So in the time of Jesus, like if you remember 34 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:59,560 in the Gospels, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, but he grows up in Nazareth. Right. Nazareth 35 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:06,040 is this town of like 1200 1600 people depending on estimates during that time. Around three 36 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:12,800 to four kilometers away from Nazareth is this city by the name of Sepphoris. I know you're 37 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:18,240 guys are just like, yeah, this is really interesting, Ben. Sepphoris runs somewhere between 20 and 38 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:23,360 30 thousand people. So it's a much bigger city nearby and specifically they actually 39 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:28,040 have a Coliseum that you actually would do acting in. And so it was a it was a really 40 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:36,680 big hub as far as metropolitan the arts like it attracted a lot of these people. Now, Jesus 41 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:44,640 growing up as a carpenter slash stonemason. Right. Given Joseph's profession, it is likely 42 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,280 that both Joseph and any other stonemasons that would work would do a lot of work in 43 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,840 Sepphoris given the high demand of the area there and stonemasons not being a they're 44 00:03:53,840 --> 00:04:00,600 not a plethora of stonemasons. And so Jesus grows up in Nazareth, but it's around this 45 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,760 place of Sepphoris where they have this thing, these people, these actors, and they're called 46 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:10,400 hypocrites. Yeah. Right. The Yuppo Kretas. And their job is exactly what an actor is 47 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,640 supposed to be. They're supposed to play for the audience. Right. That's what they're supposed 48 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:20,280 to do. Like that's the same thing that actors do today. Like actors put on a character, 49 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:23,600 but they're not necessarily putting on a true character. What they're doing is they're actually 50 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,080 presenting themselves for the purpose of the applause of the audience. Yeah. Now, typically 51 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:35,680 the audience is in on the joke or in on the story, but that's what an actor does. So now 52 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:41,280 let's talk about the Bible. Hypocrites. Now, when you grew up in the church, how do people 53 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:46,680 typically talk about hypocrites? I mean, it was a variation. Yeah. I mean, there were 54 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,320 some people who use it in a right in the right context, like Mike, you're talking about. 55 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,640 There are also, there were also the people who are like, you don't like the same type 56 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:01,640 of chicken I do. You hypocrite. I'm sorry. That was an exaggeration, but. Sadly, not 57 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:08,160 that far of an exaggeration. So like I've been called a hypocrite because I've disagreed 58 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:13,960 on minor minor theological nuances with people. Like I think it comes down to really the difference 59 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,920 between your personal convictions and gospel truth. Yeah. Like and we've talked about this 60 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:23,920 some too, but, but I mean, there's some people who have, let's pick on music, right? There's 61 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,120 some people who have the personal conviction of, I'm only going to listen to worship music. 62 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,800 It was great. There's some people who don't have that personal conviction on their life. 63 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,440 Is one person following Jesus less than the other person? Yes. Right. But that's what 64 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,320 we do. Right. That's exactly what we do. Yeah. To clarify, the answer is no. The answer is 65 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:45,380 no. But, but that's what we do is we say, Oh, this person's more holy or quote unquote, 66 00:05:45,380 --> 00:05:50,120 because they are listening to only Christian music while this person is not, they have 67 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,880 less Holy. So they must have some sort of hypocrisy in their life or some sort of sin 68 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,960 in their life to where they're just not mature enough to understand. Right. Or there are 69 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:05,520 people I was thinking about, uh, there is a ministry Cupcake girls. You're familiar with 70 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:10,840 that one where the, they go in and they, uh, minister to, um, strippers and, and people 71 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:15,480 in that, in that industry. Right. And people, they've gotten a ton of flack for what they 72 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,480 do. And yet there's a lot of fruit bearing, like people come into Christ, people fighting 73 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:24,200 freedom, all this through their ministry because they're willing to go to dark places. Right. 74 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,880 And they've received a ton of flack because people are like, Oh, you know, you're, you're 75 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,440 being hypocritical because you're going to this place. No, because of their faith, they're 76 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:36,120 going to these places. So it's, it's, uh, I was thinking about, cause we're actually 77 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,720 going to be talking about in James. So we'll probably come back to this really quick, but 78 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,680 James makes a statement. He says, if you say, I love my brother and he's freezing cold and 79 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:48,120 you're like, man, I'm, I'm, I feel for you go on your way and God bless you. And you 80 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:55,520 do nothing for their physical need. You don't really care about them. Right. And, uh, like 81 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,080 that is, that is what a hypocrite is, is that you're, you may be playing things up maybe 82 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,400 for the appeal or a couple of weeks ago when we were talking with pastor Sarah, we talked 83 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:08,320 about people who are like, well, I give X amount to the church and you're like, so, 84 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:14,800 okay, like that's great. I'm good for you. And praise the woman who gave two nights over 85 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:19,840 the people who were given plenty. Yeah. And it's, and, but it's one of those things where 86 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,680 you're, you're playing up for the applause. And so I thought it might be kind of fun. 87 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,800 Uh, I went and just took, went to Bible gateway.com. So there might be others. So if you, if you 88 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:33,240 have others like, feel free to send them to us, but I just went to Bible gateway and typed 89 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:38,160 in hypocrite and just pulled out like the top 18, uh, but places in the, in the gospels 90 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:43,240 where Jesus talks about hypocrites and like just this idea of when are you playing for 91 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,240 the applause and when are you actually feeding into the kingdom of God? Yeah. Because a lot 92 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,560 of things he mentions aren't necessarily bad things, but when you're doing them for the 93 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,520 sake of applause, they are bad things. For example, giving money to the church is not 94 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,200 a bad thing. When you're giving money to the church because you feel like you're, you're 95 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,960 owed a modicum of authority or something that you're trying to buy authority. There's a 96 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,720 guy in the Bible who wanted the, uh, the Holy spirit that Peter had and he's like, well, 97 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,960 I'll buy this from you. Like here, I'll give you some money and then I can have it. And 98 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:15,620 he's like, well, it's not how that works, buddy. It's not how that works at all. Um, 99 00:08:15,620 --> 00:08:19,040 you know, so when you're, when you're doing it for the applause, for the accolades, uh, 100 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:24,400 or people who give charitably and then make massive announcements over it, because look 101 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:30,560 how good I am, right? You're playing for the applause. Now I want to specify, cause I think 102 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:35,040 that you go too far, like people being recognized for their altruistic behavior, uh, for the 103 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:39,160 good things that they do is not a bad thing. Yeah. The question is what's the motivation 104 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,120 of the heart, which is a lot of what the Bible is talking about in throughout its text. Yes. 105 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:50,360 Like, what's the motivation here when I do these things out here and it makes a big difference. 106 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,200 So the first place, uh, there's a number of these where Jesus is actually talking during 107 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:59,800 the sermon on the Mount. And so in chapter six, he, uh, he actually is talking about 108 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,800 giving and he says, so when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as 109 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,900 the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. Truly 110 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:13,120 I tell you, they have received their reward in full. So is the issue giving to the needy? 111 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:19,120 No, no. The issue is you have these trumpets and these people announcing and being like, 112 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:25,280 look at Spencer. He's so great. He gave money to the poor people. You know, like, like that's 113 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:32,440 a problem because of all the focus is actually on you. It's not actually on the people or 114 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:37,240 the kingdom of God or like you're, you're playing for the applause of people. There's 115 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:43,320 a juxtaposition here though that, that I think we have to address a little bit too is at 116 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,320 the same time we want to lead by example. And so to lead by example, people have to 117 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,920 be able to see it. Right? So there's, there is this balance of people. Do you have to 118 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:56,600 be able to see that you, if you're leading by example, that you are modeling these things? 119 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:03,080 Correct. Right. And so, but sometimes in modeling that we can take on the triumphant position 120 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:08,720 of look how great I am. Look what I do. Look what I give. Right. Right. And, and Ian, that 121 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:13,960 can be unintentional. Like we might not be intentionally doing that. Uh, so I mean, examples 122 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,320 being like we do a lot for our churches, right? For the church that we go to, we both do a 123 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,640 lot and we've had people be like, Oh, we've, I've had people come up to me and like, try 124 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,160 to put me on a higher pedestal than I am. And the same with you where it's like, where 125 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:32,200 it's like, no, we're just trying to serve our body. Right. You want, we want to model 126 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,280 this, but we don't want to be doing it for our own applause. Right. One. And also it 127 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:41,760 becomes this thing of like every modeling job is an invitation, right? Like I'm, I'm 128 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,920 running after Jesus. Like, why don't you come with me? Yeah. Like that's what we're doing. 129 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,280 Well, and I, and I did hear specifically on the money thing, there's a story that was 130 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:55,360 told by a Bible scholar about the basins that they would actually give money into. And, 131 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,240 uh, the way that they were constructed is you could either just like put your money 132 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,000 down and we go in, but there was actually a way that you could actually sling the money 133 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,120 in to make a really like loud noise. Like it was like a confidence noise that this was 134 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:12,080 happening and, uh, and they were talking about how it was practice for the wealthier people 135 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:17,280 to do that. Uh, even to the point where like, you know how like smaller denominations equal 136 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,040 bigger amounts of money that would get smaller denominations. So they were throwing more, 137 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:29,040 uh, coin into something. Yeah. Right. Like that's, that's not modeling. That's showboating. 138 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,160 Yeah. Like, are you paying for the applause of people? And like, people should notice 139 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,760 you actually. I had that conversation with somebody about fasting because they're like, 140 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,920 well, I'm fasting, but you know, nobody's supposed to know. And I was like, no, people 141 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,720 will know you're fasting. I was like, but you shouldn't be walking around going, 142 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:50,560 oh, I'm so hungry because I'm fasting to the Lord. Like if you are a teacher and you have, 143 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:54,560 you have disciples or you have people who are learning from you, you should model that 144 00:11:54,560 --> 00:12:00,480 behavior. Yeah. But once again, are you playing to applause or are you playing for the kingdom 145 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,480 of God? And you might not even be going for the applause, right? Might just start giving you the 146 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,960 applause and you might be like, oh, I like this. Right. Right. And then that that's where we need 147 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:13,600 to come check ourselves. That's a, that's a dangerous place. I have found myself in the past 148 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:21,120 in worship music, right? When you lead music, it's, it's like, I definitely have fallen victim. 149 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:27,840 I don't say victim because like, it's my fault that I fell for it. Yeah. But I fallen prey to 150 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,800 this whole thing of like, people are like, oh, you know, you're, you're just anointed by God to do 151 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,840 these things. And you're like, I am, I am anointed by God. You know what I mean? Like it starts to, 152 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:42,560 you start to hear it and you start to let it kind of play in your mind. And, uh, but like that is 153 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:47,360 like, those, those are the roots of sin. And like, they really start to really corrupt you over time. 154 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,960 Yeah. And, and so the other thing that makes it hard, especially in American culture, 155 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:58,640 is the fact that the squeaky wheel gets oil, right? Um, if you are like, if you are doing things, 156 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,440 well, there's a chance that like, people are going to notice, but they're going to be like, oh, 157 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,360 that's going really well. And we're just going to leave that alone. Right. Right. Even though 158 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,280 there might be issues that need to be fixed. Right. But then the people who are like, hey, 159 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:14,640 look at me, look at these problems, let's address these problems. And they like boast themselves up 160 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,080 a lot of times people give attention to that because they're more vocal than the people who 161 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,760 are like, Hey, I'm who are exercising what first Peter, what Peter says in first Peter, where he's 162 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:30,400 like, Hey, work diligently with your hands, be people of good rapport. Right. And so like, 163 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:35,440 it, there's all, there's, I think there's just a little more facets to culturally, if we apply it 164 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,840 to our culture today, where it's like, okay, like how do we, how do we live this out in a healthy way? 165 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:45,120 Right. And I think there is a lot of, uh, in the Bible, there's a lot of like be in this world, 166 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,080 but not of this world. So you have to be in the world and you got to walk in the world, 167 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,560 but you gotta be not be of this world, uh, to gain your life. You actually have to lose it. 168 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:56,240 Yep. To be the first, you have to be the last to be the greatest. You have to be the servant 169 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:02,080 and a lot of like these competing ideas that, that force you to walk oddly enough, Jesus talk about 170 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:08,000 it, walk a very narrow road, right? That you're, you're not really, it's not really this way or 171 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,920 that way. And, uh, we've talked about in the past, there's, there is a lot of freedom in like having 172 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:23,600 absolute, this is what you do. It's a lot harder to walk and with that tension and wrestling, 173 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:29,920 but it's a lot more full of life. You know what I mean? When you're, when your theological stances 174 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:34,880 and you're, you're walking out your, your faith and fear and trembling, you're like, okay, how do 175 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,600 I love people well, but also hold them accountable and like, am I airing too much side and having 176 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,240 these conversations with yourself on a regular basis are actually a good thing. Yeah. Not a bad 177 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:52,240 thing. Yeah. How do, how do I model, model my life with Jesus well, but not, uh, but not lift that 178 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:58,000 up above my relationship with Jesus. Correct. Right. If that sentence makes any sense. It does, 179 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,640 you know, and if you're, if you're sitting around and you're like, man, I love talking to people 180 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:06,480 about Jesus, but now I have to wonder, am I loving people well enough? That is a good question. 181 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,800 Like that's always a good question. And then you, if you're on the other side, you're like, 182 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,920 I always want to love people and treat them with respect, but I feel like I'm not holding 183 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:19,360 anybody accountable. That's also a good question. Yeah. Right. Like those, those are good things to 184 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:25,840 hold in tandem. And, uh, the reality is, is like, well, I've never walked on a tight rope well, 185 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,640 never walked well on a tight rope, I should say, but, uh, finding your balance, you do a little bit 186 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,440 of teetering back and forth, like as you learn to find your balance now, and once you've done a 187 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,720 really long time, like those people, they just jump up there and they're like, right across it. 188 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:46,160 Not me. Yeah. I, I'd be like, whoa, really heavy one way or the other. 189 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,200 I remember when slack lines were becoming just a big thing. Yeah. And, uh, and people would watch 190 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,880 videos of these people who are like really good at slack line and like, oh, and they go buy a slack 191 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:59,040 line. And then it was the most entertaining thing to watch the favorite. My favorite thing is when 192 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,440 they actually video it the first time they do it. Yeah. And then it's like, it's like, oh boy, like 193 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:09,600 you can't even stand up on this thing. And then like, um, and so there's actually a scene, uh, 194 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:16,320 from the office where, uh, where there's not a sponsor, not a sponsor, uh, where there's a, 195 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,320 where there's a slack line and someone walks across it and then Dwight's like, I can do this. And 196 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:26,720 then he just like beats himself up. Yep. Like just like, yeah. And it's a lot of times that's what 197 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,960 our life looks like. It's like, it's like, this is what I'm doing. And really it's like, no, you're 198 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,880 just, you're trying to do that, but that's not what's going on. So like, we can have the same 199 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,400 thing going on when we're following Jesus, where we move to the next level. And then we're like, 200 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:42,400 Jesus, where we're going to be like, I'm following Jesus and this is what I'm doing. And then you 201 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:48,560 look at their life and it's like, are you sure? Like coming back to the modeling idea though, 202 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,840 there's that tension though. There's that tension. There's that balancing act of like, 203 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,680 Hey, we want to model this, but we don't want to model this to the point where we're like, Hey, 204 00:16:55,680 --> 00:17:00,960 look at how well I'm modeling my life with Jesus. Right. Well, and to your point, actually the next 205 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:06,720 two, Jesus in the sermon on the Mount. So when you pray, right. The expectation is you're going 206 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:12,080 to pray, right? Don't be like the hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and 207 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:16,560 have street corners to be seen by others. Truly. I tell you, they received the reward in full. Now 208 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,720 the second half of that is it says, go into your closet. But one of the things that was told to me 209 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,920 by, um, Marty Solomon, which I didn't, wasn't aware of is that their prayer shawl, when they actually 210 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:31,200 put it over their head is considered their prayer closet. And I was like, well, that's interesting. 211 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,560 I did not know that. So that actually makes it way different than actually going and finding a 212 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,960 closet, which also makes sense. If you've seen like, uh, middle Eastern architecture, they didn't 213 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:46,160 really have closets. They're not a mid-century American. And, uh, so praying and that's when you 214 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:53,040 fast, when you fast, uh, don't look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to 215 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:57,040 show you they are fasting. Truly. I tell you, they received the reward in full. Once again, 216 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:01,920 this is something we put on display. Like we're going to fast and it's okay to even talk to people 217 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,640 while you're fasting. I'm fasting because I'm seeking God an answer in this, right? I'm fasting 218 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:11,760 for a breakthrough in this in my life. Right. And so people can also join you and praying with you 219 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:20,080 or for you and those types of things. But when you're like, I'm hungry, you know, I haven't eaten 220 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:25,920 for 42 days and that's a long time, but I probably would grumble too. If I didn't eat for 42 days. 221 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:35,040 Yeah. You know what I mean? Like it's, it's not a, um, it's, it's good to fast. Um, and it's good. 222 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,600 It's even okay to talk about fasting, but what's, what is the purpose? Is it because you're talking 223 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:45,040 about what God is doing in you or are you playing for applause? Do you want people to see the 224 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:51,200 suffering servant or do you want to serve the suffering servant? That's Jesus by the way, 225 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:57,360 in case anybody didn't get the Isaiah reference. Uh, here's one that we've talked about a lot. 226 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,760 It says this, you hypocrite first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly 227 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:09,920 to remove the speck from your brother's eye. We have a tendency in Christian culture to 228 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:20,960 judge everybody else by their actions and ourselves by our intentions. I'll say that one more time, 229 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:25,920 because I think it probably goes by quickly. We have a tendency to judge other people by their 230 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:32,880 actions and ourselves by our intentions. Um, this is very clear when you have a conversation with 231 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:38,080 someone and they're like, well, I didn't mean for that to do blah, blah, blah. Well, first of all, 232 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:42,880 that's not an apology, right? If you, if you actually feel bad about something that happened, 233 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:48,640 that's not an apology. Uh, and whether or not you meant for something to happen, it did happen. 234 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:54,960 And, uh, I just, it's, this is very prominent in, especially when you go across to 235 00:19:54,960 --> 00:20:01,040 denominational lines, it's very prominent that we, uh, we look at other Christians and we tend to 236 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:07,440 judge them by what actually happens versus what they're intending to happen. And so, 237 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,480 I think that's a very important thing to think about when you're talking about what's going to 238 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,640 happen. And, and rather than having grace with people where we're standing in judgment, I was 239 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,480 like, and then we have a completely blind eye to what's going on around us. 240 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,400 So this verse is actually more of a trust statement. It's more of a, who do you trust? 241 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:32,080 Because, because if the verse is, um, if the verse is applied to everybody, right, 242 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,240 right. Which is this verse is applicable to everybody, right. Then we all have the 243 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:42,400 work to remove that plank. Right. Theoretically you and God. Yeah. Theoretically you and God, 244 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:49,200 right. Are doing the work to remove that plank so that you can see clearly and then be a vessel 245 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:55,040 of the Lord to help someone else with theirs. Be a vessel of the Lord. Yep. Not a vessel of you. 246 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,600 Yep. Yeah. And so oftentimes when you look at this and be like, we need to, we look at this verse, 247 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,680 like we need to correct all these things in our lives and then other people's lives. It's like, 248 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,680 we're doing the work because he's doing the work in your life. And if he's, and if this is applicable 249 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,680 to everybody and he's removing the plank from my eye, then I have to also assume that he's doing 250 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,920 the same work for you. Removing the plank from your eye. Right. Right. And the question, and then 251 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:20,560 there does come a point where the Lord might use you to be like, Hey, you're going to remove that. 252 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:25,360 You're going to help me finish getting the last spec out. Right. Right. Because we're talking 253 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:30,560 with difference between a board and the spec. Right. And so, but we have, but the question is, 254 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,320 who do you trust? Because if we're, if we're stepping in being like, Hey, I'm just going to 255 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:39,200 jump on and try to get somebody else to spec out. Right. We're saying, all right, we don't actually 256 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:44,240 trust that the Lord is working. Yeah. And it's, and it's, it's really hard by the way, 257 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:49,680 when you see something broken, not to want to try to jump in and fix it. Oh, very hard. Like I 258 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,720 run into that all the time in my, um, the way that my brain works. I'm like, Oh, it's super easy. 259 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:59,920 We'll just fix that. Just go and do this, this, this. And if I did that, it wouldn't actually fix 260 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:05,920 anything because nobody actually learned how to do any better. Yep. Right. Or actually control any 261 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,880 better. Um, I run into that in business a lot when I see certain businesses struggling with X, Y, 262 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,560 or Z. Right. I'm like, Oh, I could step in and fix it. But I'm like, that's not actually going to 263 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:20,160 be helpful. Well, and taking time to evaluate the problem too. Right. And seeing, and taking time 264 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:26,080 to evaluate the problem and seeing, okay, what actually needs to be done, um, is super helpful 265 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,440 as well. Uh, so like I'm doing a bunch of house projects around the house, right? If I just jumped 266 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:37,200 in and started just breaking things up, it's not actually going to help. Right. Like you gotta go 267 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,520 in with a plan. You gotta go in and say, okay, here's what's wrong. Here's what needs to come 268 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,280 out. Here's what needs to be fixed. This is how we're going to address this. Here's the supplies 269 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,920 I need. Right. We do the same. We do the same thing in our lives. And we're evaluating sin in 270 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,680 our lives as we're not just saying, Oh, this is sinful. Get rid of it. We have to sit there and 271 00:22:53,680 --> 00:23:00,560 say, all right, Lord, help me evaluate how deep does this go? Where's the root of this? Right. If 272 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:07,120 I just cut a plan off at the top, it's going to grow back. Right. We have these trees in Alaska. 273 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:12,960 They're called alder trees and they're probably elsewhere besides Alaska. But, um, they, what, 274 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,160 what a lot of people do is they'll go and they'll, they'll chop them up and chop them down, but they 275 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,800 won't rip up the roots. Yeah. And they just grow back. Yeah. And they grow back quickly. Like they 276 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:26,560 grow back so quickly. Uh, like the ones I chopped down, I think, like three or four years ago, 277 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:32,960 they're already still at like knee height now. And, uh, it was, it's, it's, it's kind of one of those 278 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,240 things is like, you're like, okay, well you can chop it down. And yeah, sure. That takes care of 279 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,320 it for a period of time. But if you're actually going to cultivate a land, you gotta go and take 280 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,360 the things up by the roots. Yep. Right. And if we're going to have a life cultivated to being a 281 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:50,000 follower of Jesus, which I believe that's what it means to apprentice in the way, right. To cultivate 282 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,400 your life, to actually be a place. Uh, this story of Jesus tells about this farmer who spreads seed. 283 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:01,600 Yeah. Uh, yes, you should know what kind of soil you currently are, but the goal is always to be 284 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:06,320 good soil. And so if you have thorns and thistles in your life, well, you know, there's a solution 285 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:11,280 to that, right? Yeah. You tear them up. Yeah. Uh, you tilt the ground, you remove the rocks, 286 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,640 you know, you do these types of things too, with the work of the Holy spirit in your life. 287 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,200 And, uh, I was like, the goal is to actually be this, this fruitful place where we can receive 288 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,960 the word and through the tending of the gardener, we grow into 30, 60, a hundred times the yield that's 289 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:30,400 put into our life. Yeah. It's always the work of God in us, through us, with us. Yeah. Right. 290 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:36,320 Absolutely. So one of the places he brings up hypocrites a lot is, um, not surprisingly talking 291 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:42,160 to the religious leaders of the day. There's a, there's a reason why even incorrect when they're 292 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:49,280 your word is using correctly. It's often applied to, uh, religious people. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so the, 293 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:54,160 he has a section in, uh, Jesus has a section where he gives seven woes to the teachers and the law 294 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:59,760 and Pharisees. So one of them, it says, woe to you, teachers, the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. 295 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:05,920 So you who are playing to the plane, to the crowd, you shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in 296 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:11,920 people's faces. You yourselves do not enter nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Yeah. 297 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:21,120 First of all, that's, that's not a, uh, that's not a great woe to get, but it's, it's really, uh, 298 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,120 where, where you're making this barrier to the kingdom of God so high. Once again, 299 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:31,280 this comes back to your idea of trust. Do we actually trust the work of God to do in people's 300 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:39,520 lives? Right. Um, I have been in locations with people who profess to follow Jesus and they talk 301 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:45,360 about, um, they're like, okay, well now you need to do this and this and this and this and this and 302 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,840 this and this, right? They, they give us litany of things, especially right after somebody says, yes. 303 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:57,120 Yeah. Right. And I don't, what I think maybe the temptation, what I'm saying is saying that I don't 304 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:02,240 believe in discipleship after conversion. That's not what I'm talking about. Um, but when you're 305 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,560 giving people this list of things like these dues and don'ts and expecting their life to instantly 306 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,080 rearrange itself rather than God actually working through it, 307 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:17,040 I feel like you're sending people up for failure. Yeah. Right. Um, that you're, you're not actually 308 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,320 trusting the work of the Holy spirit to work in people's lives as they grow. Um, actually even 309 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:28,800 give people a chance to grow. Yeah. You know, the cultivation of a, of a plant doesn't happen. The 310 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:35,680 second that it pops out of the seed. Yeah. You get growth takes time. Yeah. It takes time. Um, 311 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:43,520 the next one he says is, what do you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you travel 312 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:48,800 over land and sea to win a single convert. And when you succeeded, you make them twice as much 313 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:56,320 a child of hell as you are. Okay. So lots of thoughts there. Yeah. Lots of thoughts there. 314 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,120 All right. Sure. We'll, we'll springboard into this. All right. This whole conversion, 315 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:06,480 discipleship topic. Um, let's just go there for a moment. Um, we often take this route of like, 316 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,040 okay, how do we track converts? Right. It's okay. It's like, okay. And then they convert, 317 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:15,520 they're like, oh great. You're saved. And then one or two things happens. Usually one is that you 318 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:21,840 ignore them and hope they get better and improve. Just not, not a good method by the way. Or two, 319 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:27,440 you apply this list of dictates of this is what it looks like to follow Jesus. Right. And then you 320 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,480 show an image of what you're supposed to look like negating the fact that you're supposed to be in 321 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:38,240 relationship with him. And then like, and then the relationship piece are often like treat. We often 322 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,720 can treat as a side as like a footnote, right? Of like, Hey, you want to look this way. You 323 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,280 don't want to drink. Don't chew. Don't date those who do type thing. Right. And oh, by the way, 324 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,200 you're also going to be in a relationship with Jesus. Right. And it's like, it's like, well, 325 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:58,400 shouldn't we first off, like shouldn't it start with the relationship piece of like, when we're 326 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:03,280 saying yes to Jesus, we're entering into a relationship with him, right? A lifelong 327 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:08,560 commitment, a covenant with him. He, we are going to draw closer to him. He's going to draw closer 328 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:13,360 to us. Our relationship with him is going to be strengthened. And over time, while that is happening, 329 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:18,800 we are going to be converted more into his image and into his likeness and look more like him 330 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:24,320 and be better versions of him to the world. The ironic thing about that is none of our other 331 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:31,120 relationships would we ever do that. Yeah. Like, uh, for example, we'll just take marriage. Like 332 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:34,640 the second we married, I didn't tell my wife, okay, here's the things you're going to do. 333 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:41,440 Uh huh. Well, at least I wouldn't have been, well, the people who do that often end up divorce. Yeah, 334 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:46,240 very quickly. Right. Because rather than, uh, focusing on relationship, getting to know each 335 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:51,120 other, investing in each other, spending time together, uh, joining spiritually, physically, 336 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:58,080 emotionally. Right. And then from that you become something, right. You're dictating what you 337 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:02,080 believe that they're, they're going to be. And rather than, uh, actually listening to God and 338 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:07,760 relying on God for his wisdom in this situation. And that's problematic. And, and let's even use 339 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:13,040 like you and me, for example, uh, we met three or four, three or four years ago. Yeah. Three, 340 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:20,000 three years ago. And, uh, can you imagine if we placed expectations on each other, the first time 341 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:25,760 we hung out for who we were going to be to each other? Oh yeah. And it like, we just wouldn't be 342 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,520 able to do that. And our friendship would have ended very quickly. We have very different lives, 343 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:34,560 very different lives. Right. Like you, I mean, like for example, like you have the luxury of 344 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:42,720 staying in bed till seven every morning, right? I do not. It is a luxury. Let me tell you. Right. 345 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:49,040 Like, like, uh, for those who are like, what do you mean? I was like, his wife's early, early riser 346 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:53,440 gets up with the kids. My wife leaves for work at three 30 in the morning. So I have no choice, 347 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,840 but to get up with my kid and your kid is an early riser. Oh yeah. Yeah. So there's both of those 348 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:02,240 things. We've had a number of people who've been like, Oh, just put her to bed later. And I'm like, 349 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:07,120 it doesn't work. People who say that, like when they're like, Oh, just put into bed later. They'll 350 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,520 sleep later. I was like, no, they won't. They will not. My kids up at five every morning, five, 351 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:17,280 five 30 every morning, ready to roll and like gets up and it's like, I want breakfast now. And it's 352 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:25,280 like, Oh, okay. Um, but like we have very different lives. And like, if I, if you put the expectations 353 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,680 of your life on me, I'd be like, bro, that's not going to work. Well, and like you think about, 354 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:35,280 um, like another thing like I do that you don't do is I read a lot. Like I mean, it's not saying 355 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:39,520 I Spencer reads. I'm not saying he doesn't read. He, he, he learned last week, last year, 356 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,720 but like I read, you know, hundreds of books a year, right. And like, and for me, like that's, 357 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,800 that's a place where like it allows my mind to stretch and mold and stuff in ways that I'm not 358 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,920 able to do other ways. Right. And it's a way that connects with me. It doesn't work for everybody. 359 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,480 Yeah. And we read like the books that we read are different. Like you read a lot of fantasy stuff, 360 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:07,120 which is great. And like a lot of nonfiction too, but like, yeah, I would do a lot of everything. 361 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:11,200 I just accept murder mystery. Sorry guys. If you're a murder mystery person versus me, like really 362 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:16,560 the only two things I really read is theology and history. Like those, like, those are really the 363 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:22,160 only things that I'm interested in reading about. And so, so like we have different preferences on 364 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:28,160 that. You prefer your fantasy and cinema form. Oh yeah. Like I will, I am 100% unashamed of type 365 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:31,840 of person where you're like, Oh, this is a great fantasy book. I'm like, awesome. I'm going to wait 366 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,000 till the movie comes out and never read the book and then be your friend. Who's like, that movie 367 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:43,600 was awesome. Yeah. Oh, by the way. Okay. So little, little aside, we'll get back to hypocrites in just 368 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:50,640 a second, but, um, the, uh, one of the worst, uh, they say, you know, like, you don't like, don't, 369 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,280 don't curse people this way. Like cursing this way is you say, I hope your, your favorite book 370 00:31:55,280 --> 00:32:00,640 is badly adapted into a movie. Yeah. And I was like, Oh, that hurts. That hurts. That hurts too 371 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:07,600 much. So this, this idea of conversion and expectation, right. And, uh, and when you have a, 372 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:13,200 when you have people, especially when you have them conform to you, uh, coming back to this idea 373 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:18,240 of going over, over land and sea and making them twice the son of hell you are, we don't want people 374 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,320 to become like us. We want them to become like Jesus. Yeah. Right. And hopefully like if we're 375 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:27,040 saying like, Hey, when you see Jesus in me, follow after those things. But like, even if I'm teaching 376 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:32,000 and discipling somebody, I was like, I make mistakes all the time and I don't want people to become me. 377 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:37,280 And like, if I was discipling you, you shouldn't become me. No, you should become like Jesus. If 378 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:42,160 he were you. Right. And, uh, it's, it's this difference of expectation. I was like, cause what 379 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,840 I don't want you to do is I don't want you to double down and make something that is a, my 380 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:52,320 personality, my relationship with God, something that is about, about me, a staple of you say, 381 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:56,960 everybody needs to do this. You end up with some really damaging theological ideas, 382 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:02,000 which we've definitely seen over the last 400 years. Well, and more so we've seen over the 383 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:06,320 last 10 years. Correct. I mean, we see that with social media, like, and we're one of those people 384 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:13,280 now, right? Where we are darn tick tockers. I know where we're posting our thoughts, our opinions 385 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,560 on stuff. And then there's going to be people who agree and disagree. And then there's going to be 386 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:21,200 people who are going to be like, I wholeheartedly disagree with everything they said. And here's the 387 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:26,000 reason why. And then they'll stitch us in a reel or whatever. Right. Like that's going to happen 388 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:32,800 because we have a myriad of opinions and just way easier access to sharing those opinions. 389 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:40,240 When the reality is how are you loving God and how are you loving people and are you doing those 390 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:45,840 things? Because that's the root of not being a hypocrite. Right. Well, and that even gets back 391 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:50,800 to the whole root of why we have this podcast, right? Is to have authentic conversation about 392 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:55,360 faith. Yeah. Right. It would I mean, you and I agree on a lot of things. We don't agree on 393 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,960 everything. And the fact that we don't, it helps us actually have real conversations 394 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:04,240 and actually talk about those things. Or who was it that said that we're always always arguing with 395 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,760 each other? I don't know. I remember somebody said that once. And I was like, I didn't even 396 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,640 know we were arguing how we're just talking. Yeah. Yeah. So it's okay to talk and also to disagree 397 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:17,840 and to have like those kinds of conversations. It's totally fine. Yeah. To put it in context, 398 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,840 just so you guys know, Ben and I are both the type of people where it's like we can disagree and be 399 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,200 like, okay. Yeah. And then I'll be like, Ben, you're wrong. And he'll be like, no, Spencer, 400 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,520 you're wrong. We're like, all right, well, we're going to walk away from this. And then 401 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,240 I'm just going to know Ben's always wrong on that front. So. 402 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:42,000 Oh, man. All right. This is we have a bunch more we could do, but I want to, I want to just stop on 403 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,960 this one because I think this is going to be a good one for us to, because I think you guys are 404 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:49,520 getting this idea of playing for the crowd. Right. I want to get this last one because I think it's a 405 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:55,040 really important one about talking about relationship with God. Yeah. What do you teachers of the law and 406 00:34:55,040 --> 00:35:01,040 Pharisees, you hypocrites, you give a 10th of your spices, mint, dill, cumin, but you've neglected 407 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:05,920 the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced 408 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:11,920 the latter without neglecting the former. Okay. I frequently, when I've heard people talk about 409 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:15,520 that verse, they're like, oh, well, you gotta, you need to focus on the weight of your portion 410 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:22,800 of the laws. Like, okay, two things you need to know. Yes, you do love justice, faithfulness. 411 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:28,800 These type of things are, are more important than, uh, than the tithe, right? Making sure that you're 412 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:33,040 giving a 10th of your, your cumin and your dill and your mint. Cause I know all of you growing that. 413 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,760 I think my wife is trying to, I think all those things that probably sounds about right. 414 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:43,520 Like these, these are not things that you shouldn't do. Like they are legitimate things that need to 415 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:48,880 happen. But when these are your focus, um, we, we told an analogy once it's like, if somebody walks 416 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:54,080 in and they say, I have a headache and I see a knife sticking out of their side, it's not that 417 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:58,160 the headache doesn't matter. You're going to deal with the knife. I'm going to deal with the knife 418 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:03,760 first because the knife is a much bigger deal. Um, and that's like a negative example, but when I'm, 419 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,000 when I'm going and having a conversation with people, uh, people in the world, people who are 420 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:15,120 in the church, I'm going to first focus on trying to love people well. Yep. And it's not that the 421 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:21,360 things in their life don't matter. It's that they are not the highest priority. The highest priority 422 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:25,920 is making sure that they know they're loved, that they are welcome into this kingdom of God 423 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,800 and that there there's an invitation for them. Right. Those other things will take care of 424 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:36,560 themselves. But once again, to your point, who do I trust? You know, if I'm inviting them into this 425 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:41,280 kingdom lifestyle and I don't want to like, there shouldn't be a bait and switch for sure. Like you 426 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:47,440 need to let people know it's like, Hey, if you fall after Jesus, like it's his way. Yep. You know, 427 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:52,560 and uh, like he'll have patience with you, but it's his way. You don't, you don't get to dictate 428 00:36:52,560 --> 00:37:02,160 the terms. Yeah. So I agree. So once again, this idea of hypocrites, it's not, uh, it's not about 429 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:08,400 just, it's not just shallowly like, Oh, you're a hypocrite because you don't do things the way that 430 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:13,040 I think that you should do them. When you claim to follow after something, but your life doesn't 431 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:17,040 reflect it. When you play for the audience, when you do things for the attention of other people, 432 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:23,040 rather than to actually, uh, bring glory to God, you take on the role of hypocrite because you're, 433 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:28,480 you're like an actor playing for the audience and that's not who we want to be. Yeah. Well, 434 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,440 at least that's not who I want to be. I mean, maybe somebody that's exactly who you want to be, 435 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:40,880 in which case I trust Jesus to work with you, you know? So, uh, yeah, thanks for being here with us 436 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:45,680 guys. This is a shorter episode this week. We'll be back next week talking about the book of James. 437 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:51,680 Yep. That's going to be fun. Uh, I will recommend that you read chapters one and two in prep and, 438 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,600 uh, you're going to recognize when you go through that, there's, there's a lot of references to 439 00:37:55,600 --> 00:38:00,640 Torah. And so if you have not gone through, virtually all references to Torah. So if you 440 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:04,560 have not gone through season one in our conversations, might, may just, uh, check out a 441 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,280 few portions of that because we'll probably backwards reference a fair amount. Yeah. 442 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:08,960 Till next time. 443 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:15,760 And that's a wrap for today's episode of Love and Context. We hope you enjoyed this engaging 444 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:20,240 conversation and gained valuable insights into the powerful message of love within the Bible. 445 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:24,560 We'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation. Connect with us by sending us 446 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:30,880 your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to loveandcontext.gmail.com. We greatly appreciate 447 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:36,880 your feedback and ideas for future episodes. Stay connected with us on social media for updates, 448 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,600 behind the scenes content, and additional resources. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, 449 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:46,240 YouTube, and Facebook at Love and Context. Don't forget to hit that follow button to stay up to 450 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:50,880 date with the latest episodes and join our growing community. Thank you for being part of the Love 451 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:56,320 and Context family. Remember, love is at the heart of it all. Until next time, keep seeking 452 00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:24,480 wisdom, embracing love, and living out your faith in the context of today's world. 453 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:30,160 Yeah. All right. Nick might, Nick might, 454 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:56,960 Nick could be like, I'm going to time this and see how long they say podcast.