WEBVTT 00:00:03.050 --> 00:00:05.790 Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:05.790 --> 00:00:09.230 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Melissa. 00:00:09.609 --> 00:00:14.160 And I'm Ben. And we are here to unpack. some 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.660 of the teaching that has been happening recently 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:19.039 here at Trinity. We've been going through this 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.399 sort of teaching series called Growing Season, 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.519 where we're looking at what farming can teach 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:27.420 us about faith. And we're actually going to go 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:30.760 back to last week's sermon, where Rob talked 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.320 to us about the parable of the weeds. And so 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.460 just as we get going, I'm going to read that 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:39.479 parable for us. So this is from Matthew chapter 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:44.859 13, starting at verse 24. Jesus told them a parable. 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.399 The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:49.939 good seed in his field. But while everyone was 00:00:49.939 --> 00:00:53.079 sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds among 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.640 the wheat and then went away. When the wheat 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.380 sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:00.880 appeared. The owner's servants came to him and 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:03.820 said, sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.920 Where then did these weeds come from? An enemy 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:09.700 did this, he said. And the servants asked him, 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:12.260 do you want us to go and pull them up? No, he 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:14.500 answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:17.280 you may root up the wheat with them. Let both 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.879 grow until the harvest, and at that time I will 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:22.280 tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:24.640 and throw them into bundles to be burned, then 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:28.760 gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. This 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:32.840 is the parable that Jesus tells. There's all 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:37.019 kinds of stuff happening in these verses. It's 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:39.840 partly, I think, about dealing with evil. I think 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.299 it's partly about, you know, what do we do when 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:45.180 bad things happen in the world? Where did these 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:47.099 weeds come from? Why are there bad things in 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:50.359 the world? You know, but then also questions 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:53.120 about how do we deal with the bad things that 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:54.579 happen in the world, right? Like, are we supposed 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:56.120 to just rip them out? Are we supposed to just 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:59.060 let it be? Like, there's a lot happening here. 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:03.000 Yeah. Yeah. So as you think about that passage 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:04.819 and maybe think about some of the stuff that 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:06.640 Rob talked about in his sermon, like, are there 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.800 any pieces that like really stand out to you 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:10.620 that you're like, this is like really interesting 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:13.979 or like really confusing? Yeah. You want to start 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:17.580 us out? Sorry. So, I mean, even just from the 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:19.879 sermon from last week, I think something that 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:23.860 really stood out to me and it is related to the 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:27.449 parable, but it was when Rob said like. as Christians, 00:02:27.469 --> 00:02:30.289 we have kind of like permission to say like there 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:33.229 is evil in the world. And, you know, I think 00:02:33.229 --> 00:02:35.870 a lot of times like in the secular world, it's 00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:37.889 a lot of like, oh, we don't know why this happened, 00:02:37.969 --> 00:02:41.789 et cetera, et cetera. But I think that was powerful 00:02:41.789 --> 00:02:44.090 for me because sometimes I feel like, oh, like, 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:46.669 you know, that's not really something that's 00:02:46.669 --> 00:02:48.770 normalized to say like, well, there are evil 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:51.669 forces in the world. Right. And then I think 00:02:51.669 --> 00:02:53.449 even just with this parable, too, it's like. 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.039 there's always questions of like well why does 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:58.479 evil happen why does god let this happen why 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:01.520 not just stop all the evil in the world and it 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:03.439 is a good point where it's like if you do that 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:07.479 like what are the repercussions afterwards sure 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:10.539 yeah yeah yeah like christianity gives us permission 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:12.400 to say that there is evil in the world but then 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.759 also gives us the like reason right jesus is 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:17.479 like very directly like there is an enemy this 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:20.240 is what's happening especially in the secular 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.900 world a lot of times like evil is not a concrete 00:03:22.900 --> 00:03:26.629 answer it's like sure cool evil's here how why 00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:29.849 what yeah but it just says hey this is an actual 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:31.830 thing that's in here and that we have to deal 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:34.150 with right so it's grappling with okay if evil's 00:03:34.150 --> 00:03:36.810 a thing it's not just that some physics in the 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:39.449 process failed there is a process here right 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:41.969 yeah yeah even if it's like a spiritual process 00:03:41.969 --> 00:03:44.389 that we can't quite grasp yeah it's like there 00:03:44.389 --> 00:03:46.969 there is a thing there is a reason this is happening 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:52.650 something's out there it's not just you yeah 00:03:52.650 --> 00:03:54.789 yeah what about for you ben any bits that sort 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:56.610 of stood out the biggest thing that always stands 00:03:56.610 --> 00:03:59.930 out to me is not judging people sure the biggest 00:03:59.930 --> 00:04:02.889 things is that we are not here to judge yep we 00:04:02.889 --> 00:04:04.930 can see that there's evil we can have discernment 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:07.349 of trying to point things out yeah but it's never 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:09.729 our place to truly judge someone or something 00:04:09.729 --> 00:04:12.669 yeah yeah yeah so like the the bit about like 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:15.150 the weeds and and the farmer sort of saying don't 00:04:15.150 --> 00:04:17.449 pull those out yet like wait till the end wait 00:04:17.449 --> 00:04:20.040 even if it looks bad right now even with no that 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.319 is there there's also some good there too sure 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:25.540 whether that's uh rob talking about within ourselves 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:29.300 or within others sure hard to discern so let 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:31.279 things go for now and let god work through the 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:35.160 good sure yeah okay so i think in all of that 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:36.759 like one of the questions that sort of comes 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:39.519 out for me is like therefore like what should 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.459 our response be to like bad things in the world 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:44.579 right are we just supposed to like sit back and 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:48.399 like let it happen i think you know what i I 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.620 feel like that's probably a question that Christians 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:53.959 have wrestled with probably for like centuries 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.740 just because like, yeah, like, what do you do? 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.240 Like, do we go out and we try to tackle it and 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.620 find the people or do we kind of sit back and 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:06.420 just let it go? And I've in my head, I think 00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:08.980 maybe kind of like. middle ground where I think 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:11.399 Christians have to be focused on social justice 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:13.779 if we do see that there are social injustices 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:17.379 being done Christians we are the ones who should 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:19.699 speak out we need to speak out for the vulnerable 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.240 right we need to speak out for the poor for the 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.480 people who are being systematically oppressed 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.759 and at the same time having that compassionate 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:32.339 lens right which I think this parable shows and 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:35.500 Ben you articulated so amazingly it's like don't 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:37.680 don't judge right because you never know who's 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:41.399 like what people are going to be in a couple 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.160 of years and I think it's just that's a very 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:47.910 compassionate empathetic approach to have and 00:05:47.910 --> 00:05:50.990 of course god is going to have that empathy because 00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:53.790 and compassion just as he has with all of us 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:57.110 yeah yeah yeah yeah his non -changing like constant 00:05:57.110 --> 00:05:59.269 persistence and just being patient and loving 00:05:59.269 --> 00:06:01.850 is amazing yeah that's one of the things i find 00:06:01.850 --> 00:06:03.670 actually does the most good in people is just 00:06:03.670 --> 00:06:06.490 being there with them sure and seeing them slowly 00:06:06.490 --> 00:06:09.810 change around if they have ways that are evil 00:06:09.810 --> 00:06:11.610 say they're doing something that isn't great 00:06:12.089 --> 00:06:14.069 One of the fun things is time actually gets to 00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:16.750 change a lot. Sure. They do stuff and like, you 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:18.689 know, I feel like this isn't working the way 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:20.850 I want it to. Sure. A lot of times they have 00:06:20.850 --> 00:06:23.329 ways to help out. Sure. That's not to say we 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:25.329 need to just stand back forever. Sure. One of 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:27.189 the big things as well is if we see things that 00:06:27.189 --> 00:06:29.370 are wrong, God gives us permission to name it. 00:06:29.410 --> 00:06:31.649 Right. Call it out and say, hey, this is wrong. 00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:33.699 Right. what he doesn't give us permission is 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:37.540 to say you are evil. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like that 00:06:37.540 --> 00:06:41.060 reminds me there's a scripture passage somewhere. 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:43.220 I think in one of Paul's letters where he says 00:06:43.220 --> 00:06:45.379 like, our battle is not against flesh and blood, 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.519 but it's a bit like the evil powers and principalities 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.860 in the world. Right. So like, if I see someone 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:53.449 doing something wrong, my problem is not. actually 00:06:53.449 --> 00:06:57.290 really with that person as a person it's with 00:06:57.290 --> 00:07:00.370 their behavior or it's with their their attitude 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:03.170 or like whatever is happening like i need to 00:07:03.170 --> 00:07:05.870 find a way to like respect the humanity of that 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:10.050 person and say this is not okay it's you're still 00:07:10.050 --> 00:07:12.889 a person you're still loved and made by god in 00:07:12.889 --> 00:07:17.439 his image And also, you have a bad opinion. Yes. 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:24.040 Yeah. I also feel, too, it's like even just like 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.199 for ourselves, like looking inward and being 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:30.399 like, where were we so long ago and how far has 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.040 God brought us? Like I can say right now that 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.339 maybe a couple of years ago, there were probably 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:37.139 people who were just like, she's a weed. We need 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:40.910 to get her out of here. Right. But. God sanctifies 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:43.589 and he changes hearts. And it's like the last 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:46.389 person that you would ever expect to maybe change, 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:48.430 like God, he can do it, right? So I think it's 00:07:48.430 --> 00:07:51.730 like, it's, you know, it's like if God was just 00:07:51.730 --> 00:07:54.050 going to pull out all the weeds, it's like, well, 00:07:54.110 --> 00:07:55.750 I would have been pulled out too, right? And 00:07:55.750 --> 00:07:58.889 I think it's just sitting and being like, actually, 00:07:58.910 --> 00:08:01.750 no, like don't pull out all the weeds. I'm thankful 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:04.779 I wasn't pulled out. Let them, you know, kind 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:08.199 of be there and just. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.060 I like to think about team sports or especially 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:12.439 growing up, like tons of team sports. Sure. But 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:14.879 if you always looked at like the worst person 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.699 air quotes on the team, they would always be 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:19.160 the person who you don't trust them to always 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.759 have the ball or do the best thing or score whatever 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.839 they have the moment. But at the same time, it's 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.420 some of those matches where they're the ones 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.199 who have the ball and get that shot in. You can't 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:30.600 just throw them out. And this week we talked 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:32.929 about everyone is needed. Right. they're still 00:08:32.929 --> 00:08:34.889 a person that can still do amazing things. Yeah. 00:08:34.909 --> 00:08:38.970 Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Okay. So then, um, 00:08:39.090 --> 00:08:41.649 I think sort of around the same theme, often 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:44.110 when something goes wrong, we're looking for 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:47.309 who to blame. We're like, this is their fault, 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:50.330 or this is my fault, or this is the fault of 00:08:50.330 --> 00:08:52.970 these circumstances that I'm sort of facing. 00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:56.610 Um, so why do you think we often do that? And 00:08:56.610 --> 00:08:58.269 like, what does this parable sort of have to 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:01.360 say to us about? that sort of process. I think 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.200 one of the things that I, or comes to my mind 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.720 immediately is the concept of cognitive dissonance. 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:07.639 Okay. Which if you haven't heard of it, it's 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.080 basically when you do an action that is very 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:12.740 separate from your beliefs. Sure. Like I believe 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:14.960 in charity and then also I never give to charity 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.000 ever. Right. It's something where it's like that 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.419 might eat away you a little bit, but if you do 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.299 things that really you don't actually believe 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:23.960 in or don't think you're right, that eats away 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:25.759 at you. Sure. And so one of the ways that our 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.549 brain. easily tries to just delineate and say, 00:09:28.610 --> 00:09:30.370 hey, no, I'm still a good person, is to immediately 00:09:30.370 --> 00:09:32.210 find where is the blame? Where's the thing that 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:35.149 I can pinpoint this onto? Sure. If it's me, okay, 00:09:35.210 --> 00:09:37.389 it's me, but you can have a different spot where 00:09:37.389 --> 00:09:38.830 you can pinpoint and say, oh, it's this action. 00:09:38.970 --> 00:09:41.529 Oh, it's just this. Or it's, oh, it was me, but 00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:43.309 I'm just tired. I just need to sleep more. Right. 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:44.909 Yeah, yeah, yeah. If it's someone else, it's 00:09:44.909 --> 00:09:47.389 way easier to pass the buck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:09:47.490 --> 00:09:49.129 It's just not me at all. It's just, it's not 00:09:49.129 --> 00:09:52.129 me. Oh, it's this guy. Oh, man. Right. Yeah, 00:09:52.289 --> 00:09:55.450 yeah, yeah. So in some ways, our, like, brain 00:09:55.450 --> 00:09:58.110 and our like desire to maintain a positive self 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:02.049 -image like yeah sort of motivates us to look 00:10:02.049 --> 00:10:03.990 for blame and it's self -image but it's also 00:10:03.990 --> 00:10:06.600 just not feel bad when you do something you don't 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:10.059 even your brain tells you yeah it's always the 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:12.159 classic like listen to your body but it does 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.559 give you a lot of good information so when it's 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:16.500 tell you like hey i feel really bad about this 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:19.059 sometimes it's good to sit with that for a second 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:22.240 yeah yeah yeah and i think even just whether 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.460 that's like blaming ourselves or like the world 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.389 or like whatever it's like i think When we don't 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:29.610 have an answer to it's like I feel like our brains 00:10:29.610 --> 00:10:31.230 is just like, well, I have to find the reason 00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:33.669 for this. I have to find a solution. I can't 00:10:33.669 --> 00:10:35.309 just let it be empty. So we're like, we're going 00:10:35.309 --> 00:10:37.830 to blame that and blame that. And I think that's 00:10:37.830 --> 00:10:39.629 something humans struggle with, too, is just 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:42.990 not having an answer, you know. Sure. And just 00:10:42.990 --> 00:10:46.970 exactly having control. And ultimately, there's 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:48.549 a lot of things that we're just not going to 00:10:48.549 --> 00:10:52.070 have answers to until we see Jesus face to face. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.740 how do we accept that? Right. And yeah, it's 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:02.500 a lot for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So then like, if 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:04.799 we think, go back to like, what does this parable 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:06.639 have to tell us about this? Like, you know, looking 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:08.720 for someone to blame. One of the things that 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.250 Rob mentioned in the sermon was like the. the 00:11:12.250 --> 00:11:14.250 servants immediately are like, well, obviously 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:16.409 this farmer is to blame. He sowed some bad seed. 00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:18.830 He did something wrong here. Something went bad. 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:21.549 That there's weeds there. But the farmer's just 00:11:21.549 --> 00:11:24.669 like not playing that game. No. He's very much 00:11:24.669 --> 00:11:27.090 taking that step back saying, I did things right, 00:11:27.230 --> 00:11:29.470 which is good self -defense when you actually 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:33.909 did everything right. Yeah. Yeah. And but then 00:11:33.909 --> 00:11:36.789 he says, I didn't do this. There is a reason 00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:40.149 there is an enemy who's present there. And in 00:11:40.149 --> 00:11:43.350 some ways, like, Maybe that still feels like 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:45.830 playing the blame game, but at least the blame 00:11:45.830 --> 00:11:50.909 seems correct. Yes. I don't know. There is something 00:11:50.909 --> 00:11:54.250 like blame isn't always negative. Sure. I get 00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:56.669 blamed for donating to charity. I'm OK with that. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.940 Yeah. Yeah. But it's what we do with that. I 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:02.820 think that's where it comes to like that judgment 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:05.419 comes back for my mind. Sure. Even if we blame 00:12:05.419 --> 00:12:07.740 it correctly, we can blame it. Judgment, though, 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:10.700 is not my place. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:14.600 I think also it's like when we do like recognize 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.440 that there is an enemy, that there is evil in 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:21.720 this world. I think it also reminds us not to 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.139 blame like humans. It reminds us not to divide 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:28.230 each other. I think it's. it's super easy. And 00:12:28.230 --> 00:12:30.350 we see this a lot, even just like socially, right? 00:12:30.429 --> 00:12:33.690 Like where some communities are kind of like 00:12:33.690 --> 00:12:36.269 systematically made to blame another community. 00:12:36.309 --> 00:12:38.730 And by doing that, you're not actually blaming 00:12:38.730 --> 00:12:41.870 the ones who are in control. Um, but even just 00:12:41.870 --> 00:12:44.389 like on this plane too, it's like, if humans 00:12:44.389 --> 00:12:46.610 are like, well, that denomination is bad and 00:12:46.610 --> 00:12:48.570 I'm the good denomination and that denomination 00:12:48.570 --> 00:12:51.049 is bad. And then the enemy is like, yes, according 00:12:51.049 --> 00:12:53.309 to my plan, blame each other, but don't blame 00:12:53.309 --> 00:12:57.299 me. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's even in, like, 00:12:57.299 --> 00:12:59.779 funny things that I've seen online where people 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:01.759 keep telling me this week that there are memes 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.899 of Americans blaming Canadians for all the smoke. 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:08.139 Yeah. Right. You're right. We do have the smoke. 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:10.159 It is coming there. But we didn't set these fires 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:16.940 intentionally. Right. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:19.759 then sort of related to that, one of the other 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.139 things that Rob said was that the presence of 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:25.759 weeds in the garden or in the field doesn't mean 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:29.019 that the farmer has failed. Yes. That there there 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:34.179 is an enemy at work. So like, yeah. What do you 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:35.899 think about that? Like, how does that impact 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:38.200 the way that we think about failure or about 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.059 challenges or hard things in the world? I get 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:44.179 to bring my knowledge of just me. I like to play 00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:46.679 a lot of team -based games. Yeah. And so whether 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:48.440 it's online is where you get to see the most 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.899 blame and everything going around. But one of 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:52.820 the fun things is you can do everything right 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:55.399 and then still lose the game. Yeah. 100%. Yep. 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:58.200 But it's a nice way of saying, okay, even if 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.019 I do everything right, when there's still things 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:02.179 that I can work on, even if I did things right, 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:04.679 I can always improve. Sure. But having something 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:06.539 else that's out there saying, I don't need to 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:08.700 blame my teammates. I don't need to blame this 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:11.299 person or this thing. Yeah. But saying, OK, we 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:13.240 can actually collectively group up and say, hey, 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:15.259 there's evil out here. We can actually try and 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:18.200 work against this in whatever way we fits. Sure. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:21.379 We lost it this way. OK, how can we better like 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:24.000 shore up our weaknesses? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.320 it gives us like an opportunity to like build 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.919 on our skills to like grow and develop a little 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:34.259 bit without that judgment. Exactly. Yeah. Because 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:36.500 if there was no challenge ever, we would not 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:38.840 really need to grow. We just have to stay a little 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:40.629 bit more stagnant. Yeah. And it would feel kind 00:14:40.629 --> 00:14:44.350 of boring, I would think. Very. Yeah. Very. I'm 00:14:44.350 --> 00:14:46.730 already good at everything. My life is perfect. 00:14:46.870 --> 00:14:51.960 Just too good. Yes, yes. I think that is like 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.840 a really, it kind of addresses like perfectionism, 00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:57.059 right? And that's, I think, something that plagues 00:14:57.059 --> 00:15:00.600 many, many people. And then, you know, not even 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:02.379 just like giving up on a team, not giving up 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:04.919 on yourself too, right? Saying that, hey, like, 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.120 yes, there are flaws. I do have weeds inside 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.659 of me, but God hasn't given up on me, so I won't 00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:12.759 give up on me either. And it doesn't, and I think 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.409 just... a lot of times we can maybe get into 00:15:15.409 --> 00:15:18.970 like self -blame too right sure um but i really 00:15:18.970 --> 00:15:21.330 like how the yeah and i like how the farmer was 00:15:21.330 --> 00:15:23.870 like no this it just happens right like don't 00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:26.649 i'm not blaming myself don't blame me um there 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:29.429 is even the world there's just because sin has 00:15:29.429 --> 00:15:32.330 entered the world um and because we are in these 00:15:32.330 --> 00:15:35.009 fleshly bodies it's something that is just part 00:15:35.009 --> 00:15:38.720 of our reality until we see Jesus again. Yeah. 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:42.059 Yeah. Yeah. I think it also really speaks to 00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:45.000 that, like fix it mentality that we sometimes 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.139 have, or at least I sometimes have where I'm 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:50.679 like, ah, this thing has gone wrong in my life 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:53.159 or in someone else's life. Like who, how do I 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:54.799 fix it? How do I make this better? Like what, 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:58.120 what went wrong here? Um, and like, that's not 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:00.879 always bad. Like it's good to reflect on those 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.740 things, but I think just noticing, okay. The 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:06.929 fact that something went that something bad happens, 00:16:06.950 --> 00:16:09.970 something unexpected happened. Doesn't mean that, 00:16:10.049 --> 00:16:13.570 that, yeah, that there is a thing to fix always. 00:16:13.710 --> 00:16:17.730 Right. Um, or that, like, I think sometimes the 00:16:17.730 --> 00:16:19.710 other piece that sort of comes to mind for me 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:22.259 around this is like, Sometimes I think especially 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:26.559 in Christian circles, when something bad is happening 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.279 in somebody's life, we're like, oh, just just 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:31.360 like pray more about that. Or just like, you 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.820 know, if you were more connected to God or like 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:36.720 if you did, it's because you did this bad thing 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.159 that one time 10 years ago. And now this other 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:41.539 bad thing is happening in your life. Right. Like 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:44.279 try to make those connections. But this parable 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.259 sort of slaps us in the face and says, no. That's 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:49.500 not how this works. Yeah. Which is big. I think 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:52.159 even in my experience of doing a BA in psychology, 00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:54.000 one of the things we always just come back to 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.379 is like, oh, everything's fully connected. Right. 00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:58.679 And it's right. And a lot of the main answers 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:00.799 that we have for a lot of solutions for the biggest 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.039 problems are the simplest ones of like, oh, get 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.039 more sleep, pray more, read more. And those are 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.220 good, but you can't just blame someone like, 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.339 ah, you didn't sleep eight hours a day. Ah, that's 00:17:10.339 --> 00:17:14.960 why you failed. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I feel 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.170 like that's, So important. I had a train of thought. 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:23.130 It's gone now. But if you just blame people, 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:25.650 oh, you didn't pray more. Well, how much is more? 00:17:25.710 --> 00:17:27.430 How much is enough? Right. That's the one with 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:30.609 the power. Right. If I ask him once, we have 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:32.750 the faith that he's listening to us and he has 00:17:32.750 --> 00:17:35.190 heard us. Yeah. He's not deaf. Yeah. It's a very 00:17:35.190 --> 00:17:37.490 handy thing. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:41.650 Yeah. Yeah. And I think it again, it kind of 00:17:41.650 --> 00:17:43.700 like. I know there's going to be a lot of people 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:46.000 out there who are being blamed by maybe family 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.420 members, right, who are saying, like, you know, 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.180 why are you like this? You know, if you just 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:51.819 did this, then you wouldn't be like that anymore. 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:54.359 And I think that really is ingrained in a lot 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:56.940 of, like, Christian circles of, like, he did 00:17:56.940 --> 00:17:59.660 this and this. Like, Job's own friends were like, 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:01.839 it's because you did this, and this is why God's 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.779 punishing you. And it's like, Job's like, I did 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:10.089 my part. And I think it's just really cool that 00:18:10.089 --> 00:18:12.210 a parable like this exists in the Bible and that 00:18:12.210 --> 00:18:15.329 God essentially like obviously he knows, but 00:18:15.329 --> 00:18:16.769 like he knew that there are going to be people 00:18:16.769 --> 00:18:18.410 who are going to go who are going to struggle 00:18:18.410 --> 00:18:20.849 with that self -blame, with being blamed by other 00:18:20.849 --> 00:18:23.410 people and just saying like, well, no, like you're 00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:25.430 not the one to blame. There are things in this 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:28.089 world that are outside of our control and you 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:30.299 just kind of have to trust. you know, God's way, 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.259 God's purpose. And, um, I think in a way it can 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:37.000 bring peace to people as well. Sure. Very much 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:40.539 can go back to basics. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:44.920 Okay. So to like, flip this a little bit i think 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:46.740 we're saying okay there's sometimes things that 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:48.519 happen that are beyond our control it's nobody's 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:51.000 to blame it's not our fault okay this is sometimes 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:56.079 true sometimes it is our fault yes this is very 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:59.180 true right okay so how do we balance this message 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.759 that we've just been saying with like responsibility 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:05.319 Absolutely. I get to go back to, thank you, Rob, 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:07.880 for discernment. One of the big things that he 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:09.640 was pointing out is discernment is always key 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.839 of understanding, okay, what is good? What is 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:13.920 bad? Even though we're not the final judges, 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:16.599 we can also still look at things and say, hey, 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:19.460 I don't think this was right. And so being able 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:21.220 to try and use that in our daily lives, say, 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:23.539 okay, go back to the readings, go back and say, 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.700 okay, like what would Jesus do in many scenarios? 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.079 Sure. Is this something where I would be loving 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.059 my neighbors or is this something that maybe? 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:32.559 is a little bit more selfish to me sure yeah 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.799 that's something we can use for sure yeah um 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:39.119 no i think you you hit it right on the nail and 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.500 i think it's discernment and then also just like 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.920 sorry guys i don't know why i'm struggling a 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:50.640 little bit to form some thoughts today um but 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:54.019 also i think accepting that we don't i think 00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:56.519 i think sometimes like We don't want to take 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.000 the blame because of cognitive dissonance, like 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.779 you said. Yeah. And then at the same and along 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:03.839 those lines, it's like we don't want to think 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.180 of ourselves as like capable of doing bad. Right. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:08.039 We don't want to think of ourselves as capable 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.599 of hurting someone or doing things. And I think 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:13.240 it's just accepting that you're not perfect and 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.779 that it's OK to take accountability and it's 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:20.160 OK to say sorry. It's OK to still keep growing. 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:23.529 Sure. And then. you know just balancing like 00:20:23.529 --> 00:20:25.529 you know you're not the reason that the world 00:20:25.529 --> 00:20:27.589 is falling apart and at the same time you're 00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:29.509 also not a perfect person and you're gonna hurt 00:20:29.509 --> 00:20:32.069 people you already have hurt people because we're 00:20:32.069 --> 00:20:34.910 all humans and just um accepting that and being 00:20:34.910 --> 00:20:37.170 okay with that yeah it's like taking that like 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:40.849 right leveled perspective of ourselves like i 00:20:40.849 --> 00:20:44.490 think often Humans are really good at going to 00:20:44.490 --> 00:20:48.730 extremes of binaries and being like, okay, in 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:52.109 this situation, either I'm definitely the victim 00:20:52.109 --> 00:20:55.349 and have no blame at all, or I'm the worst and 00:20:55.349 --> 00:20:58.569 it's all entirely my fault. And I think often 00:20:58.569 --> 00:21:00.789 the truth is somewhere more in the middle. Oh, 00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:04.829 grayers are big. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And 00:21:04.829 --> 00:21:09.069 so having that right level perspective of ourselves, 00:21:09.309 --> 00:21:13.160 of saying, okay, I... I'm not the cause of all 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.420 the world's problems, but also sometimes I'm 00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:18.779 the cause of the problems in my own world. Yeah, 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:21.980 absolutely. Right. And, but approaching that 00:21:21.980 --> 00:21:26.579 with a level of like grace, right? Like I think 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:30.000 one of the things, um, about, we don't really 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.720 love talking about like conviction, but like 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:33.660 this idea that like from the Holy spirit, like 00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:35.900 sometimes we get this sense that like, I'm not 00:21:35.900 --> 00:21:39.539 doing the right thing. I think the Holy spirit's 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:42.119 conviction is always covered in grace. Right. 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:45.019 It's never like you are a bad person. You did 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:47.519 a bad thing. Like all of that. It's like, no, 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:50.740 no, this thing that's happening is not good. 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:54.460 And so like, how do we take that to transform 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:59.259 me into a more Christlike person? Right. It's 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:01.380 never like tearing one down. It's like, it's 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:03.900 building you up. Right. Right. And so like when 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:06.519 we say, Hey, I need to take responsibility for 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:09.960 that. to to say that like our internal narrative 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:13.119 to be like okay i need to take responsibility 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:18.079 for that because i value this value i value honesty 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.079 i value love i value this relationship like whatever 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:23.980 it is right working towards building up rather 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:26.180 than i need to fix this because i'm a bad person 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:28.359 absolutely yeah i think the big thing for me 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:30.000 that i always get to come back to is not taking 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.039 things as personally sure there's a hundred percent 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:35.039 things that you can take personally if someone 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.859 just says you suck that's pretty personal yeah 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.200 sure but when you try and take it out of context 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:42.200 and take it less personally you suck doesn't 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:44.500 do anything. Like, what do I do with that? Great, 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.880 I suck. And what if someone says, hey, could 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.039 you try and like show up on time? Oh, OK, I can 00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:51.740 do something with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:22:51.779 --> 00:22:53.640 So it's taking that step back of trying not to 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:56.000 take things personally and then going, OK, this 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.339 didn't feel right. Let's take this. Let's go 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:00.220 back to the word or let's go back to friends, 00:23:00.339 --> 00:23:02.220 especially like groups. Yeah, it's really handy. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.660 Just say, hey, what do you think about this? 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:07.180 Yeah, this I didn't feel like went well. I'm 00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:10.150 not sure why. bring it back to some form of basis. 00:23:10.329 --> 00:23:12.509 Okay. Is it loving my neighbor? Is this like, 00:23:12.549 --> 00:23:14.809 does this show the fruits of the spirit? Stuff 00:23:14.809 --> 00:23:17.769 like that. And just knowing that like, as you, 00:23:17.809 --> 00:23:19.930 as God is sanctifying you, but as you're also 00:23:19.930 --> 00:23:21.990 like working this out and like learning, learning, 00:23:22.089 --> 00:23:23.730 you're not going to be pulled out. You know, 00:23:23.750 --> 00:23:27.450 you're still going to be in the farm, the farmer's 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:29.829 hands. And you're still going to be taken care 00:23:29.829 --> 00:23:33.630 of. And I think it's just when God. gives us 00:23:33.630 --> 00:23:35.470 that grace, reminding us to give that grace to 00:23:35.470 --> 00:23:37.390 other people too, right? Because we all have 00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:39.309 the power of pulling out the weeds, just pulling 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:42.650 people out and disregarding them and just showing 00:23:42.650 --> 00:23:45.430 that grace to everyone. Yeah. One of the quotes 00:23:45.430 --> 00:23:47.910 I like, he's from a guy called John Green, but 00:23:47.910 --> 00:23:50.529 he has one quote, which is, treat yourself like 00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:52.809 you're on a team that you're cheering for. If 00:23:52.809 --> 00:23:54.230 you're cheering for your team, you don't want 00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:55.690 them to just give up if they make a mistake. 00:23:55.849 --> 00:23:57.529 You're like, no, get back out there. Keep going. 00:23:58.009 --> 00:24:00.349 So it's trying to help knowing that both you 00:24:00.349 --> 00:24:02.559 are on your own team, but also that God on your 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:04.779 team he's actually cheering for you right yeah 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:07.119 even if god is there cheering for you and he 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.420 says hey that that wasn't great that didn't go 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:13.079 so good right he's there to help not to say you're 00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:15.940 bad but to say hey this didn't work let's fix 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:17.599 this a little bit right we've got room to go 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:21.400 yeah yeah that was powerful that was really cool 00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:27.119 yeah i'm glad i'm glad yeah um okay so we have 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:30.609 all just kind of said um evil exists in the world 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:34.150 there is an enemy at work okay do you think that 00:24:34.150 --> 00:24:37.809 like people actually believe that i don't know 00:24:37.809 --> 00:24:42.329 okay right does that like does that sound crazy 00:24:42.329 --> 00:24:47.990 or like superstitious or i i do think maybe you 00:24:47.990 --> 00:24:49.630 would have to kind of come from more of like 00:24:49.630 --> 00:24:52.410 a spiritual lens, right? If you are part of a 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:56.230 religion, if you believe in a certain spirituality, 00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:59.329 like Christians, I guess that might fit a little 00:24:59.329 --> 00:25:02.430 bit more in our worldviews. Sure. I think as 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:04.569 Christians, you know, we understand that, you 00:25:04.569 --> 00:25:07.369 know, God is good, good, and there is an evil. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:10.779 I think that might be a little bit hard sometimes 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:14.640 to explain to folks who might not be part of 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.079 a church, who might not be Christian or part 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:20.019 of a religion. Sometimes when I look at the things 00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:23.299 that happen in the world that kind of come out 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:26.200 and I'm like. This is evil. You know, there's 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:27.660 really no other way to look at it. It's like 00:25:27.660 --> 00:25:30.380 this is pure evil. And then there are some things 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:32.759 where I'm just like, well, actually, humans also 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:36.799 suck, which is from sin, from the original sin. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.480 But at the same time, it's, you know, I think 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:43.039 people are also capable of doing really bad things, 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:47.980 too. And whether or not that was influenced by 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:50.599 the enemy or if it's just they are just going 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:54.420 through something very difficult right now. I 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:56.140 don't know, that might be something up to God. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:59.920 Yeah, for sure. Even going off the human suck 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.859 narrative, it's very common to be like, oh man, 00:26:02.980 --> 00:26:05.240 we are terrible at these things. Yeah, yeah. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:07.559 But we're also made in God's image, so it's fun 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:09.759 to grapple with the two of going, okay, we're 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:13.279 made in God's image, and also, we don't do things 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.799 right. But that's also where the parable of the 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:18.440 weeds helps us give us more time to grow. It 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:20.039 doesn't just cut us down the moment something 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:22.599 is bad, it's... give room, and then hopefully 00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:24.200 we can actually, especially the weeds inside 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:26.180 ourselves, we can try and sort a little bit out 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:27.980 on our own and try and grow the proper fruit. 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:32.740 Sure, yeah. Yeah, I think, like, if you were 00:26:32.740 --> 00:26:34.859 to, like, just, I don't know, walk up to somebody 00:26:34.859 --> 00:26:37.240 on the street, I wouldn't recommend this. If 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:39.160 you did, you would just walk up to a random person 00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:41.259 and be like, yeah, yeah, there's evil out in 00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:43.319 the world. Like, people would maybe be like, 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:46.680 well, there's bad things in the world. Yes. I 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:49.849 think we all have this, like, innate sense. that 00:26:49.849 --> 00:26:52.789 the world is not as it should be right yes right 00:26:52.789 --> 00:26:56.049 like and and people will name that differently 00:26:56.049 --> 00:26:57.690 and like have different language for that but 00:26:57.690 --> 00:27:00.029 i think generally we're all on the same page 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:03.269 that like things are not always good no right 00:27:03.269 --> 00:27:06.410 um just look at the news yeah yeah yeah exactly 00:27:06.410 --> 00:27:10.109 right um just go breathe the air outside in ontario 00:27:10.109 --> 00:27:14.640 this week um right like it's not good um But 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.859 I think what Christianity does and like other 00:27:17.859 --> 00:27:20.059 religious systems sometimes do this as well is 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:23.880 like gives us a name for that. Yes. Right. And 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:28.180 says, yeah, evil exists because there is an enemy, 00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:31.400 because Satan rebelled against God and is now 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:33.859 on this mission to destroy God's world. Yes. 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:39.509 Right. So do you think that that. is helpful 00:27:39.509 --> 00:27:41.789 like in what ways is is that sort of narrative 00:27:41.789 --> 00:27:44.089 something that is encouraging or something that 00:27:44.089 --> 00:27:47.029 gives is useful in some way i think it's pretty 00:27:47.029 --> 00:27:49.549 handy for me okay one of the nice things about 00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:51.450 having that narrative is if i were to tell like 00:27:51.450 --> 00:27:53.569 a friend oh there's evil in the world they probably 00:27:53.569 --> 00:27:56.130 would go okay but that's a lot of my friends 00:27:56.130 --> 00:27:57.930 at university who aren't necessarily religious 00:27:57.930 --> 00:28:00.710 they go okay evil sure they might pinpoint and 00:28:00.710 --> 00:28:02.549 really like to pinpoint and blame things like 00:28:02.549 --> 00:28:05.410 oh it's a corporate greed or oh it's sin in some 00:28:05.410 --> 00:28:08.539 aspect sure whatever the sin may be yeah But 00:28:08.539 --> 00:28:11.700 for us to say, OK, evil is out there, I can pinpoint 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:14.480 it more on evil and less on specific people or 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.299 actions. Sure. And then I can try and reroute 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.839 it and say, OK, we can work with everyone here. 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:22.519 Whoever is nearby, try to be a blessing to whoever 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:25.799 you're around. Yeah. And work together, not having 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:28.220 the blame on specifically something. Sure. Someone 00:28:28.220 --> 00:28:30.500 specific. Yeah. Saying, OK, there's a forces 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:33.900 process. how can we collectively work against 00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:36.180 it? And then through God's grace and wisdom, 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.619 hopefully we can come up with some ways to try 00:28:38.619 --> 00:28:41.599 to keep ourselves accountable and growing rather 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.680 than just forcing it onto the more tangible aspects. 00:28:44.940 --> 00:28:48.339 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think something like... 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:50.759 when when we hear like you know there's evil 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:53.019 in the world and there is an enemy i think that's 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:55.059 something that should bring people together kind 00:28:55.059 --> 00:28:57.019 of like you said but so i wasn't speaking to 00:28:57.019 --> 00:28:59.140 mike i'm speaking to mike now that's something 00:28:59.140 --> 00:29:01.420 should that should kind of bring people together 00:29:01.420 --> 00:29:05.359 especially um christians right like we should 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:08.460 be coming together to bring as much light and 00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:10.900 love in the world because we know that evil does 00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:13.220 exist and it does impact people and then at the 00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:17.000 same time um you know there there are folks who 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:19.880 may have experienced like being told like you 00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:21.279 have the devil inside of you and that's why you 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.579 do this this this this this right and it's just 00:29:23.579 --> 00:29:26.940 being like um I don't think that's the direction 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:28.940 we should be taking this. We shouldn't be using 00:29:28.940 --> 00:29:31.799 the fact that there is an enemy to then blame 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.079 one another. Right. To be like, you are part 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:36.539 of the enemy or whatever. Like, right. You know, 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:39.460 I think it's really just being like, OK, so there 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:42.039 is this evil there. We just have to be together 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:44.019 and we have to have each other's backs and we 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:46.220 have to approach each other with grace and compassion. 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:49.410 And even if there's going to be people who. don't 00:29:49.410 --> 00:29:52.549 believe in what we believe we still extend that 00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:54.529 grace and compassion to them as well because 00:29:54.529 --> 00:29:57.670 we want the best for them and we don't want them 00:29:57.670 --> 00:30:00.950 to be hurt by the evil that is there and um i 00:30:00.950 --> 00:30:03.190 think it i think there really is so much power 00:30:03.190 --> 00:30:06.329 when christians come together in light and in 00:30:06.329 --> 00:30:08.910 love and just pray and are just like you know 00:30:08.910 --> 00:30:11.369 like we just want good things for the world we 00:30:11.369 --> 00:30:12.890 want people to be blessed we want people to be 00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:16.549 safe and protected and um and just as christians 00:30:16.549 --> 00:30:19.319 reminding that A lot of things are in God's hands. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:21.079 And at the same time, it's not like we're completely 00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:24.779 powerless, right? Like there are things that, 00:30:24.779 --> 00:30:27.079 you know, prayer, speaking to God, reading the 00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:29.660 word, getting involved in community, fighting 00:30:29.660 --> 00:30:32.539 the systemic injustices we see because we live 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:35.039 in Canada, we're Christians, we don't face the 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:37.299 same persecution as maybe other groups. So using 00:30:37.299 --> 00:30:39.799 those privileges to then help those who cannot 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:42.380 speak for themselves, that is a way we can fight 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:45.740 against evil. We're called to stewardship. We're 00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:48.460 called to help those in need. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:51.559 For sure. Yeah. And I think one of the important 00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:54.720 pieces for me in like at least sort of framing 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:58.000 all of this is that like we all come together 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:03.400 as Christians, as humanity, ideally, right, to 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:07.539 fight against evil in the world. But actually 00:31:07.539 --> 00:31:13.839 we. Can't win. If it was just all of the people 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:19.700 getting together, mission failed. It's not going 00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:24.000 to go well, folks. But the Christian narrative, 00:31:24.099 --> 00:31:26.180 the story of hope that we have is that Jesus 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.720 has actually already defeated evil. Yes. Right. 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:32.019 We know the end of the story and we're just like 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:35.880 not quite living there yet. Right. And so all 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.839 of this, this coming together, this doing good 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.519 work, this loving our neighbor, like all comes 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.880 under the umbrella of Christ's love and power. 00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:48.079 Right. That works in and through us to confront 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:50.700 the evil powers in the world. Absolutely. Right. 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:53.779 That. Yeah. And I think we just need to remember 00:31:53.779 --> 00:31:57.380 that in all of this, that like the servants aren't 00:31:57.380 --> 00:31:59.240 just like out there doing their own thing. They're 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:00.799 doing their own thing under the direction of 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:03.180 the farmer, under the direction of God. Yeah. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.940 All things are possible through God. Yeah. He's 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:09.059 not just passive standing by and just watching 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:11.460 everything. You can pray to the same guy who 00:32:11.460 --> 00:32:13.759 has the power to help you through in defeating. 00:32:14.410 --> 00:32:17.069 the mythical force of evil that's out there yeah 00:32:17.069 --> 00:32:19.670 we can name it and also have the guy who knows 00:32:19.670 --> 00:32:21.490 how to beat it on our side yeah it's great yeah 00:32:21.490 --> 00:32:25.490 it's very helpful it's very handy yeah yeah so 00:32:25.490 --> 00:32:28.369 i think just that reminder that yeah there is 00:32:28.369 --> 00:32:31.309 evil in the world there are things that will 00:32:31.309 --> 00:32:34.069 go wrong and we don't need to waste our time 00:32:34.069 --> 00:32:38.390 trying to find the blame right that we can say 00:32:38.390 --> 00:32:42.430 you know there's an enemy yep and and that enemy 00:32:43.730 --> 00:32:47.849 Sometimes is at work in people, but that's not 00:32:47.849 --> 00:32:50.809 because the people are bad. It's because the 00:32:50.809 --> 00:32:55.470 enemy is sneaky. Exactly. Absolutely. Right. 00:32:56.029 --> 00:33:00.049 But God wins. God wins. And God's like, here, 00:33:00.109 --> 00:33:03.730 come join my team. Thank you. Yeah. Pretty cool 00:33:03.730 --> 00:33:07.740 stuff. That's my coach. I think it's like then 00:33:07.740 --> 00:33:09.380 it just kind of reminds us because when we do 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:12.319 see evil in the world, we can get really hopeless, 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.440 right? Sure. But just from this whole conversation, 00:33:14.660 --> 00:33:17.619 since God is on our team, Jesus has already like 00:33:17.619 --> 00:33:21.519 won. He has already defeated evil. Just turning 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:23.460 this into like a story of hope and trying to 00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:25.519 turning it into something of like, we know what's 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:29.119 going to happen. So let's just try to do as much 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:33.299 as we can to help people and to be love and light 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:37.019 in the world as we can and not let. evil or weeds 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:39.819 or anything divide us yeah yeah for sure takes 00:33:39.819 --> 00:33:41.759 a lot of the pressure off of us as individuals 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:44.539 we don't have to find the blame and go into chaos 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:46.119 and going no it was your fault that was this 00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:48.559 fault that was yeah we could just sit back say 00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:51.420 no god's got this god's got this my job is to 00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:53.759 walk the path that god has laid out for me exactly 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:55.980 yeah whether i need to take responsibility or 00:33:55.980 --> 00:33:58.200 wasn't me entirely doesn't necessarily have to 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.589 matter we get a lot of times mess or lost in 00:34:00.589 --> 00:34:02.809 trying to place the blame when we just focus 00:34:02.809 --> 00:34:05.569 on the issues okay was this part wrong sure go 00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:08.170 with it and work towards the solution yeah yeah 00:34:08.170 --> 00:34:11.489 that sounds great yeah yeah thank you so much 00:34:11.489 --> 00:34:13.369 folks i think this has been a really helpful 00:34:13.369 --> 00:34:16.329 to sort of unpack what's happening in this parable 00:34:16.329 --> 00:34:20.389 and give us permission to name what's wrong yes 00:34:20.389 --> 00:34:23.820 um but then to move on from that and to say OK, 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:25.840 things are wrong. Maybe there's wrong in me, 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:29.059 but I can still do good. God is still working. 00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:32.400 God is here. God is in me. Exactly. Even as I'm 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:35.780 doing wrong things sometimes. Sometimes. I think 00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:37.739 it's really messy, but I think it's also really 00:34:37.739 --> 00:34:41.309 hopeful. It is. Yeah. Yeah. And thank you for 00:34:41.309 --> 00:34:43.869 tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. 00:34:44.010 --> 00:34:46.710 I pray that whatever challenging circumstances 00:34:46.710 --> 00:34:49.469 you are facing, that you're able to find some 00:34:49.469 --> 00:34:52.230 ways through, that you are able to find ways 00:34:52.230 --> 00:34:55.309 to extend grace to yourself, to extend love to 00:34:55.309 --> 00:34:57.730 your neighbor, and of course, to rely on God 00:34:57.730 --> 00:34:59.510 to get you through it all. And we'll see you 00:34:59.510 --> 00:35:00.070 again next week.