Life After the Shout

Hey, this is Tim, and welcome to the Student Life Podcast, where we explore the everyday challenges and big questions of life through a biblical lens while navigating the realities of a secular world. Enjoy. Hey yo, what up? Welcome to the Student Life Podcast, and I'm your host Tim Pratt Jr. Um, and this one is probably going to be a little bit sensitive, especially to my churchgoers. Um, if you're not, then you might be like, whatever. Uh, I still think you get something from the content, but like I said, I like to just balance it. Um, most— sometimes we talk about leadership, faith, money, stewardship, uh, of course ministry, uh, just systems, just all kind of stuff, man, just dealing with life. Um, and I do need to get back into getting some bonus content. I used to do biweekly But then I dropped in once a month. But I do think I really— yeah, I do need to, do need to get back to some bonus content because sometimes I do be like, man, it's some things I want to drop in between. But I'm not going to ramble, uh, I'm gonna focus on the content of this episode today. So just a little somewhat of a disclaimer, um, so I just want to be very, very clear that, uh, and I do have an episode that you can go back and listen to if you want to get into the heart of this. Called Tension. You can even go look at the video of Under Tim Pratt Jr. I did one on YouTube as well, kind of similar but different, but it's on tension and it's basically like the nuances within the context of faith and scripture. And I was just talking even some secular examples as well, and because sometimes I think we put things against one another when I believe that the Bible makes an argument for both, not a contradiction, but just holding things in tension. Under speaking to nuances and things of that nature. Like, one popular one is baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or in Jesus' name. Uh, I think I got into that intention, but to me, based on the context of scripture— I don't have time to really deeply get into it, but I will one day— but I believe both are cool. Or you can do them, uh, you can do in either or, or you can do both together. I just think people that want to make arguments try to point out which one is better when truthfully it's tension. I believe both point to the same thing because "In Jesus' name" was never meant to be a tagline. Uh, and then "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," they're Jesus' words. And if he truly is Jesus the Son of Man and he knew the beginning from the end, uh, don't you think he would have used a little bit more caution if he thought those words weren't going to be eternally true? I mean, come— like, anywho, I'm gonna digress. Um, but again, do it in whichever one you want to do. Uh, but anywho, the reason why I'm dropping that example, and like I say, you go back, listen to the episode Tension, is because that's— this is not what I'm doing in this one. Like, I don't put things against each other. I really believe in the whole counsel of the gospel, and I know that we are conditioned, especially by today's society, to always draw lines and pick which side, but I don't think everything is always black and white. That's me. You can take it or leave it. I'm definitely open for dialogue. Uh, if you disagree or see things differently, I, I love dialogue. I'm trying to grow in that area. Uh, so anywho, uh, to get into the heart of this episode is that the reason why I gave you that is because sometimes people can think that I'm more pro-teaching. Like, well, let me say this: I am very pro-teaching sound doctrine, biblical doctrine. However, I do understand being charismatic. I believe that when we get so spiritual to the point where we can't recognize emotion, something is seriously wrong with us. I just believe our emotions shouldn't govern us. Like, when I reflect, especially my maturity, and I grow and I think about the things God kept me from, the things that he sustained me through, like, I get emotional thinking about it. However, but I'm not governed by my emotions. Um, and then, but at the same time, you have people that are like very emotional, but they're never Uh, they just get bored when sound doctrine is being taught. Like, it's just like, oh, this is boring, I need something to speak to my emotions. And this is what I do believe. You have a lot of emotional Christians, or, uh, with, uh, truthfully just Christians that forever will be on milk, have to be spoon-fed, uh, and there's just no evidence of, uh, sanctification like really in their life. They really choose to remain immature. And so anywho, I just want to bring kind of both of those together in this episode. So we're going to talk about life after the shout. Life after the shout. Now, shouting, again, I have no problem with, uh, at all. I, I, biblically, I have no— I don't believe the Holy Spirit makes us shout. I don't believe he makes us shout. I believe that it's an emotional response, truthfully, like the glory manifest— manifestation of God, you know, if we sense it and things of that nature. And again, that's what I believe. You can, you can disagree, but I just believe biblically the Holy Spirit does not technically make us shout. Um, he does not make us shout. He's a person. Let me make sure I say that. Um, but however, it's nothing wrong with shouting. So, um, what I want to dive into— I'm not going to get into a foundational verse right now, but what I want to dive into is that we've all heard this thing like, if you shout right now, God will do it. If you turn around 7 times, God is gonna do this and do that. And, you know, and all this type of stuff. If you run around the building, or, you know, do like— we hear this, and again, I'm not saying God can't speak in that context, um, but I think we better be very careful with that. Uh, I understand that if God tells me to run 3 times, I'll find myself doing it, uh, but I do think a lot of times we hijack verses, uh, because like, for one, the walls of Jericho, like, it was a reason God did that out of obedience. This was God And a lot of times when we find passages, passages of scriptures, and we see that and we preach it, we have to be very careful, um, with that theology. Again, I'm not going to try to get in here and get into a deep debate, but I'm just saying be careful with it because what happens is a lot of people do that emotionally and, uh, then they won't go confront the other side of it. And we're going to unpack that in this episode. So, um, and no, let's get into it right now. Like, so Let's say, for instance, that's true. What do you do once the music stops and it's Monday again? If you're— if you're at Sunday morning, Sunday night, or whatever, let's just take typical service, uh, fellowship service. What do you do when the music stops? What do you do when you stop shouting? What do you do when Monday through Saturday is looking you in the face again, all the way up until next Sunday? Because this is the thing, man, like emotions again, don't have a problem with them, they just shouldn't govern us. But emotions can start something. Emotions truthfully can. Like, we can get emotional, we can respond, but it is discipline that will sustain it. In other words, that when we shout, when we shout, that does not shape our maturity. All that is is just an emotional response. It's momentum. But it does not have direction. Discipline, being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, yielding to the Holy Spirit, accepting the whole counsel, making wise decisions, and all this type of stuff is a life that starts to provide direction. That is where I really feel— I believe God does his most speaking and how God delivers, uh, us and delivers things to us through the process. Um, and so What do I want to kind of like really dive into? If you, if you think about this episode, let's look at it like this. The gospel doesn't just cause— let me say this again— the gospel doesn't just cause us to celebrate God's promises and stop there. Yes, I praise. Yes, I worship. Again, I'm not going around that. Yes, we should praise him. We should worship him. I am— I will never go around that. And we can only worship him in spirit and in truth. And a lot of us can worship him, we can praise him, but a lot of us can't worship him because of what our life looks like through— but it's really just an emotional thing. We become what I like to call church junkies, meaning that really, truthfully, we're crying and we're emotional. But if you don't have any of that encounter all through the week, I'm not trying to question your sincerity, but how can you really worship him in spirit and in truth if you don't engage him day by day in surrendering and spending time in his word and praying and consecration. Um, you, you might be— if that is the routine that all Sunday morning you just have to hear a word, you have to hear the pastor, you have to hear the worship leaders, and it leads you to a shout, and then Monday through Saturday it's like hell and it's a fight and you don't spend time, you don't submit to him— I, I would lean on it more that you're more of an emotional Christian. Than you might like to admit. And, um, you know, we can have that conversation, but that's, that's what I believe. So, uh, but anywho, the gospel, yes, it calls us to cooperate with this process. It— the gospel calls us to praise and again worship him. But true transformation is not only in what happens in a moment of inspiration, but it is in a daily obedience. Let me, let me say it again, the daily obedience that follows. So we got to preach the whole counsel of God. And let's be real, sometimes this is boring. It's the mundane stuff. It's not sexy. Uh, that what's sexy is the tears and, and being, uh, again, an emotional response. I'm not knocking praise and worship and choirs and music bands and pastors and teachers that, you know, like, that are charismatic. I'm not knocking that at all because they could be truly sincere. And devoted and things of that nature. And then some of them not, some of them do perform, like, let's keep it real, but that's between them and God, and God only called me to look at the fruit or lack of. And so what I want to talk about, uh, for those that might be taking notes, uh, is that I want us to pay very attention to point number 1, is the emotional gospel trap. So one of my observations that I, that I typically make, and I don't mean to come from a critical posture or anything like that, But in this, um, church culture, it often— let me say, Lord help me, I'm losing my train of thought— it often elevates emotional response over ongoing repentance. Yeah, that's it. And repentance is what changed my thinking. It's a 180 because I believe that it builds systems back to it. Rather than pointing people to Jesus. We say his name, don't get me wrong, we sprinkle his name in through and through there, but are we really teaching people repentance, biblical repentance, and changing and confronting their thinking? Like, we think movement equals maturity. Again, this is where this like thing where I can just lay hands and people think that the feeling of the Holy Spirit because they went up in tongues or whatever, um, just one time and now they think that they're forever filled. Well, we leak. Like, no, that's not necessarily true. I mean, kind of going back to the earlier, you can go down in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you can go down in Jesus' name and still be a devil. If first and foremost you have not repented, I don't care what you go down in, if you have not repented and live in a posture and want to die to those things and count up the cost and become a disciple, you just went down in the water in a name uh, that you— but you don't even believe in your heart. But again, I'm not going to go there because like that's what happens. It leads to this emotional thing like, oh my God, I want to go down, I want to get baptized, but all while not confronting and want to die to self. That's emotions. But emotions has to be married— that I like to say married to obedience, I mean married to discernment. And what do I mean by that? If I'm marrying my emotions to discernment, biblical discernment, then That means, uh, in, in context, that okay, I'm emotional, now I'm going to marry that, I'm going to pair that with the truth of God's word because I don't want to be governed by my emotions. I want to submit— thank you, Holy Spirit— I want to submit that to God, I want to submit that to his word, and I want to rightly divide that. So, so shouting doesn't necessarily just substitute that we still have to steward well. So again, if you have financial situations and you're at revival after revival, Sunday after Sunday, and you are an unwise decision maker when it comes to finances, I personally will go on the record and say, I mean, God can do anything, but, um, I don't think your finances are going to change. So what if you get a $10,000 check in the mail or somebody bless you? Nothing's going to change because you haven't confronted who you really are. And the reality is that you're poor with money. Uh, same thing with, uh, navigating your home or whatever as a leader. I don't— well, God is going to bless you with a promotion, okay? If you're not growing and growing your skill set, doing the necessary work, doing the necessary work and processing and becoming more mature, becoming better, so what if you get the title? It's just going to be by position only. It's going to be by title only. People are not going to follow you because of you are this amazing leader. It's just going to be position only because like, wow, you, you got the position but you're still not growing. And so that's one thing that we have to think about. We're still called to steward well. We can go to James 1:22 when he talks about being doers of the word, just not hearers only. Doers of the word. This is the whole counsel of the gospel, because if we're not doers of the word and we're just hearing— in other words, if we're not uh, working out our own sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we're just shouting over and over and over, we are deceiving ourselves. So we have to think about life after the shout. Like, seriously, we do. Uh, so let me speed it up a little bit. So again, the shout— I would say this— there's nothing wrong with the shout, you know, it could be awakening or whatever, but replace it with follow-through. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that was fresh. Replace it with follow-through. And what I mean by that, following through, partnering in this tandem relationship with the Holy Spirit. Number 2, the whole counsel of the gospel. Um, Paul, I believe in, yeah, Acts 20. I had to pull it up real quick. Acts 20:27, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of the gospel. What does that mean? The full gospel includes both promises and processes. In other words, it includes both— it includes both promise and process, salvation and sanctification, salvation and sanctification, joy and judgment, grace and growth. If the gospel we preach only excites people but doesn't equip them, we're giving them half the message. Like, that is just what it is. Like, we're giving them half the message. So we have to preach the whole counsel of the gospel. I don't like to just, uh, compartmentalize things and just give so much of one passage of scripture, uh, like so much airtime without recognizing other scriptures that don't contradict it but it's progressive. So in other words, let's think about Proverbs. Uh, if one reads Proverbs and they do all of these things over and over and over, then what happens when they get to Job? They say, well, I was reading Proverbs and why am I going through things? Well, the book of Job is progressive revelation. So we want, we want the whole counsel. Uh, point number 3 is, uh, shouting to stewarding. So Peter shouted with boldness in the upper room. Like, he— we can go to Acts 2 with that. Like, Acts 2 is one of my favorite passages of scripture to study in general, uh, rightly dividing Acts 2. I'm not going to get into that, but, uh, but it was discipline and submission to the Holy Spirit that sustained the church in Acts 4 through 5. See, the Holy Spirit, he empowers us, but he also— he has order. And who order does he have? He has God's order. He's a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. He's a— like, we can see this in Tim— I believe it's 1 Timothy, and I can't quote it off the top of my head, but I know it's 1 Timothy. Um, but I would say this: the Holy Spirit doesn't just make us dance. I mean, matter of fact, again, like I said, I don't— let me say that I don't believe he makes us dance. Uh, I think that is us, and again, the reflection of things like that. And he— and some probably say, no, he does make me dance, and they often point to David, um, but I believe that he makes us disciplined. He helps us grow in love, patience. Like, I just look at the fruit of the Holy Spirit and I don't see terminology in there that deals with, um, dancing. But again, there's nothing wrong with that. It's nothing wrong with that at all. You can dance. Like, because again, here it goes, you have the people that are very anti, like, oh my God, they're shouting and bucking and running over there, that's just too much. Man, like, bro, I'm not even gonna go there. Like, so it's tension in the text, man. Like, let's just have balance. Um, but I would say truthfully, in, in my experience, um, I would say it like this, uh, emotion, emotion like ignites. That's, that's what I like when I'm in a lot of charismatic movements or things, or charismatic ministries. Uh, it ignites because it's some boring ministries out here, very boring. So again, it's like, man, wow, Jesus, I had to endure church today, local church today. But, uh, but then there are some that are just like overly excited, and I'm like, I look around and I'm like, not being critical again, I'm like, dang, like, I mean, are you ever going to confront the real issue, being you? Like, you keep shouting and up here every day, but you won't change your behavior, change your thinking. And then again, like I said on the other one, it's like, man, dang, y'all critical of everything. Lord have mercy. Like, can't nobody have excitement? You know, shouldn't we be excited about the things of God? So again, you see the tension. It's just don't swing the pendulum from one extreme to the next. So emotion ignites, but devotion maintains. Emotion ignites, devotion maintains. And so the last one that I would say here, 'cause I had 3, Uh, so I'm trying to say, because I was— one, I was just thinking about as I was talking. Uh, oh yeah, going back to the other one. So wise decisions— to me, wise decisions helps with growing, uh, ongoing growth. Your wise decisions helps us grow consistently. That's what I say. So in other words, every spiritual high needs a wise plan. Like, straight up, I believe that's biblical. It's not— it's not scripture verbatim, but I believe every spiritual high needs a wise plan for our life. Proverbs 16:3, um, and I did write this verse down, uh, commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. Like, commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. It makes me think of this, and I'm always going to butcher this, uh, I think it's Atomic Habits. By James Clear. Uh, I apologize, Mr. James, if you ever find yourself listening to this podcast, if I didn't pronounce your book right. Um, but the saying goes— I know he leveraged it from somewhere else, but again, you've heard me say this a lot— we don't rise to the level of our goals, we fail to the levels of our systems. Meaning that oftentimes we don't have the right system in place. So I want to ask the question, what systems of obedience am I putting in place? To support what I should— what I shouted about? What system of obedience are you putting in place to support what you're shouting about Sunday over Sunday? I'ma ask that one more time, and I'ma ask it slower. What systems of obedience are you putting in place to support what you are shouting about Sunday over Sunday, revival over revival? Because again, this goes back to daily maturity. Consecration, you know, praying, proper stewardship, relationships, and a life of integrity. So again, my friends, my brothers and sisters, uh, the shout, I have no problem with it if it awakens, if it wakes you up, uh, all that type of stuff. If it ignites you, that's cool, but wisdom should be paired with that because that is what helps us grow. God's— God does not just want a moment of passion. He doesn't. He does not. God does not just want a moment of passion. He wants a lifetime of transformation. Like, straight up, he does not just want this moment, but he wants us, the whole man, the whole woman. Like, this is a lifetime commitment until we reach our glorified bodies. Because scripture tells us that we should again work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us. That's what scripture says in Philippians 2. So I pray that this episode just brings balance to just inspire you to basically say, okay, hey, listen, it's nothing wrong with me again shouting. It's nothing wrong with me getting my praise on. It's nothing wrong with me having high moments and things of that nature. Uh, truthfully, there's nothing wrong if, you know, if it's really good. Again, but it's like, my thing is that I get tired of, again, extremes on both. But don't become a church junkie, and don't be out here with just a critical spirit, man, like just thinking everything is not of God because people are, um, enjoying themselves. But at the same time, don't be sitting up here just enjoying yourself and having a good time in the name of the fellowship and you're not confronting the things through the day-to-day life. Like, that's not cool either. And so I want to just challenge all of us, man, collectively speaking, that like we have to grow up. It is life after the shout, and that comes from digging in to God's word and thinking about, okay, once this high is over, what happens now? My father-in-law, he tells a story about a lady when she came up and she came to the altar, or some may say prayer call, prayer call, because some people hate altar call terms now. Altar call, prayer call, whatever you want to call it, um, is— and she came and I, I know I might butcher this a little bit— and, uh, like, after the high, you know, the question was asked, so what do I do now because I got to go back into the same environment that basically, um, takes the life out of me? I got to go back into the same environment after this high. What do I do now? He said that question rocked him. And I've seen some similar with my father with questions. And I've seen this in talking to counselors and therapists, coaches and things of that nature, uh, in the secular. And I, I think we need better systems in place. I think we need to start thinking about that when we're telling these people this. We need to start getting in and using a little bit more wisdom. I'm not saying what God can't do, trust me, I'm not saying that. I would never doubt God, never put him in a box. But I also know he operates in the context of scripture, and we have to respect the whole counsel of the gospel. Not just our charismatic movement and our charismatic ways, and not just our overly critical ways that we hide behind being sound doctrine. Like, we, we have to do better and maybe just talk to one another more and listen to one another more. Like, some of us disagreeing with stuff that's, uh, saying, well, I'm not in agreement with this and this and that, and I'm like, well, you're really not in agreement with scripture. Like, I've literally heard these conversations with people, like, to say, no, this is what this is. I'm not gonna get into that, but it's like, man, you got to read your whole Bible. And all I'm saying is that it's like, when we listen to these words and we listen to some of the teaching, some of us are so indoctrinated, whether it comes from passed-down things that wasn't truthfully sound, whether it be through our denomination, um, we see things through that lens. And then a lot of times we're approaching scripture to prove that point. Rather than just seeing scripture as it needs to be, as God intended it to be. We're always filtering. That's why I love talking to various people, studying all different type of, uh, like, yeah, different type of religions and context, like in this context. Uh, I do, I like hearing it more and more now because at first I was like, no, I don't want to detain me. But now I listen and I just search and I test it against scripture and, and it just leaves— it helps me uproot things and all of that nature because I really deeply care about the whole counsel the gospel. I want the Bible shaping my theology, nobody else. And what I mean by that, everybody plays a part in shaping our theology. Like, so that sounds like— they probably sound like a contradiction, but— and I'm about to land the plane— but, uh, because no matter who I listen to, everybody's shaping it. But what I'm saying is that maybe I should say this: I want it to be shaped by people that really believe in the whole council. Like, I don't want it to be shaped by a person that's only isolating scripture for their self-gain, or they haven't truly— they don't truly seek to rightly divide God's word. I'll listen to them, but it's not going to be a primary voice. Like, I love balance, tension, and nuance, and deep— like, truly studying, rightly dividing the word of God, learning tools and all that nature. So that's all I'm trying to say is like, as you think about life, life after the shout, Just make sure too that you're seeking the whole counsel. Because as they say, life gone life. But God has always been God from the beginning to the end. He's the Alpha and Omega. So I would say, hey, no problem. Shout, go in there, cry, run back and forth. If you are reflecting on the good of God, praise, worship him. But when it all settles down, remember, as you get back to your thinking, get in God's word and say, okay God, what do I do next? What can you sustain me through? Because I just don't want this to be a spiritual high. I want to give you my life for a lifetime. Be blessed and love you all. Thanks for joining me today on the Student Life Podcast. And remember, learning never stops and wisdom grows as we seek truth in both scripture and life. And until next time, keep walking faithfully and thinking deeply. Be blessed.