In this solo episode of his "Lifestyle" podcast, Tim Pratt Jr. urges listeners to align their daily lives with the faith they profess. He introduces the concept of "becoming one with the text," emphasizing that true ministry—and any vocation such as real estate or entrepreneurship—requires internalizing Scripture, not merely reciting it. Citing 1 John 1:6, he warns against walking in darkness and shares his own past of preaching without living the message, highlighting the importance of heart intent and accountability. He then references Matthew 7:21‑23 to illustrate how outward religious activity can be hollow if not rooted in genuine obedience, noting that this principle applies broadly to pastors, business leaders, and families. Drawing on a talk by Judah Smith, Pratt reframes the common adage "practice what you preach" to "preach what you practice," urging listeners to ensure their lifestyle consistently reflects their public declarations. The episode concludes with a call to action: subscribe, share, and visit his website for further resources.
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Hey, what's up? This is Tim Pratt Jr. I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this content today. I hope you hear something that has value to your life, shaping your perspective, faith, and hope, as well as the application to see it through on this thing that we call life. Enjoy. What's up? So this is episode 7 of season 2, and I'm calling this one Lifestyle. Straight to the point. And if you have been rocking with me, you know, in the past or just jumping in, or, you know, even in the future, I'm sure you're going to hear me say a lot, becoming one with the text, becoming one with the word. And especially like in a faith-based ministry, because anybody can teach, preach, you know, sit up here and just do things and put together notes or regurgitate information, but you have to become one with it. Because then, especially in ministry, that's where the power come from, uh, the power comes from. And you know, and you can apply this principle throughout life and other, you know, things that you might be partaking in such as real estate. You know, being a real estate investor, you can sit up and study it all day, read books after— read book after book after book, but until you actually start implementing it, that's when you become one with it. You start learning what to do and review and just, you know, retweak things and stuff like that. Same with being an entrepreneur, starting your business. You can read all the books, but until you implement it and make it applicable in your life, that's where, you know, like the wisdom and the knowledge and stuff like that truly comes from. You can sit there and say, okay, I've done it, I'm living this. This, you know, versus just regurgitating. And so that's the lens I want you to like basically listen— look at— well, I guess I said that's how I want you to basically see this episode as you listen to it. And so, uh, with that being said, let's jump into like the, the first verse that I want to use. And this is the NIV, so it's, uh, 1 John 1:6. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness. We lie and do not live out the truth. Now, in proper context, you know, it was talking about Christ Jesus, that calling him the light. Because, you know, in today's society, especially America, like being a pastor, you know, and just leader, but especially pastors starting to become so covenant now because it's like it's ran like a business. Now, not all, but a lot are. And so it's more like a fad now than it is something that's a true calling from God. And stuff. And so, and this is not, like I say, you know, taking shots for anybody because there's a lot of great pastors out there that's truly living it and they care about the souls of God's people. And just like any profession in life, you know, cops, uh, where you work at, um, if you work at Walmart or corporate America, bank, whatever, uh, I'm sure it's always bad apples in that profession. So I'm not going to sit up here and just like, you know, blast pastors because my father-in-law is one, a father-in-law, whatever you want to go by, as well as my dad, you know, my father. And so, and I have seen both of them, you know, especially in a short time of just, you know, as I'm building a relationship with my father-in-law. But I know just, you know, from being married to my wife and hearing her stories as well as my dad, that they have made countless sacrifices. And not just them, other ones that I have seen, you know, have just grown up and been close to. And so what I've learned though, and starting with me, it's like I've been there, you know. I've always, for the last probably maybe 10 years, have, you know, just been a person that likes to read and talk very— talk about various things. And I would put up statuses and stuff like that, especially when I got into personal finances, and I was you know, seeing a lot of success pretty early on. And so I started to make a transition to, you know, with ministry and certain things, but I wasn't living it. And like a lot of people were saying, oh man, you know, you're gonna preach the gospel, you're gonna do this and do that. And I couldn't fool people that truly had a gift of discernment, but at the same time I was fooling a lot of other people. And I said all the right things and stuff, but I was walking in darkness. And honestly, it was intentionally walking in darkness. Like, I would be in church and be saying one thing but have an intent in my heart. And that's really what it all comes down to. Like, if you're ever struggling with like, well, I messed up last night, or I messed up last week, or you messed up today, it's all about the intent of the heart. You know what you are practicing. If you're practicing sin intentionally and you're living in sin, there's no way to justify that. You are walking in darkness no matter how much you get up out here and say, you know, well, uh, my walk is with God and he knows my heart. He does know your heart, uh, and you're telling the truth, and probably you're using that probably as a cop-out, but you're actually telling the truth. And so if it all comes down to the intent of the heart, you know, and so if you are habitually doing the same thing over and over, you are in sin. Like, it goes for me or anybody else out there. But if you are striving you know, you are serious in your walk with God and, you know, you might be just struggling with something but you really don't want to do it, you need to get with somebody. Like I've said oftentimes, man, you know, contact me, contact your pastor. Um, no, before I say that, let me— you know, you pray and hear God and ask him to lead you who to speak to and then go from there and stuff. And so that's what all that verse, you know, is talking about. In context, it was referring to Jesus as the light you know, Christ. And so we just can't speak. And another one to back that up is Matthew 7:21-23. And once again, this is also the NIV. It reads, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles, then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. Another translation called them work of iniquity, and so on and so on. But what that verse is really saying is that, you know, we can have a ministry that appear to be the real deal by world standards but it doesn't exemplify the fruit. And eventually it will expose— it will be exposed. So, you know, if you out here and you have a raven ministry or a raven business and you're ripping people off, you know, whatever— I believe that principle once again is universal. Like, it doesn't just apply to ministry. That is a law, a principle that governs this world. If you are saying one thing and saying you're doing all these things for public publicity and public self-gain you will be found out. That's— it's just that simple. And you will eventually be exposed. And that's why, you know, today, time and time, you're seeing basically, especially like a lot of people are being successful as pastors, just as an example since this is a ministry context, but how you have pastors that are very successful by the world standards, but then yet where it really matters, they're failing to be a follower of Christ. And like I say, you know, you can look at this as people being a public success but a private failure in life. You know, you take a businessman, everybody wants to be like him, call him #goals and this and that, but he's lacking, you know, in his family life. His kids really don't know him. Society knows him because he's always spending time with society, but his wife doesn't know him. And so then now, you know, it's like you're starting to see a disconnect, and now divorce and things are creeping up. And so it's just like, at the end of the day, man, lifestyle, you know, especially with, with my faith, you know, is being a believer and a kingdom citizen. It's not a lifestyle, it is the lifestyle. And so you want to make sure that your lifestyle is lined up with what you are professing. You know, I think I heard it like this. I was watching Judah Smith on, um, what was it, Judah Smith, and they were at the VOOC conference like maybe a year or two ago, and it was him and Carl Lentz and led by, uh, Rich Wilkerson and, uh, Chad Veach. And I want to say it was one more person, and forgive me, uh, because I know Michael Todd was on the recent one. But anyway, you know, Judah Smith was talking about, you know, I want to preach what I'm practicing, you know, I don't want to practice what I preach. And I like that, you know, because that's what we often hear, practice what you preach. But in actuality, we should be preaching what we are really practicing and stuff. And I know, you know, you might not say, well, that doesn't really make sense, but to me it does. Because with— in essence, to me, what I took from that— and I would have to talk to him personally to unpack that— but what I took from it and the revelation that was for my life is that before I get up and I say anything, whether it be ministry context, business, mentoring, whatever, is that I need to really make sure that I'm applying it and I'm living it. And you know, I know it's times that the Lord can speak to us and tell us to do certain things, you know, that we might say, well, I haven't yet, you know, done this. And we saying, well, thus says the Lord. But in actuality, I also don't think that the Lord is going to tell us or call us to do anything that's in contradiction to what he has already affirmed about us. And so like, and you know, I don't want to get all off into that, you know, we can take that offline, but it's just very vital. Anything in life, just make sure that you're actually living, that your lifestyle is basically in with what you're talking about. Hey, thank you so much for listening to this content today. I want to encourage you, if you haven't already, to subscribe to it and share it with family and friends on your social media feeds. And you can also go over to www.timothyprattjr.org in order to find out more about the blog as well as other things that I offer on how to connect with me. So with that being said, I hope you have a blessed day and continue to see this thing through that we call life.
