Tension (Bible)

Yo, what's up? So I'm Tim Pratt Jr., um, for those that don't know me, um, so I'm gonna jump right into it. Why, why I'm here, uh, I haven't done a video in a while, um, I did a podcast. I actually was working on it last week and published it Monday, uh, the title of it was Tension, um, on the Student Life Podcast, and it was a bonus episode because I've actually kind of been away since late January, uh, and so it posted midnight Monday morning, or maybe around 6 something that morning, um, this past Monday morning, um. And so God has really been— this has been on my heart for some time, especially after talking to various people, um, and I just really felt compelled to actually, uh, bring it here in my spirit because of just certain things that I've been seeing, when it comes to the church. Um, so let me play with something here. Uh, okay, I'm just trying to make sure my volume is good. Uh, so, so that being said, um, it's— I'm not, I'm not even using this mic. Um, so what's kind of been going on lately is, um, I— tension. Okay, sorry, tension. So, um, tension within the church, within the body of Christ, whatever you want to call it, just amongst us, amongst believers. Um, and that word, the more I've been studying— so God's really been dealing with me on this for like over a year, uh, but over the last few months, uh, it's just been more as I recognize things within my own life, uh, through self-awareness, through the Holy Spirit, through work and of that nature. And I believe, if I like to say again, can jump straight into it, is that I think we're doing, um, we're not doing the best job at holding tension and modeling the whole counsel of the gospel, uh, as you know, we get more into this social— well, we've been in social media for a while, but just this whole everybody has a voice space when it comes to sharing what is truth, what is watered down, uh, what is staying true to the word of God, what is not. And I shared some clips that I watched last year from a revival from I believe Pastor Kevin, um, the Reformation Church. And I just end up revisiting them videos because of just really to just use them as a lens. I actually watched the whole sermon over, just kind of check some things within me. And not just him, I consulted some people and things of that nature. So I'm not going to mention any names in a negative light. Now I might reference a few things to make a point, but I'm not going to get into names or anything like that, uh, because I just don't care to, and I'm not motivated to do that, although it's really popular today. Um, and so let me, let me set some qualifiers here, um, because again, tension— and I think we live in such a soundbite culture, uh, we live in a culture where, you know, people like to zone in on both extremes, uh, whether that be you're too loose or you're too stern. Um, and I'm not really a soundbite type of person. Typically, if you— the podcast that I do and on here because of the audience, like I'm aware of the audience being more general versus when I'm in church, but even depending on what type of church I'm at, like I'm a person where I pray and I work really hard to ask God to help me relate to the audience. Now that I'm trying to give his word help, but I just— I am compelled to adapt and do some of the things that Paul did in the scripture, like the awareness of where I'm at. Yes, I understand the word of God does not need no help. Truth is truth, but I also think truth is contextual. Not that it's compromising, but what I'm trying to say and communicate, I am not going to go in talking to a group of 15-year-olds that have never read their Bible like I would talk to somebody that really knows their Bible. And not saying I know everything, but that's just what I'm trying to point out here. Again, because we live in such a soundbite culture. So I'm not speaking compromise. Uh, none of that, but adaptive. And so, uh, one of my passages of scriptures I used to stay away from because this was like really one of the most weaponized passages of scriptures, uh, passages of scriptures, yeah, that I, that I would see. And it's 1 Corinthians 9, and I'm not going to bring anything up on the screen. I just don't feel like navigating all of this. But hey, you— one thing I always say when I preach, uh, I can err. Get your Bible, search it line upon line, and I have no problem with inviting dialogue and things of that nature. Don't take my word for it. So let's just say, since you pause this and take some time to get your Bible, so I'm going to kind of be speaking through a host of things. I'm not going to quote chapter and verse verbatim so much here, but I am going to give you a few passages that I'm going to ask you to do the work and, you know, you can test out or whatever, like 1 Thessalonians. But 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, that's kind of, again, the passage of scripture that a lot of people take and say, Paul said I became all things. Um, that probably struck a nerve right there for a lot of people. Some people see that and be like, oh, he's gonna do everything and whatever. Then you got some people to say, um, um, you know, hold the tension in the context of, yeah, he's gonna do everything short of sin, a very popular saying out there as a, as a quick reference to that verse. Uh, then you probably have some people to say, uh, man, no, he probably gonna be more on the stern side, uh, whatever, I don't know. But it's typically that verse sparks tension. Because of how it has been used in the hands of man, not necessarily looking how Paul used it and wrote and was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Then another passage is Acts 17. Again, this is Paul when he quoted poet in context and again working knowledge. This was Paul working knowledge submitted to. He held the tension. I like to use terms partner with, married to, but submitted to. Eventually, like I said, that working knowledge was married to— Paul was trying to reach souls. He was quoting Greek philosophers, like I said, again, Greek poets, but it was all tracing it back to essentially draw this thing back to God being the source of all truth. And a lot of people have driven a concept from this passage of Scripture and others that there's really no Christian truth, there's no secular truth. All truth comes from God. Again, you might disagree with it, but I'm quoting a little bit of scholarly work in there as well. And then the last one is Philippians 1, verses 9 through 11, when Paul talks about— matter of fact, I'll just read this one. And I pray this, that your love will keep you— keep on growing in knowledge and in every kind of discernment so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ. Feel with the fruit of righteousness, uh, that comes through Jesus Christ, that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Um, so all of that being said, and then of course I'm marrying it kind of with the gospels and studying the life of Jesus. Like, I— some— the God— the book— I don't— anywho, uh, I love the gospels. I'll just say that, uh, and studying the humanity of Jesus, because I think in his humanity was all about modeling, you know, for us. And so What I kind of want to— what I'm asking you to see this through the lens of Jesus is the ultimate model. He is the perfect model. He's fully God. He's fully man. It's a tension that a lot of people still wrestle with to this day. This is me. I'm not saying this is scripture, but I am saying this is my observation. I believe second to Jesus, with Jesus being the ultimate— I hope I'm phrasing it right. Uh, Paul. Paul was probably one of the most effective people, uh, that we have examples of. And again, I know I've seen a kind of dangerous thing take place where more people preach about Paul than they preach about Jesus, and that's not what I'm trying to do here. But Paul even said, follow me as I follow Christ. Uh, so again, Jesus is the ultimate example, uh, he is the ultimate model, but I believe Paul, uh Of course, we know Paul wasn't perfect, but I just believe he was also a great model. Uh, if we struggle with, you know, some people living— well, Jesus was God, you know. So, okay, well, let's look at Paul's life as well. So again, not trying to put Paul superior to Jesus in any means. I'm just saying he's second in what I would deem as effectiveness, uh, just based on the context of scripture. It's not to downplay anybody in scripture. That is not what I'm trying to do here in this context. Uh, everybody, the whole word of God Uh, there's a reason that the scripture is in there, and even we know that all scripture is profitable. Um, but again, in the context of this video and the point that I'm ultimately trying to drive home, you see the tensions that we have to wrestle with. Um, so I— with, with me, uh, why God— I believe God put this on my heart is because, um, lately, man, and I'm gonna just be raw with you all Um, I, I watch, you know, a lot of, uh, like YouTube in the context of leadership, uh, pastoral message— I mean, messages, pastoral leadership. Um, and I just survey, you know, a lot of things. There are certain people like I keep in rotation that I still test what they say, but— and I'll mention these names— like, I personally like Pastor Brandon Clay from Reformation Church. Um, I, uh, like Pastor Skip, uh, out of Albuquerque. Um, uh, and I tend to listen to Jackie L. Perry some as well, and, uh, Pastor Greg Rochelle for leadership, and a lot of others. And I could throw John C. Maxwell in there, but Pastor Brandon Clagg and Dr. Tony Evans, I listen to him quite a little bit here and there, but primarily Pastor Brandon Clagg. And outside of my dad, my father-in-law, um and Pastor Skip, I listen to kind of in frequent rotation. And I truthfully love the way that they are line upon line preachers, but at the same time, they have such a good working knowledge on how to, you know, just really talk about it in an applicable way. And so that's that. I don't typically— there's messages I come across that I'm blessed by. I take that. What's up, God? The rest I just, you know, disregard it. Again, all truth comes from God. So if it lines up with scripture, I take it. But I do think a level of maturity, uh, sometimes have to, have to be there. Uh, certain people that— and I'm not against esteeming myself because there are certain people that you might be able to listen to in your maturity that I might can't listen to, um, because I'm— I probably, you know, especially if I don't study the word of God for myself and examine things of that nature. So it's a strong possibility that, you know, one can be led astray. So again, I'm trying to address all of these tensions, uh, in the simplicity, so just bear with me, um, just in a contextual way. So I, I keep that all in mind, like when I recommend, uh, some people, I'd be like, man, okay, this person, like, they're a very meek teacher, but okay, this person is a new convert. And again, I can sit up here all day and say it's the word of God, but Um, I think again with Paul, uh, when Paul write things like, you know, uh, with milk and meat and all these type of things, um, I take all of that in consideration as I pray and commune. Now there are, again, there are some people that I feel like that are elementary, um, in their teaching and they kind of stay there, but I think they are good for a group of people. That's me. You might disagree and that's fine. I don't believe they're heretic or none of that. I just say, hey, you know, this is very basic, but as you grow mature, you might, you know, move into listen— want to listen to someone else. Uh, there are people that I can't listen to on, on, on certain ends of the spectrum. Like I say, that's just a no-go. I'm like, I've seen too much. It's, it's just too convoluted and mixed in, and it is like a lukewarm approach. Uh, but again, there are some people that teach, and I just think they have a really, really good balance on staying rooted in the scripture, and they have a good working knowledge as we again see, of course, in Jesus Christ, but in Paul, where he just kind of, like I say, knew. And so again, we've seen Paul where he will quote Isaiah, and I'm referring to my notes here a little bit, when he will quote Isaiah in the synagogue, when he would cite Greek philosophers or poets, and when he knew when to evoke Roman citizenship in the courtroom. So again, a note that I said is that this is a great display of working knowledge. He lived and breathed it, adapting, um, to his audience but never compromising the truth. Adapting to his audience but never compromising the truth. Um, and we know through scripture, like, again, Paul, uh, some things are just simple as day. It's like, wow, man, how did he bring the simplicity out of that? And then there's things that we have to wrestle with and still wrestling with today. A lot of debates over, uh, certain things. And even Peter said you know, Paul, uh, wrote some things that, that's hard to figure out. Again, I'm not trying to be word for word right now, but you go look it up and it's essentially the same thing. Um, I know a lot— some people are just a little bit more rigorous, and then some people are too fluent where they put the interpretation of scripture. That is not my intent here. Um, but again, Paul's writings were deeply immersed in scripture with a mind sharp in, uh, like, uh, various different categories, various different things. Um, but again, we go back to he was very— he had a deep-rooted understanding of the, of the scriptures. He had a working flexible missional knowledge that allowed him to engage Jews, Greeks, philosophers, government officials, and just everyday people. And Paul was really, really good at this. And that's what I aspire, you know, as I read the text. I do think Paul today, because like I said, again, we live in a soundbite culture. I think Paul would get a lot of heat today. I think he would get took out of context a lot. I think people would call him, um, what's— they would call him, uh, uh, they would really get on him for quoting, uh, somebody that's like a philosopher or a poet. They would get on him for maybe, uh, kind of how he seemed to, uh, explain things in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. I just think a lot of his stuff will be took out of context when, uh, people haven't, you know, took the time to examine the consistency of his ministry. Because again, we, we zone in and say, oh man, he's sure— he is not— he, he, he is going astray. And it's like, man, are you— are you looking— or lady, you know, are you looking at the context of his ministry and what he's been called to? And not saying people can't go astray, uh, but again, we live in this soundbite culture. Um, so I— that's kind of again why I'm speaking about this and addressing it. So Getting back to the point on hand, um, I believe truthfully when I look across YouTube and I see a lot of YouTube videos going up now, uh, because it's like a movement, and I will use his name, uh, I think it's, uh, Allen Parr. I'm not sure if he's a pastor or minister, but, um, uh, like in, in— I think he is in the context of the church, I'm not sure, but Allen Parr. So I apologize if, if because a lot of people prefer titles. But, um, he had put up a video some years ago where in, in the vein of it, he was talking about how he started out just teaching, um, and he wasn't getting a lot of traction. And then the moment that he started to go after and point out errors and things of that nature and tying it to the person, he would get a lot more traction and a lot more traction. And so you have to go pull up the video, I can't remember where it is, but He just talked about, uh, the way I understood it is that he needed to be refined and slowly come back to the heart of this, uh, this teaching the Bible. And I really believe that a lot of us, if we're not careful, um, I'm seeing so many YouTubers now get up to, to say, hey, I'm addressing, you know, false teaching and false prophets, uh, in the name of Jesus. And again, there's nothing wrong with calling, uh, calling these things out. I'm, I'm holy with it because it's biblical. Uh, but I'm also seeing some things that not necessarily rooted in doing it because it's scripture. I'm seeing it done rooted in frustration. I'm seeing it rooted in anger. Um, my observations of it now, I could be wrong, but I listened to some of the comments. I listened to how some of it is, um, uh, presented, and it gets into like character traits and it gets into like some very, um, condescending comments. And, uh, and I'm kind of like, again, just, just listening and looking. And, uh, for me, I'm like, because I've seen— I've kind of seen some of these videos say, well, I don't really, you know, I'm not really against what he's preaching, I'm just against how he's delivering it or using this and using that. And, you know, and again, like, that, that could just be them, but I'm just telling you my observations. I could totally be off base because I don't have the proximity, uh, to these people, but I've watched enough, right, that I have felt led and compelled to shut it, shut it down, uh, because of what was starting to infiltrate in my spirit. And so I'm, I'm just real big on, you know, when it comes to the church and all of these, again, preaching and teaching, you do have people that are very loose with the Bible. I mean, it is literally like, how did you come to that interpretation application and hijacking and out of context? Uh, and it, it again, it needs to be called out. Um, but you also have some people over here that, again, they have a really good working knowledge, so they know how to explain things, they know how to look at verses, they know how to look at things in the Bible, and they know how to really work hard to, again, know their audience and put it into language that helps people, but ultimately still pointing them back to, hey, do the work yourself. And so this is this tension. This is the extreme that are people that are very, very faithful, and they have this extreme where it's just like people just want to be famous and turn into motivational speaking, absence of context. And theological integrity. Um, and then you have the, the people that— I'm not necessarily saying swaying this way, but they hold the tension of them, those two, and try to walk it through. Okay, I am going to be very theological, um, here. I'm going to, uh, preserve the integrity of the text through the power of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to do the work, but at the same time, I am going to sway a little bit in my flexibility and my methods and things of that nature, because this is about souls. So for example, when I look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9:19-23, and then keeping it in context with that, I don't look at that as no. Anyway, again, I stayed away from this verse because again, because how much it was weaponized. And I remember when I would quote it, people are always, no, no, no. What do you mean by that? So as God brought this back to my remembrance, I'm like, okay, they might— I think they're on the same thing I'm on because points out again how much this verse has been weaponized. But just because it's been weaponized in the hands of man, uh, doesn't mean I should shy away from it. A lot of pastors struggle with this— we'll finally get back on topic— but finances and teaching proper kingdom stewardship through finances and things of that. Money is just a tool, nothing else, nothing more. And it does help advance things within the ministry. But again, finances have been weaponized so much that people shy around it. And then if I'm not careful, all I see is the negative around it, but I'm still missing out on the whole council. And so I just believe because men have butchered— same thing with slavery, uh, took scriptures out of context and people use it to weaponize, uh, and keep people in bondage. And so it's— when I, when I talk about the Bible scriptures, you know, some people see it, well, you let that book keep you in bondage, how do you listen to that book when it kept Black men and Black women down and people used it? I'm like, well, just because it was used wrong in the hands of man does not mean that was the intent of God. So I'm not going to shy away from anything just because it was mishandled by man. Um, I don't— I also don't want to lead to this, this, uh, posture of overcorrecting. Just correct. And so, uh, and God has been working with me. I did this, and I'm— he's still processing me. Um, so what, what tends to happen here with, with the— with, uh, all of this, this tension is that, um, I was like, okay, cool, like this is all about advancing the gospel. So if someone— I, I know my maturity and what God is— the sanctification and me submitting myself, uh, to correction, submitting myself, uh, to the counsel of others, uh, biblical wise counselors, uh, submitting myself to the text, submitting myself to the Holy Spirit, uh, striving every day. Like when I do get it wrong, man, quick, quick, quick to repent, a posture of repentance. Um, and so With that, the way I look at this verse is saying, okay, let's just say, for instance, in modern day now, again, someone invites me and they are very, very strict and religious. But the things they are doing, the legalistic things that they are doing, is not contradicting the Scripture. It's not contradicting the Holy Spirit in the context of like, okay, that violates the word of God, you know, that violates— if I may say, I want to be very correct here— it violates violates— I'm not even looking at it. I apologize. Let me just make sure I'm saying this right. Yeah, okay, it doesn't violate, um, the law of Christ. Uh, let me hold on. Wait, yeah, it doesn't violate— I apologize— it doesn't violate the law of Christ in my heart. I just want to make sure I use the right words. Um, so So I'mma go, guys. I'mma go. Because at the end of the day, if they say, man, you got to put on a robe, you need to cut your hair, it needs to be this short, you can't wear this, you can't wear that, I am not going to be so just like, well, man, that's what's wrong. I'm just— now, a few years ago, I would have been like, nope, I miss out on that assignment. But if God leads me, I'm like, no, because at the end of the day, this is not about how I feel, what I I'ma go, okay. But on the other hand, if people are a little bit more elementary and they're weaker, I'm not going to look at that and be like, again, long as they're not doing anything to violate the law of Christ in my heart. But they say, man, we, we, we, we into the earrings. I'm not saying I'm gonna put my earrings back in or go get my ears pierced or anything like that. But, you know, we, we kind of like this. We need all this suit stuff. Like, you know, we're a little loose over here and lax. Okay. Again, the Holy Spirit leads me. I'm like, all right, cool, man. I'm— and I'm a suit-wearing person. I like more fun. Okay, I'm gonna be like, you know what, I'll submit myself to that. Okay, you know what's up? Long as it's not like, hey, you can't, you can't preach the supremacy of scripture. Okay, that statement comes in either one of them, I'm out. Hey, I'm out. So I guess what I'm trying to say here is like, I understand what people like Pastor Greg Crochelle are saying because I follow their ministry when they say I'm going to do everything short of sin. Uh, to reach souls. Again, I know that that comment strikes a nerve. I'm not saying that I probably would go word it that way, but I'm saying because I look at that ministry now, I know certain other pastors have adopted that, and their marriage don't look— their ministry does not look anything like the person that kind of spearheaded that comment. Everything short of sin to reach souls. Um, heart posture, you know, so I'm using Pastor Greg Crochet because that's the first person I heard say that, uh, and kind of adopted that lens, you know, as an everyday language type of model to filter. Uh, but a lot of this comes down to heart posture, man. Um, and I believe Pastor Greg Crochet, from what I have seen, he, he knows how to hold that tension, that balance. Um, so again, so getting— trying to stay on topic, uh, here. So you— we have this tension where it's starting to be the tale of two extremes. It's either or, you know. Again, there are people that know how to hold the balance and hold the tension, kind of as Paul would do in the text, as we see with Jesus. And then there are people that just say, nope, I'm going far here and far there. And what happens is then these two sides spend more time clashing with each other And then typically the people that, you know, really biblically are faithful to the text and God is working them on how to hold tension, they just get lumped into primarily most of the time the extremists just lump them into— because really, truly, the free people don't care too much. Well, no, they do, because you start to touch them. So they say, we don't teach that. You can teach that, but you don't teach— you can't teach this here. So yeah, they— so they kind of reject too long as you don't deal with sin too aggressively, you know, and stay away from certain things. So the people that hold tension, they typically get blamed, you know, for one or two extremes. Again, by the extremists, it's like, nope, too loose, too soft. You look warm. And then again, the people that are extreme on the loose side, it's like, well, we like you, but, you know, don't go too far and be like them extremists now, you know. So it's that type of posturing. And what I have noticed just in my observations and prayer Um, I don't think it's healthy. I don't believe it's healthy. Now, some of you might say it ain't— it's not up to what you think and all of that type of stuff. And I would say, well, you know, again, um, God gave me ability to think, reason, logic. But does that thinking flow with what I'm seeing in the context of scripture? Because I'm gonna just prove some something to you right now. If I say, hey, uh, man, we need more unity in the body of Christ, Um, most of the time that comment alone, primarily from the extremist views, it strikes something within them. Well, I'm not unifying with people that, uh, compromise with the gospel. Okay, now here, here I am like, well, I never said unify with people that come from— like, I'm literally just paraphrasing a passage of scripture where Jesus was talking about unity. And we see clearly with Paul, not uniformity, but just unifying one body many members. So why does it strike that in you? So somewhere rooted in experience that that person probably— now this is the tension I'm trying to hold— they probably have seen a lot of abuse. They probably have been abused by some people within the church. They probably have seen a lot of theological garbage. So it's kind of like it's filtering through that, it's working through that. And so that person, like, I think people a lot of times have zeal. You know, for example, if you take someone that was abused in the church, the local church, and they start up a ministry and they have a zeal to go after because they don't want this to happen to other people. If that person is not careful, a good thing, a great zeal and the protection of people and love God and love God's word. But what tends to take place is that they will develop more of a perspective and filter things through that hurt. Uh, and it burns up everything around them. And sometimes, truthfully— thank you, Holy Spirit— uh, yes, we'll be hated for his namesake, but sometimes it's not about being hated for his namesake. It's being truthfully hated— it's a strong word— but it's being hated because we don't have balance. We don't know how to hold tension. We don't know how to invite dialogue and hold space for people to share and meet people where they are. Um, sometimes it's just, man, we, we come off very aggressive. And then there are people that, again, they come off too lukewarm, whereas like, nope, inclusion and all this type of stuff and extremes, extremes. So my challenge more so, man, it's just like to the, to the body. And again, just a casual conversation. I don't even know if these are just clear thoughts. I feel like I kind of feel like I'm all over the place. It might be, but Uh, probably should spend a little more time thinking this through, huh? But, uh, but my challenge is, um, to both sides, uh, to the— if I could speak a little bit to the people that are very loose with their theology, um, and, you know, don't really have theological integrity and more so were more so concerned about always reducing the gospel to sound good versus being convicting and challenging and allowing the Holy Spirit to do what only he can do. My challenge is to listen to the people that preserve the integrity of the text, uh, invite dialogue, create safe spaces, uh, have a teachable spirit, uh, to the extremist people. Oh, I— maybe that's not the right word, but to the people that, uh, Lord forgive me, and I ask you all to because I'm really talking to both sides of being extreme, but I shouldn't say extremist, so I apologize for that. But to the people that are very faithful to the, um, the integrity of the text, the integrity of the scripture, uh, the supremacy of scripture, um, and I'm gonna give you an example of why I say this, to, to sum this all up, um, I'm not saying look to loosen But again, hold the same space, the same heart posture. What are some of the things that I can learn from them that can help me probably maybe be more compassionate, be more relatable, meeting people where they are? We need to hold more space for tension is what I'm basically trying to convey here. Everything is not black and white now because I deal with people all the time that Um, sometimes, you know, it's like— and I used to be that person— but like, when I'm depending on who I'm talking to, um, like, I'm like, okay, uh, I'ma try to explain this in a way, uh, and very relatable, but without using any scripture, because these people might just— they like— they don't like the Bible. They never— it's just they don't even really know. So I'm like, I'm now just using my personal testimony and trying to pull from everyday things. But also too, I'm trusting the Holy Spirit. Again, eventually I, I'm praying that they be guided to the scriptures, and not just the scriptures, but, uh, they— God reveals himself to them through the scripture. Because it's not even in the scriptures that we find life. They point to Christ and Christ alone. Uh, but what I am doing in this moment is asking God for patience, long-suffering. And I said, okay, Lord, you know, I really can't I'm not trying to help your word or anything like that. I know it's your word of God is perfect and things of that nature has to be rightly divided, but God, I need your help to just use some everyday things to reach this person or reach this audience. But ultimately, my posture is dialogue and discipleship, and eventually, man, I pray that their soul be saved, uh, and not just saved, but they also become a disciple or devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Um, that, that, that, that's me. And then there's people that can just jump straight into it. Uh, not saying I know everything, is I, I mean, truthfully, the more I study the Bible, the more questions that I have. Um, but, but there are people that I'm like, okay, I, you know, we can talk scripture and verse. I love talking contextual things, and I love submitting myself to people that, that really are knowledgeable, uh, about, about the scriptures and things of that nature. But again, it's, it's totally two different postures. I, I can't talk to the person that that's, you know, very toddler-like, like the person that might be, you know, a senior citizen in the word. And just trying to paint a picture here. And so again, it's just the tension that we have to hold. And I don't see a lot of it. It's just too much either-or versus both-and. Again, when I say both-and, I am not saying compromise the gospel. Like, please hear me. That's not what I'm saying. But there are a lot of things, there are a lot of gray areas in the Bible that the Bible, I don't believe, is silent on. But again, we have to work through the overarching truth, the overarching principles that are not changing for anything and say, okay, it might not say this verbatim because of, you know, some of the things we've come up with in modern times now. But now let's look in the context of Scripture and rightly divide some passages. And then essentially this should govern, you know, how you feel and what I should submit to, govern how you feel and what you submit to. So we need to partner, we need to marry that. And again, like Paul was saying in Philippians 1, you know, he said, I pray that your love will keep growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment. Well, fundamentally, what is discernment? And now I'm not going to get super deep here because I know I'm talking to a general audience, but essentially what is of God and what is not, what is of God and what is counterfeit. Okay, so if I'm, if I'm being encouraged, the knowledge that I have, to that it also grows in, uh, discernment. My love grow in knowledge. So my, my love need knowledge, uh, and my love needs discernment. Uh, so fundamental, like I said, discernment is, um, knowing what's of God and knowing what is not, knowing what's not of God. Okay, now my love, it has boundaries. Like if you imagine a river with banks, knowledge on the side, and discernment on the side. So that love just can't be reckless where I just love and then like everything goes. No, it's boundaries that my love has to operate in. Uh, so with our, you know, um, um, our emotions and feelings and things of that nature, uh, it had to operate within those because again, like, uh, certain things that are gray. So it's kind of like, you know, prime example, we might have a disagreement that we technically can't go to scripture to. It could be over AI. AI. Somebody can say, well, hey man, I use AI to kind of help me, um, you know, put together my messages. And then so you have one person saying, uh, man, nope, man, that is not scripture, that's not in the word of God, nowhere in there. Okay, uh, that's a strong disagreement. And I apologize, this falls short, it's really kind of, um, the only one I can really think of right now. But, um, I'm like, okay, the person that don't want to use it, hey, if you don't want to use it and that's your conviction, don't use it. But you cannot find chapter and verse to justify using it and not using it, just as well as the person that, that desires to use it. But what you can find is a lot of scriptures on integrity, um, you know, diligence, uh, like deeply studying, you know, being careful with the text. Uh, we can find a lot of themes that the integrity of the gospel, so I would just caution to say to the person that if you do use it, make sure you're using it and you are theologically right and this AI is not infiltrating your text to be saying some things that's not inspired by God's word. But I can't say it's evil. And so that could be a strong disagreement again, that we can't definitively find a chapter and verse and say, nope, you should not use AI in it. But through dialog and talking and creating space, we can just have conversation and see, okay, there— but there biblically we can learn how to steward is what I'm trying to get at here. Um, and so then the last example is I want to use is, uh, you know, Pastor Philip. I will use his name, Pastor Philip, uh, Mitchell Anthony, or Pastor Philip— I apologize if I'm, I'm butchering, but Pastor Philip Mitchell Anthony. It's a pastor. I don't— I— Lord forgive me, but Uh, Pastor Philip out of Atlanta, um, he, uh, you know, a while back he preached a message and a sound bite got out there and it was chopped up, uh, with him preaching on Romans 13. Uh, and I looked at the message several times and I looked at kind of around the context, and again, uh, I believe that he was very sound to the text. And a couple of days later, Pastor Um, Pastor, uh, Anthony, he, um, he apologized not for the truth, but kind of how things was took out of context and how things was framed through his own personal experience. But I learned something in that. I seen that evoke on YouTube, uh, a lot of different extremes. Um, I, I did. Um, I seen people in the comments like Rigor is saying, man, nope. So you just gave them what they wanted. And then I seen people basically saying, let me see, you just gave them what they wanted. Then I've seen people going very extreme that, you know, it was basically needed. But the comments and the commentary was very extreme and I didn't see a lot of tension. So first and foremost, you know, one of the things is what if the Holy Spirit led him to write that and apologize for whatever reasons? Again, not for the truth, but how it was framed. It shuts down all of our arguments. It shuts down my perspective, your perspective, YouTube's perspective, podcast perspectives. It shuts it all down because if God truly led him to do it, it really don't matter what we think or what we observe. Um, but the tension I love in it is that two things can be true. What he preached, uh, in my understanding and what I came to it needs to be talked about, and it needs to be preached about. It needs to be taught. But at the same time, what I love about it is that he also wanted to hold the tension that in no way am I disregarding people that have been killed or whatever, or, uh, you know, their outcome has led to the abuse of power and somebody dying. Uh, now again, that might strike something in you, or it's like, well, people just start resisting, you know. Every— let's be real, man, there has been some, some blatant misuse of power. Like, that is nothing that— that is not an opinion, that is factual. Um, and so you might have some people out there because some of the people were saying they was like, well, you know, my kid did everything right, or my spouse did everything right, and they that person just literally, they had an ego trip and they killed him. Okay, so as he was teaching, you know, he said words like, I don't care, I don't care. Again, I'm not trying to get critical of him, but I just love how delicate his apology was to say, okay, this is what I took from it. Um, that was not my intent. I apologize for how it was framed. I apologize for being taken out. I mean, I I apologize for how it was framed. That was not my intent. Uh, but at the same time, he called out the people taking him out of context, and he stood on the truth and integrity of Romans 13. This is tension. This is tension because I believe what that did is, um, basically say I'm going to destroy the naysayers. In so many words, maybe I shouldn't say destroy, uh, but I'm just— I'm gonna basically, you know, take away the naysayers. Uh, in other words, um What can you say now? Because now if you see someone harping on, well, he said this and he overlooked— well, he apologized for it. Next. Well, he apologized for it. So can— but can we go back to the heart of his message? And what I just love, the beauty in it, man. Again, a lot of people might wrestle with that and strongly disagree, and that's fine. I'm not always an agreeable person. Uh, but also too, um, man, people aren't going to make me feel some type of way because I choose to look throughout the scripture and see that yes, a lot of things are black and white, but also too, there are balanced views in the scriptures with tension, not compromise and potential. And so again, my challenge to the church, man, is that we just really stop, you know, with a lot of these dumb arguments. Uh, this is the guy was saying on one of the posts I made, um Man, and we just get back to uniting around Jesus and preserving the integrity of the text. Um, I believe this in my heart, and I'll close with this. Um, I believe that some of the stuff that, you know, we label people and, uh, man, we are so aggressive with— man, it, it would be crazy to think that, you know, when this is all said and done if God just was like, okay, like, you put way much more into that than I did. Um, I was looking at souls. I was looking at how I was using them and allowing certain things to reach souls, uh, because I know the beginning from the end. Um, again, I'm not telling you not to challenge people and call out things, but I'm just saying that, man, there are gray areas, and I believe that We just need to be a little bit more inviting, not to compromise, but to create space for dialogue, to create space for the sensitivity of context. Don't be moved by the soundbite culture. Too many videos are going up where it's like, well, I didn't watch the whole message, but I want to address this clip here. And there are some bad clips. Matter of fact, one of them that I've seen, I actually went back and looked at Mosta Mission, I had to shut it off, but it was just kind of around now, like, you know, sex before marriage according to this person is no longer wrong, you know. And, um, I'm like, no, like, that's— that has nothing to do with tradition. That has nothing to do with, you know, it's— that's biblical. Like, you know, what are we doing here? Uh, so I get it, I get it. Uh, and, and trust me, I'm not laughing at it in the context— like, it does hurt me. It does hurt me. When you have people in that vein that says things like that and just butcher the Bible and people are shouting and saying amen versus, you know, reservations. Hold on, wait a minute. Thank you. But before I say amen and praise on that, I'm gonna go search that out. You know, I'm gonna be like the barbarians and search that out. So, and I'll leave you with this. You know, I remember my dad's pastor, him and his wife, And I'll say their names, Dr. Carl and Dr. Virginia. Uh, when I got into the pursuit of just really, really seeking God, you know, again, through scripture and through prayer, counsel, um, I don't know everything, but he says something along the lines that, that really makes more sense now than it did back in 2013 when I was 23. I'm 35 now, and he was like Um, sometimes there, there, when people say things, there it would be a knowing, um, that you might can't argue with them in, in context, and, you know, not falling all out, but go back and forth with them when they say things. Um, but it'll be a knowing, like, ah, that is error, and I want you to go search it out. And he said, now eventually, as you submit yourself, you'll be able to, you know, boom, boom, boom. But he's like, man, just stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit and keep studying. And most important, keep submitting yourself. And so I didn't understand in its full entirety back then, but I have come to be blessed by that now because even to this day there are things that are said that sound so good, but my spirit rejects it. And every time I go search it out versus being tied to a personality Um, I'm like, wow. And there are some people that I used to faithfully listen to that I, I don't anymore because of, you know, that. And, um, I don't throw them away or anything like that. And I'm not saying that I don't come across some of their stuff, they can still bless me, but I'm saying I used to faithfully listen and submit to their teaching, and I don't do that anymore. I kind of casually watch some things here and there, and I just like to again take this word of God and, you know, disregard. But You know, we can't throw away people, uh, just because it comes from an unlikely vessel. All truth comes from God. Um, and so again, that's just my, my challenge to the church. Uh, it's just, we just need to do a better job with, um, holding tension. Uh, so again, man, I pray that you hear my heart. Most importantly, I hope that you do your own work, uh, and search the scriptures. Let me say this one more time, I'm not making a light of everything that's going on out here. I do think there's a strong conviction to call out false prophets, false teachers, and things of that nature. But I also think there is space to make sure that we aren't magnifying what we focus on and only see the bad within the church. Um, you know, I was talking to somebody just a few days ago, and I was like, man, if I'm always focusing on the bad and the negative of it. How do I see good when somebody is moving in a way where it's kind of like Paul, uh, in a very contextual way? I'm probably going to default to the negative because my mind is so tied to the negative of the church. So I like balance. Like, so I'm not saying I throw all those videos away, but I also like a balance, man. What, what about doing videos on people, uh, that really teach the integrity of the text? What about breaking down their messages and taking them further in your audience? You know why that doesn't work? Because it's boring. It's not controversial. People like mess. And so a lot of times people are clicking on these platforms and just looking at them just a little bit and resharing them to make a point. But where is the gospel? Like, at the heart of it, man, where is the gospel? Because really, truly, yeah, they're breaking down and pointing out, but where is the gospel? Where is the gospel versus just this sought-out, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong? And then I'm making comments about, you know, I don't like this about you, I don't like how you do this. And it's like, you know, where is it? So you might disagree with me, you know, people might rebuttal this, um, but this is, you know, my page, um, you know, Student Life Ministry. But I invite dialogue. Hey, reach out to me and, and, uh, I invite dialogue. Talk about, you know, we can have a conversation, um, long as it's not, you know, long as both of us can respectfully go to what we can in the scriptures, uh, and, and let that be the final authority, of course. But man, at the same time, the Bible is not the only thing that we're consulting. I believe everything should be filtered through that, uh, don't get me wrong, because it is the final authority, man, for life. Uh, but let's be real, man, a lot of us consult things outside of that and we are shaped by that. Uh, and so I just want to encourage you, uh, man, again, it's a lot going on within the church today, within the world. Uh, but man, get back to the scriptures and how we've seen Jesus and his disciples and everything that he left record of, uh, properly context. Because everything in the Bible don't mean God affirms it. Uh, some things are just lessons in history of that nature. I'm sorry, history, but Um, let's get back to, to biblically, man, doing things the right way and make sure that we have nothing rooted, uh, in a place of anger, frustration, hurt, pride. Um, none of that. Because a lot of people that are prideful and get loose with their theology, sometimes they're— it comes from a place of hurt. Uh, and so they start, you know, learning and going to schools or whatever that nature that teaches them how to dilute the Bible. And then you have people that, you know, go on a zeal to prove how this person weaponized stuff, and, you know, I'm, I'm not for this and stuff. So I'm just saying, man, we have to get back to creating space for dialogue and unite around Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. So, man, I love you all. Uh, pray for me. I'm praying for the body. Um, and I hope this added some type of value to your life today. Be blessed.