- Now, here's a bit of
an uncomfortable question.
00:00:01.20\00:00:02.83
Have you ever hesitated
00:00:02.83\00:00:04.77
to invite a
friend to church because,
00:00:04.77\00:00:07.27
well, you're afraid of
who's gonna talk to them
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or what they might say?
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That's what we're gonna look at
00:00:10.74\00:00:11.91
on today's
episode of "Authentic".
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If you've been
watching the show for a while,
00:00:36.06\00:00:37.83
you'll know I have
this love/hate relationship
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with social media.
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On the one hand,
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well, I'm part of
the Dutch diaspora,
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and social media
allows me to stay in touch
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with my family members
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who happen to live on
the other side of the planet.
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And do I like being
able to stay in touch?
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Well, yeah, of course I do.
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I mean, social media
is a vast improvement
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over the way we
used to communicate.
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If it wasn't for social media,
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all of my cousins would still
look like they were teenagers
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in my imagination,
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because, well,
that's the last time
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I actually saw them in person.
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Today, though,
they're in their 50s, 60s,
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maybe even a few of them
are bumping up against 70.
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I'm not exactly
sure how old they are.
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That's the upside.
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But there's a
downside to social media,
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or maybe I should
say downsides, plural,
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because, well, I've
never been completely convinced
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that social media has
been a net positive for us.
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I mean, just look
at the depression rates
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and the anxiety that's
demolishing a lot of Gen Zers.
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And then, tell me
you're actually surprised
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when you find out that
studies have discovered
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that social media is a
massive contributing factor
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to all of that unhappiness.
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Now, back in my day,
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I know, I'm
sounding kinda old now.
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But back in my day,
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the bullying you
went through at school
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actually stopped at 3:30
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when you got on the bus
or you walked back home.
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It didn't follow you all the way
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into the wee hours of the night.
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It didn't follow
you into the weekend,
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and it didn't create
online feeding frenzies
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where everybody
ruthlessly devours one poor kid,
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piling on like a bunch of
jackals attracted to a carcass.
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I mean, middle
school is hard enough
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without making the
worst parts of it go on 24/7.
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And of course, social media
is also incredibly superficial,
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with kids taking selfie
after selfie after selfie,
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just trying to
make their lives seem,
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well, more interesting.
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But what they're
building on social media
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certainly is not
an authentic life.
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And honestly,
it's not just the kids
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who have a problem with this.
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Once upon a time,
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I used to have a
public Twitter account.
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But because I have
a TV and radio show,
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I'd have to be
checking that thing all day long
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to root out the
kooks and the crackpots
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who seem to love the anonymity
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that comes with a laptop
and an internet connection.
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There are some people who
have got nothing better to do
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than constantly stir the pot
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and indulge their
inflated sense of importance
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by taking other
people down online.
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And just trying to keep up
with that, it was exhausting!
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I mean, nobody,
nobody can monitor
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their social media account 24/7,
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not if you're
trying to do something
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productive with your life.
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And so, I chose to just
get off of social media.
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But you know, there is one
aspect of it that I do love,
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and that's the way it
provides me with a forum
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for studying human nature.
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Now, admittedly,
it's an imbalanced forum,
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because certain personalities
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tend to dominate
the digital town hall,
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and so, you'll get more content
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from some
personality types than others.
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But in spite of that,
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I find it fascinating to see
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what so many people
think about world events
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or even certain
philosophical ideas.
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It can be so
entertaining sometimes
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that I have to be really
careful that it doesn't become,
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well, a time vampire,
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drinking up all my time
until it leaves me drained.
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And you know, there's
one feature in Twitter
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that I really have
come to appreciate,
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and yes, I still call it Twitter
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because Elon Musk's new name X
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just doesn't
roll off the tongue.
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The feature I love
about Twitter is Spaces,
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which is kind of
like a town hall meeting
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that the whole
world can listen to.
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You can listen to people debate
their favorite topics live.
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And of course, when the
subject of religion comes up
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and I actually
have a few minutes,
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I'm probably gonna sit
down and listen to some of that,
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probably gonna listen to that.
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So, just a few weeks ago,
I found this Twitter meeting
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that looked like it was gonna be
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the granddaddy of
all conspiracy theories.
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And as you know,
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some of those can be like
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these multi-car
accidents out on the freeway.
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It's a huge, huge mess,
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but there's always something
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that makes you slow
down and take a look.
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So, of course, I tuned in,
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and I gotta say, wow!
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This meeting
involved a lot of people
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who didn't
really know each other.
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It was kind of like a
conspiracy convention,
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and every single
theory I've ever heard of
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made its way to the
microphone at some point.
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I'm talking UFOs,
JFK, the Illuminati,
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secret military bases in
Antarctica or on the Moon,
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aliens under the
Denver Airport, you name it.
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Everything was there.
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It all showed up.
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And it dawned on me
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as all these different people
were congratulating each other
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on how enlightened they were,
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how they were the only
ones who knew the real truth,
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they weren't being
duped by the government.
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Well, it suddenly dawned on me
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that all these people
appeared to be blind to the fact
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that all of these theories
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cannot possibly
be true all at once.
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I mean, you
can't have a flat earth
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covered with an impenetrable
dome on the one hand,
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and then secret alien spaceships
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that orbit our
globe on the other.
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But somehow, both
those theories showed up
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and nobody pointed
out the discrepancy.
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It reminds me of a verse
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that's found in
the Song of Solomon
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where the
inspired poet tells us,
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"I went down to
the garden of nuts."
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Now, obviously, I'm ripping
that verse out of context
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because Solomon wasn't
talking about crazy people,
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but I have to admit that I
was listening to these people
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and thinking about this,
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that passage just
popped into my head,
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and I started laughing.
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I really think we
have a bit of a problem
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emerging here in
Western Christianity
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that we should probably address.
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So, let's take a
look at something you find
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in one of the
letters that Paul wrote
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to his young protege, Timothy.
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And what you'll
find in these letters
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is a lot of good advice
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about how you should be
running a church or a ministry.
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And this comes from 1
Timothy 1:3, where Paul writes:
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As I urged you when I
was going to Macedonia,
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remain at Ephesus so that
you may charge certain persons
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not to teach any
different doctrine,
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nor to devote themselves to
myths and endless genealogies
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which promote speculations,
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rather than the stewardship
from God that is by faith.
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Now, the first
thing I wanna point out
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is the matter of
causing disputes at church.
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I don't know if
you've ever noticed this,
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but when people start to
bring weird ideas to the table,
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it can actually rip
a congregation apart.
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I mean, not that
biblical doctrine
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doesn't ever cause a dispute,
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because over the last
2000 years, it has, clearly.
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But when somebody brings an idea
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that has no
spiritual value whatsoever,
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when somebody
brings a weird concept
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that has no bearing on
the teachings of Christ,
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it seems to have a
way of dividing the church
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and causing all
kinds of trouble.
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And it's trouble that
usually compromises the work
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the church is
actually supposed to be doing.
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Which, of course,
would make you wonder
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why the strife showed
up in the first place.
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Paul would call
these strange ideas myths,
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and he's quite right.
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A lot of Christians seem
to have this overwhelming urge
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to leap on any idea
they think would somehow
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verify, vindicate their beliefs.
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But those ideas almost always
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prove to be a
fable, an urban legend.
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And what that really
does, at the end of the day,
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is discredit
the Christian faith.
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It doesn't help it.
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It turns out that not everything
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that claims to
promote the teachings of Jesus
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is actually true or useful.
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Let me give you a stunning
example from the Book of Acts
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so that you get a sense
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of what I'm
trying to drive at today.
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Paul and Silas are
in the city of Philippi,
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and as they wander the streets,
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there's this girl who shows up
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to supposedly help them
promote what they're teaching.
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You'll find the story
in Acts 16, where it says,
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"She followed Paul
and us, crying out,
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'These men are
servants of the Most High God
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who proclaim to you
the way of salvation.'"
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That's a good thing, right?
00:09:06.57\00:09:08.34
Well, not exactly,
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and I'll be right
back after this break
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to tell you why it's not.
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All right, we're
back from the break
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and we're still
looking at Acts 16,
00:09:48.78\00:09:50.92
where there's this servant girl
00:09:50.92\00:09:52.85
following Paul through
the streets of the city,
00:09:52.85\00:09:55.12
supposedly helping
him promote his cause.
00:09:55.12\00:09:58.33
"These men are servants of
the Most High God," she says,
00:09:58.33\00:10:01.03
"Who proclaim to you
the way of salvation."
00:10:01.03\00:10:03.73
Now, today, there's
this conventional idea
00:10:04.90\00:10:07.60
that there's no such
thing as bad advertising.
00:10:07.60\00:10:10.27
They say that if
people come across your brand,
00:10:10.27\00:10:12.81
even when it's
cast in a bad light,
00:10:12.81\00:10:14.91
that might be a good thing,
00:10:14.91\00:10:15.98
because now they know you exist.
00:10:15.98\00:10:18.55
Even if it's a
really negative news story,
00:10:18.55\00:10:20.92
it still means that
people know who you are
00:10:20.92\00:10:23.39
and it might even
give you a bigger platform
00:10:23.39\00:10:25.95
to do positive marketing
at some point in the future.
00:10:25.95\00:10:29.69
Of course, the
actual examples of people
00:10:29.69\00:10:32.09
who managed to turn
negative press completely around
00:10:32.09\00:10:34.63
are rather few and far between,
00:10:34.63\00:10:37.23
even though a lot
of people still believe
00:10:37.23\00:10:39.40
that bad news
could be good news.
00:10:39.40\00:10:42.37
But not so in this story.
00:10:42.37\00:10:44.44
In this story,
00:10:44.44\00:10:45.87
Paul rebukes the girl
and tells her to be quiet.
00:10:45.87\00:10:48.28
Why?
00:10:48.28\00:10:49.48
Because she's a
well-known occultist.
00:10:49.48\00:10:51.85
Let's go back and
read the whole thing.
00:10:51.85\00:10:53.72
It says:
00:10:53.72\00:10:55.02
As we were going to
the place of prayer,
00:10:55.02\00:10:57.45
we were met by a slave girl
who had a spirit of divination
00:10:57.45\00:11:01.42
and brought her owners
much gain by fortune-telling.
00:11:01.42\00:11:04.89
She followed Paul
and us, crying out,
00:11:04.89\00:11:07.10
"These men are
servants of the Most High God,
00:11:07.10\00:11:09.20
who proclaim to you
the way of salvation."
00:11:09.20\00:11:12.43
And this she kept
doing for many days.
00:11:12.43\00:11:14.90
Paul, having
become greatly annoyed,
00:11:14.90\00:11:17.07
turned and said to the spirit,
00:11:17.07\00:11:18.37
"I command you in
the name of Jesus Christ
00:11:18.37\00:11:20.58
to come out of her."
00:11:20.58\00:11:21.88
And it came out that very hour.
00:11:21.88\00:11:24.95
Now, here's what I
want you to think about.
00:11:24.95\00:11:27.75
I know a lot of
you are really excited
00:11:27.75\00:11:29.92
by your Christian faith.
00:11:29.92\00:11:31.35
It is, after all, who you are,
00:11:31.35\00:11:34.06
and I know you really wanna
help other people understand it.
00:11:34.06\00:11:37.76
But it's entirely
possible to do that so badly
00:11:37.76\00:11:41.10
that you're
actually driving people away,
00:11:41.10\00:11:43.20
hurting the cause
instead of helping it.
00:11:43.20\00:11:46.23
And sadly, this happens
far more often among Christians
00:11:46.23\00:11:49.74
who isolate themselves
from the rest of the world.
00:11:49.74\00:11:53.01
You think you know
what's going to appeal
00:11:53.01\00:11:55.21
to the people you talk to,
00:11:55.21\00:11:56.78
but the truth is
that you have no idea
00:11:56.78\00:11:58.81
how other people
think about the planet.
00:11:58.81\00:12:00.68
So, you say things and do things
00:12:00.68\00:12:02.65
that, frankly, make
people think you might be crazy.
00:12:02.65\00:12:05.85
Let me give you a case in point,
00:12:06.89\00:12:08.56
urban legends,
conspiracy theories.
00:12:08.56\00:12:11.33
Way back in the early '90s
00:12:11.33\00:12:12.79
before either of
my kids were born,
00:12:12.79\00:12:14.56
there was this book
from presidential hopeful Pat
00:12:14.56\00:12:18.20
Robertson. It was
called "The New World Order",
00:12:18.20\00:12:20.74
and it really was the granddaddy
00:12:20.74\00:12:22.64
of all Christian
conspiracy theories.
00:12:22.64\00:12:25.41
Robertson pretty much ties
00:12:25.41\00:12:26.81
most of the old conspiracy
theories from the past
00:12:26.81\00:12:29.61
into one big,
magnificent, messy web.
00:12:29.61\00:12:32.98
I mean, you get a lot
for your money in this book.
00:12:32.98\00:12:35.28
You get the Illuminati,
the Trilateral Commission,
00:12:35.28\00:12:38.15
the Bilderbergers.
00:12:38.15\00:12:39.55
You get an appearance
from just about everybody.
00:12:39.55\00:12:42.09
And from what I remember,
00:12:42.09\00:12:43.22
this book did pretty well
00:12:43.22\00:12:44.56
among mainstream
American Christians.
00:12:44.56\00:12:47.13
And I know that
because this book
00:12:47.13\00:12:49.03
was relatively popular,
00:12:49.03\00:12:51.00
there are gonna be some of
you who aren't gonna appreciate
00:12:51.00\00:12:53.44
what I'm about to say.
00:12:53.44\00:12:54.94
But this book was largely
a waste of time and effort
00:12:54.94\00:12:58.81
because none of the
things it talks about
00:12:58.81\00:13:01.61
are the essence of
what the Bible teaches.
00:13:01.61\00:13:04.68
I mean, you can
always appeal to a passage
00:13:04.68\00:13:07.72
like Revelation 13,
00:13:07.72\00:13:09.55
which talks
about global deception.
00:13:09.55\00:13:11.35
Maybe you can tie some
of the weird ideas to that.
00:13:11.35\00:13:14.49
But you can only do it if
you're gonna ignore the context
00:13:14.49\00:13:17.13
provided by the
rest of the Bible.
00:13:17.13\00:13:19.46
Here's something that used to be
00:13:19.46\00:13:20.90
fairly widely known
in Christian circles.
00:13:20.90\00:13:23.30
The Book of Revelation
was not written in a vacuum.
00:13:23.30\00:13:26.77
It uses language and concepts
that were completely familiar
00:13:26.77\00:13:30.41
to John's original audience,
00:13:30.41\00:13:32.34
and that's because
something like two-thirds
00:13:32.34\00:13:34.98
of the content in Revelation
00:13:34.98\00:13:36.51
is lifted straight from
the pages of the Old Testament,
00:13:36.51\00:13:39.85
which, of course, was
the Bible of John's day.
00:13:39.85\00:13:43.42
If you just slow down
00:13:43.42\00:13:45.35
and take the time to
search the Old Testament
00:13:45.35\00:13:47.79
for the imagery you
find in Revelation 13,
00:13:47.79\00:13:51.63
you'll discover there's
not a lot of wiggle room
00:13:51.63\00:13:53.63
for personal interpretation.
00:13:53.63\00:13:56.06
What you find there has
a very specific meaning,
00:13:56.06\00:13:59.47
and the rest of the Bible
makes it completely obvious
00:13:59.47\00:14:02.57
what that meaning is.
00:14:02.57\00:14:04.17
And I can assure you, it's not
talking about the Illuminati.
00:14:04.17\00:14:07.98
It's not talking about the
Council on Foreign Relations.
00:14:07.98\00:14:11.81
So, either Mr.
Robertson knew this
00:14:11.81\00:14:15.25
and he chose to make
money by scaring people anyway,
00:14:15.25\00:14:17.99
which would make him a phony,
00:14:17.99\00:14:20.32
or he somehow missed
a few seminary classes.
00:14:20.32\00:14:23.36
Maybe it's a little bit of both.
00:14:23.36\00:14:25.03
But the real issue is this.
00:14:26.23\00:14:29.00
The core message found in
the Bible doesn't need your help
00:14:29.00\00:14:32.37
because it's
phenomenal the way it is.
00:14:32.37\00:14:35.34
And what you're doing
when you add your own content
00:14:35.34\00:14:37.94
to the Bible's narrative
is about the same thing
00:14:37.94\00:14:40.04
that the servant
girl was doing to Paul.
00:14:40.04\00:14:42.51
It means you're about to
discredit the Christian faith
00:14:42.51\00:14:45.48
with somebody
who's listening to you.
00:14:45.48\00:14:48.12
Diligent Bible students know
00:14:48.12\00:14:49.88
that the
scriptures are reasonable,
00:14:49.88\00:14:52.39
and when you muddy the content
00:14:52.39\00:14:53.96
with modern-day urban legends,
00:14:53.96\00:14:55.59
you're making
Christianity look like
00:14:55.59\00:14:57.06
a belief system
for wackadoodles.
00:14:57.06\00:14:59.93
I mean, let's be honest.
00:14:59.93\00:15:01.70
There is no need for Christians
00:15:01.70\00:15:03.67
to go coloring
outside of the lines.
00:15:03.67\00:15:06.17
The Bible's story is a story
that doesn't need your help.
00:15:06.17\00:15:10.17
One of the central
features, after all,
00:15:10.17\00:15:12.07
is the resurrection of Christ,
00:15:12.07\00:15:13.68
and that's a big
enough claim all by itself.
00:15:13.68\00:15:16.11
It doesn't need any
embellishment from us.
00:15:16.11\00:15:19.71
If you're trying
to prove the Bible
00:15:19.71\00:15:21.25
by supplementing it with
your own ill-conceived content,
00:15:21.25\00:15:24.35
you're actually keeping people
00:15:24.35\00:15:26.09
from honestly
studying the claims of Christ.
00:15:26.09\00:15:29.32
People instinctively
know that your bonus content,
00:15:29.32\00:15:32.96
well, it's a little nutty.
00:15:32.96\00:15:34.56
And what they're
going to do is assume
00:15:34.56\00:15:35.93
that the Bible must
be a little nutty, too,
00:15:35.93\00:15:38.57
which means that
you've now made it look
00:15:38.57\00:15:40.24
like the actual
claims of the Bible,
00:15:40.24\00:15:42.30
the things that this
book actually talks about,
00:15:42.30\00:15:45.14
are just another
episode of the Twilight Zone.
00:15:45.14\00:15:47.94
Blend your fiction with
the history of the Bible,
00:15:47.94\00:15:50.61
and you're gonna make it seem
00:15:50.61\00:15:51.71
like the whole book is fiction,
00:15:51.71\00:15:53.62
because, let's be honest,
00:15:53.62\00:15:55.18
most people aren't
gonna take the time
00:15:55.18\00:15:56.72
to examine your claims carefully
00:15:56.72\00:15:58.72
and then contrast them with
the claims of the scriptures.
00:15:58.72\00:16:02.79
Always, always ask yourself
00:16:02.79\00:16:04.83
before you speak
about your faith,
00:16:04.83\00:16:07.00
is this actually
what the Bible says,
00:16:07.00\00:16:09.63
or is this just something
you read on the internet?
00:16:09.63\00:16:13.00
Of course, right now,
00:16:13.00\00:16:14.50
I'm tempted to talk
about some of the crazier stuff
00:16:14.50\00:16:16.74
that's going around out there,
00:16:16.74\00:16:18.34
but I think I've done that
more than once on this show.
00:16:18.34\00:16:20.98
And believe me, based on some
of the correspondence I get,
00:16:20.98\00:16:23.85
I have absolutely
touched on quite a few nerves.
00:16:23.85\00:16:26.82
The flat earth crowd is unhappy,
the alien abduction crowd,
00:16:26.82\00:16:30.25
the Illuminati crowd,
the British Israelites,
00:16:30.25\00:16:32.62
and, well, there's just a
lot of these groups out there.
00:16:32.62\00:16:35.92
Do I ever answer their letters?
00:16:35.92\00:16:37.86
Nah, I just save
it up for this show.
00:16:37.86\00:16:40.80
So, here's my core message
00:16:40.80\00:16:42.26
to those of you
who love these theories
00:16:42.26\00:16:44.30
and say you believe in
the claims of the book.
00:16:44.30\00:16:47.84
Just stop doing it, please.
00:16:47.84\00:16:50.57
The Bible doesn't
really need your help.
00:16:50.57\00:16:52.47
And what you're
likely doing is making this
00:16:52.47\00:16:54.51
seem more
ridiculous to the people
00:16:54.51\00:16:56.48
who listen to your
off-the-wall ideas.
00:16:56.48\00:16:59.21
In fact,
consider the possibility
00:16:59.21\00:17:01.22
that you might be the reason
that your fellow churchgoers
00:17:01.22\00:17:03.79
are afraid to bring
their friends to church.
00:17:03.79\00:17:06.45
They don't know when
you're gonna pull out
00:17:06.45\00:17:08.06
all that wackadoodle
stuff and embarrass them.
00:17:08.06\00:17:10.96
So, please, I beg of you,
00:17:10.96\00:17:12.93
stick to what the
Bible actually says.
00:17:12.93\00:17:16.00
There is no need to go mining
00:17:16.00\00:17:17.60
for some secret esoteric truth,
00:17:17.60\00:17:19.53
some mystical secret
00:17:19.53\00:17:21.07
that only the enlightened
few could possibly understand,
00:17:21.07\00:17:24.34
because the information that
God actually wants you to find,
00:17:24.34\00:17:27.68
it's right here on the surface.
00:17:27.68\00:17:29.41
It's in the plain
reading of the Bible.
00:17:29.41\00:17:32.11
I mean, look, there's no doubt
00:17:32.11\00:17:33.95
you can spend
the rest of your life
00:17:33.95\00:17:35.45
mining the
incredible truths of the Bible,
00:17:35.45\00:17:37.69
and you will never
get to the bottom of it.
00:17:37.69\00:17:39.92
It gets more profound as you go.
00:17:39.92\00:17:42.22
But the core message of the
scriptures is on the surface,
00:17:42.22\00:17:45.69
right out in the open.
00:17:45.69\00:17:47.50
"The Holy Scriptures,"
00:17:47.50\00:17:48.86
Paul tells us in his
second letter to Timothy,
00:17:48.86\00:17:51.17
"Are able to make
you wise for salvation
00:17:51.17\00:17:53.54
through faith in Christ Jesus."
00:17:53.54\00:17:55.84
There's no need for
a secret decoder ring.
00:17:55.84\00:17:58.37
That kind of
esoteric thinking came to us
00:17:59.54\00:18:01.51
courtesy of the
ancient pagan mystery cults.
00:18:01.51\00:18:04.58
And from there, it made
its way into Christian thinking
00:18:04.58\00:18:07.12
by way of the gnostic cults
00:18:07.12\00:18:09.15
that were
synthesizing mystical teachings
00:18:09.15\00:18:11.52
with biblical theology.
00:18:11.52\00:18:13.46
Only a special elite
group, the gnostics taught,
00:18:13.46\00:18:16.46
and of course,
that group was them,
00:18:16.46\00:18:18.53
only a special group
could actually understand
00:18:18.53\00:18:20.76
the real nature of the universe.
00:18:20.76\00:18:22.73
Only they could lay
hold of the higher realities
00:18:22.73\00:18:25.43
and the deeper truths.
00:18:25.43\00:18:27.20
But these
people were dead wrong.
00:18:27.20\00:18:29.27
The saving grace of God
is available to everybody,
00:18:29.27\00:18:32.31
and everything you
really need to know,
00:18:32.31\00:18:35.44
it's right here on the surface
00:18:35.44\00:18:36.81
just waiting for you to
read it and understand it.
00:18:36.81\00:18:40.22
I'll be right back after this.
00:18:40.22\00:18:42.38
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00:18:43.18\00:18:45.49
[no audio]
00:18:53.03\00:18:55.30
[no audio]
00:19:03.14\00:19:05.47
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00:19:13.01\00:19:15.75
Sometimes, it's
possible for Christians
00:19:15.75\00:19:17.62
to spend so much
time in isolation
00:19:17.62\00:19:19.99
locked away from
the rest of the world
00:19:19.99\00:19:21.79
that they begin to lose touch
00:19:21.79\00:19:23.49
with the very
people God wants to reach
00:19:23.49\00:19:26.09
through their efforts.
00:19:26.09\00:19:28.30
It's a problem that began
00:19:28.30\00:19:29.66
in the very earliest
days of the Christian Church
00:19:29.66\00:19:31.93
when ascetic monks
took to the wilderness
00:19:31.93\00:19:34.70
to engage in the
work of self-perfection.
00:19:34.70\00:19:37.44
To do that, they disappeared
00:19:37.44\00:19:38.77
into the
deserts of North Africa,
00:19:38.77\00:19:40.78
eager to separate themselves
from all worldly influence,
00:19:40.78\00:19:44.11
from the other people who might
corrupt their spirituality.
00:19:44.11\00:19:48.45
And there really is a
part of that that's appealing.
00:19:48.45\00:19:51.02
I mean, I can
understand why somebody
00:19:51.02\00:19:53.39
might crave peace and quiet,
00:19:53.39\00:19:55.06
so they can sit and think
00:19:55.06\00:19:57.16
without having somebody
interrupt their thoughts.
00:19:57.16\00:19:59.66
I can see why it might look
easier to pick up and leave,
00:19:59.66\00:20:03.40
because there's nobody to
bug you out there in the desert,
00:20:03.40\00:20:05.77
nobody to argue with you,
00:20:05.77\00:20:07.17
nobody who can
exert a bad influence.
00:20:07.17\00:20:10.27
I can understand why somebody
would be tempted to do that,
00:20:10.27\00:20:12.81
because, well, I've
been tempted to do that.
00:20:12.81\00:20:15.18
I mean, how great would it
be to spend the rest of my life
00:20:15.18\00:20:18.45
sitting in a distant
library, just studying?
00:20:18.45\00:20:21.88
And of course, that would mean
that I don't have to witness
00:20:21.88\00:20:23.75
all the crazy
behavior going on in America
00:20:23.75\00:20:26.35
and other parts of the
Western world right now.
00:20:26.35\00:20:28.72
Why in the world
wouldn't I want to be isolated
00:20:28.72\00:20:31.26
from all that nonsense?
00:20:31.26\00:20:33.09
Well, the answer to
that is found in a prayer
00:20:34.20\00:20:36.83
that Jesus
actually prayed out loud.
00:20:36.83\00:20:38.93
You'll find it in the
Gospel of John in chapter 17.
00:20:38.93\00:20:42.64
I know a lot of people refer to,
00:20:42.64\00:20:44.44
"Our Father,
which art in heaven,"
00:20:44.44\00:20:46.14
as the Lord's Prayer.
00:20:46.14\00:20:47.61
And in a way, it is,
because Jesus was advising us
00:20:47.61\00:20:50.71
to use that prayer as a pattern
00:20:50.71\00:20:52.55
for building a
successful prayer life.
00:20:52.55\00:20:55.22
It is a pattern for
prayer that comes from the Lord,
00:20:55.22\00:20:58.62
so it is the Lord's Prayer.
00:20:58.62\00:21:00.69
But if you wanna see a prayer
00:21:00.69\00:21:01.96
that Jesus actually
prayed himself out loud,
00:21:01.96\00:21:05.03
well, that's what
you get in John 17.
00:21:05.03\00:21:07.50
And at one point,
here's what he says.
00:21:07.50\00:21:10.67
"I do not ask that you take
them," that's the disciples,
00:21:10.67\00:21:13.74
"Out of the world,
00:21:13.74\00:21:15.20
but that you keep
them from the evil one.
00:21:15.20\00:21:17.47
They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world."
00:21:17.47\00:21:20.44
Now, I hope you caught this.
00:21:21.24\00:21:22.61
Jesus is praying
that his disciples
00:21:22.61\00:21:24.61
would stay right
here in this world
00:21:24.61\00:21:26.61
because they were
now his representatives,
00:21:26.61\00:21:29.15
the ones who would
continue what he started.
00:21:29.15\00:21:32.32
They were tasked
with taking the gospel
00:21:32.32\00:21:34.02
to the entire planet.,
00:21:34.02\00:21:35.16
and there's no
way that can happen
00:21:35.16\00:21:36.66
if all the Christians
just take off into the desert.
00:21:36.66\00:21:40.46
And furthermore, maybe
you've seen what happens
00:21:40.46\00:21:42.96
to some of those
people who live in isolation
00:21:42.96\00:21:45.30
for just a little too long.
00:21:45.30\00:21:47.24
The cheese begins to
slip off the cracker,
00:21:47.24\00:21:49.20
and before you know it,
00:21:49.20\00:21:50.54
they're so out of
touch with everyday reality
00:21:50.54\00:21:53.24
that they actually become
useless to the cause of God.
00:21:53.24\00:21:56.54
And it's often in isolation
that people start to think
00:21:56.54\00:21:59.61
that maybe some of
these strange theories
00:21:59.61\00:22:01.52
you find on
YouTube are actually real.
00:22:01.52\00:22:04.45
You start to believe that maybe,
00:22:04.45\00:22:06.22
exposing the Illuminati is
the core message of the gospel,
00:22:06.22\00:22:09.86
or ripping the mask
off the moon landing hoax
00:22:09.86\00:22:12.29
is the most important
thing God wants you to do.
00:22:12.29\00:22:15.20
When you cut yourself off
00:22:15.20\00:22:16.53
from the broader
community of believers,
00:22:16.53\00:22:18.67
when you cut yourself off
00:22:18.67\00:22:20.00
from the broader
world outside of the church,
00:22:20.00\00:22:22.80
you can develop a very
warped perception of reality
00:22:22.80\00:22:26.14
and a distorted sense of
what's actually important.
00:22:26.14\00:22:29.54
Let me tell you for a fact,
00:22:30.35\00:22:32.01
the average person on the
street isn't kept awake at night
00:22:32.01\00:22:34.72
by the thought
that members of Congress
00:22:34.72\00:22:36.75
are drinking adrenochrome.
00:22:36.75\00:22:38.42
That's not
their biggest problem.
00:22:38.42\00:22:40.22
They don't panic about the
alien bodies hidden at Area 51.
00:22:40.22\00:22:44.03
They're not wondering if NASA
finally found the missing time
00:22:44.03\00:22:46.83
from the story where the
sun stood still for Joshua.
00:22:46.83\00:22:50.30
You know what they worry about?
00:22:50.30\00:22:52.00
Far more important things,
00:22:52.00\00:22:53.74
like whether or not
their lives mean something
00:22:53.74\00:22:56.40
or whether or not
God knows who they are.
00:22:56.40\00:22:59.14
They're struggling
with shattered lives
00:22:59.14\00:23:00.81
and an
overwhelming sense of guilt.
00:23:00.81\00:23:03.18
What they don't need
00:23:03.18\00:23:04.61
is a bunch of urban
legends and conspiracy nonsense.
00:23:04.61\00:23:08.35
They need to know where
they can find hope in Christ.
00:23:08.35\00:23:12.02
And I know I've covered
this topic more than once,
00:23:12.02\00:23:15.09
but I'm seeing so much of this
nonsense going on right now,
00:23:15.09\00:23:18.33
even among professed Christians,
00:23:18.33\00:23:20.06
that somebody's
got to say something.
00:23:20.06\00:23:22.46
If you think you
need those other ideas
00:23:22.46\00:23:24.83
to make your
faith seem interesting,
00:23:24.83\00:23:26.67
then you're not
really reading your Bible,
00:23:26.67\00:23:29.07
because this book is
easily profound enough
00:23:29.07\00:23:31.74
to be interesting for
the rest of your life.
00:23:31.74\00:23:34.11
And experience has taught me
00:23:34.11\00:23:35.64
that if you're buying into
00:23:35.64\00:23:36.88
all those oddball
conspiracy theories,
00:23:36.88\00:23:38.88
there's a pretty good chance
that you haven't come to terms
00:23:38.88\00:23:41.35
with the nature of your
relationship with a holy God.
00:23:41.35\00:23:45.69
In fact, I think
there might be a good chance
00:23:45.69\00:23:47.72
that you're trying
to suppress your need
00:23:47.72\00:23:49.66
to get right with God,
00:23:49.66\00:23:51.63
because let's think about this.
00:23:51.63\00:23:53.50
It's a whole lot easier
00:23:53.50\00:23:54.83
to make your
religion about something weird
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than it is to get into
the muddy waters of the Jordan
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and humble yourself
beside the Syrian leper Naaman.
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You probably
remember that story.
00:24:03.17\00:24:04.84
When the prophet told him
00:24:04.84\00:24:06.14
to wash seven times in
the Jordan to be healed,
00:24:06.14\00:24:08.21
he was incensed!
00:24:08.21\00:24:09.84
"Man, I've got better,
more noble rivers at home.
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Why should an
important man like me
00:24:12.51\00:24:14.32
have to do
something so humiliating?"
00:24:14.32\00:24:18.05
But here's the
truth of the Bible.
00:24:18.05\00:24:19.79
This book requires you
to admit that you're broken.
00:24:19.79\00:24:23.02
It asks you to
admit that you're a sinner
00:24:23.02\00:24:25.23
who needs forgiveness and
the grace and mercy of God.
00:24:25.23\00:24:28.36
And it requires
coming to grips with the idea
00:24:28.36\00:24:30.50
that you are not the
center of the universe.
00:24:30.50\00:24:33.90
Now, contrast that with
some of those offbeat theories,
00:24:33.90\00:24:37.04
because they aren't designed
to make you feel humble.
00:24:37.04\00:24:40.31
They're designed to make
you feel special, chosen.
00:24:40.31\00:24:43.58
I mean, you must be
in God's good graces
00:24:43.58\00:24:46.28
if he's allowed you to know
such mysterious things, right?
00:24:46.28\00:24:50.25
But what you're
really doing is substituting
00:24:50.25\00:24:52.15
something you
think is more noble
00:24:52.15\00:24:54.69
for the actual
covenant of grace.
00:24:54.69\00:24:57.23
It's entirely possible
to keep yourself so busy
00:24:57.23\00:24:59.83
drawing dots between
supposed conspirators
00:24:59.83\00:25:03.30
than it is to quiet yourself
at the foot of the cross
00:25:03.30\00:25:05.83
and wrestle with just
how awful your sin really is.
00:25:05.83\00:25:09.34
Our human nature
wants to do something
00:25:09.34\00:25:11.81
to win God's approval.
00:25:11.81\00:25:13.11
And for some people,
00:25:13.11\00:25:14.64
the possibility that you
might be God's special messenger
00:25:14.64\00:25:16.98
for something really strange,
00:25:16.98\00:25:19.95
well, it seems to answer
that impulse to prove yourself.
00:25:19.95\00:25:23.75
And honestly, I think
a lot of us are terrified
00:25:23.75\00:25:26.19
by the idea of walking
into the throne room of God
00:25:26.19\00:25:28.76
exactly the way
we are right now.
00:25:28.76\00:25:31.13
A lot of us feel the
need to prove our worth,
00:25:31.13\00:25:34.73
and that's
keeping us from finding
00:25:34.73\00:25:36.33
an authentic life with Christ.
00:25:36.33\00:25:38.60
I'll be right back after this.
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Look, nobody relishes the idea
00:26:13.67\00:26:15.44
of facing God the way we are,
00:26:15.44\00:26:17.11
because we know
we're not really worthy.
00:26:17.11\00:26:19.91
And so, sometimes, we
resort to diversionary tactics.
00:26:19.91\00:26:23.21
We keep ourselves busy
with anything but the truth.
00:26:23.21\00:26:26.95
The truth is, you're a broken
sinner and you need Christ,
00:26:26.95\00:26:30.19
and you and I have
not been given a license
00:26:30.19\00:26:32.19
to mess with the basic story.
00:26:32.19\00:26:34.42
When Paul was writing
to the church in Corinth,
00:26:34.42\00:26:36.83
he expressed an
awful lot of concern
00:26:36.83\00:26:38.46
about people who were teaching,
00:26:38.46\00:26:40.00
"Another Jesus than
the one we proclaimed,
00:26:40.00\00:26:43.10
or if you receive
a different spirit
00:26:43.10\00:26:44.63
from the one you received,
00:26:44.63\00:26:45.93
or if you accept
a different gospel
00:26:45.93\00:26:48.10
from the one you accepted..."
00:26:48.10\00:26:49.94
There there are a lot
of things in the Bible
00:26:51.14\00:26:52.84
we could debate,
00:26:52.84\00:26:54.14
but the way you're
saved isn't one of those.
00:26:54.14\00:26:56.91
If you read this book
honestly and carefully,
00:26:56.91\00:26:59.08
you'll quickly discover
that God is offering to save you
00:26:59.08\00:27:02.08
not from some secret cabal
or some vast global conspiracy,
00:27:02.08\00:27:06.99
but from yourself.
00:27:08.12\00:27:09.99
Your biggest problem isn't
somebody else or something else,
00:27:09.99\00:27:13.56
it's you.
00:27:13.56\00:27:14.60
And that's one of the
reasons it's so important
00:27:15.86\00:27:17.57
that you don't start muddying
the waters for other people.
00:27:17.57\00:27:20.74
We dare not add
our own offbeat ideas
00:27:20.74\00:27:23.14
to the message of the Bible,
00:27:23.14\00:27:24.31
because then you're compromising
00:27:24.31\00:27:26.34
somebody else's
ability to find the truth,
00:27:26.34\00:27:29.44
and maybe even keeping somebody
00:27:29.44\00:27:31.61
from
encountering the risen Christ.
00:27:31.61\00:27:34.12
So, I'm asking
you, stop it, please,
00:27:34.12\00:27:37.59
and let the main thing
continue to be the main thing.
00:27:37.59\00:27:41.92
I'm Shawn Boonstra.
00:27:41.92\00:27:42.82
Thanks for joining me.
00:27:42.82\00:27:43.96
You've been
watching "Authentic".
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