SPEAKER_00 0:00

Men welcome to the most important podcast that you'll hear in a long time. It's the Men's Leadership Community Podcast, and it starts now.

SPEAKER_05 0:16

And don't forget that even being on these Friday morning calls, showing up at the happy hour, uh going to the uh the annual retreat is actually intentionally practicing your men's mental health and emotional wellness, right? Because you're involved in a community that wants to walk that journey and share it with you.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Yeah. So what does that look like, right? We um this is what we're talking about here in the second week. It starts with this paradigm shift with Jesus being at the center.

SPEAKER_05 0:45

Yeah, which is a pretty big deal, believe it or not. Jesus at the center. And why is, you know, why you'd say, well, of course he is. Yeah, of course he is. But according to our world, uh and according to our broken, sinful nature, we actually have a narcissism problem, Obi. I don't know if you knew that, and I don't know if you guys like hearing that. But when you think of us from a worldly point of view, uh, from the fall in Genesis chapter three, all the way up to the way that we're blasted over a thousand times a day, uh, with the messaging of you are the center of your universe. Uh, we've come all the way from the fall in the garden to where we are today. I love this image. Everything that we have is built to tell you you're the center of your own universe, which according to scripture is not true. Jesus is the center. So the first problem that that we need we have to overcome is actually talking about our narcissistic nature with one another, and that we have a i.e., I am the center of the universe issue that men need to talk about with one another in order to overcome. Yeah. What do you think of that, Obi? Do you struggle with that at all? Struggle with that marriage or your parenting or your work world?

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Nothing revealed to me more about my narcissistic nature than being married and having kids.

SPEAKER_05 1:58

There's nothing better than a good woman that God puts in your life to remind you of what we need to hear is you are not the center of the universe, young man. Now they might have a problem with the same issue we do. You know, our wives may have that issue too, and we have to remind them every now and then. But don't tell them we talk about that on Friday mornings.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Yes, please. And of course, this cause we always, you know, anything we talk about, we always want to point it to scripture. This isn't something pulled out of Andy's own wisdom or Obi's wisdom of well, you know, that can lead us astray. Uh, as as as well as our intentions might be. We it's want to be grounded in scripture because that is our that is our constant that never changes. That's God's word.

SPEAKER_05 2:41

And this is one that we bring up over and over again. So you guys may be like, man, we've heard this one a lot. Well, you can't share this enough with each other, uh, Romans 12, 1 through 2, because it is an ongoing paradigm shift, Obi. It's not, it's not just that we went through this paradigm shift once on a Friday morning and all of a sudden we got it. This is kind of the daily renewal of baptismal life in Christ, of this paradigm shift of having to put to death the old man and the new man in Christ being resurrected up out of the waters. So this is one that I meditate on actually every day, Obi.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Yeah. Uh therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

SPEAKER_05 3:36

Yeah, now you can tell at the end right there. This is one that I would encourage guys, Obi, like you and I have talked about. Make this a part of your morning meditation every day to not be conform to the pattern of the world. Because how often, Obi, is the pattern of the world going to be presented to us throughout the rest of the day today? I mean, it's it's it's unceasing, guys, that the pattern of the world is gonna come at you over and over again today, whether it's in your social media, whether it's on your TV, whether it's in your workplace, it's just gonna come at us over and over again. So being transformed by the renewing of your mind is something that in Christ has to take place daily, hourly, all the time to be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. And today we're testing God's will right now with problem number one. Am I the center of the universe and am I the center of the story, or is Jesus the center of the universe? Is Jesus the center of my story? Right? Because, dude, Obi, if you pick up the Bible and you start reading the Bible and you believe that you're the center of the story and that it's all about you, are you gonna actually read God's word differently than if you pick it up and Jesus is the center of the story and it's all about Jesus? Hey, I think we might read scripture differently.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Um, yeah, and you know that what that's that's something that I wasn't uh taught until later after the Lord found me. When I, you know, I'm one of my pastors said, Hey, you know, you know that the the Bible is it, you're not the character in the Bible, right? Because we I grew up being, hey, you're David, you know, you slay your Goliath, you know, you are at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you are all these characters in the Bible. And it wasn't. The Bible points towards Jesus, it's always Jesus.

SPEAKER_05 5:19

By the way, by the way, who who actually slew Goliath? I I think it was the Lord who actually saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I think it was the Lord, you know, Jesus in there with them. So Daniel and the lions, it'd be Daniel and the Lion's den. Yeah, it was Jesus that was in the lion's den keeping the lion's mouth closed. So I think it's easy for us to forget he's the center of the story.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

And Tullian said it best. You guys remember at the retreat, he's like, You guys, you guys think that you're David slaying your Goliath? You're not, you're that guy over there scared, you know, in the crowd. So Jesus in the center of it of it all. That's that's important to see that. I'm also reading out of John 1, you can read that where it says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through him all things were made. Without him, nothing was made. That has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

SPEAKER_05 6:24

So, why is Jesus the center of the story? Because he's the creator of all things, he's the very life and breath that we have, and he's the light that shines in the darkness. When we talk about Romans 12, don't conform to the patterns of this world. It's the very light of Christ that renews our minds each and every day in our leadership, in our marriage, in our parenting, and in all that we do.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Yeah, it always points towards Jesus. Everything here is pointing towards Jesus, that he is Jesus. And if you jump to what to 15, it continues talking about the supremacy of Christ. The this is in Colossians 1:15 through 20. Uh, the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him, and for him, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

SPEAKER_05 7:22

Okay, and in him all things hold together, he's the center.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Yeah.

unknown 7:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:29

Sorry, I had to throw that out there.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

No, no, yeah. Uh and he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to receive, to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. I mean, this you you see this him, he, you know, his.

SPEAKER_05 8:02

And this goes, I I love that because this goes far beyond the born supremacy, by the way. Jesus, Jesus' supremacy goes far beyond the born supremacy, guys. But so you know, no, that that Jason, but far beyond Jason Bourne and all of his abilities, just so you know. But this set of verses, this is actually a hymn that Paul wrote uh for the people in Colossae to sing about who Jesus is. They were to sing this hymn, Obi, over and over again when they when they met for worship with one another, to center themselves in Christ, to recognize that he's the center of all things, including not only creation, but the very center of their lives, and then to live that out. So at not only is everything centered on Christ, but when Christ is at the center of us, then everything in our lives emanates from Christ and explodes outward from him.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

And that's the and that's the difference. And we're gonna get to that here in a minute. Um, because we like to I like to talk about it a lot because it's contrary to really what what the world says about the gospel, what the world, what the world says about you and who we are.

SPEAKER_05 9:10

So a couple of questions. And we're getting some ridiculous statements in our world today that are actually being blasted out through the pattern of the world, right? From people that say that they have faith and believe in God are saying ridiculous things about God and about Jesus. So one of the things that we're here to do is to be renewed in our minds through God's word with Jesus at the center and speak the truth of scripture, whether we like it or not.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:37

Because guess what? There are aspects of God's word, Obi, that I don't like because they tell me that I'm sinful and broken. They tell me that I'm not the center of the story. They remind me that God's grace and mercy is poured out for me because I'm capable of nothing apart from Christ.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Well, you know, your story doesn't sell real well. No, when we, you know, that's that's what's beautiful about the Bible, right? That it it we're reading it and it reads us. And we, you know, there as you said, there are times the Bible doesn't shy away from pointing to us and and and telling us about the things that are wrong with us.

SPEAKER_05 10:12

Um God doesn't want to fix us, God doesn't want to make you better, God wants you to be brand new in his son Jesus Christ, and that's a different story.

SPEAKER_03 10:20

Amen. Um, so a couple of questions here for you guys. I I want to ask you guys, how does the it's all about me culture creep up on you?

SPEAKER_05 10:30

Yeah, and this is one we want to hear from you guys. So, you know, this culture is just it's the water we swim in, and I don't think we recognize that it's creeping up on us sometimes, and all of a sudden it has a hold of us. So, how does the the universe revolves around me? It's all about me culture creep up on you guys. How do you recognize it when it's done it and and you're wanting to get out of it? Or what are some of the repercussions for it creeping up on you?

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Correct. And as you're thinking about that, you know, I I uh what's dangerous about it is that the you know, it's it's not so longer this black and white, the world, it's creeping up that that dangerous doctrine, that dangerous theology, it's even making its way into uh the Christian circles. So you'll see it the masses Christianese, right? That says, Hey, you are enough, Andy. You're strong enough, you know. You, you.

SPEAKER_05 11:22

Well, I'll tell you another one that it creeps up on when you talk about how why is it so challenging? What's the most challenging aspect of living in our narcissistic culture? Is some of the things about this Christianese in the midst of a narcissistic culture sound good. Hey, God just wants you to be happy. No, God wants you to be redeemed and transformed through the blood of his son Jesus Christ. That's what God wants. But we we uh this this it's all about me culture creeps in even to our Christian uh doctrine and says, God just wants you to be happy. That's not actually what scripture says, right? God wants you to die on the cross and be resurrected through the empty tomb with Jesus. Yeah, you know, so it it'll creep up on us in all kinds of ways. I think we talked about it on a series a couple of a couple of months back. We talked about, you know, what is a a major anthem uh in pop culture of Americana through song is, you know, everybody loves Frank Sinatra singing what song? I did it my way, right? And it'll creep up on us all of a sudden in the anthems that we are like, yeah, you know, what does it mean to be a man, uh authentic manhood in the 21st century? I did it my way. And it'll creep up on you, and all of a sudden you're like, wait a minute, I don't think that lines up with scripture at all.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:44

So oh, Gunnar, go ahead. Uh so all y'all know, or most of you know, I I suffer from mate, you know, some pretty serious injuries that debilitate my movements. And sometimes I find myself getting caught into the oh, I wish I could help you more. And you know, so it's feeding into that that empathy that people pour into me and saying, Oh, it's about me, you know, what they can do for me, and and you know, my condition is more important than their condition. And, you know, then I I have to step back and and I and I make it on per I do it on purpose, uh, you know, to just for this exact reason to that, you know, it's like, wait a minute, it's not always about me and and how much pain I'm in, because you know, it's all relative to someone else on how much pain they're in.

SPEAKER_05 13:47

Well, I appreciate you bringing that up, Gunner, because one of the things that creeps up on us is all of a sudden relationships can become very transactional.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:56

Right? And they can be based on the return on investment. What am I gonna get out of this relationship? And then all of a sudden, the all-about-me culture creeps up on you in divorce because you're like, Well, I'm just not happy with her anymore, or he just doesn't make me happy anymore.

SPEAKER_04 14:12

And instead of finding out why and and and trying to answer the true question, they stay stern to their beliefs and and sign that dotted line that dissolves something that could be, you know, that has been anointed, you know.

SPEAKER_05 14:29

Which was supposed to be self-sacrificial in the love that you're giving versus the transactional return on investment. I'm just not getting what I wanted out of that. I'm not getting what I want from somebody else.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

Yeah, it's exactly irreconcilable differences. I'm not getting what I want. Yeah, but the same kind of concept. Yeah, it's like where I'm at with my injuries, it's like I'm not getting the pain relief that I want. So then I search for comfort in other locations, and that comes from maybe the word from up of someone else saying, Oh, I'm so sorry for what you're going through, and you know, just the some things like that. And I have to finally ground myself and say, you know, I'm not so bad. There are people that are far worse than me, and I pray for them, and I pray for myself, and and you know, that's it.

SPEAKER_05 15:24

And Obi Gunnar's going deep, guys. I don't know if you're hearing this, but all of a sudden the all about me culture can creep up on us in our search for comfort and security.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 15:33

When God may be actually stretching and and pulling you out of your comfort zone and wanting you to grow and go through something that's challenging and difficult where you have to depend only on him instead of on yourself.

SPEAKER_03 15:45

Careful, Andy. Careful. You're talking crazy.

SPEAKER_05 15:49

Yeah, this might be why it's important for men to get together and talk about these things.

SPEAKER_04 15:53

Yeah. I don't have I didn't have anyone to truly talk about it with. And I'm not saying that y'all need to hear all my stories and whatnot, but I know I'm happy to know that you're there if I did need to. And it makes even the biggest difference right there in itself. It's just the thought that if I needed to reach out to somebody, there's somebody there to reach out to in this group, and that's that's a huge relief.

SPEAKER_05 16:23

Well, I can guarantee you that the devil does not want us talking about these things, the devil wants us to listen to the pattern of the world, the devil wants us to hear the it's all about me culture and shove everything deep down inside and say, I can do it on my own. I'm supposed to do it on my own. The expectation is to do it by myself and to get what I want out of it instead of meeting with a bunch of other guys on a Friday morning or at a happy hour at the retreat and saying, Man, we've got to wake up and talk about these things with one another because Jesus wants more for us, he wants new for us.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

And not just you know, not just those aspects of our life, every aspect of our life, which leads us again really into the problem number two that we that we're gonna talk about. Uh here we go, guys. See that the compartmentalization, the comp it up into syllables. The compartmentalization conspiracy. Listen, the T hasn't made its way into the the main bloodstream here, guys. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 17:30

Yeah, what we mean by that, Obi, so the first the first problem is the lie that the world tries to tell us that it's you're at the center of the universe, it's all about you. The second lie that the world tries to tell us every day is to compartmentalize the aspects of your life and be different, be a different Obi Ariano, be a different Andy Whaley, be a different Gunner Vaughn in the different aspects of your life. Don't be one whole person with Jesus at the center in every aspect of your life. But the world tells us to be fragmented and to be these different guys, whether it's at church, at home, at work, on the golf course, or in Vegas. You can be these different men and actually have a life, which is a lie. And, you know, we've talked about this before. You know, one of the greatest lies out there is whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And that's the compartmentalization conspiracy. That's how it's supposed to roll off the tongue, I'll be sorry. That that's the compartmentalization conspiracy in a nutshell, in a commercial, that the pattern of the world is trying to sell to men today is whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You can go step in crap and not bring the poop into your home when you come back, which is a complete and total lie. You are that person there as you are in your home. And, you know, well, don't bring Jesus into your workplace. How am I supposed to not do that? Andy, you know go to Vegas and and be sinful and broken and do whatever you want. And by the way, when you come back, that's not gonna affect your life in your marriage or in your parenting at all.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Well, Andy, but you've heard my story, and I've told you guys uh about my boss that I had in when I when the Lord first found me, that you know, I was I started taking my Bible to to work, and he called me and he says, Hey, you know, we had some we had somebody else that kind of said something about your Bible, and you know, I do just that needs to stay over there. And he's like, And listen, I'm a religious man myself, you know, but that stays over there. This is work, and it's not that way. How you if you take that away from me, my identity is in Christ now, right?

SPEAKER_05 19:34

Right. See, that's you just so you just blew the rest of the sermon, by the way. Everybody's got it. That's what I say on a Sunday morning when somebody gets it right away. Where is your identity grounded? And is your identity grounded in being fragmented and splintered and compartmentalized in the different aspects of your life? Or is your identity grounded with Jesus at the center? Mm-hmm. And then all of a sudden, what's happening is when you say things like whatever happens in Vegas can, you know, stays in Vegas, you're you're actually saying that my identity is not grounded in Christ, but it's it's grounded in what I want to do over there versus what I want to do over here. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, the transactional aspect of what Gunnar's talking about, the return on investment now, is is a huge aspect of this question that we're talking about with where is your identity grounded? And that's where that central paradigm shift comes from. Sorry, Obi, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

No, no, no. Which, you know, it's it's different than really what we're the traditional way, the classical perspective of uh the ranking of priorities, right? The the way life operates, as you were saying, a transactional to-do list that goes kind of from the top down. And and for those that can't see it, you know, you have this kind of like this this pyramid that's got God at the top, you know, and then you got self, and then you got family and work and career and community, uh, your pursuits. And so there's this needs. Who was it? The hierarchy of needs. Hierarchy of needs. It kind of kind of looks like that, right? With God. So you got God, and then you make God yourself, or that can be flipped around, you know, depending on um what you view as most important in life, where our central paradigm shift with Jesus at the center permeates every aspect of your life, right? And it flows from the center to every every every side, every every hobby, every everything that you that you are, your work, your your your church, your play, and and and and it looks like your you know, your emotions, in this case, it looks like your emotions, your physical, the spiritual, the vocational, relational, intellectual, all of those things, Jesus permeates that down to the molecular level, down to the every fiber screams Jesus is is is saturated in Christ that flows outward and that changes everything.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

That's like the every aspect. Like now with Jesus at the center, Jesus emanates outward into every aspect of our lives. It's not where we take him or where we think he should go. He emanates outward in every aspect of our lives. It's you, you know, if he's the supremacy, right? If he has a supremacy, then he's in charge.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

And and if and if you do that, it's impossible to be a different person in different areas of life.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Very well said, Steve.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:28

Actually, it becomes tiring, and we begin to recognize it and say, why am I doing that here? Why am I trying to be this different person here? This is tiring. It'll wear you out. But what it goes back to, Steve, I love that it goes back to the fall with Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis chapter three. We have these four relationships, Obi, that were broken. And everybody talks about the top three, and we forget the fourth one sometimes. So our relationship with God was broken. Our relationship with the created order, creation itself is broken. Our relationship with one another was broken, right? But there's a fourth relationship, Steve, that was broken. Our relationship within ourselves, in our own idea, identity was shattered, fragmented, and broken apart. The pattern of the world wants us to say that is good, right, and proper to be fragmented, shattered, and splintered. Whereas when we talk about, listen again, Obi, whole life wellness, God is wanting one unique whole individual with Christ at the center, Steve. And that's what you're pointing out. God wants this wholeness of who you are with Jesus at the center, not this fragmented, splintered, shattered, broken person from the fall.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

No. And you know, this comes from Acts 17, 28. Um, that says, For in him we live, move, and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are have offs, we are his offspring.

SPEAKER_05 23:55

I mean, that puts he's right there in the middle of life, movement, and the very essence of your being. This just doesn't go to, well, Christianity is something you need to do to be a good person, Obi. This is now going to the essence of who you are, our being, which is preeminent and takes place before your doing. And I think we as men we forget that, Steve. I'm gonna I want to bring it back to that. We forget that our being comes before our doing. And now Jesus is at the very essence of who you are before you go out and do stuff.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Yeah, our being comes. Say that again, Andy, because I I really love that.

SPEAKER_05 24:35

Our being comes before our doing, our doing emanates from our being. The things that we do actually emanate from who we are and how we go about them, which touches on everything. How how you're a husband, how you're a father, how you are in your workplace, how you are with the brotherhood in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Right? Yeah, yes, absolutely. The other way, when you flip that around, um, it is tiresome, it is exhausting, very exhausting.

SPEAKER_05 25:06

Um well, and you're you're always gonna fail if your doing comes before your being, because then you're doing stuff to try and have an identity. Ah man, yeah, man. You mean I'm trying to be this person by doing all these things, and that will just wear you out.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Absolutely. Check out what Galatians 2 20 says, Andy. I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave his life for me.

SPEAKER_05 25:40

See, that's being before doing, right? And that's your Jesus at the center. I've been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And now it emanates outward in the the life that I live. So Jesus is my being, and my doing emanates from that being. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Everywhere, all the time, with whoever. You know, uh and I think you know, thinking back of just my my testimony where I've told you guys that my wife and I lost our jobs back in 2009. Um, my my identity really, because I uh because I'm I grew up poor and I really didn't have anything but my work ethic, right? I'd always been able to just work circles around everybody. Um, and so when the Lord took that, my identity when we lost, when I lost my job, my wife and I both lost our job. We both felt the same way, right? Our identity was grounded in in our work. That's where our our in our what we did, right? And so when that got taken away, it rocked our world. And through that, through that four years of suffering, the Lord allowed uh allowed that to happen, and we found our identity in Christ, right? And that's where our identity is now, no longer not in what I do, what Obi does, what Obi is involved in, what awards Obi has, what Obi has accomplished, but who I am in Christ. I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ who lives in me.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

Yeah. You know, go some some things happen then when you're crucified and you're put to death, and Christ now is resurrected inside of you. Some things happen that sometimes are uncomfortable with Jesus at the center, and that's why we call it a paradigm shift. And there are actually five aspects of a Christ-centered paradigm shift that are supposed to take place in us not only once in life, but hopefully regularly. And why is it important for men to get together and talk about these things? Because who would actually want some of this stuff to happen on their own or think that it's a good thing for these things to be happening regularly in our lives? So we come together to encourage, excite, and hold each other accountable. That when you have a Christ-centered paradigm shift, these things are gonna happen, Obi.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

Yeah. One, there's gonna be a disruption and a challenge.

SPEAKER_05 28:02

Oh, you mean God's gonna disrupt my the worldly pattern that I enjoy of my life? And me being at the center of the universe and looking for transactional relationships where I get a return on investment for what I do?

SPEAKER_03 28:13

It collides with that, Andy, like a freight train, right? Uh it collides with that, which leads which leads to repentance and a return.

SPEAKER_05 28:23

Which is exactly what's going on in this conversation. God's disrupting and challenging the worldly pattern that we all live in, the water that we swim in that washes over us without us even recognizing it. But then when we talk about it with one another, God has given us a gift called repentance, where we get to say, Oh, yeah, I do fall into that pattern of it's all about me. Oh yeah, I do treat people transactionally, even God, where I want to return on investment for this thing called faith in Jesus. What's it gonna do for me? Right? Then we repent and we return, and he immediately promises forgiveness and resurrection life.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yeah. Which the Holy Spirit now living within us convicts, you know, and so we get we have the rethinking and then the transformation.

SPEAKER_05 29:11

You get the Ryan's 12 on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Mm-hmm. So we transformed, which leads to revive and growth, right?

SPEAKER_05 29:22

Now, actually, going out after this call today and the doing that we have in front of us the rest of the day should emanate hopefully differently in a brand new way, revive and growing with Christ at the center of our being, emanating into our doing as we go on our way.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Yep, and then the credits roll and it's over. No, not at all. It begins, you know, with refueling and impacting. It's not just about you. We remember this is not about us. You know, it's not about you and your own merit and the talents that God gave you for your own self so that you could uh enjoy the goods and spoils, eat, drink, be merry, and die tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05 30:02

But now you're gonna have the opportunity to impact the lives of other people today. Yeah. Because Jesus is at the center of you.

unknown 30:09

C.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

S. Lewis liked to say, He sends us out each and every day as little Christs, because he's alive in us and at the core of our identity. He sends us out as little Christs into the world to impact the world.

unknown 30:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:22

You know, and I preached a sermon last Sunday on the Good Samaritan Obi. And, you know, we talk about, you know, the the Jesus tells a parable of the Good Samaritan because you have the Pharisee who wants to, you know, hey, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? What do I have to do versus who do I have to be?

unknown 30:39

Right.

SPEAKER_05 30:39

So what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, Well, what does scripture say? How do you read the law? Well, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, Great job. Now go do that and you'll live. Which now the Pharisee knows, well, I can't do that perfectly because I don't have the right spirit within me. So then he wants to lower the bar, Obi, and he says, So, well, then who's my neighbor? Like, let's lower the bar of who I'm supposed to serve, I so that I can do it. And then Jesus tells the parallel of the Good Samaritan, where you get a Levite and a priest who walk by a guy that's been beaten half dead and naked on the side of the road, Rob. Well, the Levite and the priest, according to the uh letter of the law, can't touch the body. So I can't be a good neighbor because the letter of the law says don't touch a dead body. Finally, you get a Samaritan, everybody knows a story, they're despised, Jews hate Samaritans, Samaritans hate Jews. Well, you get a Samaritan that comes by, lifts him up, carries him on the donkey, pays for him. This is like redemption, resurrection story, right? But here's the way that I translated that story in our modern times. In the pattern of the world today, where the universe revolves around me, right? And it's very transactional with a return on investment. The Levite and the priest can't be inconvenienced with something that won't actually make them more righteous. They can't be inconvenienced with it. It's inconvenient. Well, the Pharisee comes or the Samaritan comes by and he doesn't see it as an inconvenience, but he sees it as an opportunity to impact the life of somebody else with grace and mercy, and he does it. What if, and I ended the sermon with this what if when we have Christ alive in us filled with his spirit, Obi, what if we're actually here for all the inconveniences that we don't want to deal with today?

SPEAKER_03 32:30

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 32:32

What if you're here for the inconveniences that you're gonna run into when you walk out the door today? What if that's why Christ put you in that moment because he's at the center? I don't know. Crazy, crazy talk. And I I hate it myself, by the way. Yeah. Why the way? Because I am the Pharisee, I am the Levi, I am the priest, I don't want to be inconvenienced. I just want to know what I have to do to get eternal life. And let's get on with that and don't bother me with the inconvenience stuff.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Well, and you answer this question right here: why does the compartmentalization conspiracy so well sell so well in our culture?

SPEAKER_05 33:09

Why? Because well, I I'm gonna tell you one of the things is because then I get to be in charge of what Jesus gets to come with me to and what he doesn't, which is pretty doggone. Yeah, now now, Marco, it's easy. And now conveni, I was gonna say now all of a sudden, it's pretty convenient when you tell Jesus, hey, don't come with me over here because I'm gonna go do this for a little while. And I don't want you to inconvenience me with your cross and resurrection at this moment. I want to go do what makes me comfortable and feel secure, and I just really know that it's wrong, but I don't want you to tell me that.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

So hence what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

SPEAKER_05 33:44

There you go. So, Marco, it's easy, it's convenient, Steve. It's it's what our culture wants us to do.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Anyone else? The road, the road wide open, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:56

The road, the road less traveled in Christ versus the easy, the easy path. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and who's in control and who's in charge with the compartmentalization conspiracy? Well, I am, not Jesus. So all of a sudden, Colossians 1:15 through 20, the supremacy of Christ is now a part of scripture that I just don't agree with or really is inconvenient to me at this moment.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Uh, so guys, with that, what what is the most challenging aspect of being the same person wherever you go? Whoever you're with or whatever you're doing.

SPEAKER_05 34:31

Yeah, Marco, I love these are some of the things Marco and I have talked about in the past. What's what's so inconvenient or challenging about being the same person wherever you go, who you're with, and what you're doing, Marco?

SPEAKER_02 34:42

So the challenge has of being the same person?

SPEAKER_05 34:45

Or you're never instead of compartmentalizing yourself and getting to be all these chameleon different people, that's convenient. What what's what's challenging or inconvenient about being centered in Christ everywhere you go, whoever you're with, and whatever you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Oh, okay. So that's the I'm sorry, I didn't get the question. Um, yeah, being the same person. When you say you see be the same person, you mean being centered with Christ? Yeah, oh yeah, well, that's tough. It's like, you know, it's uh always like you said earlier, it's the renewing of your mind. It's it's not easy. You've got to continue to be aware of what you're doing, the source. Like you said earlier, the source has to be through Jesus. Hey, I'm serving here, I'm working today. You know, I've got to focus that you know that that all that I'm doing is to be servitude to my clients, uh, then to my family, uh, to the things that go to the gym to keep me healthy and strong, support my family. I mean, there's a lot of things you gotta be constantly thinking of. It's not easy, it's not easy because then you get stuck to number one. You always get stuck number one and easy. I want easy, I want, you know, I want to rest and just focus on me for a little bit. And you know.

SPEAKER_05 35:50

Jen and I have talked about this, and I just want to share this because I I think this goes hand in hand with it, Marco. She really struggles with not being Christ-centered Jen wherever she goes or whatever she's doing, but whoever she's with because she's a people pleaser. So all of a sudden, her desire to make people happy sometimes uh gets her compromising what what her Christ-centeredness is when it comes to family members or people that she cares about because she wants to make them happy versus maybe remaining on a conviction with compassion that we've got to work through this and it's not gonna go the way that you want. So she shared, like, man, sometimes the most challenging aspect of being the same person is who you're with because you're a people pleaser.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

That's a good point.

SPEAKER_05 36:37

Different one, you know. That hits, I think it hits a lot of us. I think all of us, we don't want to rock the boat. Right. I'm gonna bring it up. Go along and get along, you know. And then all of a sudden we might compromise on some convictions that we have with Jesus at the center, uh, you know, just to get through the situation with somebody and not rock the boat. That's great, Marco. Yeah, thanks.

SPEAKER_04 36:58

Well, and I go ahead. It's kind of like the uh, you know, the cultural backgrounds that we go into sometimes. And you know for me, I was I was raised in, you know, a huge multicultural area where you know everyone was just everyone, but yet there were still tensions, you know, people have tensions, I think, and no matter where you go. But you know, there are regions in this country, there's regions in this world where people are viewed differently. And uh when you go into those areas of different cultures, you try to assimilate so that one, I think you're you're trying like like your wife being a people purse pleaser, you know, to uh assimilate into their culture, you know, and instead of staying in your true self, and of which is the reason maybe you were invited there in the first place, uh, you know, you go out out there and then you change your uh attributes. And you're you know, so now you're you're not who you are, you're you're just a modified, you know, acceptor.

SPEAKER_05 38:14

Yeah, so you bring up so it's challenging in our world today, especially that the pattern of the world that wants people to be fragmented, splintered, and compartmentalized, because we we're seeing this play out right now because the world wants us to assimilate and accommodate and compromise. Now, but we can smell, we have something inside of us, you know, it says that the law is written on our hearts, God's written the law on our hearts. So we can smell the lack of integrity. We can smell broken things in the world. And this is actually playing out right now in the United States of America in our political sphere. There are candidates out there right now where they're we're being told, well, don't look at this aspect of this person's life that we can all say we wouldn't agree with, but they're gonna do a great job over here as representing you in this role. So they can they can do these things over here in their personal life that you need to assimilate, accommodate, and compromise to because they're not gonna do that over here when they're serving you.

SPEAKER_03 39:15

Careful, Andy. Careful.

SPEAKER_05 39:17

Are you kidding me? Can you not smell? We can smell the lack of integrity. So you're gonna tell me that this person who has no integrity over here in their personal life is gonna have total integrity, though, serving me in this real, this role. Come on, that's what's being sold, though, right to our faces right now. And it doesn't matter what party you agree you you're a part of. We're being sold from both parties of the political system. Don't look at what this person did over here in their personal life because they're gonna do a great job over here representing you and serving you here, and and they're not gonna do that over here. So, what's being told to us, what's being sold to us is they can be one person over here and a different person over here for you. Are you serious? Are you I just careful, Andy. Dot my high-pitched voice there. I think gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

I think the most I think the most challenge, I think the most challenging aspect is actually being the person with Christ in the center versus acting like the person with Christ in the center, because our old simple nature, our old man is constantly rearing its head, you know, that that obviously is you know, the result of that is not going to be Christ centered.

SPEAKER_05 40:35

No, but you bring up a great point. Our old man wants to assimilate, accommodate, and compromise. Our old man wants to go to Vegas and leave it there and think he can come home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

So if you just so if you just hang with me, guys, you'll see. Here we go again.

SPEAKER_05 40:52

So why is all this important, Obi? Yeah, it's all about whole life wellness, whole life, whole life wellness.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Yeah, shalom I leave with you. My shalom I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

SPEAKER_05 41:10

Wow, look at that. So, whole life wellness I leave with you, whole life wellness I give you, not as the world gives, but as I give. So, whole life wellness that Jesus gives is different than the pattern of the world. So, our entire whole life wellness, the peace that we can have in the midst of life, has to have Christ at the center, or it's going to be a peace that the world gives, which we see how that goes.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

It's cheap, cheap and and fleeting. And fleeting. Romans 5:1 says it well, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we now have shalom with God. Not just that, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_05 41:52

So our whole life wellness that comes in a relationship with our Creator comes only through Christ.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

Only through Christ, guys. Um, and then Philippians 4 7. And the shalom of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_05 42:13

With Jesus at the center. So, what's the big deal of this hero's paradigm ship with Jesus at the center? You guys have seen the slogan, I'm sure, Obi. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

No Jesus. Yeah. No Jesus, no peace. No Jesus, no peace.

SPEAKER_05 42:29

Peace is shalom, which is whole life wellness. So if you know, if you know Christ and He's at the center, you're gonna know whole life wellness and it's gonna grow. And if you don't, I'm just here to tell you you don't know whole life wellness then. And that is that is significant for men to talk about with one another, uh, you know, over and over again, because we're looking for that whole life wellness, we're looking for that peace, we're looking for comfort and security in a whole lot of places that the world is ready and willing to offer that are fleeting, that are gonna call for us to assimilate, accommodate, and compromise. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:05

And Snoop Dobb said it wet said Snoop Dogg said it best when he said, looking for love in all the wrong places.

SPEAKER_05 43:11

Oh, I thought you were gonna say gin and juice, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

I want to pray, yeah. Lord, that we may know uh that shalom that's only found in you. It is our desire as we gather together here, as we pour over the scriptures, as we let the word of God transform us and read us, that we allow you to be at the center of our life, that everything that we do here as a ministry, as an organization, as brothers in Christ point us towards you. We want you to be at the center of our lives. Allow us to be people that don't just read your word, that don't just listen to your word, but are actually transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ so that it flows outwardly, not just so that we can um gather up riches, so that we can spiritually enlarge ourselves and engorge ourselves and die, but that can be transformed into men of action who work until you call us home, who labor, who point others towards you, who use all our abilities, all their talents to point towards you, people towards you. Thank you for everyone that's here. Allow us to walk in that shalom, allow us to look to you for that shalom. And it's in your name we pray.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Amen. Thanks for joining and listening. We hope that you were truly blessed. Now you can join the live call every Friday morning at 7 a.m. Central Standard Time, and please bring a friend. And to learn more about the MLC, visit our website at the mlc.life. That's the mlc.life. Have a great day.