Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper. You are live from the Path.

Keeping keeping not keeping promises. So so we were talking hey, K. Do you remember what was it? The the start of the year? Said, hey, man. We didn't make 52 shows last year. I said, well, it's just gonna happen.

This is gonna happen. We're gonna get these shows done. And sure enough, like, I've blanked more and more this year than I have in all years past. Ever. I was so I was listening to the I was I was out of town for work again. I was I was out of town most of last week, and I was listening to back live from the Path episodes. Right? And, like, I I started making a mental checklist of, like, my synopsis of how the show used to go. One, I I guess I used to be gone about every third week. And so, like, I've always done this, like, this new thing where I'm like, I work too much, and I don't wanna go out of town. I've done this for a long time apparently because every third week I'm out. Two, man, we were kinda harsh on Dan. I listen back to some shows, and I'm like, holy cats. You know?

I'm a little scarred. Not gonna lie. Just a little quick. You know? Although, frankly, we don't I I can't decide whether Dan has just adapted to the to to the the the quick comeback. And, like, it just doesn't seem to be needed anymore, or we were just overly mean to people. It was either way because, like, I listened to a couple where Ben and I got in a fight, and then Ben and Buba got in a fight, and then me and Buba got in a fight, and then Ben got in fight with Dan. I'm like, who the heck would listen to this show? It's I mean, it's literally like, tempers are flaring. You could hear nostrils getting bigger, and I'm like, holy cats. Hey, man. We're solving the world's problem. Yeah. There's no doubt. It's a It's a heavy task. Yeah. Go back. If you get a chance, start listening to the we have podcasts on the on the podcast apps all the way back to 2013.

And as soon as we stopped doing a two hour show, that's when you wanna start listening. I think it was the first or maybe in the middle of 2013 or or whatever. We got it down to about an hour, hour and a half, and and that's when the show started getting palatable. Man, we had a ton of great musical guests in. And, man, I forgot we had I didn't forget we had these folks in, but, like, I listened to the performances by Bethany Joy Johnson when we had Wayne Stewart in the first time. The first time we had Jeff Arendelle in. You know, we had Chandler Knudson in a couple times. And then Chris Akers came in, and, like, man, we just had a truck full of dudes coming through that show. And it was great. So the first time Silverside came in, it was when it was with the all three ladies. Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That man, that was, like, five years ago. So, anyway, there's some there's some really good shows in the background. You get a chance to just you gotta go on a long drive or something. I'd pull up old life from the path on the podcast and just let it burn for a while. Hey. And we've got some good, we got some good musical guests, potentially coming through. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm I'm pretty excited about this. I I think it's looking like we're gonna have the hunts come in.

Was it like the April 11, the April 12, something like that? But they're playing a show in town on a Sunday night at a church. Before they head off to the next gig, it sounds like they're gonna be able to stop by that Monday night and play some tunes for us. And, like, I don't know if you you've you've gotten a chance to know who they are, but, like, they're they're a family, they're called the Hunts. And there's I believe they're a seven piece band, and, like, they just they write, like, indie folk, yeah, kinda bluegrass ish, whatever types of tunes, and they got, like, a mandolin, a banjo, guy playing the djembe. I mean, it's it it's it's really is a very full sound. And it's like if you've ever been against like, you feel like maybe music's gotten taken over by a by a polished, you know, electric sound. Like, this is what you you think you'd hear in a down home, you know, southern cook off or something. Right? It's just it's just home music. It's like comfort food for your ear. And so, like, I I I bought their CD, I don't know, a couple weeks ago, I've been listening to pretty nonstop. And and it they really are really, really good. They write some excellent tunes,

and they put on a really good show. So I'm excited to have those guys come in and talk to them for a little bit. Sweet. And then driven eleven is gonna be in in March, early March? Yeah. And isn't, Egypt Speaks coming? Is gonna be here. Yeah. Yeah. So that's cool. And then, Dan's Dan's working on, potential, potential folk coming in also in April. We might have a we might have a busy couple months coming up. Yeah. Yeah. Which is good. We have a flavor spice of life and whatnot. Want to show up. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Buva Buva won't. No Buva tonight. No. No. He's he's out catching the sunsets or whatnot. He's got he's got life to live. That's how you gotta live. So here's what we got going on the show tonight. So

I I don't know why this this I this stood out to me. Was reading I was looking at the news today, and, nudity is returning to Playboy. So, like, they had they had Nudity is? Yeah. So they know it had left. Yeah. It had left. Like, they they I haven't read the articles lately. No. I understand. Yeah. That's true. I don't really keep abreast, you know, of the That's a poor choice of words. Of the changes in in in Playboy's content, I guess. Yeah. So, anyway, there's a there's a particular reason why this jumped out at me, and and we'll talk about that a little bit. Also, there was an article at, Relevant Magazine this week on eight virtues that really aren't Christian. And I think some sort of implication

that this is what really is Christian. So we'll go through those virtues and see if we agree or disagree. Mike, I can't remember. Did you you did or did not have Pope style? Well, I thought I was ramping one up, maybe I'm ramping one back down. We'll see. If we run completely desert of content, I'll I'll fly in with one. Okay. And then we'll also have we got some advice on Dear Life from the Path. People need it. This would been weeks, really. They've gone without it, and we're here to help. It looks it looks like somebody's kinda upset because their boss keeps signing them up for a community service, like, over and over again. Oh, that's excellent. Yeah. And he's like, that's it. I can't take any more of this. So we'll see if we can help this guy. Actually, so that kinda not not that exact thing happens to me, but, like, I I work for a company, and they're always they're always trying to we get volunteer time. Yeah. And so they're like, hey. You know, we need to do, they do these big giving campaigns and things, and, like, it's going to organizations where I'm like, I don't I don't know. And so, like, everybody's all ramping up, they're giving they're giving money to this thing, and they they give they offer you free time off in exchange for starting to give money to this thing. And, like, I feel like a real curmudgeon, but I'm like, no.

I give money elsewhere. And, like Yeah. I do that all the time too. I kinda felt like they look at you like, you're cheapo. I know. Right? Like like, you can play a thing. You're a junior. Probably. I mean, you know, it's like yeah, like, I'm person who's looking at you. I'm not relying on this corporation to present me giving and or volunteer opportunities for me to do those things. Like, I actually am already doing things like this, and they make it seem like, like, you're an elizist pig because you're like, no. I I gave elsewhere. When when usually the big mockery, it's the irony where someone says, no. I gave at the office. But, like, really really, I'm avoiding giving the office because I give else to other things. Yeah. That's true. I I will steward this. Thank you. Yeah. I'd love to save your puppies, but, I've got other things I'm saving.

Yeah. Yeah. And I here's the deal. It in some awkward discussions because they're like, well, why don't you wanna give to x organizations? Like, well, to be honest with you, they use their money for things that I don't support. Yeah. But they do other things. I'm like, I'm sure they do. Yeah. I don't know. That seems like a pretty solid argument. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, man. I I I found out what life on the other side was like tonight. We we we went to

a basketball game. It's like a semi pro team. Right? Yeah. And they have, like, the the box seats, like, real live box booth things. And my son in law's company gave him 12 tickets. Oh, sweet. And we had the suite. Oh, really? And it was like you you're actually it's it's like you're watching on TV, and they're looking down to the little people thinking, isn't that cute? Look at them down there in the And we just we're, like, we're up on high, and I was just, like, going, I will never be able to watch it. I'll never go to sit in a regular seat again. I'm spoiled. I know. But I can't afford it. Do they have a bunch of, like, free free eats and drinks in there and stuff? Or Well, we had to go get some. You we could have ordered it and put it on the bill, but we thought that might not A little a little presumptuous for the free seats? They'd come by, and they kept checking on us. We're like, no. We're we're good. We're good. I got my popcorn downstairs. We'd send a guy down for a run. It's gonna be fine. I went down with the little people for a little while. More iced water and nachos.

That was a lot of fun, though. Oh, yeah. That does seem like the way to take it in, though. Wait. Wait. Wait. You're right. I didn't think about that. Ruining it really going forward. Like, every time you go, you're just gonna be able to look back up at that box and say, I'm not there. Yeah. That used to it. Look at that. Dang. That guy's got more money than I do. He's got a real seat. He always has, really. I suppose maybe you just need to know more rich people, Dan. You don't need to be wealthy on your own. You just need to know more wealthy people. I know it's working well for me. Mike, have you ever benefited from a relationship from a wealthy person?

Boy, that's a great question. Yeah. Well, you know what? Yeah. Maybe I have. I think somebody had a timeshare up at the, like, a Lake Okoboji. Uh-huh. Except for it was in January. And so so, like, they they rarely ever used it. And so we're like, hey. You know, we'll go. It's a little frozen. And so we went up there. And, I mean, literally, like, kids and I watch TV for a couple of days and you just kinda hung around, didn't do much and nothing. It was really relaxing and awesome. You know, here's the deal. Every every vacation I've gone on

for the last six or seven years has been because someone, like, friends of ours are a part of a travel thing and invite us to go along. Like, we wouldn't go on near, like, a tenth of the vacations that we go on if these folks didn't have this and, like, didn't offer it to us. Yeah. So, like, our our vacation life is really really banking on whatever they have going on. Yeah. I'm glad I can't help you there, Ben. I'm I'm also doing the same thing. So Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Just going out to Motel six. You know, it's a crappy thing. It's like like when I go out of town for work, right, I always think I'm gonna score a bunch of hotel points, you know, and eventually take my family out on vacation or whatever. You know? But, like, they keep booking hotels at different establishments. You know? And so, like, I can't ever get aggregate points. I always get, like, piecemeal points here and there, and I'm like, this doesn't do anything. Yeah. And then they send me emails ragging on me. They're like, you only have, you know, 400 points. A stay is 10,000. Just come stay with us. And I'm like, I can't. That's what I'm told. How am I supposed to do this? No. I I, so I was in Minneapolis recently. It's part of the reason we didn't have a show. And, like,

they they had a bunch of, like, local hotels. Right? Like, unique niche Minneapolis hotels. And I thought I can't earn valuable points from there and use them somewhere else. So I ended up staying at the Hyatt, which is like a it's like a twenty minute, walk away in the Skywalk system they have, the Skyway. And so, like I mean, everyone else is like, hey, you gotta stay much closer. Like, no. I'm booking points at the Hyatt, man. Yep. And I'm sweating by the time I get there. You really got a haul tail to get through the Skyway to get to where I'm supposed to go, but I it's it's worth it because I feel like I wanna get a free bottle of water or something next time I wanna go to the Hyatt. Yeah. Otherwise, I mean, really, there's absolutely no benefit to working out of town. Right? Unless you can score some points and some free eats. Yeah. I mean, really, I could've done all this stuff at home and then slept in my own bed. So, you know, there has to be a reason for you to go. Yeah. Free water at the Hyatt.

So here's the deal. It says, after one button up year, Playboy is bringing back nude photographs back to its magazine. Cooper Heffner, the son of magazine founder Hugh Heffner, announced the move on Twitter Monday saying, I'll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake. Playboy published its first non nude issue in March 2016,

and prior to that, had launched a safe for work Playboy Now app. But its latest, the March, April two thousand seventeen issue available on playboy.com and on newsstands February 28 brings back nudity. So they still do a printed edition? They do. They do. They had just gone, like, scantily clad ladies, but no no nudity. And his one of his reaction was, I'll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, removing entirely was a mistake. Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn't a problem. Today, we're taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are. I mean, you boy, you I mean, insert foot and mouth. You know what saying? Like, you've done a you've done a poor job here, friend. I you know, to be honest with you, I don't

they're they're gonna have a real hard time with this. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, there is the Internet is almost taken print to an obsolete level, especially with the type of of

what you're selling. You Do know what I'm saying? Yep. Like, there couldn't be any more avenues to pursue finding a naked woman on the Internet. And so, like, I have no I I don't care how classy you make it or what you think that you're doing. Like, there's just there's just absolutely no way that they're gonna be in business in ten years. Yeah. So the the the reason this jumped out at me is, like, I think it highlights something, a place where people are are fooling themselves.

And it's the same group, like the like the, the art movie makers who have graphic nudity in them, or, you know, like people who are like, who wanna be taken seriously beyond,

the fact that there are naked people or like sexual images and the things they're doing. So Playbo was making a case here that, like, we are a influential brand, for men's lifestyle. And they thought, you know, we we carry a level of influence of which we will be able to be important in men's lives without naked ladies in our in our magazine. Right. And now here's the thing. You

you you pedal smut. You're a naked lady peddler. It's what you do. Yeah. And that is why people look at your magazines, why people have always bought it. And so Well, like, has anyone 50 ever purchased one? I can't imagine. I can't imagine. I yeah. I haven't. I mean, I never had, but then yeah. Well, I mean, some of that is because of our ties to to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah. But, like Well, I could have. I mean yeah. But that's the thing. Like generation would have. Even if I even if I

if I feel like I didn't have the tie to my faith, I I don't know. Like, I like, I'd be you'd have to catch me out in public buying naked ladies. I I don't know. I would never do it. I just feel like I couldn't do it. But I I and I think that's the point. Is that, like, there is there was an attempt here to say we we should be taken seriously as a as a publication of influence culturally, politically, whatever,

and and people value that above the fact that there were naked ladies in here, and they simply were mistaken. People were re reading their publication for exactly the base level the people that you think people were. Right? Like, no one's like, when when people it was it's a joke, right, to say that I replayed before the articles. And here, they thought, oh, no. We actually carry they were carry the joke. Exactly. We carry a level of influence that is beyond nudity, And it was it's it's mistaken. And and I wonder it it makes you wonder, for all the really cool,

and and and, cultural shifting and changing and political influence type of art there is out there, people are doing just cool things to help you see the world differently. How many, how many people are mistaken that their level of influence is beyond people's

base reactions to things like, oh, naked ladies, oh, colorful pictures, Oh, know, oh, I couldn't draw that so I think it's cool. Right? So, like, people have baked in a lot into their ability to influence other people in artistic ways. But the truth is is that if you're playing to people's base morality,

you can't be surprised that they they react poorly when you take away those things that actually tickle their fancy. Like, we're very shallow. And, it was interesting to me for a bit of a comeuppance here that says, you know, people we have the influence beyond naked ladies, and and you obviously don't. That is actually exactly why people were looking at it. And Right. And any doofus on the street could have told you that. Yeah. Really. Well and and how many how many folks get involved with organizations even,

you know, political or topical organizations that, like, they have to do the same thing to get their to get their message across. Right? Like, they they they start getting riled up about one specific thing. And then, basically, to get people to stay energized about it, they basically gotta say, it's a freedom issue. You know I'm saying? Like, they actually had one issue that was a pretty black and white thing. And then, like, it's a freedom issue. And and that's the thing. Like and they they will tack everything underneath that just so it will rile the base up. And people will be like, yeah. I don't care. I don't care. Freedom? Well, I'll protect that to my grave. It's right. It it has it it the implication is is that, like, carrots and the carrot and stick approach. Right? Like, you lure people in with carrots and you eventually get them to where you want them, and that people will evolve and come along with you for the journey. And it's a that's not true. People are following you because you have carrots. Like, once you drop carrots, once you loo once you lose the nudity, people are like, no. No. I was just here for the I was here for the carrots. And so, like, here's here's where we gotta be very careful then is that you when you look out in your ability to influence people, like, if you're going to do it via flash, if you're gonna do it to say, I'm gonna offer them this and then eventually in the hopes of kinda converting them to this way of thinking or changing something like

perhaps this should be a test case or a warning, for our ability to to connive people into things like if you if you play to their base things like fear, for example,

Christian, or you're you're tantalizing to something or you're making them promises that play on base things as opposed to actually dealing with true things and full things, like, people will recognize that and then they'll bail. They'll recognize that the thing that you attracted them with is no longer there anymore. And so, like, if you're if you're attracting people to things or trying to draw them into a way of thinking, you need to be engaging them holistically because, like, people aren't dumb and they're and for the most part are pretty simple. And when you don't give them the thing that you're promising, they will just walk away. Like, people don't have allegiance.

They don't have allegiance to the thing that isn't otherwise self serving. And when you stop when you stop giving them those things, they'll walk. And I think Playboy ran into that very that exact thing. They have to deal with reality that says, we actually had no more influence than, only relative to the amount of nudity we had in our magazine. Past that, nobody really cared. So, I mean, can I can I feel like you're drawing a comparison to the way that the church attracts people?

Well, I think it's it's actually broadly. I it's not even church specific. It's just how our attempts to influence people in general, the thing that you're offering better be in and of itself attractive. Know what I'm saying? Like, if there are elements of what you're trying to otherwise

fool somebody, or or offer them one thing in an attempt to convert them to the other, just recognize that, like, that is a low efficiency turnout. Sure. Somebody still used the Playboy Now app. Somebody still kept their subscription, because they didn't wanna admit that they were pervy about the whole thing. No. It's true. I really did like the article, Steve. Right. I did. And so, like, when things turn around, you know, maybe people get drawn into something. They don't wanna admit that they were there just because it tickled their fancy and so they don't bail, but they're also not doing the thing that you actually want to to convert them to doing. And so, like, if you it is it's perfectly okay to, I don't like the word because it carries connotation, but, like, it's perfectly okay to attract people. It's perfectly okay to draw people in because, like, the things you're saying are are entertaining.

Good news will do that. Right? Doing real quality things will draw people in because it is it is a quality thing that people want, because it is done well, because it is done right, because it is true, because it's compelling. All those are right ways. Right? But, like, if you otherwise expect to show somebody something or engage them with something, if only to then convert them and try to exert an influence beyond that basic thing, I'm just saying that there's a risk, and it prob that probably isn't as efficient as you think it is. I think you run that risk, and I think that bore out here in the in the Playboy example. You know, it's funny that, like, that that's our entire

our entire consumer culture. You know what I'm saying? Like, you never see a guy taking the camera and panning around the new Ford Bronco two that's coming out and say, this is the steering wheel. This is how fast it goes. This is what it looks like in here. They always gotta show them in the middle of a terrain. You know what I'm saying? Or climbing up a mountain Right. Or doing some epic with it because the product on its own was not enough. Now I have to promise you this Ford Bronco with freedom and manliness. Exactly. Because because on its own, it it ain't good enough. You know what saying? Sits there. That's right. Really? You should look outside, and it will still be there. You know? It's it's not like when you get out the other cars. It goes to the Aspens on its own. You know? It's like you can't stop me from climbing mountains. You know? And so, like, that that's the thing. It's like that's our that's everything that our kids grew up with. You know what saying? Like, that's their entire culture. Everything is a lie. Everything is a curtain. Everything is a veil. Everything is a is a superimposed. What were those stupid things they had back in back in school where they it was like a projector, and then they put a white they put, like, a clear piece of paper on it, they could write on it. Is it just called a projector? Yeah. Like with the transparency. Yeah. Yeah. Like with the transparent like, that's exactly that that's everything that they deal with. Right? Every website is is that. You know, we we we click on it. And, like, I mean, look at all the people that are that are a generation behind me. My mom signs up for more spam on accident. Oh, she's dangerous. I mean, every time I get on Facebook, she's like something else. I'm like, ma. You know I'm saying? Like, she it turns out she'll like men behaving badly. And I'm like, what is this?

Mom. You know? And then she's like, I don't know. That just sounds good. I just wanted to read this article about puppies, and all of a sudden, it's like half naked dudes. I'm like, ma. You you gotta stop clicking on things, you know. But, like, everything is a shadow of a of a of a truth. Right? And, like, actually, to to the point that you're saying, it's amazing how much currency an actual thing instead of the shadow of will carry anymore. You know I'm saying? Stuff that people can actually stand in, stand on, try out, move around. It's it's it's it's malleable. It'll it'll it'll be there today. It'll be there tomorrow. And, like, all the things that that that people are pushing for are shadows. They're like, I like the shadows better. When when it's the thing that doesn't move and is is a rock of some kind, like, holy cats. It's such a rarity anymore. You'd figure you'd be able to sell it right off the shelf. Yeah. Well that's the thing. There was a there was an

what what is the right measure of like, what is actual success versus what is perceived success? They they did an interview with a guy named Jason Fried once. He get guy ran a I I have talked about him before at the start of the year about his how I work stuff. But, like, they they did an interview with him, and it was about the success of his business. He was a web developer, did, like, online software. And he said, we're a business. We're here to make money, and we've always made money. Like, year one, we were profitable. He goes, I don't understand all these Internet companies who are five years in, and they're not turning a profit. Like, they got they might have 200,000 users, but they're not making money. He goes, well, by what measure is that a success? Like, we're measuring the wrong things. Yeah. And Twitter has not turned a profit in years.

Years. It is the most widely used communication platform in the in the entire world, free or otherwise. And they're not they can't turn a profit. That communication platform will die in a few years if it cannot make a profit. And so the thing is is that, like, by all outside observations, we're like, wow. Twitter is fantastic. Look at how successful it is. It has permeated a culture. It gives people voices. Blah blah blah. But, like, it it's going to die as a business because it can't make money. Yeah. And so,

that's the thing is our measure of success is, and our ability to say look. Like, we would look at Twitter and say, look. It has such a wide opportunity, but if it's gonna be gone in three years, it's it's not valuable. Right? It doesn't retain. It has no longevity. And so I I guess that's the thing is it's it's, just because

by some measures, you have a great success here because you have, you know, x 100,000,000 users on your platform. If you're not turning a profit and you you have to pay workers and make money, you you don't have a successful platform here. And I suppose it's it's the same concept. You just gotta be careful on on how you're measuring just broadly. This is a life thing. It's a church thing. It's a business thing. It's like how you measure success, and make sure you don't overstep where you think your influence is and don't over, take, take one set of principles and facts and and say this,

this, measures my influence. Your influence isn't we have x subscribers for fifty years because we're Playboy and we're awesome and we are culturally relevant, except for when we take the naked ladies away and then no one cares. Yeah. And so, like, your, your currency was was nudity and it was always nudity, and you have an inflated sense of what your influence is. The truth was if you wanna deal if you wanna deal in actually ability to,

change culture and change lives and influence people beyond the Flash, it's just you're gonna have to settle down and say, look. This is hard work. It takes time. It takes people. It takes relationships, and those are all true things. Like, that is actual how needles are moved. There's not a magic formula for that. And I I don't know why, like, I may have baked way too much into this nudity article, but, like, it just my my my thought was is, how does someone overstep their bounds so badly? How do they miscalculate? Well, they they had an inflated sense of self, a inflated sense of their own influence, and they they measured incorrectly. Right? They thought, certainly, we have a bigger influence than just that people are reacting to to nakedness.

Just like churches may mistakenly say, look, oh, we have a much broader influence and people are just afraid that they'll end up in hell or people are just looking at a place for something that makes them feel better about their life. Like, you you may not actually have an influence beyond that and need to be careful about that and recognize, you know, how where you're measuring I don't mean measuring success. Like, that's a god's thing to sort out. But it's like understanding what your influence actually is and whether that is the influence you actually want. And that that goes for all relationships and churches and businesses and that kind of stuff. So, anyway, that's that's why it jumped out at me. Yeah. That is interesting and actually a a quite pervasive problem.

Right? Like, do you have any meetings you could skip at most businesses if everyone agreed that, like, this is how we measure success around here? You know what saying? People like, we wanna be the best wanna be the best at customer service. Well, if you're not making money, you won't be around for very long Right. To to provide that customer service. Well, we wanna make sure that we have the most parts available. Once again, you can't buy parts without money. So, like, can we all agree that, like, everything that you're like, you know why you wanna have good customer service? Because you want more business. Right? Success is you made money doing what you do. That's the way business works. Right? And anything else that that puts that in the gray, you're you're looking at it like a fool because you're not making enough money. Yeah. So there was an article in Relevant Magazine, and it was said, eight Christian, and the Christian is in single quotes, Christian virtues that aren't really Christian and the alternatives that actually are by Frank Powell.

He says, like it or not, culture shapes our picture of Jesus. What if certain virtues we equate with following Jesus aren't actually Christian? But if we don't identify false stigmas and misconceptions, we will devote time and energy to cultivating a virtue that isn't really a virtue at all. I hate disclaimers, but what follows deserves one. These virtues below aren't evil. I'm not asking you to avoid them because most of these really are good things. Instead, I'm asking you to think seriously about what it means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Here are eight Christian virtues that aren't really Christian and some better alternatives.

Number one, somebody seem familiar like we've done something like this before. Wait. How old is this? Make sure he didn't write this like a year ago. No. No. He has it from today or within this week. Alright. Number one, niceness. I can't help but wonder what we would think about Jesus in modern day America. We're talking about a guy who called one of his closest friends Satan. He talked disrespectfully to religious leaders. Nice wouldn't be the first word I would use. Was Jesus kind? Absolutely. Kindness is a fruit of the spirit. Here's the problem though. Niceness and kindness aren't interchangeable.

Nice is cheap. It costs you nothing. Nice avoids tension and always strokes your ego even if Ray Charles could see you wrong. Niceness is not next to godliness. Did he his in thing about nice, did he insult a blind man? It really feels like he did. Yeah. That's that's rough times. That's not nice. Kindness, however, tells you what you need to hear. Mister Charles, you're blind. It won't stroke your ego because you're awesome. Kindness loves you too much for that. The seeds of kindness are planted in the soil of love. Heck. From this rich earth comes real tension, but the end result is a fruitful life. I wonder how many friends Jesus would have in an overly sensitive culture where ego stroking is a national pastime. I know Jesus would infuriate me. For much of my life, I equated niceness with godliness. Good friends would never call me out, I thought. Good Christians wouldn't either. But I struggle to equate niceness with godliness when I read the gospels. Maybe we need more Christians like Jesus. Maybe we need more friends like Jesus. I know I do.

Well, I mean, I can agree with maybe we more need more Christians like Jesus. Yeah. I mean, we're gonna skip this whole article. You could've just wrote in one sentence, and we just said, yeah. Yeah. That's the deal. I'd like this seems like a false premise to me. Like, he just picked out a thesaurus. Yeah. Like, I I is this really Kinda splitting some hairs. Yeah. Dan, I mean, like, do you know anybody who's like, you know, I I think we can be nice, but not kind because that takes too much effort. Exactly.

Exactly. Exactly. I mean, who says, hey. We as Christians need to be all things to all people. I'll be the jerk to this one. You're like, we're drawing straws on who's I mean, what's basically, niceness is a it's it's a conduit to to to showing love. Right? Like, the is the type of niceness he's talking about it doesn't necessarily have to be coupled with cowardice. Well, it's not a niceness. It's just laziness, and you don't care for people. Like, that's the thing. What what is he proposing is that we should polite. Yeah. Is is is is a shallow politeness, which means, I will be cordial to you, but I I could really care less about your life enough to say anything that might offend you. I just wanna keep relations well. So it is cowardice. It is laziness, and it's shallow. I mean, is that the definition of niceness? No. Oh, okay. No. He's just that's how he's defined niceness in order to create a dichotomy.

Well, then, I mean, I agree with our explanation. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I think we can like, his point is to say, do you care about people enough that you're willing to engage them even if it causes some level of discord or uncomfortableness? Yeah. Okay. You can do it in a kind way. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. It doesn't mean you need be right. You don't have to be an anvil about it. You know what I'm saying? You just, you know, you can explain the early shows that we had. Yeah. Exactly. Or it was nothing but anvil. But I mean, like, I I is he proposing that when when when Jesus looks at Peter and goes, get behind me, Satan. That was Jesus' version of kindness? Because, like, I don't know that Jesus would categorize it that way either. It's just honesty. Yeah. Honest. Yeah.

Stop it. Well and and, you know, like like, I he's basically and talking about how you deal within other Christian circles. Right? Like, when someone shows up and they're strung out on drugs and and had a nothing but a crappy life for the last twenty five years, you know, Is it really the right time to go, you're strung out on drugs? Yeah. Okay. Or you can just be like, you know what? You got a place here. Come on. Let's get a meal. Let's talk and let's talk for a while. Let's get to know each other. That's nice. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't kind. Like to bring the heavy right now because otherwise, you're considered phony niceness. You could just love people because you love people. Yeah.

And and how could you be you have to be close enough for someone to know that. You was like, hi. Hi. Welcome to the church. My name is Bill. Bill, if you're cheating on your wife, it's wrong. Yeah. Well, you don't really know me. Write your sins down on this piece of paper. So so I may know them and I make sure I am kind to you and not just nice. Yeah. I disagree. It seems like it's just a false premise. Alright. Here we go. Always say yes. This is a Christian virtue that aren't really Christian. When Tiffany and I graduated college, we immediately plugged into a local church. For the first two years, we said yes to everything. Will you lead a prayer and worship Sunday? Yes. We're short a few volunteers. Will you help out at the food pantry? Yes. I like these people.

Will you house sit our cats? No. I don't do cats. Neither does Jesus. Oh. Well, maybe. Good Christians were servants, I thought. They never say no. They're yes men and women. For Jesus, while you should serve your local church, the weight of yes can and will cripple you. For those who say yes too often, you feel this weight. Here's why. Oftentimes, we say yes because we wanna feel needed. It's about approval, not servanthood. Saying no to a volunteer opportunity is hard. Saying no to a toxic friendship is painful. Saying no hey, will you be my toxic friend? No. No. No.

Saying no to peer pressure, negativity, temptation, and abuse, all of these are hard. No. No. But let's not bow down to the god of yes. This god takes everything and gives nothing. Now, here's the deal. Is that I don't understand how would this get into the list of Christian virtues unless you're actually not reading your bible. Because isn't the premise to say, let your yes be yes and your no be no? Doesn't that put no on the table? Yeah. Doesn't say let your yes be yes and no also be yes. Be yes all the time. Yeah. I wanna know what editorial board decided to have this article written. Yeah. I have to go see print. Is this a is this a a legit question, though? Like, are there people struggling with this that I maybe I just don't know them. I mean, there's people that get burned out because they say yes all the time because they wanna serve. They don't know how to say no. So I think that happens. But everybody goes through periods when and they got you you go through ebb and flow. I mean Yeah. And you learn your here's the deal. It's like you often learn your lesson when you go too much, and you ignore people who tell you you're going too much. And granted, it happens when you first start going to church. Right? You greet everything and then you bat you tone it down. A year in, you're like, woah. That's too much. You go down to nothing, and then you slowly start to get some more. And when it gets too much, you're like, no. No. No. So by the time you're like 60, you got this thing nailed. Nailed. You know, you run the potluck once a month and then you help do the men's breakfast, you know, every three months, and you're like, perfect. We got we got this thing nailed. Yeah. I mean, I don't

I it's like he's raging against a pamphlet that he caught at some church somewhere and decided that people assume that was biblical doctrine. It's a universal problem. I just like, given the amount of people that actually volunteer to do stuff at churches in any consistent fashion, I feel like this is not an issue. No. That's true. It's generally the same 10% there all the time anyway. Right? And, like, man, if I look around and be like, hey. You guys gotta tone this volunteering down, We wouldn't do nothing. I mean, we're we're running on on on on the bench as it is. Yeah. I mean, here's the deal. It's like you you you should servanthood is is the deal. It is right. But, like, it doesn't mean you have to serve, like, in every thing that some guy thought of. Yeah. So distinction. Right? Like, what are you serving? Right? Like, are you serving the ability for,

the ladies movie night to be a success? Right? Like, it's okay if the ladies movie night is a success. Right? But, like, it it it depends on what your measure of success is. Right? Like, is it you got 50 ladies that already go to this church, already know each other, and, like, we gotta have more people? I mean, what if 15 would have showed up? They still love each other. They just went out for a ladies night and it was fine. Right? These people are like, well, this was terrible because Betsy didn't show up. Well, I mean, Betsy will show up when Betsy shows up. You know, like, what what is exactly are you serving? Are you serving the the the the propagation of whatever group it is? Or, like, you know, are you looking from a mic from a macro level and going, is this doing what I wanted to do? Right? Like, I wanna serve Jesus, and I wanna bring people to know him. So, like, is this actually doing that? Because then if you're saying yes to all those and it's not actually doing what you wanted to do, then, yeah, you've said yes to foolish things. Yeah. I mean, are your hands in are you being hands and feet or gloves and shoes? Like, are you one step beyond something that's actually making a difference and you're wearing yourself out doing that versus, like, I mean, being legitimate peoples, you know, that are in in parts of the world where, like, I mean, that that they're the gospel work is their whole life. They're physically tired. They're hungry. They're, you know, whatever. And, like, those guys continue to do work. Like, our our method of being worn out in servanthood,

I don't know, pales a bit in some of the some of the work that's being done around the world. So I, you know, I don't know. I I think there's something here. I just don't know. This seems like a a tad bit overblown. Yeah. And I don't know who's where it says saying no to peer pressure, negativity, temptation, abuse, all of those are hard. Like, why?

Well, I mean, granted, there are there's a large amount of the population that just wanna be liked. You know I'm saying? And, like, when you agree to do something with other people, people are tend to like you more. Well, I mean, can we not be on the other end of this? Can we so I guess then if there's a warning here as Jesus people, hey, Make sure you're not on the other side of peer pressure, negativity, temptation, and abuse of other people who serve. Well, I'd so, like, I mean, if we're being honest, I propagated the I propagated that probably. Like, I looked at the other 90% that would never showed up. I'm like, come on, fellas. You know, you could show up sometimes. You're wearing the 10% out. That's not abuse. That's, niceness. That's that's appropriate Jesus kindness. Yeah. Maybe so. Get behind me, Richard.

Okay. Here we go. Number three, follow the rules. I grew up equating oh, sorry. No. Number three, perfect church attendance. I'm still healing from years of unhealthy exposure to this false Christian virtue. Healing from years? Faithful Christians don't miss worship. Ever?

How wounded are you? I'm sorry. Continue. Mike, be nice. Not kind. Yeah. Be be

different. Be different. Are. Whatever Whatever you are, do something different. Let's see. Faithful Christians didn't miss worship ever. They never missed small group. They didn't miss any church function, period. Gathering with Christians matters, of course, but it's possible to have perfect church attendance and know very little about God. Much like perfect school attendance doesn't guarantee good grades. God is much more concerned with the condition of your heart than the location of your butt. Yeah. So it's also possible to have perfect church attendance and know a lot about God and follow him. You can actually grow through that. Yeah. And so, like, you're making a distinction that doesn't need to be there. Right? Like, agreed perfect church attendance doesn't equal a a life lived for Christ, but neither does non perfect church attendance. And so, like, I I think the point you're trying to prove is, like, you're merely your attendance at church doesn't equal a life following Christ. Well, you know yeah.

I don't know who's telling you different. Right? The people encourage you to show up every Sunday because I would encourage you to show up every Sunday because I don't know how you do without it. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's refreshing to be around a group of believers. Like, you cannot replace singing with

a other people that love Jesus. You can't. You can't do it. You can't do it in your car by yourself. You can't replace that worship. Right? You can't replace a community of believers that all believe the same thing that you do. You're all in agreement that God is God and Christ is Christ, and and this is the deal. Right? And so, like, that's why I encourage people go to church not because there's, like, a there's, like, a check mark on the fridge, like, god cares. You know what I'm saying? But, like, I don't know how you do it without community, and I don't have any other biblical example of people doing it without community. Yeah. Okay. Hear. Hear. Following the rules. I grew up equating rule following with Christ following.

Good Christians didn't break the rules. They didn't miss curfew, cheat on tests, or drink alcohol. Oh, and they didn't curse or have tattoos. A perfect driving ref record doesn't qualify you qualify you as a Christian any more than an alcohol addiction disqualifies you. Besides, some rules need to be broken. They're faulty and oppressive. Rather than equating righteousness with rule following, let's equate righteousness with Jesus.

Who said if you will love me, you will obey my commandments. Yeah. So he had a few rules. Now he did mention ones that aren't necessarily Jesus rules. Oh, right. I mean, people do add stuff to him, and that that that's what he's irritated with. Which which is right. I'd be yeah. That that's not to be an irritated Remember we had this conversation a couple years ago, though? We talked about following the speed limit. Right? Like like, if if if God says, like, you obey the laws of the government that you're in, should I be giving more heed to not jaywalking? You know what I'm saying? To and, like, can you cheat on a test? Why is he equivalent that is something to care about. Right? Isn't that an integrity thing?

Isn't that something where, like, look at my yes is yes, my no is no? And it's My answer seven was actually my answer seven and not assumed part of taking a test when they space you three feet apart and say, don't look at other people's tests. You basically assented to it. You said, okay, when you continue to take the test. And so that seems to be an honesty integrity thing. And, like, where you're like, hey, people should be able to be this maybe this is where my pope style was was going slightly awry. Right? It's like, when people have a have a a thing like this, like, you're you are not gonna attain the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Right? That's a given. You have it because Jesus gave it to you. You have it because he's the only person that could. That's right. That's right. But, like, it's not that doesn't mean that, like, God has not called you to a life pursuing righteousness. You know I'm saying? Like, pursuing a way a a way of life. He's basically set out in in his bible the way that his kingdom works. And you don't see people doing that crap in his kingdom. Right? And so, like, you you have your your time on this earth to attune yourself to to the way that you're gonna live eternity. And Jesus says, this is what people do when they live in my kingdom. Now, granted, you are in a sinful world right now that makes that very difficult to do. Right? But this is what you're shooting for. This is what you're planning to live for the rest of your life. Right? So if you have a real hard time, you know, following in line to the things that are best for you, I don't know if my kingdom's a place for you. Right? Because that's what's coming. Yeah. Like, why why why would scripture lay out, like, fruits of the spirit if only for you to be be like, oh, yeah. I I have Jesus, and I know that because I don't have any of that stuff. But, you know, Jesus. Yeah. Right? Like like, it it implies something is changing about your life. It it it Jesus certainly has a call to righteousness. If you're gonna follow him and do the things that he did, it involves acting like he did, which has a manner of, which are good things. Like, this is not here's the thing. This gets convoluted because people start having discussion about your imputed righteousness, your ability to otherwise stand in righteous standing before God. Alright? Everybody knows that's Jesus. I don't even know anybody in any side of the argument who's not saying it is Jesus that do does those things. But, like, where it gets convoluted is you press that in to say that you have no responsibility or expectation

from Jesus who has invited you to into as a kingdom citizen where he says, hey, you need to obey my commandments so you demonstrate that you love me. Hey. I created you for good works. Say by faith, through grace, it's for good works. I expect you to be doing something. Matthew five to seven, we're we're showing you how kingdom people live, and they're doing these types of positive things. And so, like, I I just this is where this gets a little bit jacked up. It is it's you feel like we're treading on Jesus' territory by doing the things Jesus called us to do, and that's silly. That's silly stuff.

Acting like you are otherwise going to righteous your way into heaven without Jesus is ridiculous. It means you don't understand the gospel to begin with. But, like, acting like Jesus does not call you two levels of act like, ways to behave and to do the good works that he set out before you and to obey his commandments is just as silly. Like, you've just cut off parts of the Bible and run with some while ignoring others, and that's that's foolishness. That's not a Christian thing to do. We take the whole thing in. I don't It it is like, it it does seem to be just an odd argument. You know, people are like, hey. Why don't you come to my party? By the way, everyone gonna be wearing a toga and a sash. And you get there and be like, where's your sash? Yeah. I don't have to wear one. Well, that's what we do at this party. You know what I'm saying? Like, we wear the sashes and the toga. That's that's what the party is. Yeah. And they're like, well, no. I'd like to just come in as

I am. Well, that's not exactly how you're still invited. Right? Like, the the invitation was given to you. And but, like, here's the thing. Why would you wanna go to a party where everyone's wearing the togas and sashes and you're gonna show up dressed like a lumberjack? Right? Like, you you were looking at a group of people that have agreed to, this is how we're gonna do this. And you show up and go, no. I'm not interested in any of that, but I still wanna come in. Like, that makes it really hard to understand that you don't understand what the party is. Yeah. So, like, if he says good Christians didn't break rules, they didn't miss curfew, cheat on tests, drink alcohol. Here's the thing. Christians do that. They miss curfew sometimes. They cheat on tests, and they drink alcohol. They also recognize that that isn't the right way to have done things realize how awesome Jesus is all the more once they recognize the distinction between what they're capable of doing and what Jesus has given them. That's and and and, like, even the things that he listed have caveats. Right? Like like, the he's he's putting on an impugn thing about, like, even the alcohol. Right? Like, that's not a Jesus thing. That's a that's a that's a righteous thing. Right? That that's a that's a religious thing. Right. Curfew is stupid. Alcohol is irrelevant, short of drunkenness. Cheat on tests really is a prime example of I mean, you've distinctly done the wrong thing and seem to be wallowing wallowing it. It. Yeah. That's that's not a positive in anybody's book. A perfect driving record? Come on. These are stupid. They are stupid. It's just silly examples.

Alright. Here we go. I had higher standards for this magazine back in the day. I know. Right? I thought this had a shot. That's a it was a teaser because the it's it's irrelevant, and this is not relevant. I mean I mean, here's the thing. Maybe This is nineteen eighties relevant. That's exactly what I was thinking. I was like, wouldn't you write this in 1887?

Even I mean, here's the thing. Cursory bible reading in these things aren't a problem. Cursory but, like, is this like, I don't know what what he's reacting to, but, like, there are things where I think we have to figure out the the the current discussions about how does a Christian who wants people to follow Jesus act in a society where people are free to do otherwise? How do you properly influence people and governments? That's an interesting conversation and think things that are difficult

because it wasn't what was going on in scripture, and so we gotta figure that out. That I those are just a nuanced conversation. It's very interesting to me. What is like, but these things that he's talking about, I think, go away with, I mean, basic bible reading that say, hey, there are two things that are holding tandem, but not in the way that you're talking about, and I think are actually not that difficult to solve. They're not huge conundrums. Yeah. He said, we were talking about the eight Christian virtues that aren't really Christian. Number

seven, never doubting or questioning God. Growing up, doubting God or questioning the Bible was disrespectful at best and blasphemous at worse. So there's not an understanding of the word blasphemy. He grew up in a a Mormon church, didn't he? Yeah. Perhaps. Because of this, my faith journey what is that? Was framed by an unhealthy picture of God. He was white. In my mind, God was this divine being with an enormous limb, probably one he picked from the tree of life. Positioned like a power hitter in baseball, he waited for someone to question him so he could smash you over the left field wall. It's interesting in the the the under the heading of talking about blasphemies. Remember when Jesus talking about, binding Satan, and he says, all blasphemies will be forgiven will be forgiven the sons of man except for this niche one. Right? So he even specs out a whole host of other blasphemies

and and is clear that they can be forgiven. Yeah. So it's just weird sitting in this context, of God as this divine, whooper when Jesus is pretty clear that, like, hey, the blasphemy is the worst thing you can think of, and there's a whole host of them. And I I can forgive almost all of them. Right. I just it's cursory bible reading. Then in college, doubt chiseled away at my faith. I wasn't sure how to process the hard questions. I couldn't talk to God. He was mad. I couldn't talk to other Christians. They would tell me to pray harder. Then I found a life saving book, Psalms.

Psalms painted a different picture of God. Faithful men doubted and spoke matter of factly to God. He didn't destroy them. He walked with them. He was patience and he was patient and understanding. I still question and doubt. The God of love allows space for this. He stays with me through it and celebrates when I reach the other side. Christians with doubts and questions aren't lacking faith. In fact, I would say doubt is an unavoidable byproduct of growing closer to an infinitely powerful and knowledgeable god. I I mean, John the Baptist doubted. He's sitting in jail. He's like, send his disciples back. Are are you really the one? Right. I mean, nobody knew more than he did. He was the one. Right. He picked down had moments. Exactly right. It's like, wait a minute. This isn't really going how I thought it would go. We You are the one. Right? I mean Yeah. Yeah. I think I think Ben's right. I mean, a cursory read through the bible should pretty much clear most of these up. Right? Thomas wasn't kicked out? Yeah. Thomas is still rocking. That guy died a a missionary's death preaching the gospel to what was it? India? Somewhere in Asia or something? Doubting Thomas is like, I think that's that's a pretty bad description to him. Yeah. That ain't no doubt. And what what is what is it that we read?

Was it is it is it it's not Malachi. It's, Habakkuk or somebody. Like, like, for the people that have doubts and have questions about God, like, almost all of the minor prophets are asking the same thing every, like, fiery atheist is asking. Like, God, why are you letting this happen? Why is this why are these evil, bad things happening to your people, and why aren't you stepping in? Like, all these big questions, like, the most the Bible's asking those same things. David is asking those things. The minor prophets are asking those things. People who are designed to carry the word of God are like, God, what's going on here? And so, like, yeah. I mean, just read scripture and take it in. He said, oh, I found this I found this book, the Psalms. What were you reading before? Right. I

read I read I read numbers over and over again, and the gospel would not click with me. Jesus. Jesus wasn't doing it. Yeah, man. I just I can't And maybe this is maybe this is where we take a step back and go, you know, is is this the the state of, you know, parts of the body of Christ? You know, we're like, this is this is what they're preaching. You know what I'm saying? Like, a God that gets angry at at your sin and and wants to club you with it. You know? I I mean, a a a God that would prefer a a phony bit of niceness opposed to a a true love, even when that love brings sometimes a harsh true word. You know? I maybe maybe that's true. I feel like we're battling that stereotype

a lot of places where I I have yet to run into it. Maybe maybe maybe some of the churches because, like, we we were both saying, that sounds like eighties. Maybe some of the churches that later on decided, hey. We we strayed from the Bible and trying to get back. Maybe they're just weeding through stuff that we were doing in the eighties. Sure. I mean, it could be that. Are they? It is it is. I'm and, you know, making lie to the dude. And, like, the truth is that the stuff he's saying is ridiculous, but maybe it's maybe it really is a word that people need to hear. But what you from what I know, like, from the Christian community, know, and it's it's fairly vast. We know a lot of folks that follow Jesus. You know? I'm not running into this. I'm not running into and I have not had this experience with the bride of Christ over the last ten years. And I've met a lot of people that love Jesus. So and maybe we just find other people in our community that tend to think like us, but, like, I have nobody that's, like, I'm questioning, you know, a god and and who he says he is. Right? I don't know anybody that doesn't come up and be like, yeah. I know where that's at. Let's talk about it. Well, I I think that's what this represents is like a a departure.

It it really it really does represent kind of a a hyper Christian culture that is short of its own foundation, scripture and Jesus. Right? Like, because cursory understandings of Jesus and scripture help all these go away. It's just that it's it's it's posturing from a position of a culture that has influenced them in which they gave weight to, that doesn't tie back to the very root of which the culture was born from. And how per bay how actual pervasive that is is a reasonable question. Right? Or is is this reaction to a current reality,

or is it a reaction to something that was true for somebody at some point in time and isn't really happening in the same way before? I suppose I don't know. Yeah. I feel that way. And and once again, obviously, the broad culture does not define itself in the middle of the heartland, probably. You know what I'm saying? Maybe there's drags of this throughout society that maybe I just don't get attuned to. But, like, I mean, to answer the first seven proofs that he's make, like, the Bible cannot use the word grace anymore. Right? And grace is unmerited favor. And so that covers just about everything you've brought up. Right? You don't deserve it, but you have favor. And so, like, everything that you've brought up with the God with the big stick and the kindness thing and, like, all this other junk you're saying, like, it's covered in almost one word in a way that that God describes how he feels about you.

I suppose all that ties into this last one. Here we go. Knowledgeable about the Bible. Oh, wait. There's more. This is not the last one. When I worked in youth ministry, I traveled a lot. Great. We're paying them. Before before loading the bus, everyone had an opportunity to pull the trigger on shotgun. But to be honest, I only wanted one person to call it. Why? I had a Bible trivia app and no one else competed with me. I can name every judge and pair people with weird random facts. I knew the bible. But this isn't surprising. Right? Faithful Christians know their bible. Well, that depends. You didn't discover the Psalms until after college. It's got drive me nuts. The apostle Paul says knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. My Christian journey I see in a company in my mind. My Christian journey proves this verse true. Knowledge alone is quite dangerous, actually. I look back on my bible trivia days. While I rarely lost, my reward for winning was a crown of pride. Jesus flipped the model of righteousness and holy living. Faithful Christians might know their bible, but if your bible knowledge doesn't compel to serve your neighbor, you're missing something. Great students are great servants.

Okay. I mean, so I agree with the last point. I just don't know how it's connected to the rest. Yeah. Like, the reason I know to serve my neighbor and to, you know, visit the guy in the prison, accept captives free and all this business is because the the Bible described, Jesus and the things that he did and the things that he said. He's talking about people learning it for the sake of learning it to impress others, I guess. I mean Or between the competition. Well, now to be fair Yeah. Right. A lot of a lot of churches, children's programming is that way. Yeah. You know I'm saying? But, like, some of it I I think I think the reason that they do it, it's it's to build on the familiar. Right? And so, like, you know,

normally, when kids are in the in in children's ministry, they'll they'll they'll memorize the books of the Bible in order, you know, through a fun song or whatever. And, generally, that's so you can navigate your way through the Bible, you know. Yeah. We've been doing that with the kids because I don't know it. And frankly, it's hard for me to find stuff in the Old Testament when I want it. Right. I'm taking shots to that's in the middle. My my wife still sings a song. They love it. Right? And it's actually pretty catchy most most of the time. But, like, you know, sometimes that that goes a little astray when you're, like, memorize the judges. And, like, well, you know, that's cool if you know them. But, like, if you I suppose if you don't know the the stories behind them, you know, you've just memorized who they are and that they existed, that doesn't do you a whole lot of good. You know? And so, like, I maybe I kinda get what he's saying, but the truth of the matter is is, like, I don't know how you propel the knowledge of God's character without actually reading about it and, knowing who he is in the first place. And I don't know where else you get that information from. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I suppose, like, it it just proposes that someone is approaching scripture in order to impress other people, like Dan said. And then they they seem to be up upset

that it didn't deliver on something beyond that. Okay. But, like, you got just what you wanted. So actually, I maybe I am picking up on what he's putting down because, like, there's a couple of Facebook dudes that I'm I'm buddies with, and they're apologetist apologetic. Anyway Apologis? They do apologists. They do apologetical work.

So anyway, like, every once in while, they'll come up with with, like, these articles. I'd be like, eight arguments to use against staunch atheists or seven ways to talk to homosexuals. And, like, every once in while, I'll read them and I go, you guys suck. How about you say, hello? Yeah. Hello. I'm Mike. How are you? How are you today?

Right? And and so, like, that's a forest for the trees, miss. And that's a knowledge for the missing for the love, missing for the heart. Right? Like, I I get how we fall into that sometimes, but, like, you know how many apologetic dudes I know? Like, one. They are not the standard fare of most Jesus dudes I know. Right. And so, like, when when he says Paul says knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, that's true. But Paul is also writing theology as he goes. So, like, he obviously feels like there's a ground here to know, say, your Old Testament make argument, like, talk to the Jews to to help them understand where these things are coming from. And so, like, Paul's actual writings would say that, like, you're somewhat misrepresenting where he's coming from because he seems to think that it's valuable. He's just saying that is not your source of pride. It is a revelation of which God has given you and and what that tells you about him, which is a fantastic thing to be involved with. The scripture is the is the road to that. And so, yeah, I just it's just a slight misrepresentation

that to otherwise, I think, the the truth was if you knew your bible better, not like from a from a technical impress other people's stand, for it. But if you read it actually to meet Jesus, the first six things before this wouldn't actually been the problem. Yeah. Like, you wouldn't be in this position. Alright.

Is this the last one? Dang. Two more. Promptness. While we're here, let's include other members of the squad. Organized, efficient, go getter. Hashtag squad. Granted, being on time can show concern and respect for the person you're meeting, but promptness isn't a Christian virtue. Thank goodness. If Jesus lived in modern day America, I'm not sure he would appreciate our infatuation with to do lists and punctuality. What what is this about? We're talking about a guy who arrived late to schedule appointments.

And on one occasion, his lateness resulted in a man's death. Lazarus, beggars and tax collectors Oh, now come on. Beggars and tax collectors distracted Jesus. He changed plans without wait without warning. I've heard passive aggressive comments about being late for worship all my life. I've made them myself. While punctuality is good practice in America, it's not a barometer for godliness or devotion to god.

Wow. Jeez. I mean, I see there are a few people out there who are time Nazis. Most is because that's just their personality. They're punctual people. Right.

I mean, some of that is we just try to agree to get somewhere at the same time, you know? Yeah. That's not unreasonable. Hey. Meet us there at nine. Yeah. I'll I'll be there whenever I want. Hashtag pharisee. Like, what? That's goofy. I've never considered prominence a Christian virtue, and I've never looked at Jesus' showing a plate to Lazarus'

death as an evidence of his buffoonery and his disrespect for time. Oh, yeah.

Maybe this is again, maybe this is a we need to get out. That's the problem. We we're gonna need to get out more. We need a road trip to other places so we can see this kind of thing going on. That's true. I I I You need it in the wild. Where's this happen? California? Exactly. Is that where it's going now? Give us the location. We need to meet these fellas. I can't imagine this struggle. Promise. Jesus showed up to Lazarus. Deathlyate.

I mean, straight Holy cow. Ringing scripture for your own personal ends much, sir? Yeah. I I don't here's the I I've I I can't write I can't write for online Like, it just it takes too much work to properly exegete things and, like, this is this is bad. This is terrible. Exegetical work on the Bible. Like, you're just kinda throwing it out there to prove a point. Like, you that this is embarrassing. Here we go. Expressive and emotional. Oh, as a virtue. Okay. Alright. Alright. Alright. I might have him on this one. Here we go. I'm an emotional guy.

I cry often. Don't judge me. I also lift my hands and move around when I worship. Real Christians are expressive, I used to think. But spending time with Christians who aren't expressive revealed something different, a deep love for Jesus. On the flip side, I've spent time with expressive emotional Christians and found them to be bored and dry. Expressive emotional behavior can reveal passion, but not necessarily. Let's be careful not to make our perspective the perspective. God is infinitely creative, so are his people.

Okay. Hey, man. Alright. Yeah. Score one for this man. So way to end on a high note. Hey, funny enough. So there's a at the end of the article, there's like a list of there were 17 shares on Tumblr, 3,052 shares on Facebook, zero shares on Twitter. I tell you, they're going out of business. Can't make any money. That's not gonna happen. Alright. That was the eight Christian virtues that aren't really Christian. Now does that maybe tell you the older people are sharing it on Facebook and the younger people on Twitter are like, this is stupid. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. That's probably right. That's how I'm interpreting that. You're right. There's probably an age group who's using Twitter more than than others. And I don't know who does Tumblr.

I don't know. I I think that's Tumblr's on the way out. Yeah. I said yeah. I mean, yeah, yeah. Maybe hip pseudo millennial types. Yeah. Anyway but no one no one on the no one on the Twitter. Yeah, buddy. Skye write anything else? Alright, Mike. What else does this man do? I was just gonna see whether oh, I got access denied. I'm I'm gonna give that a a d minus as an article. Yeah. It was Gonna be rough on it. I mean, here's the thing relevant. Yeah. I mean, there every once in a while, I'll read something and be like, yeah. You know, I could shift a little there. You know? Oh, that's right. It's not relevant. I'm gonna give it an f plus. Yeah. Yeah.

Because it's supposed to be more relevant. It's certainly not. Once again, I mean, yeah, it it could be that that maybe we are completely out of touch with folks. But, like, this this type of basically, he's raving against a completely religious view. And, like, I just I feel like that has not has not been the push for the last ten years. You what I'm saying? Like, a lot of it's gospel centered. A lot of it's now some of it's too far one way. You know? Some of it's like, I love everything you do. Love Jesus. Like, that's not true at all, and he didn't say that stuff. You know? But, like, certainly not. I mean, look at most of the churches that we're talking about. A lot of the liturgical churches are seeing a a mass decline, you know, and, like, evangelical churches, more more,

you know, not tightly wound, I would I would call them, You know, saw an increase there for a while, I think we're starting to dump back down. I you're actually, you're not seeing a decrease in liturgical churches. What do mean? In among certain age groups. Like, people? No. Millennials. Really? I thought I just read something to the exact opposite of that. That's pauper too. You probably did read something like that. Yeah. There's articles every other day. Yeah. Hey. This is going great. No. This is going terrible. Just depends on their angle. Yeah. We talked about that a little bit on the show. I I think what what like, part of what you're seeing with with people going back to the liturgies

is is they they they are rejecting something that doesn't provide them actual direction.

Right? They actually want there's there's comfort and there's safety and there's I mean, as long as your liturgy is true, it can be valuable for for organization. Like, it implied that they're a generation that wants freedom, but they just don't want chaos.

So, anyway, like, I but it it it depends, I think, by a lot of different things, not only age group, but, like, region and that kind of thing. So Fake news, Ben. I know. Right? I can't read nothing. You know what you know what would be interesting? I wonder how many articles, if you look out,

across some of these websites, how many articles are made up of, hey, this is a this is something we say. The church broadly has this problem but I don't. Right? Like, many things we're writing about? Here's what I'm seeing. I don't have this problem but I got the eagle's eye on it and I can tell you where things are going wrong. But, like, this isn't something that I'm struggling with because I like, I'm reading this article. I'm like, I don't know anybody like this. And so, like, how much the the fact that they're they're let's say they published five articles. As far as we know, they have equal representation of, like, the state of the church culture. Right? But, like, this guy sits among four other articles, and it it implies that this is a broad problem and that we need to know about it and otherwise react to it. But, like, in my experience, I'm not running into it. Mike's not running into it. Dan's not really seeing it either. And, like so what like, exactly where is this happening and how much weight are we giving cultural perspectives that don't actually reflect a culture? Well and and, you know, it's a question to be asked is, like, church culture don't move that fast. And, like, they've tried to sell you in the last five years that it does. You know, like, the I need daily updates on the state of the church. Church culture don't move that fast. It just flat out doesn't. Culture does. Culture will move and change very, very fast. But church culture I mean,

you know, we were dragging around nineties tunes forever, and now it's starting to pick up. Now we're getting, like, you know, like the especially with, Hillsong Hillsong and Vertical Church Band. You know what I'm saying? They'll put music out, and it'll be in your church within a month or so, and it'll be pervasive. You know? So, like, we're starting to get out of that a little bit. But, like, the truth of the matter is, like, the entire church culture preaching of on the on the the the goodness of promptness. Right? Like, that doesn't sweep the church culture in a month. You know I'm saying? That takes years to get done. And and so, like, where you have a a a an online magazine that has to put out a daily state of the church or or daily relevant topics of what's going on in the Christian culture,

I mean, good night. I don't know. I we we just don't produce that much change in a day, in in a week. It just doesn't happen. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, that's it. You can you can go read that if I suppose if you want by going to Relevant magazine and look for eight Christian virtues that aren't really

Christian. And, you know, I would would you read your bible, get to know Jesus, and a lot of this stuff just starts to go away. And, like, I suppose when you're when you're helping people, like, make sure you're passing on the right foundation. Right? Like, they can answer these. These are answerable questions. These are answerable dichotomies. These are things that otherwise, I think we can know the difference on through, looking for Jesus in the manner of which he's provided it to us, which is which is through scripture. It seems completely viable. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Mike, what do you got? They're live from the path. My boss wants to do a day of community service with the staff to help others and improve relationships in the workplace. Mhmm. I thought it was a great idea. A lot of my coworkers were unsure and wanted more information about what specifically we would do. My boss said she would get more information and send it out to us. However, a few of my coworkers are outright opposed to the idea and think they shouldn't be required to do it. A year ago when this came up, one of them said they shouldn't have to give up their free time. I think it's wrong to turn out a chance to help others when they are able. What should I do to make sure my boss's intentions are understood while not being off putting or appearing holier than thou?

What? So they're doing the community service off of work hours? Looks it sounds like it. Evening time? Yeah. I'd tell you no.

Yeah. I would too. I had. Unless you're paying overtime. Yeah. That right? I mean Hey, boss. Is this important to you? Then you can just pay me to go. You know, my work has I don't know. Usually, they do two or three, like, work functions a year that they do on a weekend or something, you know. And then, like, we'll get together and and everybody bring food and whatever. And, like, I usually agree to one. I usually go to the Christmas one. But, like, apart from that, I like those guys. But, like, I have to be around you at least forty hours a week. Yeah. And so as much as I like your company, I'm going to go home now. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's a bunch of life to live and and and and, like, it's I'm I can't spend I'll give you another weekend. Yeah. I've given you enough. You know? Right. And so, like, I I get the kickback a little bit. But

I'd say if you're a company and you're gonna do community service, do it during the workday instead of work. That's right. Put some put get some skin in the game. You know? Yeah. Say, look. We'll cover it. We'll cover the day. This is how important it is. It's kinda dorky. I'm gonna volunteer all you people time. That's right. I wish I could volunteer people to do crap on my behalf. You know? I volunteer you to wash I wash my car. Done deal. Yeah. Yeah. I I smell good. I don't think your job you don't have to be the advocate for the boss. If they don't wanna go, they don't wanna go. Yeah. I mean, unless you're paying them to be there, you don't own their time. So you know? Yeah. You kinda sound like a bum kisser. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just you know what I'm saying? Like, you just wanna look like you you behind the boss's plans. Even if they are your boss, doesn't mean their ideas are great all the time. Stop being so kind and tell them. No. Yeah. I mean, it might they might be good ideas, but, like, it's it's kinda your boss's job to to rally the troops or get them to show up or make it a a good proposition.

Just because you're not volunteering there doesn't mean you're not a, I don't know, a decent human being. Yeah. So, I mean, we run into this a lot in the in the in the church realm with with people either giving to missions or doing some kind of community service project. They're like, you should give in to missions. You should give to this this specific missionary, blah blah blah. We need all your money. And, like, if you're legitimately giving to somewhere else because that's what God has you doing, like, you shouldn't shouldn't feel any pangs for this particular missionary that's trying to get money from you right now. Yeah. You should feel completely okay with that and be like, I hope you make it. I hope you get enough funds. Not me, though. I got somewhere else my money's going. And I'm cool with that. I don't feel guilty. I don't feel weathered. I don't feel torn down. It's just the deal. Right? Same thing's true with this community service. Right? Like, people don't implicitly need to feel bad because you set up a path for them to to serve somebody. As far as you know, they might have 10 paths as soon as they get home. They serve people all the time. You don't know anything about them. Right. And so you're basically just trying to either tear away time that they could be serving somebody else or the things that are doing more good on what they're currently doing just to serve one because just because you came you came up with it. Right? There's a amount of hubris there that's a bit hard to take. K. Here here here's a solution for you. Have a corporate sponsored community service group where I mean, pay the people's ways to go join a community group. There's all kinds of them out there. They all do community service Mhmm. At different styles, different types of things. They can find one of their interests and just say, we believe in community service. We'll pay your annual dues,

and everybody's happy. Yeah. That's true. The person really cares genuinely about Right. Community service. Right. He doesn't care that his name's attached to it. Right? I mean There you go. X y z company did this. No. Just go out and serve the community. We'll we'll we'll provide and then they do it on their own time. And Yeah. Done it. I I agree. Let's see what Secular says. Secular says, the person who should be making your intentions clear is your boss. It should not be your responsibility.

Frankly, I can see both sides of this question. Some companies do this not only to quote to do good, but also to to build goodwill in the community and team spirit in the office. Usually, participation is voluntary. Yeah. I mean, all that's okay. You just you can't throw the hammer on it. If you don't own the time, you don't own the time. Just you gotta you gotta use your influence, try to get people to do what you want. That's what influence is. Yeah. That's true. Although, I have a real hard time taking companies that'll be like, this is a team building exercise. Or when really they're just on a PR campaign, and they want me to go and put a shirt on on their behalf. I'm like, no. No. I see what you're doing. Hey. Here's the deal. Good is still being done. You might as well it. No. I'll go do good on my own. Hey. Gospel is preached. No. It's not the way it works. Yeah. It is. No. It is. You go out anyway. It's not your problem. Yeah. It is. No. It isn't. Dear life from the path. A family member likes to use the toilet as a garbage disposal. What?

I've asked her to please dump the food scraps into a trash bag or pour them out in the backyard, but she prefers the easy flushing. I've never heard of such a thing. What? I have a story. How do I get her to stop the extra wear and tear on our toilet? Plumbers are expensive. What? Now hold on. What is she putting down there? Like, a half a roast? Or like a butternut squash? It can't be near as bad as what your husband's putting down there. You There's some pretty big things that can go down there sometimes.

So I hear. I dumped the I dumped the kids' cereal down there, like, opposed to putting a bunch of, like, half because they never finished it. You know? And so there's there's a bunch of wet Cheerios and half a bowl of milk. I ain't gonna drink the milk because they eat like slobs. And so I'm like, forget it. I'm a dump it on the toilet. I don't put it in the garbage, and we don't have a garbage disposal. Right. So, like, I I flush that down the toilet all the time. That's that's actually a fairly good idea. Yeah. I mean, it's a win win. Yeah. I mean, it's not different than the sink. No. Here's the same water. This is this always comes from people who don't have any idea what they're talking about. Right? Like, I get the same argument all the time. Like, so and so pees in the shower. It belongs in the toilet. Blah blah blah. It's a difference. It's not. It's the same. It's the same pipe, man. It goes to the same hole in the ground, and it goes to the same treatment center. There's not, like, a special potty pipe and then a special shower pipe that's, like, kept cleaner.

Like, you care once it leaves the drain. Right? The same is true with the toilet. In fact, it's got a four inch pipe on it. Right? It's more apt to handle whatever you're putting in there opposed to the one in the sink. The one in the sink's like an inch and a half, two inches. Yeah. And so, like, if you're dump something big, yeah, I'd put it in the toilet. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, it's gross a a little bit and kind of a waste of water. But but why is it gross? I don't know. It just seems gross to haul your scraps and stuff all the way through your house when you can let them down to sink. I mean, it's always when you dump it in the toilet, you're not licking the rim on the way out. What it's the exact same. It should not matter. It's a body of water you're putting stuff you don't want in and then flushing it away. It's the same. Yeah. You're right. I take it back. It's fine.

And it's a waste of water, though. I mean, yeah, it's gonna take a gallon to get it down. Half a gallon probably nowadays. Yeah. I mean, you could probably put them in the trash or dump down the sink or put them in the garden or whatever for not paying the cost. But to the extent that you are okay paying for the water, I don't know what I care. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't like put bones bones down there. But, like, you but but I'm like, are you trying to fit chicken bones down your kitchen drain too? I mean Yeah. Really. Use the same discernment, you know. If it ain't gonna go down your kitchen drain, ain't gonna go down the toilet. But, like, yeah, the toilet gives you a much bigger bowl to throw it in. You're less likely to make a mess. I don't know. I don't know. Would you put, like, a bowl of spaghetti in there? I don't know. That seem would seem weird. No. Right. It does seem odd. I mean, it's just got it right. I suppose it's just by connection. Right? Like, you throw up in there. You poop in there. You start putting food in there and across it puts some worlds together that maybe you're not comfortable with. You don't wanna see how the sausage gets made. You know?

Yeah. Altogether, I don't have a problem here. It's gonna end up there anyway had you eaten it. That's what I'm saying. Alright. Go ahead. Secular says, yes, plumbers plumbers are expensive. And there's a reason why we are supposed to use receptacles for what they're intended. What? I I disagree already. If you are responsible for that toilet that's being used as a garbage disposal, make sure the family member knows she will be footing the bill for the plumber. However, if the toilet is her responsibility, this may be a lesson she will need to learn over and over on her own. Okay. Listen, high horse. You're not making any sense here. It's a bigger pipe. It goes to the same place. It's actually the better conduit for dumping a large amount of food. It really is. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, that's, I think I think that's that's top quality. We're gonna end on the night on that. I got nothing to add. You've been listening to Life From The Path. Thanks for hanging out with us so much. We do really do, appreciate it. If you love the show, I'd love to hear about that. Shoot us an email at [email protected].

If you hate the show, tell your friends. They they it's best that they know what's going on on the Internet. Send them back to email and Chris Roloff. Yeah. That's a good idea. We're no longer on the Truth Network. It would be best, though, if you act like we are so that they try to figure out what's going on in the programming schedule. That would be I caught your show the other night on ninety nine point three. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna get the contact information for 993, and I'll give that out to you next week. And if you could just send them texts and emails and things and be like, hey. I've been really digging on live from the path, or, you know, I'm offended by them fellas. You should take them off the air. Exactly. That would be great. Okay. Let's do that. That sounds good. Anyway, thanks for hanging out with us. We will see you next week. In the meantime, be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends. You've been listening to live from the path.