Be Salt and Light - Matthew S2E2

Welcome to Deep In with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with Him. Now let's dive in. Alright, welcome everybody. Welcome Pastor Michael Olson. Congratulations on your book. Thank you. Daddy set the church on fire. I saw a copy of it. Did you have one? I have one right here. Thanks for asking. Hold it up. We'll put a link in the notes. Not about an arson, Dad. That was funny. You know what's funny is that – do people know who Jay Owen is? Jay Owen is a genius who works here, digital communications. He built a website for that book, www.daddiesetthechurchonfire.com, from an airplane seat at 35,000 feet in about 25 minutes. Yeah, for probably like $2.65 Amazing It's amazing what he can do I never travel alone, you guys know that And I was preaching a men's conference And I think I did two sessions or something And after the first one He was like, hey, just have people text The word men to 441122 And they'll get a free devotional resource From your content And he just recorded it And then made it up AI'd it out And it was like a men's devotional, like seven-day devotional follow-up. I said, bro, this is pretty cool. Yeah. We did miss an opportunity, though, because we didn't sing This Little Light of Mine. No. There's still time for us here right now. I would defer to you. Well, you want to get into this text? Thank you, Pastor, for the amazing word. I want to ask because when I read this with the salt and light section those two metaphors would it be right to think about the salt as more about identity and the light as about a choice because what stood out to me there was it says let your light so let's talk about the salt and light pericope and the differences there well I mean there's three really because there's salt, light, and city so he does say you are the salt of the earth and then he says you are the light of the world so i think the whole point is but it's also right after blessed are you when you're getting your tail kicked by this world and we can't i mean so many times we teach the beatitudes then we stop we come back and we'll eat well later and then we just start on the salt and these are not two separate things it's just one teaching straight through okay so So really you're the saltiest. You got the most eyes on you when your circumstances are hell and people are like, how are you upright? That's when you have the biggest impact. So I think all three are identity first. This is who you are. Now, there is crappy salt, and it's worthless, and it gets thrown out. So there's a big fat warning there. And there is a bushel-covered light, so that's a problem. And then the city on the hill Is what God told Israel It was to be But at this point It is not being that It's just like being a city unto itself You know So I think the whole point is The Beatitudes are the gospel Now here's going to come The application of the gospel That he didn't just save you For you to be saved He saved you so that you could be sent So that others might be saved and all throughout the teaching ministry of jesus he's going to circle back to this with the disciples over and over and over and over and over like he doesn't say follow me and we're going to do a bible study follow me and i'm going to teach you how to be a good christian it's follow me and i will make you fishers of men this is that again yeah yeah but i do think all of us have a it's so easy the moment you start talking about the activities that the king requires of us bro we just lose the gospel in one second and you're like am i being a good one you're like well hold on hold on you were you're adopted as a son you know and so you get this little sandwich here it's like gospel activity gospel because then we're going into a whole bunch of there's it all your activities should be different the way you live the way you treat people and so So I think that's why he's hammered down on your righteous activity will not make you righteous before the Lord. Does that make sense? Yes, it is. It is so helpful to see it through that lens, because another way to talk about the way or the three things he mentions is this is just what these things do. Salt is salt. Right. It's like so when you are a new creation, when you are in the kingdom, this is what you do. Right. And so if you're not, there's a problem. Like the Bible has – it just doesn't have a category for a fruitless Christian. It's like what is that? I mean Jesus is going to curse the fig tree. We're going to get there one day. And a part of it is like what? This is abnormal. to be like a church attender and nominally claim to be a Christian but not be on mission for God, it's like a complete abnormality. But like if you went to the doctor, he'd be like, whoa, whoa, you're defective. Something is majorly wrong here. It's like that, which is so different than our world. I mean, the amount of people claiming to be Christians right now, It's almost like you have to say Well what do you mean by that 100% Don't you think that Disciple It's like disciple is the word we're going for here Yeah the bible only calls us Christians I think three times and one is derogatory I think that's right And 168 times the bible uses the phrase In Christ How about this Nick Fuentes Do y'all know him I know of I've heard And Don Lemon both claim to be christians okay so apparently anybody can use that label these people don't think one i mean they don't there's that okay then there's but then it's like but are you in christ are you a follower of jesus are you a disciple are you meek have you turned the reins of your life over to Christ. You know what I mean? Now we're talking about what Jesus is talking about. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I was talking with Pastor One and we were talking about Africa and how if you're talking about spiritual warfare and you say the phrase, if you don't believe the devil's real, you're too dumb to talk to. He's like, over there, you can't say if you're a believer because that's everybody. Because you believe that God's real and the devil's, he's like, it's kind of like what we're saying here. It's like, in Christ, are you in Christ? Yeah. Are you a follower of Christ? So I want to ask about the non-salty salt or the fruitless Christian. So help practically, because you said before also, like, man, I just thought I'd be so much further along. And I find in my own life, sometimes it's hard to see the fruit in my own life. So what are some ways that somebody could look at themselves and say, I think I am salty or I am growing in fruit and not get discouraged? Or when should you be discouraged and feel like maybe I'm not the salty salt? Well, I gave three baskets that cover the light, right? One of them is pride, like I think I'm better than you. One of them is fear. I'm afraid of what people are going to think about me. And one of them is comfort. I don't even think about the application of the gospel to other people because I'm too busy just getting what I want for me. Binky, you spend all your life making disciples. Like your self-evaluation is probably not very good. It's true. I mean, think about it. What do you do all day? You do Bible stuff for people so that people can know Jesus and be sent. I mean, isn't that what you do for a living? So you're pretty salty. It's the royal eye. So maybe somebody out there is wondering. I was asking for them too. Thank you. Well, so I guess my question would be, can we? Like if you go into self-evaluation mode on that, do you have any remote possibility of actually providing yourself the objectivity? It's like can you actually be a decent judge of yourself and should you spend any time on it? No, I feel like the worst. It's kind of a leadership thing. It's like how do you know if you're a leader? Look over your shoulder and see if anybody's following you. It's like other people are – and the impact you're having are a better measure of your saltiness and your light than your own personal navel-gazing evaluation. I feel like – Hold on. Okay. So part of the reason I wanted to do his book in this sermon on salt and light is if I evaluated how am I doing it making disciples vocationally, there's a bunch of boxes I check. I mean I do – People got to save People taking steps I do And I spend That's all I do All day I preach I do a million podcasts I write books What else do I do? You know Whatever So But the thing that Challenges the crap out of me In your book And this is where The end of the sermon goes What about at home? Yeah Like I'm Dude That's the first mirror I hold up And I go And if it's true Which I do think it is Way more is caught than taught What are my kids Catching? You know And they're doing pretty good right now But that that freaks me out so my evaluation of me as a dad and a husband is like uh-oh my evaluation me in far as like being a fisher of men at work as a you know cool right but that's what i was talking about like i'm salty as heck on a mission trip dude or even just on a plane i don't know i am and then i can just like walk through my door and not apply any of it I can just be lazy and think about me and wonder why everybody didn't. Why do you ask me this question? I just preached on it two weeks ago or whatever, you know, and I'm highly convicted about that at home. And so the reason I wanted you to sing that song and point to this thing and the words that I quoted from you is like it's exactly this, especially the way you talk about your dad's impact on you. You caught the fire and you use the analogy of daddy set the church on fire physically. He burned it down, but also burn it down in worship all the time. Yeah. And you learn that and you're trying to pass that on to your boys and they're young enough where you're just kind of like a lot of prayers, fingers crossed, hope it catches. That's a big part I think Of this salt light and hill Is when you think I'm trying to be a conduit Of the grace of God I'm not just looking at me But I'm trying to It's a big relay race I'm just trying to pass the baton well I also think that self-evaluation Is Has a high percentage Of leading you to Measuring yourself based on some things that are in your past or whatever, as opposed to like keeping in step with the spirit, which is kind of a progressive motion forward. You know, I think probably a good way to think about it is not some like a disciple probably doesn't spend a lot of time looking at their past and what they did as much as they're looking at the future and whether they're listening or not. You know what I mean? And I think that the conviction of like, am I doing this right for a disciple? maybe it pushes them more into the posture of, do I have a sensitivity of heart to be listening to what God's telling me to do right now? And that's the value. You know, you say like, what's your next step? Because if you're going to follow Jesus, he's moving and he's going to take you somewhere. So it's almost like discipleship doesn't really allow you to look in the rearview mirror very much because it's progressively moving you forward. I don't know if that is true or not. And Rebecca, I mean, she's a professional therapist, so she talks about this real good. But you guys both talk about this in what I think is a very, very helpful way. There's a significant role for a therapist to help give you tools to deal with things in your past so that you know how to rightly describe them, handle them, and move on in obedience to what Christ has for you. That's different than just like soaking in the therapeutic whirlpool of my own feelings all the time. For sure. These are two very different things. Yeah, it's what's growing. Yeah. Right. And so the point of self-diagnostic is to find the seeds that are at the base of weeds that are growing in your life that are choking out or slowing the growth of the fruit of the spirit. So love, joy, peace, patience. Weeds can grow, and it's not love. It's self-love. It's not joy. It's discontent. It's not peace. It's impatience. It's, you know, these things are growing in our lives and they come from somewhere. And so that's the work that it takes when you – what I think healthy biblical self-discovery can be rooted in is not trying to find something to blame, not trying to find something to hold other people hostage to, not trying to find something to excuse your behavior, right? But trying to find the seed that's down at the core in your guts that's like growing the weed that's choking out the abundant life that God's called you to live right now. And so I do think there's a place for it. Because it's kind of like if you put salt, to use your example, Jesus' example and yours, if you put salt on meat but part of the meat is rot, it doesn't matter how much salt you try to throw on it. Like when you get to bite that part, it's just – it's not going to taste good. It can make you sick. So you could run down a rabbit hole of the illustration, but I do think there's a time and place for – but I wouldn't even call it reflection. I mean I think it's way more about self-denial unto the glory of Christ. But in order to deny self, you actually have to do the work. Like know yourself. You have to know yourself. Yeah, this is about – I mean this is about a wound accessing – like figure out – I mean you got one. Like chances are if you're alive – I mean I'm trying to make an over generalization, but this is about a wound. And I make a statement in there like the evaluation is good. Discovering your wound is good. It's kind of like blessing to the poor in spirit. You got a starting place. I make a statement in there about you can't stay there probably any longer than Jesus stayed in the grave because we're resurrection people. And so discovering your wound is a step in order to move into God's abundant life. And so, I mean, I don't know if it's three days or not, but it might be a good way to think about it. it makes me think of encouragement, you know, like how much we need to live in a community that helps us see the mirror of what God doing in our lives Like when you get around other people who say you know I see God I see fruit in your life of this you know that it really frees you up from having to worry you know you should get it from god to your point say lord am i am i on the path here and he's going to help you see it but don't you think so many christians and churches though are like i mean they're salty as heck they just never apply it to anything they're just in the salt shaker their whole life you know like there's no application there's no pushing back darkness there's no sharing the gospel and evangelism there's they're just show up together and love each other and and think that's it and think i'm nailing it because i'm sinning less and kind of the measure of my walk is i have less sin than i used to and i know the bible so good but somehow they don't i mean it's just like going it's like doing film study and studying the playbook but you never get on the field and actually run the play the play is go and make disciples so can you imagine okay sometimes i think about this passage you preached on tonight can you imagine being one of the people okay the church is not like it's pretty early on yeah yeah and how many people are listening to this i mean there's a big crowd because he's been healing people so great cloud great crowds have gathered okay but like relatively to the population of people that would call like post constantine oh yeah yeah uh he's saying this to this little group of people on a mountain and he's saying you because it's not been said it's been said to israel but they're they're dropping the bag correct you know and so it's not a new concept But in terms of the inception of the church, there ain't no other group of people anywhere. It's this group of people right here. And he's pointing at them and saying, you are the light of the world. And there ain't no other thing happening out there. It's this community of people right here sitting on the side of this mountain that he's talking to. And if they didn't grapple with that reality, we ain't sitting here. dude that as you say that it reminds me so jesus did not he never fell into the trap of there like once we get there he never does that so it's okay you're exactly right a couple thousand people he's like you're the light of the world bro they go to cesarea philippi in a few chapters and like 10 and he's gonna be like upon this rock i'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and they're standing at the gates of hell and it's a big city there's 12 dudes on a camping trip and they're probably like we can't bear taxes like what are you talking about By the time he's resurrecting, was there like 120 people there at the ascension? And he's like, you take this gospel to the ends of the earth, every tribe, tongue, and nation, right? Every ethnos, people group. And they're like, us? Like he never does the, well, if we do this right and we can gather these resources by the next 12 months, then we might be. There's none of that. He's talking to the people in front of him saying this is your command. Don't you think he gets at the heart of obedience, right? So there's like multiple layers of motivation in regards to obedience. But when you think about the direct personal interchange between Jesus and the disciples of Cessarie of Philippi or these people, ultimately, if you run down the path long enough of this thought, you're going to come to this place where you realize, wait. I'm responsible to him And he's responsible for everything I'm just responsible to him My responsibility is to do what he said to do And he's responsible for all the outcome You see what I'm saying? 100% What I find with believers With really good hearts And really grand visions The potential of what might happen Prevents them from doing anything right now I see it all the time Especially in ministries like they've got these plans to change everything coast to coast or whatever but they they're not doing the thing right now you know like they want to help every pastor in america but they're not actually helping any yet totally maybe start with one or two or whatever you know i mean a really great example in the positive my friend mike dragich you know runs project savior at doors bro what a humble guy and and you wouldn't come across him and be like oh he's humble i mean he's a professional MMA fighter, a Marine, and he wrestles alligators. He is the most aggressive human you've ever met. He's a humble cat, though. Bro, here's the thing. He asks questions, and then he just listens. He doesn't ask questions as a setup to tell me the thing that he's doing. And so one of the things I try to help with is just let's crush a few things as opposed to try to do everything. And the things you're doing right now, you're crushing. So let's just like one step at a time, one building block at a time. But I see a lot of Christians that they're, they wouldn't do what Jesus did. They wouldn't be like, you are the light of the world. They would be like, all right, I built this strategy to get the lights all connected to the strategic places. And, you know, and, but they don't ever actually do anything. Probably the advice I give to new, like people called into ministry more than anything else is I just asked, so who are you discipling right now? When they tell me about this incredible call of God in their life to do all the things and how they want to move here and work with us or do the internship, I'm just like, give me the names of the people you're discipling right now. Because why in the world would God or us trust you to disciple people if that's not what you're doing now? There's a point in my life I was pretty sideways with a lot of questions, and I was talking to this really smart ministry guy, and he said something in a counseling session. that I later learned was a Eugene Peterson quote from the message. And he said, you are the equipment. And I was thinking about where I was doing ministry and I had all these questions and heard over a thing and didn't know about what was next and all this kind of stuff. And he's like, you realize you are the equipment. Like where you go, that's where God's going to do the thing. Like it's not necessarily circumstantially built on all these things that you're carrying around that you think need to be there for you to be able to do the thing that you're going to do. He's like, Ashley, when you go to that place and you are who God created you to be in that place, that's where it is. And I was like, ah, that's a hard thing to grapple with. Yeah, I don't want to take the analogy too far, but salt does its job as soon as it leaves the salt shaker. Whether it's on food or it's on the driveway, so the ice, you know, whatever. It's not, and the person with the salt in their hand, they get to decide where the salt goes. And when you have that attitude as a Jesus follower, you'll be perfectly positioned to do all kind of right things for him. When it's like, hey, my yes is on the table. Here I am. Send me. And that's one of the reasons I went to the like, all right, if you're a stay-at-home mom, what kind are you? Are you just like all the other ones? Are you different? If you're a police officer, what kind are you? Because you should be different. If you're a CEO, is your company just like all the other companies? Because it shouldn't be. If you're a coach, I know everybody's got a scoreboard. If yours is the same as all the other coaches and you're supposed to be salt light in the city, then something's off, dude. And I think if we can get folks thinking that way, it would just be very, very helpful. And a little bit later, Jesus is going to talk about prayer, and he's saying – he says don't do it to try to impress other people. So when he says, let your light shine so other people will see, can you explain the difference between those two things? It's motivation. Motivation. Who do you want to get glory? You or God. So he does it in prayer and fasting and giving. If your motivation is self-glory, you are actually at odds with God. Like you're trying to use God to be glorified. And God doesn't play well with idols. He smashes them. We talked about this last week. The same activity can actually either warm God's heart or really stir his wrath. Take singing a song. Michael, you're crazy talented. And if your number one concern is what people think about you when you sing, bro, it ain't good. Preaching a sermon Is God glorified Now God can use whatever But if I'm trying to make much of me That's actually what the third commandment is Don't use the Lord's name in vain Like if I'm using the Lord's name To build me a platform So people will think things about me Whoa Whoa is me And all the pastors that do that He might just give it to you bro yeah that'd be the wrath of god no question and it might the the effects of that might not be immediate it might actually walk out over time but eventually it's god's grace romans one that would bring you to that spot of like realizing who you actually are under his grace and the crushing might be the thing gets real big you know what i mean and uh yeah that's that's a crazy thing we we were in a creative offsite the other day and we were talking about psalm 91 91 and it was it was the one that uh in the temptation narrative that yeah that's right yeah you remember talking about and he's like cast yourself down from this temple mount and he will command his angels considering you won't strike your foot against the stone and he's quite you know the enemy's quoting the scriptures which that if you go back and you unpack that psalm it's all about God's initiative in caring for the people that he loved. And what the enemy is trying to do is get Jesus to proactively go do a thing to put God at his debt. And Jesus is like, I ain't doing it. Yeah, this is a test. And I feel like that's the thing that you're talking about. Am I going to do this? Am I going to sing a song? I'm up there singing up there. Am I going to do this thing and leverage and make God work for me for my thing? That ain't going to happen, man. Are you going to open the Bible tonight and preach Matthew five to build some sort of platform for you to leverage for some other thing and put God in your debt? No way, dude. That ain't the way it works. Like we work, we work under his authority, under his leadership, and it's his grace that leads us in. And he is the initiator. You know what I mean? Do you think, do you think the average person is super tuned in to their motive behind what they're doing? Like, like, so that's a brick question. like okay because you're saying motive is the thing so do you think the person whose motive is wrong is thinking i'm trying to put god they're not thinking that so we must be blind to our i think people do think that you think so i think people think i got a job interview tomorrow i'm going to give a little today or i mean honestly all my preacher buddies will confess you sent a lot less on saturday night because you know you're preaching sunday morning and you're just like god give me your favor i need your help and i'm not trying to do anything to jack it up i mean it's like we are roman 7 is a thing like your flesh is and the devil's quoting bible verses to you i guess here's how i'd answer is i think people who have a healthy process or a healthy rhythm of questioning their motives, I don't worry too much about them. That's good. It's the people who don't ever question their motives that make me real nervous. That's really good. So if you don't ever think about your motives into doing a thing, that makes me – because you're just assuming that they're good. And the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things. Yeah, see. And so that's what I would say. I would say that probably Olson and I could sit here for hours and just compare notes on who has spent more time questioning their own motives. Not me questioning him, but me questioning my own or him questioning his own. And you two are two of the most pure-hearted, trying-to-get-it-right-for-the-glory-of-God pastors I've ever met in my whole life. But you can also – every stretch road has ditches on either side. You can also put yourself in the middle of the story so much. Totally. like i've questioned myself so much and then on the flip side of like all the wrestling matches and how hard i've made life on myself you know to question this or that and made life hard on everybody else you're like oh my god i just did it in the other direction the number one thing i've tried to disciple you in is he's a good dad he loves to give good gifts to his kids yeah and you have the it's like it's hard for you right like it is because you you're you're like drive for doxological purity is that and sometimes you won't let yourself get off the mat yeah you know what i mean what's really now the other thing is there's a whole group of people they need to know that like yeah god also disciplines those he loves because they're like no i just look at the lightning he's taking my picture you know that kind of dumb stuff and that's all they think there's those kind of people too and you don't really say that do they say that oh do people say that bro you don't read enough like in their hearts christian devotionals yeah i think that i think the motives is motivation is because we're in a love not to overuse a metaphor but we're in a love game here like this is a love relationship and what is the measure of love other than the outworking of motivation like i think that's just what it is and so to to spend time trying your best to take captive of every thought and surrender that unto the lordship of jesus christ you can fall into the ditch of like paralysis almost of like i so don't trust my motives in this that i want to run away from anything that would tempt me to capitalize on an unhealthy motive that's probably more my mo is that i just want to stay away from it and that's a basket over the light that's salt not in the salt shaker that's the that's the basket thing It's an inverted like pervert pride kind of thing. The pursuit of purity paralyzes you from actually doing what the king sold you to do. Exactly. That's one part of it. And the other part of it, you know, there's another side. You just don't – again, you just assume upon – because I'm the one doing it, it must be good. And it must be right. And it's like – I wonder what it was like for Peter post-Pentecost, knowing all the crap that he had done and been through and the denial and the feed my sheep thing and the you know the reinstatement and all that stuff standing up on the eastern steps just letting her rip under the i'm going to use the word that i grew up with unction of the holy ghost the holy spirit and just just going for it man and he knew i mean you talk about you know in your world uh mosquito on a whatever right train but he just he just knew who he was and who he wasn't what he had to offer and what he didn and probably at that point it really didn seem to matter very much you know what i mean in the in the outworking what the Spirit of God was doing in the church and his mouth was open for sure I think a couple of things are at play there right One is the church historically has flourished under persecution starting with the first one. Peter's up there slinging it on the steps, and it very well could have cost him his life. I mean it wasn't that long ago that they actually killed Jesus. Correct. It was 50 days, and then – But then he saw Jesus resurrected. Two chapters, he's going to prison. So that's a heck of a courage builder to see a dead man come back to life. You know, that one. And then I also think that there's a little bit of like, because of the courage in it, and there's a youthful angst in those guys. And there's, I think they just were going for broke, man. I mean, when you got, like there's nothing in their world by which would ever could ever be comfortable again. because of what they'd seen in her. It's true. There's just no appetite for comfort because it was impossible. But I don't think if Peter doesn't get reinstated in John 21, I don't think he does any of the things he does. And so if you lay this chapter, Matthew 5, over 21, and added to the conversation just to double down on some language, it's almost like what Jesus is saying is, hey, man, I know you've screwed up, But, bro, you're still salty and you're not useless to me. The only way you're going to be useless is if you don't feed my sheep, feed my lambs, take care of my lambs. If you don't do the thing that I've assigned you to do, yeah, then you're a train wreck. But I'm not done with you. And that reinstatement changes everything with the resurrected Christ. So that's not just like a good pep talk. Right. But there's something about that. And also the thing that gets me about this one, as a leader and a vision caster and all that, if somebody on our team screwed up three times, I don't think my lead question is, do you love me? I think it would be like, hey, you know you screwed up, right? Like, can we admit this and promise you won't do it again? Because you said this is like a love game. Jesus' question three times is, do you love me? He's like you know I do And I think she's like I know you do I just want you to know that I know you do So be salty Feed my lambs take care of my sheep That's what he says One of my favorite movies of all time Is the movie Hook And you know it's the story of this It's off of Peter Pan But it's this like you know all grown up Attorney Peter Panning Robin Williams And he tries to go back To rescue his kids and he's this old guy and um and he's lost his identity as peter pan right and the lost boys are all these little kids and they're trying to figure out who he is or to help him figure out who he is you know and there's this awesome scene where he's like his face is down with one of these little kids and he like takes his hands to his wrinkly face and pushes him back to see his face And he goes, oh, there you are, Peter. And it was like he was like speaking the identity of who he actually was out. It's kind of like what Jesus is saying to Peter. He's like, don't you know who you are? Don't you know who I've made you to be? It's like it's like salt and light. It's like. If you don't act this way, you're not actually living out the identity of who you actually are, of who I've created you to be. you gotta step into that thing man because that's actually who you are underneath the authority that i've placed on you you know what i mean and uh i'm a huge i'm a huge hook fan so it'll get me going every time it is a great movie dustin hoffman hook stop miss me stop me a fancy theological word is antinomianism. And it is the heresy that as a Christian, you don't have to follow any laws or any rules in the Bible. So what does it really mean? What would it look like if Jesus actually did abolish the laws? And what does it mean in contrast that he fulfills them? We talked about this a lot last week If you see the law of God as a ball and chain You're not looking at it right Because the way David saw the law of God He meditated upon it day and night He cherished it He would snuggle with it, memorize it Because the law of the Lord is perfect Reviving the soul And the law is just simply living in God's world God's way and it always goes better but Jesus is also so he's simultaneously saying I came to fulfill the law every jot and tittle and the earth will burn down before this word burns down like America will not be a country anymore the word will still be the word this is what this means and he's like but I came not to abolish it but to fulfill it and the fulfillment of the law would make you righteous. You would have a right standing before God. And since you can't pull that off on your own, I'm going to do it for you. So Paul in Galatians would say, an example would be the law is like a good babysitter. So the law is going to put some guardrails around your life so you don't burn the whole thing down until dad gets home. The law is also the kind of babysitter that points out you need a babysitter because you're going to screw up. And so the way, I mean, we've done, we've talked about this several times. The law is both a map and a mirror. It's a great way to think about it. It'll help you navigate life in the world that God created. And then it's a mirror to realize I need a navigation system. I need somebody to actually take over the wheel here because i keep wrecking into the ditch yeah i think the thing that often gets missed or just gets left out when we talk about jesus being the perfect atoning sinless sacrifice that jesus never sinned is goes back to the question about motivation what it doesn't mean that he fulfilled the law and doesn't abolish it it means that he didn't sin and he didn't want to. That's the key, that Jesus didn't want to sin. I'm not saying he wasn't tempted. He was tempted, but he didn't want anything but the Father's will. He wanted the Father's will accomplished. He was single-minded in obedience, which is that desire from the inside out that worked its way out in him physically and legally never breaking a law. Therefore, he lived sinlessly, but it started on the desire level so to say jesus never sinned to say he just didn't want he didn't want to sin and he didn't do it between wanting and temptation i'm confused when you say that like what's the difference between being tempted and wanting isn't that the same thing i i don't think so i don't think so because i think that there's um no i get exactly what you mean uh and it may be a little bit of semantics but jesus say all i do is what he tells me and all i say is what he tells me but he does it from a place of identity he's not doing it so that he can be the son of god he is the son of god so this is how he acts we just studied uh we're in my disciple group i'm with these great guys and we were going through first john a little bit and there's this in the first i think it's chapter two he's talking about walking in the light and all this kind of stuff And he says, whoever, you know, they'll walk as Jesus walked. And immediately our minds go, son of a gun, I'm screwed. And then you're like, well, if Jesus did this, you know, he fed the people on the hillside with loaves and fishes. And he healed the guy, the thing and, you know, all this kind of stuff. And that's immediately we go to is the exterior outcome of that. and that's how we want to measure our own redemption. Well, we will walk as Jesus walked. We should be able to do all this stuff. How did Jesus walk? Completely connected to his father all the time. That's how Jesus walked. And the outgrowth of that was all this stuff. But he never did anything not connected to his father because his desire was for his father all the time. And that's where the fruit came from. But isn't it funny how if we read that verse, we immediately diagnose ourselves by activity. We go, man, okay, walk as Jesus walked. Well, how's that? That's impossible. Well, not if you're just in a love relationship with God all the time, not if you're abiding in him and bearing much fruit all the time. Jesus never did anything that the father didn't tell him to do. And actually there's a bunch of people that were walking around that there was a bunch of lepers probably all around. I mean, not all of them got healed, But the ones that the father did say, not one of them didn't get healed, right? Correct. And he was just operating in the will of his father all of the time, all the time. What's that Puritan line about a greater affection? I've been seized by the power of a great affection. That's what they would say when someone became a Christian, that they have now been seized by the power of a great affection. Yeah. It's kind of like Pastor Kwan's illustration that if you know what you're doing at a buffet, it's easy to pass the junk at the front because, you know, the best stuff's at the back. The professional eater. You know what I mean? It's you ever make a dumb decision at the grocery store because you went in hungry? I'm the worst. You make don't you make great decisions if you go in there full. So when you taste and see that the Lord is good The temptation of this world is strangely dim, right? Turn my eyes upon Jesus This is true When you're abiding in him Then what's got to happen? Okay, so James says God can't be tempted But Matthew says that Jesus was tempted by the devil So We might need to do a Greek study real quick But then James does a deep dive on desire and will And we know that Christ's only desire was not to feed his flesh or to feed his eyes or to feed his pride. His desire was to do the will of the Father. So his temptation, though the offer was made, it's not temptation like me and you are tempted because our flesh, our sinful inherited flesh, of which he inherited no sinful flesh because he is the son of God, not the son of Adam. So we're at a desire level We're at a different thing It's not the same operating system So even though he was tempted in every way That means he had all the opportunities to But not the same desires that we have To say forget you God I got this Jesus never said that Jesus always said That's above my pay grade I'm going to do what my father tells me And so that's how it's fundamentally different What he said I liked what you said Don't use the Bible as commentary into itself. Let the Bible define its own terms. Good idea. Before we get into some other preacher we've heard or something. I like when you said – when you were talking about fulfilling the law, he said, I am giving you a new commandment, but I'm not telling you that none of this other stuff matters. So here's the thing to understand about this. So there were lots of commandments that were foreshadowing of what God would do. They're almost all just cleanliness. How to stay ritually clean How to stay Like In your own life pure before the Lord And how to be pure with one another Well Jesus fulfills the ritual one So I mean we don't have to do those things anymore Because you don't When the substance is there You don't need the shadow anymore But But the I mean the law of the Lord Is precious Reviving the soul That's the purpose of the law Now, a big thing that you'll see in Galatians, and Paul talks about a lot, and Jesus talks about this too when he answers, so what's the greatest commandment? It's basically like if you just love God and love people, you actually don't need any of the details of what the laws say because you're not going to worship idols. You're not going to steal from people that you love. You're not going to sleep with people that you love's wife. You're not going to be jealous of people that you love. You're going to promote them. If you love God You're not going to dishonor his name You're not going to worship You know what I'm saying And so Because the new command I mean think about it Like the disciples are sitting around He's giving his last discourse He's told them like three times He's leaving They're like are you sure And he's like alright A new command I give you And they're like oh So Matthew write this down John John this down Love one another You're like That's not new You've been saying it But then he does add this as I have loved you. That's the new part. So this is relentlessly and unconditionally. This is not legalistically, because that's kind of what it did turn to by then. And that was it. But that's, I mean, this is why the Bible say above all else, love compels us to live this way. And I try to explain it because it gets hard because the moment you start talking about activity our motivations get to performance instead of from approval can you talk a little bit more about that because i've gotten that question many times about how to know the difference between which laws to follow and which laws that were fulfilled in christ like and even if you're talking to someone who's a critic they might say well you cut your sideburns or you have a tattoo or and isn't that in the bible or don't you if you believe it's all true you know i mean like that can be an area of confusion for some people so they are called the old and new testament for a reason and testament and covenant mean the same thing okay so every rule slash law mentioned directly in the new testament you for sure should do that So a bunch of these things he talks about, like tithing is one of them, right? These things you ought to do. But the way, I mean, but Jesus fulfills the requirement of the old covenant, which is a covenant of law. This is epistle language. And gives us a new and better covenant, which is a covenant of grace. and so the ritualistic laws you can also see too rarely jesus never got in trouble for breaking a commandment he broke the rules the pharisees had written about the commandments it didn't say you can't pick grain they made that part up it said honor the sabbath and keep it holy well he was keeping it holy he says you can get your you can get your ox out of the ditch and i can feed my disciples what's the difference but they had set up some man-made rules which actually goes all the way back to eve when when the devil's like did god really say he said well actually we can eat of any tree except that one and even if we touch it we'll die he never said the touch it part that's classic legalism i'm gonna add to it like you know what he was doing when he was picking grain loving god right while he was doing it he actually and then when they get mad at him he's like oh you haven read about david yeah david ate the showbread he didn get in trouble The fact that the pharisees would try to juke jesus is hilarious and what else what hilarious is that they conspiring murder openly in the name of trying to honor and please god they're like you don't wash your hands you got a dirty heart figure out how to kill him he's disobeying the sabbath yeah it's pretty twisted i will tell you though um When people argue about this, I think what makes a legalist a legalist is when – if I give as much grace as possible, what is wisdom for me, I make a requirement for salvation for you. That's a true legalist. So Paul talks about this. He's like, hey, food sacrificed to idols. Can you eat it or not? And they're like, well, I ain't trying to eat that demon meat. And be like, okay, then don't. The next guy's like, what you talking about? Jesus has put every demon to shame, and those demons aren't even real. Those are fake. That's just meat that this guy does some hocus pocus on it, and it's good. He's like, cool, eat it. Y'all quit fighting about it. And the stronger one who's the one eating the meat, see, that's the way it gets played in the church today. We think the holy one is the one that doesn't do Halloween or doesn't watch that movie. You know what I mean? Paul actually sets it up the other way The one most mature in your faith Is the one that actually has the freedom Just don't use your freedom as a stumbling block For others Man I just read this article the other day That was talking about We'll put it in the show notes But it was talking about How For a long time now Evangelical Christianity More or less has considered holy The holiest thing to do Is the hardest thing to do and how that is a very dangerous thing to do and a very dangerous way to think. So it's like the less you enjoy something, the holier you are. It's called aestheticism. And it's a super dangerous, very narrow way to look at the abundance of what it is to live the life that God's called you to live. So this is why Dr. Piper is such a gift. Yeah, the desire thing. Joy. and from an outside physical he ain't chasing nothing in this world bro nah man just tweed jacket the same tweed jacket for like right gives it all away totally it's amazing how everybody immediately went to tweed jacket bro he's got one of the one of the most visited websites ever he's sold who knows how many books and never taken a dime for it correct I mean, this guy's walking, he's living a simple life. Yeah, he's the guy. And he talks about reward more than anybody else. It's just rightly aimed at desiring God. But what a lot of us can do is you hear the false prosperity preachers and we throw the baby out of the bathwater. I don't know where that phrase came from, but you do. You throw out how much God wants to reward you and he's a good dad. He wants to lavish you with love and, you know, like I said tonight, do you know the kiss of the father? Do you think this comes from a doctrinal place where like the way people view creation as inherently good or bad at the very beginning? Like when God created things, he looked at it and he said it's good. You know what I mean? And then there's Genesis 3 and, you know, because I struggle with this. I grew up in a pretty legalistic Pentecostal holiness environment. There's a lot of things that you're afraid of. I gave my heart to the Lord a million times at night out of fear, you know, like this kind of thing. And one of the things that I feel like I've had to grow in is seeing the goodness of God and giving myself permission to enjoy the gift, the kiss of the father. And if you believe that things are inherently bad all around everywhere all the time and that God's not – you know what I mean? What he created is not good and to be enjoyed, then you're kind of moving yourself to the middle there too because everything is dependent on you and your behavior and what you do or don't do all the time. Well, can I make it worse? Sure. With your book sitting right here? the primary view our children have of God will be the way we reflect it. That's it, dude. The primary view, unless God supernaturally intervenes, then that's going to be the exception. But your voice, your attitude, your face towards your kids. Like, if most of the time we say our kids' names in a negative, like I busted you kind of way. Yeah. And then you hear God calls your name. That's what that sounds like to them. Like, Oh God, he caught me. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Dude. That's something, isn't it? For sure. And so it's all the way back to both of you talking about, you use different words. You talk about getting to the wound and you talked about getting to the root. I think a whole lot of the way we see God is like how we were raised, not just our mom and dad, but also like early experiences at church and what we were taught. Because it was just all behavioral modification. It was just all sin management. And these churches really trying to do a good job. And it's hard to shake, man. Yeah. But, dude, there's some stuff that just – like tonight, I know it's kind of a fast song, but that you stand by my side and you stood in my place. Worthy of your name. whatever it is about that line ruins me man you know yeah yeah so when i get into like am i doing good enough i get back to well you did you took my place so then yeah and the answer is no you weren't good enough and you took my place and he's because you love me and he's like You know, I've told the story 10,000 times About the kid scooping the sand up in his hat On the baseball field I was losing my mind because they were trying to win But his mom was like, look at him I think about that, dude You know how ridiculous we look to the How about this, to the cloud of witnesses Like I said tonight Can you imagine trying to describe to Paul While you're timid in sharing your faith And he'd be like, what? They're going to feed you the lions? Nah, just a little awkward Like, what? and yet the heavenly father's pump bro just like you are when your kid does anything just because they're your kid and so his his the lenses by which he sees us are tainted with the blood of christ and he just loves us yeah one of the things and i mean tonight it was something i had a guy from my disciple group actually came up to me after and he knows me and some stuff pretty good you know we've been walking together for a couple years now and he was like he got all like you know there's this light that was coming down around your shoulders you know as you were playing that song i swear it was your dad and jesus standing right next to him just saying that's it and that's actually what i say in there is that it's made a huge difference to me um you know if you get into that book you realize it is a pretty painful journey and we lost my dad 10 years ago and it was not good right but in the midst of the mess my dad knew the lord right and the reality is he's with christ right now on zero merit of his own and it never cost him that anyway and even in his brokenness he invested in me and it is true that it's all grace it's all grace and i think it's hard to grapple with that in the moment when you're in it now but um living in the approval of your father probably both earthly and heavenly makes a big difference you tell a lot of great stories man about gifts your dad gave you you know and you know motorcycles and grandma and christmas and You know what I'm saying? You know, one of the greatest reliefs of my life is my dad got saved. Amen. I used to, I mean, obviously, crap, the day he goes to be with the Lord. But it ain't like it was at all. You know what I mean? I mean, I try to call him about once a week, and we just chat, dude. And he's so proud of me and Russ, like in the purest dad way. Think about this. your dad's the only human being that wants you to outdo him isn't that true i mean everybody else is for you as long as they can quite you know but your dad isn't your dad is like it's like a and your mom too but you know they're better but your dad just and so the way this whole thing starts so she's standing in the water before he ever does anything god says behold my son in whom I'm well pleased. I hadn't experienced this over the last couple weeks. My son is a really gifted runner and it's indoor track season. He's bouncing back from an injury and all this stuff. And, um, he had two, three successive meets back to back. I'm proud dad, not hard. So dad brag. I love it. Yeah. So, so he, he ran, he's running the 800 and he's, he's wicked fast, you know? So, um, the first two weekends, his races were on Sunday mornings and it's not like it was a major meet. So I was here, I was doing the thing on Sunday and I got his times and he ran okay. And then he ran slightly less the weekend after and he was bummed. I knew it, I knew it, he was bummed. And then his coach was going to pull him from that race just to get his mind out of it to run a shorter race. But I was able to go to the third one. It was on a Saturday. And I twisted his arm. I said, hey man, would you for me, it's up to your coach. It's up to you and your coach. Would you consider running the 800 again just because I can see it? And they put him in last second, and he beat it. I was just freaking yelling like a crazy man. On the side of the track running, he beat his time by over two seconds in the 800. And I was talking to Josh Trevais, who discipled your kid today, and he said, that's what the difference makes right there. and and and forgive me i in my mind it's burnt after he after he did it he was standing in the middle of this 200 meter track in alachua county in gainesville and after he finished he got down in the middle with all the guys are running he looked over me and he went let's go and i just went i just freaking lost it you know i'm like this is the stuff man this is the stuff dude i love a dad brag because it's one of the purest forms of love your youngest had a walk-off and the fact that you would send me that video i bet i watched it eight times because i was because all you did is say she you know hit a walk-off it's a home run too man and so i watched i'm pumped for you she's playing on the field that we used to play on so that's like that's a thing like the scoreboard says love 22 on it we're into that and but i'm so i it's like i i celebrate it for its own merit to begin with then i celebrate for you then i look at it again to try to see how many people are on base and then i try to listen to the crowd i listen i hear jen's voice you know what i mean that's one of the purest forms is just that dad brag and i got it bad i mean you know i've shown everybody videos of all the things but but that's it and so it the if we could get our mind around the father celebrating us like that we'd be salt lightens the city way better it's a good word yeah yeah unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees they'll never enter the kingdom of heaven and i think what i heard tonight is there's good news yep because in me it does yeah michael where can people get your book well man j owen built www.daddysetthechurchonfire.com which is really great he also built a personal website for me michaelcharlesolson.com by the way the reason why that charles is in there is two reasons one there's a guy that has michaelolson.com and he wanted me to pay him a lot of money for it i didn't want to do it second is charles is my dad's middle name oh that's cool and i thought about it and i thought that's good yeah that's good so michael charles olson.com is a thing and all the music stuff is on there too there's a i'm releasing an ep of original singer songwriter songs which are really good i'm so i'm really excited about that it's one of the coolest records i've ever been a part of in my life it's great um so that's great and i would love for you to come i don't know it's probably after this little air after that it'll come out monday in the morning yeah so it's day of come tonight to the thing at san pablo at 6 30 i'll be there it'll be a party it'll be it'll be a lot of fun i'll be there yeah thank you for and then also in the lobby right we're selling them in the lobby of our campus absolutely yeah it's good read man and everywhere else you can buy books yep they're going to delay the release to uh retailers a little bit but not much i think march one it's going to go out but amazon i mean everybody buys. It's all there. Well done, dude. Writing a book's a thing. It's hard. And there's a lot against it. So for it to be actually... It's crazy, isn't it, when it finally shows up? The first time I had the idea to write that book was 20 years ago. And the story wasn't any near fleshed out. But I had a conversation. I was a recording artist at the time, and I had a conversation with my manager, and I said, man, I have this idea for this book. So it's a wild thing. It was about three years three years in that which what do you do for three years go to college or something well one of the neatest things all good things take take time no doubt about being a dad and an author is your kids have a tangible copy of your words and thoughts this is tomorrow night tomorrow night we're having dinner at my house and i have three copies of that book And we're going to make dinner for mom it's valentine's day weekend we're gonna make dinner for mom together and at dinner i'm gonna say boys This is a gift for you And um And the music too so i agree i agree with you Yeah, let's pray um Our good and gracious heavenly father, uh when jesus taught us to pray He taught us to call you father because that's just who you are and so god as three dads that get to borrow your title. We thank you that you are a good, good father. It's just who you are. And Lord, I pray that you would give us all eyes to see ourselves as children that are loved by you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to the podcast. The end. The reality is everything already belongs to God. And when we give financially, we're acknowledging that we trust him. If you just watch this and feel led to make a donation, text the word donate to 44 at 1122 or visit coe22.com slash donate. Your generosity is not only an act of worship, but an investment so all people can discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.