being bold without being pushy

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1:00Learn more at Kia.com or visit your Southern California Kia dealer. Hey, I'm running out to drop off a stack of letters and packages. Need anything shipped while I'm gone? Save the gas. Stamps.com lets you print, postage, and schedule pickups right from your desk. Sink your contacts into the address book. Get detailed accounting insights, and get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered. All from my desk? All from your desk. Join the four million businesses using Stamps.com right now with Code Podcast and get your free welcome gift. Stamps.com Code Podcast. Taxes and fees apply. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee and Ice. I am your host, Alioast. It is a joy and honor to be here with you guys as it always is. Every single time I was kind of gushing about you guys just a couple days ago. I know. I was gushing about you guys because I'm so proud of you and I'm so grateful for you. But it's true. It is actually a joy and honor every time we get to hang out.

2:03So thank you guys for being here. Welcome. If you are new for the first time, I am Ali. This is my podcast. I am so grateful to do what I do. And I'm so grateful that Jesus saved my life almost four years ago now. And pretty quickly after I got saved, I couldn't shut up about how amazing he is and how he genuinely pulled me out of the trenches of my life. And now we're here. And I can't stop talking about him and how amazing he is. And how blind I was for so long. I'm like, geez, God, if I had known you were this good sooner. Why didn't I tell me? I just, you know, there's a point where sometimes we just got to hit. We just got to hit our whatever rock bottom is for us. And then it's like all of those seeds, all of those things that were planted about Jesus kind of just come.

3:05Like a wave and it washes over you in that moment and you go, oh, maybe there was something there. Maybe there is something on that. The Jesus thing, you know, like maybe I haven't actually gotten to know Jesus. Like I feel like there's more to know an experience of him. Yeah, that's kind of what happened to me. I hit rock bottom. And now here we are. Oh, I love him. Now I'm not saying that there still aren't valleys in life, you know. There's the mountain tops and then there's the valleys, but at least I got Jesus now. And I don't have to navigate those things by myself. So it's not that once you start following Jesus life gets easier because life is still going to life. But at least you're not alone in it. There's someone much bigger than yourself that can see a lot more than you can see somebody who actually had a plan for your life from the get go. Before you're even born, you were a thought in his mind. And there's something really comforting about that. There's something really safe about that.

4:06The thing about Jesus is he's not just an experience. He's not just an idea. He's not just a thought. People didn't just come up with Christianity. They didn't just imagine this man named Jesus and said, yeah, that feels like a really peaceful way to live. Jesus is real. He's a real man. He's God. His spirit is so real. That is actually what changed my life was not only this, which by the way, you read the words in a Bible. And there just is something different that happens to you than reading any other book because it's alive. It's breathing and it came from the person who made us, which is God who then sent his one and only son. Jesus. And fully man, fully God lived a perfect, sinless life for us to not only give us the example of how we should be living our lives, but to also pay the debt that he did not owe. The debt that we all owed, which is just the sin and the mistakes of our life.

5:10And if it wasn't for Jesus, we would not be able to have an opportunity to actually have a relationship with the father who's God. And yeah, God is a gift. Jesus is a gift and he's not a made up imaginary friend. He's real. And I can say that because I know a life without him and I know a life with him and I know what I've experienced. I know what I've seen. I know what I have felt. I haven't met him in the flesh, but I know that he's real. Because of what the Bible says and just the proof that comes with it. Like it's the way that these words have changed my life like no other words have. I literally encountered his spirit through the Bible, reading the words in the scripture and the stories of Jesus in the Bible and then encountering something that I didn't even have language for. Like no one brainwashed me or walked me into it. It was like it just was happening to me. And Jesus showed me that he was real like real real.

6:14And so that's what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about why Jesus is the way truth in life. And we're going to talk about why Jesus is the truth. And I think that the truth is is like when it comes to sharing our faith you guys. Like if anything, I really hope that this episode actually boosts the evangelist in all of us. Because the truth is is I think a lot of times when when we express our love for Jesus. When we tell people about his goodness and we tell people about our experiences with him. I think the first kind of natural default. I think even there was a version of me before I really understood like I didn't understand because I never encountered him. I never experienced him. And so I know there is even a version of me that was like okay that's great if that's working for you. Like that's your opinion. You know like I think I understood Jesus was real. Like if you guys know anything about my story like I grew up in a Christian household but it wasn't super religious.

7:14I don't think I actually had a full grasp in understanding to who Jesus really was. And the possibilities of what it meant to actually be in relationship with him. And to follow him like I was not following Jesus. I believed he was real but also I would be so curious to ask that version of Ali if she actually believed that Jesus was the only way to heaven. Or the only way to true peace and purpose and fulfillment. Because I feel like that version of Ali would have been like yeah I think he's a way. Like I do believe he exists but I think that like people can find purpose and meaning and other things. And I think that's interesting. I actually would really like to talk to that version of Ali today. And I think ultimately as believers I think it's important to be bold for the gospel and tell the truth that Jesus really is the only way. And we know that because it came out of his own mouth. He said it himself. And I know that now for sure because after trying everything else granted was I trying all of these other religions.

8:14No, but I was trying everything of the world though. And nothing was actually fulfilling me. You know if somebody really wants to know the truth they're going to do the research. And the more that you look into it the more you realize too that like there are so many testimonies and stories. There's so much proof already in the world. And I mean here this is enough proof. But like there's so many testimonies of people who have completely converted and it wasn't out of opinion. It was out of encounter. Like if somebody really wants to know the facts if they really want to know the truth they're going to do the research and they're going to see that there are people who have dreams of a man in a white robe. And it's Jesus. Like people encounter Jesus in a way that I'm sorry there's just no other God. He's it. He is the king of kings. He's Lord of lords. He is the son of God. He's the Messiah. He's God. You know back in the day when Jesus was walking on earth and he was doing his ministry here on earth for three years from the age of 30 to 33.

9:14And then obviously he was crucified on the cross. He died. But then rose three days later from the dead. He stayed for 40 days a little over a month after he died and came back to life. He stayed and 500 eyewitnesses. This is all factual guys. This is actually history. There were 500 eyewitnesses that said I saw Jesus alive again. I know crazy. Like we all watched him die. We all watched him take his last breath. We all watched him be I mean brutally murdered and beaten to the point of he was unrecognizable. Jesus was beaten so bad that they said you wouldn't have even known who he was. You actually wouldn't have even known what gender he was. That's how brutally beaten he was on the cross. And before he was hung on the cross. And so people saw that and then there were 500 people who said no I it's I saw him he was alive.

10:14He actually still had scars in his hands from the nails that went through his hands but they saw him. You can't make that up what all 500 people got together and said oh yeah let's start a let's just start this this lie that we saw Jesus and these were these were real sightings of him after he died. He did the very thing he said he would another interesting fact that is literally history you can find this it's real these were real people these were relevance. Jesus had 12 disciples who followed him very closely in his ministry for those three years that he was going around and telling people the good news and who he was 11 out of those 12 disciples were also eventually martyred and murdered for the things that they were saying which was that Jesus was the way truth and life. And that if people wanted to actually live in true freedom it would be following him they were killed for that and not just killed but like saw in half be headed skin to life hung on a cross Peter actually was killed on across the same way as Jesus but before they hung him he said just hang me upside down because I am not worthy of dying the same way Jesus did.

11:28And so he died upside down on across the only one that actually got to die peacefully of old age was John everyone else died. Grusum brutal killings and the reason why I share that is because there is just no way that 11 men would be willing to go through that kind of agony John the Baptist he was actually the one that was preparing the way before Jesus even came. Where he was preparing people and telling them that there was there was a Messiah who was coming he was being beheaded there's just no way that that many men were willing to die for something that was just kind of true or their opinion or honestly was just a made up lie no one no one's going to be willing to get skin to live for something like that. You're only going to die a death like that if you know that it's the truth and you are standing 10 toes down on that and you're like no I know what I saw I know what I've experienced I know what I heard Jesus is the way truth in life I can't say anything else other than that because that's the truth like they probably had so many opportunities to be like never mind never mind okay no I was lying but it was the truth.

12:46So they died for the truth and so I don't know you just you just look at things like that and it just makes you curious you know and I think that when you encounter Jesus even today right he may not be physically with us but with him going up this is all biblical it's in the Bible Jesus is done exactly what he said it was going to do. Because when he said that he was going to go away for a little while he had the last supper with his disciples the night before he was arrested and taken away to be crucified he was telling all this disciples he's like I'm going to go away for a while but I'm going to come back and they're like Jesus no you're not going anywhere and he's like no I'm telling you you actually. Should be rejoicing in this because I'm going to send my advocate I'm going to be sending my helper. And he was talking about his Holy Spirit but it's also like through his Holy Spirit when you experience that y'all know there's nothing else like it in the world. So let's talk about it. I know that this episode is a little bit more intense than our typical episodes I don't know why it is it's so funny because again like per usual I never really know what we're talking about until I sit down on this couch or maybe just a few moments before where I'm talking with the Lord and I'm like what are we going to talk about like I'm going to talk about.

13:59I never really pre-plan this a ton and so I it's funny I didn't even wake up in an intense mood today. I did it I actually woke up and I felt really good not that I don't feel good now I do but I woke up I had a little pep in my step I worked out oh my gosh all the dorkens and I was just in a really good mood I was in a really good mood this morning. My workout was so good and then I went and got a coffee and it was just done perfectly I said Lord thank you bless that barista she crushed my coffee and so and then I went to an event my friend was was throwing an event today and I went to that and so I got to see like all of my favorite people and it was so fun and now we're here. So like I don't know I don't know what's happened but I guess this is just the direction we're going in today okay this is what we're doing. But before we really get into it let me just take a quick pause very excited for this episode but we do have our Christ of course we have our Bible here which I would love to refer to as we are going through this episode this is my butter yellow I heard that it's still sold out.

15:03Oh my goodness I hope that wasn't me I don't think so it's I've been seeing it go viral online anyway this color is just so cute but if it is available praise God if not sign up for those emails guys I don't know. It's crazy I feel like it's sold out a couple times now but this is by Hosanna Revival they are the goat I love them they make the most beautiful Bibles incredible quality so gorgeous it's actually the sweetest thing ever that they've allowed us to have a code as long as we have but I do have a code with them too. So you guys are welcome to use that at checkout if you are on the market for a new Bible or they also have really cute journals and planners and they're just so cute and girly and whimsy and typically on the back of all of them they'll have like a special verse and you can't really see it in the sliding but yeah so this is my Bible it's the new living translation so when I read from it today that's what we will be reading we have our Christ and we do have our coffee on ice. Yay we do I'm not going to drink at this time guys I'm sorry but I already had my morning coffee I told you about it and then when I went to my friends event they were serving matcha and so your girl is good.

16:13She's fine we're going to leave it here as a prop today it is real coffee but I'm not drinking it and I think to like even what happened to me the way that I was living a life that was not for Jesus you know I think before I knew the Lord I was living in a way that was for myself and you know it wasn't even that I was a bad person I think I was trying my best to do what was good in the world and what my understanding of what that was and I was living a life pretty much completely apart from God you know I actually have talked a lot about this in my book which is going to be out in the world officially in a few weeks but you know I would pray from time to time but ultimately I think all the weight of life was on my shoulders and I think what makes me so happy is that I'm not going to be a good person. It makes Christianity so unique I think what makes Jesus so unique and why he is just literally the best he's so humble he's so kind is that Christianity when you look at all the other religions there's a lot of earning there's a lot of what you got to do this in this and this before you get this and to receive freedom you have to make sure that you do this and that there's a lot of performance there's a lot of earning there's a lot of striving

17:28and the way is that I've heard it be described is like any other practice any other like religious beliefs and here's the thing like ultimately at the end of the day the Lord has given us free will he's given us the freedom to make choices and so he does say you know you can choose whatever path you want but that doesn't mean that whatever path we choose is right like even if that means that we're like well this is what's right for me it's like but there's truth and then there's just foolishness. And it is actually that black and white and I think that we just really complicated and we want things to tailor our lifestyle and whatever makes us comfortable and compliments us is going to be naturally more appealing but it's so interesting I've heard it described as like any other religious practice is a lot of you like climbing up a mountain to meet God. And the thing that really sets Christianity apart from any other religion is that it's that same imagery of you at the bottom of the mountain and God at the top but in Christianity God actually came down from the mountain and met us and that is Jesus like he came down and met humanity humbly and he took on the sin of the world and was willing to be a sacrifice like humbly and I think that's what I'm saying.

18:56He took on something that was never his and said I did the work for you and that's not to get Christianity mixed up with like this idea that now we just get to run around and do whatever we want to do because Jesus is just covered us of our sins and we're forgiven and you know we've given our lives to him like there's also a denying of self like because Jesus did the work of taking on our sin and paying the debt that we put ourselves in. And when I say that it's like it's sin is like if you don't think you're an evil person I'm going to say that I would have never identified myself as an evil person and I don't look back on the version of who I was before I met Jesus as an evil person but I had evil desires in my heart. And that's what we all do it is actually like in our human nature not anything God put in us but it's because that we have the option to make choices we have free will which was a gift God gave us but because of that like we actually get to choose what's right and what's wrong

19:59And if you've ever manipulated somebody to get your way, that's not good. If you've ever lied to somebody and this is whatever, this might feel really juvenile. We're like, oh my gosh, like what's a lie? But like lying to somebody, deceit, cheating, cutting corners, being unfair to people, being rude, like cussing someone out, murder. Oh my gosh, I mean like obviously like legitimate crimes, but like day to day stuff too. I mean, we're selfish people. So it doesn't mean that you are necessarily like a murderous, monstrous, evil human being, but like you do have evil tendencies because it's just in our nature. And I'm not calling you, I look like the same. We're all in that same boat. That's why we all need Jesus. I'm not sitting here on any kind of high horse. I'm sitting here humbly saying, no, I need Jesus. That's why I'm here. We all need him. So when I say that Jesus has covered the sins of the world, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. And the reason why Jesus needed to do that

21:02was because if we ever wanted to go to heaven after this life, if we were ever going to be worthy enough to be in God's presence, because God, when we define God to the core of who he is, he is perfect. He's spotless. He's sinless. Okay. He is righteous. He is holy. Us, dirty humans, the dirt of our sin, and because of how spotless and holy God is, we had no chance going and living in his kingdom forever. There's no way because here's the thing. God is good and holy, and that's all he is. He's not going to have any of that in heaven with him. That's not how it works. And so when we plead the blood of Jesus over us, he actually washes us white as snow and washes as clean of our sins. And so it's not an excuse to then go and keep on sinning. Paul says that, if we've become born again, and Jesus has washed us of our sins, then wouldn't we just keep on sinning? Like, wouldn't that just give him more glory anyway? And it's like, no, that's not the point.

22:06Not only did Jesus cover our sins, but he also set the example of how we're supposed to live our lives. We are also supposed to pursue being like Jesus. And people in the church are not, are still not going to be perfect at that. You know, I think that sometimes when you enter Christianity and you recognize and start to see that people are still broken, it's like, yeah, even people in the church who have discovered Jesus still need Jesus. I'm right here, me. Like, yes, I'm a Christian and I try to be as much like Jesus as I can, but there are moments where I am really not like Jesus. And I still need him for that reason. Christianity is actually the only religion where God comes down to us and humbles himself and covers us of our sins and then walks with us. The only thing Jesus actually asks of us is for us to accept him and say, yes, I do believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you died on the cross for me. And I want to follow you for the rest of my life. That's the only thing he asks. He doesn't ask us to perform.

23:10He doesn't ask us to prove to him first. He already did it. Like before you were even aware of your own sin, he already died for you. There's no needing to prove yourself or clean yourself up before going to the feet of Jesus. He's like, I already washed, I already did it for you. Just come. Let's be friends. Follow me. Can I show you ways to live your life that's going to give you so much freedom? It's not going to be a perfect life, but I'm telling you that the ways the path to me is the path to life. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant, but at Grand Canyon University, they don't settle for just status quo. They shatter it. GCU offers over 100 online undergraduate degrees, emphasis and certificates in nursing, education, business, technology, and more. Grand Canyon University believes education should be more than earning a degree. It should help students discover and pursue their God-given purpose. GCU combines academic excellence,

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25:16there's an offer right where you're already going. If I had known about this sooner, I actually can't imagine how much more money I could have been saving because a version of me in the past had thought that things like this could be a little gimmicky or it's like, okay, like how much do you actually end up saving? But truly, you guys, it does add up. Checking the upside app before you fill up, eat out or grocery shop can honestly become pretty automatic. And eventually it's not something that you remember to do. It's just something you do. The upside app has given back $1 billion to its users. To find out how much you could earn, download the free upside app and use promo code on ice to get an extra 25 cents off back for every gallon on your first tank of gas. That's an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas using promo code on ice. I want to start reading some commentary here because I think it's going to really help us have a little bit more context. And if you are a Christian, then this episode is going to be really great, hopefully for all of us, even me. To just give us more language when it does come to explaining this to people.

26:17Christians aren't called to present the gospel as merely a personal preference. We believe we are bearing witness to something objectively true. And because we believe it is true, love compels us to share it. I think one thing that we could talk about as Christians is what does it actually mean to be bold for Jesus? Because I think sometimes there can be a misunderstanding or an assumption that being bold has anything to do with maybe our volume, like being the loudest Christian in the room or being bold means to intentionally offend people, winning arguments, forcing someone to listen, treating unbelievers like their projects that need to be fixed, being harsh and calling it truth, never caring how your words actually affect people. That's not being bold. That's just being a jerk. Okay. That is not the way to tell people

27:19about Jesus and what he's done in your life. I think, you know, maybe sometimes for us, it's frustrating when we see the truth, but it's like that's when we really need to tap into compassion. And if you are somebody who used to live a life outside of Jesus, like remember that. Remember the version of you that like genuinely, you just didn't know. You hadn't experienced yet. So what biblical boldness also is not is hiding what you believe because someone might disagree, reducing Jesus to, well, this is just what works for me. Or treating the gospel like one lifestyle preference among many. It's just a preference of how you decided to live your life, right? Kind of like an opinion, refusing to talk about sin, repentance, judgment, or salvation because those subjects are uncomfortable or assuming that loving someone means never telling them something they don't want to hear. That also is not a way to tell people about Jesus. So obviously there's two different extremes on both sides of that scale. But biblical boldness is actually having enough

28:26conviction in the truth of the gospel and enough love for the person in front of you to speak about Jesus faithfully even when doing so could cost you something. And so what does it actually mean to be bold for Jesus? Let's talk about that. What does that actually look like? I mean, we just talked about what it doesn't look like and where it's supposed to be coming from. What does that actually realistically look like in life? And I think one kind of elephant that I would love to address in the room or I don't know, maybe not even an elephant, but like just something to kind of debunk here is that I just think that we have really confused boldness with obnoxiousness. And I think that sometimes even non-believers can interpret it that way. There just seems to be this idea that talking openly about Jesus means you're forcing your beliefs onto somebody. And because Christians don't want to be that person, sometimes we over-correct. We start saying, well, this is just what I believe. This is just what works for me. This is just my truth. Like,

29:29I don't know, this is just, I mean, Jesus just works for me. And funny enough, y'all, like that actually was the beginning of my journey. Like I, when I first started talking about Jesus, I obviously was like bursting from the seams because I just could not believe what was happening in my life. Genuinely, it was supernatural. I was like, I don't, I've never seen anything like this, I've never experienced anything like this. I've never felt anything like this. I've never felt something like genuinely transforming my mind in a way that's like I was starting to see it was like somebody put glasses on me for the first time. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this was here the whole time. Like that, it was what was happening to me internally, you know? And so obviously, I like wanted to tell people about it, but I was so, so scared to like use very direct language because I didn't want to be that obnoxious person. Like I actually knew, because I was on the other side at one point, like I knew what it was like to witness that from some Christians. And I didn't like the way it made me feel at that time. And so I was like, I don't want to, I don't

30:29ever want to be the kind of Christian that made like those Christians how they made me feel. I don't want to do that. And so I kind of was using a lot of language like that where I was like, guys, it's so crazy. Like this is just what's been working for me, but like Jesus, so crazy. He's been working. And like here's the thing is there is humility and acknowledging that another person may not share your beliefs. And I think one of the most beautiful aspects in parts of Jesus is like he always gives people a choice. He's never going to force you or force anybody. He never did. He asked. He said, do you want to follow me? He always gave people the option. And I think the biggest argument sometimes with even that statement is people will be like, that's not true though, because like if you decide to not follow Jesus, you could just get damned to hell. It's a place that is void of God. And a place void of God is a place that is void of anything good because God is good. We were just talking about who he was to the core right. He's holy. He's spotless.

31:31He's sinless. He's perfect. And so heaven is just that, which is why we needed a savior because we are not just that. The only reason we even have the opportunity to go to heaven is because of Jesus. And I know that to be true because Jesus said himself that the only way to the Father is through him. Which means as long as you believe in who I am, you believe me and you follow me, you're good. I've covered it for you. You get a second chance. Yeah, if we're going to a place that's only good and you decide to live a life here on earth aside from God separate from God. You don't believe in God. You don't want to follow God. Then you're going to go to a place that has nothing to do with him. That's not punishment. That's actually God respecting your decision. He's not going to force himself onto anybody. He's not going to force you to go to a place that is all about him. And not in like a selfish arrogant way, it's actually going to be beautiful because it was what we were made for. We were made for him in like the most beautiful relationship. But yeah, I mean, we're going to go

32:35there and it's all God. So if you didn't want, if you didn't want to choose him, that's fine. But you're going to go to a place that has nothing to do with him. So it's not a punishment. It's actually just a place that's that God is completely removed from, which is awful, evil, torturous, painful, they're suffering. It's the opposite of God. We are still called to respect and love people who do not decide to follow Jesus. Jesus did it. And he encourages us in our in his word to do that. But I think even with acknowledging that, of course, Christianity itself makes a much bigger claim. And it starts with what Jesus said himself, which is he said, I am the way the truth and the life, the not a I'm not away. I'm not one of the truths. I'm not a way to heaven. I'm not a version of life. I am one possible way. He said, no, I am the only way.

33:35It's that black and white, you guys. So I think as believers, something we could actually say is if I actually believe Jesus is who he says he is, then sharing him with someone isn't the equivalent of recommending my favorite restaurant. I'm telling someone what I believe is true about reality itself. We're not talking about opinions. We're not talking about, you know, what we think. It's like, y'all, if I was still going off my opinions, I wouldn't be here right now. It's about the fact that this is reality. This is truth. And it was something I was woken up to. But like, that's not what we're talking about here. This isn't just an opinion. We're talking about the reality of life itself. So I think one major statement that we could say right now about what the gospel is is like, well, first and foremost, the gospel is not my truth. This is not our truth.

34:39Okay. There is a massive difference between saying something like Jesus has been helpful for me and Jesus is Lord. The first statement is obviously subjective. The second is a truth claim. He is Lord. I mean, this is the same thing as saying the sky is blue. Christianity certainly contains personal testimony, of course. Here's what Jesus did in my life. You know, we are to share our testimonies. That's biblical. There is power in our testimonies. But Christianity isn't ultimately founded upon our experiences. That's not just what it's founded on. It's founded upon claims about what God has actually done. And so when people ask for proof, I mean, Paul summarizes the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, 3 through 8 perfectly. Christ died for our sins. This is factual. It happened in history. It's documented. He was buried. He was raised from the dead by the Holy

35:43Spirit. He appeared to witnesses hundreds of people. Paul doesn't present Christianity as I discovered a spiritual practice that made me happier. He's saying something happened. Your experience, if you are a believer watching right now, of Jesus is your testimony. Someone can interpret your experience differently. But the Christian gospel makes objective, historical and theological claims. Like Jesus lived, he was crucified. Christians claimed he bodily rose from the dead. And therefore Jesus is Lord because of those things. And so that ends up giving us a more defensible statement. The gospel isn't true because I experienced it. Yes, that part is very important. That is actually the thing that brought the gospel to life for me was because of the personal encounter and experience that I had with Jesus. But it's also,

36:45I experienced something because I believe the gospel is true. And let's talk about the fact that sharing the gospel is actually an act of love. Because I think that this is also a misconception that a lot of people have outside of Christianity is they believe that it isn't an act of love when you tell people about Jesus and the truth of who he is and the truth of a life that is lived outside of him. I think the truth is is if you genuinely believed someone was in danger, would keep in quiet, actually be loving. Obviously, you don't want to turn evangelism into screaming. You're going to hell. It's strangers. Okay. And when that kind of evangelism is done, I don't think it's productive at all. I can tell you that if any time I heard that, I don't think that ever planted a seed of curiosity in me ever. If I heard people on the street saying turn or burn, it's awful with the heck. But like what are you even taught? That is like so off-putting.

37:49And that is never going to make anybody have curiosity about Jesus. But obviously there's like, there's another extreme to that too. I love you too much to ever say anything that might make you uncomfortable. Like that, that actually isn't love. And here's the thing like whether people want to interpret it this way or not. But I think that if you are genuinely sharing Jesus in a way that comes from a real place of love and it's not judgment, it's not condemnation, like people that they may not always agree and they may not always see it. But the truth is, is like, we don't share because we think we're morally superior. If that's the way that people take, it's sometimes, and you're genuinely doing it out of love and you're just sharing the truth of even what Jesus has done in your life, it's like, it's unfortunate that that is what people probably have experienced from some Christians. But the truth is, you all is like, when you know what it's like to live in a life where you were genuinely dying spiritually, just dying. And you found something that literally brought you back to life and has filled you, has filled your soul from

38:55the inside. You're going to tell people. And we don't share that because we think we're morally superior. It's like, no, it's because I have experienced freedom. We share because we received something we believe everyone desperately needs. I think that anytime I'm telling people about Jesus, it's like, hey, I know, I know there's a void in you that needs to be filled. And I'm not saying that because I'm like, looking at your exterior and I'm like, ooh, she has a lot of issues or he has problems. That's not what I'm saying. No, it's because I just, I know you're human and I know what you were made for because I was there and I knew what it felt like. So like, no, I just know that there's something in there. It doesn't matter what you look like on the exterior. I know that there's something in there that needs to be filled by God because that person was made by God. And I know it because I've experienced it myself. And so if I genuinely believe I've encountered the Savior of the world, why would loving somebody else require me to pretend that I haven't? That doesn't make

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41:01And like, let's talk about, you know, the real statement and the hesitation that people can have where it's like, but aren't you just shoving your beliefs down people's throats? And I think, yes, the truth is, is some Christians do behave badly. And I think that they don't handle sharing the gospel in a way that's healthy, that's caring or loving. There absolutely are ways to evangelize that are arrogant and disrespectful, manipulative, or honestly completely lacking in love. Yes, yes, that is possible. Unfortunately. And the thing is, is like, I think being the kind of Christian that I am, I would never defend that kind of behavior because scripture doesn't. In 1 Peter 3 15, actually, it says, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you yet to do it with gentleness and respect. And so what that verse is actually telling us is,

42:09yes, be prepared to share your testimony, be prepared to tell the truth of who Jesus is and being bold about that truth. But while you do that, do it with gentleness and respect. So boldness does not mean I don't care if I offend you. I mean, granted, like, you shouldn't be so consumed in people's reactions when you share that. But I think what actually is biblical is I care about you enough that fear of your reaction isn't going to determine whether I'm faithful to Christ. And I think that that's obviously very different than saying a really arrogant thing like, well, I don't care if I offend you. It's like that's not warm. And I think what makes Jesus so special and obviously such a perfect example for us to follow is that Jesus himself was both grace and truth. John 1 14 says, so the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of

43:12unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only son. And I think what's important to pay attention to in this part of that verse is it says he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, not 50% grace and 50% truth, but full of both. And so I think the truth is, is yeah, some Christians emphasize truth without grace. They're just like, you're wrong, you need to repent. And others emphasize grace without truth. They're like, yeah, God loves you just as you are. You're perfect. Nothing needs to change about you at all. Keep on doing what you know what God loves you. It's like, yeah, God loves you, but like encouraging somebody to just continue to live a life that honestly could be leading them to a lot of emptiness and loneliness, stuck in cycles and ruts and yeah, that's not love. And so I think there's a real distortion of like

44:16what the real definition of love is because I think in a lot of ways people think that loving others is just letting them be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do. But like if you see that there is a way that somebody is living their life that is leading to destruction and that person recognizes that there's destruction and they're like craving, they're like, I don't know why when my life is like, the something is still not being fulfilled. It's not loving to not be like, hey, can I actually would really love to tell you about something and it's Jesus. That is love. But I think that yeah, there's there's other definitions of love that you just like to love somebody means like never telling them the truth. And so perhaps the question isn't should Christians be bold or loving? It's actually how do Christians become bold because they love. And now let's actually talk about the real elephant in the room. If I'm going to talk to my my fellow Christians right now because the truth is is like and we all

45:20experienced it even myself I've experienced this plenty of times where we get kind of afraid and nervous to talk about Jesus. So let's talk about that. Why? Why are we so afraid to talk about Jesus sometimes? And I think the truth to why we don't share with Jesus in a moment or it's just easier for us to just kind of like live for Jesus, closet it and in secret. I think it's because of a few different things. I think it could be fear of rejection. I think it's obviously I think all of it is rooted in fear. But like those branches that come off the root of fear is rejection. Maybe looking really weird. A fear of being misunderstood. Being called judgmental. Losing relationships right like losing friendships or people in your life. A fear of being labeled intolerant or a fear that someone will ask a question we can't answer. Honestly sometimes I feel that fear is like when people I'm like what if they challenge me and I don't actually know

46:22the answer to that. And Jesus actually addresses this directly. Matthew 1032 through 33 says so everyone who acknowledges me before men I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. And Paul says in Romans 116, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. And so I think one question that we could all ask ourselves is have I renamed my fear for people being respectful? Like have I kind of hidden behind the statement of like I'm just respecting other people but the truth is like you're actually just afraid of maybe some of the things that we just listed right now because I think sometimes the statement of like well I don't want to push my beliefs on anyone actually really means I'm terrified of what they'll think of me. And those obviously are not the same thing. I think another thing too is boldness requires humility because once Christians here be bold it's very easy for that to become self righteousness. We aren't announcing I figured life out and you didn't

47:27we're announcing I needed saving to like that's that's actually the root and the heart of sharing Jesus. That's that's what it should be. It should always be rooted from a place of humility of like I'm not telling you that I'm in any better than you. I'm not saying I figured it all out and you're a big fat loser for not I'm saying hey me too. I needed him too. I'm telling you I'm actually coming from a place of experience. I'm not saying you're dumb. I'm just offering something that I've experienced that's so good because I know exactly what it feels like to be on the others maybe not exactly what it feels like to be in your shoes but I know what it feels like to have a life without Jesus in it. And a beautiful example you know how our heart posture should be when we share Jesus with the world I think is explained in Ephesians 2, 8 through 9 because I believe these verses actually do destroy any kind of spiritual superiority. It says for by grace you have been saved

48:29through faith not a result of works. Okay nothing you did humble yourself. It was nothing you did. For by grace you have been saved through faith not a result of works so that no one may boast. So the gospel gives Christianity absolutely no grounds for arrogance. We aren't supposed to be arrogant and so if you see a Christian acting out in arrogance and self righteousness and high and mighty that's not even biblical. Okay the Bible doesn't tell us to act that way so they are not representing Christianity well and they're definitely not representing Jesus well. We are essentially one beggar telling another beggar that you found bread. That's what sharing the gospel should be. So boldness says like a real boldness says Jesus is the only way humility says and I didn't earn him and by the way wasn't me. Love says that's why I want you to know him too. That's the whole point.

49:32That's the whole posture and I think realistically you guys what boldness actually looks like in just normal life is it doesn't have to look like you on a on a straight corner with a megaphone telling people about Jesus of course like there are people who do that and I'm that's bold but it actually realistically that's not how it always needs to be. I actually think that's not how it's going to be 99% of the time. Boldness can just be you honestly sharing a story just organically share a story about what Jesus just did in your life or what he's done in your life. But you're just telling a story that's being bold. Boldness could also look like praying for someone even when you feel awkward asking. It might also mean explaining the gospel instead of assuming everyone already understands it. It might mean talking about Jesus online when you know that you're going to lose followers. Hey, I had a full time job doing online influencing before I'd even encountered Jesus

50:34like this wasn't always what I was talking about online y'all and so even that was an act of boldness and surrender to the Lord where I said okay. Here we go and I knew that there would be some people who would leave but also sometimes boldness means shutting up and listening. I think that's really important because evangelism isn't waiting for somebody to stop talking so you can preach at them and that's another thing that we have to be so aware of is I think that another way of being bold for the gospel is simply asking people questions. I think Jesus did such a beautiful job at that is he wasn't just waiting for people to stop talking so that he could prove them wrong or he could just immediately start preaching at them. Like he asked a lot of questions and so asking questions can be a form of evangelism understanding what they actually believe and caring about that person's life. It's not even always about the message it's like it's about loving that person as Jesus

51:37as Jesus would in that moment and I think Jesus would ask questions and understand why they believe in what they believe or what they actually believe in and I believe Jesus actually cares about that person's life and he listens and so those are all qualities that we are also supposed to still have even in speaking truth about the gospel. I think being bold is also then speaking truth when the opportunities come instead of just blurting it out like there's a discernment that also comes with all of this as well and I think another really important point to make to all of this too is that when it comes to sharing the gospel and the truth of who Jesus is is like our goals shouldn't be to just always win an argument. I think that if that's our heart posture we've already lost the plot. Even in 1 Corinthians 3 6 through 7 it says I planted a pollos watered but God gave the growth

52:40and I think that like when we really accept that truth of who is actually in control on whether people see the truth of who God is as God's responsibility that actually is incredibly freeing like your job isn't to convert that person in the very moment okay your job is to just be faithful. You don't have to have the perfect answer you don't have to make Christianity sound irresistible and you don't have to win the debate you don't have to make someone believe you plant and then someone else may come along and water it and then God is actually the one that gives the growth. You know I think that that's actually a lot of where Christianity can go wrong too is that people put this pressure on themselves to make Christianity really appealing and I think that it actually

53:40ends up doing more damage than it does productivity because sometimes I think in the process of that we can bend the truth or maybe paint Christianity out to be this life that's just like rainbows and butterflies and it's like Jesus saves your life and all is well again and like if you are a listener of this podcast and you are a seasoned listener and you've been here like you know we all know here that life is not easy breezy beautiful cover girl as soon as you follow Jesus it's just now we have our savior who guides us through it and helps us and gives us the wisdom and comforts us and is faithful and by our side through every step of the way but like no there there is no perfect life but the minute we start painting Christianity to be out you know and I think like the prosperity gospel it's that's just our own man made version of the gospel where we just talk about how God is going to

54:40make our lives easier and he's going to give us every desire of our heart and that you know he only wants good for us and it's like yes God only wants to produce good things in you but sometimes that's not always through comfortable things I actually think that's like he's going to produce good fruit in us when things are the most uncomfortable and painful and it's going to be through tragic things and it can be things that he didn't even cause right it's like the brokenness of this world where there are grief and there's loss and there's pain and there's betrayal and it's there's things that we've done to ourselves and to others and it's in God's mercy and his grace that he takes those things and he actually miraculously somehow brings beauty out of ashes he brings beauty out of things that should have never had anything good come out of it right but yeah it's like we can't we also we cannot act as if it is our soul responsibility to save people it's not we are not the savior we are just the ones that are that are here to tell our stories and to share the truth and to plant the seeds but it's not our job to physically convert somebody like that's on the

55:45Holy Spirit that's on God if he wants to use the seeds that you planted and bring somebody else in that will then kind of water that and bring it to the next step and then he's the one that actually grows it that's God's responsibility like our job is to just be the light to plant the seeds tell people the truth and trust God with the rest I believe that's exactly how I got here today I believe that there were seeds that were planted in me since I was a little girl and there were whispers and there were things that stuck with me throughout my life so that when I did hit rock bottom I knew that I actually had to go to Jesus to receive freedom for whatever reason that was the pull of where I was going and it was because of the seeds and the prayers that were prayed over me like that is the only reason I'm here but it's God who brought me there but it was also through the seeds of people who planted in my life even my own parents and my family seeds were planted being bold for Jesus doesn't mean forcing Jesus on people it means refusing to

56:49hide Jesus from people because you're afraid of what they'll think of you we don't manipulate people into the kingdom we don't argue people into the kingdom we love people by telling them the truth we share what Christ has done in our own lives and we trust God with what happens next truth doesn't become an opinion simply because someone disagrees with it and believing you possess truth doesn't automatically give you permission to treat other human beings without dignity so that is our episode today I always end up in this place after when I'm done recording where I'm like was that like scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes like did it make sense oh I felt like we touched on so it's getting hot in here again guys I gotta go I love you guys first off I'm so proud of y'all Jesus loves you a lot and whether you are an avid listener of the podcast or for whatever reason you tuned in for the first time today I just want you to know that Jesus does love you

57:53and if anyone told you that in your life I hope that it always came from a place of love and it was never from a place of condemnation or judgment but I'm telling you that Jesus is the truth and if you are skeptical on whether that's real I think a pretty effective prayer if you really want to rule out Jesus for the rest of your life just pray this one simple prayer that I'm kind of like double dog daring you right now and say okay God if you are real I need you to prove it to me reveal yourself to me show me say Jesus if you are real that I need you to prove it show me your real in the way that you know I would need convincing and I think that part's gonna be really cool for you to realize because this God that you never have even really given a chance to know actually knows you better than you could have ever imagined and he's gonna do it in a way that's gonna blow your mind because he loves you that much and he knows you that well it's like when Jesus

58:58was at the well this is a story that's in the Bible as well when Jesus was at the well and he was talking to the Samaritan woman and he told her everything she's ever done in her life and she was so taken back she was like wait a minute how do you know everything I've ever done and he's like because I'm the Messiah and she's like wait you're the one we've been waiting for her her mind was blown she encountered Jesus and he knew everything there was to know about her and that is the encounter you will have with Jesus in a way where you're like yes sorry no one else should have known that and what's really cool is he is going to meet you with so much love you won't even know what to do with it it's gonna make you feel like you could explode that's what it means to meet Jesus and so if you really want to rule him out forever pray that prayer and I can tell you you're not gonna rule him out forever no if you genuinely genuinely pray that prayer you are gonna meet Christ himself he's gonna meet you I love you guys have a beautiful

1:00:03weekend I will see you guys next time I'll see you on Wednesday but before we go can we do something really cool today can we show somebody how cool Jesus is hey this is really appropriate considering the topic we talked about today right let's walk more like him talk more like him be more like Jesus today I love y'all I'll see you next time okay bye

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