Latest / Relish: a Christian podcast / What Makes Christianity Different?

Transcript

What Makes Christianity Different? · Relish: a Christian podcast

• 0:00
  Interestingly enough, the Bible says we're created in the image of God.
• 0:03
  So I'm wondering, does God look more like you or more like me?
• 0:06
  That points to something really cool because I think part of who we are uniquely
• 0:10
  human is revealed in the discussion.
• 0:15
  So if you and I don't agree, the divine part is how are we going to take care
• 0:21
  of that disagreement? How are we going to have that conversation?
• 0:26
  Relish. Pleasing or zestful flavor. A quantity just sufficient to flavor,
• 0:31
  to be pleased or gratified by, enjoy.
• 0:34
  We are hoping that what we bring to your table today might add some spice to your life.
• 0:40
  Welcome back to another episode of Relish. This is Don Patterson. I'm Rowan Miller.
• 0:45
  Don, how are you doing today? Oh yeah, we're doing good. Doing good.
• 0:49
  Yeah, it's getting close to summertime.
• 0:52
  Yep, you can tell. Bible school. Bible school is coming. Yep.
• 0:56
  It's going to be a busy place around here. Hopping. Yeah. You might see even
• 1:00
  some strange videos come out, you know. Yeah.
• 1:03
  Yeah, you can. Yeah.
• 1:08
  I remember last year we did a session, a relish session with you and I and Kellen.
• 1:15
  Yeah. In the Sunday school, Bible school class. That was really exciting.
• 1:19
  Yeah, it's that time of year. God bless us. Mm-hmm.
• 1:23
  Oh, yes. Why do I always get, oh, I don't know. I forget that.
• 1:28
  I know it's coming, but I feel ready to just jump right into your question sometimes.
• 1:32
  So maybe we should let you sometimes.
• 1:36
  Tell me about a time when you trusted God to do what was best for you.
• 1:40
  Even if you wondered at the time time with this one yeah yeah i mean college decision definitely,
• 1:49
  was a great example of that um yeah i wasn't that's a good one yeah there's a lot of um,
• 1:58
  a lot of different colleges in the mix for me and one that i wanted to golf
• 2:03
  at but also wanted to actually attend there.
• 2:07
  And this team where I ended up committing to Northwestern in Orange City,
• 2:14
  when I had originally reached out to the coach, he said that he had scholarships
• 2:20
  out already to fill their team for next year.
• 2:24
  So somebody would have to say no for me and I'd just have to wait before there
• 2:30
  would be a spot available for me.
• 2:31
  And so kind of just praying to God where I should go, if I should go somewhere
• 2:39
  else or if I would be able to golf there where I wanted to.
• 2:43
  And he emailed me one day and said that somebody had told him no,
• 2:48
  so there would be a spot available for me.
• 2:50
  So just seeing God like opening closed doors and lead me to a decision was,
• 2:57
  yeah. We were talking about it when we were recording off camera.
• 3:02
  I remember, it just seemed like the Lord opened that door up for you at the
• 3:06
  right time, right place.
• 3:08
  And really a great affirmation that he was with you in the middle of that. Yeah.
• 3:15
  Good. Good.
• 3:17
  All righty. Uh-oh, now I'm ready. Looks like we got some deep philosophical questions here.
• 3:24
  Oh, okay. Yeah, again, from Hillcrest Kids.
• 3:27
  Okay. You Hillcrest Kids, you got them.
• 3:30
  What is a human and what is our purpose?
• 3:35
  Most of the time, I think I'm human. So we are created beings.
• 3:40
  Interestingly enough, the Bible says we're created in the image of God.
• 3:44
  So I'm wondering, does God look more like you or more like me?
• 3:47
  Being in the image doesn't mean like we're a cookie cutter of what God is,
• 3:51
  but it does mean that we're created in a form that our gifts,
• 3:57
  abilities, our abilities to reason,
• 3:59
  our abilities to create reflect the divine, if you will, and what he's able to do.
• 4:06
  And so we then reason more who God is by how he's created us.
• 4:13
  We then are created for a purpose. I think The fact that we go back to Revelation
• 4:19
  And he created us In his image In a specific spot With a specific set of surroundings,
• 4:27
  And he told us to be fruitful and multiply Uh,
• 4:32
  We are there for a purpose, and that purpose is to reflect Him,
• 4:38
  to worship Him, to be a part of what He's doing.
• 4:42
  It's almost as if we're extension of the kingdom.
• 4:46
  We see this more as we go from the Old Testament to the New Testament and realize
• 4:51
  that in the mix of all things, there's going to be a lot of different people.
• 4:54
  But there's going to be a people that are uniquely God's people.
• 4:59
  They're called out by His name and the attributes of the divine that we reflect.
• 5:08
  So, do we reflect God's love in how we care for others like God does?
• 5:17
  Yeah. That's important.
• 5:18
  Do we reflect His values? Do we reflect His grace?
• 5:25
  I think the values piece is a really important part of who we are as humans
• 5:32
  living on this space and reflecting a divine creator's values. That's amazing.
• 5:41
  And we do it differently. Right. And sometimes we argue. Can you imagine that?
• 5:48
  No, never. Not with two brothers. Yeah. No, not two brothers.
• 5:52
  Not only, yeah, I don't. Do brothers argue on values?
• 5:56
  Yes. We're going to watch football. No, we're going to golf.
• 6:00
  We're going to watch football. No, we're going to golf.
• 6:02
  None of that goes on in the Miller house, I'm sure. What we...
• 6:08
  That points to something really cool, because I think part of who we are uniquely
• 6:13
  human is revealed in the discussion.
• 6:17
  So if you and I don't agree, the divine part is how are we going to take care of that disagreement?
• 6:24
  How are we going to have that conversation in ways that values the golden pieces,
• 6:30
  golden nuggets of the conversation?
• 6:32
  Because you bring one's point of view to the conversation. I'll bring another.
• 6:36
  And if I don't get mad at you and knock you off that stool,
• 6:40
  we have an opportunity to be creative and to move beyond mediocrity into something powerful.
• 6:54
  I'm thinking of the conversations that surrounded the creation discussion that
• 7:00
  was held at then Iowa Mennonite School.
• 7:05
  Between theocentric creation, evolution,
• 7:12
  and I was representing the single, the seven-day creation.
• 7:21
  And the conversation, I mean, Dick Yoder Short is a great man.
• 7:26
  I enjoy, and he's got, what, three PhDs?
• 7:29
  I mean, he's smart, really, really smart.
• 7:31
  And yet he didn't treat me like a minuscule individual
• 7:36
  i mean he treated with me with respect i treated him with respect and i thought
• 7:40
  the conversations were quite good i learned a great deal uh but i still held
• 7:47
  to the word yeah yeah and he did too he held to his understanding,
• 7:53
  the discussion then was very valuable All right.
• 7:57
  How is it that it's much easier to just disagree with somebody and say,
• 8:02
  throw them under the bus, than it is to have a good, solid discussion and keep
• 8:08
  the conversation going?
• 8:10
  That's valuable for humans. We are given that ability. Dogs can't.
• 8:15
  Elephants can't. Monkeys don't. But we are given that opportunity that we could
• 8:20
  actually act as human beings, as civil creatures. Imagine that. Yeah. No.
• 8:27
  To actually have civil conversation without throwing each other under the bus.
• 8:32
  Yeah. That would be unique. Yeah. I've enjoyed it when we've had it.
• 8:38
  It doesn't happen very often, but yeah. Yeah.
• 8:42
  But you can, what is the passage in, it's in Genesis how.
• 8:49
  Or maybe it's also a psalm, but how we are given dominion over,
• 8:57
  the rest of the oh psalm 8 and yeah psalm 8 yep,
• 9:03
  Made little lower than the angels. It's quoted in Hebrews as well.
• 9:08
  Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
• 9:11
  You've set the glory above the heavens.
• 9:13
  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars,
• 9:17
  you've made us little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory. Is that the one? Yep.
• 9:23
  Yeah. We're giving glory and honor. Yep.
• 9:28
  I'm impressed. You were thinking scripture. Good deal. I got the scripture.
• 9:31
  You got the reference. I can get the reference. You get the description.
• 9:35
  Teamwork. Yes, it works.
• 9:39
  All righty.
• 9:42
  Which one do we do here? That's also quoted in Hebrews chapter one. Okay. Parts of it.
• 9:49
  Interesting. When he's making the case for Jesus as Lord. Okay.
• 9:55
  Is Christianity different from other religions? If so, how and why?
• 10:01
  Yeah. Christianity is different than other religions in that our founder is not buried.
• 10:08
  There's no tomb. I mean, there is a tomb, but it's empty, and always has been
• 10:12
  except for those three days.
• 10:16
  The idea of Holy Spirit is unique to us in the fact that we believe not only
• 10:24
  is Jesus alive and well in heaven,
• 10:26
  but he has sent his Holy Spirit, and we can encounter the Holy Spirit in the
• 10:30
  here and now on a daily basis.
• 10:33
  The other piece is that while many will call for a divine God,
• 10:38
  They don't talk about that God being interwoven.
• 10:47
  Into our lives in such a way that he desires our best. So many religions have a God that is,
• 10:57
  retributive, is out to get you.
• 11:01
  And unless you do this, this, this, this, God's going to get you.
• 11:04
  And there's some Christians that believe that of God as well.
• 11:08
  But when you read the Bible in entirety,
• 11:11
  you realize that God's heartfelt effort is to bring this people to himself as
• 11:17
  his own people who reflect his values and his name into the society in which
• 11:24
  they're living for the hope that others will understand that he is who he is.
• 11:30
  And you see a lot of this in Jesus' prayer in.
• 11:37
  John 15. It's not only for, he's praying for the disciples, then he prays for
• 11:43
  those who will believe because of the disciples' testimony.
• 11:47
  This is a God who's reaching out.
• 11:51
  And he, I mean, a scripture we go to quite often is John 3.16,
• 11:55
  for God so loved the world, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
• 11:59
  Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
• 12:03
  And then when you go on to 17, you realize he didn't come to judge the world,
• 12:07
  but came to break the bonds of darkness.
• 12:13
  And so the mission of God is much different in Christianity,
• 12:18
  well, than even is understood by the Jews.
• 12:23
  Because they would understand God is a retributive God, and we've got to do this or this and this.
• 12:30
  Grace doesn't fly too far among the Jews, whereas sometimes it flies a little
• 12:36
  too far among Christians.
• 12:38
  And it's by grace we're saved, through faith, not by works, lest anyone should
• 12:42
  boast. It's not a spreadsheet of so many goods and so many bads.
• 12:47
  And so, as long as I come out on the good side, I'm in good shape.
• 12:52
  It's a religion of a relationship with this God through his son, Jesus Christ.
• 12:58
  So it's different. And the fact that we have a growing relationship,
• 13:05
  present here and now relationship with the divine through a relationship with
• 13:10
  Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit right now. Yeah. Live and well.
• 13:16
  Yeah. Not dead in some grave. I did a, my senior capstone for school is a sermon
• 13:21
  that I'm actually giving. Really? Really?
• 13:23
  Did some, some preacher let you do that? Somebody, yeah, let me do that.
• 13:27
  Okay. Gone. While they're gone. Yep.
• 13:30
  I noticed you add to that. While they're gone.
• 13:33
  And part of it, One of the points that I'm kind of making in there is how Christianity
• 13:38
  is meeting us where we are at.
• 13:42
  And Jesus came to our level on the earth as a human being to meet us where we are at.
• 13:51
  Whereas all the other main religions are, you have to be up on their level.
• 13:57
  You have to reach up to them through this.
• 14:00
  Some of them, this cycle of suffering is what they say.
• 14:03
  And a process of divinity moving from one level to another or Aksha or oh yeah,
• 14:13
  you are getting sort of deep there cool yeah so Corbin you did it yeah Corbin
• 14:22
  we didn't do like a other religions too so yeah a little aware of that but neat,
• 14:31
  yeah that's that's yeah good question Excellent.
• 14:35
  Look forward to that sermon. Yeah.
• 14:38
  I think that's next Sunday. Next Sunday? Mm-hmm. 31st. Oh, yeah. Yep. Oh, boy.
• 14:46
  No nervous. No, we're not nervous. Not at all.
• 14:52
  All righty. Last question here. Are the Jews still God's chosen people?
• 14:57
  Oh, wow. I have gotten asked that many times.
• 15:01
  What's interesting is the promise is in there seven times, at least seven times.
• 15:05
  This group of people are called the promised, the chosen ones.
• 15:10
  And it doesn't matter whether you go back to Genesis 17 or you go back into
• 15:13
  the prophets, it still seems like the Old Testament is saying that this group
• 15:20
  of people are still the chosen people.
• 15:24
  So yes, then I have to flip put that question around and say,
• 15:29
  okay, who, who's of that number now?
• 15:35
  Because, so who is authentically a Jew? Who's authentically of that chosen line?
• 15:41
  Because now we're several generations separated.
• 15:46
  Jewish ancestry DNA is really scattered about.
• 15:50
  In fact, even some of our Anabaptist relatives have Jewish background.
• 15:56
  Yeah, it's interesting because Jew is an ethnicity and a religion. Yes.
• 16:01
  Yeah. Yeah. And so which is it that's the promised group? Is it the ethnicity or is it the religion?
• 16:08
  And does the religion that exists today, is it the same one that was promised back then? Right.
• 16:16
  And so you can go at this a lot of different ways. I guess I would affirm the
• 16:21
  promise still stands because I have not seen God, uh.
• 16:28
  Counter himself. And when you get, I think it's Romans chapter seven,
• 16:33
  it talks about the engrafted branches.
• 16:36
  And that's Paul talking about from his authentic experience of being a Jew and
• 16:45
  now being a pastor or preacher to the Gentiles.
• 16:53
  I mean, specifically, he was called to the Gentiles as a Jew and I think it's not there it is,
• 17:07
  I think it might be nine.
• 17:17
  There's this adoption as sons divine glory yeah and so the talking of engrafted
• 17:24
  branches I don't see that right there but that is God's sovereign choice,
• 17:34
  why can't I find my eyeballs are not getting there.
• 17:48
  Anyway, but nine does have a great deal to do with your remnant of Israel.
• 17:54
  Here we go. Sorry, it was chapter 11.
• 17:57
  7-11. And it rhymes, so. I guess.
• 18:00
  And again, I ask, did they stumble so far as beyond recovery?
• 18:04
  Not at all. Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the
• 18:08
  Gentiles to make Israel envious.
• 18:13
  But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means
• 18:18
  riches to the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fulfillment be?
• 18:24
  And then he talks about the engrafted, that we are actually engrafted as Christians
• 18:28
  into that system, that understanding of who God is.
• 18:34
  So, yeah, 11. 7 or 11.
• 18:39
  So, that being said, the promise is still there.
• 18:43
  The question that comes back then is who's
• 18:46
  actually part of that promise today yeah is
• 18:49
  it the religious jew or the
• 18:53
  jew with the dna with the right dna and i don't have a great answer for that
• 19:00
  i i believe god does god knows yeah but don doesn't imagine that god knows and don doesn't because uh.
• 19:12
  It is integral to the fulfillment. You had a question about Revelation in our last episode.
• 19:19
  In the Revelation, there's 144,000 Jews that are part of the culmination of times.
• 19:28
  And those 144,000 Jews come to Christ, or evangelists, if you will,
• 19:32
  Jews, Jewish evangelists of Jesus.
• 19:35
  And that means there has to be some.
• 19:39
  Right So at least those 144,000 are chosen And will live in that prophecy,
• 19:48
  They also become martyrs So that's part of it too I mean, that means they're
• 19:57
  of such a belief in Jesus That they're willing to give their lives for that
• 20:00
  belief Right, right So, yeah,
• 20:04
  Ah, yeah Did we answer the question at all? Nailed it on the head.
• 20:11
  That was gracious to say we nailed it on the head. Yeah. We whacked it on both sides too.
• 20:19
  It might've, might've hit it once and then it kind of bent over.
• 20:23
  You had to straighten it back. Straighten it back up again. Yeah. Okay.
• 20:26
  Like I use a hammer. Yeah. All righty. Thank you guys for joining us.
• 20:31
  Thank you, Don, for answering those
• 20:32
  questions. And thank you everybody at Hillcrest that sent these in. Yes.
• 20:37
  Finally getting to the end here. Are we? Yeah. Okay.
• 20:41
  Yeah, they were good questions. Thank you guys for listening and we'll see you
• 20:45
  next time. Lord willing.
• 20:47
  Thank you for joining us for this podcast. Feel free to become part of this
• 20:51
  ministry by sharing it with others.
• 20:52
  Our goal is to help each other grow deeper in our understanding of who God is
• 20:56
  and is calling to us in our daily lives.
• 20:59
  Thank you again for joining us and may God bless your day.