Latest / Rooted & Real With Keenan / Episode 1: Can You Trust the Bible?
Transcript
- Keenan: Hey y'all. Welcome back to Rooted and Real. My name is Keenan, and I'm really passionate about mental health. And I'm really glad you're here. So before we jump in, ⁓ Not your therapist. If you're thinking about hurting yourself hurting someone else, please reach out to your doctor, near the hospital. This podcast is nowhere near a substitute for mental health treatment. My goal with this is to make mental health more normal, less stigmatized, and to stay spiritually grounded. today, we're starting with something big. This is episode one of what I'm calling the Bible doctrine project. The goal is simple, but not small. We're going to walk through major Christian beliefs and connect them to real life: anxiety, shame, marriage, parenting, burnout, identity. Emotional regulation, relationships, and spiritual growth. the first question we have to ask ourselves is this: Can you really trust the Bible? Now I want to be clear. ⁓ is not going to be a dry lecture. I'm not interested in doing ⁓ another seminary class with a microphone. There's a place for that, ⁓ it's not here on root and reel with me. So here's what we're asking: What does this have to do with your life on Monday morning? What does this have to do with the way you think when you're anxious? The way you treat your spouse when you feel hurt, the way you parent when you're exhausted, way you see yourself when shame gets loud. Cause here's the truth: everybody builds their life on something. The question is not whether you have a foundation. The question is whether the foundation can hold weight. ⁓ So let's take a look at a deeper question. When people hear the question, can you trust the Bible? They often think we're only talking about the manuscripts, archaeology, translations, and history. Don't get me wrong, those things matter, but we're gonna but we're going to touch them. But there's a deeper question underneath. The deeper question is this gets the final say in your life? When anxiety tells you you're not safe, what gets the final say? When shame says you're worthless, what gets the final say? When lust says need this, what gets the final say? When anger says you have the right to destroy them with your words, they deserve it. What gets the final say? And culture says you are you feel. Just go with it. What gets the final say? When your past says this is who you always will be and you will never change. What gets the final say? This is what matters. This is not about winning arguments online. This is about emotional stability, spiritual formation, identity, and wisdom. In counseling, I see this constantly. People are not always struggling because life is hard. Life is hard, yes. But people also struggle because they do not have a stable framework for interpreting what is happening inside of them and around them. They have feelings, but they do not know how to evaluate them. They have thoughts, but they assume every thought is true. They have trauma responses, but they treat those responses like prophecies. They have core beliefs, they do not realize those beliefs are running the show. This is where the Christian life and good counseling can have a really honest conversation. So ⁓ let's take a look at what CBT teaches about truth. One of the more basic ideas in cognitive behavioral therapy is that thoughts, emotions, and And behaviors are all connected. What you think affects how you feel. What you feel affects what you do. What you do then reinforces what you think. That doesn't mean feelings are fake. Feelings are real. Anxiety is real. Grief is real. Anger is real. Shame feels real. But there's a difference between a feeling being real and a feeling being true. That is a sentence worth. Slowing down for. Let's take a look. A feeling can be real without being accurate. You can feel unsafe when you're physically safe. You can feel rejected when someone is just tired. You can feel like a failure after one mistake. You can feel unloved while being deeply loved. You can feel distant from God while God has not moved. In CBT, we often help people identify cognitive distortions. These are patterns of thinking that just twist reality. They're not random. They usually make sense when we understand someone's story, their stress level, temperament, family background, and pain. ⁓ when they make sense, they still need to be challenged. So here are a few common ones emotional reasoning, cast. Catastrophizing, mind reading, fortune telling, crystal ball, all or nothing thinking, disqualifying the positive, and personalization. Emotional reasoning says, I feel it, so it must be true. Catastrophizing says if something goes wrong, it'll be unbearable. Mind reading says, I know what they think of me, even though I have not asked. telling says ⁓ I already know the future and it is bad. or nothing thinking says, if it is not perfect, it is worthless. Now, here's where this connects to scripture. If my mind can distort reality, then I need a truth outside of my own mind. If my emotions can be sincere but inaccurate, then I need something more stable than my emotional state. If my past can shape my assumptions, then I need A voice that is not trapped inside my past. That does not mean I ignore my emotions. I don't push them down. I don't ignore them. It means I bring them into the light and I listen to them. I honor them. I do not let them become Lord. But that is where the Bible matters. Everyone an authority. A lot of people say, I do not want ⁓ telling me what to believe. And I get it, especially if you've been controlled, manipulated, or spiritually abused or talked down to. ⁓ wants to be handled. Nobody wants to be shamed into belief. But here is the problem ⁓ truly is authority free. Everyone has some source of truth. Everyone has something they trust when making decisions. Everyone has something that tells them who they are, what matters, what is good, what is evil, what is right, what is wrong, what is worth pursuing, and what makes life meaningful. For some people, authority is their emotions. For some, it's success. For ⁓ it's expectations. For some, It's political ideology for some, it's social media, for some, it is trauma, for some, it is the approval of others, for some, it is personal autonomy. I decide what is true for me, but all those authorities are just unstable. Feelings change, success. Fades, family systems can be unhealthy, politics can become idolatrous, social media rewards outrage. Trauma is a real wound. It is a terrible compass. Approval is exhausting. And self-rule sounds freeing until you realize you are now responsible for inventing meaning, identity, morality, purpose, and hope all by yourself. So when Christianity says scripture is authoritative, it is not introducing the idea of authority into a neutral world. It is challenging all the other authorities that are already shaping us. So Wayne Gruden, he wrote a book called The Bible Doctrine. the Bible doctrine begins with the doctrine of scripture because systematic theology depends on whether God has spoken and whether his word can be trusted. If scripture has no authority, then Christ, then Christian belief becomes personal preference. But if scripture is God's word, then it corrects us, comforts us, teaches us, and inform us. So what does the Bible claim about itself? The Bible does not present itself as merely inspirational literature. It is not just a collection religious reflections from sincere people. It claims to be God's word. Written through human authors. So we look at Second Timothy three sixteen through seventeen. It's one of the key passages. It teaches that scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, correction, and training. Hebrews 4 12 says the word of God is living and active. And if we look at Psalm 119, repeatedly presents God's word as light, guidance, wisdom, comfort, and trust. Now, I want to be careful here. Saying the Bible claims authority does not automatically prove the Bible is true. A claim must be examined, it must be looked at, it must be investigated, but it does tell us what kind of book we're dealing with. We cannot reduce the Bible to a motivational quote book and still treat it honestly. The Bible confronts us. It does not only affirm us, it comforts us. But it also corrects and encourages, but it also exposes. It gives hope, but it also calls for repentance. And honestly, is part of what makes it helpful. If I only listen to the voices that tell me what I want to hear, I will not grow. If I only read to find verses that validate my current mood, I'll probably misuse it. If I come to the Bible only looking for comfort, I may miss. The correction. If I only come looking for correction, I may miss grace. healthy relationship with Scripture allows the Bible to do what Scripture does: reveal God, reveal truth, reveal our hearts, reveal Christ, and train us for faithful living. Can Bible be trusted historically? ⁓ That's to look at. Let's talk about evidence just for a little bit. Again, this is not a full apologetics course, but it is important to say this clearly: Christian faith is not asking you to take a blind leap into the dark. The Bible comes to us through real history, real manuscripts, real communities, real languages, and real transmission. There are serious scholars who spend their lives studying how the biblical text Was copied, preserved, translated, and interpreted. For example, the Dead Sea scrolls include around two hundred copies of books of the Hebrew Bible and are among the earliest evidence for the biblical texts. ⁓ Synticitis, I tried that practice that earlier. Handwritten ⁓ sixteen hundred years ago, contains the Christian Bible in Greek and includes the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Now does does that answer question? No. Does it remove every textual issue? No. Does it mean there are no hard passages? No. Does the does that mean the Bible did not drop out of nowhere in a suspicious modern package? It has a deep historical footprint. Here is how I would say to someone who's anxious about this. You do not need exhaustive certainty in order to have a reasonable trust. That matters because anxiety often demands a level of certainty life cannot provide. Anxiety says if you cannot answer every question, you cannot trust anything. That, my friends, is what we call all or nothing thinking. Healthy faith says this I can. Ask honest questions. Examine evidence, evidence, admit complexity, and still have grounded confidence. is very different from pretending questions do not exist. Some of you listening to this have real questions. Maybe you grew up in a church and were told, do not question it. Don't ask anything. That may have made your doubts worse. Some of you were hurt by Christians who use the Bible poorly, and now the Bible itself feels unsafe. Some of you have heard social media claims that the Bible was changed, corrupted, or invented for control. So here's my encouragement do not let TikTok level arguments destroy adult level faith. And do not shallow Christian answers from you going deeper into study. Bring your questions into the light. Always, always, always ask questions. So, you know, the Bible and mental health. Let's bring this home. Let's land this plane. What does trusting the Bible have to do with mental health? It does not mean Christians will never struggle with anxiety. It does not mean scripture replaces counseling skills, medication when appropriate, wise community. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, or trauma-informed care. Please listen to me carefully. Do not use the Bible to shame people who are struggling. That is not spiritually mature. But scripture does give us a framework for reality, framework that deeply affects mental health. If says you are worse, you are worst moment. Scripture says there's grace, repentance, forgiveness, and a new life. If anxiety says you are alone, says God is near. If says ⁓ you earn your worth, ⁓ scripture human value begins with beginning with being made in the image of God. ⁓ And Christian beings united in Christ, if resentment says do you have to punish them? In your heart forever. Scripture calls us towards forgiveness with wisdom and boundaries. If desire says nothing will ever change, if despair says nothing will ever change, Scripture gives hope beyond circumstances. Again, we're not using verses as band-aids, we're talking about a whole world view, a foundation, a way of seeing God, self, others, suffering, sin, redemption. And the future. A lot of emotional instability comes when the loudest voice becomes trusted voice. But the loudest voice is not always the wisest. Anxiety loud. ⁓ Shame loud. Anger is loud. Lust is loud. Fear is loud. The Bible may not always feel loud, but it is steady. And steadiness is what many of us need. We need a rock. We need to be building ⁓ the rock. ⁓ if we look at the Sermon on the Mound, Jesus ends with an image that is painfully ⁓ Two houses, two builders, two foundations, ⁓ storm. One is built on a rock, one house built on sand. The storm comes to both. That's important. Jesus does not say the person who listens to him avoids the storm. He says the person who hears his words and does them has a foundation that can withstand storms. is rooted and that is real. ⁓ rooted ⁓ not mean your life ⁓ easy. It means your foundation is deeper than the storm. Being real does not mean you follow every emotion, wherever leads. It means are Honest about what you feel while still submitting your life to what is true. here's a question for you. What are you building on? Sand or rock? if your life is built on feelings, what happens when your feelings shift? When your life is built on success, ⁓ what happens when you fail? ⁓ When your life is built on approval, what when someone criticizes you? Your life is built on your own understanding. What happens when you do not understand? Scripture invites us to build something stronger. Not because we become less human, but because we become more grounded humans. So here's a common objection. been hurt objection. I've been hurt by people who used the Bible. I think it's important to pause here for the person who feels tense, even hearing this topic. You may not be rejecting the Bible because you are rebellious. You may be guarded because someone used the Bible as a weapon. That matters. harm is real. ⁓ can quote true verses in cruel ways. They can use scripture to control, minimize, shame, silence, avoid accountability. That is not faithfulness, that is misuse. That is irresponsible. But misuse does not erase proper use. A scalpel can heal in the hand of a surgeon. And harm in the hands of an abuser. The problem is not that truth exists. The problem is truth being detached from love, humility, wisdom, and Christ-like character. So if that is you, I'm not asking you to pretend nothing happened. asking you to not let someone, some humans, misuse of scripture permanently cut you off from God who speaks through scripture. Part of healing. May involve learning to read the Bible again without the voice of the person who hurt you narrating it in your head. That'll take some time, that'll take some therapy, that'll take some patience, that takes a safe community, that takes a safe friend, it takes ⁓ So here's another objection. The Bible has difficult passages, ⁓ that's an honest objection. The Bible has difficult passages. Yes, it does. honest Christian should admit that. There are passages that passages that require historical context, literally context, humility, careful interpretation, who is the author writing to, what audience, like things to just look at. But difficulty is not the same thing as contradiction. ⁓ complexity is not the same thing as unreliability. Marriage is complex, parenting is complex, trauma is complex, the human brain is the most complex thing in existence. We do not reject something simply because it requires careful thought. mistake people make is assuming that if the Bible is from God, every sentence should be immediately obvious to the modern reader with no context. But that is not how communication works. God gave scripture through real human authors in real cultures using genres like narrative, poetry, prophecy, wisdom, gospel, epistle, and apocalyptic scripture, literature. So part of trusting the Bible is learning how to read it well, not ripping verses out of context, not using it as a fortune cookie, not flattening every genre, not making it say whatever we want. A mature Christian does not say that. There are no hard passages. A mature Christian would say there are hard passages and I will approach them with humility, patience, and serious study. And I will ask questions. how does scripture form emotional resilience? Emotional resilience is not pretending you're fine. It is the capacity to remain grounded, flexible, and faithful under pressure. Scripture forms that kind of resilience because it gives us categories for suffering. The Bible tells us life is meaningful but broken. Humans are dignified but sinful. God is sovereign, but suffering is real. Hope is future, but is also changes the present. We are responsible, but we are not ultimate. We are weak, but we are not abandoned. That framework matters. Without it, suffering can become identity. Anxiety can become prophecy. Pain can become proof that God is absent. Failure can become final. gives us a bigger story, a more beautiful story. It does not deny pain. It locates pain inside the story of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. And that is not a cliche. That is a worldview enough to hold grief and hope at the same time. So what does this mean for men? What does this mean for fathers? As talking about this, I want to make sure to talk to the men and the fathers for a minute. Many men were never taught how to process emotion. ⁓ In they were taught to just put it down, push it down. They were taught to reform, provide, protect, push, push through, and keep moving. Some of that can look strong on the outside while becoming emotionally disconnected on the inside. If your only authority is pressure, you will eventually burn out. If your only authority is performance, you will never rest. If your only authority is control, you will become harsh when life does not cooperate. Scripture tells men something stronger than image management. It calls men to truth, humility, repentance, courage, gentleness, responsibility, and a dependence on God. A father rooted in scripture does not become passive. He becomes steadier. He becomes, can say, I was wrong. He can apologize. He can lead without dominating. He can protect without controlling. ⁓ can work hard without worshiping. He can work. He can teach his children that truth is not whatever we feel in the moment. That kind of father is desperately needed in the world right now. We need strong men. And we need to ask ourselves what does this mean for couples? For couples, this topic matters because conflict often becomes a battle of authorities. My hurt says this, your defensiveness says that. My family background says this. My family background says this is normal. Your family background says this is disrespectful. Anxiety says pull away. Anger says attack. Shame says hide. When couples do not have shared foundation. They often end up negotiating reality from two nervous systems in survival. Scripture does not solve conflict automatically. Couples still need communication skills, repair attempts, boundaries, and emotional regulation. But scripture gives us a moral and spiritual framework. Tell the truth, be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, forgive as forgiven people. Do not repay evil for evil. Pursue peace as far as it depends on you. And speak the truth in love. That is not simplistic. That is deeply practical. The question is whether we will let scripture interpret our favorite reactions. before we close out, let me give you one more grounding practice. When notice anxiety, when you notice shame, and your anger is rising, pause and ask yourself three questions. What story my mind telling right now? What emotion is making that story feel true? And third, what truth from Scripture needs to speak here? This is not about slapping a verse on pain. It is about slowing down long enough to separate feelings from facts, reaction from wisdom, and fear from faithfulness. Which is something that we talk about in DBT or dialectic behavioral therapy, but that's another conversation. You may need to repeat that process every day for a long time, for a while. And that's not failure, that is just formation. That is how you begin to develop good habits. Let me give you a practical exercise for this week. I want you to do a truth. Audit. Take one stressful situation, not 10, not 20, not five, just one. Write down the situation in one sentence, in your own words. Then write and ask yourself this: what am I feeling? write down what thoughts ⁓ coming with that feeling. Then write, what is the loudest belief underneath those thoughts? Then ask yourself, Is this belief true? Partially true or distorted? Then ask, what does scripture say that speaks to this belief? Then ask, what is one wise action I can take today? Here's example. Situation. I made mistake at work. Feelings, shame, anxiety, and embarrassment. Thought. I'm going to be exposed as incompetent. Underlying belief. My worth depends on flawless performance. Distortion. or nothing thinking and catastrophizing. Scripture ⁓ truth. My value is not created by performance. I accountable for my actions, but I am not defined by one mistake. Wise action. Own the mistake. Repair what I can. And refuse to spiral into identity level shame. That is what it looks like to bring counseling, tools, and biblical truth together in a grounded way. So here's another challenge, the listener challenge. And here it is. This week, I want you to read Matthew seven, twenty-four through twenty-seven. Read it slowly. Then ask yourself, what foundation am I actually building on right now? Not what foundation do I claim, what foundation do my reactions reveal? I'm anxious, what do I trust? When I'm hurt, ⁓ do I obey? When ashamed, what voice do I believe? When I'm what habits take over? Then choose one practice for the next seven days. Spend ten minutes a day in scripture reading slowly. Write down one truth, name one distorted thought, choose one faithful action. That is how a rooted life is built, not through hype, but through repeated obedience, honesty, reflection, and steady truth. Can you trust the Bible? believe the answer is. An absolute yes. Not because every question is easy, not because Christians have always represented it well, not because faith removes complexity, but because scripture gives us trustworthy foundation for knowing God, seeing ourselves clearly, resisting lies, receiving grace, and building a life that can stand when the storms. This has been Rooted and Real. I'm Keenan. Thank you so much for spending time with me. Stay rooted, stay real, and keep building your life on what is true. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.