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AUTHENTIC with Shawn Boonstra - Impatient · Adventist Podcast Network

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Speaker 1: Authentic is sponsored in whol by Voice of Prophecy.
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Speaker 2: You've probably noticed that you and I are living in
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Speaker 2: an increasingly impatient world. Even though we are easily the
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Speaker 2: most affluent generation in the history of the world. Somehow
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Speaker 2: we still seem to think we deserve more, and sometimes
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Speaker 2: that attitude can even show up in church.
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Speaker 3: Welcome to Authentic, Sean Boonster explores real existential questions about
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Speaker 3: the meaning of your life and how you can live
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Speaker 3: a genuine human existence. Listen every week right here on
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Speaker 3: this station or on your favorite podcatcher. Here' Sean with
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Speaker 3: this week's episode of Authentic.
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Speaker 2: I don't know if you're the same vintage that I am,
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Speaker 2: but when I was a kid, anything you ordered would
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Speaker 2: take anywhere from four to twelve weeks to deliver. When
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Speaker 2: it was time for school clothes, my mother would order
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Speaker 2: from the Seers catalog early in the summer, and then
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Speaker 2: we would drive into town when the packages arrived many
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Speaker 2: weeks later, picking them up at a service counter in
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Speaker 2: a tiny storefront on Main Street. We didn't actually have
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Speaker 2: a real Seers store, just a male counter. Occasionally, when
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Speaker 2: my grandparents came to town, they would buy my brothers
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Speaker 2: and I a comic book, and some of you will
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Speaker 2: remember that in the back of a comic book there
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Speaker 2: were ads for wild and wonderful things. You could order
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Speaker 2: sea monkeys, which were nothing but Brian shrimp but kind
1:23
Speaker 2: of looked like mermaids. If you used your imagination, you
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Speaker 2: could stop being a ninety pound weekly by ordering exercises
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Speaker 2: from Charles Atlas for just ten cents, but again, it
1:34
Speaker 2: took weeks to get what you ordered. Living in Canada,
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Speaker 2: we also knew that when new technologies suddenly became available
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Speaker 2: in the United States, it would probably take another two
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Speaker 2: to three years before we had it. If there was
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Speaker 2: a new fast food restaurant in the Lower forty eight,
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Speaker 2: it could be ten years before we saw it. I mean,
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Speaker 2: I was a teenager the first time I ever tasted McDonald's,
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Speaker 2: and I'm not that old. Nobody nobody had answering machines
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Speaker 2: or voicemail. If you called somebody and they weren't home,
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Speaker 2: the phone just rang and rang and rang and rang
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Speaker 2: until you hung up, and then you'd have to just
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Speaker 2: try again some other day. If there was something you
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Speaker 2: wanted to watch, like a movie or a documentary, you
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Speaker 2: had to wait for one of your local TV stations
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Speaker 2: to show it, and where I lived we only had
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Speaker 2: two stations. Then later on, when VHS made its debut
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Speaker 2: in the eighties, you could go downtown, rent one of
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Speaker 2: those big bulky top loading machines and a couple of
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Speaker 2: movies and there would only be a few movies to
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Speaker 2: choose from. There was no streaming, there was no on
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Speaker 2: demand viewing. You had to wait. When you wanted to
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Speaker 2: communicate with someone, you actually pulled out a sheet of paper,
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Speaker 2: you wrote them a letter, you drove to the post
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Speaker 2: office to mail it, and you were willing to wait
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Speaker 2: a couple of months to get an answer. I mean,
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Speaker 2: forget about email, forget about texting, forget about social media.
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Speaker 2: Everything everything happened the slow way, and I have to say,
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Speaker 2: in a lot of ways, it was a better life.
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Speaker 2: I mean, I love technology, but I'm not convinced that
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Speaker 2: having to wait for stuff is bad because in some ways,
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Speaker 2: I think our current technology has made slaves.
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Speaker 3: Out of us.
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Speaker 2: I mean, think about it. It's nearly impossible now to
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Speaker 2: just turn the world off. Your smartphone is always in
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Speaker 2: your pocket or always in your car, and it keeps
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Speaker 2: you on a leash. Twenty four to seven three hundred
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Speaker 2: and sixty five days a year, and that has changed
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Speaker 2: the way that most of us behave. We've become so
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Speaker 2: used to getting what we want right now that it
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Speaker 2: actually irritates us when it doesn't happen. I mean, think
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Speaker 2: about this. You order a package from Amazon and they
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Speaker 2: promise two days shipping, but it gets hung up somewhere
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Speaker 2: and takes five days. How do you feel. Most of
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Speaker 2: us feel irritated, and some people even demand some kind
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Speaker 2: of satisfaction. You send someone a text message and they
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Speaker 2: don't respond for three days, and we think that's really rude.
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Speaker 2: Someone thinks the service in a restaurant is a little
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Speaker 2: bit too slow, even when it's a real restaurant with
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Speaker 2: a real cook. The food comes out just a little
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Speaker 2: bit slowly because they actually had to make it. So
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Speaker 2: people run to Yelp and they leave a bad review.
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Speaker 2: You're playing delayed by twenty minutes, and you find yourself
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Speaker 2: feeling a little put out, even if you don't have
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Speaker 2: to make a connection, and you very quickly forget that
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Speaker 2: Once upon a time, it took a week or more
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Speaker 2: to drive across the country, or half a year before
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Speaker 2: we had cars, and in fairly recent history, there were
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Speaker 2: only a handful of people who could actually afford to fly.
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Speaker 2: The world of the twenty first century is certainly more convenient,
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Speaker 2: but I'm not convinced it's made our lives more enjoyable.
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Speaker 2: If anything, it's been feeding the natural inclination we have
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Speaker 2: for entitlement. I mean, it takes so little now to
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Speaker 2: make us feel put out that people have started mocking
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Speaker 2: these things as first world problems, And in some ways
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Speaker 2: I find that just a little bit concerning, not alarming,
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Speaker 2: but concerning. Let me see if I can unpack what
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Speaker 2: I'm thinking about. When COVID finally made it to the
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Speaker 2: West at the beginning of twenty twenty, we suddenly experienced
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Speaker 2: some shortages in our grocery stores. One of the weirdest
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Speaker 2: developments was the sudden run on toilet paper, which doesn't
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Speaker 2: seem to have a lot to do with COVID, but hey,
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Speaker 2: it is what it is. And of course, as soon
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Speaker 2: as you realize there's no toilet paper in the store,
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Speaker 2: you kind of panic and you begin to hoard the stuff.
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Speaker 2: I mean, it's toilet paper, you got to have it.
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Speaker 3: Then.
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Speaker 2: I remember there were days when I actually went into
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Speaker 2: the Safeway right next to the studio here and there
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Speaker 2: was no produce, and I mean no produce. I asked
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Speaker 2: the produce manager what they had, and the only thing
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Speaker 2: they had left was a single bag of red onions.
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Speaker 3: That's it.
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Speaker 2: So, of course, just like you, I found that a
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Speaker 2: little concerning when would I be able to buy vegetables again?
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Speaker 2: But then I reminded myself that just in time, supply
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Speaker 2: chains and immediate fulfillment are a relatively new phenomenon, and
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Speaker 2: the slightest disruptions can make it seem to some of
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Speaker 2: us like the apocalypse has begun. We forget that much
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Speaker 2: of the world lives with shortages and delays most of
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Speaker 2: the time, and we've just become so prosperous that we're
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Speaker 2: not used to waiting anymore. I mean, here's a good example.
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Speaker 2: I've worked in a lot of countries where the power
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Speaker 2: goes out pretty much every day, and sometimes for hours
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Speaker 2: and hours at a time. I've stayed in places where
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Speaker 2: they ration the hot water to one hour a day
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Speaker 2: because well, they can't afford to heat it any more
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Speaker 2: than that. So if you miss your early morning shower,
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Speaker 2: you are out of luck. I worked in one place
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Speaker 2: where a group of students was preparing to do missionary work,
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Speaker 2: and I offered to buy them ice cream. They would
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Speaker 2: just drive me into town to the ice cream parlor.
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Speaker 2: And I know they wanted ice cream, but they seemed
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Speaker 2: really hesitant to take me up on the offer. And
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Speaker 2: the reason they were hesitant was because they couldn't afford
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Speaker 2: the gas for a ten minute drive. Now, if that
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Speaker 2: was happening here in the West, we'd probably lose our
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Speaker 2: minds and demand our rights. But I do have to
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Speaker 2: tell you those people had so much less than we do,
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Speaker 2: and they weren't any less happy. In some ways, they
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Speaker 2: seemed happier than us. It's almost as if the instant
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Speaker 2: gratification of every desire makes us feel less and less
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Speaker 2: and less fulfilled. It's the paradox of living in the
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Speaker 2: wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We have
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Speaker 2: access to more things, more services than any other group
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Speaker 2: of people who have ever lived in history, and yet
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Speaker 2: somehow we think life is worse. All right, I've got
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Speaker 2: to take a really quick break now, so don't lose
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Speaker 2: your patience. I will be right back after a short
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Speaker 2: wait with a potential solution.
8:08
Speaker 4: Life can throw a lot at us. Sometimes we don't
8:11
Speaker 4: have all the answers. But that's where the Bible comes in.
8:15
Speaker 4: It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. Here at
8:19
Speaker 4: the Voice of Prophecy, we've created the Discover Bible Guides
8:22
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8:27
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8:32
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8:37
Speaker 3: This is authentic with Sean Boonstra and the Voice of Prophecy.
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Speaker 2: You know, before the pandemic pretty much shut everything down.
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Speaker 2: I used to spend anywhere from one hundred to two
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Speaker 2: hundred days a year on the road. After a while,
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Speaker 2: some of the airlines started to treat me pretty well.
8:53
Speaker 2: And because this is a donor funded ministry, I'm very
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Speaker 2: very careful with money, and I always buy the cheapest
9:00
Speaker 2: coach seat I can find, even if it's a fifteen
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Speaker 2: hour flight to the other side of the world. But
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Speaker 2: after a while the airline started giving me the occasional
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Speaker 2: upgrade as a reward for my loyalty. Well, I'll be
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Speaker 2: the first to admit when they gave me a first
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Speaker 2: class seat for free. That was a pretty happy day.
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Speaker 2: I mean, there's no question it really is nicer at
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Speaker 2: the front of the plane. You get to board first
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Speaker 2: there's lots of room for your bag, they bring you
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Speaker 2: something to eat, the seats are far more comfortable, and well,
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Speaker 2: there's just no comparing coach with first class. But then
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Speaker 2: I noticed something interesting. After I got the free upgrade
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Speaker 2: a few times, I kind of started to expect it.
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Speaker 2: I mean, intellectually, I knew I had no right to
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Speaker 2: be at the front of the plane. But the first
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Speaker 2: time I didn't get the upgrade and I had to
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Speaker 2: wait and line to board and I had to go
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Speaker 2: to the back of the plane, I'll admit it, I
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Speaker 2: felt just a little bit put out. As I was
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Speaker 2: walking through first class on my way to my rightful seat,
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Speaker 2: I found myself looking at all these privileged people at
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Speaker 2: the front of the plane, thinking I used to be
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Speaker 2: one of you, you know, so imagine that a few
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Speaker 2: nice gifts from an airline, and suddenly I feel like
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Speaker 2: I'm entitled to it. And I don't want to exaggerate
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Speaker 2: my disappointment because it really wasn't that big of a deal.
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Speaker 2: I don't really feel like I deserve to be at
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Speaker 2: the front of the plane. But still I couldn't help
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Speaker 2: but notice just how little it takes to make us
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Speaker 2: feel like the world owes us something. And most of
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Speaker 2: us are so used to the convenience of living here
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Speaker 2: in the West that when the slightest inconvenience happens, we
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Speaker 2: feel that somehow our rights are being trampled. And honestly,
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Speaker 2: our threshold for hardship is probably the lowest of any
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Speaker 2: generation in the history of the world. I sometimes imagine
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Speaker 2: that maybe only a recently deposed Roman emperor who lost
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Speaker 2: all his money and all his servants whatever come close
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Speaker 2: to feeling is violated, as we do when things don't
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Speaker 2: go our way. Now, this is going to come as
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Speaker 2: a surprise to a lot of modern Christians, because here
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Speaker 2: in the West we've become accustomed to demanding our rights.
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Speaker 2: I can't even begin to tell you how many people
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Speaker 2: have reached out to me over the last few years
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Speaker 2: to express their outrage that they've been inconvenienced by something
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Speaker 2: or other and they feel their rights have been violated.
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Speaker 2: And it surprises a lot of Christians to discover that traditionally,
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Speaker 2: over the last two thousand years, Christians have not invested
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Speaker 2: much energy into asserting our rights. That's really a recent thing,
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Speaker 2: and I'm not convinced it's in harmony with the teachings
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Speaker 2: of Christ. I mean, travel back to the late first
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Speaker 2: century and watch the way the Roman Empire actively persecuted Christians.
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Speaker 2: You'd be hard pressed to find notable Christian figures protesting
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Speaker 2: with placards out in the streets. These were people who
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Speaker 2: were literally being thrown to the lions, and they responded
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Speaker 2: was to quietly persist in sharing their faith. That was
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Speaker 2: their protest, a stubborn insistence on doing the work that
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Speaker 2: Jesus gave them to do. Protesting, frankly, would have made
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Speaker 2: matters worse, especially when Christianity was essentially illegal. And by contrast,
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Speaker 2: you and I are living under the protection of a
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Speaker 2: very important bill of rights, and I'm not always convinced
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Speaker 2: that we need to just roll over and take it
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Speaker 2: when bad things happen. I mean, sometimes there are good
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Speaker 2: reasons to claim your rights. But still, it's the attitude.
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Speaker 2: I want to think about these humble early Christians way
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Speaker 2: back when just kept about their work, and maybe that
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Speaker 2: has something to do with the fact that their founder
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Speaker 2: operated the same way Jesus was falsely accused, and he
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Speaker 2: refused to answer the charges in court. He was willing
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Speaker 2: to have every last right violated in order to save us,
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Speaker 2: And when religiously approached him with the question of Roman oppression,
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Speaker 2: he gave them a very surprising answer. Let me show
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Speaker 2: you this from Matthew chapter twenty two, where it says,
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Speaker 2: then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle
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Speaker 2: him in his talk, and they sent to him their disciples,
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Speaker 2: with the Herodians saying, teacher, we know that you are
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Speaker 2: true and teach the way of God in truth. Nor
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Speaker 2: do you care about anyone, for you do not regard
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Speaker 2: the person of men. Now here's the strange thing about
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Speaker 2: this story. On most days, the Pharisees and the Herodians
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Speaker 2: were completely at odds with each other. The Pharisees were
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Speaker 2: staunch nationalists who longed for the day when every foreign
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Speaker 2: influence would just be banished from the country, and the
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Speaker 2: Herodians were supporters of King Herod, who was a little
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Speaker 2: bit of a Hellenist, a man who loved Greek culture.
13:53
Speaker 2: The Herodians favored collaborating with outside cultures, and so the
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Speaker 2: Pharisees pretty much hated the Herodians, but there was one
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Speaker 2: thing they could all agree on. All of them hated Jesus.
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Speaker 2: So in this story, which takes place shortly before the crucifixion,
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Speaker 2: they lay a trap for Jesus, hoping to find something
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Speaker 2: they can hang him with. Here it comes now, starting
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Speaker 2: in verse seventeen. It says, tell Us, therefore, what do
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Speaker 2: you think is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar
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Speaker 2: or not? So here's the big question. Was it possible
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Speaker 2: for a good jew to pay taxes to an oppressive
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Speaker 2: Roman government. The Pharisees, of course, were opposed to it
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Speaker 2: because they were nationalists. Giving your money to the Romans
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Speaker 2: meant being disloyal to your faith. But the Herodians disagreed.
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Speaker 2: They didn't mind paying taxes. And of course both groups
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Speaker 2: knew that Jesus couldn't possibly come up with a good
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Speaker 2: answer that would make everybody happy, so they used it
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Speaker 2: as a trap. It continues now in verse eighteen. But
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Speaker 2: Jesus pursue their wickedness. In other words, he knew full
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Speaker 2: well what they were doing and said, why do you
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Speaker 2: test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money. So
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Speaker 2: they brought him a denarius that was about a working
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Speaker 2: man's day's wages. And he said to them, whose image
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Speaker 2: and inscription is this? They said to him Caesar's. And
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Speaker 2: he said to them, render therefore to Caesar the thing
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Speaker 2: this are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.
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Speaker 2: When they had heard these words, they marveled and left
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Speaker 2: him and went their way. Now here's the important lesson
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Speaker 2: for us. There's no question that living under the Romans
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Speaker 2: was no fun. People really were being persecuted, and it
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Speaker 2: was humiliating for the chosen people of God to live
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Speaker 2: under the thumb of a pagan oppressor. I get the
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Speaker 2: sense that many Christians today, particularly here in America, would
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Speaker 2: be tempted to defy the Roman government and not pay
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Speaker 2: the tax. And to be honest, I could probably think
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Speaker 2: of a hundred really good reasons to join them and
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Speaker 2: not pay it. But that's not what Jesus taught. He
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Speaker 2: simply took the coin and noticed it was Roman currency
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Speaker 2: and said, look, this is Roman money. Go ahead and
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Speaker 2: give it to them, and still keep your obligation to God.
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Speaker 2: In other words, in the world of Christianity, it will
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Speaker 2: always be more important to be faithful than to defend
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Speaker 2: yourself and your personal rights. These people were living under
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Speaker 2: a Roman government, frankly enjoying the benefits of Roman civilization
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Speaker 2: which were not inconsiderable. And so Jesus told them, you
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Speaker 2: pay what is due unless a civic obligation directly contradicts
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Speaker 2: your duty to God. Jesus said, you ought to do it.
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Speaker 2: So here we are living under a secular government, and
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Speaker 2: most of the time we're quite happy to enjoy the benefits. Honestly,
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Speaker 2: we have it easier and better than any generation of
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Speaker 2: believers who have ever lived. And yet what a city
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Speaker 2: council decides they don't want to Nativity scene on government land,
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Speaker 2: we feel like we've been somehow violated. I mean, I
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Speaker 2: get it. The decline of Christianity in the West really
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Speaker 2: is frustrating. It is, But in what way does someone
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Speaker 2: else deciding they don't want a Christian display affect your faith?
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Speaker 2: I mean, if somebody told me, look, Sean, you're no
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Speaker 2: longer around allowed to read your Bible or pray, I'm
17:23
Speaker 2: going to do it anyway, just like Daniel did. If
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Speaker 2: somebody told me I wasn't allowed to talk to you
17:28
Speaker 2: about my faith and you were willing to listen, I
17:31
Speaker 2: would do it anyway. Just like the Apostles did. But
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Speaker 2: if civic laws start to feel inconvenient, am I going
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Speaker 2: to waste a lot of energy protesting and demanding my rights?
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Speaker 3: No?
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Speaker 2: Probably not. I mean, don't get me wrong. I have
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Speaker 2: a strong sense of civic duty. And if they opened
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Speaker 2: a town hall meeting where I could go and argue
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Speaker 2: for my right to put in an activity scene in my yard,
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Speaker 2: yeah sure, I'd probably be there. I'd make the case.
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Speaker 2: But I think it's a good idea for Christians to
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Speaker 2: occasionally review the long centuries that brought us to this
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Speaker 2: point and remind ourselves that we have always been asked
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Speaker 2: by God to be patient. Seldom has the world favored
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Speaker 2: Christians or relished our presence, And now that it has
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Speaker 2: for just a handful of generations, we seem to think
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Speaker 2: it's always been this way. Oh how quickly we forget.
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Speaker 2: Others were tortured. It says in the Book of Hebrews,
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Speaker 2: not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still,
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Speaker 2: others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of
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Speaker 2: chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, They were sawn in too,
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Speaker 2: They were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
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Speaker 2: about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented
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Speaker 2: of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in
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Speaker 2: deserts and mountains, in the dens and caves of the earth.
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Speaker 2: And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith,
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Speaker 2: did not receive them. Promise, God, having provided something better
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Speaker 2: for us, that they should not be made perfect apart
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Speaker 2: from us. What the Bible is telling us is that
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Speaker 2: every generation of believers right up till right now, has
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Speaker 2: been forced to practice patients, and none of them, none
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Speaker 2: of them got their reward in this lifetime. The Bible,
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Speaker 2: it seems, teaches patients in the face of hardship. I'll
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Speaker 2: be right back after this.
19:28
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19:58
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Speaker 2: seven nine three three. That's eight eight eight four five
20:24
Speaker 2: six seven nine three three.
20:28
Speaker 3: This is authentic with Sean Boonstra and the voice of Prophecy.
20:32
Speaker 2: Now I'd be lying if I said I never ever
20:35
Speaker 2: fight for anything when it comes to keeping the faith.
20:39
Speaker 2: Maybe the most important element in the birth of this nation,
20:42
Speaker 2: America was the drafting of the First Amendment, which recognizes
20:46
Speaker 2: our God given right to believe and to say whatever
20:49
Speaker 2: we want. What happened here in the United States is
20:53
Speaker 2: an exceptionally rare event. Few people in the history of
20:56
Speaker 2: this world have enjoyed this kind of freedom. So yes,
21:01
Speaker 2: I fight and petition for people to have the ability
21:04
Speaker 2: to follow God according to the dictates of their own conscience,
21:08
Speaker 2: and I openly resist laws designed to force religious observance
21:12
Speaker 2: on anybody. If somebody told me I wasn't allowed to pray,
21:16
Speaker 2: I'm going to pray. If somebody told me the law
21:19
Speaker 2: said I'm not allowed to read the Bible, it's not
21:21
Speaker 2: going to stop me.
21:22
Speaker 5: I'm going to read it.
21:23
Speaker 2: And if somebody said you weren't allowed to do those things,
21:26
Speaker 2: I'd support you in your quiet defiance. In fact, i'd
21:30
Speaker 2: support you and your right to have no faith whatsoever.
21:34
Speaker 2: Sometimes I think believers forget about that word though quiet.
21:39
Speaker 2: It's one thing to remain faithful to God in the
21:41
Speaker 2: face of legal requirements designed to stop you. It's another
21:45
Speaker 2: thing to make a public display of yourself. I'm always
21:48
Speaker 2: reminded that when Jesus stood in front of unjust accusers,
21:53
Speaker 2: he was silent. Of course, he knew that the cross
21:56
Speaker 2: was going to have to happen if you and I
21:58
Speaker 2: were going to be saved, and so it is a
22:01
Speaker 2: bit of a unique situation, but all the same, I'm
22:05
Speaker 2: pretty sure we can afford to learn something from the
22:08
Speaker 2: way Jesus handled himself. Predicting what would happen, the prophet
22:13
Speaker 2: Isaiah wrote this. He said, he was oppressed and he
22:17
Speaker 2: was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth. He was
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Speaker 2: led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
22:22
Speaker 2: sheep before its shearers, is silent, so he opened not
22:27
Speaker 2: his mouth. And that's exactly how it happened, as we
22:31
Speaker 2: find over in Matthew chapter twenty six. And the High
22:36
Speaker 2: priest arose and said to him, do you answer nothing?
22:40
Speaker 2: What is it? These men testify against you? But Jesus
22:44
Speaker 2: kept silent. Now, remember these were false accusations, and Jesus
22:50
Speaker 2: had already been treated brutally even before any kind of
22:54
Speaker 2: legal conviction. So I'm not really talking about quiet defiance,
23:00
Speaker 2: because Christians have always done that when they're asked to
23:02
Speaker 2: compromise their faith. What I'm really driving at today is
23:06
Speaker 2: something else, this new found sense of entitlement that we
23:10
Speaker 2: seem to have here in the West, where we think
23:13
Speaker 2: any inconvenience whatsoever is a violation of our rights. Look,
23:18
Speaker 2: I've worked in countries where preaching the Bible is illegal,
23:22
Speaker 2: and I know people in churches right now who are
23:25
Speaker 2: not allowed to advertise their meetings or publicly invite anybody
23:29
Speaker 2: to come to church. And instead of openly challenging the
23:32
Speaker 2: law in the streets and demanding their rights. They quietly
23:37
Speaker 2: persist in their faith and find workarounds that enable them
23:40
Speaker 2: to be faithful. They're choosing not to make themselves a
23:45
Speaker 2: lightning rod for the authorities, because then they'll lose what
23:48
Speaker 2: little liberty they do have. These people are doing what
23:52
Speaker 2: Peter advised us to do nearly two thousand years ago
23:56
Speaker 2: when he said this, But even if you should suffer
24:00
Speaker 2: for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be
24:03
Speaker 2: afraid of their threats, nor be troubled, but sanctify the
24:06
Speaker 2: Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to
24:09
Speaker 2: give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason
24:12
Speaker 2: for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear,
24:16
Speaker 2: having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers,
24:20
Speaker 2: those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
24:24
Speaker 2: For it is better, if it is the will of God,
24:27
Speaker 2: to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Unfortunately,
24:32
Speaker 2: it's getting harder and harder to describe a lot of
24:34
Speaker 2: modern Christians by using the word meek. Is it possible
24:38
Speaker 2: that we have been importing that sense of modern impatience
24:41
Speaker 2: into the Church, And is it always wise to assert
24:44
Speaker 2: yourself as a Christian and make demands as if the
24:47
Speaker 2: world is a customer complaint box. Read the Bible sometime
24:51
Speaker 2: and ask yourself what generation of Christians has ever had
24:55
Speaker 2: it this good? All right, time for a final break,
24:59
Speaker 2: So hank tight, be patient again and I'll be right back.
25:04
Speaker 5: Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. If you've ever read Daniel a
25:11
Speaker 5: revelation and come away scratching your head, You're not alone.
25:15
Speaker 5: Voice of Prophecies Free Focus on Prophecy guides are designed
25:18
Speaker 5: to help you unlock the prophetic mysteries of the Bible
25:21
Speaker 5: and deepen your understanding of God's plan for you and
25:24
Speaker 5: the world around you. You can study online or request
25:27
Speaker 5: them by mail. Visit Bible Studies dot com and start
25:30
Speaker 5: bringing prophecy into focus today.
25:34
Speaker 3: Welcome back. It's authentic with Sean Boonstra and the Voice
25:38
Speaker 3: of Prophecy.
25:39
Speaker 2: You know, I'm reminded at the moment when Jesus appeared
25:42
Speaker 2: in front of Pilot. You find the story over in
25:45
Speaker 2: John chapter eighteen says, then Pilot entered the praetorium again,
25:51
Speaker 2: called Jesus and said to him, are you the King
25:53
Speaker 2: of the Jews. Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for
25:57
Speaker 2: yourself about this? Or did others tell you this concerning me?
26:00
Speaker 2: Pilot answered, Am I a Jew your own nation, and
26:04
Speaker 2: the chief priests have delivered you to me?
26:06
Speaker 3: What have you done?
26:08
Speaker 4: Now?
26:08
Speaker 2: Pay attention to this, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not
26:11
Speaker 2: of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
26:14
Speaker 2: my servants would fight so that I should not be
26:16
Speaker 2: delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not
26:20
Speaker 2: from here. This is a concept that Martin Luther really
26:23
Speaker 2: struggled with. As many Christians in his day broke free
26:26
Speaker 2: from the system that was existing at the time, how
26:29
Speaker 2: much recognition should a Christian give to the demands of
26:32
Speaker 2: the state. In the end, Luther came to the conclusion
26:35
Speaker 2: that you and I live in two separate kingdoms. On
26:38
Speaker 2: the one hand, were in this world subject to human government.
26:41
Speaker 2: On the other hand, the only real king we have
26:43
Speaker 2: is Christ. So how do you navigate that seemingly impossible dichotomy. Well,
26:50
Speaker 2: you handle it the same way Jesus did. He told us.
26:54
Speaker 2: You have heard that it was said an eye for
26:56
Speaker 2: an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I
26:59
Speaker 2: tell you not to resist an evil person but whoever
27:03
Speaker 2: slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him. Also,
27:06
Speaker 2: if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic,
27:09
Speaker 2: let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you
27:13
Speaker 2: to go one mile, go with him too. Give to
27:16
Speaker 2: him who asks you, and from him who wants to
27:18
Speaker 2: borrow from you, do not turn away. You have heard
27:21
Speaker 2: that it was said you shall love your neighbor and
27:23
Speaker 2: hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies,
27:27
Speaker 2: Bless those who curse you, do good to those who
27:29
Speaker 2: hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
27:32
Speaker 2: and persecute you, that you may be the sons of
27:36
Speaker 2: your father in heaven. For he makes his son rise
27:38
Speaker 2: on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
27:41
Speaker 2: on the just and on the unjust. And you know what,
27:46
Speaker 2: I don't think I could summarize it any better than that,
27:49
Speaker 2: So maybe I'll just add that Christians also ought to
27:52
Speaker 2: look at the first few verses of Romans thirteen, see
27:56
Speaker 2: what it says about government, and then leave it at that.
27:59
Speaker 2: Thanks joining me this week again. I'm Sean Boonstra. You've
28:03
Speaker 2: been watching Authentic, You've.
28:06
Speaker 3: Been listening to Authentic sponsored by Voice of Prophecy. Remember
28:10
Speaker 3: you can listen every week right here at the same time,
28:13
Speaker 3: and thank you. Authentic is funded by listeners just like you.
28:17
Speaker 3: You can support at Voiceofprophecy dot com. That's also where
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