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Responding to Cultural Challenges Biblically (Part 3) · Equipped for Impact

0:07
Nate: Welcome to Equipped for Impact, the podcast designed to assist Christian parents, leaders and educators to raise up the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence the world.
0:20
Nate: For Christ, we're your hosts.
0:21
Nate: I'm Nate and I'm Luis, so let's get started.
0:25
Nate: Today we are continuing our series on responding to cultural challenges biblically.
0:31
Nate: So this is part three.
0:33
Nate: Luis, where have we been in the last two episodes?
0:36
Luis: So in the last two episodes we started talking about how to respond to cultural challenges biblically.
0:43
Luis: So if you missed that, you want to hit pause.
0:46
Luis: Do you hit pause?
0:47
Nate: I guess you can hit pause.
0:48
Nate: Yes, you hit pause.
0:48
Nate: You take your AirPods out and it pauses automatically.
0:51
Luis: So hit pause, go back and listen to those.
0:53
Luis: Alexa, pause this episode.
0:55
Luis: Yes, because it's foundational and what we're saying today really won't connect unless you listen to those.
1:03
Luis: We talked about how Jesus, how Paul, how the early church responded to the culture in their time.
1:10
Luis: Because we've got to respond right we're either going to isolate from it.
1:14
Luis: We're either going to embrace it and be a part of it or I think, like what we talked about is there's a way to engage it as Christians, and we saw how Jesus, paul and the early church did that.
1:27
Nate: That's right we talked about with our students, with our children.
1:30
Nate: We need to inoculate them so that they are prepared when they're here, they're in the world, they're seeing things, they're able to respond and they don't run away, they don't flee the culture, they're jumping right into it.
1:44
Nate: So today we're going to look at some specific examples on how we can respond to cultural issues.
1:52
Luis: And we want to help you raise kids who are salt and light.
1:54
Luis: So, again, connecting back to those episodes, we talked about that right, what it means to be salt, what it means to be light.
2:01
Luis: We want to have kids who live with clarity, who live with conviction and who have courage, because again, let's face it right, our kids are more likely to hear a TikTok influencer's opinion than God's truth on most issues today.
2:16
Nate: Unless TikTok gets shut down again, which you know hopefully it will.
2:20
Luis: It'd be nice if it did.
2:21
Luis: But you know, like I was just talking to a parent last week and they were sharing with me about the episode that we did just on like social media and its impact and it was just very telling on like how their child's worldview is being shaped by that.
2:38
Nate: Yeah, and just kind of to remind us where we've been right, according to Barna studies, that only 4% of Gen Z holds a biblical worldview.
2:48
Nate: And that was.
2:49
Nate: You know.
2:49
Nate: We talked about how Gen Z like those kids that's your upper high school kids, anybody you know, sophomore year and below right now, as we're recording in 2025, you know they're all Gen Alpha and so the data hasn't really even come out on those people.
3:04
Nate: So only 4% really hold a true biblical worldview.
3:08
Luis: We should do an episode on the different generations.
3:10
Luis: I think.
3:11
Luis: Because, I think it would be telling I actually had a chance to listen to some stuff on that and our parents, like the baby boomers you and I, we're millennials and then the different generations.
3:23
Nate: For the record, millennials are not the ones that ate Tide Pods.
3:26
Nate: That was Gen Z.
3:27
Nate: That was Gen Z.
3:28
Nate: Got to make sure we're clear on that.
3:29
Luis: And so right.
3:31
Luis: If only 4% of Gen Z holds a worldview or a biblical worldview, then that means that 96% of them are being shaped by something else.
3:40
Luis: I found an interesting quote from Tony Evans in the book called Kingdom Parenting.
3:42
Luis: I found an interesting quote from Tony Evans in the book called Kingdom Parenting.
3:44
Luis: He says we are not called to isolate our children from the world, but to insulate them with truth.
3:51
Nate: That's right.
3:51
Nate: So here's our question Are we preparing our kids to engage or escape?
3:58
Nate: And we've been working through that all this series, these three episodes.
4:02
Nate: So let's kind of anchor, let's go back to what we talked about, you know before, about being salt and light.
4:07
Nate: That comes from Matthew, chapter five.
4:09
Nate: And he, he's talking to the crowds and he tells them that you are the salt of the earth.
4:16
Nate: You know, you are the light of the world.
4:18
Nate: He uses those two examples, right, he says if the salt has lost its flavor, you know what?
4:23
Nate: For what's its usefulness?
4:25
Nate: The light shouldn't be hid under a basket, but it's like a city set on a hill, everybody is going to see it.
4:32
Nate: So it's that salt and light idea.
4:34
Luis: And so, as Christians, we're not called to retreat.
4:37
Luis: Right, jesus isn't calling us to retreat, he's calling us to represent.
4:42
Luis: We should be proud, we should be very bold in our convictions as Christians, because salt preserves, light exposes, and neither one of them runs away from the darkness.
4:53
Luis: They're confronting it with presence and they're confronting it with purpose, and one of my favorite characters in the Bible is Daniel.
5:00
Nate: Yeah, I love the example of Daniel because here's this guy, he's a teenager right when he gets taken from his home in Babylon.
5:07
Nate: And so, like our children many of you listening to this podcast your children are teenagers or preteens, or maybe they're elementary, whatever.
5:15
Nate: But just imagine your child, at the age they're at now, gets taken from their homeland and moved thousands of miles away in a completely pagan culture, and he's right there in the seat of the strongest country in the world at the time and he stood firm in his faith and he was able to influence that culture because he was salt and light.
5:40
Luis: In fact, cheap plug, right.
5:41
Luis: If you're trying to figure out, what should I be reading in my Bible right now, daniel?
5:46
Nate: Daniel, chapter 1,.
5:47
Luis: Daniel, chapter 2.
5:47
Luis: I mean, those two chapters would be great to read with your children because, like Nate pointed out, you've got this teenager, daniel, who is surrounded by a pagan culture in Babylon.
6:01
Luis: And so, nate, what do we want to do now?
6:04
Luis: So we're talking about being the light and the salt.
6:06
Luis: And so, nate, what do we want to do now?
6:06
Luis: So we're talking about being the light and the salt.
6:08
Luis: And so what does that look like?
6:09
Nate: Yeah, well, I think it.
6:11
Nate: Let's just go through some real life strategies.
6:12
Nate: Right, you can talk about these like how do we normalize faith conversations at home, because I think that's where it starts, like we talked about Jesus and how he was very bold in speaking the truth, and all of that.
6:28
Nate: So, just kind of some ideas.
6:30
Nate: Right, it starts at home.
6:32
Nate: We've hammered that and we're going to keep doing that throughout this podcast.
6:36
Nate: Right, but it starts at home.
6:37
Nate: So we're going to normalize faith conversations at home, because if you can't talk about it at home, how are you going to expect to be able to speak the truth and talk about your faith out in the public?
6:48
Nate: One way that I think is really good.
6:51
Nate: We had, probably by the time we released this, we interviewed Chad Harwell and his family devotions conversation and he talked about, as you're reading, just where did you?
7:02
Nate: You know, what is God teaching you today is a great conversation starter with your children.
7:07
Luis: And look, it might be awkward at first, especially if you've never done it, so your kids might look at you like what in the world?
7:14
Luis: Right, like, what are you saying?
7:17
Luis: What are you like?
7:18
Luis: Why are you bringing this up?
7:19
Luis: And if your kids are anything like mine, I mean it's like pulling teeth to talk with them.
7:23
Luis: Right, like once they hit teen, like that teen year, like it's going to be, like it's going to be tough, so, so it's going to be awkward, but stick with it, right.
7:33
Luis: Another way to do it is maybe even to role play cultural scenarios.
7:36
Luis: What would you say to someone who says love is love?
7:40
Luis: Right, like, have those conversations with your kids and normalize those awkward conversations.
7:46
Luis: One of my strategies as a leader has always been you just have to lean into the awkwardness of difficult conversations because, look, somebody's talking to your kids about these things.
7:58
Luis: It's either going to be you or it's going to be YouTube, or it's going to be Facebook, Like.
8:02
Luis: I remember hearing from a parent several years ago that their fourth grader had come home and they were having a conversation parents about the birds and the bees, right, and this is in fourth grade, and I remember the parent telling me they weren't ready to have the conversation in fourth grade.
8:20
Luis: I'm not ready to have that conversation.
8:22
Nate: Yeah, I know right, I've got an eighth grader.
8:23
Luis: I mean I mean, thankfully my wife has had it, we've had it.
8:26
Luis: But but I mean it's, it's something that like parents, somebody's having it and so and so role, play some of those scenarios with your kids.
8:35
Nate: Yeah, I think that's great and, and with that awkwardness, a way that you could like get out of that we've talked about it here before you know is just use some of the things that you're already doing to start those conversations.
8:48
Nate: You know you're watching shows together, a movie, whatever and hit pause and then just ask you know, what does this say about truth?
8:57
Nate: Or what is this saying about identity?
8:59
Nate: I was recently you and I were having this conversation, Luis, about Moana 2 and how I said that Moana 2 should really just be Frozen 2 Tropical Edition.
9:10
Nate: That's a rant for another day.
9:12
Nate: It's the exact same movie, just in a different tropical setting.
9:16
Nate: But just think about those songs, right, like I'm going to go out and it's going to be all about me, and I've just got to dig deep and try harder, and then we'll see how far I go.
9:23
Nate: I'm going to go out and it's going to be all about me and I've just got to dig deep and try harder, and you know, then we'll see how far I go.
9:27
Nate: I'm going to go beyond.
9:28
Nate: You know, like you can pull out these, these phrases from the songs and how subtle they are.
9:33
Nate: But you can even have that conversation, whether it's you really press and pause, or if it's later and you're like, hey, hold on.
9:39
Nate: Like what is this telling you about your source of identity?
9:43
Nate: Like what are they trying to accomplish?
9:45
Nate: You know it's like we're a safe village and so you need to.
9:49
Nate: You know, just bust out and go make your own path.
9:51
Nate: Like, so what does that really look like for us?
9:54
Nate: You know you can ask those types of questions and see where it goes.
9:57
Luis: And this really goes back to parents, to you teaching truth boldly and to teach it early.
10:02
Luis: Right, because the Fuller Youth Institute found that kids whose parents talk about faith regularly are five times more likely to stay rooted in Christ as adults.
10:12
Luis: I don't think we can function in a society anymore as Christians in the church and pretend like we can't have conversations with our kids.
10:21
Luis: There was was a time, I think, in church history where parents didn't talk about topics that were taboo, right, Like they just ignored them and the hope was that, like, if we ignore them, they're going to go away.
10:33
Luis: My kids aren't going to worry about it, but you can't do that anymore.
10:36
Luis: No, it's not going away.
10:37
Luis: You have to teach truth boldly.
10:39
Luis: You have to teach it early.
10:41
Luis: You have to beat it to the punch.
10:42
Luis: You have to teach it early.
10:43
Luis: You have to beat it to the punch.
10:44
Nate: Yeah, you can't be reactive.
10:45
Nate: I think that's the biggest thing.
10:46
Nate: Our churches have been reactive.
10:49
Nate: They're taking that, you know, isolating presence and they're just like, oh, we're going to isolate our kids, they'll be all right if we just isolate them.
10:56
Nate: And then they hit stuff and they're, like you know, swept off their feet.
11:00
Nate: They have no clue how to stand as those waves.
11:02
Nate: Going back to that illustration, we've used a lot of the culture, keep coming in at them and look, you can't say because the Bible says so, anymore.
11:13
Luis: One of the marks of Gen Alpha is that they don't respect authority the way that previous generations did, and that's just kind of been a slow decline, right.
11:20
Luis: So you can trace it to millennials, to Gen Z, gen Alpha now, but they aren't going to just accept because the Bible says so or because the pastor says so.
11:31
Luis: You've got to give them the why, the how and the what, and they've got to process that.
11:39
Nate: Yeah, that's exactly right.
11:40
Nate: And, to be clear, you are believing it because the Bible says so right, but you've got to give them more than that.
11:47
Nate: are believing it because the Bible says so.
11:48
Nate: Right, it is yes, but you've got to give them more than that.
11:52
Nate: The Bible says so and here's why the Bible says so.
11:54
Nate: And that's going to take time for us to kind of dig into that.
11:56
Nate: I think in a future episode we will eventually tackle the whole gender issue, and we've mentioned it several times.
12:02
Nate: But that's one right.
12:03
Nate: God created male and female and that's going to be an issue and we've mentioned it several times.
12:06
Nate: But that's one right.
12:07
Nate: God created male and female and that's going to be an issue.
12:09
Nate: And so, yes, the Bible says God created male and female, and hopefully that might jump you into the birds and the bees conversation or who knows where it goes, but you follow that as the conversation goes and what you know your kids are ready for.
12:22
Luis: Here's the hard truth If you don't disciple your kids, the world will.
12:27
Luis: Now the hopeful reminder is that the Bible, the gospel, is strong enough to anchor them even in chaos.
12:37
Nate: Yep, that's exactly right.
12:38
Nate: So you've got to start early.
12:39
Nate: Be bold, have those conversations, but stand on the truth.
12:44
Nate: You might not have all the answers We've talked about that multiple times but just be willing to open your heart and walk through those doors that God opens for you and have those conversations.
12:57
Luis: So let's look at some real-world tension, right?
12:59
Luis: So if you Google and you pull up the news, whatever news station you listen to, here's some topics that have been at the forefront.
13:08
Luis: There was a student in Wisconsin who was investigated for misgendering, so their school had misgendered the child hold on pause.
13:20
Nate: What is misgendering?
13:21
Luis: so it's when the school sees the student as their biological gender.
13:26
Luis: So nate, you're a guy, right?
13:29
Luis: So?
13:29
Luis: We see you as a guy but in this particular situation, a student was a guy, or she was actually a girl but but was identifying as a guy, right?
13:39
Luis: So it was a teenage girl who was identifying as a guy, but the school was not calling them a guy.
13:44
Luis: They were referring to her as her biological gender.
13:48
Nate: So they were acknowledging the truth.
13:49
Nate: They were acknowledging the truth, right.
13:51
Luis: And so the school and the student were investigated for misgendering.
13:54
Luis: And so the school and the student were investigated for misgendering.
13:55
Luis: There was a Vermont girl who played sports and she was banned from her locker room because she objected to change with a biological male who had chosen to identify as a female.
14:07
Luis: Here's a girl who's a girl, who's uncomfortable changing in a locker room with a guy who says he's a girl, and then you're seeing it today now play out with like when you have Christian athletes who are standing up and standing out when it comes to their biblical convictions.
14:24
Luis: I mean, it just happened as recently as the women's NCAA tournament, where there were a few women's teams that were part of their conferences that refused to play another college because they had a male, a biological male, playing on what's supposed to be a female sport.
14:43
Luis: And you're seeing it in the news with President Trump and some of the positions that he's taking, and so that's happening.
14:49
Luis: Your kids are seeing that, they're hearing about it, they're they're reading about it, they're listening to YouTube videos about it.
14:58
Nate: So how do you, you know, how do you handle that, Like we're, we're watching these stories play out in the news, right which the news only gives you a little snippet of the full story?
15:08
Nate: So how do you, you know, handle that if, um, you know your, your child goes to school with somebody who might have one of these you know convictions, or these positions, Like, how do you take that stand with humility?
15:22
Luis: Well, I think part of it really just goes back to what we saw with Jesus, paul and the early church.
15:27
Luis: You have to model courage and that's going to build habits that reinforce truth.
15:33
Luis: Habits that reinforce truth, like when you see things that are wrong, you have to speak up and your kids have to see that, like you have to make a decision.
15:44
Luis: For those that know me and my family, we have always been huge Disney fans.
15:49
Luis: I mean, we used to love traveling to Disney.
15:51
Luis: We're not going to get on the topic of Disney today, but there have been some times over the years where we've made a decision as a family where we're not going to watch a certain Disney movie, or we're not going to, or we're going to take a break from Disney because of some of the decisions that Disney's making, and so we haven't been to Disney World as a family in about five years.
16:10
Luis: Now.
16:10
Luis: There's nothing wrong with going.
16:11
Luis: I think that, thankfully, I thinkney's realizing some things and so, and so they're kind, of course, correcting yep, like they recently just announced and it made the news right like an openly christian character on one of their tv shows, and I'm like what, um?
16:24
Luis: But I mean there were some times, like some movies that we chose not to watch as a family.
16:29
Luis: Uh, because just of some of the stuff that we read and we just explained it to our girls, like hey, we're, we're not going to watch this episode, or we're not going to watch this show, or we're not going to watch this movie because of this reason.
16:41
Nate: Yeah, and I think that with that, you know, taking the stand, the with humility, is a big part of that right.
16:48
Nate: You know the first Peter talks about that.
16:49
Nate: You know always being ready to give a defense, but doing it with meekness.
16:53
Nate: And you know when you are, it's easy like to role play, like we're talking about here, like we clearly know that a guy who you know presents as a female, you know that that's wrong and we should call them a guy, right.
17:11
Nate: But when you're talking to a person, eyeball to eyeball, and they sincerely hold one of these beliefs, you know you can sincerely hold a belief and be sincerely wrong, but but coming at them with a hammer is not going to help.
17:24
Nate: You know you've got to have some.
17:26
Nate: You know the humility and the meekness to have that conversation and be like, well, yeah, this is my friend and yeah, they're a really nice person, but they can still be a really nice person and be like, well, yeah, this is my friend and yeah, they're a really nice person, but they can still be a really nice person and be wrong.
17:38
Nate: And so you're not going to.
17:39
Nate: You know, shame them.
17:40
Nate: You're not going to, you know, just yell at them.
17:42
Nate: If there's a real person sitting in front of you, you know you're going to have that conversation, with a lighter touch, I would say, than if you you know, are just talking about some, you know person who's thousands of miles away, that you saw on the news, or some made up person.
17:59
Nate: Like you know, we're talking about when we role play.
18:01
Nate: Just having that softer touch when you're talking to somebody is a big deal.
18:06
Luis: Obviously we're not saying be a jerk, right?
18:08
Luis: I mean, I think sometimes Christians get a bad rat because you've got these people that, uh, they choose not to speak truth and love.
18:15
Luis: They choose to speak truth and it's definitely not in love.
18:19
Luis: And so, parents, really what we're saying here is your kids have to see you model standing up to what's wrong.
18:27
Luis: And I think so many families and I think that's part of the reason why the church has kind of lost our position in society, because either we haven't taken a stand when we need to or when we do take a stand, we take it kind of from a point of view where we're not showing humility, when we're not speaking truth and love.
18:45
Nate: And both of those are it's, you know, losing situations, right?
18:49
Nate: If you don't speak up, then people are like, well, you're a hypocrite.
18:51
Nate: And if you do speak up, but you're a jerk, yeah, then you're a jerk, right?
18:55
Nate: Yep?
18:55
Nate: And so I think the the subtitle of this episode should be don't be a jerk, be a jerk, okay uh, and here's the truth, right?
19:02
Luis: if you continue to send your children to caesar, you shouldn't be surprised when they come back as romans.
19:08
Nate: And and that's what vody bockham says, in in in family driven faith I was getting ready to say that was really good, like did, did you come up with that?
19:15
Luis: It's not original to me.
19:17
Luis: But but but right, like I mean, if if we're sending our kids out into the world and we're just kind of letting them hear everything and just letting them accept it as truth, like don't be surprised when they come back and and they're very worldly, because they have to see you model these habits, it has to be ingrained in them.
19:38
Luis: You have to take a stand and they have to see you do it.
19:42
Nate: That's right, and I think that the habits that we have, we develop in our family are a really big deal, right.
19:47
Nate: What happens Monday through Saturday shapes us more than just one, you know, sunday morning service ever could.
19:53
Nate: And so those, those rhythms in your home we've talked about that before of what it looks like in your home with a daily worship and daily devotions and, um, you know the, the, the constant drip that they're getting from school, from social media, like, uh, how we create, like we talked about those technology free zones, like those are things that are going gonna shape our children and help them them grow, uh, there I wish that I could bubble wrap my children like I wish.
20:22
Luis: I could just put them like, like, put them in this bubble and protect them.
20:25
Luis: Yeah, but we can't right, we can't just bubble wrap.
20:28
Nate: You know they make those big like inflatable balls that you can like run at each other.
20:32
Nate: Have you seen those?
20:32
Nate: I have seen those that would be fun.
20:34
Luis: It would be now.
20:35
Luis: Would that protect us from culture, though?
20:37
Nate: No, because there's a hole right.
20:38
Nate: You still have to hear, you still have like, air is important, you got to breathe and stuff like that.
20:42
Luis: But here's what we can do we can train them to discern the lies that the culture is telling them, and then we can help them respond with courage and compassion.
20:53
Nate: Yeah, I think that's going to be our third point here just kind of real world examples of just the big things that come out from some recent headlines.
21:02
Nate: Right, target obviously made the news with their pride campaigns and the way they marketed certain things directly to children.
21:10
Nate: You know, I remember walking through Target kind of in that timeframe and like I've got little and little girls like rainbows and so they were just drawn to some of these rainbow things, items that you could purchase, because they were right there in the kids' aisle, they were right in the middle of everything and they were rainbow and my kids didn't recognize that.
21:31
Nate: That's not like Noah and the Flood rainbow not unicorns, it was.
21:36
Nate: LGBTQ.
21:37
Nate: You know paraphernalia, um, and so we obviously had to redirect to them like oh no, we're not going over there, come over this direction.
21:44
Nate: Um, you know Disney, we've already talked about the different um characters that they have kind of tried to portray in some of their movies.
21:52
Luis: Um, but you watched the Grammys, I did not watch the Gramm, I did not watch the grammys.
21:58
Nate: I was gonna say did that surprise you?
21:59
Nate: That I have not.
21:59
Nate: I don't actually know what the grammys is.
22:00
Luis: Is that bad?
22:00
Luis: I know it's an award show.
22:01
Luis: It's an award show.
22:02
Luis: I don't really know what it is.
22:03
Nate: I think it's a music show right, like it's a music, I think.
22:05
Luis: So I think you're right, we're gonna google it but I know that one of the things that came out of the grammys this year were that some of the performances uh, people, people felt like they had a satanic meaning to them and that there were satanic undertones to it.
22:17
Nate: Yes, that is correct.
22:18
Nate: According to the Googles, it is the most prestigious music awards in the United States.
22:24
Nate: So there you go.
22:25
Luis: I knew it was awards and something that I don't watch, but I think there were some music acts that were a part of the show and there was some other stuff that played out and people were like, hey, there's something weird about it, there was something off about that.
22:37
Nate: I think there was one show it wasn't this year, maybe it was a previous couple years ago it was very satanic, just overtly satanic.
22:44
Nate: I remember seeing that.
22:46
Luis: Another big issue and actually I just read about that this past week there's I think it's Florida Don't hold me to it, because I mean it was just something that I read briefly, it might be somewhere else, but where there are schools that are pushing gender identity in early grades, and so there was a judge that ruled that a school district could do it in secret without telling the parents, and so that's kind of one of those things too.
23:15
Nate: I think that's where we come back to and we've mentioned this podcast before.
23:18
Nate: Johnstone Street from the Colson Center, they've got their Breakpoint podcast.
23:22
Nate: So if you're looking for another great podcast to listen to, that's a great one.
23:25
Luis: But he says it's almost as good as ours.
23:26
Luis: I think.
23:27
Nate: Almost, almost, almost.
23:28
Nate: He's got several years more experience than we does, um, and a much larger audience.
23:37
Nate: But uh, he says culture is what we swim in, um, and I love that illustration, right, it's just, it's what you swim in, right?
23:40
Nate: You don't ask a fish what water is and we, we don't really recognize our culture.
23:45
Nate: But if we're in that and and our kids are in, you know, in the middle of all of this, like we have to engage that, that culture, so what, what would be a way, like, as you see, something come up, Luis what would be a way that we could just be discerning and engage culture?
24:02
Luis: Yeah.
24:02
Luis: So let me just give you a three-question tool.
24:05
Luis: We call it Truth Impact Mission.
24:08
Luis: Okay, so, truth, what does Scripture say, right?
24:12
Luis: So, as you're evaluating a situation, consider this question what is it saying, right?
24:16
Luis: What is Target's pride campaign saying?
24:20
Luis: And what does scripture say, right?
24:22
Luis: Here's the second thing, right, is it true, based on God's word?
24:26
Luis: Again, what does scripture say?
24:29
Luis: And then, how should we respond?
24:31
Luis: Again, what does scripture say?
24:34
Luis: But then the other part of it is impact.
24:36
Luis: What is the message's influence?
24:38
Luis: So, what is this message impacting and who is it trying to influence?
24:44
Luis: It's not subtle anymore, right?
24:47
Luis: It's not subtle.
24:49
Luis: Sometimes it's in your face.
24:51
Luis: And then the mission is how can I respond with light?
24:54
Luis: So, I mean, you can make a choice, like in the case of Target you don't shop at Target anymore.
24:59
Luis: You know, maybe you choose not to go to Disney or watch Disney, and that's fine.
25:05
Luis: I mean, those are, those are perfectly normal responses for Christians.
25:09
Luis: But, but, but you have to understand why you're responding in that way.
25:14
Nate: Yeah, you want to be that salt and that light Like you're bringing healing, You're bringing preservation, You're shedding light on the situation.
25:21
Nate: So, truth impact mission Did you intentionally put that so that it's the acronym Tim Like?
25:28
Nate: Did you ask Tim if we could?
25:29
Luis: use his name.
25:29
Luis: You know what I didn't?
25:31
Luis: No, no, no.
25:32
Nate: There you go.
25:32
Nate: Tim truth impact mission.
25:36
Nate: Don't tell Tim that we used his name or maybe do.
25:38
Nate: If you know a Tim, maybe share this podcast.
25:39
Nate: Maybe he's a dad and needs to hear it.
25:41
Luis: So let's look at some examples real quick as we get ready to wind things down.
25:45
Luis: Right?
25:45
Luis: So, the issue of transgender athletes right now, that's a big thing, right, that's a big thing.
25:49
Luis: What are they saying?
25:52
Luis: Right, yeah, what's the culture?
25:54
Luis: Saying you can change.
25:55
Luis: You can change Change your gender right.
25:57
Nate: And that you can do it right.
25:58
Nate: And Genesis clearly says God created them male and female, two genders.
26:02
Nate: That's so clear, it's very clear.
26:04
Nate: That's what Scripture says.
26:06
Luis: So the second question is it true based on God's Word?
26:08
Luis: Absolutely not.
26:09
Luis: Yeah, right, and so because we have scripture, and so how do we respond?
26:12
Luis: Right, I think the way we respond is that we have to stand up when we see it, we have to speak out, and thankfully, I think people are doing that.
26:22
Luis: Here's another one Social media fame.
26:25
Luis: Right, like that's a big thing now.
26:26
Luis: In fact, just the other day, I was reading in the news that there was a 16-year-old boy from North Carolina that was a social media influencer and he died and it was like a big deal, like people were like there was like this outpouring because he had like millions of followers.
26:41
Luis: And so social media fame is a big deal now.
26:44
Luis: And so again, what is the culture saying?
26:48
Nate: Yeah, that it's all about you and you need to be a big platform, a big name, notoriety, right, but scripture is very clear.
26:54
Nate: Right, our life is Christ, we belong to him, we are servants.
26:58
Nate: I was even reading today in either 1st or 2nd Corinthians I forget now, but talking about Paul was comparing himself to these other kind of more notorious I guess is the right word preachers.
27:11
Nate: And he said we're just slaves of Christ, we're just servants of Christ, and a servant doesn't get an award, a servant doesn't get notoriety, they just serve they just serve.
27:21
Luis: Yeah, uh, here's.
27:22
Luis: Here's one for you.
27:23
Luis: Tiktok trends, right?
27:24
Luis: So there's always new tiktok trends happening.
27:27
Luis: I think right now the big one is um, did you ever watch fresh prince of bel-air when you were growing up?
27:32
Luis: Uh, I, I have seen episodes.
27:34
Nate: Yes, okay, all right, so there's west philadelphia.
27:37
Luis: Yes, yes, born and raised yep, yep, okay so I'm not from philadelphia, by the way, no so there's a scene in there where will smith's character and, uh, I can't remember her name, but it's, she's the younger sister and so she's dancing will smith walks in and then, you know, they start dancing and so they just recreated that.
27:54
Luis: Uh, and so that's dancing.
27:54
Luis: Will Smith walks in and then they start dancing, and so they just recreated that, and so that's taken off on like the social media trend.
28:00
Luis: Can you do the Carlton?
28:02
Nate: I wish Like the Carlton dance.
28:04
Nate: No, no, I think he trademarked that, did he yeah?
28:07
Luis: We may have to do like a dance off one day, but you will have to figure out a way to do that.
28:10
Nate: No badness, don't dance, I don't dance, sorry.
28:13
Luis: But what is this trend promoting?
28:15
Luis: Right, Anytime that there's a new trend that comes out on social media, what is it promoting?
28:20
Luis: And then where does it lead our hearts?
28:22
Luis: And again, what does Scripture say about it?
28:25
Luis: And then how do we respond?
28:26
Nate: That's exactly right, right, it's great to have fun, it's great to enjoy, and if things, I'm all great for laughing and having fun, but if it's, you know, again, put yourself out there so that everybody can notice you and who you are, then that's not a great situation.
28:41
Nate: So, as we wrap up, Luis, like how would you, you know, just kind of encourage the parents listening to this as we kind of bring this third part to a conclusion?
28:51
Luis: Yeah, so everything we've talked about today, these are ongoing conversations Like these can't be one-off, so so don't listen to this podcast and say, okay, when, when I pick my kid up from school tomorrow, I'm going to ask him this, uh, one of these questions, yeah, it's going to be weird.
29:06
Luis: They're going to look at you.
29:07
Luis: They'll be like what are you talking about?
29:08
Nate: They get in the car.
29:09
Nate: What's God teaching you?
29:09
Nate: Uh, I dropped my lunch at school.
29:12
Nate: It's going to be weird.
29:14
Luis: And so make it a part of your relationship with your kid.
29:19
Luis: Build this culture where they're beginning to think about things biblically.
29:24
Luis: I love what Sean McDowell said.
29:25
Luis: He said a sheltered faith is a shallow faith, and a tested faith becomes a trusted faith.
29:31
Luis: And so helping our kids to test their faith because we're not microwaving faith, we're laying bricks right, we are building a foundation one conversation one act of courage and in one moment where you're able to have these conversations.
29:51
Nate: Yeah, that's great and it really is right.
29:53
Nate: We're not running away, we're building this slowly.
29:55
Nate: We're playing the long game.
29:56
Nate: I think that's what this is all about is we're playing the long game.
30:00
Nate: So I hope you all really enjoyed this episode and again, as always, if you found this helpful, share it with other parents maybe even Tim, because we shout out to Tim, because we shout out to Tim, but even other parents who might find it helpful and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next episode where we'll dive into how we can keep Christ at the center during busy seasons.
30:24
Nate: By the time this comes out, it's going to be almost May, and May is crazy with kids and school and sports and all the things.
30:32
Nate: So, keeping Christ at the center during busy seasons and go on and give us a rating or a review, that's really going to help us.
30:38
Nate: We're still a new podcast, so having more reviews will get us noticed by other parents who need this as well.
30:45
Nate: And shoot us any of your questions at podcast at waynechristianorg, and we like to hear from our listeners and incorporate their thoughts or answer some questions you might have.
30:55
Nate: So thanks for joining us today and until next time, keep leading the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence the world for Christ.