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How Does Jesus Recruit? | The Cost of Discipleship · Pass The Rock: Real Talk

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: man hey bd my shirt L hey got a rep PTR disciples official hey if you don't know about the swag we'll put a link on go get yours man but yeah I love it thanks for uh thanks man yeah but dude so last week we talked about man help me out i you know i went to public school so what was last week last week we talked about leBron a little bit decision making decision making how you make decisions as a disciple and then we looked at um jesus is called to disciples a little bit exactly so yeah like how do you make a decision when you have free will to surrender to God's will which is so difficult shout out to you you told more your story in a sermon that you're gonna post a link as well you went to a national conference you were one of speakers to men but you told more details about how it was about five M's that you put on the table to go to ministry you know so you were like I think about it every once in a while I still think about it sometimes it's just true so but now but today which is a really good topic is about how does Jesus recruit because in the D1 world D2 D3 JUCO whatever recruiting is a big process of trying to get someone to join your team so yeah so how does Jesus recruit it's a great question man I I thought it'd be cool to to read one of the examples and then maybe even start with you on why you think you recruited this way.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right let's do it okay all right so Luke 14 I know you've heard this one before Lawrence you've taught this one before but this is such a great call to discipleship in verse 25 of Luke 14 it says large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning to them he said if anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters yes even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple and whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple so yeah so that's one of the you know recruiting pitches I would say and uh to related to sports you know if someone's getting recruited these days from another college or high school they go on a visit they see the campus they get the best red cart treatment uh red carpet treatment and then at the end of it there's usually a strong pitch to get a verbal commitment you know so um so Jesus was a little bit different very and uh why do you think Jesus's recruitment was the way we just read man great question and full context I was a recruit I played baseball in Japan my recruitment was my new baseball coach came in my senior year played minor league baseball was like dude you're good enough to play in America I'm sending you in America to play baseball so I never got to go on a recruiting process so I always was like dude what is it like to get letters so anyway really cool but how does Jesus do it so I think one thing we should bring in the light is context.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: When it says carry your cross daily we all in the modern world have a good idea what the cross is hey Jesus died on it and we can kind of get into that lullaby effect of like oh it's just a cross it's just a cross right but if we rewind to their timeframe the Romans use it as the most painful way of torture to die capital punishment where you're on public display blue display so it's one of the most shameful ways to die you're considered cursed and most torturous so when Jesus says to the large crowd hey hate people you love and get on the cross every day I think if I were to hear that in that mindset I'd be like dude is crazy.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah what is he talking about hate my mom and Jewish culture is all about family too right hate my mom and dad that honestly sounds like it's going against what you said you know ain't the Ten Commandments one of them honor your mother and father and bro let's talk about in in today's society you know with all love and respect and humility you say one wrong thing oh you canceled right so I think how does Jesus recruit it sounds like he wants to can't get canceled wow wow like I'm just throwing it out there boom cancel me I dare yeah leave your choice but that's not as hard so I guess to throw it back to you so we know one there's some shock level of like Jesus doesn't lie so this is true you will carry your cross and there's some element that is true you will have to look it looks like hate compared to loving me so Brian can you walk us through a little bit more all right so there's some shock cancel me it's your choice follow me or not take it from there what are what are some other things filters we can think through there man I I kind of think through it as a way of a coach so Jesus is Lord greatest teacher rabbi of all time but I heard a great definition of a coach which is it they help someone get from one point to the next so like a stage coach.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah right so when I think of Jesus I do think he knew how to do that and was a tremendous coach as well so this isn't the um this isn't the pitch that caters towards the player this is I got all these guys here who's gonna be all in wow and I think you know he's wanting to know who's gonna be all in and then the physic the physical commitment to say who's gonna follow me where you don't really know where you're going you don't like with a coach you don't know the plays you're gonna run you don't know the system exactly you haven't played in it yet you don't know who's gonna get playing time um you know you put a lot of trust in your coach who you commit to so I think he's looking for all right who's who's gonna be all in wow on following me not going to be distracted by those closest to you not even your own self yeah and it's gonna require great sacrifice but like the treasure is you know the motivating factor is you get to be with me.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Wow you get you get to do life with me yeah and so you know that's different because that's you know in recruiting and coaching that's not necessarily the motivating factor but for discipleship it is wow in recruiting for basketball especially NIL now it's about you we're gonna give you this contract this marketing deal this playing time whatever you kind of need and want but I love what you said there it's a it's the other way when Jesus recruits I'm your greatest treasure I never thought about that and something that you just brought to light bro they didn't have the Bible at that time frame either lullaby effect like the Lord they didn't have the Bible they didn't have podcasts to like hey let's examine and consider what he's saying and what's the Greek translation which is important I'm not minimizing that but I'm just saying they were there and had the greatest opportunity to follow God himself.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right so can you tell talk a little bit more about that integration sports and Christianity because I think you said something really important that there's some jewel to unpack I bet that a coach does and says things to get a player a person from one point to another so we know God is love we know God is perfect.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's not evil or wants to just push people away so he knew everyone in that crowd and knew what to say to get them from point A to point B.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So this statement of discipleship of recruitment of like give up everything I'm your greatest treasure what do you think he that was his goal I guess tell me why why is that so important that you think he had to say it in that way why not just say hey guys I'm your greatest treasure follow me but why say it with that intensity yeah I love thinking about that because I think he understood the road was going to be rocky and it was going to be challenging and so it's kind of like you know a good coach some of the legendary coaches they'll set the precedent that hey it's gonna be tough like you hear stories about some of the top most respected coaches that'll say you're gonna have to earn everything you get you're gonna have to work your butt off.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So right away you have a mentality from your players that are like I'm showing up to work so that I can compete and play versus hey you're gonna feature me right like I'm gonna be great here right um I think it's the the heart of the disciple was okay this is gonna be tough and I want it wow bro again chills Jesus was upfront about what it really meant to follow him right so bro I mean honestly I grew up going to Catholic Church many different denominations is it possible that because I never heard that scripture honestly until I was in college studies in the world we live in right now the true cost of following Jesus really isn't talked about I yeah that's that's a good question I mean I think one of the challenges we face right now is we have so you know you've seen the movie Book of Eli I love that movie bro there's so many good quotes but this one uh the the person following Denzel is like asking about how it used to be and he goes yeah we had more than we needed and so I think about that because I think in our world right now we have more than we need we have so much you know we need something Amazon drops it off in a couple hours we we have so much physically materially but um I think you're right I think if we lose the sacrifice of discipleship we don't really have discipleship and so you know it's like who's signing up to sacrifice like you talked about the cross L who's signing up to live that life and doesn't matter if you're college you know our age which we're you know we're a little out of college we're still in our prime just a little just a little but it's like even when you're a dad and you you have responsibilities and interests you know are we are we willing are we willing to pay the price and athletics it's usually a physical yeah physical you know in mental price but discipleship in in our life stage is like it could come from any angle.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Bro I'm getting chills because am I willing to pay the soul price okay physically I know what that means mentally I know what it means to get a degree and blah blah blah get this job but like the the price of my soul to endure hardships to go through pain that I'll never understand to whatever it may be like there's a cost to never being understood.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right like am I willing to go through that so right there's a cost to the soul wow bro thanks for sharing that um so I guess why another layer on this is so interesting he leads off with relationships.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Right good point and some of the most important relationships we have and let me let me say this some to some of the viewers it's really important to establish baseline here.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say a disciple of Jesus you know that word's used over 270 times in the Bible and interesting the word Christian is only used three times.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So when look into what does it really mean to follow Jesus disciples what you want to look at and quick story on how I became a Christian.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: I remember the guy sat down with me was like hey Lawrence what's the difference between a Christian and a disciple I was like got this christians are the Christians are people that go to church on Sunday and disciples are 12 that follow Jesus I got this bro I said that with so much pride because I didn't know anything else they were asking me to go to or go to chain go to Galatians I was like I don't know where that's at but yeah I was like I know this one and they were like actually Lawrence now Christian disciples are the same thing.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So baseline everyone listen Christian disciples are the same thing there is supposed to be no difference.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: So why does Jesus talk about parents first when it comes to the cost of discipleship why do you think he does that's a great question I mean I think the the parent relationship is so important so influential so impactful and you know if we if we went through like an order of importance in relationships especially during this time like you talked about during the Jewish culture at this time you know your your parents direction and your connection to them was was very very high.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think it's challenging the most loyal of our relationships to say even you know obviously like it's not hate in the form we think of hate but anything compared to our connection to Jesus is so far away it's like hate.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or if we have to choose between two we're not like um oh I'm not sure it's like no I'm I'm all in on Jesus so so much so I will I will hate this other option if it's not from Jesus even if it's from my parents my girlfriend myself my spouse my kids yeah that's what I think you did.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what do you think I think the same thing I want to give a shout out to Willie O'Quinn who shared this amazing story at that conference about how in a sense his father's father disowned him pretty much because he chose to follow God and man I was like I didn't I never knew that and so you know shout out to Willie's dad he's a a hero and a and a big guy for our movement he's he's given a lot so I think of him he chose to follow God but it cost him a very important relationship but obviously they did the best they could had a great relationship afterwards it sounds like they you know stayed close but there was a cost right um so so that's what I think of man like yeah like you said it's not God doesn't want us to hate our parents obviously right but love is so different it looks like hate and it makes me think of um D1 basketball and college basketball even pros bro honestly I didn't know what it meant to love basketball until I met you God honest truth I thought I loved basketball but then I was like dang B like thinks about it works out works out a lot and still loves it I'm like I just want to play once a week pretend I hit the game winning shot by myself but like like Brian really plays and then meeting other guys your teammates and the other guy it's like dude it's a whole nother level of devotion like a lifestyle bro yeah I didn't yeah I like it I'm just a casual fan I there's a different level of if you want to be professional collegiate whatever you're gonna sacrifice going out with your friends you're gonna sacrifice doing a lot that they may even feel like man you never hang out with us man what up bro you always got a hoop man come on right right yep so I guess if you want to be the best basketball player there are similarities and being a cyber some integration there are things you do sacrifice as a ball player to be at a certain level just like the side shift yeah like if you related that to a muscle and you said okay I love hoops like bro this we're doing an event this weekend in Pullman it's called the Iceman classic so the way we're doing it's a program so you can be top high school collegiate pro former pro.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so the way that I'm the way that I recruited for for the Iceman classic is I literally Instagram guys do you want a hoop and then I send them the information some of them call me back some of them are just like I'm in some of them hit me up and say can I can I come play so that's the crazy thing about hoopers is they're gonna drive some of these guys are driving five hours to play for one day on their own dime um some of them never been a Pullman before where we are you know we got a guy coming from LA let's go so it's like the love of basketball is real people will do a lot as hoopers and just sacrifice a lot.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you you basically go okay that's great.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: If that is a muscle then we just we got to apply that to discipleship.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: So in the same way I'll sacrifice and I'll drive and I'll go and I'll train and I'll I'll go yep I'm coming it's got to be like that with Jesus and you got to be willing to say I'll sacrifice basketball for Jesus.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wow so he wants me to not do something I will not do it um because my number one is Jesus um and so I like it's amazing to me that these guys are all coming and we're gonna get 30 plus guys let's go playing ball they're gonna play four games it's gonna be incredible but kind of like Jesus said he he says at the end like yeah if you don't do this you can't be my disciple you can't follow me you know that's like imagine like that's not the best recruiting pitch.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: No but but they knew they knew all right I have to do that if I want to follow so I think that love for hoop runs deep and it can be applied to faith but also your faith at the end of the day has to be the ruler that can allow you to sacrifice hoops in any any way shape or form for someone that's hooping or playing any sport at that level is it harder for them to decide to live by faith as a disciple because so much is invested in that dream and goal so going back to earlier our conversation about someone cost your soul so dreams vision your future man are you yeah so is it hard for someone that's so invested in their dream to give it up to live by faith and let God control it a great question bro I think that my gut says some guys and some women going after the dream already feel the tension in their soul I think the key is being willing to let go.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think about this story from Michael Phelps um after he won I think he won 28 medals and 23 are gold and he tells this story or he in this article I read where the he said the most depressing day of his life was the day after he won most of his gold medals he said he stayed in his hotel room all day because he didn't know what to do with his life.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so Lord willing he's in a different place now but I think it illustrates like even a top level multi-million dollar brand name person has a hole in their soul that has to be filled by Jesus.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah so I think it is tough bro but I think it's already the battle's already going on with a lot a lot of people already feel that tension you know that's so true bro in our soul belongs a place for God.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and we can try to fill it but in due time it'll never it we're all broken cups we always empty out it's like that's why Christmas is special but the day after Christmas is like ah this okay we're back to normal life now you know we're we're all broken cups that's so true.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah man so even going back to we talked about earlier about discipleship about Jesus he's trying to get us to see as you said how valuable he is right he's worth everything so bro we got about you know one thing we commit to was like 20 minutes we're at 18 minutes and a half here so one quick practical advice bro okay I'm gonna just I'm someone that wants to love God.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm wrestling I feel that emptiness Brian what are some of the steps that I can do to yeah step into that emptiness find it and then find a solution for it.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean by finding I mean like oh let me not just play video games or go shopping or go on Instagram but how do I really identify what my soul needs and what do I do with that?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think one thing that we did in this time is we broke down the scripture on discipleship.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think one practical way is study out scriptures on discipleship.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: You said it there's over 270 it's mentioned so study out a scripture on discipleship and then you know we we pray before we eat that's a tradition it's a custom pray before you play and so the prayer would be something like allow me to practice discipleship as I play.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so what that means is when I face a decision on I could be spiritual here or I could not I'm gonna I'm gonna carry my cross I'm gonna go to the cross if I feel like cursing if I feel like being disrespect being disrespectful in a negative way to a teammate to a coach to a player um you know I might knock someone down but I'm gonna help them up.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah uh you know I think praying before we play and then looking for opportunities to be a disciple and I I think if we look for him hard enough Jesus will present it it might be in passing it like uh I was playing at the reckless one time and bro you know how it is L when you you see red you just get way too into it and and someone caught a foul and I got way into it and I checked them and um like verbally and I kind of went off and I Realize like I was the only one at that level taking it that far.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I was about to check up and I just go, Hey guys, my bad.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: My bad.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: I might see you at church, you know.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my bad.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I just sometimes I get a little crazy.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: My bad, man.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: They start laughing so hard, right?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then we still have a competitive game, but after the game, it wasn't ugly.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was oh, we can talk.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: So look for those opportunities.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Maintain our relationship.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: One question story I want to add to that too.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, be respectful, obey, be humble.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: But also, if you're like me, that can be insecure and not believing yourself.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Praying before you pray is like, all right, I'm gonna deny that I I am better than what I think I am.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm stronger than what I think I am, and I'm not gonna be afraid, and I'm gonna step in the moment and go all out.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna hold back any let any insecurity or fear hold me back.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to add that piece as well.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, I love that because denial is like your discipline on what not to do, but what you're talking about is yeah, faith as well, like belief, yeah, belief and um being sure of what we hope for, certain of what we don't see, you know.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, what might be great next time, L, is if we talk about the the last couple episodes of the documentary The Court of Gold.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um, I think that's what it's called, the Olympic team.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're they're the breakdown of the last two games, yeah.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: On belief, on faith, on uh nervousness, insecurity, what was on the line, and how they handled that, and then maybe talking about how to relate that to our faith.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Cool, cool.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: All right, last plug about this event that you want to do.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's coming up.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so Iceman Classic.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're in Beasley Coliseum, it's where the Washington State Cougars play.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a free event.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's coming on their own dime.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, cost nothing to get in.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: We have four games.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have all four teams are gonna play twice.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: We have a dunk contest.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's someone coming from Seattle who specializes in dunk contests called named Jay Meeks.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we got some collegiate players playing, a former pro, Brian Green, who played in the NBA.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, guys, you don't want to miss this.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: You could just we're gonna have food there.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, literally, you could show up at 11:30, catch the first game at 12, relax all day, kick it in Beasley, and watch games all day.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you have opportunities to act like a disciple.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can fellowship with people, you can serve people, you could pray with people if you want.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's no rules against that.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: So come check us out, Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, 12 o'clock, all the way till 8 p.m.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: this Saturday, August 8th, Iceman Classic.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, close down in prayer, bro.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Heavenly Father God, thank you uh for this time with L and uh just catching up and talking about discipleship and how Jesus recruited God.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for his teachings that we read now today, that even in 2026, we can feel the um the challenge of the call to discipleship, uh, but also the treasure of getting to be with Jesus, uh making decisions in our soul, in our minds, uh in our hearts, um, you know, with our bodies that that honor Him.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: And pray that we can carry out his discipleship today and for the rest of our life, God.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Pray that um as we are involved in sports, whether we play, we coach, we parent, that we would use them as a tool to learn about our faith and learn about Jesus Christ.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh pray you bless Lawrence and all his work and uh leading his family, Father, and uh allow us to be humble leaders and examples for you.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: We love you.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: In your son, Jesus' name we pray.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.