Latest / Gospel Talks Podcast / #98 - Are You Playing It Too Safe With Evangelism?

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#98 - Are You Playing It Too Safe With Evangelism? · Gospel Talks Podcast

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A lot of people are under the impression that the great risk
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in evangelism is rejection, and that's not it.
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The great risk in evangelism is burying the opportunities God has entrusted to us.
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We're gonna be in Matthew twenty-five,
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starting in verse fourteen in this episode.
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And you know, most Christians are trying to minimize risk.
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We avoid awkward conversations,
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we don't want to offend people,
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we don't want to lose relationships,
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we definitely don't want rejection and
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You know, when I read the parable of the talents,
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it almost seems like Jesus is criticizing the servant who avoided risk.
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So today I want to ask,
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is safe Christianity actually faithful Christianity?
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Welcome to Gospel Talks Podcast,
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where we help Christians all over the world become more effective
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in relational evangelism and discipleship.
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My name is George Binocka. With me today is Jeff Musgrave,
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the author and founder of the Exchange.
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Jeff, how are you doing?
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Doing good. It's it's a blazing eighty eight degrees here.
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I say that just to pick on you a little bit.
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Man, it it trials, trials.
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It's it's a beautiful Colorado day here and we are loving life.
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I love that picture in the background over there.
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If you guys are listening, you can go on YouTube and see it.
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But it's the it's cross as a bridge and ~ what what an amazing
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no better backdrop for the Gospel Talks podcast.
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I have a couple of reminders in my office here.
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I'm gonna mention another one in this podcast.
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~ very cool. Very cool. I look forward to it.
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Well, you know, Jeff, when most people read the parable the talents,
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they think about money. But is there broad broader principle there that applies
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to evangelism that Jesus is teaching?
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I think everything applies to everything when Jesus is talking.
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I mean, that's just the way it works.
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But this particular parable is found in the Olivet Discourse.
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Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives talking to his disciples.
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They ask him several questions,
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but one of them was, ~ what will be the sign of your coming?
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What will be the sign of the end of the age?
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And ~ Jesus gives them a good bit of teaching.
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This story is kind of
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embedded in the middle of all of that.
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The basic
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And
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story is that there are three servants and each of them are given
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one to five talents. Now when we hear the word talent immediately we think
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of you know a skill or something.
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It's actually a monetary unit.
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It's it's worth 20 years of a laborer's wages.
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So
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Mm.
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it's been estimated in today's money somewhere between
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Three quarters to a million dollars.
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And so it's a large amount of money,
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and it's best represented as capital for an investment.
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So the the the key here is that at the
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end of an unspecified time,
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these servants had to settle accounts with their master,
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and ~
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Mm.
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two of them were commended.
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For doubling the initial investment.
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And the third was condemned for,
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and these are the words that you used earlier,
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playing it safe. and I I think that we need to remember that this
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is not actually talking about money.
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I love to think of it this way:
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this is a Randy Alcorn thing, my time,
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my talent, my treasure. So yes,
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it includes money.
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But it includes ~ you know this the skills God has given me and it includes
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the the time. So I think all
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Mm-hmm.
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those we have to recognize this life is not mine.
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It's it's actually on loan to me by my master to do his work.
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Just like those
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Mm.
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servants were called to do their master's work,
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and literally they he said, This is my money,
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I want you to invest it into
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things that are going to bring me profit.
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And so I George, I can't think of something that would bring Jesus more profit than
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building the kingdom and telling people about Jesus.
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So yes, it includes evangelism.
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Hm. I I love the way Randy Alcorn says that.
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I love the way you tie y you know,
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you play off of that. ~ and so th there's a lot of things included in that that
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are not just money. So this is not not just about money,
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it's about risk. That's really what this is about opportunity and risk.
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Absolutely. ~ I I think one of the things that I take away from that parable
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is that ~ God has deeply invested in me.
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~ I it
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Hm.
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maybe we can say it this way, ~ God God believes in me.
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I mean, I
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Mm.
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I I think sometimes I don't know whether you're this way,
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George, but I have pictures of myself that are lodged in my brain of
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a little kid sitting in a classroom that can't hardly read.
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And the teachers coming around for me to read and I'm t terrified
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of talking in front of all these people.
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And you know, the I I kind of think in terms of I'm no good,
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I can't do anything. And
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Mm.
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~ th these servants that the master left this talent with,
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this was a huge investment. the master believed in them.
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He believed that they could accomplish great work for him.
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And ~ I just love being able to go away from this parable thinking,
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you know, God believes in me. And I for anyone who's listening today,
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I just want to encourage you to genuinely know God believes in you.
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we have everything we need to do the work that God's calling us to.
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so I think one of the things that's cool about this particular ~ parable is that.
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he he dealt with each one of these servants individually.
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~
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Mm.
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George, I I always think of you as a five-talent ~ servant.
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You've you've always got about 15 balls in the air,
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and I feel like you know, I'm playing with this one little ball over here.
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~ but but the cool thing is that God
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Mm.
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knows me, he knows you, he gives us exactly what we need,
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and he gives
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us the sphere of influence that we can handle.
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And and what he wants us to do is not to be concerned about our ability,
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but to focus on our opportunity.
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Yes.
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You know, these are the places God wants me to to serve.
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And then one of the things that really this this is convicting to me.
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God provided my life and all of this influence that he's given me,
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not for my personal enjoyment,
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but for
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my effective service for him. That just really,
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really strikes me powerfully when I think of that particular parable.
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And then the last thing of it is there's a there's an accounting coming.
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And ~ you know you and I are in different age categories,
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but w we we know that whether it's a long life or
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a a short life,
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we're we're gonna end this life someday and we're going to give ~ an account
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for how we invested ~ the life that God gave us.
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we've said this before. I have a dear friend who used to teach me,
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life is short, eternity is long,
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invest wisely.
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Hmm. I love that. I love that.
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I've heard too, God is good, the need is great,
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we must contend, but I I think similar philosophies,
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you know, where it's like, everybody's got a candle,
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y nobody knows how long their candle is,
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but you should burn really bright until it runs out.
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Yep.
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Absolutely.
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Hmm. Well, ~ you know,
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we're supposed to be busy about the master's work.
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One of the things that comes up in that parable when you're interpreting it,
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and I'm sure you've run into this,
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you've preached that passage as a pastor,
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and maybe even preached in other churches,
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but one of the things that comes up is one of the excuses of that third servant was,
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Well, you're harsh. I know you to be a hard man.
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I
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know that you take without getting and you know,
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~ there was like this like you're un you're an unreasonable master,
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~ which is obviously a wrong view of God,
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but maybe you could talk us through that part of it.
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Yeah. And I think there are three things here that I see either
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I condemn this servant for the way he acted,
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or God verbally condemns him. And the first is I knew you to be a hard man.
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And I I actually think that it reveals to ~ of all of us
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we we can easily get a wrong view of God
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Mm.
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and think of him as a tyrant, as
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demanding way more than than I could ever give.
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And you know, God just it wants too much.
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And and he says this: I knew you to be a hard man.
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And I actually think Jesus is trying to reflect for each of us.
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Don't
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Yeah.
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let yourself think of God this way,
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because God is not hard. God is gracious and He
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Mm.
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loves you. He He wants you to succeed.
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And and
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Mm-hmm.
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then the second thing that I see here that He was condemned for.
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or maybe I should say I condemn him.
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He said because I knew you were a hard man,
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I was afraid. And I
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Mm.
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I think he let fear control his decisions and he didn't even try.
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He he he hid
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Mm.
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his talents. and and as a result of that he was called a wicked and lazy servant.
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What a what a horrible I mean
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Mm. Mm.
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I I
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I can honestly say that one of the things that I long for more than anything else
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is to hear my Lord say to me, Well
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Mm.
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done, thou good and faithful servant.
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And I cannot imagine I I know there is no punishment in because
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God took all my punishment, but I can't imagine what it would be like
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to hear God say to a servant,
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which he obviously will. This is part of the picture.
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You wicked and lazy servant. You you you you you didn't even put the least amount
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of effort into this.
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You know, you just Yeah. I've never thought about that before.
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You just you just crack something open I've never thought about before,
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which is we always know we wanna hear Well done thou good and faithful servant.
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You wonder what what what is the other option that day.
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What's the other thing he would say?
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And this is it. This is the other thing.
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This is you're either gonna hear that or you're gonna hear something like this.
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And ~ you know, you wicked servant,
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boy,
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That that that would be so
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A lot of the reasons people do this kind of approach to evangelism or in
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the case of the servant, this kind of approach to investing in the kingdom is,
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you know, they're they're withheld by fear,
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but is is fear a sin in you know,
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in and of itself or does
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Yeah.
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it lead
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to sin or
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I I think everybody kind of logically says,
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I can't help it when I'm afraid.
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You know, fear how can fear be a sin?
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And and I have to agree, fear is an emotion.
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Fear is not a sin. ~ we can
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Hmm.
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influence our emotions, but frankly,
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emotions come, emotions go, and and we we we don't give them permission to do so.
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I don't know if you ever face this,
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but I
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Find that my fears come unbidden.
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I don't tell them to come, they just do.
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that's not the sin. ~ the sin
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Mm.
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is when we let fear control our actions.
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~
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Mm.
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famous saying: bravery is not the absence of fear.
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Brave your bravery is doing what we ought to do in the presence of fear.
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And so fear fear is
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unavoidable. I mean, all of us face fears.
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It's
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Right.
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it's what are we gonna do when we're afraid?
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Yep. Yeah, when you still do the right thing when you're scared.
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That I mean that that's what bravery and courage look like.
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And most of the guys who are doing the brave thing are scared while they do it.
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I mean, we all think of that Navy SEAL and we just think Navy SEALs have this gene
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where they don't have fear. It's not true.
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If you talk if you listen to like interviews with a Navy SEAL and things like that,
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it's not true. They they are scared.
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But they they have this ability to do what's right,
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do what they need to do th in their training and all that kind of thing.
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in the face of fear. Now, some of us act like what Jesus really hates
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is when we're unsuccessful.
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Yeah.
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and yet in this parable, what Jesus actually condemned was inactivity.
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Why do you think Jesus condemned inactivity more than unsuccessful effort?
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Yeah, I I I talk to a lot of people about evangelism and and some people think,
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you know, I'm I'm just not good at that.
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I I mean and I think it's important for us to remember that Jesus gave
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to each one according to their ability.
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He knows our abilities. He he doesn't hold us accountable for what we can't do,
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but he does hold us accountable for what we are supposed to do and what
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he knows we can do. ~ so
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Mm-hmm.
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I I think
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This is bottom line. Try your best,
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God will reward you, period. That's it.
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I mean, the same commendation for the two talent servant as for
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the five talent servant. Literally,
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the guy had more than twice as much success from what
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he gained from the talents. but but
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The other one who didn't have nearly the same ability still got commended
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in the exact same way. So ~
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Mm.
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I actually to tell you the truth,
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George, I don't think most of us are afraid of our failure nearly so much
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as we are afraid of our rejection.
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You know, the Bible
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Yeah.
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says fear of fear of man's brings a snare,
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but those who trust in the Lord are safe.
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And and I think we just have to recognize God is going to help me.
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I can step out and it it's so it's it's not about me.
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It's about trusting and and letting God help me do.
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So I I I don't think we have to be afraid of success or failure.
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Just try.
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Hmm. Yeah, I think I think that's wonderful.
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So to bring this down into like reality and start to speak
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in practical practical terms for the audience,
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wha how have you seen fear keep us as believers away from being faithful witnesses?
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I I can't really speak for anybody else,
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but I I know fears kept me from witnessing before,
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and I think you and I've talked about this.
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I have not outgrown that fear.
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I I I don't think I'm going to.
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I think it's too late for me. but I I think that we tend to say things like,
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you know, I I just gonna wait for just the right moment.
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I I've got to see this this great,
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you know, maybe
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Opportunity and and quite frankly,
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I think maybe we're waiting for someone to ask us,
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could you please talk to me about Jesus?
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And it it has happened a a time or two to me,
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but not very often. I mean, that doesn't happen.
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I I think in my head I have these voices that says I can't you know,
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just put it off. And ~ there's this truth that really speaks to me,
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Those are all voices in my head from the enemy.
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And time
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Mm.
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is on his side. If he just keeps me quiet long enough,
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he wins. And so
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Mm.
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I have to remember these this is not those voices in my head telling me
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to wait are are not are not my friend.
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They're not helping me.
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So I know what's gonna happen.
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Somebody's gonna go away from this episode and they said,
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Take risks. The next time the president is in town,
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they're gonna run at the president with the Bible and they will have taken
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a fatal risk. When we say taking risks in evangelism,
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I think we should clarify what do we mean?
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What don't we mean?
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Yeah.
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Yeah. Well we don't mean being inappropriate.
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we don't mean being rude. I actually go so far as this.
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we don't mean being corny. I mean I hear some people try to
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go from how hot it is outside to talking about Jesus and they're they
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end up saying things that are corny.
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~ here's what it means to me, and I told you I was gonna bring this up.
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~ sitting right over here in my office is a sign that is my life's resolve
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and it's here reminding me. I resolve to direct every conversation
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I possibly can to the theme of themes,
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learn of that soul's need, and if possible,
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meet it. So that's that's really what we mean is just we're gonna look
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for opportunities, we're gonna pray for opportunities,
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we're gonna work.
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move conversations toward opportunities,
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and then we're gonna take every comp opportunity that that God gives us.
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Hm. Well, I'm in full agreement.
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We have to be courage courageous,
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sorry, in the biblical sense. I guess to play devil's advocate,
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how's that different from being reckless or obnoxious?
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What's the principle there?
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Well, I think underlying principle in my mind,
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it this is one of those ~ kind of rules.
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~ show genuine interest and concern for the person I'm talking to.
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So this is not about me getting through something.
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This is not about me talking up anything.
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I I care about this person. ~ I here's another thing that it looks like.
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It looks like inviting that person.
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So in other words, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna push them,
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I'm not gonna force them.
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I'm gonna invite them. I love the picture of Philip and Nathaniel.
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He he went to to Nathaniel.
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Nathaniel was a little standoffish and pushed back.
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And Philip just said, Hey, come and see Jesus.
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And this is just a simple invitation.
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We're not trying
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Mm.
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to force someone, but I am gonna do my best.
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And George, this is important to me.
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I'm gonna do my best to be so friendly and so kind that they wanna talk
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to me and find out what makes it tick.
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Hm.
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I love that. Yep. be be attractive.
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There's an attractiveness to to a Christian.
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Yeah. Yeah. Maybe maybe
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we can think of it this way, George.
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I know that the person I'm talking to has a deadly disease.
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And I know that I know about a cure for their deadly disease.
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And that they
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Mm.
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may not even know that they have this disease.
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And and so I I I have to remember that.
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frankly, it may be that other people have already tried to talk to them about other
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cures and it didn't help.
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And they they you know they got they get sold a bill of goods and or maybe worse.
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And so I've I've gotta be gentle,
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I've gotta be patient, but because I care about this person and I know that what
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I have can save his life, I'm gonna be persistent,
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I'm gonna keep trying to to reach him.
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And I think that there's this courageousness that comes from care ~ rather
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Mm.
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than
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from from duty or responsibility or I'm right,
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I know things. And ~ you know,
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this is just it's a life and death matter and and we we have
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to recognize these people are a little hesitant.
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They've been burnt many times but but we still know that what we have Jesus
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is gonna help them. my cuckoo clock,
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sorry about that. That's also another thing I have in my office.
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I love that cuckoo clock. ~ so can you share I don't know if you'd
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be willing to share a wise example of a gospel risk you've taken in your life?
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Yeah, I knew you were gonna ask me this question,
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so I kind of thought through it.
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I I I think I've told this story before,
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but I don't know if I've ever told this story in this situation.
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at a funeral that I preached, I had a man,
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dear friend of mine now, come up to me and quite frankly was shocked
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and a little maybe even I wouldn't say ~ put off,
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but ~ scoffing.
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of about something that I had said.
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And instead of getting self-conscious and trying to defend myself,
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I just asked Michael, ~ would would you be willing to do a four-lesson Bible study
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with me that that actually talks about these things?
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And you can
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Yeah.
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see the claims for the Bible yourself and and
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Mm-hmm.
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make your own decision about it.
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And ~ and this conversation that could have easily gone from
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you know defensiveness and kind of self-consciousness,
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it really began ~ a quest on his side and on my side to help him see
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the truth from the Bible. And it took several months,
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but it resulted in Michael and his entire family coming to Christ and
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and living for the Lord. And so I I I feel like
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You know, number one, we know the risk is worth it,
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but number two, we can take the risk in such a way that we're drawing people,
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not pushing people.
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Mm. I love that. So
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What are Christians really afraid of?
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I mean I've wondered that for a long time,
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but what do you think Christians are really afraid of?
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Yeah. Well, I think most of us believe you know,
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rejection is a powerful thing.
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And and I don't know if I've ever said this before,
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but rejection is really not powerful.
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Fear of rejection is powerful.
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I mean, that's what makes
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Mm.
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my hands sweat. That's what makes my speech jittery.
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that's what and sometimes I I literally hear a shaking in my voice.
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Some that's what makes my heart race.
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but George
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When I have been bold and someone shuts me down,
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Mm-hmm.
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I I I go away with a sense of victory knowing that I I try.
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I mean I
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~ they
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they wouldn't listen, ~ but I I know I did the right thing.
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What really hurts me, I mean I I just am trying to be honest,
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is when I chicken out, I feel defeated,
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I feel angry at myself, and I
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Mm.
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I
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Actually think we have to remember this.
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Rejection is not nearly as as powerful as we think it is.
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It just ~ it just seems powerful at the moment.
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Mm. How do we overcome that fear of what people think or what they might do?
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Yeah. I think we have to remember fears don't go away.
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I I do think that we can get ourselves to become a stronger Christian,
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reading the Bible, going to church,
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going to small group. I mean those things are gonna genuinely help.
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I you were talking about the SEALs and and they are afraid,
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but they follow through with their training.
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I I just really believe biblical training and how to
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direct conversations to the gospel,
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practicing. I mean, these are all things that are going to help.
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However, bottom line, the only way to deal with our fears is to face them.
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And I actually think that one of the great ways to overcome the fear
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of talking to someone is making a commitment.
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I mean I I am going to talk to some s somebody within a and then give yourself
23:30
a a period of time
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Right.
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in this
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next conversation, we have to when fear is keeping us from doing something
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we have to recognize it we have to face it and then we have to make make choices
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that change that. when Anna, my wife,
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recognized that her fears were keeping her from
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Witnessing like she wanted to.
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She overcame her fears by making a commitment.
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And she's this was her commitment.
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I I will always be doing at least one exchange Bible study with someone.
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And
24:02
Mm.
24:03
we spent the entire next year doing Bible study after Bible study after Bible study.
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And she would tell you, I I those fears have not gone away,
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but but she's bold enough to take action these days.
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And we do.
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One of the things I'm thinking about right now from the parable of talent
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as it relates to that is it was really obvious that the servant
24:25
was mostly concerned with his own reputation and w did really did
24:30
not think about how this would impact his master's reputation.
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Is there a difference when we maybe out of fear hesitate to share
24:39
our faith or whatever?
24:41
Thing we're struggling with is there a difference between protecting
24:44
our reputation in that moment and protecting Christ's reputation?
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How does that affect Christ's reputation?
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I think two things are th are a thing here.
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one is that guy's reputation was not very good in heaven.
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I
24:56
Mm.
24:57
mean, in heaven he was called lazy and wicked.
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And it it depends on whose reputation you're standing before.
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I mean I I I I want I I wanna remember he's looking at me today and I I want
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him to be pleased with me today.
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but number two, I love the thought of living for the sake of the gospel,
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living for the sake of his name.
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~
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Mm.
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The Bible makes it clear that if we s live for Jesus' name,
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that he he said it this way, ~ everyone who's left houses or mothers
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or sisters or fathers for my name's sake will receive hundredfold.
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Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
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And and God
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is going to to smile on us as we live for his name's sake,
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not our own.
25:37
Mm,
25:38
I love that. Well, we're kind of at the halfway point.
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I don't wanna start on the next question with you 'cause it opens up a whole
25:46
new can of worms and we're not gonna have time to wrap it up with a bow.
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But anything else you wanna say before we get ready to wrap it up,
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Jeff?
25:54
I really love the thought that if we just ask God,
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God, give me someone specific,
26:02
someone that I am praying for and aiming for,
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and and looking for opportunities to reach that person,
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then what I find is that when I'm living that way about a specific person,
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I see other opportunities as well.
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And so
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Yeah.
26:17
I think that's one of the ways that we can begin having just a a a more courageous,
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more bold by praying for someone in particular that we're burdened for.
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Yeah. And
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Some of the most rewarding opportunities are risky,
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and risk is the price you pay for opportunity.
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And if there's never a risk in anything you do as a Christian,
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I wonder if we're doing something worth our while on this earth.
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And so I would just encourage you guys in the audience,
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you know, we we pray every week,
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pray for you. We ask you to pray with us.
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We're praying the Lord of the harvest.
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And there's a risk in running a farm,
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there's a risk in running a ranch.
26:58
There's a risk in sowing and waiting and being dependent and reaping
27:03
and things being out of your control.
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But but that's a risk we don't take with nothing.
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~ it's a risk we take in prayer.
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You know, it's a risk we take praying the whole time.
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And so pray to the Lord to harvest you would send forth laborers.
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That's the risk we're taking as a ministry is we can't bring about revival,
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but God can through you. And so it starts with one.
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And love you guys.
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we'll do part two of this, these risks and evangelism.
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We'll do part two next week. We'll see you guys then.