Latest / The Extra Mile Podcast / What Are You Putting Your Faith In? (with Pastor Austin Young)

Transcript

What Are You Putting Your Faith In? (with Pastor Austin Young) · The Extra Mile Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: And we already think we know our future based on the fear we're feeling.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, man, that's what faith in God is about.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Is God's like, hey, I have your future, I have where you're going, I have the situation under control.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: That's what putting faith in God is.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: Fear comes in and says, hey, no, put your faith in me.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Like your life is wrecked.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna lose your house.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna graduate, whatever it is.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: And so fear is such a dominant place that I think a lot of people, Christians especially, tend to put their faith rather.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: Hey, welcome everybody to the XMOP podcast.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: Again, back at the table with Pastor Austin Young.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: I have to say this at the beginning: either I'm overdressed or you're underdressed.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm underdressed.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe we're just doing ministry appropriate, we're dressed appropriate for the ministry we had.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm like next gen, and this is my version of cool.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: And I'm the lead pastor at a funeral.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: So you got a jacket.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: Just wanted to get that out of the way.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: Hey, we had a conversation this past Sunday on really what I call the crux of Christianity, which is ultimately Christ, but without without us putting faith in who Jesus is and what he's done, it's really a gift that we never have access to.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: And so we had a conversation on that part of our spiritual journey is God moves us from being people of unbelief to faith.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: And it starts with this idea that Jesus commands us, hey, have faith in God.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: And so, which means a couple of things.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: Number one, faith isn't automatic.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, and we all have faith, but like it's not automatic to have faith in God.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: And number two, it it tells me that it's a it's a decision that you can make.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we had a big conversation, hit a lot of topics.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: I just would love to hear maybe some feedback right out of the gate, maybe what struck you in the conversation.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the illustration that I've come back to was what you opened the message with about that that rope suspension bridge in Ohio and kind of this idea of like having faith that that bridge, even though the engineers check it, like you know it's safe and you understand, like, hey, it's passed all the tests, like, but you don't actually have faith in it until you put all your weight on it.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: And so, like, I think of that because like I'm a bigger dude.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm hoping they're editing this in a way people can't tell.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: But it's like, if I don't see the number 300 on the side of a ladder, I'm like, I'd like someone else to go up before me before I do.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I've never been 300, but like 300 recognizes me.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, I don't like going up on ladders until I see someone like similar size do it.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, I totally identified with that idea of like, I don't want to put all my weight on this thing.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I I want to test it out a little bit.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: And so I I think that's what's what's been kind of going over in my head is like, am I putting my full weight like that that type of faith?
2:43
SPEAKER_00: Or am I just putting half my weight and being like, I don't know if it can handle all of it, I don't know if it can handle the full weight of of my family.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: Of our whole life, yeah.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: You know, I have a similar story.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: So um probably 20 years ago, bungee jumping really started getting big.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And I was a bigger guy than I was about probably 280, 285.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: And I remember paying the, I think it was a hundred bucks to jump.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: We paid, I walked up these steps, and up these steps are all these kind of regulations and signs and warnings.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, one was I think it was a max weight limit of 275.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: And I remember I was close and probably over.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: And I remember getting like letting this guy buckle me up the whole time thinking, I don't think this is gonna, I'm gonna die.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: I don't think, I don't think this can hold me.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: But you know, I thought I'm close enough and I jumped off without this assurance that I was gonna live truly.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: So I'm screaming not of it out of excitement.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: It was fear.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: But I think again, that those illustrations are a great example of that Jesus can, his promises that he can bear the weight of our sin, our life, our family, our future, our eternity.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: But we have to trust him, and that's what putting faith is.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, the Bible gives a great definition.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: What is faith?
3:53
SPEAKER_01: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence of things not seen.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: And so the way I try to make it clear to our church family and to people listening is that that faith is believing God's promises over what we can see, you know, what God said over what we can see, that his promises or are valid even if they're not visible.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: And that's really what it means to have trust in God.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: We live in a world where God is invisible, he's a spirit.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: His promises, it's not like we can grab them, they're written in the word.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: So how do we have faith?
4:24
SPEAKER_01: And it is that full trust in our heart, in our spirit, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna step out and I'm gonna put my trust, I'm gonna put my weight into this promise.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: And so um was a big conversation that I hope helped a lot of people.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, had a lot of facets.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what what's some other takeaways you had?
4:41
SPEAKER_00: I feel like this is kind of what I say every time, but having been in church most of my life, which I think most of our listeners are probably at least church adjacent most of their life, you kind of go, Well, yeah, I'm saved by faith.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: Like you hear that phrase, saved, saved by grace through faith.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, I trust that Jesus can forgive my sin.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm all in on that.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's not a doubt.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: I've put my full weight and trusting in his forgiveness.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: But then I think the other thing that you started talking about was do I have that same level of faith in every area of my life?
5:16
SPEAKER_00: And there are some that yes, I do, and then there's some that it's like, well, no, I'm still trusting in other things or myself.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: And I think as you dove into that, I I definitely identified with that too, is the ongoing faith, not just the faith of salvation.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, the point of the whole series is like as we're relocated after salvation, it's not just that one moment, it is now our whole lives.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think for um for a lot of people, including myself, it's it's easy for us to get there where, especially in in 21st century American Christianity, we tend to think that salvation means when we die, we get to go to heaven.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: And that's not why Jesus came.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, I came to give you life.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: And that starts right now.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: So it's not one day or when I die or hopefully an eternity, but right now Jesus wants to change our lives.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: And that's what makes the gospel so powerful is it's life-changing today.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: But the way we start salvation, the way we start our journey is by faith.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul said.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: We're saved by grace through faith.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: It's not of ourselves, so nobody can boast.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: It's not anything we can earn.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: It is a gift that God's given us that we access by faith.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: I put my faith, I put my trust in who Jesus is and what he's done.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: And in that transaction of putting my faith in the gift of grace, salvation happens.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: But again, we slowly just somehow either just pin that on eternity and don't think anything more about faith, or we do, but I use a term that uh I don't think anybody else has used.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: I kind of made it up, but uh functional unbelievers.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: That there are people sitting in church that, you know, I think they would say they they know some things about Jesus, they know the Bible, they sing songs, but functionally, the way they function in their life is they they we are far more dependent on our abilities, our strength, who we know than we are on the living God.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a functional unbeliever.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: That's somebody who started in faith, but we start depending on our abilities and our works.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: And it's easy for all of us to get there.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's just a dangerous spot because if we're not sufficient, which is why we need Jesus.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: And if I'm not sufficient to start this thing, I'm not sufficient to continue it, man.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: So we need faith every day, not just to start our spiritual journey.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And I I think it comes back to that.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: He's the author and perfecter or finisher of our faith.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: And I think so often we're like, yeah, he'll finish it when I die and he'll go to heaven.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, the it's a process of finishing, it's a process of of continuing to work that out and that's what do you think?
7:44
SPEAKER_01: What do you think for you it would look like to say, hey, I'm I'm continuing to have faith?
7:47
SPEAKER_01: How do you think that fleshes out in our lives to say, hey, I didn't just pray a prayer at fifth grade camp, Jesus come into my life, you know, I trust you as my savior.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: How do you think that fleshes out daily for us to continue to walk in faith?
7:59
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of it for me personally has to do um with control and anxiety.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: I think those are the two for me is I'm I'm constantly I I my parents raised me to have a good work ethic.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: I've worked and worked hard.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: Like I that's a natural thing, like an achievement mindset, a work hard mindset.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: So I very much rely on me being able to control a situation.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, well, if I just work hard enough, I'll be able to make this happen.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, oh, I need to pay a bill, I can pick up extra hours, I can pick up a side, like I can make that work for me.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: I need to take control and make that work.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: And then if I don't feel like I have the control, I get super anxious, super worried, super kind of start to spiral and be like, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know how I'm gonna handle this and hold this all together.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where that faith comes in, is I'm not willing to put all of the weight on God.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And not meaning like obviously I need to work, I need to keep a job, I need to be and I need to be smart with my spending, all of that.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: But if I get into a pickle, I my first move is not like, hey, God, like is what what do I need to do to get out of this?
9:11
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, well, I'll just figure this out and knock it out.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: And then if if I finally come to the end of myself, that's right, then I might ask God, be like, all right, dude, I tried everything.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time for you to tap in.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: But I don't go to him first.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: To me, I think that's, and I've been really trying to live this out my life in my entire life as a Christ follower.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: But again, anytime you preach something, that's that just becomes what's on your radar.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's starting your life and starting your day, starting your issue with prayer and faith.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: Not it's on the front end, it's not on the back end.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: So that's what it means to live by faith.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, ask the question who uh who was responsible for delivering the nation of Israel from Egypt?
9:47
SPEAKER_01: Was it Moses or God?
9:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, who was responsible for delivering Israel from the Gideonites in in Judges 6?
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Was it Gideon or the Midianites?
9:57
SPEAKER_01: Was it Gideon or was it God?
9:58
SPEAKER_01: It was, you know, it was funny hearing people in the service.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: Some are like, God, and some are, you know, Gideon.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And uh then some people figured out by the third one, hey, the 450 prophets of Baal, who delivered them?
10:09
SPEAKER_01: Was it Elijah or God?
10:10
SPEAKER_01: And people were like, I don't really know if I know the answer.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: And it really is people walking by faith.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: It was Elijah, it was Moses, um, it was Gideon, but they could only do it with God's strength.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: So we have a life to live.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: You you have a house payment to make, you have kids to raise, you know, I have a ministry to leave, we have things to do.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: We just can't sit back and say, hey God, I have faith that you're gonna do it all.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: No, he's gonna, he's gonna do it, but he's gonna do it through us.
10:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: So to me, again, fleshing out our faith on a daily basis is starting by stay starting on the promise, beginning with the hope in God, and not on the back end after we've exhausted our resources.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's what it is for me for sure.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you know, um, one of the ways I talked about the way we experience faith, because there's a positive side that we have faith in God.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: We have faith that there is a true living God who loves us, who has a plan for our life, who's expressed that plan through his promises as revealed in his word.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's the faith we're supposed to have.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: But we shift our faith and we have faith, but we tend to put faith in other things.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: And I made this statement that fear is a strange form of faith.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Because there's a lot of us, let's be honest.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean, me included, that fear creeps into our life.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: We get a letter in the mail, we visit a doctor and get a diagnosis, get a late notice, whatever it is, and all of a sudden this fear rises up on the inside of us, and we already think we know our future based on the fear we're feeling.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, man, that's what faith in God is about, is God's like, hey, I have your future, I have where you're going, I have the situation under control.
11:43
SPEAKER_01: That's what putting faith in God is.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Fear comes in and says, Hey, no, put your faith in me.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: Like your life is wrecked, you're gonna lose your house, you're not gonna graduate, whatever it is.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: And so fear is such a dominant place that I think a lot of people, Christians especially, tend to put their faith rather than in God.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: I I mean, I think that kind of plays into that anxious side of me.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't call it fear because I want to try to be a man, but that's what it is deep down.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: It's not just anxiety and worry, it's fear that this this future or this disaster that I have foreseen is the thing that has the most power and is the thing that is going to come to fruition rather than trusting that what God might intervene, what God might do with the situation could actually be the future that happens.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, what do we trust?
12:39
SPEAKER_01: Do we trust circumstances or we trust Christ?
12:42
SPEAKER_01: So I I, you know, I went on and said not just uh not just um uh fear, but anger.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Again, anger is us.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Either we trust God to work the situation out or we feel like, no, I need to impose my will, I need to impose my emotions.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: Again, not that we should not engage if something is wrong or unjust, but at the end of the day, either we believe justice is ours or we believe it belongs to the Lord.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: It can't be both.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, greed.
13:09
SPEAKER_01: So these things that we tend to walk in that the Bible says are evidence that we're walking in the flesh as opposed to the spirit.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: We're putting faith, we're putting faith in ourselves that if I'm greedy enough to hold on my stuff, I'll have stuff.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: When the reality is, man, God's our provider.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Impatience is another place we put our faith, man.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: We just we just can't wait.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: So we step in.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: We date the we date a person we shouldn't date because we're tired of waiting for the right person.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And so, God, you know, I got this.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: And so I just would say to everybody watching this that um that real practical faith is not this spiritual, you know, I don't know.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: It's not something that just happens on a Sunday morning.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: It's not a feeling you have when you sing a song, it's living with this full confidence that that God really has the facets of my life, that God really has promises for my family, for my future, for my ministry.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: And I have to start my day believing and putting my hope in those promises.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: And that means sometimes taking steps of faith, which means I don't really want to do that, but in order to walk out the promise, that's the direction I got to get on the bridge if I'm gonna get to the other side.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's really good.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: I and I think that's I I think that would be the key for me too, is kind of like I said, I I usually end with looking to faith and looking to God.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: But like if you can start with that, you come at it more hopeful too, and you come at it with a clearer mind.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: And if you're automatically starting out going, God, I want I want you to handle this, yeah, then that natural, like, well, then you need to do this.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: That next step, that step of faith will make more sense, I think.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: And it won't feel like, oh man, I've got to do this, or it will fall apart.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: But like, I think God's got it, and I think he wants me to do this.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: It more changes your perspective than maybe even changing what needs to happen or what will happen.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: It's more changing your mindset and your heart towards it as one of faith over fear, for sure.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: What do you uh what do you feel like most people struggle with?
15:07
SPEAKER_01: When you hear again faith, like why do we have to have the conversation?
15:12
SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible says we all have a measure of faith.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Why do we have to have a conversation?
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Why do you think maybe faith isn't just just automatic, like, hey, I just walk up and I'm in faith and it's in God?
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Why is it such a struggle to keep putting it back in God?
15:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, you could break it down into a lot of things.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: I think just sin and culture and the world um doesn't have that.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: I think I think that's what started in the Garden of Eden.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: If you want to go all the way back to there, is you know, the enemy was like you know, don't don't trust that God has your best intentions.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: There's something he's holding out on.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: If you if you would just take control, take a little more agency, then you could have something different and better that you might be missing out on.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: That was kind of the original deception.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that has just grown and continued that same deception.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I also just I think we're we're naturally going to choose to rely on ourselves, I think, especially in the Western American church, that's the American dream is to like pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make it happen because we live in a land that has opportunity and that you can kind of make your own way when it comes to economics.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: We think that applies to every part of our lives.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, then I can make my own way as a husband, I can make my own way as a father.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: And it's like it's a lot easier to make your own way as a businessman than it is as a father and a husband, and you don't realize that until you're in the thick of it, I think.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: So I think a lot of that all combines to just not be our natural reaction is to ask for help or to seek something beyond ourselves.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I um I would agree wholeheartedly.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: I I think part of that maybe you're talking about is pride.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: Like we just depend depend on ourselves over God.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: I think the other side, and I think this is almost increasing more.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: Not that pride is not a constant battle, but I think it's pressure.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: Like we feel like we have to do something now.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: And let's be honest, God is patient.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: Part of faith is learning to be still and know that he's God.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: It's waiting on God.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I heard a man a story years ago, and it's crazy that that it sticks to me, uh sticks with me, but it was a story that our um Ohio State uh youth youth leader at the denomination I was a part of, he told that they had a family car, and uh, I think the transmission went out and they didn't have money to go get a new car, and so had to have a car.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: So they went out that day and cost them three or four thousand dollars to get their transmission and engine fixed, and they just put it on a credit card, and then he was living with this regret like, man, now we're in debt.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: And after he had gotten the car back in like two days, he got a phone call from somebody that heard he had this issue and said, Hey, I just found out you had some transmission issues.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to call you and just offer, hey, I'll fix that for free if you want me to.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: And here he is, he's spent the money, he's put himself in debt, that now he's gonna be paying off, you know, these monthly payments for the next five years at 25% interest because he didn't wait on God.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: And so I think that again, there's the tension in us not walking by faith is pride.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Hey, God, I got it.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: I'll do it myself, I can handle it.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: I'll invite you in if I really need you.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: And then the pressure, like we feel like we have to do something.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: I need a, I need a wife, I need a husband, I need a job right now.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: And I think we push ourselves into bad decisions rather than waiting on God's promise.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: I I I definitely see that in my own life.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I kind of, you know, when I'm working with young adults, I keep, I try to keep telling them, I'm like, I promise you won't be where you think you should be.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Pick the number.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: For me, it was 28.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: That was a number I'd created in my head that I was like, at 28, my life is gonna be something.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: I thought 26 would be one milestone, 28 would be another.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't at all where I thought I was supposed to be at 28.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, I think that's that pressure that we put on ourselves to try and speed things up, and that's that's the temptation.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, I um I want to read the context, maybe as we get to the close of this podcast.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: So again, Jesus, he commands us to have faith in God again, which it's it's a command, we're called to do it, and it's a choice.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: We can decide to do it or not to do it.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: But the context is really powerful.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: It's this is the story where he curses the fig tree.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: That's where he says, have faith in God.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: And so if you know the story, they're they're walking along.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is hungry, spots a fig tree, expects to find figs, walks up to this fig tree, there are no figs, and he curses this fig tree.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: The next day they're walking by the same tree, and this thing is dead at the roots.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples are like, Jesus, what?
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, look at the tree.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: That's the tree you curse.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: And his response is, have faith in God.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: So I would I just want to read this and maybe have a little bit of dialogue because this is really a profound story on the power of faith and maybe really what what faith is not.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: So I think there's we should have big faith for a big God to do big things.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: We should have big faith for a big guy to do big things.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: But on there are guardrails.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't think we can ask for the moon and God's gonna deliver because we said it in the name of Jesus.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to maybe give some people who are not believing.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: I hopefully they're challenged to step out in faith, to, to cross the bridge.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: And to those who are just asking outrageous things, maybe to give some realistic expectations of where God will be faithful.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: So this is in Mark chapter 11, verse 20 to 23.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: It says, Now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: And Peter, remembering, um, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you curse has withered away.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: For surely I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he'll have whatever he says.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: So wow, those are too have faith in God.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: Okay, hey, if you you can have whatever you say.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: Did is that what really Jesus meant?
20:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think the evidence of things I've prayed, not God, I think is evidence that's not what he meant.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, um, we can all ask for some big things.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to maybe give a little bit of context.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: The conversation that Jesus is having, he starts with have faith in God and then ends with, you can have whatever you ask.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: And what he's talking, talking about in the in context is the the fig tree represents the nation of Israel.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: Throughout the Old Testament, in the book of Jeremiah, Isaiah, some of the minor prophets, the nation of Israel, which was God's people during this time, they were synonymous with the fig tree.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Um and so basically what Jesus is doing is he's saying, Hey, I expect my people to have fruit.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: The same way he says thus in John 15, that he wants us as his modern day disciples, that there should be fruit.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: There should be the evidence that we are people of faith.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: People should be able to look at our lives and say, Hey, we are following Christ and we rely on Christ.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: That's what fruit is.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: And when he doesn't find fruit, he looks at this tree and curses it, which is The way of him cursing the nation of Israel because they've not been faithful to put their trust in God.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: They're putting their trust in a religious system.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: They're putting their trust in the law.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, this is so powerful.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: So then Jesus basically what he's saying is, hey, you know, I want you, I want you to understand the way you can only have, the way you can really only experience faith, I'm sorry, is fruit is by faith in me.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: So when he's saying have faith in me, don't put faith in religious systems.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Don't put faith in in a church.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Don't put faith in a pastor.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: Don't put put faith in me.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: And if you'll put your faith in me, that's where fruit comes from.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Which to me, that's mind-blowing because again, we put our faith everywhere else but Jesus.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is saying the only way you're going to be fruitful is putting your faith and probably the one you're not putting your faith in.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: So to me, man, the context of this is really um eye-opening.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: That God's not really promising us the world.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, hey, if you'll put your faith in me, some of the things you're you're trusting in, which is his promises, will come to pass.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's super helpful.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Because that is one of those passages that you're like, that that would be pretty jacked up if you could just throw mountains into the ocean.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: That would be like an ecological disaster.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: So like I have always, I'm like, so what kind of hyperbole is it?
23:12
SPEAKER_00: And I think that framing is super helpful to understand that it's it's this idea of like if you are trusting in other things, you will not produce the fruit or receive the promises that are a part of what God promises and a part of the life that we're supposed to live flourishing.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And that it's if you're not focused on the right things, if you're not having faith in the right things, you can end up, you know, shriveled up in a ditch.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: I want to read two more.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: Again, these are big promises that a lot of really, and I I would consider myself charismatic, but really super hyper charismatic people would quote.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: But again, it's context and it's content.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: We kind of quote part of the verse, but not the whole verse.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: So here's another one.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: He says, You can ask for anything in my name and I'll do it.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's a big blank check.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: But he goes on and says, so that the Son of God may bring glory to the Father.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: John 15, 70 says, But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it'll be granted.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: I can ask for anything.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: But what I want you to notice is he's saying, hey, context is important and so is content.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: So yes, our faith can access amazing things as we trust God, God will do great things.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: But notice he says, here's the garbrails.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: First, it's what you ask for has to bring glory to the Father.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: So if you're asking stuff selfishly, you're not going to get it, which James reiterates.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: You don't have because you don't ask, and you ask because it's for your own fulfillment, it's for your own desires.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: And so God wants us to trust him, to have faith, to live the life that he's made for us, not the life we want for ourselves.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: And then this other garbrail, he says that if we remain in him and his words remain in us.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: So again, his words, his promises, like the things he's declared, if those things are what's resonating in our heart, as we pray that way, as we live that way, that's where faith, man, gets power and gets traction, and God shows up and he fulfills his promises.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: So I would just say for those watching, man, if you're not having consistent faith in God, don't trust yourself.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: You're only going to disappoint yourself.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Come back to your trusting in the regular, consistent promises of God.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: Put your full weight and full uh hope on who he is.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, faith doesn't promise we can have whatever we want.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: We have to ask and have faith that ultimately at the end of the day, what we ask for brings glory to the Father and comes from the evidence of his word.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: So good.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: Closing thoughts?
25:33
SPEAKER_00: No, I think it's just a lot to to think about and and to have that hopeful outlook and that faithful outlook instead of one of fear or pride or pressure.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Like I think, I think that is a takeaway that you gotta lock in on today.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: When you hear this, is like, oh, what am I putting the pressure on?
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Where am I finding the pride?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Where am I finding the fear?
25:57
SPEAKER_00: And where can I choose faith and choose to believe in the promises?
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: So instead of pride, let's be humble.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: God, God resists the problem, but gives uh gives grace to the humble.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: And instead of pressure, let's be patient and let's trust God to do what he's gonna do in his time.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: So we don't always do this, but man, I want to pray for those who are watching this because, man, faith is again foundational to our relationship.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: And I think there's a lot of people who's gonna watch this and listen to this who are struggling to really trust God.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to pray for them.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: So, Father, we come in the name of Jesus, thankful for God, the command you've given us to have faith in God.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: And I pray for every person watching this podcast, listening, that Lord, you would inspire them, God, to trust you, that we can put the full weight of our life on you.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: And God, you have the capacity and the ability and the promises to hold us and to sustain us and to fulfill all that you've spoken over our lives.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord, encourage our hearts, build our faith.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: And God, help us to keep us, keep our eyes on the finisher of our faith in Jesus' name.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: Hey, thanks again for joining us.
26:53
SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next week for the X Mile Podcast.