Latest / Refuse To Settle Podcast / Welcome To The Refuse To Settle Podcast | Ep. 001

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Welcome To The Refuse To Settle Podcast | Ep. 001 · Refuse To Settle Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: And so what we've learned is we just have to keep our eyes on the prize.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: What's the promise?
0:04
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 16.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: The gates of hell are not going to prevail against the church.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: And so when someone comes against you, comes against your family, comes against your church that you are fighting for, right?
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Do not get distracted.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Keep your eye on the prize.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: Keep your focus on Jesus.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Don't give way to weapons of mass distraction because they will come, they will go.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: What does the Bible say?
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Resist the enemy and he will flee.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Well, welcome to the Refuse to Settle podcast.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: This has been a long time coming in the works.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: People have been asking for it, requesting it.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: We've kicked around this idea, but here we are, finally launching Refuse to Settle.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: So, in case you don't know me, my name is Tom.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm executive pastor at the gathering for discipleship and staff.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: This is John Lipinski, lead pastor, church planter.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get into that whole story.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: So hang tight with us as we unpack that.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: But um the the podcast is called Refuse to Settle.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: This this tagline, right?
1:04
SPEAKER_00: We already have the t-shirts, Refuse to Settle.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: It's really more than a mantra.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's more than a tagline.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: It's really a part of the vision of our church, which goes back to the launching of it now, eight years uh uh in the making.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: This this podcast episode is eight years in the making.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: So my first question, just right out of the gate, why refuse to settle?
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Why is that so important to you?
1:27
SPEAKER_00: Why is it so significant?
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Was that in the shaping of people's lives and the shaping of our church, the gathering church, here in surprise?
1:33
SPEAKER_00: So what what does it mean to you to refuse to settle?
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Why is that so important to you?
1:38
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, it's definitely something that God spoke to me.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: And and you know, if you go to the gathering, you will hear it many, many times.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's it's not something that's new to, I mean, the language changes, you know, so but the scripture does.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: And if you go back to to where it all began, Genesis 3.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, um it Satan pulls the same trick he's been pulling on us, you know, 2,000 years later, uh thousands of years later, and that is uh he he he talks someone into settling.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: The first sin that Eve committed, it wasn't she was she wasn't that she wanted too much, is that she was settling for too little.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: And God, did God really say, don't eat, you know, God's holding out on you, right?
2:21
SPEAKER_01: And so we see right off from the jump this this proclivity to just settle for a clear path to a lesser goal.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: And Satan, he's been at his same tricks ever since.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: And and uh, you know, we do that in our relationships, you know, Tommy.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: We do it um at work, we do it with our health.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: All across the board, the enemy has been getting us to settle for a clear path to a lesser goal.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: And so when God spoke that vision uh to me and that and that that that that mantra, as you say, but it's really it's really more than that.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: And I think um, you know, I think that the the challenge is is that it it's it's such a slow fade.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Like we like no one no one wakes up and says, man, I'm gonna I'm gonna compromise today.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna just choose to less.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm gonna choose less than I'm gonna choose to settle.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna choose a clear path to less or go.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't happen that way.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and I I was thinking, you know, it's have you ever been on one of those those things those things at the airport where you where you um you you Or like the moving sidewalk?
3:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, like the walkway.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: Like we're all on that walkway.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: And uh quite frankly, if we don't if we don't do something intentional and active, we will end up in a path of of fading, right?
3:32
SPEAKER_01: The the destiny is clear.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: We are on that walkway.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: We will end up on on a path of settling if we don't choose to refuse to settle, right?
3:41
SPEAKER_01: Romans 12, be transformed by the renewing of the mind, or or Matthew 6, 33, seek first the kingdom of God.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: There's there's active volitional faith that we we got to to pull from.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: And if we don't, we are on that pathway to settling.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: And and what breaks my heart, man, is we see it time and time again uh in in our church is where people they just they they've settled for that path.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: And and and as a spiritual hospital, one of the beauties and one of the things that we get to partake in is helping people get get out of that path and get um you know get on on a path to um to restoration.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's the the church, the gathering, was was founded eight years ago.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: We planted eight years ago, and it was really planted on this principle of refusing to settle.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, I had gone through kind of a painful church transition back in 2018, and I started interviewing for lead pastor jobs all over the country.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I was like, I wanted quite frankly, man, I wanted out of surprise.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: And I I was done, man.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, God, I I went through some stuff here.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: It was hard.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: I just want to be gone.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: I just want to go start, be a lead pastor somewhere.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: And so we started interviewing for all these these different places and all these different positions.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the places we interviewed at uh was a place called Paradise Alliance Church.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And I was offered the, after two weeks of interviewing, I was offered this um this position as lead pastor.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: Of course, you're everybody's trying to get to paradise.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, and what could Tommy, what could possibly go wrong in paradise?
5:06
SPEAKER_00: It's paradise.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: Yes, paradise.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: So, so you know By the way, this is in Paradise, California, right?
5:11
SPEAKER_00: In case anybody's like, where is paradise?
5:13
SPEAKER_00: We're like, we're talking about a real place, not uh some made up like that.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, no, but yeah, this is in this instance, it's Paradise, California.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: And so they they they uh they offer me the job.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I need three days to to pray about it.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: I come home, we wrestle with it, and um after much deliberation, uh, we thought, man, God was calling us to stay and and start this church, which of course is you know a much more difficult path because the church in paradise was a was a big church, you know, I think about 1,200 to 1,300 people.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: They had, you know, this their building was all paid off, and there was a big full-time staff, benefits, retirements, right?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: It was a sure thing.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: An established job description, maybe.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, an established job description with a building and with staff.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: And and and so, but God was God was calling me not to settle and and and that in the natural, that didn't seem like settling, that seemed like the better path.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: But I just felt in my spirit, God was saying, No, I want you to stay here.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: I want you to heal in this town, and I want you to plant the gathering church, right?
6:13
SPEAKER_01: And so we made that decision, and of course, we started the church.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: And you know, you know the deal.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: It's a grind.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, day after day after day, and you're like, man, this is tough.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: You know, you start to have buyer's remorse thing, Dan, God, did I do the wrong thing?
6:26
SPEAKER_01: And and um, long story short, we're we're grinding away.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: Six months later, uh, a friend from California calls me and says, Turn on the TV.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: And I turn on the TV and all over national news.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: Paradise, California burns to the ground in what was the greatest uh most costly fire in California history to date and the greatest natural disaster of 2018 in the entire world.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: You probably saw that either the Netflix Netflix documentary or the uh the movie with Matthew McConaughey, The Last Bus.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Um one of the only movies where Matthew keeps his shirt on.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: All right, all right, all right.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: All right, all right.
7:01
SPEAKER_01: But uh, but no, man, it you know, it was it was it was it was just a reminder that um you know uh when when when God calls us to refuse to settle, what's at stake is is is oftentimes eternal.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah and uh I I can't help but think what might have happened for for me and my family if we took that clear path to a lesser goal.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Had we chosen to settle, where might we be?
7:25
SPEAKER_01: And what would I be missing out on in terms of the blessings of the gathering church?
7:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, so because of where we're we're sitting here today, right?
7:33
SPEAKER_00: And eight years later, um, I I don't know if we're the largest, but we're one of the largest setup and teardown churches in the country, right?
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Where we don't own a building.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we have a rented facility, and I don't mean like how people rent a house.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Like literally every Sunday we load in and we load out on the same Sunday, right?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: That's that sort of thing.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: And so but as is true in many parts of lives, uh everybody wants your results, but they don't want to carry your cost, right?
8:03
SPEAKER_00: So, like for the has it cost anything to refuse to settle?
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Because again, uh from the outside, it looks like, well, did you settle?
8:11
SPEAKER_00: You're you're running this big mega church kind of thing.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: And so, of course, that's easy to refuse to settle, but obviously it didn't it didn't start here where we're at, which is why we're having the conversation.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: So, what what's the cost, Ben?
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and talk about the cost of actually refusing to settle, both for you for you, but also true in all of our lives.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: If I refuse to settle somewhere, it's gonna cost me something.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think I think it it it's always costly.
8:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you look at the you look at what obviously cost Jesus uh on the on the cross.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: Um you think of like the first Christian martyrs Stephen, you know what it cost him and and Paul shipwrecked, um beaten, left, you know, left for dead, yeah.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, in in in Philippian jail.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: He's you know Peter crucified upside down.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like so so like what even as I answer that question, I feel convicted because it's like, you know, in comparison to to what some some of the brothers and sisters that have gone before us, it's probably it's it's small, and yet it feels big, right?
9:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, to my family.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: I remember planting the church um and when we and when we planted it, what part of the cost was we didn't have a building, so we rented a building on Saturday night, but the building on the Saturday night had one air conditioner.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: The air conditioner wasn't big enough to cool the whole place, especially not during the day.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was made for like morning worship, right?
9:32
SPEAKER_01: So it's Saturday night, heat of the summer, and I'm out there, you know, while while my son is setting up stuff inside, I'm I'm out there, you know, spraying down the uh the air conditioner with the condenser with a garden hose, right?
9:45
SPEAKER_01: And just sweating.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Wait, wait, I'm gonna interrupt you right here because for anybody watching or listening that doesn't live in Arizona, in the summer, it's the surface of the sun.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Like that's where that's where you decided to refuse to settle.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: You could have gone to paradise, but instead you went to the surface of the sun.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, 100%.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: So the AC is a big deal, not just like a nice pleasantry.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and and it's easy to look back now with you know, we're like you said, one of the largest uh set up and tear-down churches in in the nation, with which is great, but like the path to get there was was was quite frankly was hell.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Right.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: And and and part of that is is you know, uh my you know, my wife, I remember her uh this this building we had, it had like a um infestation of of some sort of um bugs, and she's in there just before the kids get there, she's trying to clean up the the the bugs and you know so it can be ready for service.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: And so it just there's just so many things where it you know it's costly, but man, the reward is sweet.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: It's you know, the the when we when we refuse to settle, there's there's an eternal blessing that we have to wait for when we get home, but there is something that happens in this life.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: We get some of that, you know, in this life.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: And and uh so you know it reminds me of this because you're talking about you, you know, your wife vacuuming up the bugs early on.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: And even though we're we rent the largest seating capacity venue in in our city and on on the West Valley of Phoenix, still to this day, every Sunday, we have a volunteer that shows up in vacuums and gets it ready for everybody to come in because there's no we've arrived.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Right.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: And so we're still refusing to settle where everybody wants to see the success, but we're just pursuing, like, oh, we haven't we haven't arrived there.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: So uh I know this about us, but I have this question because I I just kind of want to tee you up on this one of um why is this idea important enough to do a whole podcast on?
11:40
SPEAKER_00: The podcast is forever.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: We won't always have this conversation, this episode one, but we're building a whole podcast platform off of this idea of refusing to settle.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've got so many examples of where we as a church have not let off the gas.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: We're not saying, oh, we've arrived, we're still refusing to settle.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: So why is it so important to you that we even take this next medium to communicate and cast vision of where people should refuse to settle?
12:06
SPEAKER_01: Well, I I you know, I think this whole the idea of refuse to settle, um, it it's not something that that plays well on a uh a podcast.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: It's not it's not like some sort of lure on our first episode to get to get some sort of uh viewers or clicks.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: Um but rather it's not a lure, it's it's a it's um it's a lens through which we should see our life.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, God one of one of the terms we use at church, especially lately, um, has been God's called us to raise up pit bulls, not poodles, right?
12:35
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, some the I think we should do a whole show more just on that, but I I think I think I think we should.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: I think we should because I think the church, especially in the West, has become very soft.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah um and I think sometimes we as leaders can placate and can play into that and even help enable and facilitate it if we're not careful, right?
12:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh because if we're preaching for uh for views or if we're preaching preaching for butts and seats, uh all of a sudden we've got a bunch of poodles who um need to be spoon-fed, right?
13:06
SPEAKER_01: And God has called us to raise up pit bulls.
13:09
SPEAKER_01: Pit bulls, man, when they when they bite, they lock on, right?
13:12
SPEAKER_01: And they don't let go.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: And there's there's something uh metaphorically that's very biblical about that imagery.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: I was looking at Philippians 3, uh, and it says, Paul said, not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on and take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to yet have taken hold of it.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining like a pit bull toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: Man, God didn't die so we could go to church, he died so that we could be the church.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: And God is called and is calling us to be to be the pit bulls and to not let go with some tenacity to fight and to strain, like Paul talks about.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Strain forward, be the church we're called to be, live the life we're called to live, and refuse to settle.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: I I think the to me, when I read this verse, the thing that stands out to me specifically um is uh you were talking about lured to sleep, you know, settling for less, right?
14:17
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, we love to forget about the hurts, the pains, right?
14:22
SPEAKER_00: You know, the the butthurt, the church hurt of the past, you know, that sort of thing.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: But uh it's really difficult to forget about the wins.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Like I can be lured to sleep by my success.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: You know, whereas like again, I just think about the tenacity of our church as a pit bull church to say we're not gonna settle.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: We refuse to settle for the victories.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, whereas a lot of people go like, oh, we're here, we've arrived.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: We're going, wait, there's still some people who need to hear about Jesus, got to hear this transformational message, right?
14:53
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna forget even the victories that were behind us, right?
14:57
SPEAKER_00: We're not we refuse to settle with all of the wins that we have.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: We can we can celebrate yesterday, but we're not gonna live in yesterday, right?
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Right.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: So just it's just amazing, anyways.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: You you I'm gonna call back something you said earlier.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: You talked about that moving sidewalk in the airport.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: And um, this is somewhat humorous.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to laugh at people, but I just you're this is just this is a crack into what what makes Tom tick, right?
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Come on, Tommy.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: So I was on that moving sidewalk, and there was um someone from a dinner different generation than me.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: They were looking at their phone and they were doing I don't know what on their phone.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Is that what you're saying?
15:33
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm saying younger, they were a younger person.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: What they didn't realize is that the moving sidewalk was coming to an end.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Right?
15:40
SPEAKER_00: And so that moving sidewalk, they're just busy, I don't know, they were texting or yeah, or Instagramming, whatever.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Boom, they hit the end of that sidewalk, they went tumbling.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
15:51
SPEAKER_00: Phone crashed everywhere.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Here, here, but here's my question.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: In the airport, they have a big sign that says, attention, moving sidewalk is ending.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: There's even a speaker over the top that says sidewalk is ending.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: My my question for you is like, in this refuse to settle, what what's the sign?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: What's the announcement that we get where we start to recognize, oh, we've started to settle.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: We've we we it this sidewalk is coming to an end and I've settled.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are there any indicators or signs or notifications or whatever term you want to use there to go, ah, what does settling look like?
16:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh that's a great, great question.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: I I think it's it's when we notice, when we begin to notice that we've migrated towards small, small, um, small expectations of who God is, um, small expectations uh of of what he can do in our life, small asks, yeah, small prayers, right?
16:52
SPEAKER_01: We used to think, you know, my God can do all things.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: We used to quote Philippians 4.19, right?
16:56
SPEAKER_01: My God can do all things.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: Now it's like, well, my God can do some some things, and somehow I'm I'm okay with some, right?
17:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: What happened, man?
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Like we started settling for for for small.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: And um, and and then and then I think another thing, Tommy, is is we begin to call us uh um like almost explain our atrophy.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, we we we begin to like you know, like defend it.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and and as Christians, the crazy thing is we got words for that.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: We call it humility.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Humility.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I just not trying to be yeah, or or yeah, or or I'm not gonna chase that thing that God told me to chase, that that with the with the tenacity, because it's wisdom, right?
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna wait on the Lord.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: And at times, right there, that's the right thing to do, but not when God's calling you to go, right?
17:37
SPEAKER_01: And so um, you know, I think um even, you know, I see that a lot of times with with people making excuses, like even in the area of of church herd.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: Like maybe, maybe we don't, uh, you know, maybe we we we settle, like, you know, uh, you know what, I'll go to church, but I won't serve.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: I'll go to church, but I won't give.
17:57
SPEAKER_01: I I go to I'll go to church, but I won't really step into the purpose and the calling for which I was born, for which I'm still vertical and breathing, right?
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: I I we choose a clear path to a lesser goal, and then we call it, well, it's wisdom because I've been hurt by a church, and I don't know if this this church is gonna hurt me.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: First of all, we we need to clear up this whole church hurt language.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: There's no such thing as church hurt.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: It's it's really people hurt.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: You know, I heard it explained this way that um, you know, if if if you go to to hear a piano player play Mozart and he just butchers it.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he plays That would be me.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: I would butcher it.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Well, you would because but in fairness, you don't play piano.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: I I play the radio.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: That's all I can that's my talent right there.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, you you hear somebody butcher it and you're like, you don't you don't get mad at at Mozart, right?
18:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, you you get mad at the person who who played it.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes what we do is we we we get mad at the people who hurt us.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: Um rather we get mad at God, the the author, as opposed to the people that hurt us.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: And it's like sometimes we play poor Jesus poorly, yeah, right?
19:01
SPEAKER_01: And so, and then but because of that, it's easier to be the victim than step into the victor that God's called us to be.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is we get so we've got to begin to recognize the this this this this this fade to small, to small expectations, to small things.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes we need to be able to to instead of making excuses, man, just name it so that we can tame it.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Right?
19:24
SPEAKER_01: Name the very thing that it is that's causing us to settle.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: Don't explain it away, don't make excuses, don't use Christian language to try to explain our our spiritual atrophy.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: Like just name it so we can tame it.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And and the truth is we uh oftentimes we enjoy or celebrate our victimization story.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: And you said it earlier, like are we gonna be a victim or we're gonna be the victor of of our story.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's uh and the old saying, you know, misery loves company.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if if somebody if somebody is church hurt, um, they probably got a group of friends that are also church hurt, right?
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Because you just start talking about, well, you know, when I went there and when I did this and that, right?
20:07
SPEAKER_00: And so then we we stay stuck in it, yep.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Rather than just going, wait, that was some people who hopefully God's dealing with those people too, right?
20:15
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, amen.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: Right with with with all those things.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: When you talked about um, I I love the uh the analogy, I love the verbiage of um poodles versus pit bulls, right?
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And and um the the thing about a pit bull, and and again, we're gonna do a whole episode on this.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to let too much out, but I'm uh about how this question is that when a pit bull gets something in their mind, they have a singular focus, they are locked in, right?
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Scripture says, hey, so fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, a lot of these settling is fixing our eyes on the distractions, on the obstacles, right, rather than fixing our eyes on Jesus.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: So how do we in an everyday life go live out this refuse to settle, keep our eyes locked on him?
21:00
SPEAKER_00: What is what does that look like?
21:02
SPEAKER_00: What are the action steps I need to take to live out a refuse to settle life?
21:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, it you we we don't get it by doing nothing, right?
21:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the old saying is you know, the the person that got the top of the mountain, he didn't just fall there, right?
21:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know what I'm saying?
21:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like he accidentally successful.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I I think I think it's a great question, but I think and I think uh one of the answers would be we have to fight for it.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Um I you know, um I'll never forget early on as this uh naive church planter, right?
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Didn't know what I didn't know.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: And um one of the values that we have at the gathering is is we fight for restoration.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: And we we believe that, you know, m Matthew 9 12, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, right?
21:47
SPEAKER_01: And so we're we're we go after the sick, we go after people who who who who want help and who need help, right?
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And uh we believe that you know every every person can be restored.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: And so and I just thought that believing that.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: was enough and that that everyone would just kind of get that right.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: Well early on we had a family that came in who had you know they had some public stuff that they had done that um in the community and with it had involved some people that were in another church but now we're at our church and man it was it was a mess because they came in and they needed restoration and they were in a place where they they wanted to be restored.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like cool let's go here we go.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah and the rest not the rest of the church but probably half the church was like oh no they're they're too messy.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah I'm like whoa wait we this is what we talked about it's not just the value we put on our our t-shirt right we really believe in restoration and uh man I learned quickly as as we uh probably lost I don't know 30 40 50 people at that time uh in a huge significant percentage at the time yeah because yeah we're a smaller church and that was huge and and man I had to realize in that moment are we gonna are we gonna be a church that that that just acquiesces right and or or are we gonna be a church that that while this concrete well the while the while the concrete is curing right are we gonna be one that really fights for the values that we profess and um and so I think to apply that i today man we just gotta we we gotta fight for our values um you know because you will be tested probably be before this podcast ends you'll be tested in some way shape or form uh to fight for your values and and quite frankly man if I'm keeping it real a lot of us just we just settle it's easier to to capitulate sure than it is to to conquer that that that thing whatever it is and to fight for what God placed in our heart well it's certainly safer and again even while you're talking about this I'm just remembering the story where uh the homeowner was like Jesus if you knew what manner of woman this was oh yeah you wouldn't be letting her touch you right and and how how often we have to it's safer to not uh mess with messy people you know be like oh do you know do you know what manner of guy that is you know what manner of woman that is do you know what manner of couple that is do you know do you know the history of that kid you know that sort of thing right it's the same it's just like you said it's the same scheme that the enemy was putting in the garden yeah that the enemy is putting Jesus through where he was refusing to settle where we're at now is like it's actually safer to not do this.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah it's safer to not be a restorative church because we it's that manner of people that we've got to walk and do life with and help bring to restoration.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: 100% and and even now it's like you fight for your values but then you here's our values and like once you get that nailed down you're like okay got it got it but then the enemy comes and you have to fight he starts to distract you and so you have to fight for your focus right yeah not just not just your values but to keep your focus on those values I mean I think we've been tested you know at with as as a church even uh this past year yeah right I mean yeah we've been tested uh you know with weapons of mass distraction yeah you know uh you know and and by the way weapons of mass distraction the the most destructive thing that God can use isn't a thing it's a person yeah right yeah it's it's people who um and now we know that people aren't the enemy but but the enemy uses people uh to derail and just and to distract and to take away from what God is doing and man we've experienced that this year in in in a very tangible way um and so what we've learned is we just have to keep our eyes on the prize.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah what's the promise Matthew 16 the gates of hell are not going to prevail against the church and so when someone comes against you comes against your family comes against your church that you are fighting for right do not get distracted.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Keep your eye on the prize keep your focus on Jesus don't give way to weapons of mass distraction because they will come they will go what does the Bible say resist the enemy and he will flee.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: And so if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus man that's the only way we'll truly refuse to settle.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah I you know what I love about that especially with with the fight for your focus is um one of the things we have had to learn as a church is um not just what to say yes to because we're supposed to be doing something but just as powerful to keep our focus straight is what to say no to.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Right?
26:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean uh we we aren't supposed to do everything we're supposed to do what we're supposed to do 100% and there's a lot of good things out there right that we could say yes to but it's a distraction that's right from what we're supposed to say yes to so again fighting for that focus is so key so important.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: So let me let me ask just one more question for you is as far as that goes if like it's a little bit off of this focus question is what what's what's a practical step that we can just take right now that's just like oh how do I how do I start to determine and set this backbone and make the decision of refuse to settle?
27:06
SPEAKER_01: Well I think kind of going off what we just talked about about how we're distracted you know why are we distracted um we're distracted because we're we're so busy yeah right what did Adrian Rogers said if the devil can't make you bad he'll make you busy yeah right yeah and uh and sometimes we're just we're just we're just busy and so I think one answer to that would be slow down slow down.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: It says in in um Luke Luke chapter five that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and I think sometimes that's exactly what we need to do you know we don't set out to to settle we're just so busy that the natural uh the natural result yeah of being the natural manifestation of being on that conveyor belt right is is eventually we're just so busy so distracted that we that we're we're gonna and and and but Jesus said listen even I have to deal with that yeah and so my my weapon against that is slowing down withdrawing often to lonely places to pray if Jesus needed to spend time with Jesus yeah we too I need time to spend time with Jesus.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: And so I think if we slow down the some of this is natural some of this is intuitive some of this is is Holy Spirit induced but we have to silence the noise refocus on what and who is important and in doing so we will be very prone to prioritize and to refuse to settle.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh one of the things for those watching and listening I would say is subscribe to this podcast because we're literally going to come and unpack a whole bunch of tools it through this podcast of ways, means, areas where we can refuse to settle so I would just say if you're watching if you're listening hit the subscribe button turn on the notifications because as we drop drop more of this content it's designed not for us to be busy but to provide tools and just practical life application ways where we have had to learn or wrestle or fight or even fail at refusing to settle.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna put it all out here that's what this podcast is to just be real.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for being with us.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to our first episode Go and Refuse to settle