Free Chapel Young Adults Podcast | Ep 1: Christianity in Culture

((music playing)) W ((music playing)) y'all what's going on Free Chapel young adults welcome to the Free Chapel young adult podcast we are here I one of your hosts I am Aaron Marshall I'm the young adult Pastor here at Free Chapel as well as the Director of Free Chapel college but I'm here with my incredible team and host or co-host let them know who you guys are hey I'm Madison Harper I'm the young adults coordinator here at Free Chapel hey I'm Jordan Ball I'm the young adults pastor at Free Chapel Midtown my name is Skyler and I am on our young adult Team all right we're excited this y'all we've been praying for this we have we have been praying for this and we are finally here but before we get into our topic today we do want to give a couple shout outs first of all shout out to all of our young adults Midtown Gainesville brazzleton uh Spartanburg OC uh gwet U our Alpharetta young adults and then even our young adults online cuz we're getting Global you guys all right we saying what's up to you guys thank you guys for supporting and tuning in um to get us started I just want to share before we get into our topic uh what this thing is all about what we want to do is as a family is just have couch talk we want to get in the living room and have a conversation on things that you guys are thinking about things you are praying about things you're trying to figure out we just want to speak into those things to be able to help you and guide you um hopefully encourage you um no matter where you are and what you're processing so that's what it's about we care about your life we care about your soul and we care about your witness so here we just want to create space to just have some good conversation to hopefully encourage you and help you in your walk with Christ so we are here yeah here episode one yeah so let's get into it the thing we want to talk about today um is Christianity and culture um I think we all know and we've all have felt this sort of tension um as Believers in our years living um that being a Christian in culture I.E the workplace gym uh school it's hard yeah so why is it hard and what are some of the challenges that we can kind of touch on today um that young adults face in culture well immediately I think that the world thinks that culture has more to offer than Christianity it's like culture's more fun there's more to do it's more lit quote unquote but I think with Christianity we not only can have fun there's obviously there's that stigma like Christians are boring what what do you guys do go to church all the time or whatever but we not only can have fun but we have fullness and culture cannot have fullness and fun they can have fun they can have temporary they can have that but we get to have all of the above we have abundance fullness all that exceedingly abundantly as the Bible says but that's what immediately pops into my head when it comes to the whole culture Christianity debate it's a good good perspective yeah I think one of the things too especially like if you're in a workplace or whatever you can't participate in everything and so sometimes you feel like you're the isolated one that like you you don't fit in with everybody and so sometimes it can get really lonely as a Christian cuz I always noticed it like it's so funny when you find that other Christian that works in the workplace with you you're like we're best friends like I finally met aut AA and so and so I think sometimes Christianity can feel like it's lonely so then when we're inviting people into it it's like why would I want to be invited into something that's so lonely like it might just be it might just be me in here but I think like Jesus like he came and he came to serve he came to love he came to save us and he was the one who initiated and since he did that for us we can be the initiators and start on this Mission um and one of the things I was even thinking about this morning before we were talking about this podcast was uh for anybody especially who like is in the workplace that is serving sometimes you can get really tired of serving and you're like man I'm getting burned out I'm doing all this stuff but one of the beautiful things I find about it is like you can shift your mindset and realize that like it is a privilege that somebody gives you a mission it's a privilege that somebody gives you a task so I would say for anybody out there like if you're watching um just realize like you're not alone um but yeah but let me let's take it a little further okay because you guys made some really good points like it's easy to say that you know Christianity has more to offer and you're not alone but like how do we encourage young adults in growing to know that I think of the song Defender and I love that part where it say it's so much can sing like lowy so much better sing all pastors our pastor can sing No our pastor can and play saxophone he the only one who should be singing side note though shout out shout out to our sponsors free travel and Pastor J we couldn't do this without our pastor without his vision so Pastor we just want you to know that we love you we appreciate you and he actually can sing side notes he and play the sax and when I watch him I'm like don't try that at home don't try that in the service Church don't bring no instrument on stage if that's you kid everybody I know we're getting out top but that's fun itd be times in our younger Services where I so want to hit a note and like go to a song and I'll look at McKenna and the team and I'm kind of like all you know Ming it like sing this part but I was thinking about the song Defender and that line it says it's so much better your way so how do young adults how do our community how do those watch and grow to like develop this mindset and heart that man it may be hard it may be challenging it may be difficult but doing things God's way and relying on him and being a believer of Christ is so much better than like you said Skyler what the world can offer people well immediately I love that you the word develop like it's like a overtime thing like I think of the analogy that we kind of hear sometimes like junk food and like real nourishment like when you're eating candy all day long dang that's good a steak isn't going to be as good as it is it is good but like when you're used to this junk it's like okay this is cool but like where are my Skittles where is my nerve clusters all that stuff but I say that to be funny but it's like we have to literally develop an appetite for what we need and it's like we have this appetite for for lit we have this appetite for fast we have this appetite for all these things that are ultimately destroying us on the inside offering nothing so it's this like okay I understand this is where I'm at I'll be real of myself I crave the junk food I crave the junk that the world has to offer I crave that but I have to develop a an appetite and it's for me it's as practical as Lord help me have an appetite for the good stuff help me have an appetite for your love help me have an appetite for what I need for purpose for calling instead of just the momentary things that might like make me avoid how I really feel on the inside and like healing appetite for healing all those things so I do think it's a it's a step by step day by day Lord today I need your help developing this appetite for what I need yeah cuz that's why discipleship is so important um and doing life and even spaces like this because I think to your point like like if you've been like kind of quote unquote I know we use churchy phrases but in the world like you're going out the parties at the club um whatever it may be um you know the world is so enticing it just seems fun yes yes and I'm just being transparent I remember when I was in college you know like when people would go out man I felt some kind of way like and they going out like I feel like I was missing out uhhuh that's real but like then you look at the glitz and glamour of like people going out getting dressed up or you look at the glitz and glamour of like the music or like what people are singing about and rapping about like who wouldn't want to like you know fall into getting money and like having a nice car but we it's the glitz and glamour man we want all of the stuff but I just remember you know when I was in college like when I would come home from the club or come home from hanging out or doing whatever ratchy stuff I was doing we won't go into that um I remember just feeling empty yeah feeling more alone than I did previously I remember just feeling like this tension of like is this it yeah and I think it's helping people understand that you are going to have moments of growing and developing but we got to help people understand that in that growth man God is going to do something so you may have a season what it seems like isolation get people around you that are believers that can help you you know um just walk through this thing that can answer questions that can you know give you Biblical context or even help you understand what the Bible is saying like it's so important to have that because if you just decide you know what all right I'm going to stand firm as a Believer and you try to do the Christian things and you don't have guidance or understanding or practicality it's going to be mundane boring and you going to be like you know what I'm out I'm out I'm out and you hit on something so good because you said it's temporary yeah like you think like being able to put like that was how how I was for me like going out and partying doing all that stuff like you think like I want to live life like this forever and then for whatever reason it gets inside of you and you go there has to be more to life than this so it reminds me of the woman at the well like she had like we talk about everybody like sleeping together getting your stats up like she had numbers P Pastor Jordan what does that mean stats said oh wait she oh um now I'm embarrassed um but like she had she had stats she had numbers of people that she had been with and like you would think like the more opportunities the more people she had had the more love she would feel and like yet that was not the case it wasn't until she met Jesus she gets to this world and has a conversation with her that her entire life completely changes and then not only that her life changes but she she changes an entire city and so sometimes like you think what you're doing is like this is going to be forever ask the question like is it temporary or is it Eternal and that's one of the questions I ask myself on a daily basis like and what I doing now make an impact for Jesus for the kingdom and so uh yeah you talked about temporary man I think sometimes I love when we can make like the Bible come alive yeah and Paul talks about that he says you know focus on the things uh unseen not the things seen because the things seen are temporary but the things unseen are Eternal and practically what that means is like it looks good like everybody's talking about the fashion wearing the J like I mean all that stuff like having girls or guys to hang out with and do stuff with like it looks good yeah but if you can you know learn to like you know develop a trust in God in the Unseen I don't know what it's going to look like I don't know if I'm going to get married I don't know if I'm going to get that career but going to like trust God in this I'm telling you in the Unseen you're going to develop something that's lifechanging but again it's Eternal yeah and I I think what the other one does the temporary is it makes an image yeah but it doesn't make a person yeah and so like you end up becoming this image and like let's be honest you're just going to follow what everybody else is doing but God uniquely wired you he uniquely wired me he uniquely wired I'm going to try and say this properly uniquely wired y'all okay there you go to be and like the one thing I love is like you're beautifully and wonderfully made and yet we're still trying to create ourselves to be an image that God never intended for us and I think that's that's beautiful what you said and I do think we have to we have to address this and I want to hear your perspective on this too M but we have to address that it is fun I know that they probably oh she's saying yes we have to say it being in the world offers a level of fun because that's what your appetite is it's fun because that's what you crave but we have to also think of it from the perspective of it's fun because that's what you crave so let's develop a new craving like the same way you built the craving for the world is how you build the craving for Jesus and for Holy things and for righteousness the same way you were you went out of your way to go out every night you went out of your way to get whatever you need you did whatever you need to so now it's let exactly so now it's a let me go out of my way to get more of God let me go out of my way to be in church even if I could be at the club as Pastor say the club the club he say it was so much conviction but just rebuilding an appetite it's really simple it's not easy but it's a simple concept of like the way I built this appetite is how I'm going to have to build another but what would you say m i mean it's a daily decision it's like we said we're developing it so you wake up every day and the simple part is you wake up and you decide yeah what am I what am I going to Crave today what am I going to hunger for today um and it's about consistency you know the second you start falling off you wake up you're hungry that day and you read your Bible and you go um a couple days and you're like H you know I don't I'm tired I'd rather sleep today you know and the second you start falling off and not choosing him because it is a choice and you have to choose him every day um the Bible says to pick up your cross and carry it every day it's a daily thing um and when you don't that's when you start to lose and you start craving the other things I mean it's like literally as simple as like the food we eat you know when you go on a diet you don't want those things the first day but by the end of it you're like oh I can actually you know I enjoy them you find different ways to cook them you find you know you do other things that make you want to eat them and it's the same thing with Jesus you just you have to choose them every day I like that like you do and but here's a Here's a thought cuz you you said something gold choosing him daily you know it's a discipline you got to build consistency but one of the things I don't think we talk enough about is we we use the word Grace oh man you you got Grace to kind of work this thing out but here's a concept um I'm curious to hear y'all perspective on it but like I think we got to like help people understand that sometimes you're going to grieve there's a grieving process like in the like it's no different than you know and I say this in in love and respect like those who have battled alcoholism or drug ad addiction they detoxed yeah so I think when you've had a certain lifestyle yes there's a grieving process you're literally like like if you're in your college campus and you decide you know what I'm not going out I'm going to get in my word I'm going to you know do the things to build the discipline of being a Christian a believer of Jesus Christ and you're you're sitting here maybe you like watching a message or something and then people walk by your window and you're like like have fun like you and I think we got to give and speak into that give people like and I'm not saying to like it's Grace to like keep picking it back up and things like but you're going to it's going to be a grieving process but it's okay if you grieve the fact that like I used to love going out though like no like we got to give people autonomy and space to grieve that and be like get it out get it out yeah I want to speak to that just a little bit too because a lot of what in my experience the grieving process was when your lifestyle changes so do your so does your friend through you know the hardest thing for me and the thing that I grieved the most I think wasn't like going out all the time it was the friends that I had that were making the choices that I used to make um and they just weren't there as much anymore and they were still there you know and their friends but um not as close not as like deep of a friendship as it was and so you're grieving the loss of a friend who's still alive but is no longer in your life so like you lose people in your life like today um I think about it it marks the Oney year anniversary of my grandma passing and I grieve her and I think about her but she's not here anymore you know I know she's with Jesus I know she's in heaven so it's a happy thing also but when you grieve the loss of a friend who's still lost is the hardest thing I think to me because you wish you want better for them you know you found it and you want them to find it too and that's really good It's just tough yeah that's definitely another part of grieving yeah yeah honestly like so when I got saved it was one of those similar situations where like I had a ton of friends and then as soon as I got saved it was like I had no friends and it was so funny cuz it was like I was trying to do nicer things like I had a drinking problem so I I would I would go I would wake up like starting to shake cuz I was starting to drink so much right and then when I got like clean and got saved whole story there we can get into it lat or maybe um but like when I got saved like my entire life changed and then like I would tell my friends about it and they would like stare at me like I was weird and then I would try and do nice things for them and they would keep their distance and I'm like let me get this straight when I was wrecking my life you wanted me but when I was making my life better you didn't want me and like you said that's a really hard process to go through to be like these people I thought they were like a ride or die with me I thought they were going to be with me forever and then like it's just me and Jesus and I would actually it's funny on like Friday nights and Saturday nights in order to not go to the club I would actually go to our church but I couldn't get in right because the doors were locked but I would sit outside and because I knew I felt like God called me to be a preacher that's when I would actually write these messages so it was like building this intimate relationship with God behind the scenes that nobody saw and then as soon it was like hit 2 a.m.

I would go home CU I knew the clubs were like closed um but like you're right like there's just such a like a loneliness to it and then you try and get plugged into community and church and culture and like it's really hard because they're not what your friends were right so even you yourself you're trying to adapt and like find the language like how do I say this like if I say a cuss word or if I do this are they going to like want to keep their distance from it y'all seem to like know this stuff way more than I do um but I would say like you know like because we're talking about Community try it's going to take a it's going to take time to find that Community but it's not like that you adapt to the community it's that like you would still be yourself and just realize like you can fit in and you're probably going to fit in with people you did not choose yeah but but I believe like oh man this is so good like as we are developing being Christians in culture we have to develop Christians yeah we and that means having an environment and community in the church to where people feel empowered they feel love but we as the church give people Grace to grow like you said something gold because what happens and I've seen this a lot and why people are struggling you know to navigate culture is because now they're coming into church to just learn and figure this thing out they don't know so they may slip up and cuss they may slip up and you know say like I I had a drink or whatever and sometimes we don't give them Grace but because we're not giving Grace or discipling and helping them what they'll do is they'll conform and like kind of be a chameleon and say hey I'm going to talk like this I'm going to okay they raise their hands like this I'm going to do that too if they but there's no transformation yeah so if we don't Aid as the church to help people grow a true foundation of being a believer of Jesus Christ man when they go into the culture they going to get eaten aive because they don't have not only the basic foundational understanding but they don't have the confidence yeah so it's so easy to go back into something you know and go back to what you used to when you're not comfortable with the same thing I think about a basketball analogy like I remember uh like my freshman year of high school my coach kept trying to you get me to use my left hand cuz I'm a righty so I'm using my right but when I felt uncomfortable using my left I just went back to my right but it's like at some point bro you got to get develop a left hand so I think that's the same thing at some point you have to develop your relationship with Christ um and be confident that he is who he say he is but he has also made you who he wanted you to be but we got to give people space to do that and I want to speak to a kind of a different perspective to this of like I know I didn't necessarily have to have that grief of um like living a lifestyle you been saved all your lifestyle you came out the wound here's the thing funny story and this is more so for my high school self but I know we have you listening might be a college student navigating this and I just want to speak to that but um I was kind of I was really involved with church in high school and I was really involved with like the church clubs at school like preaching at school and stuff but I wanted to be a part of the culture so to speak I wanted to get the invites to the things I wanted to you know if all my friends were going to this party where was my invite at and just it was this testimony really of like the Lord keeping me from that and I remember being in my room in high school like God I know you're hiding me stop hiding me like I literally said that to the Lord and he's like what like that's such a weird prayer but I know some people may feel that way and that might relate to someone saying like I feel so lonely on the flip side like I'm living the right life I want to be out here but God has literally shut every door for me to be out here and I think in those moments I know that's a hard place but just really trusting the Lord and like you're saying developing that relationship in those low moments like you going to the church at 2 am. if you're having a low moment just filling yourself up with the Lord and getting around Community sometimes it's get out the house like I'd be at the house sad and lonely but it's like let me call up some Christian Community even if they're not the people I naturally pick like you guys said let me get myself out of this pit that I put myself in and just receive the fact that God you've shut the doors you open doors that no man can open and you shut doors that no man can shut so let me just Embrace where I'm at and make the most of it so and I think you said hit it right on the head like friends that you might not like roll with right when I got saved one of my best friends became this kid who loved anime bro I know nothing about anime and I think it's because like when you do get saved you're still looking for like when I walk into the room I'm like who looks like me who sounds like me who talks like me but when I got saved and even today sometimes like we talk about it sometimes I'm like I don't know many pastors that are like me I don't know even ons who have like to have as much fun joke around like like we do and like so sometimes I even walk in rooms I'm like like we were at a young adult pastor's Gathering and we're were talking about like my hometown Cincinnati shout out to Cincinnati you know you know and like Cincinnati is known as the nasty Natty so like I knew about yeah yeah I had a testimony so get it but it was so funny because like I walked into this pastors Gathering and these guys are like from the same area and I literally go up to him I'm like you're from s like yeah it's like nasty Natty and they like just stared at me like and I was like oh you don't know oh you don't know man my bad but like even for me sometimes I walk into spaces and rooms where I I I don't necessarily connect but I think that's the beauty of the body of Christ is it's the body there's diversity there's room for people at the table so yeah yeah but again it's just developing that that solid foundation building consistency um knowing like as much as you can who God really is his character his nature but who you are in Christ because it's so important that we develop that to be able to go into the culture or the quote unquote secular to make an impact because aside from those things we talked about kind of from a individual perspective I do believe one of the challenges is the culture I.E the world um or the secular space has done this they've created this and we've talked about this before just in conversation they've separated the secular uh from the sacred I mean and we've seen these in subtle ways with you know taking the Bible out of schools and you know I've heard stories of people kind of praying in their breakroom and their bosses saying hey we can't do that here that's offensive so I believe you know young adult believers who do want to make an impact on their jobs in school they feel this sense of like pressure and almost like this don't do that this wagging of the finger because subtly the world has created this separation of like no this is like the secular if you want the sacred just go to church you do that on your own time so I feel like young adults feel like it's almost offensive to say I'm a Believer so how do we help you know those watch and navigate that perspective I think I think in today's culture um the world has fallen so in love with like all these lies that Christianity and the truth looks like hate so to speak you know I am a Christian or to sing a worship song at work or to you know talk to your friends about Jesus feels like you're being hateful or feels like you're being you know rude or offensive um so people just would rather not I think is where we're at in today's society and we've got to we've got to get away from that yeah I agree good we got to we got to to your point it's either uh a ear early saw approach or Jesus approach like you know if we're going to be at school or in these places you know being a Believer we don't necessarily have to kill people yeah with religion yeah like I like I think one of the Practical thoughts on this is that like when I step into spaces like outside of church I I don't have to talk like a Christian so to speak I don't have to Now put on this facade as a I don't have to put on a Christian outfit like I think we got to understand that once we have confess Jesus as our Lord and savior and we believe in our heart that he's our Lord like it's just our it's just who we are yeah you know what I'm saying we just got to live it we talked about it uh at Midtown like model it yes exactly model it in how I love people how and that's what I love about Jesus man he didn't like roll up to people and was like Hey ma'am you had this well I know you I'm Jesus and then startop beating her with the word it was relationally and I think when people see that you just like see them outside of like what you believe I'm telling you it's a beautiful connection to where they know you're not like just bringing religion to them but you're trying to bring relationship ultimately is the goal we want them to have a ultimate relationship with Jesus but when we try to be relational with people at school and but how we get them to sort of be interested is we have to model it so that means what is our stance what does the word says how are we supposed to act how are we supposed to talk those are things we really need to know yeah M yeah and I think like understanding as well like you're not a victim you're a Christian you're not a victim you're a Victor so when you walk into space is like for me I walk in I'm like God this is your room yeah so like they can say whatever they want they can do whatever they want but like this is your room so like usually for me I'm like looking for what's my bridge what's my Gap yes one of the first things I always do introduce yourself what's your name get to know the person and I think you said it right building a relationship because like in order to reach somebody and like for Jesus like it's sometimes take time and so like even if there is opposition even if they are like completely against what you believe like you said model it with your life and I'm remind like when Pastor Jensen was talking about Matthew Henry and uh he was talking about how Matthew Henry used to go to the bar every single morning and I think it was before work and he would like walk and leave these snow print footsteps behind well one day he looked behind he saw his son was walking in the same footsteps that was leading towards a bar and so for him he was like oh my gosh like he's following me where I'm headed and I think like if we could look at your life like you said modeling where are you taking people and so like there's going to be opposition regardless so sometimes like if that door shuts like Jesus said Shake the Dust off your feet and keep it moving but I think when it comes to like that other stuff I think like uh when it comes to politics and governments I think those are some conversations that uh people need to have I'm thankful for our pastors able to be in the rooms like that to create spaces but yeah we we still need to fight make sure that we still have our faith yeah and and part of modeling that is Paul talks about it in Titus 2 uh 7 and 8 he says be a model of good works right teaching and I love what he says like he didn't just say teaching in terms of like you know speaking but he said teaching showing Integrity dignity in these things so I think it's important that like as we are stepping into different spaces and coming across people that don't believe the things we believe in yeah and just think about what the word says the word says that my people perish for a lack of knowledge they don't have the knowledge that you may have yeah it's not a a cause for self-righteousness but it's a a a a space for righteousness to open up opportunities to just see people love on people understand people to where now prayerfully you have a way of connecting dots and getting them to understand what you believe and to and there's one more aspect of it I want to talk to that's again a little bit of a different perspective to the young adult who might who is like in church and is living life and is trying to navigate that space But like the whole sacred versus secular I have been talking about this with my friends recently of I know cuz when I said that you said you like I've been talking about it because I know there's this like almost this idea that it has to be like separate exactly and I think as young adults we have to be intentional that it's not just God time it's like God 's here we talk about whatever here it's like no we need to infuse it like God needs to be in aspect of our life in all convers if we start talking about script conversation it shouldn't be deemed over spiritual obviously you can get weird don't be weird but in the sense of if you're talking and God lay something on your heart to say that might be a little bit more spiritual say it it doesn't need to be these we put God in a box and open them up when we want and then close them up when we want we need to host him well and invite him into everything so that not only with our church friends but with our worldly friends we can not have this weird like do you mind if I talk about God real quick it's just no this is who I am this is what I model like you said and it's not this weird separation it's just as Christ's followers that's who we are yeah and I'm glad you said that because that's what we've done because the culture have done that we've put God In The Box like okay God is on Sundays or in our case with young ad dos on Tuesday and but outside of that it's like no I'm in I can't like we have to be aware of God's presence like he's omnipresent so if I'm always aware of God's presence I'm aware of modeling who he he is I'm aware of displaying the love of God um with true conviction standing on truth cuz that's another aspect of it is like when you know truth you understand that truth navigates any space time or like you know anything like any conversation with a person that I don't have to like dumb down truth right I have to sprinkle it with a little salt right but I don't have to mince truth but when I understand truth I'm able to guide myself a good and healthy way even I'm telling you man when you start to understand truth God will Jack you up and there's this thing called conviction yeah even down to how we communicate with people like I feel like we need more accountability of as Believers how we present the gospel yeah how we have conversations with people because I'm just I've said it man like the church has it is continuing to get a bad rap because you said it Skyler sometimes we can just be weird yeah it's weird it's like we're at a coffee shop and it's like hey what's up can I deliver you the person like deliver me the coffee that's what I'm saying like deliver me yeah you want to deliver me like the Mach for what and it's like now that's just weird to me because it's like you don't even know the person wisdom right and I mean even if you felt led to pray for somebody it's like hey man like are you new here like have conversation right like talk to somebody get what what team do you are you in the sports are you cuz in that way they feel like you're seeing their Humanity not just their Spirit yeah and that's what sometimes people want they want to know that like you see me like yeah and I have a little life hack for anyone watching who might be feeling that like maybe God is laying on your heart to maybe go up to someone and do something that seems quote unquote weird like if you feel alled to pray if you feel alled to do something lead it by by addressing the elephant in the room like if I feel led like if God lays in my heart maybe you need to go and pray with this person or say this thing to this person I will be like hey I know this is kind of random or just like addressing the fact that it could feel some kind of way address it then lead and I've seen that that has helped people to receive better so that is like something I would leave you with for a little practical piece of advice a piggy back that though too is like but give people autonomy like hey you know I feel led you know are you okay yes very good because I think as Believers we still like one of the things I'm learning even more in my old age is this idea of free will yeah we have to give people free will to navigate this spiritual space yeah that even down in praying for people they have the autonomy to say no right yeah and me not now get mad and be like offed yeah like I'm offended like you know oh you going to hell it's like no we got to get give people aomy to sort of have the free will to even say yes to Jesus we should never try to manipulate um twist people arm for the gospel because then it becomes something else we got to let people find their own drawing and unction and pulling to the things of God I think we keep going back to like the relational side of it we have to build relationship with people and you have to show people love regardless of like their beliefs if they disagree with you or not um it just it goes back to love and to relationships and how we live our lives like that's how we're going to bring people to Jesus yeah and I think like if you I can always tell how somebody like approaches evangelism or reaching somebody or relationship with somebody based on their relationship with God because like if you are like the In-N-Out person or it's like I'm going give you the truth and like you're going to take it you don't want it I'm out brother like it sound like Hulk Hogan like we out of here brother but like I think that's the aspect is like if you're just trying to check off a box and I'm just trying to reach you but if you don't take it I'm gone like that's not relationship but like I have a relationship with Jesus I can tell him anything he already knows my thoughts about me like he knows everything about me so I tell him so like we have conversation in the morning and I'm like Yo God like just like feeling weird today like I don't know what's going on like and I start like talking to him about stuff and it's amazing like for me one of the best relationship I have with God is like through writing so when I write and it's not just typing on my phone it's writing and him and I have this relationship in this conversation if you're not giv space to conversation I see you viewing God as like somebody you work for and that's it yeah that's really good it's like I think you both have said it you said like if they think differently if they go about things differently like give space for conversation down to under like I'm in this space where I'm trying to learn sometimes if somebody thinks differently on whatever topic it may be I just want to understand why like you know what what experiences have you gone through how were you raised or whatever to make you kind of think the way you do or feel the way you feel because you'll find out a lot of stuff about people even in a a a short little conversation that's like wow but I think through that conversation so much can develop like empathy and compassion and again just understanding which we know is the one of the most principal uh wisdom things that we can do according to Proverbs 4:7 so yeah I think we got to definitely approach this thing a little different if we're going to be Christians navigating culture because again we can't let the culture or the world dictate what the church does the church has to dictate what the church I mean what the culture is doing so this is a really good conversation y'all I'm grateful for it we got many more to come but we want to thank you guys so much for uh tuning in to this episode this was our first episode and our heart and our prayer is that wherever you are no matter what season you're in college if you're single if you're married if you have kids our prayer is that as a believer in Jesus Christ you can you know allow God to use you to model his character his heart and his word yeah it's so important we have a world that's lost and they need Jesus and God wants to use us to model him to bring people into an intimate relationship with him so we just want to encourage you if you have questions uh shoot questions on the platform that we have uh you can email us um at aaron.

Marshall freechapel.org um with questions thoughts or concerns you can type in the chat on YouTube We're on YouTube or hit us up on our Instagram at Free Chapel young adults with comments and questions and you know Reflections that we would love to be in prayer for you and with you and we would love to engage even in conversations with you we have an incredible team here and we have more people that may not be uh visible but they're behind the scen that would love to connect with you answer questions and pray for you but lastly we don't want to leave this podcast um if you want to know Jesus as your lord and your savior please let us know we would love to talk with you pray with you and help you take your next step into being a model uh for the kingdom of God so again through those means that I mentioned reach out if you want to know the Lord um personally and develop your own relationship with him so free chavel young adults we love you we app appreciate you and we can't wait to see you next time ((music playing)) peace