Introduction: The Significance of Discipline in the Christian Faith
Discipline holds a fundamental place in the Christian faith, serving as a guiding principle for believers on their journey of spiritual growth. It plays a crucial role in shaping character, fostering personal development, and strengthening the relationship between individuals and God. In the Christian context, discipline is rooted in love and guidance, aiming to lead individuals towards righteousness.
Discipline is not meant to be a form of punishment or control, but rather a path to freedom and spiritual transformation. It is through discipline that individuals learn to align their lives with God’s will and develop the virtues necessary for a fruitful and fulfilling Christian life. It requires a willingness to submit to God’s authority and a desire to grow in faith and obedience.
Understanding Discipline in the Christian Faith
In the context of Christianity, discipline can be defined as willingly submitting to God’s will and aligning one’s life with biblical principles. It encompasses various aspects, including self-control, obedience, and adherence to moral values. Christian teachings emphasize that discipline is an expression of love, as it seeks to correct, instruct, and guide individuals towards spiritual maturity.
Discipline is not about following a set of rules or regulations, but rather about cultivating a heart that desires to please God and live according to His Word. It involves making intentional choices that honor God and reflect His character. Discipline is a lifelong journey that requires constant self-reflection, accountability, and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
Different Aspects of Discipline for Men
Discipline for men encompasses several dimensions that contribute to their overall growth and well-being. These include:
Physical discipline
Encourages men to maintain good health, exercise self-control over their bodies, and avoid harmful habits. It involves taking care of one’s physical well-being and stewarding the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
For example, physical discipline could involve regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough rest. It could also mean abstaining from addictive substances, such as alcohol or drugs, that can harm both the body and the spirit. By practicing physical discipline, men can honor God with their bodies and maintain good health for serving Him and others.
Mental discipline
Involves cultivating a disciplined thought life, renewing the mind with biblical truths, and guarding against negative influences. It encourages men to focus their minds on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.
For instance, mental discipline could involve setting aside time for meditation on scripture, engaging in positive and uplifting conversations, and avoiding harmful media or entertainment that promotes negative thinking. By practicing mental discipline, men can align their thoughts with God’s truth and experience the peace and joy that come from a renewed mind.
Emotional discipline
Focuses on managing emotions, developing emotional intelligence, and responding to situations with wisdom. Men are encouraged to cultivate emotional stability, self-awareness, and compassion in their interactions with others.
Emotional discipline involves learning to regulate one’s emotions and respond to challenging situations in a healthy and constructive manner. It could include practicing forgiveness, expressing emotions in a healthy way, and seeking support from trusted friends or mentors during times of emotional turmoil. By cultivating emotional discipline, men can build deeper and more meaningful relationships and become sources of comfort and encouragement to others.
Spiritual discipline
Includes practices such as prayer, Bible study, worship, and participation in Christian community to deepen one’s relationship with God. Men are called to prioritize spiritual disciplines that foster intimacy with God and nurture their spiritual growth.
Spiritual discipline is essential for men to grow in their faith and develop a strong foundation in Christ. It involves making time for prayer and meditation, studying the Bible regularly, worshiping and praising God, and actively participating in a Christian community. By prioritizing spiritual discipline, men can draw closer to God, experience His presence, and gain wisdom and discernment for making godly decisions.
Matthew 5:4 ESV – Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
In Matthew 5:4, Jesus teaches us about the blessedness of those who mourn. This verse is a part of the famous Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus delivers profound teachings to His disciples and the crowd gathered around Him.
In this particular verse, Jesus offers comfort and hope to those who are experiencing grief and sorrow. He acknowledges the pain that comes from mourning, whether it be the loss of a loved one, the burdens of life, or the recognition of our own shortcomings. Jesus assures us that God is near to the broken-hearted and is ready to provide solace and consolation.
During times of mourning, it is natural to feel overwhelmed and in need of comfort. Jesus reminds us that we are not alone in our grief. He promises to be our source of strength and to offer the peace that surpasses understanding. This comfort extends beyond the earthly realm; it is rooted in the everlasting love and compassion of God.
The blessing of mourning lies in the transformation that takes place within us. As we turn to God, seeking His comfort and guidance, He begins a process of healing and restoration in our lives. Our mourning deepens our reliance on Him and strengthens our faith. In our brokenness, we find comfort, hope, and ultimately, healing.
It is essential to remember that the comfort Jesus offers is not temporary or fleeting. He doesn’t merely provide a momentary respite from our pain, but rather, He offers a lasting and eternal comfort. His presence in our lives brings peace that goes beyond our circumstances.
As believers, we are called to mourn with compassion for the brokenness in our world. We are instructed to extend comfort and support to those around us who are grieving. By sharing in their pain and offering the hope of God’s comfort, we reflect the love of Christ to those who need it most.
Let us hold onto the promise of Matthew 5:4, that those who mourn will be comforted. May we find solace in God’s presence, and may His comfort sustain us through every season of life.
So Close
Everything the AI said above is accurate when only viewing this verse in a horizontal way. God is our comforter who is there in thick and thin. This is a very consistent teaching both in the New and Old Testaments. The part that the AI missed is the deeper spiritual meaning.
“Blessed are those who mourn” is talking about mourning over our broken sinful nature. The verse before, which the AI and I discussed in the last blog, tells us that we are spiritually poor. We are broken and impoverished before God. We owe a debt that can never be repaid. Now Jesus is telling us that once we understand this brokenness we will mourn over the sin that we do and the relationships that we have broken.
We are comforted because we have reached a point of complete reliance on God. He is our strength, our guide, our hope, our everything. We are given comfort because we have abandoned our pride and our need to be the center of the world. In this state life is better. Life is good once we put God back where He belongs.
How Proverbs 27:17 Can Change Our Thinking A dull knife is dangerous. Running your finger across it may not initially cut, but don’t let that fool you. The danger becomes apparent when it is in use. Imagine preparing for dinner one evening, and you have to cut some vegetables or meat, so you reach into…
Best Books to Defend your Faith or Understand Christianity The idea of defending something shouldn’t come as a surprise to people. Growing up with a bunch of nerds I heard a lot of arguments for why Star Wars was great or why it sucked. Same went for Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Stargate, and…
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Freewill or predestination? How about both? Christians love to debate theology, it’s one of our favorite pastimes. But we don’t like to debate out of animosity or pride, we are only trying to get to the bottom of a belief. I…
In my upcoming book Warrior, Poet, Priest: Rediscovering Godly Masculinity, I use a coin to explain that while men and women are different, they are not as drastic as some people might think. While I was thinking of different topics to ask the AI about I figured this might be an interesting one. I was right. I asked two different AIs how they would use a coin to compare masculinity and femininity, and this is what they said:
Advertisements
WordPress’s AI
Coins are often used as a metaphor to represent different aspects of life, including masculinity and femininity. Let’s explore this metaphor further:
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.
here is the introductory chapter in my upcoming book Warrior, Poet, Priest: Rediscovering Godly Masculinity. I hope that you not only enjoy reading it, but would also leave some constructive critiques or ideas for improvement.
Introduction
Why do some words have straightforward definitions while others seem elusive? Have you ever been asked by a friend or a three-year-old to explain the meaning of a word, only to draw a blank? I certainly have. One reason, I suppose, is that some words are inherently simple. Dog. Bird. Car. These are all words that can be easily explained. Another reason, I believe, is that some words convey objective concepts while others lean toward the abstract. Male and Female are straightforward terms because they describe a biological distinction, making them more objective. Males possess XY chromosomes, while females possess XX. This difference affects the entire makeup and development of human beings. Males tend to be taller, averaging around five feet nine inches, while women tend to be closer to 5 feet four inches. Women develop breasts and hips men definitely don’t. Men tend to have more angular and bulkier physiques, whereas women tend to have curvier and slimmer ones. Even the terms man and woman have clear definitions. They simply refer to adult males and females. However, not all words are easily definable. Masculinity, for instance, should be as easy to define as male/female or man/woman, but it isn’t. Nowadays, it has become an incredibly frustrating word. The frustration comes from the fact that there is no universal definition for it. Some definitions are overly wordy, failing to capture the essence in a way that everyone can comprehend. For example, Merriam-Webster defines masculinity as “the quality or nature of the male sex: the quality, state, or degree of being masculine or manly.” That definition is slightly helpful, but here is one from Taneasha White of PsychCentral that makes very little sense.
Subscribe to continue reading
Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.
The role of discipline in Christian masculinity can be understood through the lens of biblical teachings and principles. While the concept of masculinity can vary among individuals and cultures, the following points offer a perspective on how discipline can play a role in Christian masculinity:
Advertisements
Discipline in Self-Control: The Bible emphasizes the importance of self-control and discipline in the life of a Christian man. This includes controlling one’s emotions, desires, and actions. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, the apostle Paul writes, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” This verse highlights the idea that discipline is necessary to live a godly and righteous life.
Spiritual Discipline: Christian men are encouraged to engage in spiritual disciplines such as prayer, reading Scripture, and meditation. These practices help strengthen their faith, develop a deeper relationship with God, and provide a foundation for making wise decisions.
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.
In my last podcast, I talked about kind of dressing and how a person should dress, or more so how Christians should view the way we dress, how we shouldn’t be too harsh on people, uh, depending on how they look, that our cultural standards should not be imported into our spiritual standards. During that time I mentioned modesty very quickly, and I said I wanted to make a podcast on that, and this is that podcast.
The concept of modesty has shaped or been, been shaped and has adapted throughout the centuries as Christianity has progressed from early Christianity to modern times. And the idea has gone up and down about how much we should focus on modesty and really what modesty is in general. So in preparation for this podcast, I looked up some Bible verses.
that kind of discuss the idea of modesty and really what we should do. And to be honest, the Bible isn’t really that, uh, There’s not a whole lot mentioned in the Bible about modesty, or at least rules for modesty. Modesty is something that is mentioned both for men and for women, so this pertains to our talk on godly masculinity throughout this series.
But it is not extremely focused on, and it is pretty vague about what modesty is or how we should remain modest. We have one Timothy two, nine through 10, which says likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works.
So, what Paul is saying here is he’s not so much focusing on the outward apparel of what women should look like, but he’s trying to make the point that our attention should not be first on outward appearance, then on inward appearance, but it should be primarily on inward appearance. And then do your outward stuff.
So he’s saying they shouldn’t adorn themselves with pearls, with gold, with, when he says braided hair, he’s talking about the, uh, Roman styles of extravagant braids. We’re not talking about a, you know, simple little one braid down the back, you know, pigtails or a French braid or a Dutch braid or, you know, a million other types of out there.
Advertisements
He’s not talking about that. He’s talking about the overabundance of materialistic clothing that the Romans had, just like we have today. If this was written today, Paul would talk about the, uh, over extravagant nails that women can wear. They spend way too much money on getting these nails that aren’t really useful.
They’re only for, uh, showing that a person has a lot of money. Or we talk about, you know, expensive wigs, hair extensions, makeup. The amount of money women put in makeup is ridiculous. And I’m not saying that people shouldn’t wear makeup, but the Uh, ability to spend hundreds of dollars on makeup is very real.
On top of that, we have just haircuts and this is given to men. Men can spend just as much on haircuts now as women. Men care about their outward appearance just as much as the quote unquote stereotypical girl did. That, that’s where, you know, the comments about, you know, uh, how girls, you know, spend so much time on their looks that is no longer just a.
female stereotype. Men fall into that just as much. Men spend, spend way too much money on their extravagant clothes, their shoes. Shoes is a big one for men nowadays. They spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes that they then don’t want to wear. Or when they do wear them, they have to wear them very carefully.
So that they don’t crease them, which I find absolutely ridiculous that they spend one to 300 if not more on a pair of shoes that aren’t meant for use. When I spend money on a pair of shoes, which I like work boots, not cowboy boots necessarily, um, but more work dress boots. And I’ve spent over 100 on a pair of shoes before.
But those shoes were meant to be worn and used and get that worked in look. I didn’t care that they had creases in them. I didn’t care that the, uh, tanning look was starting to fade partly cause you can just, you know, reapply coloring to them and wax them and you’re good to go. But the shoes were meant to be used.
Advertisements
And in my personal opinion, the more used they looked, the actual better they looked. So this idea that And what Paul was trying to get to, when he was talking to Timothy, was that we need to focus on our inward person, not the outward appearance. And all too often, Christians in today’s world focus just as much on the outward appearance in their criticism as they do on how they actually look.
You will see Christians talking about how, Oh, that person isn’t dressed modestly. That person looks like this. That person looks like that, you know, insert whatever, uh, insult you would like about them. And at the same time, they’re focusing just as much on their looks. As the other person. Now, my wife grew up in a world being in the South where the ultra conservative told women that basically the only thing that they could do was.
You know, become a wife and a mother. And the way they needed to do that was basically entice a man. It’s kind of what it sounded like that, you know, it didn’t matter if they went and got an education and didn’t matter if they had a good job because once they got married and they had kids and they were going to be a stay at home mom.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a stay at home mom. My mother was for the most of my life. If that’s what you want to do, then awesome. But if your preparation for marriage is not becoming a holy, godly individual and a better person in every area you can, intellectually, mentally in general, physically, stuff like that, then what you’re doing is only focusing on the physical.
And so they talked about things of how to put on makeup. They talked about how to basically change the way they look and only focus on the way they look so that a man will, you know, fall in love with them and marry them. And that is exactly what Paul is talking about not to do. So conservatives are just as guilty of falling into this materialistic trap as the secular world is, and that is what Paul was getting at.
He was telling Timothy, do not let your congregation, because he was a, what we would call a pastor now, do not let your congregation focus on the material. It doesn’t matter what your hair looks like if you have the newest Roman trends. You know, today would be the newest stuff coming out of New York, whatever the, the, this year’s fashion is.
That doesn’t matter if your spiritual or spirituality and your inside self. So your character, your morals, your spiritual growth is in shambles. If you are poor in spirit and not in the way Christ meant on the Sermon on the Mount. But if you are lacking in spirituality, but you are a 10 when it comes to physical attraction, you have a problem.
Advertisements
And that is what Paul was talking about. And on top of that, we have other verses like 1 Peter 3, 3 4, which talks about the exact same thing. He says, Do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry. Or, the clothing you wear, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the impoverishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
Now, a lot of people try and focus only on women with this, but I think it can be applied just as much to men. And a lot of people get annoyed that it talks about women having a gentle spirit, except they forget that the exact same command was given to all Christians. earlier. So Paul, or Peter in this case, is just reminding the women that they’re supposed to be, you know, calm.
They’re supposed to be gentle, because so are men. Men are supposed to be calm. Men are supposed to be gentle. These are fruit of the spirit. Men are supposed to be joyful. Men are supposed to be peacemakers. We have a long list of things, and men and women are both supposed to be things. These are not. This is something that I’m talking about in my book that parallels this podcast.
The traits of Christianity are not gendered specific, they’re not gendered at all. Whatever command is given to women is given to men. Even at the beginning in Genesis, when God gives the command to men and women. He says to both of them to subdue the world and be fruitful. He does not tell men to go subdue the world and women to be fruitful.
No, God tells both. So that means women are supposed to be included in the subduing the world part and men are supposed to be included in the Uh, raising children part. These are not gendered roles. And this, again, goes into that modesty thing. When we focus on what we wear, or when we focus on what other people wear so that we can judge them, we are moving away from what Paul and Peter preached about 2, 000 years ago.
And if they talked about it then, It was obviously a problem, and clearly, it has not changed. I hear just as many people talk about what someone’s wearing. Talked about that in the last podcast, I’m talking about it again. We focus on things that do not matter if the spirit is still broken. Once the spirit is broken, then you can, or once the spirit is fixed and a person is pursuing the path of sanctification, then you can sit down and say, Hey.
You know, do you think what you’re wearing is appropriate for a daughter of God or a son of God? But even that conversation is still very subjective to your culture, because what we wear today is definitely not what they would have worn 2, 000 years ago. It would have been highly inappropriate, both on the men and women’s side.
So even when you have those conversations… still be very careful with how you approach them. Because again, your spiritual walk and the cultural world don’t always mix. So if your standard for a cultural outfit, your cultural ideas of what a person should wear may not match spiritually for what God truly cares about.
So modesty is a very deep well, and it focuses more on the spiritual than it does the physical. This is a very important thing to remember.
I know a lot of Christians are afraid of AI, but I think that it is a powerful tool that can be used to help, not hurt. It most definitely can be a dangerous tool in the wrong hands, but so can a pencil. A tool is just a tool, and I don’t think that any believer should be scared of it at the moment. This is why I want to start a mini-series conversing with AI on the topic of masculinity. Here is my first conversation:
How Would You Define Christian Masculinity?
Christian masculinity can be understood as an expression of masculinity within the framework of Christian beliefs and values. It involves embodying the teachings of Jesus Christ and striving to live according to the principles outlined in the Bible. Christian masculinity places an emphasis on virtues such as love, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and servant leadership. It encourages men to be responsible, respectful, and protective of their families, communities, and those in need. Christian masculinity also values the importance of spiritual growth, integrity, and moral conduct. It is important to note that interpretations of Christian masculinity can vary among individuals and denominations, but the common thread is the integration of faith and virtue in shaping one’s identity and behavior as a man of God.
How Would You Define Cultural Masculinity?
Cultural masculinity refers to the set of beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations society associates with being a man within a specific culture or society. It encompasses the collective understanding of what it means to be masculine, as shaped by social, historical, and cultural factors. Cultural masculinity varies across different societies and may be influenced by factors such as religion, traditions, social norms, media, and gender roles. It often involves traits and values such as strength, assertiveness, independence, toughness, competitiveness, and self-reliance. However, it’s important to note that the specific characteristics and expectations of cultural masculinity can change over time as societal perceptions and gender roles evolve.
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.
How’s it going, everybody? I hope you’re having a wonderful evening, afternoon, morning, whatever time it is when you were listening to this, um, today. I’m going to talk about something that I think I might have mentioned before, but I can’t quite remember if I have. It’s been a really long time, so I’m going to talk about it again.
As you know, this whole podcast, or this segment of my podcast, Is talking about masculinity, it’s talking about different aspects of manhood, about how men are supposed to act based off of the Bible and the interplay between men, women, other things like that. So I’m going to talk about men’s issues, I’m going to talk about things that relate to men, issues that might pertain to women, um, things that men do that pertain to women.
What we do to women, um, and things like that. So it’s a very wide variety of things and a large, broad topic. Today, I want to talk about dress. Now this might seem odd for a men’s podcast, but the way we present ourselves, the way we dress, is one, very important. And two, a, an area that a lot of Christians tend to get very judgmental about.
I’ve grown up in the West Coast, I moved to the South, and during my time in both areas, I have seen a lot of judgment. When it comes to how someone dresses, if they have earrings, nose rings, rings in general, bracelets. And what I’ve started to notice is that none of these are biblical. There is no biblical passage that talks about how a man or a woman should or should not dress, minus two passages that are more for religious purposes.
Advertisements
So the first one is found in the Old Testament, and it has to do with, you know, there’s one section about the priestly garb, what a priest was supposed to wear when they worked in the temple. That does not matter to us anymore. We are not physical priests. We are not workers in the temple. We are the church.
It’s a different thing. A few, uh, sections that talk about, you know, cultural dress. Again, that does not apply to us. We do not live in the second, first centuries B. C. And then there’s one in the New Testament that I can think of. And if there’s more, please let me know. But there’s one that talks about directly to women, and it says, and this is where Paul is telling women that, you know, they shouldn’t wear extravagant clothes and an overabundance of jewelry.
I might say jewelry at all, I don’t quite remember. But what he was saying there was that don’t put that first. Don’t put your outward appearance before your inward appearance. Become beautiful on the inside. Before you try and make yourself beautiful on the outside. And he’s also saying that this might have been his belief.
And I kind of agree with him that a woman is more beautiful when she is not, uh, over adorned in. Stuff. Makeup. Jewelry. I think woman is most beautiful when she is simple. And now, I’m not saying, you know, women don’t wear makeup, don’t wear jewelry, I don’t care. But, women that enhance their own natural beauty through makeup instead of trying to change the way they look through makeup, I think are more beautiful.
Advertisements
But that’s a side note. So, Paul and the rest of the Bible have Never told people how to dress. There’s no list of just like this, just like that. You can wear skinny jeans on these days, slacks on Sunday. That’s the God given command. It doesn’t exist. What we are told is that we need to dress modestly. Now I’m not going to get too much into this at this podcast.
I may make the next one on modesty because that’s a whole can of worms within itself, but modesty. Is a very vague term. What is modest in one area is extravagant in another area. And that makes things very difficult when we are. Discussing what modesty is and modesty is supposed to be
the, uh, the, uh, dismissal of, or withdrawal of something that is tempting to somebody else. So, you know, men don’t wear things that are going to make women think about. You know, draw forth their lustful desires and women’s more so to men, that’s a more common one. Women don’t dress in a way that’ll make your brother stumble.
That’s told all the time to women, never told to men. And I disagree on that part. Men can dress. to tempt women. We’re seeing this more and more as the rise of uh, internet consumption for women in a certain area and women are becoming more and more uh, engaging in this practice where men have been doing it for a long time and that’s showing women are just as prone to these things as men.
Um, it just may look a little different. They are still there. So, when it comes to modesty, it really just depends on your cultural moment and where you live. So, in America, what we look at is going to be very different than what a French person looks at in France, or even more so than in the Middle East.
Advertisements
You know, there’s the whole joke about the ankle in the Middle East, you know, oh, she revealed her ankle. It’s the same thing as, you know, revealing your whole midriff. Or maybe some cleavage in the United States, like it’s very different. So modesty is not a blanket thing, but I’ll talk about more of that in the next episode, like I said.
So what we’re given are these general categories of how we should dress and It is really damaging to the Christian walk when people take a cultural concept like the southern standard of dress and apply that in a biblical way and they tell people you’re not dressed the way I think you should dress based off of where I live.
And since you don’t dress like that, you are less spiritual than me. You dress more provocative than I think you should dress. And since you dress like that, you clearly cannot be a strong Christian. So you need to dress, change how you dress so that your spirituality can increase. And that’s ridiculous.
Or we say, you know, you have too many piercings or you have piercings in the wrong places. You have a nose ring, you have a lip ring, you have an upper cartilage ring. And because you have rings in places that aren’t holy, and the only place that is approved by God is the earlobe, and since God does not approve of these other places, You are again not spiritual and this goes towards men and women, you know, I have one ear pierced and I can’t wear it in certain areas Because it’s not deemed the way men should have the way we should present ourselves.
I work at a Christian school It’s a good school, but I can’t wear it there because it’s not deemed appropriate In a Christian setting, women can wear pierced earrings or have their ears pierced, but, you know, a man can’t, even though historically men and women have had their ears pierced for almost the exact same amount of time, it has been a large display of the human condition for most cultures throughout most of history.
Advertisements
We have always presented ourselves. Through piercings and clothes. That is how cultures develop. It’s developed in every culture. So the fact that suddenly, because of the modern American way of thinking that started, I believe, with the Puritans, and again, I’ll go into that more another time, because of our way of thinking, we’re like, well, that’s not holy anymore.
So you can’t do that. You’re a man. You shouldn’t have any piercings, and if you want to work here, if you want to attend to this church, You have to get rid of those or your spiritual walk cannot increase, and that’s ridiculous. And again, if you don’t like them culturally, that’s perfectly fine. I, we all have our cultural conditions.
We all live within the worlds that we live in. And if you don’t like it culturally, if you just don’t like the way it looks, that’s perfectly fine. We all have opinions. But, if you translate those opinions into concrete biblical stances, that is where the problem arises. That is where we have issues. These things are not biblical.
And we should not condemn people based off of our personal opinions of what should or should not be. This is damaging to new believers. It is causing people to stumble and leave the church because they see judgment and condemnation where it does not belong. And they get confused or run out. And they…
They equate that type of behavior to Christianity in general, and that is not the way it’s supposed to be. We are not supposed to be the heavy handed, uh, people of judgment. We’re supposed to be the people of love, not the people of acceptance. That’s a very different thing, but we’re supposed to love people, draw them in, and through our actions, cause change, not through our condemnation.
Thank you for listening to a foster the vlog podcast. You can like, follow, share on whatever social media you listen to. And if you would like to follow all of my social media, it’d be highly appreciated. Every follow increases my reach and allows other people to hear the message that I am trying to preach.
My name is John, and I’ve always tried to embody meekness in my daily life, guided by my deep-rooted Christian values. For me, meekness is not a sign of weakness but a reflection of inner strength, and I believe it can help resolve conflicts and bring about positive change in the world. I firmly believe…
Christians tend to fall into two camps when it comes to sin. Conservatives tend to condemn sinner and sin while liberals condon sinner and sin. This is not the case for every single person, but does encompass the general attitude. Luckily there is a third way, and a more biblical one in my opinion. We…
As a middle ground Christian, the journey of faith has been anything but easy. I’ve often found myself caught between the more conservative and progressive segments of the Christian community, struggling to find my place and voice in the midst of differing beliefs and opinions. One of the most challenging aspects has been the sense…
“You know, one thing that really kind of irks me as I’ve gotten older and something I don’t think that really bothered me much when I was younger, maybe a teenager. I definitely don’t remember much of it bothering me in college, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to get really frustrated about people that are fully apathetic.
People that have Become so disinterested in anything in the world that they, it’s really kind of hard to explain. Like, you know, an apathetic person, you kind of know what I’m talking about. Um, they, like you try and talk to them and get to know them and saying that they are kind of just there. Kind of like how a brick.
is just there. They’re similar, but not quite the same. Like, of course, everyone has some types of interests. And so I’m not talking about interests like maybe casually playing a game or interested in a sport. But their interest doesn’t go much past, uh, surface level. So you ask them, well, what do you want to do with life?
Advertisements
Nothin What are your real interests in life? Nothin Do you like watching TV? Eh. Do you like playing sports? Eh. And no matter which direction you try and turn to see, you know, what their passions are, what, you know, how they’re going to, you know, what they’re going to do with their life, any of those types of questions, especially when you’re talking to teenagers or young adults, and you get nothing.
Like, it’s this complete blank slate of nothingness. And then on top of that, you try and, you know, you know, try and push a little bit as a teacher and someone who volunteers at a youth group, you know, I try and probe a little bit, push a little bit, get the kids to think and grow, and they have this disinterest with the world that kind of goes beyond the normal, like everyone has things they’re not quite interested in, you know, my big one is I’m not very interested in watching sports, I’ll play sports, But if you kind of start talking about, you know, what game was on the other night, how one team is doing this year, I’m going to kind of lose interest.
I’ll do my best if that’s something you’re passionate about, but I’m going to lose interest. Now, if you talk about other things that I am interested in. Marvel, video games, Pokemon, stuff like that, you’ll get my interest. Those are things that I’ve always been interested in. But there’s this group of people, and I feel like it’s growing, I could be wrong, but it feels like young adults and older teenagers, kind of that 16 to probably 22 year old age, that range now, there seems to be a higher percentage of individuals in that age, especially men.
Advertisements
Males who aren’t interested in anything and again, it goes beyond just this well I don’t really know what I want to do with my life and I’m not talented in anything. That’s that’s normal for that age I’m talking about something goes deeper this kind of this apathy that is pervasive in their entire being and they Just have no goals, no aspirations, they’re, they’re just a ship lost at sea with no port in sight and not even trying to go to a port.
And it’s, it’s really disheartening. And sometimes it makes me either angry or it makes me depressed because how much they’re missing out. How much of life. And of who they really are, they’re missing. And a lot of times, they have been either deceived by themselves, or deceived by the people around them.
And our culture nowadays, with social media, with movies, with all these things, has a really bad influence on these kids. More so than my generation and older. I didn’t grow up with social media, not till I was in high school. And the way these kids are seeing the world is so much different than how I saw it.
Advertisements
I wasn’t in constant communication with my friends. I didn’t see everything they did. I didn’t see pictures posted on Snapchat or Instagram or Facebook or TikTok. I didn’t see everything they did. I didn’t communicate with them 24 7. There are so many teenagers that I see now, and they are always on the phone with somebody.
Like this inability to be alone has completely swept over this generation, and that constant barrage of images. Never allows them to one see the truth. It is so much easier to lie about who you are It’s easy to post pictures of yourself smiling when you’re depressed It’s so easy to post pictures of how you look and make yourself look, you know Stronger prettier or whatever then you actually are and so when other people look at those pictures They become jealous or they look at themselves and say I’ll never be able to look like that So why even try?
And this, again, never ending barrage of images, of soundbites, and of communication has produced a generation that feels nothing, that believes they can obtain nothing, and they believe the entire world is against them. And that’s something I’ve talked about before. And I think that has contributed in some form, either a lot or a little, to this feeling of apathy, where they don’t really care, and they don’t care that they don’t care.
And as Christians, and as a Christian… It really hurts, because when I look at them, and I know that they are made in God’s image, and not only did he make them, and all of us, he made us, he molded all of us. He molded us with his hands, like a master craftsman molds clay. He spent the time, the sweat, the energy, the thought, to produce in us…
Advertisements
Exactly what he wanted. He made us be what we wanted. Now, it’s up to us if we use it. It’s up to us what we do with our lives. But God has created us to be something special. We are the image bearers of him. And to me, that is amazing. But so many people don’t, either they don’t know it, or they don’t fully comprehend it.
And I think that’s another thing that has led to this generation being apathetic. These young men, specifically, since this whole thing is about men, though it does apply to women as well, but my focus is on men. So these young men don’t know why they’re here. They feel like they’re useless, and our culture is…
Vehemently attacking men, and I’m not even talking about masculinity specifically, that is part of it. But it’s also just the idea of being male. Being male nowadays means you are an oppressive villain whose only thing that they can do nowadays is hurt other people. You know, they’re told being male hurts women.
They’re told being male hurts other males. They’re told being male has led to the oppression and destruction of every basic culture in the world. Throw in race, being a white male is… You know double the sin nowadays and so of course these young men are looking around the world saying you don’t care about me I am made for no purpose Nothing about me is unique or special so why am I going to try why am I going to care and it is heartbreaking and I think there are too few people who are taking the time and energy to actually listen to young people nowadays without Wanting to chastise them.
And I admit that it is really, really hard. When I talk to some of the youth that I know, some of the teenagers and young adults, and they just go on this kind of broken record of just foolish concepts that they’ve just, they’ve digested from the world around them, from their schools, from the media, from social media, from their parents, from their friends, that, It’s just kind of, it is hard not to yell at them and not to want to smack them, but you can’t.
You have to love them. You have to show them that this world is not what they think it is, that they have been lied to. They have been deceived by this corrupt society that serves itself. Our society does not want to serve God. It wants to serve itself. And I think that is kind of the whole thing that has created this apathetic, you know, don’t care, I’ll do what I want kind of mentality.
And again, it really gets to me sometimes. So that’ll be the conclusion of this episode. I don’t want to go too long on this tangent of apathy. You know, say that word five more times. Uh, so thanks for listening. I hope you enjoy, if you liked it, please leave a comment. Please leave a like, share, follow, do whatever you can or want to do on whatever platform you listen to.
The Song of Zechariah in the gospel of Luke is a hymn proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah. Sung by Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, upon regaining his speech, it reveals gratitude, redemption, and deliverance that the Messiah offers. The song acknowledges God’s covenant with Abraham and foretells John’s ministry. It conveys hope and…
In the Gospel of Luke, we come across a beautiful passage known as “The Magnificat.” This hymn of praise and thanksgiving is attributed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and is found in Luke 1:46-55. Let’s explore the significance of this passage and its profound meaning. The Magnificat is Mary’s response to the visitation of…
In the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38, the Annunciation event depicts the angel Gabriel delivering a divine decree to Virgin Mary about bearing Jesus Christ. Despite initial hesitation, Mary accepts with faith and submission, marking the start of God’s redemptive plan and setting an example for believers.
Foster A... 