Witnessing for Christ isn't just a Sunday thing; it's a way of life that shines through every action and word—whether you're grabbing a bite at Chili's or greeting a newcomer at church. Sean Sloggett and I, Jonathan Rich, invite you on a genuine exploration of what it means to embody the Gospel in our everyday lives. We're peeling back the layers to reveal if our efforts to share God's love are truly rooted in compassion or if they're overshadowed by our affiliations with churches and denominations.
Throughout our heartfelt dialogue, we tackle the notion that creating a culture of comfort within our church walls goes a long way. Imagine stepping into a place where you're met with warmth and guided with kindness—that's the atmosphere we're advocating for, where the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting, and our role is simply to be vessels of welcome and love. As we address this, we also recognize the importance of bringing this same nurturing spirit into our daily routines, letting the essence of our faith spill over into every encounter and setting.
Wrapping up our conversation, Sean and I share personal anecdotes that drive home the power of authentic actions in harmony with our spoken words. We highlight the need for consistency in our Christian walk—calling for a balance where what we do mirrors what we preach. So, tune in for an episode that promises to not only inspire your spirit but also equip you with practical ways to live out your faith in a manner that's as natural as breathing. Don't forget, our extensive collection of episodes offers even more wisdom and encouragement for your journey, just a click away on your favorite podcast platform.
Witnessing for Christ isn't just a Sunday thing; it's a way of life that shines through every action and word—whether you're grabbing a bite at Chili's or greeting a newcomer at church. Sean Sloggett and I, Jonathan Rich, invite you on a genuine exploration of what it means to embody the Gospel in our everyday lives. We're peeling back the layers to reveal if our efforts to share God's love are truly rooted in compassion or if they're overshadowed by our affiliations with churches and denominations.
Throughout our heartfelt dialogue, we tackle the notion that creating a culture of comfort within our church walls goes a long way. Imagine stepping into a place where you're met with warmth and guided with kindness—that's the atmosphere we're advocating for, where the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting, and our role is simply to be vessels of welcome and love. As we address this, we also recognize the importance of bringing this same nurturing spirit into our daily routines, letting the essence of our faith spill over into every encounter and setting.
Wrapping up our conversation, Sean and I share personal anecdotes that drive home the power of authentic actions in harmony with our spoken words. We highlight the need for consistency in our Christian walk—calling for a balance where what we do mirrors what we preach. So, tune in for an episode that promises to not only inspire your spirit but also equip you with practical ways to live out your faith in a manner that's as natural as breathing. Don't forget, our extensive collection of episodes offers even more wisdom and encouragement for your journey, just a click away on your favorite podcast platform.
Hey everybody. You're listening to the Everyday Christian Podcast where we apply scriptural principles to everyday Christian lives. I'm John.
Speaker 2:Rich and I'm Sean Sloggett, and today we are going to be talking about how are you portrayed as a witness?
Speaker 1:You know it is our very first live podcast with just Sean and I. I think Gabe and I did maybe one or two, so we're not really used to a lot of this, not really custom to a lot of what's going on. You're probably going to see some glitchy video hopefully not as glitchy, but we will upload the podcast tomorrow for you to listen to, if you can't listen to it quite in this episode here. But we are coming to you live first time ever. I wanted to tell you where you can find us before we get into the episode. You can find us on Facebook, instagram, tiktok by searching at podcast4him. You'll see the ticker at the bottom of the screen. That's at podcast, the number 4him, and you can find us on the podcast platform of your choice. Again, this episode is going to be available tomorrow by searching the Everyday Christian Podcast. So, brother Sean, let's jump right into the episode here today, brother.
Speaker 2:Sean, Before we jump in I will say you're probably going to hear us mess up, laugh. Cut a couple little jokes, you get the inside look of how the podcast really is. Yeah, Brother Sean, you know you guys may hear a 45-minute podcast, but we're here for two hours. There's a lot of editing that goes into this. So if there are any mistakes or anything, just bear with us. Enjoy it with us, I guess.
Speaker 1:And if you have any comments, questions, concern, we can see them during the live episode here. So please let us know, and if we can't get to them during the episode, then we for sure will get to them after the episode. Brother Sean, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So we will be talking about how are you portrayed as a witness. A lot of times when you think of a witness, as far as you know, from the outside side of it, you know you think of going before a judge and a jury and you've got somebody going up to the stand. A lot of times it's always focused on who's on trial, not on the witness. But today we're going to flip it around a little bit and we're going to talk about the witness. So a witness, you know, if you look at the definition of it, there's nouns, verbs, different types of it, obviously, but the verb definition of a witness is to see an event take place or have knowledge of an event or change from personal observation and experience. So actually being there and being a witness, it is something that we should hopefully have knowledge of. You know that event or that change has been a salvation that we've received in the experience of Jesus Christ coming into our heart and us wanting to share it with those around us. So again, I'm going to flip it around a little bit. We're not looking at who's on trial Now, we're looking at us as the witness. It around a little bit. We're not looking at who's on trial. Now we're looking at us as the witness.
Speaker 2:I'd like to start out with who or what are you being a witness about? You know, the obvious answer to this is Jesus Christ, the one who died to save us from our sins. But a lot of times I think we kind of get a little mixed up with that, where it's more about our church, our pastor, our denomination or something like that, brother John, and we have to be careful with these kind of things. Are we being honest when we say it's about Jesus Christ? Yeah, if you love your pastor, that is amazing. That is a very good thing. It's great to have a wonderful pastor, one who loves you, one that you love, one that you can confide in, one that you can go talk to. I'm all for it.
Speaker 2:But are we trying to do it for our pastor? Are we witnessing for Jesus Christ? You should again go to a church where you love the congregation, where they are doing outreach, where you can get in in the services, where you can get help spiritually, whether it's shouting in the pews or just hearing a word from God, whatever those cases may be. But you need those kind of churches. But again, when I look back or when we pull back a little bit. Are you being a witness for Jesus Christ? Or are you being a witness to say, hey, come to my church, my church is such and such and you would really enjoy it there. You know when people invite you, I've invited people to my church, but if they choose not to go to my church, I'm not going to be heard about it. Come visit my church and see about it, right.
Speaker 1:You know it is crazy too If you think about being a witness and I'm glad you have that in your notes, because I have something very similar in my notes um, about you know what we think of when we think of the word witnessing and I I think I wrote it in our description, but it's literally a buzzword that is used in churches and, whether you believe it or not, portray it or not whatever witnessing is much more than just inviting someone to your church. It's much more than just telling someone about your pastor. When I think of witnessing, I think of someone who is going out of their way to share the gospel with someone, someone who is compelled to share the good news of what Jesus did for them to someone who has never heard it before, maybe someone who needs to hear it again. But oftentimes, what we think of when we think of witnessing we think of street preachers or evangelists, we think of ministers or missionaries that are going out to be a witness as being the prime members who do it, and we think of that being the who behind the witness. And then, when we think of the how behind the witness, we think of you know, I was studying for this and like putting this together, thinking of like, different ways that we witness or different things that we do to witness. So when I think of like how do we witness, oftentimes we think of approaching someone that we do to witness. So when I think of like how do we witness, oftentimes we think of approaching someone that we know, or maybe we don't know, to share the gospel. We think of passing out a track to someone, we think of preaching at church or on the streets, but oftentimes we don't think of witnessing, being as a witness as Christ's followers in the Bible did it. We think of witnessing as our church culture of today sees it and does it, or in most cases, brother Sean, doesn't do it.
Speaker 1:Witnessing is more than just hey, you know, I go to a great church. We've got all these amazing things. Look, your church is wonderful. Your church, you know, I'm glad you go to a good church. That's great. Your church, your church is wonderful, I'm glad you go to a good church, that's great. Your church is not the gospel, where you attend Sunday school, your youth pastor, your pastor, your associate pastor, the music, all those things. They are not the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so to be a witness is number one, and you'll probably go over this, but you already touched up on it. To be a witness means I have witnessed something in my life, I have experienced Jesus Christ, and to share that gospel or to be a testimony of that, is something that all of us Christians should do or strive to do. And what I think about you know when it comes to being a witness to do, and what I think about you know when it comes to being a witness testifying, etc.
Speaker 1:I often think about when I was first saved, brother Sean, because when I was first saved I wanted to tell everybody about Jesus. I want to tell everyone about the good things that he did for me. But it seems like I've been saved 17. Someone asked me today how long have you been saved? I've been saved 17 years and it seems like the more and more you know life goes on. You know I'm married now, I've got kids now, I've got a job that's full-time, I've got two or three jobs that are essentially full-time, and so I've got all these things going on and it seems like the more and more, the older I get, the more life tries to pull me away from that. Central focus of my purpose in this life is to tell someone about the good news of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:I'm going to back up a little bit, go back to the inviting them to the church part, and some of you guys will get where I'm going with this and I'll catch back up to Jonathan here in a second, inviting somebody to come to your church. Again, I want you to go to a church where you feel like you can invite a sinner to come. There is a sinner needs to be able to come to a church and feel comfortable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and this has come up here too many times and we're going to get in a lot of trouble already for saying that again in this episode.
Speaker 2:That's okay, but I'm going to say it A sinner should feel comfortable in the church house, according to how we as people think and feel. If you cannot and this is part of what I mean here, because I've seen this happen in churches and if we're all completely honest not just me, we've been part of the problem before yeah, a sinner should feel comfortable. You should be able to go up to them and say hey, my name is Sean Sloggett, I'm a part of this church. Thank you for coming today. Oh, you have three kids. How old are they? Would they like to go to Sunday school? Let me show you go to Sunday school. Let me show you where the Sunday school classes are. If you feel comfortable them going in there, they are more than welcome to stay. If not, we understand they should feel comfortable.
Speaker 2:A lot and some of these things we take for granted. Somebody new comes into your church. They may not know where the restrooms are. It's very basic, but they've never stepped foot in this building before. We've all had a stranger come into our church and ask where the restrooms are. Hey, if you need it, they're over here. We should be able to make them feel comfortable, right, and let the Holy Ghost, convict them. Yeah, that's where the uncomfortable part should come in.
Speaker 1:And let me interject something real fast. I know you're on a roll here, but that's exactly the episode two episodes ago. That's exactly what I was talking about People freaked out over. Well, we shouldn't make people feel comfortable because the Christians of the Bible didn't feel comfortable. Yada, yada, yada. Listen, that is exactly what I'm talking about. It's not my job to make someone feel convicted or uncomfortable. It's my job to shine the light of Christ on them inside of church and outside. We're going to get to the outside portion of it, but inside of the church they should feel comfortable, welcome, loved, cared about. They should have peace. They shouldn't feel all eyes watching them. They shouldn't feel like they're ridiculed. They shouldn't feel like people are judging me with their eyes. They should feel loved, cared, and I'm not saying accept their sin, but accept them, brother Sean sorry I had to interject something there.
Speaker 2:That's absolutely right. I mean, if we go into a restaurant, we expect whoever works there to make sure we are comfortable, taken care of. Do you need a refill? Let me get you a refill. Let me get that plate out of your way. Do you need a refill? Let me get you a refill. Let me get that plate out of your way. Would you like an appetizer?
Speaker 2:We expect them to make us feel comfortable. So why is it that when somebody new comes into our church, we can't make them feel comfortable? Shame on me, shame on me, shame on us. When we cannot make somebody feel comfortable for coming into the house of God, right, we need to make them feel comfortable. Yeah, now the Lord can use the Holy Ghost. Can use somebody, right, or he can speak through somebody to convict them.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that it has to be the Holy Ghost can use somebody, or he can speak through somebody to convict them. I'm not saying that it has to be the Holy Ghost coming down and dealing with them on a personal level. He can speak through somebody, but more often than not, we probably miss it because we see that they're covered in tattoos or they've got multiple piercings or whatever the case may be that we automatically know that they're lost. Maybe they are, but maybe they got saved last week also and they don't know any better. They showed up still with their earrings in because they haven't learned. They showed up still with their earrings in because they haven't learned. Maybe those tattoos are still showing because all they had this week was the T-shirt that they're staying in the hotel.
Speaker 2:I understand I've talked to these kind of people before they only have two changes of clothes, and the shirt that they wore this morning to Sunday school is a lot better than the one they could have picked out. They need to be comfortable and let the Holy Ghost deal with them. When it comes to the denominations, I don't care as much as most people do. I don't either. If we're genuinely honest, I'll say it this way I have some very big issues with a lot, and most denominations yeah, but a lot of them are sincere also. You and I both. If we sat down and studied, we can find a flaw in every single denomination, pentecostal holiness included.
Speaker 1:I thought you were going to say especially All right, sorry, I'm teasing.
Speaker 2:However I'm teasing, we're not perfect either. Right, we want to act a lot of times like we are, and we're not. We get things wrong. Also, I want to be a witness about Jesus Christ, not about my pastor, not about my church and not about my pastor, not about my church and not about holiness. Jesus Christ was the one that died for my sins. He was the one that paid the price. He was the one that came to this earth and suffered and died. He bled on the cross so that I may be free. Nobody else, nothing else. It doesn't matter who it is what we think it is. Is it Jesus Christ? Who or what are we witnessing about? Our primary focus needs to be of Jesus Christ, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Brother John, you know, witnessing has to become more of an act, more than just an act. It has to become a lifestyle. It has to become more than just a series of events. It needs to become a way of life. It needs to become more than just a scheduled moment, not just in the church. It needs to be unscheduled events. And there's a reason for all that. There's a reason why we don't do a lot of that. There's a reason why the only time that we witness is when we are with church members or when we are a part of some outreach program, and that reason is most of the time. You need time to get your game face on. You need time to prepare yourself to look and act like someone who shares the gospel. You need time and planning to put on a fake smile and to look the part, brother Sean. That's why it's easy to do it in the church house, and not outside.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know when I think of this another buzz we're talking about buzzwords, but another one that we use thinking about this is outreach. It's a modern word that we use to portray that our church is a witness for Christ and, by the way, the majority of the outreach programs that you do are good. Like I'm not taking anything away from that. I don't want you to think that with this episode and most of them are not all bad, some of them are very, very good the problem is is that we use outreach as our only means of being a witness of Christ or preaching the gospel of Christ or sharing the gospel of Christ. We use scheduled events as our only means of witnessing. I know what some of you are thinking and I've heard this excuse millions of times in the last couple of years, but specifically the last couple of weeks. Well, no one in my circle has taught or preached that, or I've never heard of that and maybe not, but you have witnessed it and you have seen it with your own eyes and you've done it with your own life sure has lost the desire to share the gospel so badly that they use different things that they do for the church to impress the pastor as a way of justifying it. Well, if I help cook food for camp service, then in a way I'm sharing the gospel. I'll make sure our camera stayed going. Okay, it did. We see the camera going off on our thing here. It's good. Well, if I cook food for camp service, then in a way I'm sharing the gospel. Well, if I serve drinks at Sunday dinner, then I am being a witness for Christ.
Speaker 1:Look, doing that at your home church is great. I don't want to take anything away from that. Doing those things is needed for the body of Christ and it's helpful. Doing those things can be a small part of a greater work and witness and praise God for it. We need people in church to do the small things. We need people in church to do the medium things. We need people in church to do the large things. We all work together to accomplish goals, but don't use that as a cover, all reason, as an excuse for being a witness. Witnessing is so much more than just that, brother Sean Witness. Witnessing is so much more than just that, brother Sean. Witnessing is more than just the little things that I can do so that Pastor so-and-so sees me as a strong Christian, or well, that brother over there really helps a lot, or that sister over there really does a lot over here. It's all great. It's all grand, it's all wonderful. What about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and doing it correctly, brother Sean?
Speaker 2:My next point how are you witnessing? There you go. All of us, as Christians, should want to witness to those around us. We have all heard the terms first impressions and actions speak louder than words. So, as a Christian, what are your first impressions leaving? Yeah, what are your actions?
Speaker 2:Speaking about you, I can claim to be a Christian all day long, but how am I showing it? How am I presenting it? Yeah, just because we wear long sleeve shirts, just because we wear skirts down to the floor, just because we do all these things, does not mean we're Christians. If we're being fair, gypsies wear their skirts down to the floor. Yeah, it's just a look. Yeah, it's just a look. I'm not saying I'm not going to get into the modest, immodest debate right now, but what are you leaving with them? Sure, look has a lot to do with it. Are you well put together? That is a first impression. If you come in looking rough, it's probably not going to be a good first impression. I understand that side of it, but our presentation, along with our actions, needs to be part of it. I was at not just me, but there was several of us. It's been a few weeks back, but there was a Chili's, a new Chili's that had opened up San Springs.
Speaker 1:Oklahoma, in San Springs, oklahoma, the bomb the best restaurant around, yeah.
Speaker 2:And we called them and asked them if they could handle about 40 people coming from a service I think it was a Friday night and they told us yeah, bring it on. So we got there and there was two men that ended up working for us they ended up being brothers Walked in, started talking to him like man, I know this is a lot which we had called ahead. I was like, hey, we, you know, we called about this and he's no problem, we'll get you taken care of Very, very great. And he's no problem, we'll get you taken care of Very, very great. But at the end of it, as everybody was leaving, I went over and just, hey, man, I know we probably messed your night up with all 40 or whatever the exact number ended up being. That was a lot. And of course, he said, no, no big deal, you guys weren't bad, you were easy. And he said let me ask you a question, shoot, man. And he said I assume you're a Christian of some type. And I was like absolutely yeah. So I started talking to him a little bit about it and he said I used to work.
Speaker 2:And he named another location that was maybe 30, 40 minutes from here, and he said there was a group of people that came in that was a lot like you guys and he said I'm almost always impressed by you. He said I think your holiness or something. And I was like, yeah, I am. He said most of the time, I'm very impressed by you guys. He said your kids are very well-mannered, which I don't know what he was looking at that night, but it wasn't my kids. He said your kids are always well-mannered, please, thank you. No, sir, yes, sir. He said they're not getting up running all over the restaurant. He said your group, you guys, again, your large group. He said everybody was so respectful. I came over there. He would come over there to get plates out of the way and most, if not all, of us would have a stack of plates in the middle, Like we weren't just leaving everything strung out. And he said man, that just says something about you guys. And I'm like, yeah, I'm a witness, I didn't have to say much.
Speaker 2:But our small actions, yes, words were involved. Our first impression, I honestly believe, was a great first impression. Yeah, we called ahead, walked in. Hey, you know, I understand this is going to be trouble and they. Well, can you please give us 10 minutes to put tables. Absolutely, you know we're inconveniencing you more than, yeah, I know people and you probably do too that would have walked in there, got upset, made some form of a scene and walked out. Right Now, when you claim to be a Christian and they see those type of things and then you have that kind of attitude, what does that say to them? You're right, yeah. What kind of example are we putting out as a witness going back, someone who saw or has knowledge of an event? Or change from personal observation and experience? Yeah, or change from personal observation and experience? I am saying that I, from personal experience, am a changed man, and then I show hatred, disgust, irritation, and we're all human.
Speaker 1:We mess up.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that we have to be perfect, we need to strive towards it, but all they see is just these degrading things. And then we think I'm being honest here If I saw something like that, I'd be like man. I don't want to have anything to do with them. Right, they look more miserable than I am. Yeah, I am a believer in showing the love of Christ. Yeah, yeah, being a witness a lot of times, if not every time, starts with that. And I tell my youth group, every time we get in the van and I think I've mentioned this before to go somewhere, before we get out, I say hey, everybody, I need you to listen. You are representing me tonight because I have you in my van. You are representing your church, you are representing your pastor, but most of all, you're representing Jesus Christ. And on more than one occasion have I had people come up to me and commend the youth group, saying I don't know what denomination you are or I don't know anything about you, but your group was amazing. When somebody says that to me, I say let me tell you about my youth group. We're Christians. Let me tell you a little bit about my Jesus and what he does.
Speaker 2:I watched. I'll say this and I'll let Brother John take it. I watched a video of a man and some of you guys have probably seen him before he goes around and he will ask people you know, for $5, can you name a Bible verse? Or for $20, can you name a Bible verse? Or for $20, can you name a Bible verse, or whatever.
Speaker 2:And there was this one lady in particular that looked nothing like us. From all indications she was not a Christian and she quoted John 3.16 immediately and he said wow, you know, that's amazing. And she told him. She said I used to go to a church. I went, but she had pulled away from it. And he started talking to her, not preaching at her, not yelling at her. He just encouraged her to go back and restudy it, go back and look at some of these things. And she, if I remember right, she told him I think I will Instead of just for lack of better terms attacking her for not being a believer. Now, he just spent a couple minutes talking with her and I believe it made all the difference in the world to her.
Speaker 2:And it may have a chance to save her, because somebody went out of their way to talk with her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, brother Sean, for those listening, if you're a first-time listener, you haven't really heard the episodes before. We encourage you to listen to the episodes. I've got like I think this is our 83rd or 84th episode called the Everyday Christian Podcast. Find us on the podcast platform of your choice. But I say that I had to put my little two cents in there. But I say that because Brother Sean and I don't really compare notes. Like we sort of pick a topic, we get the general theme of the topic and then we just sort of prepare our own notes and come in with. You know, most of the time we're on the same level and same mindset, so this is really good. I love that he shared this because this is what I wrote.
Speaker 1:It says witnessing is having a heart and mind that is willing to share the gospel of Christ at any moment, while simultaneously having a lifestyle and portrayal of someone who has received the gospel of Christ, and there's a reason why those two things go hand in hand. You know I talked about other episodes and we've covered a lot on this episode, but there's an episode called is, speaking in tongues, greater than the fruit of the spirit. Go back and listen to that episode, but I'll share a little bit of that here, and that is this your actions and words must match. I get we have slip ups. I get we make mistakes. I get we say things that we shouldn't say and act ways that we shouldn't act. I get that we cut people off on the road. I get that we get frustrated with waiters and waitresses, but it's interesting how quickly our mode changes when the scheduled time for witnessing is over.
Speaker 1:I use PB&J as an example Peanut Butter and Jesus. Wonderful ministry that we have. But in all actuality it's a scheduled event. Great ministry, wonderful. The way they do it is just right. I think they've done it for like I don't know three or four years Every Saturday for like three or four years. It's an awesome ministry. That's just here, though, I mean it's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just a local ministry here, but just take that ministry, for example, and let's just say there are several.
Speaker 2:There are several PB&Js. The original one, I think, has been going on. Yeah, for like seven or eight years maybe longer, I think around eight or so.
Speaker 1:We'll see if Todd Sluggett's watching. He's not. But that group goes out every Saturday to feed those that are hungry, pray for those that are sick, share the gospel to those that need to hear it, and it's a wonderful ministry. But let's just say I, for example, am wanting to help that ministry one Saturday a month. Let's just say I, for example, am wanting to help that ministry one Saturday a month, so I go and help make sandwiches, pack lunches, and then I go and take them to impoverished neighborhoods and feed the hungry, pray for the sick, etc. I do it all within a time frame of four hours, four hours once a month. Is it a good thing? Yes, is it a great thing? Yes, but it's not my only means of being a witness, preaching the gospel or even testifying.
Speaker 1:It goes much deeper than that, brother Sean, and something that you touched on that is just coinciding with my notes here is your actions speak louder than your words. You know one famous quote that I always share. I've probably shared it on here before. It says your actions are so loud I can't even hear what you're saying. Don't tell me you love the lost but then treat them like trash when you aren't within your outreach group. Don't tell me that you love the lost when you have done nothing to research and understand their cultures. Jesus loves you. In an angry voice, you're going to hell in an angry voice. That's not a proper and effective way of sharing the gospel. Is it a way that some people believe you can share the gospel? Sure, is it always an effective way? I don't believe that. It is because of your attitude behind it. When you have an attitude that betrays, I hate the individual I'm talking to, but my words say I love them. What are they going to listen to? They're not going to listen to your words, they're going to listen to your attitude. Witnessing is having it hard in mind. I'm going to say it again that is willing to share the gospel of Christ at any moment while simultaneously having a lifestyle and portrayal of someone who has received the gospel of Christ.
Speaker 1:And the issue with the church Sean, I know you're like a dog. I'm holding on to him here. Man, he's ready to let loose. But the issue with the church is that we either have one of those things or none of those things. Have one of those things or none of those things, we either don't do any type of witnessing or preaching the gospel, not just from a corporate body but as individuals. Or we do witness, but outside of those moments of witnessing we do not display a life that is Christ-like, or we display a life that is Christ-like but we do not do any sort of witnessing or preaching of the gospel. And it's a rarity to see all three. But it is a recipe for success in winning men and women to Christ. Brother Sean, Scroll back up a little bit. Yeah, you can't look at my notes? What are you doing here? Read that line again. Don't tell me you love the lost but treat them like trash when you aren't with your outreach group, but treat them like trash when you aren't with your outreach group.
Speaker 2:I have heard, and we've all heard, the comment about Jesus flipping the tables in the temple. Yeah, so well, jesus was angry. Jesus did these things. Most of the time they're kidding and I understand that. We take it as a joke, but I see that as an exception.
Speaker 2:We use that as an excuse to get angry or to raise our voice or all these different things, and sometimes I believe that our voice does need we do need to raise our voice. I have to do it to my kids to get their attention. I can yell their names out or I can call it hey, come here, hey, come here, which they all have nicknames, and they won't listen. But once I get stern about it, then sometimes that's what it takes to get their attention. But that's the exception. How often did Jesus say bring the little ones to me, and he loved them. He wasn't yelling, he wasn't behind a pulpit, he wasn't in the temple. None of those things. Yeah, you know the picture that we always see when they paint that kind of picture he's sitting on a rock. Yeah, he's just out in nature. What we would be inconvenienced by, yeah, that's where out in nature. What we would be inconvenienced by, that's where Jesus was Right, right, the woman at the well. She was going to get some water. For all intents and purposes, jesus and the disciples could have been going to get some water. That was an inconvenient time.
Speaker 2:I believe the Bible says that he said I must needs go through Samaria, which was out of the way. The Gentiles and the Jews did not get along. They were still separated at that time. He went out of his way for that Right. She had five husbands and if it was us, we would have treated that situation a lot different. Yeah, jesus treated her with love and compassion. The woman that was caught in adultery, the leprous men. Jesus didn't walk away from them. He didn't treat them any less than he loved them. He cared for them. He took the time to talk to them. He witnessed Zacchaeus the tax collector. We would, christian, cuss him out for being a cheater, for taking advantage of all the people, for stealing from our paychecks. Yeah, but what did Jesus do?
Speaker 1:he said but what?
Speaker 2:did Jesus do? He said hey, I see you up there in the tree. Let's go eat lunch, let's go eat dinner, whatever meal it was. He said I'm headed to your house today and it changed him.
Speaker 2:If it was us, would we have walked by and yelled at him for being a cheater, for being a lowlife, for taking from us and I hope you get saved so you don't die in rotten hell, yeah? Or would we have welcomed him and said, hey, let's talk a little bit. There are times for preaching, there is time for raising our voices, but how many times do we need to be bold? We need to be bold, we need to be brave, right, and we need to be firm in our faith. Yet we also need to love and be humble, yeah, yet we also need to love and be humble. Yelling at people that they're a bunch of evil, wicked, self-centered, spoiled Gen Zers and millennials and you're going to die in rotten hell. It's not working, right, most of the time it's not going to work. I don't like scare tactics.
Speaker 2:99% of the time this is my statistical point on it Could be more, could be less, but it just results in hate being spewed from both sides, right, and people leaving upset at the others. We've all seen it Video. You can't do anything anymore and it not be on video. Yeah, it just causes division. Yet you see those videos of people sitting around talking and it does get heated and they do raise their voices at times, but they're civil about it. That's so much greater of a witness when you can be civil and talk to them, listen to what they have to say outside of the church. When it inconveniences you, take time for them, brother John.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, if I tell someone that Jesus loves them, that they must accept him as their savior, but then treat others around them, or even them, like dirt, then I'm not going to be successful in winning them to Christ around their circles. And how you treat people around their circles says a lot about you and will say a lot more to that person that you're trying to win to Christ than you think. If I tell someone of the gospel of Christ but I appear to be upset, moody, depressed, I'm going to have a difficulty portraying the gospel correctly. You know, I think about this is a very generic. I wrote this down. It's a very generic. It's not obviously not.
Speaker 1:I'm not telling you to be fake, but if you think of like car-to-car salesmen or door-to-door salesmen, car-to-car salesmen, car-to-car Car salesmen or door-to-door salesmen, it's a mix-up. See, there's our first blooper. There We've actually done really good. We're almost done with the episode. I want a blooper Car salesman, door-to-door salesman, like you. Think of those people and they appear to be genuinely happy or genuinely convinced, and they're so convinced that they convince you to accept whatever it is. And I'm not saying be fake, I'm not saying being disingenuine, but I am saying if you're truly saved and you're truly convinced of the power and the effectiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then you should be convincing to others as well. Your lifestyle should be convincing to those that are around you that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
Speaker 1:But if you do other things, if you have a portrayal of someone who's lost and then try to win someone to Christ, it's not going to work. Stop treating witnessing like it's a one-time or scheduled occurrence. Treat it as a way and a part of and a way of your life and everything that you do. Even when you're not saying the words Jesus loves you to everyone Even when you're not telling everyone and their mother about the gospel of Jesus, your life should portray someone who has been changed, someone who has been helped, someone who has been delivered. That's how you should portray yourself in everything that you do. I've seen a lot of Christians out there that portray themselves very, very poorly. Unbelievers act better than believers, and shame on us for it. Shame on you for it. You should portray your life in such a way that it shows everyone your actions are speaking even louder than your words are. Brother Sean, look for opportunities to shine your light everywhere, not just during scheduled events.
Speaker 2:Going back to the witness the definition. I'll read it one more time. Going back to the witness, the definition, I'll read it one more time having knowledge of an event or change from personal observation and experience. So when we go out, whether it's inconvenient or not, we need to show the love of Christ we have the personal experience.
Speaker 2:We need to show the love of Christ, right, we have the personal experience. Jesus Christ changed our lives, yeah, and we need to be able to show it to the world. Yeah, and portray the love of Jesus Christ that he gave to us. Yeah, he did it for us even though he didn't have to. We've got the love of Christ in our heart and it's time now, as Christians, that we portray it to the world. Thank you all for listening today.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, we're within 45 minutes, so we're right on time for our podcast. I didn't think it was possible doing a live podcast. We want to thank you. I've been kind of keeping up with the different comments and the viewers. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you for listening. We pray that it's helped you.
Speaker 1:Please, please, please, go back and listen to those other episodes. We've got a plethora Is that the right word? We've got a ton of episodes I think that was the right word. We've got a ton of episodes in our library discussing different things that you can do as a Christian to help in your Christian walk. But we do have several episodes about witnessing, how to portray the fruit of the spirit, et cetera. Please go back and listen to those episodes. You can find them on the podcast platform of your choice by searching the Every in Day Christian podcast. Every in Day are two separate words, and also we've got a little ticker at the bottom of the screen here. You can find us on Facebook, twitter or yeah, you can find us on Twitter, tiktok, all the T's, I think Instagram, twitch, by searching at podcast4him. That's at podcast4him, and God bless, and we hope to see you again soon, thank you, thank you.