{"id":305109,"date":"2019-06-26T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/being-like-jesus\/"},"modified":"2019-06-26T06:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T10:00:05","slug":"being-like-jesus","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/being-like-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Like Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christians are called to be salt and light. Are we succeeding? Scott Sauls believes it&#8217;s time for believers to do a better job helping our friends and neighbors see the real Jesus in us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-06-26.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:27:16","filesize":"24.96M","filesize_raw":"26175331","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2867,2821,2827],"tags":[4336,5937,4299,4597,5060,6663,4291,6456,4002,2639],"podcast_series":[8284],"cwp_profile":[3442],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-305109","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-involvement","category-reaching-out","category-repentance","tag-christian-worldview","tag-cultural-christianity","tag-faith","tag-following-christ","tag-growing-in-your-faith","tag-irresistible-faith","tag-jesus","tag-love-your-neighbor","tag-reaching-out","tag-sharing-your-faith","podcast_series-irresistible-faith","cwp_profile-scott-sauls","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/305109\/being-like-jesus","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/305109\/being-like-jesus","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"yTFQ49WVJs\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/being-like-jesus\/\">Being Like Jesus<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/being-like-jesus\/embed\/#?secret=yTFQ49WVJs\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Being Like Jesus&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"yTFQ49WVJs\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Christians are called to be salt and light. Are we succeeding? Scott Sauls believes it's time for believers to do a better job helping our friends and neighbors see the real Jesus in us.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-06-26.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>There\u2019s a lot of dialogue today about whether the gospel ought to be thought of as a social gospel. To what extent does it speak to social as opposed to personal issues? Scott Sauls says there are social implications of a transformed life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>If God has done for us what we believe that He has done\u2014if the One who, though He was rich, became poor so that through His poverty we might become rich\u2014you know, for us to say, \u201cWell, we don\u2019t have any responsibility toward people who are hurting and struggling,\u201d\u2014that\u2019s a disconnect. There is a social byproduct to the gospel if, by social, we mean the way that you treat other people, especially people who are different than you and\/or who are less advantaged.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Wednesday, June 26<sup>th<\/sup>. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson; I'm Bob Lepine. If your family is a gospel-centered family, what does that mean for how you love and serve others?\u2014especially, the less fortunate in your community. We\u2019ll spend time exploring that today. Stay with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. We\u2019re talking this week about how we\u2014as individuals, how we as couples, as families, as a community of faith\u2014how we can do a better job of helping our friends and neighbors see the real Jesus in us, because here\u2019s the premise we\u2019re dealing with. We\u2019re saying people are drawn to the real Jesus; people are not drawn to hypocrites and Pharisees. So the more we\u2019re hypocritical, or judgmental, or pharisaical, we\u2019re not a good representation\/a good ambassador for Jesus. But the more we\u2019re like the real Jesus, people are going to say: \u201cThere\u2019s something different. I want to know more.\u201d At least, some people are going to say that; right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>Yes; the only people that weren\u2019t drawn to Jesus were the hypocrites and Pharisees\u2014you know, the most religious people\u2014but the people that were far from God were so irresistibly drawn to the character, and the heart\/the love, the others-centeredness of Jesus. If we, as followers of Christ\u2014and there are many Christians that do that\/many churches that do that\u2014but often, that\u2019s not what people see; so they\u2019re not drawn to it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>I love the idea of the church looking like Jesus, because that is irresistible to me; and that\u2019s the title of the book.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>The book we\u2019re talking about\u2014it\u2019s called <em>Irresistible Faith<\/em>. It\u2019s by Scott Sauls, who is joining us again on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>\u2014welcome.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Scott is a pastor in Nashville\u2014pastors Christ Presbyterian Church. He is an author and a speaker. This new book is all about how we can do a better job of putting Jesus on display in our lives, in our marriages, in our communities.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the things we talk about here, often, Scott, is the fact that one of the great apologetics for the Christian faith in 21<sup>st<\/sup>-century American culture is going to be a oneness marriage relationship; because so many people have lost any hope that marriage has any value, or that it can be sustainable, or that it can be good for flourishing. When Christians can come together and say, \u201cWe have a wonderful marriage,\u201d more and more people are going: \u201cSo how does that work? How does that happen?\u201d which is at the heart of what we\u2019re trying to do, here, at FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou see that in the culture, where you live in Nashville; right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>I do. My wife and I were having a conversation with a woman in our church, going through a challenging marriage herself. Toward the end of the conversation, I think I had to walk out of the room or something. My wife said: \u201cHey, babe, I\u2019m going to have to head out. I\u2019ll see you at home.\u201d It was just something very simple and like everyday language. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI came back to my office, where we had the meeting; and the woman was leaving. She said, \u201cHow long have you been married?\u201d I said, \u201cAbout 23 years.\u201d She said: \u201cYour wife just called you \u2018babe.\u2019 How did you guys get that?\u201d I take for granted sort of the feeling that that\u2019s just normal. It\u2019s actually <em>not<\/em> people\u2019s ordinary, normal experience. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI do think, because Christ is the inventor of marriage\u2014He\u2019s the bridegroom of the bride; He\u2019s the one who put Adam and Eve in the garden; He\u2019s the one who\u2019s going to invite us down, as a beautiful bride, dressed for her husband, as the new heaven and the new earth at the end of time\u2014whatever that\u2019s going to look like\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014a wedding feast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>\u2014a wedding feast. He knows what He\u2019s talking about, even though He lived His whole life as a single man, interestingly. It seems that we, as His followers, have the resources to show the world that there is hope in this often-broken, wounded relationship called marriage.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>As we\u2019ve talked this week, the way we show there is hope is, first of all, by learning to abide\u2014learning to draw our life from Christ, learning to be formed into His image by time in the Word\/time with other Christians\u2014the spiritual practices and disciplines that have been life-giving and soul-forming for people for centuries. Then, being a part of a community\u2014where there are real relationships, where there\u2019s authenticity, where there\u2019s transparency, where we can get real with one another, and we can speak the truth in love and do the kind of soul surgery that we talked about this week.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt that point, we\u2019re ready\u2014and it\u2019s not like we have to get perfect in order to debut who we are\u2014because our life\u2019s on display all the time. But when those things are true about us, now, there are some things we can be <em>doing<\/em> that will\u2014well, you say, in the book, these are the things that will cause the watching world to go, \u201cTell me more.\u201d What kinds of things are those?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>The things that I hone in on, in the last three chapters of the book especially, are giving special attention to the poor or to those whom Jesus called \u201cthe least of these\u201d; and then, the second is the integration of faith and work; and then, the third is, essentially, being public with our faith\u2014you know: \u201cYou\u2019re the salt of the earth,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re the light of the world,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re the city on a hill,\u201d teaching that Jesus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount. I mean, where do you want to start?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, you start with caring for the poor.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>There are some people, who are going: \u201cOh, here\u2019s Scott going social gospel on us\u201d\u2014right?\u2014\u201cthat to be Christians, we\u2019re supposed to care for the needs of the poor. Jesus said the poor will be with us always; it sounded like He was saying, you know, \u2018You\u2019re going to have poor people around; don\u2019t mess with them.\u2019\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Yes; He did say the first part; He never said the second part. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>I was going to say, \u201cOh, is that a paraphrase?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>He said, \u201cYou\u2019re going to have them,\u201d and, definitely: \u201cDo move toward them\u201d; but I don\u2019t think He said, \u201c\u2026mess with them,\u201d but He didn\u2019t say, \u201cDon\u2019t mess with them,\u201d either. He said, \u201cMove toward them.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere are two commandments that summarize the whole Bible, and the whole duty, and calling of a human being in Christ: \u201cLove the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; and the second command is just like it,\u201d\u2014Jesus says, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>As soon as Jesus says that, the next thing\u2014somebody says, \u201cWho\u2019s my neighbor?\u201d He [Jesus] tells about a guy\u2014who is a social outcast, who is in deep need because he\u2019s been robbed, he\u2019s poor\u2014he\u2019s helpless; right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>That\u2019s right. And He, interestingly, puts a Samaritan\/a despised Samaritan to His audience in the story as the hero and as the rescuer. Of course, we know that, in the Samaritan, we see Jesus. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe repudiation or rejection of terms like \u201csocial gospel\u201d\u2014the gospel\u2014look, I know that there are bad forms of it. There\u2019s the presentation of Christianity of: \u201cLove God, and you don\u2019t have to love your neighbor because that\u2019s Jesus\u2019s job,\u201d and then there\u2019s the flipside and the other side: \u201cLove your neighbor, and you don\u2019t have to love God. As long as you\u2019re loving your neighbor, you\u2019re a good person.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBoth are incomplete. Both have something good about them; right? It\u2019s good to have your nose in the Bible every day; it\u2019s good, on the other side, to love your neighbor. It\u2019s not good to just do one, especially as one who identifies as a Christian.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>I love what you\u2019re talking about. I don\u2019t know if you saw this\u2014recently, in the <em>New York Times<\/em>\u2014what\u2019s his name?\u2014Arthur Brooks came up with a phrase called \u201cmotive attribution asymmetry.\u201d You know what that is? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tListen to this\u2014very interesting, because it\u2019s exactly what you were talking about\u2014irresistible faith. He said: \u201cPeople often say that our problem in America today is intolerance. This is incorrect.\u201d He defines this \u201cmotive attribution asymmetry\u201d as \u201cThe problem today is contempt, which is a brew of anger and disgust; not just contempt for other people\u2019s ideas, but for other people.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe\u2019s really hitting on something that I think people have even felt from the church\u2014which I don\u2019t think we\u2019re guilty of, but we can be perceived that way\u2014that we\u2019re called to love our neighbor; but our neighbor often feels like we really have a contempt for them, because they\u2019re not living up to the way we want them to. So there\u2019s this division between us\u2014Christians\/church people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTalk about that, because that\u2019s what you\u2019re talking about. When you love people\u2014the poor; you name it\u2014you are creating an irresistible community that people want to be a part of. Right now, they don\u2019t see that; it doesn\u2019t feel like that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Well, here\u2019s how Christianity spread like wildfire in Rome the three centuries after the Bible was written. It was summed up by an emperor who was a lot like Adolf Hitler, Julian. The history books know him as Julian the Apostate. He hated Christianity, and he tried to exterminate Christians from Rome in the same way that Hitler tried to exterminate Jews from Germany. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe was frustrated because he started to see that, every time a Christian was put to death, five more people would get converted. He wrote this letter to a friend of his\u2014that\u2019s been preserved in the archives of history through archeology\u2014the letter is, essentially, a letter saying, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do to get rid of the Christians, because they take better care of our poor than we do.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat impulse to take better care of Rome\u2019s poor than Rome did came from Jesus. You know, whoever would want to say, \u201cWell, Jesus said the poor will always be with you,\u201d Jesus also said to the rich young ruler, \u201cGive away all that you have and give it to the poor, then come follow Me.\u201d Jesus also gave the good Samaritan parable, as you just pointed out.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Apostle Paul says, you know, \u201cThey urged us to be careful to remember the poor, which we were so eager to do.\u201d You know, there is a social byproduct to the gospel if, by social, we mean the way that you treat other people, especially people who are different than you and\/or who are less advantaged than you are. There is a social byproduct to the gospel. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf God has done for us what we believe that He has done\u2014if the One who, though He was rich, became poor so that through His poverty we might become rich\u2014and by the way, we\u2019re all poor, no matter what economic situation we\u2019re in. We experience the deepest poverty of alienation from God, so we have nothing! The whole world minus Jesus is <em>nothing<\/em>, just like Jesus plus nothing else is everything.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>That\u2019s all we\u2019re going to leave the world with. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf He would go to the lengths that He went to\u2014it\u2019s a become for us\u2014to become shamed, and publicly scorned, and misrepresented, and slandered, and alienated from His Father, and crying out on the cross the 22<sup>nd<\/sup> Psalm, \u201cWhy have you forsaken me?\u201d For us to say, \u201cWell, we don\u2019t have any responsibility toward people who are hurting and struggling,\u201d\u2014that\u2019s a disconnect to me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYet, at the same time, it\u2019s such an incredible source of joy for those of us who engage Jesus\u2019s call toward the poor. By the way, I think the Christian church is doing this better than anybody else in the world, and always has, ever since Jesus came. That\u2019s where I think the public narrative is <em>not<\/em> complete. Are there Christians who use that excuse?\u2014yes, but I think they\u2019re probably the minority. Most Christians\u2014at least, that I\u2019ve experienced\u2014are very, very devoted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>There is some reality to the fact that those who know Christ are motivated to want to be engaged.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>Well, let\u2019s go really practical. Let\u2019s say I\u2019m a mom with kids in the suburbs\u2014or a grandmother\u2014and I\u2019m hearing this. I\u2019m agreeing: \u201cYes; yes. How do I live that out? I\u2019m tithing to my church\u2014is that enough?\u2014and they\u2019re doing some cool things.\u201d What would you say to them?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>You know, that\u2019s what we tell our people\u2014we say, \u201cLook,\u201d\u2014you know, our church\u2014we\u2019re a church, probably like yours, that is blessed with an extraordinary amount of resources. We\u2019re able to give away 40 percent of what comes in\u2014goes out. A sizeable line share of that goes toward these kind of ministries\u2014just tons of partnerships\u2014our people are engaged. We tell them: \u201cYou know, you can look at your church as a mutual fund, where you\u2019re supporting all sorts of things that Jesus calls believers to support. We just ask that you give, and you give generously, because God loves that; and God says that you\u2019ll love when you start doing it, and you will.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>We were serving in Pontiac, which is close to where we live, where there is a lot of poverty. We\u2019ve tried to help. I think that there\u2019s sometimes a churning in your heart, where the Holy Spirit\u2019s pushing you, and urging you, and pressing you on to even ask God, \u201cGod, is there anything else you would have me to do besides giving money?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI met these women in Pontiac\u2014they had a van. They opened the back of their van; and I happened to go up to them, because we were redoing some houses in Pontiac. I said, \u201cHey, what are you doing?\u201d They said: \u201cWe were praying; and we were saying, \u2018God, how can we help the \u201cleast of these\u201d?\u2019 We felt like, \u2018Well, we could make lunches.\u2019 So every Saturday, we come around the city. We find people that are on the streets\u201d\u2014the homeless\/whatever\u2014\u201cand we just hand them a bag lunch and tell them that God loves them and \u2018Enjoy.\u2019\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Yes; that\u2019s terrific. I mean, there are all sorts of opportunities that can serve us like that. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think, too, one thing that I would want to point out, again, is the plural nature of how the New Testament is written. This burden\u2014a lot of, I think, really tender-hearted people feel this overwhelming burden of: \u201cI feel so responsible,\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t even know where to start\/where to begin, and there are so many huge issues in the world. What\u2019s my contribution?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s not about one person; it\u2019s about the global church of God and local embodiments of it rallying together. I\u2019d say: \u201cStart by being a part of a local church that\u2019s concerned about these things,\u201d\u2014that\u2019s 90 percent of it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>And then, \u201cFigure out what your place is: If you\u2019re a mother of three young kids, your place is probably prayer and support. If you live in the suburbs, chances are \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t50 percent of the homes on your block have or will experience divorce, and\/or death, and\/or an estranged child, or something. \u201c\u2026the least of these\u201d\u2014that applies to all kinds of poverty\u2014definitely, material poverty\u2014we need to be involved, some way, with material poverty\u2014but there\u2019s also a poverty of spirit that happens, <em>especially<\/em> in affluent communities.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>So, if you\u2019re walking down Commerce Street in downtown Nashville or, if you\u2019re driving along and you pull up to a stoplight and there\u2019s a guy there with a sign, did you roll down your window and give five bucks to him?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>I\u2019m impressed that you know there\u2019s a Commerce Street in Nashville! [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been on Commerce Street.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Yes; yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>There\u2019s probably a Cheesecake Factory there, and Bob\u2019s eaten it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>No, no; but there\u2019s a taco place\u2014San Antonio Taco Company.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>Oh, yes. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>So, I\u2019m going to answer, \u201cYes and no.\u201d I mean, sometimes, we\u2019ll roll down the window and, sometimes, we won\u2019t.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>I think that there are really good organizations to partner with\u2014that can vet\u2014that know how to vet the situations and know how to discern well the difference between a legitimate need and one that\u2019s, you know, maybe something other than that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>You\u2019re familiar with a book that\u2019s been very helpful for a lot of people called <em>When Helping Hurts<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Brian Fikkert\u2019s a good friend; yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>And it\u2019s a great book that helps us understand that the impulse for compassion and for caring is a good impulse, but that doesn\u2019t mean that to pull out the wallet and give somebody five bucks is actually helping them. You may actually be crippling them by doing that. We have to be shrewd; we have to be smart in how we do this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI will tell you\u2014that there was an afternoon, where I was at home\u2014this was a winter afternoon. My son\/my youngest son had been\u2014he had ridden his bike around the neighborhood. For whatever reason, he\u2019d gone all the way up toward the K-Mart<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. Our K-Mart was about a mile-and-a-half away from our house, so he\u2019d been gone for awhile. He comes back about 4:30 in the afternoon. He says, \u201cDad, there was a guy up at the K-Mart, and he doesn\u2019t have a place to stay tonight.\u201d He said, \u201cSo what do we do?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRight there, in that moment, I thought: \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a hypothetical\/a theoretical. This is my\u201d\u2014then\u2014\u201c14- or 15-year-old son, saying, \u2018What\u2019s the right thing to do?\u2019\u201d I said, \u201cWell, let\u2019s go see if he\u2019s still there.\u201d We got in the car; we drove back up to K-Mart, because I wasn\u2019t going to ride a bike up there in the cold! [Laughter] We get back up there, and we found the guy. I said, \u201cHave you had anything to eat?\u201d and he said, \u201cNo.\u201d I said: \u201cThere\u2019s a little hamburger place up there. I\u2019d like to buy you dinner at the hamburger place.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat was like\u2014I wanted to model for my son: \u201cI\u2019m not just going to give him ten bucks, because I don\u2019t know where the ten bucks is going to go; but I\u2019ll buy him dinner.\u201d We took him up to the hamburger place, and I gave him the money. I said, \u201cDo you have a place to stay tonight?\u201d He said, \u201cI can find a place to stay,\u201d and I said, \u201cOkay.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt was like: \u201cThen, do I say, \u2018If you need anything\u2026\u2019\u201d\u2014you know\u2014\u201c\u2019Or you can stay at our house\u2026\u2019?\u201d I was feeling some of that: \u201cWhat do I communicate? What do I model to my son that says, \u2018This does matter,\u2019?\u201d and yet, then, I\u2019m thinking of all of the American practicalities: \u201cI don\u2019t know this guy. Come to our house and stay?\u2014does that even make sense? What do you do?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut I knew that the right answer was not just wave it off and tell your 15-year-old son, \u201cSomebody will take care of him,\u201d or \u201cThere\u2019s a rescue mission downtown, and they\u2019ll help him out.\u201d We have to model something here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>Yes; we had that guy\u2014comes live with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014the guy from K-Mart?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>No.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>\u2014not the exact guy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>His name was Jim. We were in seminary; he showed up on Easter Sunday.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>\u2014with no shoes on.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>I\u2019m not a pastor [then]. We\u2019re sitting in the back of the church; he sits down beside us. You look over and you think, \u201cThis is a guy that\u2019s homeless\u2014that woke up, said, \u2018It\u2019s Easter Sunday; I\u2019m going to church.\u2019\u201d They do the, \u201cHey, stand up and say, \u2018Hi,\u2019 to the person sitting beside you.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI say, \u201cHi,\u201d to somebody over here; my wife turns to me and goes, \u201cThis guy over here is coming over for lunch.\u201d I\u2019m like: \u201cWhat?! What are you talking about? Look at that guy!\u201d She goes, \u201cHe\u2019s coming over for lunch.\u201d He ended up staying with us for about a month.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>Yes; I asked him to live with us. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>\u201cAnd by lunch, I mean lodging.\u201d [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>Yes; right!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>You know, we were young; we were 21 and 24.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>We had no kids.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>We didn\u2019t have a lock on the door. I didn\u2019t even <em>think<\/em> about these things\u2014which, with kids, and now, I would really probably think about that. But he was this great guy; we helped him get on his feet.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave: <\/strong>Yes; by the end of the month, he had a job and moved out. It was really a learning experience, to say, \u201cThat\u2019s the heart of Christ,\u201d\u2014it really is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>You know, we\u2019re talking here about putting your light on display\/letting your light shine before men. As you said, this is not the only way we do it; but in our world, this is a good way for us, if people in our community know about us\u2014that people who are disenfranchised, people who are poor, people who are outcasts, people who are in need\u2014that we want to help.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann: <\/strong>I would encourage parents: \u201cThis is something that we need to expose our kids to. They need to see other parts of the world\/other parts of community, where people are hurting.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think we can live in this bubble, where we have everything we want. I remember\u2014we\u2019ve taken our kids all over the world to see villages in Africa, where children and adults are dying of AIDS. They\u2019ve been all over; and they can see: \u201cWow; I\u2019m needed. Jesus is needed. We have the resources that can help, through our church.\u201d It\u2019s good to give them vision.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, I think families reading, together, a book like <em>Irresistible Faith<\/em>\u2014or maybe, moms and dads reading it, and just praying and saying, \u201cOkay; Lord, what does this mean for us?\u201d\u2014a chapter at a time\u2014\u201cHow can we better represent You? How can we better be Your ambassadors? How can we live, missionally, as husbands and wives\/moms and dads?\u201d It\u2019s a step in the right direction. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tScott, we appreciate you writing the book and appreciate you coming and talking about it with us for a little bit this week.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Scott: <\/strong>Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>We are making the book available this week to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners, who can help support the ongoing work of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. This ministry is listener-supported; that means that you were able to listen today because someone in your community made that possible. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe cost of producing and <em>syndicating<\/em> this program is not insignificant; and listeners in this area have said, \u201cWe want it to be available on this local radio station or on devices.\u201d It\u2019s now available through our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> app\u2014you can stream it, online, from our website. You can train your Alexa device to: \u201cPlay <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>,\u201d\u2014just go into the Alexa app and do that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAll of that happens because listeners, like you, make it happen. We\u2019re grateful for those of you who have partnered with us in the past. If you can make a donation today, we\u2019d love to say, \u201cThank you,\u201d by sending the book, <em>Irresistible Faith<\/em>, by Scott Sauls. You can donate, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com; or you can call to donate at 1-800-358-6329\u2014that\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, while we\u2019ve been having this conversation with Scott Sauls, I\u2019ve been watching out of the corner of my as David Robbins, the President of FamilyLife, has been listening to our conversation. David\u2019s here; you were nodding and saying, \u201cLet me at the microphone!\u201d You were excited about all that Scott was saying about living purposefully and missionally in our families.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David: <\/strong>Oh, man! I just want to affirm everything about today\u2019s conversation. It fires me up, because this is the long-term trajectory of what we are all about at FamilyLife. Sometimes, we can have the impression that we\u2019re just about strengthening healthy marriages and families for the sake of healthy marriages and families. While there is a <em>strong<\/em> element of truth in that\u2014because Jesus uses marriage as the metaphor for His relationship with the church\u2014our marriages and families are not just the end. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt is a means\/one of the <em>best means<\/em> to help fulfil Jesus\u2019s mandate that Scott has highlighted today\u2014that we would let our shine before men. A godly home and a marriage reflecting Jesus can do that in such a powerful way, so our homes can be places that are the hands and feet of Jesus and reflect Jesus to our neighbors and serve them well. You know, at FamilyLife, we really do believe that families are the greatest untapped resource on the planet to help build God\u2019s kingdom and cause societal change. We really do believe that any home, who follows Jesus, can have an extraordinary impact on the homes around them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe aren\u2019t just a ministry that simply does radio and weekend getaways. We do all of that because we are a movement of people, trusting God, to help change the world one home at a time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014moving from\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David: <\/strong>\u2014moving from isolation to impact.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Okay.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David: <\/strong>We cultivate oneness all the time, but it is so that we can be a part of God\u2019s big story.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes; folks, if you\u2019re not used to hearing David say, \u201cFrom isolation to impact,\u201d you\u2019ll hear it a few times. Thank you, David.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to encourage our listeners to be with us, again, tomorrow when we\u2019re going to talk about how we train our kids to be missional. We\u2019re going to hear from Jen Wilkin, with thoughts on how to raise future evangelists. I hope you can tune in for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2019 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/305109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305109"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=305109"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=305109"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=305109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}