"Wild Man"
EPISODE 212
Speak the Gospel
What do a group of lepers, an adulteress woman, a dead, rich man, and a former demon-possessed strong man have in common? We’re excited to be back for a new season of Bible Geeks! This season will focus on evangelism. This week we introduce a new segment we call “Bible Headlines” and zoom in on some unlikely evangelists. Thanks for jumping back in and listening!
Takeaways
The Big Idea: You don’t have to be the most eloquent or well-read disciple to share the good news about Jesus.
Show Notes
Episode Transcription
I can be a wild man wild for Jesus because I was a wild man, right? I was- You are a wild man wild for Jesus. Well, hello again everyone and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 212. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy. And thanks so much everyone for tuning in. We are back. It has been a summer. It has been quite a time being away from everyone and not recording. Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with us and who is back for episode 212. How was your summer? It was great. It was nice kind of starting this seasonal taking a break and then getting started back up. But I've missed it. I'm ready to go. I know. It feels like getting back on a bike, but I have also missed it. Although I haven't missed you because I did actually get to see you for like, I don't know, it felt like 20 minutes in Portland not long ago for a good friend of ours wedding, which you officiated, which was awesome. It was good to see you and your lovely wife. And hope you guys had a fun time on your little vacation. Oh, it was great. That was a good end to the summer and good way to get us started back up. Actually getting some real face time. It's funny seeing everybody again and you kind of get reconnected, just pick up like it's old time. So that was fun. Probably one of the reasons why we are a few weeks late getting started. We wanted to get started the first couple of weeks of August, but a friend of ours had to get married and we all had to travel. And it was definitely worth pushing the episodes back just a little bit. So we're back episode 212. This season, we are going to be doing some fun things with a new guided study coming up that we're calling square one. It's all about evangelism. You're going to notice a theme, I think, throughout this season of evangelism, including here on this episode today. But in addition to that, I think we're going to be doing some chosen episodes, maybe some Bible Geeks book club episodes, all sorts of things. We're really looking forward to it. So thank you again, especially to those Patreon supporters who have been keeping us afloat while we've been away. I know for those people who chip in monetarily and help with the show, it is kind of nice to see that we are actually producing new episodes again. So thanks to everyone who supports us on Patreon. We just really appreciate everybody backing us up as we take time to regroup and recharge, so to speak. Yeah, it's been good because we've been able to use that time to do some work together, planning out what I think is going to be a really helpful study. Something that I've been needing and wanting is a tool that fits what I would like to do, at least in evangelism. There's a lot of great tools out there, but this square one tool the idea of it is just to create a conversation for those who you want to share the gospel with, but you want to allow it to be a dialogue. You want to think together, to reason together, as Axe talks about Paul doing with someone. So hopefully we'll talk more about that as we go, but hopefully that'll be really helpful to others and not just a tool that I've been wanting. Yeah, this podcast is really all about the stuff we like to do. So if anyone else finds value in it, that'll be great too. So here we go with our first segment on this episode. And as we like to do, let's start with something that Jesus said as we start talking about evangelism in maybe some strange places. Yeah, these are some unlikely evangelists. The first one comes from Jesus story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is in torment and can't even receive a drop of water. His response is, I think, surprising and goes with our theme of these surprising sharers of the gospel, these surprising messengers. He said, "Then I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house." So this is the rich man talking to Abraham. "For I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment." And that's Luke 16 verses 27 to 28. So when you see these words of Jesus and these words of the rich man in Jesus story, what does that allow you to see about evangelism? It's so funny. Yeah, when you look at this story, you do see a very unlikely evangelist here in this man who has lived sumptuously. He took care of himself. Apparently, it would appear like in the story, the real problem that he had was not focusing on the poor, not focusing on his responsibility to people like Lazarus. At the very least, we see him living selfishly and taking care of only himself throughout his life. It kind of reminds me of that saying, "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today." You know how it's basically talking about, like, if you had invested in something a long time ago, you may have made a lot of progress by now. But if you haven't started yet, today is the time to start. Except for the rich man here in this story, he is out of days. He's out of time. There's no more time for him to go and invest in evangelism, invest in teaching people. It seems like that's all he wants to do right now, aside from having a drop of water to cool his tongue. What an amazing thing that we see in this story. How much progress could this rich man have done for the Lord had he used his life, his connections, his influence, and yes, even his money? How much could he have done for the Lord had he focused on evangelism earlier, while he was alive, invested his time and energy in that earlier? And I have no doubt that riches, as Jesus would talk about, are going to be a huge stumbling block for everyone as we get distracted by them, as we get so focused on materialism and our earthly wealth. But as the rich ruler, another story that Jesus shares with us, as the rich ruler would ask Jesus, and he told him, "Sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor and come follow me." It's like, how much good could this rich man have done in his life and in his influence for the Lord had he made an impact earlier? But now he has nothing that he can do because he thinks, "Hey, I want to go send out a messenger to save my brothers, but in fact, there is nothing he can do now because he's out of time." And that's just a scary thought for me. Do I invest myself in the important things early enough, or am I waiting until the last moment or maybe even after it's too late someday? And that's a sobering thought for me. Am I going to regret not having said something or done something in my life while I had the time? Yeah, that idea of regret is really powerful in this story. I've heard the saying that there are two pains in life, discipline and regret. And regret is measured in tons while discipline is measured in ounces. It's better to do that work now. I love your quote about planting a tree too. We think of evangelism, the word evangelism is about sharing good news, but there is an element to evangelism that is about warning, right? It makes me think of how Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5, "How will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for our deeds?" And then he says in the next verse, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others." There is this element of good news. The good news is you can be saved from this thing that I'm warning you about, but there is a bad news side of it. You can't get the good news unless you understand the bad news. And so he wants desperately to warn them. It's such an interesting place that the story goes. So you brought up the wedding that I just officiated. Before we did the wedding, of course, we spent some time planning the marriage, more important than planning the wedding, right? Planning the marriage and thinking through these things. We did calls, some video calls together. And it's just so hard to talk to someone about what marriage is going to be like. You are working through things with them and it's time well spent. But at the same time, there's some things that you have to go through in order to understand. It's like before you had kids and after you had kids. It's hard to explain all of it and what the difference is and the things that you're going to have to work through. There's a shift in perception that comes and it makes you think about the change of perception we'll have a moment after we die. Now you see everything differently. There is no need for faith. Everything is reality. And when he realizes there's no relief to come for him, he desperately wants to get the message to those he loves so they won't suffer the same fate. If we can get the truth of that danger in our hearts right now through faith, we can get the urgency of it now. And what an awful thing to realize too late. I mean the fact that at some point we will be looking out for other people if this moment of the rich man should ever happen to any of us. The crowd of witnesses in Hebrews 11, how they watch over us and are looking at us intently. It's like we will be very interested at the progress that others make when we can't make any progress ourselves. And this rich man is definitely proving that that's the case. He wants his brothers, his family, everyone else to avoid this place. Wow, what a terrible and terrifying situation that I absolutely want to avoid in my own life for sure. So let's move on to our second segment here on the episode. And that's a new segment and we're calling it Bible Headlines. We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin. So the special news bulletin here on the episode is this conversation about surprising evangelists. We are going to look through a whole bunch of stories here throughout the Bible, at least three stories about people who shared the gospel in really weird ways. And we're going to approach this like headline news. So what's our first headline here in this Bible Headlines segment? Okay. So yeah, I'm going to put on my Dan Rather or who is the newscaster of the moment now? I don't even know. I don't know. All I can think of is Tom Brokaw. Tom Brokaw. I'll put on my Tom Brokaw voice here as we announce the news. Wild man, wild for Jesus. Two thousand pigs drown, crazed strong man regains sanity. A garrison man, many considered demon possessed was cured in a graveyard near Decapolis. Multiple witnesses report that the troubled man, known to cut himself and break chains binding him, had an exchange with a popular Jewish rabbi known as Jesus of Nazareth. Herdsmen from the region watched astonished as the rabbi agreed to allow someone named Legion enter their pigs. The massive herd immediately ran into the sea, leaving many wondering if the rabbi should be held responsible for this upheaval in the Decapolis pork trade. The former demoniac urged neighbors to recognize the rabbi's power. This Jesus, he said, changed my life. Who can do such things? So here's our question. When Jesus told the demoniac he couldn't come with him, he said to tell people how much the Lord had done for him. What can we take from that simple instruction about the heart of evangelism? I'm just going to say that's the most enthusiastic and excited I have ever heard you on this podcast. That's great. I should always read headlines. I think so. Yeah, I think you did a good job. I love the headline wild man wild for Jesus that sparks a whole lot there, obviously. I think about this man and the simple instruction that he heard about going and telling other people. I wonder what this man was thinking about as he had seen where he was and seen what had happened to him. What would he have been looking at in his previous life? I don't know enough about the mentality that a demoniac had as he was going through all of that, but as his chains were broken, right? And as he was set free from this situation with all of these demons going in to the pigs. And he's definitely going to be looked at askew by society, wouldn't you think? And how much would people be willing to hear somebody who had been so publicly possessed, I mean, out on the fringes of society like him. Imagine sitting down and talking to this guy and listening to his story and understanding what he had been through. We don't see what that conversation might have looked like, but I'm so interested to know what that conversation might have sounded like. What do you think it would have sounded like? Oh man. I mean, you're totally right. Whatever we think of in our society as like the scariest person you don't want to meet in an alley or like see near your children. This is that guy. He was strong, dangerous, and absolutely crazy. And you know, what Jesus tells him to talk about is how much the Lord had done for him. That makes it clear what to say. Like as far as your question, what would that conversation go like? You know, like I know I was scary, but let me tell you what happened to me. You know, I was scary. I was evangelism tool. Number one, tell people how scary you were. Everybody has a different story. Maybe you weren't scary. Maybe you were depressed. Maybe you were broken in some other way. Paul talks about how he was persecuting Christians. Everybody's telling their own version of the story as to where Jesus intersects with their life and how much the Lord has done. Because you think of how much everybody else in your life has ever done for you. And it's this little sliver compared to the bar graph of how much the Lord has done for you. And so you just have to tap into that reservoir of what has Jesus done for you. And then bring the truth of that story, the enthusiasm of that story. People that know you will be interested when they start to see a change like this demoniac had. There is an opening there. How much has the Lord done for you? I don't know. What do you think the conversation might have gone like? Yeah, I can't imagine sitting down and having a comfortable conversation with this guy. But really, if you have to see the difference, right? This is going to be somebody who you can tell is different than they used to be. It reminds me of those people who would walk by the beggars at the entrance of the temple or the city or whatever. And those people who would be healed like with Peter healing that man in the beginning of Acts. How everybody would have known and have walked by him and seen him in his broken condition. And then see him jumping around and everything has changed. It's like, this is the guy. We know this guy. And I mean, the most powerful thing that this man could have told people was his story. And I think that's such an important realization in accounts like this, right? Because this man is not going to be able to sit down at this moment and have some like doctrinal discussion with somebody about what Jesus was teaching. But he can just say, this is what the Lord did for me. That story alone is enough. That is a sufficient story to share with other people and help open people's eyes to the truth. Yeah, and like I said, everybody's story is different. We did this thing once when we were going around and sharing our conversions story in like a men's gathering. And one of our elders was like, I don't have much of a story. I just, you know, I knew what to do and I realized I need to do it. And then I was baptized. The end. It's a real story. But the idea might not be that you were a drug addict or you were a demon possessed or you were whatever, but the Lord has changed your life. The Lord continues to change your life. And every Christian needs to be aware of what is happening and what has happened, where you could have been without Jesus so that we can share that. And that becomes the story. I mean, a lot of my fight, whenever I end up telling people about my journey and my story, a lot of it comes after I was baptized and struggling with doubts and questions and bad choices and that kind of thing. And coming back to the Lord and noticing what he has done to shape me. And so that's all part of how much the Lord has done for you. Well, let's move on to our second headline here. And I think maybe this would be appropriate with a little bed of music underneath. Psycharian send seekers to the Savior. Prophetic conversations by the well satisfy the thirsty. A Samaritan woman discovered the Messiah sitting alone at Jacob's well. It started with a simple request from this Jesus of Nazareth said an unnamed woman at Jacob's well, "Give me a drink," he reportedly told her. But once the woman recovered from the shock of a man speaking to her, a Jewish man no less, she started down a winding conversation that led him to telling her all she ever did. A prophet? It would seem so. He called out her adulterous living, but told her how she could find true satisfaction in the water he would provide her. Fast forward to her leaving him behind and running into the city. And that's where the reporter saw for himself. The man of whom she spoke is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. So here's our question. Without instruction from Jesus, why do you think this woman was motivated to run through the streets and tell everyone to come out and see Jesus at the well? What do we learn from her approach, from her question? Can this be the Christ? Yeah, it's actually a lot like that last story in some ways, right? She had a real interaction with Jesus and it left her changed. First of all, he told her everything she ever did, as you said. He knew her life, her story, her heart. But then his response to her sin was different than you would expect a Messiah to be, I would think. He gave her news of something that she had to sort of strain and reach for to understand. This idea of living water, which you will never thirst for again, that will satisfy you, that will quench a deeper thirst in you. So she was left with an understanding, not of everything about Jesus, but certainly that he was the Messiah, that he was the one that she, even these Samaritans, had heard so much about. So you asked, why would she be motivated to do that? I think that's why she would be motivated. And then what do we learn about her approach from her question? Can this be the Christ? I think it's interesting that she's not saying this is the Christ. She is asking it as a question. Yes. And there is something to, again, thinking with people, saying, I think there's something here. What do you think? And working through it. I mean, not feigning disbelief whenever we believe, but leaving an opening for them to start showing up in the conversation. Yeah. What I take from this story is she is just wrapped. Her attention is absolutely laser focused on Jesus. She is so focused on him and so intrigued by him. It's almost one of those situations where you are so interested in something that you just have to look around and you're like, did you see that too? Are you seeing this? What is happening here? You're looking for people to connect with you and you're trying to make sure you're not the only one. And I feel like that's what she's doing here as she goes into the city. And she's like, you guys got to come out here and you got to just make sure that I'm not going crazy here. Is this really who I think it is? That is absolutely one of the most compelling things when you think about our influence, my influence on someone else is, am I going to be interested? Is this going to be not just like a drab dry tale of stories about his life and facts about him? This is going to be his impact on me and my interest in him. And I think that goes a long way, especially with this woman. She's been through a lot. She's probably well known by a lot of the people in the city for her lifestyle. And the number of husbands that she's had could have been a factor. But the fact that she is excited, interested, and then gets people to go and come to the conclusion for themselves. Eventually at some point they all turn to her and you're like, we came out here because of what you said, but we're still here because of what he's saying. That's amazing. Just the way that you can get people connected with Jesus so that they can form their own opinions is absolutely what she's doing here. And I never noticed this before, but it seems like John is helping us to see the parallel between her and all of the other disciples, like the apostles in verses 28 and 29. First of all, the woman left her water jar and went into town. It seems like those fishing nets and everything else, the tax booth, she just walks away from what she was doing because there's something that has precedence and there's an urgency to it. It transcends her daily tasks and she is drawn to following Jesus. And so she walks away from what she was doing. And then she says in the next verse, come and see, like you said, the man who told me everything that I ever did. Come and see goes back to chapter one and what we saw those disciples saying. Yeah. And ultimately that is the invitation. You can't twist somebody's arm into belief and trust and obedience, but we begin to persuade by inviting them to come and hear about and learn about and see about this man. What if Jesus would have sent his apostles into the city to do that work? I don't think it would have been as effective. I mean, clearly the word of God is effective. If Jesus sends them to go, it's going to work, right? But like the fact that this woman takes it on herself without instruction from Jesus and just goes, I think she is uniquely qualified to bring people out to see this Jewish man who could very well be and who was the Messiah. She was the right person for this job, which I really also appreciate here. So let's get into our third headline here. From famine to feast, Four Lepers saved Samaria. After alerting the city to a deserted Syrian camp full of food, one of the outcasts told us, This day is a day of good news. If we had been silent, we would have been guilty of keeping this news for ourselves. The Syrian siege on Samaria had made food so scarce in the city, Dove's Dung was selling for five shekels. Rumors had begun spreading that the famed prophet Elisha had predicted a change of fortune, telling the royal court a seya of fine flour would soon go for a shekel. Sources have not confirmed what happened to the Syrian army, but their astonishing retreat left a feast of food discovered by four diseased Samaritans. After some time enjoying their discovery, they returned to tell others, saving a grateful people. So here's our question. How is evangelism like one beggar telling another beggar where he can find bread? As the old quote says, that's such a good story. That is in second king seven. So going back to the old school here, we're digging deep for our last headline here. This is such a good story too. You know, when you think about this beggar turning to another beggar and telling him where he can find bread, this is literally a realization for me about my situation when I look around and start talking to other people. We're all in need of food. We're all desperately broken in some way, one way or another. We're all in need of Jesus and you know, just the realization that I'm no better than anybody else. We're all in this situation together like beggars who are all looking around to find food. What am I able to do to help somebody else in the same situation, not only to connect with them, but also to help them in the way that I've been supported? I think that's one of the biggest takeaways from this story is just seeing the common ground that we all have in our brokenness and our need. And that really is a pride killer, right? It really is something that brings humility and helps me to see that I'm not out there as quote unquote the teacher or the one who has all the answers in and of himself, just a messenger pointing other people to where they can find true satisfaction. Yeah, that is quite a realization, you know, and it's where we start to recognize our place in the story. As Paul talks about, we are earthen vessels that hold a treasure. We're not the treasure. God has chosen to use a bunch of beggars, a bunch of former diseased outcasts to bring news. And that's all we are is news bringers. We're just coming to share the thing that we found. And that's what all of these stories really have in common. These three headlines are people who have found something unexpected that has changed their life. And that's what the gospel is. Absolutely. Yeah, I feel like it is the source of this segment, even like Bible headlines. When you see a story in the Bible that is so important, so impactful for you, you feel like sharing it with other people. When you look in your own life and you see these amazing stories, these amazing things that have happened to you, you can pass that along and share it with other people. News is meant to be shared. Now, good news, especially is meant to be shared. When it happens to me, when I've seen it happen to other people, when we read about it happening in the Bible, all these accounts help point us to the source of all this good news. And that's the Lord. I feel like this is a nice way to round this out in a story that maybe we don't think about very often, these four lepers. I like that connection to this segment. Jesus is the headline of our lives, or he should be, right? This is the news that is the most important in our lives, that God is at work and that the King has come and there is a deliverance. Well, we started out this segment shouting and yelling and being very excited. And we've come to a nice somber moment here as we've talked about these stories of surprising evangelists. Let's move on to our final segment, which is our reach out question. Reach out, reach out and touch someone. Oh, it's been so long. You reach out question. Thank you for coming back on this segment. We're going to ask each other this question. What steps could you take today that would make you more open and available to sharing the gospel with someone? What is it that you could be doing, should be doing, maybe want to be doing more of that's going to help you share this good news with other people? So it's like planting the tree now for rather than later. Yeah. Yeah. So, so much of the work of evangelism is beyond our control. That's one of the hard things about it. And we'll get into that more, I'm sure. But I think because of that, my best answer to this, there's a lot of ways to go with it. But I think at the heart of it is to pray every day for me, just because I want to, and I need to lean on the Lord and let him be the majority partner in this work that we're doing to try to bring souls to him. So I want to pray for more opportunities, for more skill in doing this work, for more love for others, more joy, like we see in all of these examples. Here is a deliverance and to just be aware and to remember that change that the Lord has brought and continues to bring and that I will more fully realize someday in that new heavens and new earth to have that joy and for God to bring more fruit and just to use me that jar of clay we talked about this, this holding this treasure. Yeah, I think the prayer is such a huge piece of this. It helps keep the important things in focus and also praying that God would open up these doors. So much of evangelism, this work is beyond our control, but staying focused on it, keeping it a priority, making sure that it's always in your mind. Prayer is such a great way of establishing that, I guess, and keeping your fire fanned and that flame for Jesus going, asking him for those opportunities. And as you start to open up and as you start to talk to people, praying for those specific opportunities, for those specific people, for their hearts, for their situation, for the way that you approach them, and the things that you say and the listening that you can have for their situation. It's really difficult, but prayer, as with all difficult things, prayer is definitely a key. So I appreciate that. You really lean on prayer the most whenever you feel inadequate to accomplish what you want. Whenever someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness and you don't know what to do, you ask if I can do anything and they say, just pray. We're good on meals. We just need prayers. Every time I talk to Christians about evangelism, it seems like it at some point turns to that sense that I need to be doing more, but I don't know how. I'm thinking about these people in my life and I don't know where to go with it. And whenever you feel that sense of powerlessness, prayer is the place you want to turn. And then you start to be shaped by the Lord's work in you and certainly events around you start to be shaped by God's hand answering those prayers. And we believe that the prayers of a righteous person accomplishes a lot. And so if we are seeking this and we're hitting our own ceiling, that's where we call on God who has no ceiling. That's good. Yeah. I think as I was thinking about this question, what steps could I take today to be more open and available to sharing the gospel with something tomorrow? I think it's really for me and especially in this conversation, it's been helpful to have the realization that one, it's my job that I am actually qualified for because I have been somebody who has been impacted by Jesus personally. You know, as all these headlines that we've been talking about, I can be a wild man, wild for Jesus because I was a wild man. Right. You are a wild man, wild for Jesus. I'm equipped. Right. I'm enough to be able to do the work that he wants me to do. Number two, this is not a hard job, but it is a hard job. Right. Somebody might be thinking, OK, well, Bryan, evangelism is hard. Like, and I'll give you that. Like, it is a complicated, difficult thing. It's messy. We're getting into the lives of other people. There's an investment to it. All the things that are involved in sharing good news with somebody, sometimes there will be a lot of baggage that needs to be dealt with. But the fact is, as I look at these stories, sometimes I convince myself that evangelism is really hard and it's somebody else's job. But I think these two things that I can remind myself of, I think these might be the most helpful things in helping me get past the struggle of if only I were better trained or like Moses, a more eloquent speaker, or if only I had a partner in this work who could do it with me or even for me sometimes, you know, whatever excuses I might be holding on to. I think these keep me from sharing my faith and getting past those things, getting past the fact that I am enough. Like that is that is what I need to remind myself of and getting past the fact that I have everything that I actually need in order to do this job. I think it's helpful. Yeah, we're hitting both sides of this and how we on the one hand, we feel so overwhelmed sometimes because we're focused on the result. The result can only be brought by God's work and a person choosing to submit to it. But as you're talking about the actual task that we are given is not the result. It's the planting. It's the sowing. It's there's a story that my in-laws like to tell about my wife when she was little, I don't know, like two years old or one year. I don't know how old she was, but she she didn't talk. She didn't say anything. And this may be apocryphal, but as the story goes, as the story goes, she was sitting at the dinner table and her first words were, could you please pass the mashed potatoes? And wow, what what that says to me, just to bring it back to this thing you're talking about is when you decide you really have something to say, you know how to say it. Sure. We know how to how to tell our own story. We know how to say the simple truths of Jesus salvation of him coming and dying for us and and raising and raining and how to be saved by him and what it means to walk with him. I mean, it's it can be overwhelming because we put all this pressure on ourselves to like do it so well that our words are the thing, our perfect delivery, our skillful, convincing speech is what does it. But when we recognize the power in the seed, the power in the in the message and in Christ, you know, to go with what you're saying, Jesus is enough. God is enough. The gospel is enough and we are enough to deliver that message, though we're we're just you know, I think of that that earthen vessel picture. It makes me think of whenever somebody tries to hide something really valuable, lots of money or like a, you know, a diamond in a in a shoe box under the bed. Right. Like not the safest place to put it, but that's what God has done. He's taken this priceless jewel of the gospel and put it in a shoe box and I'm the shoe box. All I have to do is hold this message and, you know, make it available to others. I love it. It's such a good metaphor and such a good explanation and helpful reminder that we have the tools. And if we allow perfectionism and a lot of the the heavyweight importance that we put on it, we forget that the power is not in us. I love that reminder here. So this has been a conversation about evangelism, sort of scratching the surface of some of the things we're going to talk about in our upcoming guided study called Square One. So we hope this has whet your appetite for that. Thanks, everyone, for tuning in to the Bible Geeks podcast and for being with us once again after our break over the summer. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player of choice or at biblegeeks.fm/212. You can also follow along with all the things that we're doing in this series by going to our website and subscribing to our podcast if you aren't already. I don't even know how you're listening to this if you're not subscribed. But anyway, there we go. Please follow along. And if you have any questions, feedback or things you'd like to hear on upcoming episodes, reach out to us on our website in person on social media. We'd love to hear from you. And until next episode, everyone, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom!I just really appreciate that we didn't spend the entire time discussing how much we really like each other. So that's good. Could have gotten awkward there for a little bit. [music] Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Bible Geeks Podcast. This is episode 211. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy. And thanks so much everyone for tuning in. We are in session nine of our two by two study. We're wrapping this whole thing up this time on the podcast, talking about lifelong friends. We're just sort of taking a tour at the end of this series, looking at the journey of friendship. And we talked a little bit on the last conversation about how the journey of friendship can sometimes lead us into some challenging conversations and pushing each other to say and hear hard things. And we've really been covering some things that look a little challenging over the last few episodes. So this is kind of a breather, I think, in letting us get a little bit more appreciative of the blessings of friendship. Yeah, it almost reminds me of that what's good study that we were doing where we were just like celebrating good things. And a part of being a good friend and having the blessing of friendship in your life is recognizing it and praising God for it. And honoring the friends and what they give to you as a blessing. It feels appropriate to wrap up a really positive aspect of our own lives, having this conversation to celebrate friendship. And in order to prepare for this whole thing, we have put out a conversation starter. And we're going to get into that one that we called an epic adventure. This is two by two, an epic adventure. Before Bilbo Baggins left the Shire and long before four siblings stepped through a passage in a wardrobe, two friends embarked on an epic adventure of their own. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met at Oxford and became fast friends through their mutual love of fantasy, religion, and writing. They praised each other, pushed each other, and grew in faith and fame together over decades. Hearing news of Lewis's death, Tolkien famously wrote to his daughter, "So far I have felt like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one. This feels like an axe blow near the roots." Wow. So here's the big idea. Some relationships change us in ways we won't even realize until we look back. A true friend's love and loyalty last a lifetime, sometimes even blessing you after you die. Like the scene on the cross when Christ asked the disciple whom he loved to care for his mother after he was gone. Quite a responsibility. Yet from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. Praise God for good companions. May we realize the joy they bring and give thanks when we think of them. Remember how Paul gushed over his Philippian friends? "God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus." John captures the sweetness of our bonds, closing his third letter, "Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends each by name." He doesn't call them saints or brothers. He gives the disciples the endearing nickname, "The Friends." So as we conclude our two by two study, let's remember some wisdom from session one. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. So here's the big question. Who are your traveling companions on your journey home? So follow along with this guided study of biblegeeks.fm/twobytwo and may the Lord bless you and keep you to him. Shalom. All right. So the big idea there in that conversation starter was that some relationships change us in ways we don't even realize. Until we look back and you know, we've been talking about all these classic friendships throughout the Bible. Like where would Paul have been without Barnabas? Where would David have been without Jonathan and Naomi without Ruth? These people who were just forever changed by their friendships, by their deep connections with these other people. And these partnerships, I think, help us remember that our own friendships have deep and lasting impacts on us. And I'm hoping that's what we've really done in this series is just celebrate the fact that these friendships, these relationships, they're so impactful on us. And I think way more than just like one time interactions that we'll have with each other. It's more than just the big moments. It's also those little tiny moments that we share with our friends and all the challenges in between. It's the journey of friendship that we're celebrating here. And I think this whole conversation is mostly about celebrating our friends and appreciating them, though maybe it's also a reminder for us just to not take people for granted altogether because that's easy, too. Just to forget that life is a journey and to forget about the blessing that friends really are to us. Yeah, you could do that with any blessing, right? And it is too valuable, too precious. Life itself is too precious to not notice and appreciate and honor the things that are good in this life. There's enough garbage that whenever you get something that is foretaste of the goodness of the life to come, you just want to hold on to it and appreciate it. And you brought up that idea of the journey. And I love this idea. You asked in the question, the big question, who are your traveling companions on your journey home? And I'm such a sucker for that journey metaphor. And you hit all the right notes in that hook about C.S. Lewis and Tolkien and their epic adventure of life as traveling companions. My kids have actually been reading and watching the Narnia Chronicles again this week. OK, and so I watched part of Prince Caspian with them the other day. And I was struck by this idea of Christ, the lion, being with us and yet largely unseen. Lucy has seen Aslan, the lion that's representative in the allegory of Christ. But in the story, most people are trying to figure it out on their own. They're trying to just rely on their strength instead of knowing we're going to have quite a player come in and help us get the victory at the end. And the more they rely on their own strength, the more they distrust each other and they bicker. And they have these companions that are fighting on their side that they can see, unlike Aslan. But Peter's pride and his stubbornness gets him into trouble. And they're all just in conflict until they learn to value each other. Peter starts to see Caspian and the others as partners. He humbles himself. And it's funny how that works, that trusting in Christ doesn't isolate us like, who else do I need? I'm not alone. I have Jesus. That's all I need. And we will get the victory together. No, that's not the way it works. That's not the idea of faith in Christ. It makes us more connected and more thankful to share our journey with those he's given us. That's how his body works is he connects us. He is the vine and we're all these branches that are connected to one another through him. And so the blessing of these relationships are even more whole and functional in Christ. Did anybody forget that you're listening to the Bible Geeks podcast? So I'll just throw that out there. You know, we are absolutely big giant nerds. And I knew as soon as I was putting CS Lewis together with J.R.R. Tolkien in a conversation starter that that would scratch a certain itch for my co-host. So anyway, let's get into our icebreaker question here on this final conversation in our two by two study. And the icebreaker question is this. What's an activity you did with friends when you were younger that you'd cringe to do with them today? Yeah, the first thing I think of is all the punk rock shows we used to go to hitting the mosh pit, which I don't think I'd even have the stamina to do, even if I did want to crowd surfing, which is probably just a miracle. I didn't get dropped on my head on the concrete. It's just generally acting a fool in a less than ideal environment. Something I'm shaking my head. Yeah, I mean, having been to many of those shows with you, I can definitely agree. Another thing that we used to do quite a lot growing up was go to restaurants late at night. And as a group of young people, we would tend to get very loud and boisterous. Not that we were like out of control or anything like that. But, man, I think I'd cringe to go to a restaurant and act that way today. It's the whole thing that happens when you're younger. We're just shouting and yelling and having a good old time. But definitely, I think I would avoid doing that today. Yeah, yeah. All right, so let's move on here and bring Jesus into this conversation even more than we already have. So we're talking about lifelong friends enjoying the journey of friendship together and celebrating these kinds of relationships. There's something that we brought up in that conversation starter, though, that comes from John 19 verses 25 through 27, which we're going to look back on here as we start to think about how Jesus teaches us about this long journey of friendship. Yeah, it's such a poignant moment there as Jesus hangs on the cross and his mother and all these women are standing by him. And Jesus sees his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby and he says to his mother, "Woman, behold your son." Not talking about himself, but evidently talking about the disciple whom he loved. And then he says to the disciple, "Behold your mother." And from that hour, the disciple took her to his home. So that's recorded in John 19, 25 to 27. And what do you take from that, Bryan? So I think over the past few years, I've had a lot of estate planning to think about, things that I've never thought that I'd have to think about. But, you know, a lot of these lawyers that you're talked to when you're planning for a trust or something like that, they have seen almost every scenario under the sun and they encourage people to be very specific and to be very cautious with who they leave their money and their stuff to. And it's always struck me as being very interesting, especially in the church and with family who love and trust each other, that there's such a distrust among the world and among people like lawyers and these estate planners and things, because you never really know what somebody is going to do after you go. We even had this thought ourselves of trying to think about our own estate and what happens when we go. And Sherilyn and I asked each other not too long ago, "How much do we really trust Ashlyn, our daughter?" At the time, she was 11. And it's like, "How much do we trust our 11-year-old daughter?" Well, maybe a little bit right now, but are we going to trust her when she's 15? Are we going to trust her when she's 20? How about when she's 30? Like all these questions that just sort of rack your brain because you're trying to look into the future, but you can't. And the funny thing is here, Jesus knows more about the future than any of us ever will. And I think that's even more powerful, the fact that he trusted John to take care of his mother because he knew what was going to happen after he left this earth. He knew that John was going to be the right person to take care of Mary. And I don't know, I just feel like this is such a... We have to look back on the long history of our relationship with somebody to be able to sort of predict what's going to happen in the future. Jesus didn't have to do that. Although Jesus did leverage that information. Jesus had been walking with John. They did have this relationship, but I mean, all the more reason if he knows what's going to happen in the future, that you have a real solid, warm, fuzzy feeling that John is the right person for this job. And I don't know, it's such a difference, I guess, with the way that Jesus trusts John and the way that we trust our friends. We were only looking backward and sort of guessing what will happen in the future. But wouldn't it be interesting if you could get that sense of you could see into the future and know that your friend was always going to be loyal to you and they were going to take care of your stuff and your people and everyone around you, even after you left this earth. Just such an interesting thought. I don't know. That emphasis on trust, that's really good because think about like, what are you going to entrust to your friend that's more precious? Like, here's my baby, my favorite car, the sports car that I rub with a cloth diaper and I take care of. I'm giving you the keys to this for the month. Like, okay, yeah, sure, I trust you a lot. But this is his mom and he says, take care of her. You are her son. That's such an act of trust. And it's such a human way for Jesus to have dealt with this. I mean, you think of providentially, he can make sure that she's taken care of beyond his life on earth. But he deals with this in such a personal way because he's not going to be physically there to provide for her and protect her. And so while he's carrying out the most important mission in history, he pauses to be a human son. And there's just so much happening here. When I lived in Hawaii, I had a friend who had always called me the Ichiban son, like the number one son, the oldest son. And when you're the oldest son, then there's certain responsibilities that you just think of, especially in their culture, right? In that society, here is an eldest son who, rather than calling on his younger brothers to look after their mom, turns to one dear friend and follower that he knows he can trust, like you said. And that's just so interesting that that's where he turned, is the disciple he loved. You think of all the other things going on. Here's a mother who's watching her son suffer, helpless to stop his death, and a savior, like I said, just carrying the eternal needs of the whole world on his shoulders, but his mind is still on the needs of his mom. And then you think about this disciple who, just as helpless, is watching the unthinkable happen. And he gets a chance to be the friend to the one he loves in this special way. And that's a special honor. You're going to do that with such devotion, such care, like Mary was never taken care of so well, right? I mean, it's just such a special act of love. I'm sure he cared for Mary, but this is Jesus you're doing this for. And it takes your breath away to consider all of the implications and all the meaning in this act. And just pray that we would all learn to be sons like Jesus, to maybe learn to ask friends for help. Like if Jesus asked for help from a friend, like shouldn't we? We've talked about that issue several times. And then just this loyalty. I want to be loyal to our Lord like John. I want to be, as we sing sometimes, I'll be a friend to Jesus. And it's such a unique, interesting story, right? Yeah, it just if Jesus stopped to take a moment to connect with his friend and, oh, by the way, his mother as well, then in that moment, that's showing us that this is important. These relationships are worth investing time and energy into. And I think that helps us so much. And especially as we move into our last segment here, which is flying through the book. I feel the need. The need for speed. So we're going to totally cheat here and we are going to go through one of the shortest books in the New Testament. And that is the book of Third John. And continuing to talk about John, we're going to get into this story about John's connection and relationship with his friend Gaius, how he's writing this personal letter to him. This book is really obviously it's very short, but it's very targeted in the way that John is commending this man for his hospitality. And obviously this letter is probably written very late in the life of John and very late after all of the other gospels and all the other epistles are all written. But I think here in this short little letter, we see this comparison and contrast between what it means to support the Lord's work and how others have decided to reject that work. John is making personal connections with people who are doing good things. And he's calling them just some of the most endearing terms you can think of here because this whole letter is dripping with love. This is John. John is the guy who is just gushy about how much he loves people. You know, he just he calls everybody beloved. And he like, you know, this is the guy who, by the way, wanted to bring lightning down and he's the son of thunder along with his brother. But man, I mean, you think about John and you see the love that he has here in letters like this. And it reminds you how important it is to connect with people and to have these close bonds and to carry these kinds of relationships with you all the way to the end. And that's really why we're going to look at third John here, because he does such a great job at showing us what it's like to be a real friend. I love that he's dripping with love. You know, the the end is so genuine, like it's not false at all. And he's an older man. He calls himself the elder here. But this is probably pretty late, like you said. And I think that as you get to know older saints, people who've been walking with the Lord for a long time, you just see like they've gotten better with time. You know, they've aged well into their maturity as the body falls apart, the spirit becomes more and more complete in Christ. And there's this strength that is not compromising in any way. And yet it is met with this gentleness and this love and affection for people like here. He has this joy over Gaius's faithfulness in these first four verses of the opening greeting. He says, Dear Gaius, basically in verse one. And then he gives a prayer in verse two. And then he talks about his joy in verses three and four. And I think the key verse here in this first section is verse two. I love this prayer that he offers. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. And so you just see this sense that when we love others, we want every part of their life to be blessed. But he also wants health and prosperity and the spiritual wellness becomes kind of this core part of their well-being that brings incredible joy as you see them walking in the truth. As he says here, their faithfulness and closeness to Christ brings this joy because you get to share that with them. You get to see confidently that they are standing in something that is going to enrich them and rich others and that you can share with them. Yeah, I mean, I think that really highlights a lot of the stuff that we've been talking about in this series, right? There's so much depth to friendship and there are many levels to it, right? It's like sometimes there are surface level things where it's just like, hey, can I pick you up from the airport? And then sometimes it's getting into the deeper and more spiritually significant things, these tough, challenging conversations, the encouraging each other and pushing each other to better spiritual devotion and just the celebration that we can have with each other in our faith together. And you just see this playing out in John's relationship with Gaius here. He cares. He cares about every aspect of him, like holistically. It's not just about little pieces of Gaius's life that he's that he's interested in. So I think that plays out here in the next few verses in verses five through eight, where really the point of this section is how Gaius is a true friend and he is receiving encouragement from John to keep on being hospitable. It says here in verse five, beloved is a faithful thing that you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are who testified to your love before the church. It's like John, he's there seeing Gaius's hospitality for these like itinerant preachers who I guess are going around and Gaius is taking care of them. And John is just like, again, he's gushing over how much he loves that Gaius is taking part of this and then he encourages him. Just keep doing it. Keep being a friend to even some of these strangers who come in and you're supporting and helping. So this is a short section here, but it starts out where he commends Gaius's actions. And then he moves on to talk about how he wants Gaius to continue being supportive of these people in the future. I'm seeing in this section these words like strangers and quote unquote people like these. And I think that's what's so special about Gaius in this story. He's like a friend to everybody he meets. He comes across somebody. He has no idea who they are, but he's a friend to them. And this is such a helpful reminder for me because I think throughout this series, we've been talking about our friends and developing a close circle of friendship. But there are going to be people who we run across who we don't really know them that well and we don't really have that many connections with them. But can we like Gaius be a fast friend to them? Just really let this ramp up quickly and support people in really powerful ways. So I don't know, Gaius may not have been the guy going around doing all of these epic missionary journeys. But he was a fellow worker. And I think that's the takeaway that I get from this section is that John is commending him for being a part of the work. Every time he shows love to somebody, every time he is supporting and helping and being hospitable to somebody, he's not a stumbling block for them. He's not a Debbie Downer for them. He's like he's shaking his pom poms in really powerful spiritual ways. Spiritual pom poms here this. But, you know, he really is supporting these people. And John is actively commending him for that. Yeah, I'm leading a study right now of hospitality. And so I like what you're saying there about taking these strangers who are also brothers in the Lord, but they're coming from some place you don't know and that you've never met them. You don't know much about them, but you're receiving them and treating them like friends, which is the essence of that's what hospitality means, right? Love of strangers. And so this contrasts with what we see in verses nine to ten, which is a guy that has no sense of hospitality or love. This warning about Diatrophies, Diatrophies is the worst. That's the main point here. Diatrophies won't acknowledge John's authority in verse nine. He's planning to address this when he comes. John is in the beginning of verse ten and then the end of verse ten, he says Diatrophies kicks traveling brothers out of the church. So, again, the opposite of what Gaius is doing. And the key verse here, verse nine says, I have written something to the church, but Diatrophies who likes to put himself first does not acknowledge our authority. And what a summary of like who you are that you don't want attached to yourself if you're trying to be a follower of Jesus. This is the exact antithesis of what Christ did, right? Dying for us. And so I think that's the main insight here in context of our guided study. Diatrophies shows all the traits you don't want in a friend or a brother. He likes to put himself first. He refuses to show hospitality to the people who need a place to stay. And instead, he's kind of like elected himself as president of the church and the chief decider of who to welcome. Who is, you know, I am the judge of all things good and all people who will be taken in by anyone amongst us. And so like, yeah, you're out of the church. It's like off with his head. It's kind of this this power trip. And he's not recognizing apostolic authority. He's taken his authority so far. And so the insight is to, of course, flip all of that, to prioritize others needs and to view yourself and your opinions with some humility and yield to the authority of certainly of the elders. But here this is John the apostle. So just step back and humility is the word of the day here for Diatrophies. It sure is. It's funny, too, because on a couple of episodes ago, we talked about the appreciation burrito and just the like compliment sandwich and stuff. So this is kind of connected with that in some ways. You know, he's got this good thing to talk about with guy is here and then he's got the like the meaty kind of just not good thing in the middle, like a thorn between two roses. That's a good way to put it for sure. And now he gets to Demetrius here in verses 11 and 12 when he's really encouraging them not to imitate evil, but imitate good. And so just to kind of as like a palate cleanser, get this bad taste of Diatrophies out of your mouth. Let's talk about Demetrius, who, by the way, is awesome. If Diatrophies is the worst, who are we going to imitate? Is it going to be guy is or Diatrophies? Oh, and yeah, of course, Demetrius here has a good report from the brothers. And do you notice here in this little section how many witnesses are adding credibility to Demetrius is character like everyone, right? He says everyone has given him a good testimony. And then it says and from truth itself. So apparently the truth is giving him a good witness. And then it says, and we also add our testimony and you know that our testimony is true. It's like, duh, everybody knows that Demetrius is doing awesome and closed. You should be like him case closed. Exactly. So I feel like here credibility matters. And you talked about how guy is was authentic and how John was authentic. You know, and he calls people beloved. He's not like putting on a show or anything like that. I think Demetrius is authentic as well because everybody knows it. You would imagine that if he was a bad guy, like an evil tree, you would know him by his fruits. And I think here John is basically just throwing everybody a bone and saying, yeah, we don't even need to say much more, but you know how cool Demetrius is. So he like him. Yeah, it is interesting how this the whole thing is a discussion of three people, even though he's talking to guy as himself. It's like, here are three people. Which ones do you want to be? And there's such a clear picture of the character of each. And then he closes the thing out in verses 13 to 15 is kind of a can't wait to see you soon kind of a very personal message, right? Like I want to see you face to face and verse 14. I have too much to say in a letter. Tell everybody hello. And the key verse here, I think, is the last one. It says peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends each by name. We talked about this in the conversation. The friends. The friends. So he closes as I do on this podcast, he closes with the blessing of Shalom or in Greek, Irenae. But then he gives a new title for believers. I love this. It's just so unique. He calls the disciples in his local community in the local church there. The friends, not my friends or all your friends here. All the good people over this way, all the beloved, but the friends like like elsewhere. We read of the way or the brothers or the church. This is the friends. And then he doubles down on it and he calls all the believers in Gaius's local church, the friends there. And he's asked that each friend be warmly greeted by name on John's behalf. So it's it's not just a title. There is he's treating each person as a friend. This isn't like an impersonal collection of worldwide Christians. There are groups of friends right all over the place. You know, we talk about it as a family sometimes, which is a wonderful metaphor or as a body. And all of these, maybe you could say are more than metaphors. I mean, they're they're getting to a deep rooted truth. And so is this use of this Holy Spirit endorsed prophetic word calling all of the brothers and sisters in Christ the friends. I just think that's so great. There are groups of friends here who love the friends there. And it could also be that John is drawing from Jesus words that we discussed way back earlier in this study when he called his disciples friends. You are my friends. You're not just my servants. You're my friends. You do what I tell you. And greater love has nobody than this to lay down his life for his friends. I have chosen you as my friends. These are not just my friends. These are the friends of Jesus, if that's the sense that he's pulling out here. If he's thinking back to John 13 and 14, the friends of Jesus there and the friends of Jesus at Monte Vista, the friends of Jesus here up in Fort Wade. Just a neat way to close the book as we start to close out this study of friendship to know you got friends all over the place. Oh, man, it's so good. You couldn't have chosen really a better book to talk about when celebrating friendship. And just like we said, John is he is very emotive about his love and his affection for people. And I think you hit the nail right on the head when you talked about the friends there. So let's get into our next segment here on the episode. And that is our reach out question. OK, here's the question, Bryan, what are your favorite qualities of your best friend? I'm ready for you to just talk about me for a minute. No, I'm joking. Well, yeah, I mean, obviously, I think I could describe my favorite qualities about you here. I could also just kind of punt and pick an obvious one, like picking all the favorite qualities of my wife, Sharilyn. But I'm going to be a little more generic because all of my friends have a common theme that I find some real favorite qualities in. And I think my favorite thing about people who I'm closest to is just like you just talked about that family feeling. But the friends kind of idea even adds more weight to it. Just being comfortable. That's really it. Like, just the comfort level that I have with my friends is, you know, in spite of all of our quirks, in spite of all of our oddities or hang ups, you can just settle in so quickly and not have to worry about things feeling weird. You could sit on a long car ride with somebody and just be quiet, or you could sit on a long car ride with somebody and talk the entire time. And either way, it's going to be fine. There's no feelings like you've got to perform for somebody or you have to be on your game for somebody. It's just comfortable. Right. And yeah, there are times where things get difficult. Like we've talked about in this series where you have some difficult conversations or some personality issues or whatever come into play or you get hangry. Right. And you're like, OK, I'm going to need a minute. Otherwise, things are going to get bad. But like so often there's just an ease and a lightness with my friends that I appreciate. And that that has to be one of my favorite qualities of all the people who I'm the closest to. It's almost like a warm blanket. That's a weird way to talk about it. I guess like friends are like a warm blanket where it's just you can settle in and it just doesn't take much effort. I don't have to worry about saying anything wrong because I say lots of things wrong and my friends understand and are willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. And as I think about just the comfort level that I have with people, it's a real challenge for me then to turn around and look in the mirror and ask myself that question. Like, am I a comfortable person to be around? And there are times and I'm sure of it. There are times where I'm not the most comfortable person to be around. And if I value that so much and other people, if I value just that ease and the lightness that I have with people, and maybe the thing I need to focus on is just being a more comfortable person to be around. Because if I value that so much and other people, am I willing to extend that to my friends as well? And so it's just easy. I don't know. What do you think about that? I think you nailed it. That was really good. The ease of not being on is something we've talked about, not having to be something, not like you feel like you need to be false. But with other people, most people, honestly, even ones that are dear to me, I just I want to be of service. I mean, I've worked on trying to settle in more, still have intentionality, but to settle in and not switch on. Like my mind is working so hard. And I think the inquiry that you were starting to explore of what does it look like for me to be a comfortable person to be around? Or like it's easier to name it the other way. Like how am I making other people uncomfortable whenever I'm not settled in or I'm trying to juggle too many things and get things done while they're trying to connect with me or whatever's going on? I think that's a helpful exercise to think about. I mean, I did think of Adrian, who is my best friend, has been weirdly since like the day we met, we just like clicked. And then very quickly it was like, OK, this is a friend for life, whatever else happens. And two qualities that she exemplifies that just come right to mind are that sense of ease and fun, you know, that goes with the ease. Like it's easy, but it's not like you're just two lumps on a log. It's like you're laughing together and you're there's like she's interesting and she's engaging, but she's also easy. And like we talk about being alone together is a really nice thing to be able to be. But it's better than being alone because you have somebody to share these things with that you really like and really enjoy being together in that time. And then just somebody who's ready to show up when I need her. She's just that classic supportive listener and counselor ready to act to help carry the load, whatever's going on. You know, OK, let's think through this. How are we going to you know, there's those crisis moments. She's the one that I go to, you know, whenever I'm like, OK, I don't want other people to know that I'm freaking out, but I am freaking out. And I got to talk to somebody about this. I have too much on my plate or this went really badly and I'm worried about this person or whatever's going on. And I can work through it with her and we can pray together and we can think through and she kind of tries to read within or ask me, hey, do you want to just talk it out or you want me to give you my thoughts? And I value both. And so I don't know which one of us is cheating more like me going with the wife or you going generic. But it's funny that we kind of ended up in a similar place. I just really appreciate that we didn't spend the entire time discussing how much we really like each other. So that's good. Good. I got an awkward there for a little bit. So let's move into our final segment for the week. And that is our challenge. I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me. OK, so this one isn't that hard, but you know, you're going to have to pull out your wallet and pick up the bill for dinner with a close friend. So just show it somebody that you appreciate them by saying, hey, let's go grab a bite. It's on me and it's on me because I just appreciate you. I yes, I think it's this is probably one of the most practical and like super softball challenges to do. But you know, it's really funny is as easy as we are with people and as comfortable as we can be. Isn't it just ridiculously hard for somebody to actually agree to let you buy them food? Like there will be like an arm wrestling match. There will be like a real battle to the end, like to try to figure out who's actually going to grab that bill at dinner. And sometimes if your friend comes up to you and says, hey, I really want to buy you dinner to show my appreciation. The nice thing to do is just to let them do that. That's also, you know, it takes the giving and the receiving rate that we talked about in the last episode. So, yeah, I really do think this is a great opportunity for us just to express our appreciation. Yes, we say to somebody, thank you for being a friend like we did a couple of weeks ago. But then we also show it in these little tiny moments where we just get together and have a good time and take care of the people who have really taken care of us. And I think we've seen that in this whole guided study for sure. Yeah, you sound like to go back to my family dynamic, like you've had dinner with my family where there's like a whole gamesmanship on both sides of me and Adrian's family to taking the taking the bill and figuring out who's going to pay. But it's interesting what you say there, because I think that this does have the strange kind of subtle power to shift and deepen a friendship dynamic. Just let someone take care of it. And then you get to say, hey, I really appreciate that. I got the next one. And then the next time you got it and you get to serve and the other person gets to say, hey, thank you. It just subtly. It's not a big deal. I get it. But it's saying it's OK in this relationship for us to take care of each other, you know, us to look out for each other and do small favors. That's the kind of relationship we have. We're not like fierce individualists to say, no, I pull my own weight. You go over there. And I like what you said there. Kind of deep into this challenge a little bit for me. Just a small kindly deed that may cheer another is the work thou has planned for you. I love it. Well, with that, let's close out this study with a prayer. Our prayer we suggest in the study guide is we joyfully praise you for friends. May we never take them for granted. Coming from Paul's words to the Philippians and Philippians one, three through five. So let's go to God in prayer. Father, you are the fountain of blessings and our cup runs over with the gifts that you pour out to us every day. Thank you, Father, for the people that you've brought into our lives. Thank you for the rich gift of fellowship and love that we share. Thank you for the work you continue to do in our brothers and sisters so that we get to enjoy the best people in the world. These people that you fill your church with, people as Hebrews says, of whom the world is not worthy. May we all persist in our faithfulness. May we follow you whatever comes. May we hold on to you through dark days and keep growing towards the fullness of Christ. We pray that you would give us courage and faith and the awareness that we have each other. That there are others who love you like we do. Others who are facing the same trials we do. Lord, let us forge bonds through the fire that we go through. Let us stand with each other in faith and patience and honesty. But we also ask you for the sweeter, easier gifts like love, like laughter, like happy times together. We know that these good things are four tastes of our eternal life in the age to come. We pray that you would be glorified in our friendships. And we pray that we would be always true to our master. That you would strengthen us. That you would fortify our resolve as we treasure the friendship of Jesus and as we strive every day to be a friend to him. We pray all of this through his intercession and in his name. Amen. Amen. All right. So that wraps up our two by two guided study. And we did it. We did it. It's done. So nine sessions here in this guided study. This was a fun one. You can find all these conversations on our website there at biblegeeks.fm/twobytwo. And those will be available for you if you want to have these conversations with a friend or with a small group at church. We'd love it if you'd use these things. Have these conversations deepen in your friendship with those who you're close to or those who you're trying to be closer to. So coming up, we're going to take, as we've talked about how we're going to start up a new schedule this year. And we've done a little quarter long session here of stuff in the spring. And so during the summer in June and July, we're going to take some time off and we will be back, Lord willing, August 1st with another episode coming up. Brand new, fun and exciting run of episodes. We're going to do some guided studies. We're going to do some book clubs. We're going to do back to the chosen AV club stuff. We're going to do all kinds of things in the upcoming drop. But we are going to take a little bit of a break over the summer just to kind of recharge and get ready. And one of the things we're getting ready for is this new guided study that we are really excited about. And we're calling it Square One, an evangelism study focused all about bringing somebody from the beginnings of their faith into this real full understanding of who Jesus is. Yeah, yeah, this is going to be fun to get into. And I hope that it is helpful to others. I hope that in addition to you and me building something that we want to use in our work, that this is something that serves others. So, you know, we both have used a lot of different evangelism approaches. A lot of them are really well put together and helpful. But we've been wanting to build something that fits our styles and the kinds of conversational studies that, as we've talked about, we end up doing with a lot of people. And so our next guided study will be meant to start at the beginning, at Square One, with someone in a series of conversations leading to conversion or at least to a choice about conversion and faithfulness to Christ and helping them to answer questions and think through what their life is outside of Christ and what Christ wants for them. That's coming this fall. Can't wait to get into it. If anybody has any thoughts or suggestions about what has helped you in your work speaking to others the gospel and trying to bring the Lord's salvation to others, we're really trying to research and learn and think through all the different things that work and trying to find the right fit for what we're trying to do here. So welcome any comments on that. Absolutely. Yeah. Reach out on our website at biblegeeks.fm/contact or you can find us on social media or you can talk to us in person. I mean, that always works, too. So get in touch with us. Let us know. How is it that you found success in your evangelism? And maybe we can talk about some of those things, folding those into our series, Square One, beginning in the fall. So we're really excited for the break. We hope everyone has a blessed time with their families over the summer break or whatever you're doing. If you're stuck at work, I'm really sorry, but we'll be back August 1st, Lord willing. So until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom. See you soon!