"I Reason At You"
EPISODE 216
See Disciple-Making Like Jesus
What lie does Satan try to sell you about evangelism? And how does Jesus reframe our approach to evangelism? Here in session two of our Getting to Square One guided study, we examine our disciple-making paradigms. Whether you’ve tried selling salvation like Ginsu Knives or given up thinking people don’t care, an A-Team of evangelists like Ananias and Philip can teach us a better way. We want to make disciples Like the Teacher, so this week we rethink our timelines, strategies, and beliefs about it.
Takeaways
The Big Idea: Most people need more than just the facts; they need someone to help clear a path to the Lord.
This Week's Challenge: Have a conversation with someone about what does and doesn't work well in evangelism.
Episode Transcription
It could have been he reasoned at people right that would have totally changed the context I reason at you 17 points on no. Oh man. I have reasoned at so many people in my life Well, hello everyone and welcome to Bible Geeks podcast this is episode 216. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy Hey, thanks so much everyone for tuning in we are back in our getting to square one series This is our little baby guided study. We've been kind of doing the pre work a little bit of the disciple making preparation understanding evangelism getting to know how to have these effective conversations in a more Realistic kind of way that might be more effective. So hopefully everybody is on board and ready for this discussion today We're talking about disciple making Paradigms, which might seem a little confusing until you understand where we're headed. Yeah So you mentioned the idea of how we could do 13 sessions on tips and tricks We're not trying to do tips and tricks though. We're really trying to focus on the way we Approach the work more globally and that's why we use this big weird business word paradigms But we're just talking about perspectives how we think about it what our attitudes are what our viewpoint is and we want to have a biblical View of this work that we're trying to do and so shifting our mindset We've got a conversation starter here on the episode and that one we called potholes and pitfalls This is getting to square one potholes and pitfalls in Indiana summertime is road work season traffic turns terrible as most of the freeway lanes close It seems to take forever But eventually all the potholes and pitfalls get cleaned up leaving us a nice smooth road when winter comes and making Disciples can work that way too. The highway to heaven can get littered with misconceptions Biases and fears that need mending. So here's the big idea Most people need more than just the facts They need someone to help clear a path to the Lord Sometimes like Philip alongside the chariot you find a seeker that's ready Jesus called some not far from the kingdom While others hearts were far from God only the gospel has power to save But seeing our love and holiness can change someone's view God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance and we reflect him like a mirror pointing sunshine into a dark corner Jesus compared the hidden conversion process to a seed becoming a thriving plant a lot happens below the surface while we tend to the Soil it usually doesn't happen overnight and no mechanical formula will churn out Christians Remember that the goal isn't just baptizing but making disciples if we rush someone into the water without helping them Understand what it means to follow Jesus We've skipped the heart of discipleship many don't even know what they believe when they dive into the deep end of these discussions Half-baked beliefs exposed to patient and frank discussions can lead to new openings never underestimate the power of Reasoning with people as Paul did from city to city We don't strong arm we invite the thirsty to come and take the water of life without price So here's the big question Where do you need to shift your perspective on making disciples to be more like Christ's? So follow along with this short guided study at biblegeeks.fm/squareone and may the Lord bless you and keep you Shalom. Okay. So the big idea there is that most people need more than just the facts They need someone to help clear a path to the Lord and it's hard not to think of the old dragnet You know just the facts ma'am We're we're trying to get beyond just the facts because this is not an abstract kind of a work that we're doing It's not just make a convincing argument and everybody is won over there is definitely a place for convincing arguments in this work that is a big part of persuading a big part of reasoning with people as we'll talk about But there is often some deeper kind of irrational things that get in the way there's an old illustration I like of the way these villages in the South American areas at the foot of the big mountains live where their main water sources from runoff running down from the snowy peaks and so before those snowy peaks start melting the whole village goes up the Mountain and clears out all of the little canals and aqueducts all the places where the streams run down and There might be a snake there just all kinds of dirty things, you know tumbleweeds. There might be a bird's nest They have to move whatever but they're kind of clearing the way so that when the water gets to them It can flow cleanly and certainly all the rocks and boulders and and build up getting all that out of the way So it flows all the way down to them and that's that's a part of this work I mean it is the living water to reach people sometimes there's some things in the way that's polluting them You know their hearts and and so we we worked last time on ourselves And getting out of our own way and now we're trying to clear a path to help people to Hear and receive the word as best we can so that leads to the big question there in our conversation starter Where do you need to shift your perspective on making disciples to be more like? Christ's and I think this shift in perspective is really what we're all thinking about here, you know Jesus constantly threw out his ministry was trying to get people's perspective to shift not just on evangelism But on life in general back in the Sermon on the Mount He would always say you've heard it said but I say to you like you've got a way of thinking through things you've got a way of viewing the world, but maybe you need to take a second look and shifting our perspective on thinking about people and doing this people work and Thinking like Jesus is really the main goal I think of this conversation hopefully if we have that perspective things will go a lot easier Absolutely and when perspective shift that we started talking about last time we talked about a time when you were kind of selling the church like a juicer and As you presented the features and benefits of being a follower of Christ my words not yours. Oh, yeah, you're right It's true accurate. No, you know That's just something that I think all of us have probably started to think we just need to make a better case for the features And benefits of the Lord and that made us think especially as a former advertiser myself of all those as seen on TV Offers so Bryan for our icebreaker question. What would you be most tempted to buy from an as seen on TV offer? I think you set the stage for this really well because otherwise it might have sounded like coming out of left field But yeah, if you've ever had that perspective where maybe evangelism feels like marketing I love those flex tape ads on TV you may have seen them giant tub of water and there's a crack in it and the water is spewing out of the crack and the guy just walks over with his flex tape in his hand and he slaps it on top of the Spewing water coming out of the tub and all of a sudden the water stops It's like I don't know why I would ever need that I live in Phoenix We don't have water here like it's not a thing that we need but like man if I ever needed to stop a flowing Stream of water coming out of something having flex tape would be pretty sweet. It's a compelling ad for sure. What about you? I've never seen those ads. I mean, you don't see the very well link to it in the show notes I Let's pitch those flex tape ads to people I was thinking back to all the old ones I used to see cuz I don't watch TV with commercials that much It's especially like those late night type things that would come on. So I was thinking about ginsu knives, you know Oh watching a knife cut through a can cut through a shoe just like it's nothing That's the kind of knife I need to cut my meat, you know I also bought a speed reading course once from there and that was a total bust. I've never I've never found Anything I've bought from there to be particularly satisfying even though you're still paying for it after you receive it with three payments of 1999 or whatever now, it's totally true ginsu knives for sure Yeah, if you accidentally cut open a tub full of water, I could seal it up some flex tape. So there we go Let's move on to our first segment here on the episode and that is again like the teacher We're gonna go to a few places where we learn something about Jesus this time. It'll be a little different I think we're gonna do a double header where each of us picks two examples of how Jesus Reframes our approach to evangelism. We're gonna get real specific here talking about how Jesus teaches us about evangelism What is your first example from Jesus life about how he shifts our perspective? You said we're gonna get real specific and I was just about to say these are a little more broad But I mean it's it's thinking about how Jesus approaches it and you know one thing that is just so striking When you read through for instance the gospel of John or really any of the Gospels is his conversations You know you think of the woman at the well is the first place you go But you think of all of those conversations Nicodemus and you know, just each of those interactions it reminds you that this is not Supposed to be a monologue because I often think of it. It's supposed to be a dialogue not a monologue But I I end up thinking okay. This is just gonna be a really great presentation I've prepared instead of a conversation, you know, like you keep reframing it You know I am going through and I have a deck of 57 slides that are gonna make you a Christian and It's going to happen Wow It just doesn't work that way very often not to say that the gospel isn't strong enough that it can work that way But I think there's a more effective way and Jesus shows us that you know thought-provoking questions engaging hearing what they had to say and then Bouncing from there to the next thing, you know a conversation is a turning. There's a circular aspect There's a listening and a speaking we talked about that in our our friendship conversation Asking questions telling stories instead of just hitting bullet points proof texts onto the next slide kind of thing Yeah, that takes a lot of discernment to really to understand there's not a one-size-fits-all conversation either clearly Everything is gonna be different It's all gonna take a different approach and that's actually kind of in line with my first example here from like the teacher Learning from Jesus as the master teacher. It's like how sometimes he is looking for people to teach and interact with and how sometimes people Come and find him and this seems interesting because you know for a lot of us for me Especially I have in my mind some people right I'm thinking of them I really want them to make the right decision But then I run across people all the time and I'm faced with these One-off interactions right and and that's kind of what we see in Jesus life you go to stories like Luke chapter 19 Where he interacts with Zacchaeus the tax collector and clearly he finds him he seeks him out He sees Zacchaeus up in a tree, you know, we little man as the song says and he says I'm coming to your house We're gonna have dinner this interaction Jesus takes the bull by the horns and he drives it right? He is in charge and in other times Jesus is walking through the crowd like back in Luke chapter 8 and some woman who has a disease comes up and just out of nowhere touches him and he knows that something has happened and he asks looking around like who touched me and Realizes this woman is there and says daughter. Your faith has made you well and this just small interaction She's the one who pursued it and I just think from this that we've got to be ready I've got to be ready for both of these situations for the one-off Small casual interactions like that woman who touched Jesus but also those moments where I need to take action, right? I need to be decisive and drive it like hey, you're gonna come study with me Like maybe not maybe not in that way, but like you know what I mean? It's that sort of decision-making and intentionality about these interactions. So just learning from Jesus He was able to touch people's lives literally in so many different scenarios and Contexts and that's a good reminder for me. Yeah acts 315 for instance you know be ready when someone asks you for the hope within you and I think it's an important thing to recognize there is a magnetic power to The gospel to Jesus to even people starting to see something different in us to see hope to see holiness to see This different way of life, you know and realizing once they see something Jesus draws people to himself As he said he would okay. So my second example is About a more broad perspective but just that the Gospels give us this sense of a long process Both in the way that he works with his apostles and the way he teaches the masses He is not expecting this will be a one-time conversation a one-time Interaction and then always it'll be a conversion, you know We have a tendency maybe to count everything by did it work? And if they weren't baptized or whatever it is, then it didn't work We failed the whole process isn't where rethink everything and what Jesus teaches us is how this is a long thing Just like a seed planted in the ground as we've talked about takes some time It's a process to work and Jesus spends time with sinners and he's among them He heals he serves other needs besides this most important spiritual need he feeds him He teaches in parables that they aren't ready to understand yet knowing that for some of them This is gonna keep working with them and they're gonna try to figure it out He makes statements that even the Apostles aren't clear on and he's just planting seeds. He's building a trail towards the kingdom I think that kind of long term view is really important Now I was just talking with a friend who started a new job not too long ago and there's this person that he just hit it off with and feels like I've got somebody that that I really want to work with and He's like, what am I doing wrong? We're talking about this and we're talking about that and I asked him this and I was like it sounds like you're doing everything Right, and it's just don't expect it to be instant You might be talking with him for two more years and then he has this change and he comes to the Lord But look for those moments when it's time to put something before him and shift the conversation forward there is an urgency to it, but there is also a discernment we talked about a deftness with which we're trying to handle these things and let the gospel do its work I think that's really important and I'm not gonna say too much about it because I think we're gonna hit on that point quite a lot here in this conversation, but mmm, the whole idea that this is a long process is Absolutely backed up by scripture. This is not something that we always see everyone just hearing one thing, you know We do see that clearly a lot of times where Jesus says follow me and somebody comes following him But you know what they don't do they don't immediately come to the point where they're equipped with everything that they need and they have All the answers but again, it's a process It's them learning and following and walking and growing and yeah, and that's gonna constantly show up in their life Even though they do make a quick decision Maybe it's not always an immediate transition actually that leads me to John 21 in my last example here of Jesus and disciple making he shifts the perspective here when he comes to Peter and says three times Do the work, you know after Peter had denied him and After all this stuff had happened and Jesus raised and he was now having this post-breakfast interaction with his disciple here Peter. He just says do you love me and Peter's like yeah, obviously I do, you know, I do Lord feed my sheep, right? And he again over and over again reminds him like in different ways You need to do the work and for me that is a super helpful reminder that like if I really love Jesus Then I'm gonna get to work in the lives of other people around me. The fact is I need a reminder about that It's not just a one-time thing. It's not like oh, I checked that box one time It's an ongoing work. You keep doing it. Keep at it following Jesus involves leading other people to follow Jesus That's a whole idea about discipleship, right? It's not just about like following Jesus It's also about getting other people to follow you as you follow Jesus and that whole idea of spreading the word and doing the work It's just you're never gonna get there like you're never gonna arrive like I have done the work, right? It's gonna be an ongoing thing It'll be something that we're always focused on and Jesus just make sure that everyone knows Especially Peter the work is the most important thing. Just keep doing the work. Yeah, absolutely I I did this sermon a while back on why we speak and I asked the question in it What is the main difference between those who are? regularly doing this work of bringing the gospel to others and those who aren't and the answer I gave was They want to yeah They've decided to do it and that's the biggest difference like you know how to do it If you want to do you know how to tell people about Jesus is you can get better at it But it's not if you can speak and you know how you were saved you can Say that to someone else but it's just this commitment that then we get into this path of getting better and better in this sort of adventure of Evangelism, I mean it really is its own is a core part of the adventure of discipleship is you know There is scariness to it Sometimes there is ups and downs and you're diving in walking with the Lord trying to do a big thing in his name So do the work I like that as an end to that segment All right So let's move on to our second segment here in the episode and you guessed it It's one of my favorites It is the a team if you have a problem if no one else can help and if you can find them Maybe you can hire the a team All right, shave your head into a mohawk and put on the gold chains We are picking our pity the fool favorite Disciple makers here in a mini draft. We spent a little more time talking about Jesus in that first segment So we're just gonna pick two examples of Excellent evangelists that we can learn from maybe talk a little bit about them move through it in rapid-fire Succession my first pick if it's okay that I pick first take on the Baptist John the back good What is my first a good pick? And if you want to talk about some of the who has the long game in mind John the Baptist is absolutely one of those people as he prepared the way so we're talking about here Clearing the path for people John the Baptist is absolutely doing that. He is introducing the Jews to Repentance for the forgiveness of their sins. He's making sure they understand how to live their lives in different ways When he preaches to them out in the middle of the wilderness All they can do is look at each other like Acts chapter 2 and say what then shall we do and he goes off to Tell them about selling their possessions giving their proceeds to the poor making sure that they provide a tunic if they have an extra one to someone else taking care of people and John is really doing just an excellent work there in getting people to start to see Jesus He's not the Messiah, but he's pointing people to Jesus and he's playing the long game Because it's not gonna be until years later where the church is really established and all these things come to pass But he's setting up and planting the seeds early to get them thinking I mean talk about clearing the path like right make ready the way for the Lord It's such a great picture and the idea of him preparing and doing this with a longer picture in mind Even thinking of who is going to take over like there's a baton being handed off to the next person Like that is really part of this and then you know Like what he's talking about is pretty hardcore stuff and there is this aspect of talking about this stuff that you know Yes, it's good news and it's powerful truths and we don't just walk up to people and say you're going to hell and that's our Evangelism strategy, but like you got to get the bad news to fully get the good news So I love that example John the Baptist for my first pick This is gonna be a surprise to no one when it comes to world evangelism. Who could we pick besides? Paul I mean, I think You you really hit one. This was a surprise pick but that actually makes perfect sense He's the one that made the way for the Lord But after that we can't go to picks without picking Paul and talk about you could do a 13-session study on it Here's somebody we could say evangelism lessons for Paul Let's get to work and and we could pull out a lot But one thing I mentioned earlier is this idea of reasoning with people for instance in Acts 17 17 It says so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day With those who happen to be there. He was reasoning with people There is this sense of kind of thinking together and there's a back and forth is I think that word with is almost as important as Reasoned yeah, it could have been he reasoned at people right that would have totally changed the context. I reason at you No, oh man. I have reasoned at so many people in my life Me too. I have had a problem with reasoning at people and it's just so different from reasoning with them to think with them as we'll see him do with the people in Athens starting where they are and Thinking about things that can start to turn the discussion So there's a lot we could say about that But I think that's a starting point is to remember that we're here to do that with people And then one other passage on Paul is first Corinthians 3 5 to 9. This is another classic What then is a policy what then is Paul? Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each I planted a policy watered God gave the growth so neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything But only God who gives the growth he who plants and he who waters are one and each will receive his wages According to his labor for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field God's building and so again There's a lot there I mean so important not only to see that God is the only one who can make this This thing grow in people and taking that pressure off ourselves to say everything in a way that we're going to make them Disciples, but also to start to see the continuity of the process He's planting Apollo's is watering kind of getting a two-for-one in my draft here getting to talk about Paul's and Paul But they're really both part of the same process and I think that's been a helpful distinction to me is I used to Just so separate Spiritualism and what we might call edification like before they're baptized and after they're baptized is totally different things but really making disciples is both my work with anybody whether they're in the church or Outside the Lord is the same thing ultimately. I'm just trying to bless people draw people closer to the Lord and Tend to what they need to be spiritually strong and so I'm kind of seeing that Continuity and the planting and the watering here and that perspective from Paul is helpful, too. That's my number one pick Yeah, I think we both picked probably the two most important New Testament preachers and evangelists besides Jesus himself It's Jesus is always got to board. Yeah, we can't do that So my second pick is another one that you know If you really want to think that Paul is so important and is so worthy of a first pick Paul would not have been the first pick if not for Ananias So there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. Yes that Ananias not the other Ananias The Lord said to him in a vision Ananias and he said here I am Lord and Lord said to him rise and go to the street Called straight at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul that Saul. Yes that Saul I mean, that's not what the text says but Ananias did say Lord I've heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to the Saints in Jerusalem Ananias knew the story about Paul and Definitely did not think that this was something he should be doing. He was worried God hadn't heard the story about Paul yet Yeah, exactly And so he says go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and man What a work that Ananias does going and helping Paul Calling him right off the bat brother Saul the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which You came has sent me to you so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit Boom, that is my second pick so Ananias does a great job here in listening to the Lord and Sometimes when the Lord points you right in the direction of where you're supposed to go The only answer we can give is that's where I'm headed Yeah, we prayed last time for open doors. And then if this week we saw an open door and said yeah, not that door though Wrong door. Sorry. No. No, do you have another door different door? It's kind of what Ananias was asking but I like that pick a lot, you know And just to see the effect of there's little saying it's not how many seeds are in an apple But how many apples are in a seed, you know There are a lot of apples in the seed of Paul and Ananias brought that about for sure So I'm not gonna pick Peter here. I'm not gonna there's some big names that we're kind of overlooking here But I'm gonna go with another man that's called an evangelist later in the book of Acts and that is Philip and most famously I love what he does in Acts 8 first go into Samaria and then the story with the Ethiopian eunuch as He walks up beside this guy and asks him the question. Do you understand what you're reading? It's such a great question I just love that question because it's you know, he could have said let me explain to you what you're reading reasoning at people Yeah, yeah, I mean you just think about how this plays out. He's hearing him read Isaiah 53 is that a coincidence or is that providential? the most powerful messianic passage in all the Old Testament in my opinion and and then he's able to just get in there and he sees what the Lord's doing and he creates the opening and I think it goes With the point about God being our co-worker that God is gonna bring together the seeker the person who needs the gospel with the ones that can bring it to them and then we need to be ready to Ask questions like do you understand? Do you see what you need to do? Do you get who Jesus is and be able to engage with them? Explain from there as we think with them about the scriptures one thing you didn't bring up about Philip Which actually it surprisingly applies to every single person that we've picked in our tiny little draft here was that God was Actually literally with each of these individuals We've picked especially with Philip in that story because the angel of the Lord comes to Philip and says Go and find this man who's studying and that's why Philip even winds up there Talking to the Ethiopian in the first place and Ananias is told by the Lord Paul has been directed by the Lord as you read there from 1st Corinthians 3 how God is the one doing the real work He's just fellow workers along with God and then John the Baptist was on a mission from God as it was prophesied about long ago So each of these examples really do highlight the fact that it's not so much about the evangelist But the one who's sending them out to do that work. I mean and I've never had an angel tell me Hey go and talk to this person, but I've known you know, they asked this question and you're like, okay, we're in it now Let's dive in, you know it's kind of like they're reading Isaiah 53 and You just dive in and try to make sure that you don't and it has happened to me We had a lot of these conversations when I taught an evangelism class the other day where people would find themselves Realizing that God had opened a door the previous week and they just didn't see it until afterwards And so it's like there'll be another door But you got to learn to catch and correct and start to see it so you can say hey, yeah Let's talk about that. Do you love me feed my Do the work do the work. All right, so let's move on to our third segment here on the episode and let's go over our reach out question So this question here this week is what lie does Satan try to sell you about evangelism and what truth Can overcome it what I love about this question, by the way, is that it feeds off of that as seen on TV icebreaker You know because Satan is he's a marketing genius and he is really trying to get us to buy those ginsu knives and that Flex tape, but how do we combat that with the truth about what evangelism really is all about? Yeah, absolutely He's selling us rotten product, but it's hard to see sometimes so the lie that I Sometimes see trying to show up with me is that people aren't interested That people aren't interested in the Bible aren't interested in the Lord I think people aren't always excited to talk about this stuff if they feel like they're gonna get attacked or they're gonna offend you They're gonna make everything awkward afterward, you know, they disagree, you know, there's the old thing don't talk about religion or politics, you know but I What I've found is that most people long to find answers to the big questions that the scriptures address People need spiritual healing they need hope they need purpose and forgiveness and all the things that the Lord has on offer and they want to believe there is more to life than the Cosmic accident that Satan is trying to sell to us this sense we've made science the sage of our time, but you consulted on any matter of meaning and it's all empty and It's great for answers about a lot of things But there is you hit your head on the ceiling when you try to find big question answers And so people need the Lord I mean, that's what life is about and we know that we know God made us for himself So it shouldn't surprise us that people do want to engage with big things and important things They just need to know it's safe to explore the questions honestly to work through their baggage but then we need to also be ready to give them that food that they need and They start tasting it, you know Come and see a taste and that the Lord is good and to be able to start to understand What that that living water is? I think that is a huge lie and I've been guilty of believing that myself that people just aren't interested But then if you really stop and think about it people spend a lot of time Trying to find the thing that does satisfy them right trying to find that thing that answers the real meaning behind their lives and what life is all about and you know You can't look very far without seeing like the self-help sections of many bookstores and finding all the tips and tricks and the ways That people try to answer all these questions and the puzzle pieces they're trying to put together like people are seeking Yeah, whether or not they're really aware of it. The need is for the Lord But that's not gonna be apparent in every case They're gonna be trying to fulfill trying to satisfy those needs in other places But you know if someone like Solomon in Ecclesiastes could see that I hope most Thoughtful people can see that too with a little bit of reasoning together with them. Yeah, absolutely So whenever you think about these lies that have started to be peddled in your face, what comes to mind for you? I well you already said it a little while ago. I wasn't gonna say anything but stole it you stole it Yeah I think this lie is a pretty obvious one and it's that Baptizing someone is the mark of a successful conversation with someone and that one is just so hard to deal with you know You get the sense that like people know I'm talking to this person people know that I'm Studying with them or whatever like they know and they're they're just waiting they they're pressuring You know that they're kind of Judgmentally thinking like oh well He must not know what he's doing if he can't get them into the waters of bat. It's like this there's that pressure, right? It's like you feel that and that's Satan telling you your job is not what your job is You know He's trying to convince you that like your job is the result and as you read there from 1st Corinthians Paul did not view people's response as his ultimate goal like his response is planting and Apollo's his Responsibility was watering and you know the people's decision is up to them God is gonna be the one taking care of that and praise the Lord that that's not my job because that's the hardest job But the truth is obviously the power isn't mine. We could try to convince we could try to twist people's arms But I especially love what Paul talks about in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 when he says that I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ in him crucified and he goes on to talk about how he was with them in weakness and fear and trembling His speech and his message were not implausible words of wisdom You know he wasn't as he talked about earlier in that section Trying to give them lofty speech and sometimes that's what I think we have to be doing or what I have to be doing I have to be convincing people and reasoning at people and giving them the points on the slides that they need to know and it's like I just need to plant I need to do the work of planting and that idea just realizing my place in the work Realizing that the outcome is not my responsibility So long as I continue to tell people so long as I continue to do the work that I'm called to do then that's enough Hopefully it's a paradigm shift. It's a perspective shift that I'm not really overly concerned about the result though I do really care about the result, but ultimately it's not my job Yeah, that there is a subtle kind of distinction in that of like Letting go of the pressure of trying to do things so well that you made this happen and realizing not my job Yeah, not my job and there's a real freedom in that but also then continuing to try to Learn how to work with people how to make way for people and to know that there is a skill to this to develop But ultimately our skillfulness is not ever going to be the thing that does it and so both can be true Yeah oh, it's that whole idea right the balance between like being a stumbling block or clearing the way and You can let that pendulum swing either way too far to the one direction like you can feel like Everything is about you clearing the way and opening up the paths and you know taking every obstacle out of the way or you know You can get so hung up on being in the way or being an obstacle being a roadblock But realizing that everyone's journey is on them. It's their responsibility, but focus on your stuff What is it that you can do to make somebody's response easier and not taking it so seriously that it's all about you because it's not God is the senior partner and it God is more at work. You know God is More committed than you are to this even and the more you get that and get that he knows exactly where you are What your limitations are what your situation is it helps me to speak and interact with that much more boldness and confidence Because not of my ability but because of faith in God's ability. I think that's a good way to wrap this up All right, so let us get in to our challenge for the week I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me and our challenge this week If you'll do it along with us is to find a way to serve someone in Jesus name. No strings attached I think this is a really good starting point for some of these Interactions that we're trying to have with people. I mentioned a book Irresistible evangelism a while back and they give this golf analogy that I've always found helpful They talk about like you don't have one iron for everything that you want to do on the golf course I have to admit. I'm also not much of a golfer these days But I know the the point, you know There's the driver that you hit whenever things are far away and there's the the irons and the fairway There's the putter of course when you're close And so we sometimes try to bring the same club to everything though We're gonna give our gospel presentation to everyone or we're gonna try to approach everyone the same We talked about that Grey's matrix idea of someone who's closed off Well, maybe this is a way to use a driver when someone is far from the kingdom to serve them They know you're doing this because you are a servant of Jesus You know that you're trying to help them just because and you can let them know this is why you're doing it But you expect nothing you're not trying to say now that I did that Can I have a Bible study with you? But you're just trying to create a different connection and love people as we're here to do and I think doing this kind of thing sometimes can create a new pathway or Asking hey, what can I pray for you or you know going about doing good as acts 10 says Jesus did, right? I think that going about and doing good and showing kindness and letting our love for people be evident by our works is Huge so helpful though and so impactful for somebody to be able to see that we really do love them It's out of sincerity and we want their best and that's our focus So let's move on here as we close out this thing To go to the Lord in prayer and the suggested prayer in the study guide is give us Compassion for those who are lost like sheep without a shepherd and that comes based on Matthew 9 Versus 36 through 38 we can pray to the Lord for that in our own lives And maybe that'll be a good way to close out this discussion. So let's pray holy God. You're so awesome Amazing for calling us to have this closeness and relationship with you through the sacrifice of your son Jesus You didn't have to love us the way that you do, but without you we know that we'd be lost Thank you so much for seeing our broken condition and taking care of our sins with Jesus Perfect blood on that cross to raise him up. We see our need to raise to a new life We want to walk with you and follow in his steps and please Lord help us to do that better every day Let us pass along our joy and our hope and the salvation that we have experienced To a lost and dying world We know that we were once like all of those around us who like sheep without a shepherd didn't know you We know that they don't know you yet But help us father to have a love for them that leads us to see them as worth our time and our investment We ask you for boldness and clarity and genuine sincere love for them to speak up and to step in We ask that as we plant and as we water that you would do the most important work of providing the increase to a bountiful Harvest of faith and devotion as only you can do Thank you God for being our God and for being patient with us as we grow and strain forward Towards heaven we ask that in everything we do your name would be glorified. It's in Jesus name. We offer this prayer. Amen. Amen Okay, so this was session two next week We'll get into you guessed it session three of getting to square one Study and we've talked about disciple making problems disciple making paradigms next week We'll get into disciple making practices, which we've kind of started to get into a little bit here But we'll dive deeper into the doing do the work do the work Bryan said earlier I'm excited about that conversation because yeah some of this stuff may I was trying to get super Detailed in the descriptive here earlier and you were like no we're going high level So we're gonna get real into the brass tax in the in the next conversations. I'm looking forward to that and Thanks so much everyone for tuning in to the Bible Geeks podcast You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player or at biblegeeks.fm/216 you can also follow along with this getting to square one little guided study here at biblegeeks.fm/squareone there will be at the top of the page there a little link to get to these Episodes and we would definitely appreciate feedback if you are using these kinds of things if you're having these kinds of conversations With other people we have insights you'd like to share with us or things that you want us to talk about in upcoming episodes Please don't hesitate reach out Let us know we'd love to get in touch with you and talk a little bit more about these things and especially if you're interested In getting to know Jesus, please don't ever hesitate to reach out I know you may have stumbled across this podcast for some reason and if you're interested in getting to know the Lord We would love to get to know you and have a good conversation about Jesus and until next week everyone May the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom.