Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 35 ｜ The Paradox of Likability Within Christianity

00:00:00.000 What's up, guys? Welcome to episode 35 of CRTV's Relatable. Thanks for being here. Y'all are the

00:00:07.120 best. My name is Allie Stuckey. I'm your host. As you know, you can listen here or anywhere you get

00:00:13.640 your podcasts. You can also watch me on CRTV.com where you can subscribe with the promo code

00:00:20.040 Allie20. Okay. So Tuesday, we talked about the paradox of likability as it pertains to politics.

00:00:27.700 Uh, today we are going to talk about it as it relates to Christianity. And it's really going

00:00:33.240 to be kind of brief because I've talked about this before, but I've gotten questions specifically on

00:00:38.920 this topic. So I at least wanted to address it. And what I want to address is how likability is

00:00:45.120 used by some teachers to preach what I and others refer to as the gospel of self-fulfillment.

00:00:51.960 So like I said, I've gotten a lot of questions from you guys about what I think about certain

00:00:59.220 teachers like Jen Hatmaker, Stephen Furnick, Rachel Hollis, Glennon Doyle. These are just a few of the

00:01:05.120 people Carl Lentz can probably be added in. And first, I don't necessarily want to say that all

00:01:11.100 of these people are the exact same because I don't think that they are. Jen Hatmaker is known for 0.99

00:01:16.620 unbiblical beliefs. Just follow her social media pages. She believes, for example, that gay marriage 0.99

00:01:22.060 is the exact same and that it's just as biblical as marriage between a man and a woman. She is a

00:01:27.640 major advocate of social justice of all kinds. That's not necessarily unbiblical. Depends on what you're

00:01:34.000 actually advocating for. But in her case, she advocates for lots of things that aren't necessarily

00:01:39.440 in line with Christ's teachings. Stephen Furnick is the pastor of a mega church in Charlotte called

00:01:46.420 Elevation. He is an author as well, and he is known to say some very questionable things about God for

00:01:52.340 the pulpit. When asked, John MacArthur, whom we all love here, gave a one-word answer about what he

00:02:00.080 thinks about him, and it was unqualified. He recently said in a sermon that Jesus cannot overcome your

00:02:06.960 unbelief. That's not taken out of context. That is not putting words in his mouth. That is blasphemy.

00:02:13.080 Jesus can do whatever the heck he wants with your belief or unbelief. He is God. He authored your faith.

00:02:19.080 He, Stephen Furnick, is a prosperity teacher. He says things like, you know, if you want to change

00:02:23.920 your heart, change your habits. That might be true for a motivational speaker to say, but he is a pastor.

00:02:30.380 He's a biblical teacher. He's supposed to be exegetical. Jesus changes your heart,

00:02:35.800 which changes your habits. Not the other way around. Rachel Hollis is a blogger, and she recently 1.00

00:02:42.360 wrote a book called Girl, Wash Her Face, and I'll get more to that in a second, maybe. And Glennon

00:02:48.400 Doyle, she is definitely the one out of all of these people that I have the most problems with.

00:02:56.800 She was a Christian author and blogger. Now, she still considers herself that, but she was a Christian

00:03:02.680 author and blogger when she was married to her husband. She wrote about marriage and motherhood.

00:03:08.420 She had a really well-selling book about marriage, about living a Christian life, about being faithful.

00:03:13.960 Then while she was married, she fell in love with a woman. Her name is Abby Wambach of soccer fame.

00:03:19.720 She left her husband for Abby, with whom her husband, with whom she has three kids, and she married Abby

00:03:26.180 Wambach. She is still a, quote, Christian teacher. She still writes books about Christianity. She is

00:03:31.680 all about her some intersectionality and social justice and feminism. She, of course, is endorsed 0.99

00:03:37.180 by Oprah, by Reese Witherspoon. She is exactly the type and really the only type of Christian that is

00:03:43.820 acceptable to Hollywood and the mainstream because she gets to claim Jesus but doesn't actually believe

00:03:49.660 any of the culturally inconvenient stuff that the Bible and Jesus actually teaches. She just endorses

00:03:56.020 everything the secular world. She is an active participant in it and gets to claim a sense of

00:04:03.460 righteousness because she is a Christian. And Carl Lentz, we know he routinely compromises biblical

00:04:10.780 truth for culturally popular stances. So all of these people are different. I'm not saying that

00:04:16.820 they're on the same level. I am not making any pronouncements about anyone's ultimate salvation

00:04:22.280 here. That's not up to me. I'm really not one to announce people a heretic either. But all four of the 1.00

00:04:29.340 main people that I listed, I guess, in addition to Carl Lentz, they have two things in common. One, they are

00:04:35.600 insanely likable. And two, they use their likability to preach the gospel of self-fulfillment. On Tuesday, we

00:04:43.540 talked about how likability is really a double-edged sword. It gives you the power to win people over to good

00:04:49.360 causes, but it also gives you the power to win people over to bad causes and bad ideas. It gives you the power

00:04:55.340 to compel, but it also gives you the power to manipulate. I believe that the people that I have listed

00:05:01.580 likely have a lot of good intentions and some, if not most of what they say is true. But I just worry that their

00:05:08.940 likability is allowing people to believe in a gospel that is not the true biblical gospel of Jesus's death and

00:05:14.780 resurrection, but rather is a gospel of self-fulfillment that says your ultimate goal in life, the chief

00:05:21.140 purpose that God has for you on this earth is that you become successful, that you chase and accomplish

00:05:26.500 your dreams, that you become everything that you want to be in life. That is the bold life that God has

00:05:32.740 in store for you, they say. And if you just believe in yourself, and if you just let go of fear, then maybe

00:05:39.720 you can get there. And maybe some of you are listening and thinking, well, where's the lie?

00:05:47.100 Isn't that what God wants for us? The simple answer is no. And the more complicated answer is

00:05:54.740 not necessarily. The gospel is that Jesus laid down everything and died on a cross for our sins so

00:06:01.800 that our sins could be forgiven and we could live forever with him. The purpose in life is to share

00:06:07.940 that gospel with our words and deeds, to glorify God because of who he is and what he's done for us.

00:06:13.420 That might include becoming successful. That might include being an entrepreneur. That might mean

00:06:19.140 that your dreams of being famous, of making a lot of money come true. And that's all great.

00:06:24.100 It might mean those things, but it also might not. And even if you never reach your career goals,

00:06:31.380 even if you never go on all of the adventures that you've planned in your life,

00:06:35.420 your purpose and your worth as a Christian does not change because your purpose is to deny yourself, 0.85

00:06:41.600 to take up your cross and to follow Christ. And your worth is dependent on Jesus. That's it.

00:06:46.820 Neither of these things require or guarantee monetary or earthly success of any kind.

00:06:53.180 There's this lie that I've heard perpetuated by all of the people that I listed in their books,

00:06:58.740 speeches, and sermons, which I haven't read all of, by the way, so I'm not trying to make a judgment

00:07:02.680 about their entire life. But it's this idea that your goal in life is to be happy, to be confident,

00:07:08.940 to do all of the things that you want to do in life without fear or doubt. I'm sorry, but that's

00:07:14.980 not why Jesus came to die. He did not come to die so that we could be happy. He didn't come to die so

00:07:21.520 that we could just feel comfortable in our skin. He didn't come to die so that we could chase after

00:07:25.840 our dreams. He came to die so that we could die to ourself and that we could live for him and with

00:07:31.260 him forever in glory. And like I said, that might include all kinds of earthly treasure and success.

00:07:38.240 And I think it's okay to hope that it does. No one wants to have a miserable life filled with,

00:07:44.420 you know, tribulations, going around crying in your sackcloth and ashes. I'm not saying that's what

00:07:50.140 we should pursue, but I am saying that our goal, our focus, our motivation, the thing that wakes us up

00:07:57.060 in the morning, the thing that inspires us to read our Bibles, to pray, to be close to God should not

00:08:03.560 be what he can give us or what milestones he can help us reach, but rather this, this simple joy of

00:08:10.300 knowing and obeying and loving the one who saved us. And look, I'm going to be really real. Um, I like

00:08:19.500 the gospel of self-fulfillment. I do. It makes me feel good. I am naturally attracted to it. Uh,

00:08:26.040 I'm an ambitious person. I've always been encouraged by people, by my parents to dream

00:08:30.880 big. And I do, I have a lot of goals. I want to chase those goals. I like, I like to believe

00:08:37.060 that God's main goal for my life is to fulfill my own dreams. Um, I like to believe that God is a

00:08:43.880 capitalist. I like to believe that God is just along for the right of my life and that he is going to

00:08:50.160 bless me along the way and to give me his favor, but that's not how this works. He planned my life.

00:08:56.680 He mapped it out. He chose me not to serve myself, but to serve him. And all I am called to do is to

00:09:03.600 obey whatever that might look like. But in my flesh, in my sinfulness, I don't like the idea that that

00:09:11.880 plan might not include what I want to do. I don't like the idea that bringing him glory might not bring

00:09:17.960 glory to myself. So I understand where this gospel of self-fulfillment comes from. It is a way to

00:09:24.700 bless our selfishness. It is a way to shroud selfish ambition with righteousness. And worse

00:09:30.880 than that, it doesn't save us. We are not saved by or for the gospel of self-fulfillment. And

00:09:39.940 therefore it's not the story that we need to be telling other people that God is going to bless you.

00:09:45.660 If you pray hard enough, be confident enough and be nice enough that you're going to be everything

00:09:50.280 that you've ever wanted to be. That is not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that as

00:09:56.060 Christians, we are going to suffer, that we are going to be persecuted, that we are going to be 1.00

00:10:01.080 seen as stupid, that we're going to be depicted as people who are weak. The Bible says that life sold 1.00

00:10:07.760 out to Christ is going to be hard at some point, that it's going to be uncomfortable, that it's going to

00:10:12.360 be really inconvenient, that we're not going to always get everything that we want, that sometimes

00:10:17.660 we might be cheated, we might be beaten, we might be pushed back or set back. God doesn't promise to

00:10:23.620 save us from these things, actually, but he does promise that it's going to be worth it. The Bible

00:10:29.300 says that for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross. That's the Christian life too. For the joy

00:10:35.420 that's in heaven, we endure hardship and even crucifixion in this life. Fulfillment, Christian 0.98

00:10:42.180 fulfillment is found in losing yourself, not finding yourself, as these pseudo-Christian teachers would 0.65

00:10:48.820 have us believe. All the things these people promise you, happiness, confidence, fearlessness,

00:10:54.820 security, boldness, courage, they can all be found in so much fuller and more satisfying,

00:11:01.180 more lasting, eternal ways in Christ. The gospel of self-fulfillment is popular because

00:11:08.200 it deprioritizes all the not-is-fun stuff about Christianity. All the stuff that makes being a 0.98

00:11:14.400 Christian really hard, like sharing the gospel and claiming Jesus is the only way to heaven, 0.91

00:11:19.960 as the Bible says. Like standing up for biblical truth in a world that tells you that the Bible is

00:11:25.060 bigoted. Like disagreeing with people's lifestyle, even though you like them as people.

00:11:29.660 Like denying yourself. And I think the hardest part about it is that it's being pushed by people

00:11:37.000 who are very likable. People who use their charisma and relatability to convey a message that is not

00:11:44.320 the gospel and is not biblical. They tickle our ears, as the Bible says. They maybe unintentionally,

00:11:51.240 maybe not deliberately at all, make us feel okay about our sin because, hey, God's priority is that we

00:11:58.080 feel good, that we're comfortable, that we're confident. They de-emphasize holiness, sanctification,

00:12:04.300 righteousness, sacrifice. And who doesn't want that? What sinful human doesn't want to be able to

00:12:10.260 get the benefits of Christianity going to heaven without doing the hard stuff? This is trendy 0.97

00:12:16.400 Christianity pushed by trendy people who think that Christianity needs their help and making it 1.00

00:12:23.500 more attractive and relevant. And I think what makes them attractive as well is that not everything

00:12:31.780 they say is a lie. And really, Rachel Hollis, I've only read some of her book. And so I don't know

00:12:39.520 enough about her to say that she is a false teacher or something. But I think she does kind of fit into 0.99

00:12:45.200 this self-help category that I think can be dangerous for Christian teachers to enter into.

00:12:51.580 But most of these people, they start out with the truth. They start out with making you feel good.

00:12:57.500 And then they just slip the line that God is okay with your sin, that God is okay with your selfishness

00:13:03.160 because he just wants you to be happy. The downside to likability is that some of our most likable

00:13:10.080 Christian teachers spread a message that is not true and at the very least manipulates the gospel 0.98

00:13:15.560 in a way that takes our eyes off of Christ and onto ourselves. That is what this new hipster social

00:13:25.740 justice, social media Jesus is attempting to do. It's an attempt to try to make Christianity more of 0.58

00:13:32.800 what they might say is a big tent to attract more people, to make the cross of Christ more attractive.

00:13:39.140 Uh, the cross of Christ doesn't actually need our help in being more attractive. Um,

00:13:47.080 the cross of Christ has been sufficient in saving people for thousands of years. And just because

00:13:51.880 it's 2018 and all of a sudden for the first time, maybe ever it's inconvenient and uncomfortable and

00:13:57.760 unpopular to be a Christian in America, uh, doesn't mean that we need to be compromising the truth in

00:14:03.860 order to fit in the church. I heard Matt Chandler say this once, uh, the church thrives on the margins

00:14:09.840 of society. It always has when the true church and true Christians really grow and really do the work 1.00

00:14:16.160 that matters for eternity. It's when we are pushed to the margins, when we are persecuted, when we are

00:14:22.920 pressed. And so we don't need to resist that. Christianity might go out of the mainstream more 0.85

00:14:28.780 and more as our lifetime goes on. Um, and that's okay. That is not a free pass to try to make it

00:14:34.960 culturally relevant or culturally convenient. I think all the more we need to stand firm in truth.

00:14:40.440 And that's why I worry about these false teachers that kind of have silver tongues, as people would

00:14:46.760 say, that make us think that Christianity is supposed to, uh, be happy, go lucky all the time.

00:14:51.960 I think that Jesus's life can probably tell us that that's not true. So I just wanted to kind of

00:14:57.260 quickly say that I, I know that, uh, some of these teachers are people that you guys probably like.

00:15:02.680 And again, I'm not condemning every single thing that they say. I don't think you are a bad person,

00:15:07.580 uh, for liking a lot of what they say, but I would say be discerning, take what they say with a grain

00:15:12.860 of salt, because even though it might sound like a good motivational speech, you should be asking

00:15:17.740 yourself since they purport to be a deliverers of the gospel and Christian teachers. If what they

00:15:23.340 are teaching is truly biblical. Um, okay, so that's it, but I wanted to spend the rest of the time

00:15:30.540 answering the questions that you guys have sent me. They're on my phone, so I need to pull them up.

00:15:38.000 Um, you guys have been sending me a lot of questions over the past few days and I really

00:15:42.020 appreciate that. Um, okay. This is from someone on Instagram. Um, Hey Allie, I was wondering if I

00:15:50.720 could get your thoughts on something. I tried out a Christian worship service on campus called

00:15:54.900 Crew tonight and things were going pretty well until it was the time for the sermon. The message was

00:15:59.620 great, but what confused me was that a woman delivered it. Am I just confused about the authority

00:16:05.440 a woman can actually have in church? I've listened to your podcast and read the Bible though, 0.98

00:16:09.620 and I think it's pretty clear or is it different because it's a campus ministry? This was a group

00:16:14.040 of college age men and women by the way. So there's probably going to be a few different opinions on

00:16:19.960 that. Um, so I would be curious to know, huh, that's a little bit difficult. So the Bible says that

00:16:28.040 women within the church are permitted to teach children and other women. They are not permitted to 1.00

00:16:34.040 teach over a man. Now the lines traditionally have been blurred. Uh, what does that mean? Is a

00:16:39.480 woman able to go on stage during church and kind of give any kind of word of inspiration? Is she able

00:16:45.720 to read the Bible? Is she able to say a blurb or does it just mean a full sermon? And does it really

00:16:52.240 just mean within the four walls of the church or does that include, you know, Christian conferences

00:16:58.000 like passion or in your case, uh, you know, campus ministries. And I do think it's complicated.

00:17:05.840 However, I think the Bible's implications are pretty clear that it's within any context of, uh,

00:17:13.760 Christian teaching that a woman should not be exercising any kind of authority over a man. 0.96

00:17:20.540 Now that obviously doesn't, uh, bleed into, uh, secular roles. I don't think that women can't be 1.00

00:17:27.280 leaders, Congress people, even the president one day, CEOs of fortune 500 companies, whatever it is.

00:17:33.640 But the Bible is clear that within the context of, uh, teaching from God's word, a woman is not to 1.00

00:17:39.260 exercise authority over a man. So I mean, maybe crew in this case has good intentions, but no,

00:17:45.540 I don't think it's correct that a woman should, uh, be teaching men unless those men are, you know, 1.00

00:17:52.980 underage boys that would consider them, I guess, uh, that would qualify them as kids. So I would talk

00:17:59.660 to someone about it. I don't think that means you necessarily need to denounce this group as

00:18:03.560 a bunch of heretics, blasphemers, and false teachers. They might have a lot of good things

00:18:08.160 to offer, but I would talk to someone about it just to see what their interpretation of it is.

00:18:12.600 Maybe they say, huh, you know, I hadn't really thought about it this way. We try to give everyone

00:18:16.920 an equal opportunity to talk, but I'm going to, you know, pray and seek counsel about this.

00:18:21.580 Or if their response is, you know, that part of the Bible just really doesn't matter to us,

00:18:25.400 then that should give you a pretty good indication of how much they respect God's word.

00:18:29.000 Um, but don't write them off. Try to have an actual conversation with them. Try to,

00:18:33.640 you know, be empathetic towards their position and, uh, to seek other counsel as well. But I

00:18:39.640 think you're right. The Bible is pretty clear about, uh, whether or not women are to exercise 0.98

00:18:45.280 authority over a man in the context of church. Um, okay. Can you talk about what it's like to be

00:18:55.060 on FNC and HLN, FNC being Fox news. Um, and especially your first few times getting hair

00:19:02.660 and makeup done and being on air. I'm just so impressed with your career. Well, thank you so

00:19:07.060 much. Uh, so being on Fox and on HLN, I've been on MSNBC, other networks as well. Um, it's nerve

00:19:14.540 wracking. I still get nervous every time. There are some people who say that they don't get nervous,

00:19:18.540 uh, before they get on camera. I get nervous before I do anything. I don't really get nervous,

00:19:22.760 I guess, before my podcast, but I get nervous, uh, when I'm going to speak, I get nervous when

00:19:28.700 I'm going to be on TV. Whenever I have to be speaking publicly, I get nervous, even though

00:19:33.460 it's something I like to do. And I think that I'm, I'm gifted in, I do get nervous. Um, I practice a

00:19:40.900 lot before each TV hit. Usually it kind of depends on the importance of it and what the topic is, but

00:19:46.980 I research a lot, especially if I'm talking about something like the midterm election, something more

00:19:51.200 political and detailed like that. I try to memorize as many facts about it as possible.

00:19:57.700 Some people are just good at kind of being on the fly and just making stuff up as they go.

00:20:02.780 I'm not really quite as good at that in the kind, in those kinds of situations where I am sitting in

00:20:10.660 front of a camera and I know I'm live on national television. So I spend a good amount of time really

00:20:15.660 preparing for those hits, researching, then writing out my talking points. And to the best of my

00:20:21.240 ability, I try to memorize my talking points. Uh, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I end up

00:20:27.720 saying something differently. Um, but especially if it's a subject that I'm not super familiar with,

00:20:33.320 then I try to really memorize everything that I say. Uh, also in regards to getting hair and makeup

00:20:39.920 done, I don't like getting my hair and makeup done. I know there are a lot of people out there that

00:20:43.900 are really good at hair and makeup. Um, but I just don't like it. I'm really particular about my

00:20:49.700 makeup. Really, really particular. And I have this fear, this just panic, panicking fear that I am

00:20:58.380 going to go get my makeup done by someone. So I don't have any makeup on. And then it's going to be

00:21:03.360 like two minutes before I'm supposed to go on air. And I look in the mirror and I look horrible. I look

00:21:07.780 like a totally different person. I just don't trust that. I just don't trust it. So I do my own hair and

00:21:13.760 makeup. And if I need touch-ups, they give it to me. Uh, but I, you know, I don't like it. I don't

00:21:19.380 like it. I trust people, I guess, more with my hair than my makeup because I feel like it's harder to

00:21:24.540 mess up. Maybe it's also because I'm a little bit of a control freak, but yeah, I like to handle my

00:21:29.700 own appearance. And now I actually do my news hits from home, which has been really nice because the

00:21:35.480 bureau here where you go to actually do your hits is a ways away. Uh, so I do all of my hits from home.

00:21:40.720 And then of course I have to do my hair and makeup here, but it's totally worth it. It saves me

00:21:45.260 a lot of time to be able to be from here, but yeah, it's really fun. If you ever get the opportunity

00:21:50.440 to be on Fox or to be on any other network, uh, then definitely take it. One piece of advice that

00:21:56.900 I would give you is one, don't underestimate how much you need to prepare and actually memorize.

00:22:01.460 Cause when you get in the moment, you think that you're going to be able to wing it. If you get

00:22:04.500 nervous like I do, sometimes you end up just babbling. Um, something that I try to work on

00:22:11.160 on air, obviously I don't accomplish that on this podcast, but something I try to work on on air is

00:22:16.320 answering in pretty short bursts. Doesn't always happen. Sometimes you have a lot to say. Um, but

00:22:22.440 on TV, I try to talk in pretty short bursts and always look at the camera. I've noticed lately,

00:22:27.720 a lot of young people have a hard time looking straight into the camera. Uh, they kind of look off

00:22:32.300 the whole time. That's super awkward. Don't do that. Look at the camera as much as you can. Don't

00:22:36.900 like look down, especially don't look to the side. Um, but that's it. Yeah. It's a really fun

00:22:42.580 experience to be on TV. It's not my favorite thing that I do. It's not the best thing that I do. I'm

00:22:47.880 not the best at that out of all the things I do, but, um, it is really fun. The first time I was ever

00:22:52.860 on TV was last, not this past April, but the one before, and it was Fox and Fringe the first time I was

00:22:59.860 ever on TV. And now it's been a little over a year and, uh, I still get nervous, but hopefully

00:23:04.340 I've gotten a lot better at it. And I am a lot more confident at my ability to make something up

00:23:10.400 if I need to, because that definitely happens. Um, someone said, if you could be a grape or an apple,

00:23:16.660 which would you be? And why a grape or an apple? Well, I have zero desire to be an inanimate object,

00:23:24.660 but I guess if I had to choose, uh, maybe a grape because I feel like they have a really good life

00:23:38.060 until they're made into wine or something like that. I would like to be a grape that's made into

00:23:42.940 wine because they're in pretty cool parts of the world. Like I would like to be in France or California

00:23:51.060 or somewhere like that. Apples. I don't know. I feel like they just, their life is kind of boring,

00:23:55.860 but a grape, maybe you get the chance to live in an exotic place. So I would say a grape. Um,

00:24:02.780 who is your favorite Democrat personality to be on TV with? Oh gosh. I don't know. There's a,

00:24:09.000 there's a lot of good people on television. Um, I really like, like, for example, I like Michael

00:24:15.300 star Hopkins. He's a Democrat that I just think is a really smart and very sweet person, even though

00:24:21.200 we really disagree. Like he was kind of aggressive the other day on television, but then he ended up

00:24:27.900 messaging me and apologizing after, which just means that he's a good person. And I would do the same

00:24:33.240 thing. Uh, Ben Kissel is also a Democrat that, uh, he's, he's just funny and we're actually paired

00:24:41.560 together on air quite often. Haven't been in a while, but we just have kind of a good dynamic.

00:24:45.920 Like he's funny and sarcastic. And so I think that probably works well. I haven't been on,

00:24:52.880 I don't think with Jessica Tarlov, I don't think that I've been on with her, but I also like her.

00:24:58.180 I think that she has a really good perspective on things. Um, yeah, there's one other person.

00:25:04.320 I think his name is Robin, that he was a nice guy, but I can tell you the worst Democrat to be on

00:25:10.640 with. She's actually basically a socialist. Her name is, I actually don't even know how to say 0.98

00:25:15.100 her last name. Anna Casparina, Casparina. She's of the young Turks. Uh, she is quoted saying that

00:25:21.560 she just admitted that she just thinks that she's better than everyone who doesn't think the same way

00:25:27.560 politically. At least she owns that. She is condescending. She is mean. She goes after you 1.00

00:25:34.380 personally, when you're on air there, there's nothing worse than that. There's nothing worse than having

00:25:40.360 a legitimate conversation with someone that you think is going to be legitimate on the other side

00:25:44.760 of the aisle on air. And then they try to come after you and your character and your integrity

00:25:49.700 just for stating an opinion. She is one of those people. Actually, I think everyone at the young

00:25:55.120 Turks, they're kind of currently on a little kick of being obsessed with me. It's fine. Um, 1.00

00:26:00.400 I just think that they're the worst of the worst. They're the worst of the worst. They're so 0.86

00:26:04.980 mean they go after people's, uh, just person. And I think that that's wrong. So least for favorite

00:26:13.180 Democrats to be on air with would be her. And there's a couple other people that I'm on with,

00:26:18.240 uh, on HLN that are just race baiters that only think that everything is racist. I had this debate

00:26:24.880 one time about, um, about whether or not we're celebrating the 4th of July, the two Democrats I

00:26:31.100 was on with, um, they said that, no, they wouldn't because Trump is so awful. They're not feeling

00:26:36.300 patriotic. This one guy said 4th of July is racist. I hate conversations like that because there's just

00:26:41.860 no, there's no good way for a white girl like me to come out on top. Um, okay. If you could have 0.74

00:26:50.820 dinner with Jesus and one other person past, present or future, who would you ask to join you

00:26:58.540 and Jesus and why? Ooh, um, I know this is so like the Christian of me. Hmm. Oh gosh. Oh man.

00:27:10.800 I don't know. That's really difficult. So I love CS Lewis. I love CS Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I think

00:27:17.420 it would be awesome to sit down with them. I would love to meet Ronald Reagan. I have no idea if we

00:27:23.120 would get along me and all of these people, but I feel like, I feel like CS Lewis and I would probably

00:27:29.060 get along. So I would really like to sit down with CS Lewis and Jesus. Sure. I think that would be

00:27:35.860 great. Maybe like Esther. I think she's probably, she's pretty bad-ass. I would, I would like to sit

00:27:41.600 down with her, but I think I would say CS Lewis of all of the people, but maybe also my mom's mom

00:27:47.700 who died before I was born way before I was born. Also, also, cause you didn't just say people who

00:27:54.960 died. You said people in the present or people in the future. I don't know anyone from the future yet.

00:28:01.060 I'll let you know if I meet them. Um, but you could also, you could also invite someone to sit

00:28:07.160 down with you that does know about Jesus and who better to tell someone about Jesus than Jesus

00:28:11.920 himself. So I might get some pushback for this, but it would be interesting to sit down with

00:28:18.180 president Trump and Jesus, not saying that he's not saved. I'm just saying there's some sanctification

00:28:23.760 that still needs to be done there. So maybe if he sat down and he had some fellowship with the savior

00:28:29.880 of the universe, uh, uh, sufficiently, not efficiently, whatever. I'm trying to use Calvinist

00:28:38.000 anyway, you know what I'm trying to say. If he sat down with Jesus, um, then maybe there would be

00:28:45.780 some change of behavior and change of heart there. You just never know. You never know. So maybe some

00:28:50.780 people today that need to know Jesus who have significant influence. Um, okay. The next question

00:28:58.740 is, can you talk about that church that doubles as a brewery? That's not really a Q and a question,

00:29:04.960 but it needs to be discussed at length. Uh, okay. So we'll, I'll discuss it a little bit. Maybe I'll

00:29:09.440 do an entire podcast on that, uh, at some point. So I don't know if you guys saw that there's like

00:29:14.640 this viral video going around from now this, who is stupid social media platform, but they share these 0.93

00:29:20.660 videos and there is this, um, so-called church that is in a brewery serves beer before church. I think 0.99

00:29:28.580 it's in Colorado and that would maybe be cool if that was it maybe, but, um, it also is, you know,

00:29:36.780 affirming of everything. And that they said that, uh, Jesus was killed by white supremacists. And the

00:29:43.360 reason why he came was to, you know, defeat the patriarchy and defeat white supremacy. That really

00:29:49.200 just makes me want to throw up. If that is your tiny view of Jesus, that he fits into your little

00:29:57.620 political ideology. So stupid. And of course it's affirming of all different kinds of sin. 1.00

00:30:02.400 So, I mean, the first problem obviously is that it's in a brewery. I do not believe that alcohol

00:30:07.960 is a sin. I drink alcohol myself. Um, but the Bible clearly says that we should not be eating meat or

00:30:15.700 doing anything if it, um, possibly tempts someone who is struggling with that. So if I, for example,

00:30:24.800 if I had a friend who was trying not to drink alcohol, maybe their dad was an alcoholic or

00:30:29.140 they just feel like, you know what? Alcohol is not something that I want to do in my life. It

00:30:33.420 really makes me struggle. I feel like a worse person when I drink alcohol or, you know, someone

00:30:38.000 who can't drink just one beer. They feel like they have to get drunk every time. I'm not going to drink

00:30:43.240 in front of that person, uh, because it puts them in a really difficult situation. And the Bible is

00:30:48.540 very clear that the loving thing to do in that situation would be to, you know, say, you know what?

00:30:53.520 I'm going to abstain as well. The Bible uses the example of eating meat. If someone feels like,

00:30:58.540 uh, um, eating meat that is actually dedicated to idols is a sin then, and you feel like it's

00:31:05.180 holy. Well, just don't eat meat because that's the loving thing to do. Why would you put your

00:31:09.820 brother or sister in that situation? So that's problem. Number one is it's in a brewery. You could

00:31:14.920 be possibly, uh, putting into temptation, someone who is struggling with alcoholism or who doesn't feel

00:31:20.700 like alcohol is holy. So that's not inclusive. You're automatically shutting certain people away.

00:31:28.320 Obviously, uh, the other part is that, uh, Jesus didn't come to shatter the patriarchy or white

00:31:34.800 supremacy. If you want to hear my really, really scandalous take, uh, God actually condones and built

00:31:41.640 the patriarchy. So I won't even get into that right now. Um, and also he wasn't killed by,

00:31:48.080 by white supremacists. It was both Romans and Jews that advocated, uh, for his murder. And I don't

00:31:55.060 think that it had anything to do with race whatsoever. It had to do with the fact that he

00:31:59.240 said that he was a King of the Jews and, um, they didn't like that. And because the Pharisees thought

00:32:06.380 that he was a blasphemer. Uh, so that's how I think of that. It's not a church. It's not a church.

00:32:14.100 It's a gathering that again, people use as a shroud of righteousness over their selfishness.

00:32:21.840 It is the, to wrap this whole thing up, uh, perpetuating the gospel of self-fulfillment.

00:32:27.680 I'm sure these people are very likable. They have a message that tickles the ears of the people that

00:32:32.800 walk in. They think, Oh, great. I can have fire insurance against hell, still go to heaven and do

00:32:37.300 all of the things that I want to do. There's really no such thing as sin. Yeah. Super convenient.

00:32:41.280 I think that would be a very comfortable way to be a Christian, but it's also a damning one. 1.00

00:32:47.640 If you want to know my real thoughts on that. Okay. Those are all wonderful questions. I hope that

00:32:52.400 this was, um, interesting for you. If you have any pushback for me, I know this is kind of like

00:32:57.760 a touchy subject or any questions for me, please feel free to email me,

00:33:02.240 ally at the conservative millennial blog.com. I try to respond. Um, but I always, I read the emails and I

00:33:08.320 try to take everything that you say critical or positive seriously. So, uh, thank you so much

00:33:13.600 for listening. I hope you guys have a great weekend.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - September 06, 2018

Ep 35 ｜ The Paradox of Likability Within Christianity

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