Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 471 ｜ Things May Change If We Make These 3 Commitments

00:00:00.000 hey guys welcome to relatable happy monday hope everyone had a wonderful weekend i hope that you

00:00:15.160 were able to rest that you were able to unplug that you were able to do something fun maybe even

00:00:20.380 laugh at something things have been super heavy recently we're going to talk a little bit about

00:00:24.900 that today um i'm not going to get into all the news that i want to talk about because uh i want

00:00:32.320 to give you some encouragement instead i want to uplift you a little bit especially after thursday's

00:00:36.760 episode i got a lot of awesome feedback from you guys a ton of you were sharing it and i do think

00:00:41.660 it's such an important episode to listen to or watch so if you haven't done that yet i highly

00:00:46.920 recommend you do um for us to get a big picture look at everything that's going on and why over

00:00:53.760 the past year and a half in particular but now i want to take this episode to encourage you and to

00:01:00.780 give you some perspective and to remind you that everything is going to be okay we're going to talk

00:01:07.340 about afghanistan i think tomorrow um not gonna lie to you the reason why we're not talking about it

00:01:14.660 today is because i don't know enough to give you an honest analysis i i mean i understand what happened

00:01:22.680 and why this is such a massive failure but there's so much history so much context here so much that i

00:01:29.720 think demands and expertise that i don't have on that subject uh and we are going to have to make

00:01:36.700 sure that we have an expert that does come on to break it all down for us and tell us why it matters

00:01:42.320 so we're working on getting that guest hopefully we will have her slash him uh tomorrow but today uh like 1.00

00:01:49.680 i said i want to bring things close to home i want to remind us of what is true to give us hope to

00:01:56.260 uplift us um and and let me let me tell you why let me set it up for you i know most of you know

00:02:02.380 kind of where we are i don't even have to give you any more context in this moment that we're in in our

00:02:07.700 country but i'm going to anyway i'm going to validate some of the feelings that you have and then

00:02:12.840 hopefully lift us out of those feelings of um i guess they could be described as despair that a lot

00:02:19.580 of us have it is a scary time if you have been paying attention at all you know that we have

00:02:26.440 likely in our nation reached some kind of breaking point um i know that might sound hyperbolic and i

00:02:34.980 really wish it were i i actually hope that it is i hope that i'm wrong i hope that things can

00:02:39.580 swing back and that we as a people learn to love liberty again um there are days when i see the

00:02:45.800 possibility of that and then there are days when i don't see any possibility of that whatsoever um

00:02:51.620 i went to dinner last night with a friend a friend who shares my same views uh but is it political

00:02:58.500 she's not consuming the news all day she works a non-political job with non-political but you know

00:03:04.780 left-leaning people and we talked about this heaviness that we both feel just this sense of

00:03:11.600 sadness that things are never going to be the same again that the america that we grew up in

00:03:16.760 will never go back that the america that our our children are going to grow up in it just won't be the

00:03:23.740 same as the one that we once knew and it was really hard to hear her talk about this especially

00:03:28.700 because i would like to chalk up my feeling uh my feelings of sadness and just like hopelessness

00:03:38.100 about the state of the country to me having this job like having to consume so much news and talk

00:03:43.820 about it but if people outside of my line of work feel this way too if you guys feel this way too

00:03:49.860 that means that it's it's real now not everyone feels this way not all of your friends are going to

00:03:55.660 feel this way i would say especially people on the other side of the aisle or maybe they feel this

00:03:59.500 way but for different reasons uh there are people who who still think of all of the the government

00:04:05.140 restrictions for the virus um as something that is is really for our good that vaccine passports

00:04:12.040 are amazing innovations and mandates are beautiful manifestations of public health policy who think

00:04:18.900 the dhs openly calling those who question covid restrictions a terror threat to the country that that's

00:04:24.920 right on target uh that that one day the politicians will allow us to live and travel and dine freely

00:04:30.820 again they might be sad about some other stuff that's going on but as far as the encroachments

00:04:35.100 on our liberty that you and i see they just don't care about it and they actually see it as good

00:04:39.220 and many of those people are are still bunkered in their homes with their children whom they refuse to 0.95

00:04:44.560 send to school and they they really feel that everything would go back to normal if those darned 1.00

00:04:50.340 right-wingers would just stop politicizing this and and do what they do i mean they really think 0.93

00:04:55.340 that somehow the people inhibiting their happiness or the people advocating for liberty and not the

00:05:01.780 politicians who have destroyed freedoms and businesses and livelihoods and people's will to

00:05:05.740 live for the past year while flouting all of the rules themselves i mean these this group of people

00:05:12.300 i would say maybe half the country maybe maybe a little less they are unable it seems to understand

00:05:18.320 how it is possible for someone like me to say yes the virus is real yes it can be very serious and

00:05:26.820 deadly and i don't think we should pretend otherwise i don't lack any compassion for the health care

00:05:31.300 workers who have been dealing with this i don't i don't lack any sympathy for the people who have lost

00:05:35.700 loved ones from this at all i know some people who have lost loved ones from this

00:05:39.380 but i also have to say many of the things that we are being told by our powers that be don't make sense

00:05:47.900 they don't align with scientific data from around the world and and also there are a thousand other

00:05:53.280 things that can threaten and kill you as an individual and destroy society as a whole and we

00:05:57.540 are doing a cruel disservice to ourselves and our neighbor by failing to realize that so they want you

00:06:02.760 to believe that that stance the people on the other side of this issue they want you to believe that

00:06:07.460 that stance is extreme or that it's dangerous and it's just not like i'm here to tell you to validate

00:06:12.940 for you that it's not that is normal it is thoughtful it is well-rounded it is kind it is loving it is

00:06:20.180 compassionate to think about the other risks and the other consequences intended or not that we face

00:06:25.700 especially when it comes to public policy that is encouraging people to stay masked and indoors

00:06:30.880 it is not wise i will say to believe in grand conspiracy theories that can't be fact-checked

00:06:36.860 but it is wise absolutely to question state-sponsored messages and measures done in the name of

00:06:42.600 safety always it is wise to consider those intended and unintended consequences of public policy

00:06:48.580 implemented in the name of safety it is wise to support transparency and truth and freedom and

00:06:54.600 those of you who understand that as i do may be feeling really scared about what's to come painfully

00:07:01.180 nostalgic for pre-2020 america pre-2015 america when it seems like things just started to kind of go

00:07:08.460 downhill as far as our national cohesiveness goes the uh the cultural the the moral the sexual

00:07:15.500 revolutions have just been going at breakneck speed for the past five years and now we are facing

00:07:21.160 truly unprecedented threats from foreign adversaries that are more powerful than ever before

00:07:27.120 much thanks to our terrible foreign policy decisions over the past couple decades but especially over

00:07:33.360 the past few months and and let me just say as an aside one thing that really bothers me right now

00:07:42.180 maybe it shouldn't i'm willing i'm willing to admit that maybe it shouldn't bother me but it does bother

00:07:47.060 me is that you see so many people and typically i would say it's like in the female like christian online

00:07:54.040 community who spent every day after the george floyd incident last summer in the months leading

00:08:00.460 up to the election talking about politics something they don't usually talk about but they were talking

00:08:05.420 about politics all the time and they usually weren't using specific terms but just like referencing

00:08:10.120 justice and equity and equality and decency and and voting very vaguely yet very very passionately and

00:08:18.220 relentlessly all of a sudden they became activists after being supposedly apolitical for a very long

00:08:25.460 time and yet now over the past few months since the election and since the inauguration like they they're

00:08:32.240 not talking about any of those issues anymore no at least not as loudly and at least not in relation to

00:08:39.080 our elected officials so you hear a peep out of them when there's a story that elicits you know some kind

00:08:44.680 of media contrived hysteria something about an interaction with the police or maybe palestine or

00:08:50.580 when there's a chance to talk about racism they you know speak up a little bit about this but

00:08:56.500 they're not talking with as much vigor as they were just a year ago about the problems this country

00:09:02.680 faces and guess what kids are still in cages like violent crime is skyrocketed the economy is in serious

00:09:08.400 trouble we have an absentee president all these things really matter like politics still matter they

00:09:14.580 didn't stop mattering when you stopped caring about them or when it stopped being cool to post about

00:09:19.020 them and so it's mostly radio silence from these same people who decided they were activists a year

00:09:24.200 ago who were crying out micah 6-8 when it was trendy and now really have nothing to say now it's oh man

00:09:30.780 i'm just so tired of politics i'm so tired of the news let's just unplug and be happy but those same

00:09:36.220 people who say that they don't care what's going on in the news and in culture now i can guarantee you

00:09:42.220 just wait a year from now right before the midterms when there's another big crisis that

00:09:46.240 democrats use to gin up outrage against republicans and gives people the opportunity to virtue signal on

00:09:50.780 social media they will be experts and activists again they won't pay attention until there are social

00:09:55.780 media points to score and they'll lecture the rest of us about how we don't care enough about the

00:10:00.520 issues at hand let's not be those people i include myself in that like let's not be those people

00:10:06.540 we can't just bury our heads in the sand until the next black square trend comes along there are 1.00

00:10:11.640 policies being implemented now that affects you and your neighbor there are things happening now

00:10:16.720 that demands your attention and comprehension and preparedness they're not trending they don't come

00:10:21.500 associated with any virtue signaling points they're not going to win you any friends or any accolades if

00:10:28.180 you care and talk about them but they matter as we always say on this podcast politics matter because

00:10:34.960 policies matter because people matter even when it is not an election year but at the same time and i

00:10:42.540 totally understand this so i agree with the people who say you know we just need to take a step back

00:10:48.340 and not be obsessed with this we we can't allow ourselves to be totally inundated by the news

00:10:54.340 we can't be consumed with headlines with social media commentary we can't be sucked into every new

00:11:00.260 narrative i mean that really robs our joy and you know why i talked about this on instagram the other

00:11:05.600 day because it places a burden on us that we were never meant to carry um i posted psalm 62 11 i think

00:11:15.820 it was on friday that says power belongs to god let me read you all of verse 11 and 12 once god has spoken

00:11:24.940 twice have i heard this that power belongs to god and that to you oh lord belongs steadfast love for

00:11:33.540 you will render a man according to his work uh reading the news makes us feel like power belongs and

00:11:42.260 must belong to us because it makes us feel omniscient omnipresent knowing everything being everywhere at

00:11:50.360 once we see images of pain and suffering halfway around the world and we're expected to think

00:11:55.460 something about it to say something about it to do something about it to passionately care about it

00:12:01.000 so we're made to feel that we're omnipotent too like it didn't used to be that way either the most that

00:12:08.040 you could do was read about something happening elsewhere in the newspaper but there was no expectation

00:12:13.480 for everyone to have a stance on it and a responsibility for it there are lots of things that i love

00:12:19.700 about technology and social media i think a lot of people spend a lot of time railing on those

00:12:24.660 things and there are reasons to there are also reasons to love it but one thing that i i will

00:12:29.320 criticize it for is that unhealthy aspect of making us feel like we have to be everywhere know everything

00:12:35.800 and do everything about everything um i personally fight that burden um that makes me feel like i need to

00:12:44.680 talk to you guys about everything that um i have to care about everything try to understand and then explain

00:12:52.360 everything give you guys action items for how to address everything and it's super overwhelming and

00:12:58.300 it can be really demoralizing like i felt very demoralized just to be honest over the past like

00:13:04.100 week or so because there's so much i want to talk about and want you to care about and want me to care about

00:13:10.480 and want to do something about but i have to make myself refocus and i have to remember a few

00:13:18.740 things that i'm going to remind you of too power doesn't belong to me it belongs to god as psalm 62 11

00:13:26.660 says i cannot control anything much less what's happening hundreds or thousands of miles away from me

00:13:32.880 i am not responsible for becoming an expert on everything i am not called to say something or do

00:13:40.400 something about everything i do not have the capacity to care about everything and neither do

00:13:46.260 you um someone asked me what i think about the hashtag free britney thing uh someone asked me this on

00:13:54.320 instagram and i know everyone has an opinion on that like right left and center and we're all supposed

00:14:00.300 to care about it and that's great if you do care about it i'm not slamming that i mean maybe that's

00:14:05.160 important for different reasons for you maybe you love britney spears i mean i wish the best for

00:14:09.560 britney her family all that good stuff but the truth is i am at total capacity for things to care

00:14:17.000 about total capacity i'm at the brim and that free britney just doesn't make the list and i don't know

00:14:24.020 if it ever will make the list maybe at some point something will get knocked off the list and free

00:14:28.040 britney will get on my list of things to care about but i just don't right now we have to recognize

00:14:34.120 both our calling and our capacity so we have to recognize our loves and our limits our priorities

00:14:42.880 and our parameters so in other words we have to decide what are the few things that we really care

00:14:50.340 about what are the things that we feel passionate to become experts in to stand up for to work for to

00:14:55.920 talk about to do and focus on that or or those things multiple without becoming ceaselessly

00:15:04.380 distracted by everything else now that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to know about things that are

00:15:09.760 going on in the news and around the world obviously i think that's important but we can't give our heart

00:15:16.120 to all of them we simply do not have the power to bear that burden we are not god and it's also about

00:15:23.560 like removing our ego and humbling ourselves like we have to humble ourselves knowing that god has

00:15:28.240 called us to certain things and god has called others to other things and he doesn't need any of

00:15:34.040 us to do any of the things that he wants to do so what do you know for sure that you are called to do

00:15:41.800 and maybe you don't know yet maybe that's something that you need to pray about that you need to ask

00:15:46.180 wisdom for god promises you wisdom um you know for sure though one thing you know for sure that

00:15:53.660 you don't even have to wonder about matthew 22 37 through 39 that you are to love the lord your god

00:15:59.460 with all your heart mind soul and strength and from that love you are then to love your neighbor

00:16:04.660 as yourself now as we talk about in in my book that loving your neighbor as yourself doesn't mean and

00:16:12.080 much more eloquently c.s lewis talks about it in mere christianity doesn't necessarily mean liking

00:16:17.720 your neighbor it doesn't mean an affection some people think that okay if jesus tells me to love

00:16:23.660 my neighbor as myself that means that i have to like myself and be confident in myself before i can

00:16:28.840 go out and love other people that's not the kind of love that he's talking about he is not saying that

00:16:34.840 affection for yourself is a prerequisite for going out and loving other people i mean think about how much

00:16:40.980 time we would waste trying to you know uh like how we look in our reflection before we went out to go

00:16:47.820 and serve those who who need our help the kind of love he's talking about is the love that we're born

00:16:53.320 with this love that results in a kind of instinctive self-preservation and care for ourself and drive to

00:17:00.800 meet our own needs like with the same natural drive um that we have to meet our own needs we are to be

00:17:08.000 driven to meet the needs of other people that's the kind of love that he's talking about so that we

00:17:13.540 know that we have to love god and that we have to love people and i add another one to that so there

00:17:19.280 are three things that i try to commit uh myself to very imperfectly of course because i'm a fallible

00:17:26.640 person like everyone else um but i i try to apply these things and commit to these things and i encourage

00:17:33.420 you to as well the number one thing of course is love god number two love others and number three

00:17:39.560 as we've talked about many times the title of roger's book live not by lies so love god love

00:17:45.480 people live not by lies so what that means is number one i will seek god as my source of wisdom as my

00:17:50.940 source of truth direction strength morality i will by his grace obey him fully and completely um number

00:17:58.440 two i will look at the people that god has placed in my life and i will pay attention to them and

00:18:04.360 their needs i will seek to encourage them to edify them to serve them where i see an opportunity and

00:18:09.720 this takes a lot of grace-driven effort the natural propensity for all of us every day is selfishness

00:18:15.840 it takes the holy spirit to help us improve in this self-sacrifice for the good of other people

00:18:21.740 daily and number three i will try my best again by the power of the holy spirit to refuse to say or do

00:18:28.840 that which i know is not true simply because it sounds good or is popular or is inoffensive i will

00:18:36.100 not purposely perpetuate false narratives that doesn't mean that i don't get it wrong that doesn't

00:18:41.480 mean that i don't accidentally do that but i will try by the grace of god with all of my might never to

00:18:47.600 do that i will not use terminology or newfangled definitions that do not correlate with biblical

00:18:53.740 reality or with reality or biblical morality i will not sacrifice truth for the sake of a superficial

00:19:00.220 form of empathy uh the goal will never be to intentionally shock or offend or hurt feelings

00:19:05.800 it's never my goal the goal will be to simply insist that two and two make four i do that for obedience

00:19:12.100 to god i do that for love for other people and for sanity for myself so all three of these things

00:19:18.140 require me to be in god's word which to be perfectly honest with you is more consistent for me some weeks

00:19:25.600 than others like last week for example it was very inconsistent and i felt it i felt the heaviness and

00:19:32.800 the sadness and the anxiety characterize my thoughts i felt the burden that i must know and fix everything to

00:19:39.500 be everywhere at once god's word is necessary for me to know how to love god how to love people and how

00:19:46.420 to love truth prayer is necessary for me to know how to do those things and to be empowered to do those

00:19:53.700 things talking to other people who are on this same journey is necessary for me to gain encouragement

00:19:59.360 and perspective and that can be really hard because i don't want to burden people with my anxieties

00:20:03.640 and my worries especially people that don't do my same job i don't want my friends to think or people

00:20:10.660 in my sunday school class to think that i always want to talk about politics or that i always want

00:20:14.960 to talk about the news because i really don't but i do feel the need to kind of you have to have people

00:20:21.280 to unload your burdens onto and your cares onto ultimately we do that on the lord we cast our cares

00:20:28.040 on him because he cares for us scripture says but we also have to have community and people around us

00:20:34.200 who are willing to bear those burdens and to speak life and encouragement into us and i think that's

00:20:38.700 really hard in this day and age when real true profound connections to real christian friends and

00:20:45.560 christian community even within the church is really lacking like it's really lacking i'm guilty of it 1.00

00:20:51.400 most people i know honestly are are guilty of it i don't know any church that is perfect at this but

00:20:57.460 gosh like that is where the church can stand out right now informing real and profound and meaningful

00:21:04.340 connections with people people are hungry for that we're starving for that and if anything

00:21:09.540 has been proven over the past year and a half it's that human beings need that we need that to

00:21:15.160 survive and thrive so we need all of these things to accomplish what i believe to be three priorities for

00:21:20.340 christian life love god love others and to live not by lies um it gives us the perspective that we need

00:21:28.740 and perspective when we are drowning what feels like in the depths of despair about our own lives or about

00:21:34.820 the future of the country um is is so crucial and and speaking of perspective speaking of god's word i want

00:21:41.780 to read to you a few verses that help us um remember our place in all of this job 42 2 you've heard me

00:21:49.460 quote this very many times on this podcast i know that you can do all things and that no purpose of

00:21:57.140 yours god can be thwarted so god doesn't need us he may choose to use us but nothing we do or don't do

00:22:05.140 can inhibit him even a little bit jeremiah 32 17 all lord god it is you who have made the heavens and the

00:22:14.100 earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm nothing is too hard for you god can do all

00:22:22.340 things his ultimate purposes cannot be thwarted his sovereign will cannot be changed nothing is too

00:22:28.580 hard for him nothing means nothing nothing throws him off his game nothing surprises him nothing takes

00:22:35.460 him aback nothing confuses him nothing hinders him nothing is a mystery to him nothing and no one can foil

00:22:41.300 his plans he is not waiting to see what's going to happen he is not curious about what's coming

00:22:46.740 around the corner he doesn't come uh come in after the mess to clean it up he is completely and totally

00:22:52.980 in control of everything and as we already said he doesn't need us but he does choose to use us

00:23:01.380 and he does in his sovereignty and in his total and complete power omniscience uh omnipresence he does

00:23:09.060 call us to certain things in general i believe as we've already established those things to be

00:23:15.060 love god love others and don't lie um the second two are really products of the first but because

00:23:21.060 some people really think that loving god simply means being nice to people i think it's necessary

00:23:26.020 to explicitly point the second two out so here's what this looks like and i can't get into specifics

00:23:34.180 exactly because i don't know what i don't know what your life looks like but who is right in front

00:23:40.900 of you to love and how are you to love them the truth is you don't have to look very far for your

00:23:46.420 neighbor and we don't have to think of sophisticated ways to love them it's our spouses it's our kids it's

00:23:53.220 our friends it's our um it's our co-workers it's our communities it's our church like we serve them we

00:23:59.380 encouragement we encourage them we seek to meet their needs that could mean words of encouragement

00:24:04.740 it could mean prayer for them with them it could be making them dinner that's something that um we

00:24:10.500 really like to do and that people really appreciate if someone is going through like a hard time or a

00:24:15.460 busy time or a stressful time or an exciting time easing one burden by just like making them food or

00:24:21.620 sending them food that's a really easy way to love people like all the ways that you would like to be

00:24:26.500 loved you show that love to those that god has placed in front of you you steward the resources

00:24:31.700 that god has already given you not that you imagine that god will give you a year from now but the ones

00:24:35.860 that you have right now you steward them for his glory trusting um that he is going to take care of you

00:24:42.580 and yes there are times i would say especially right now as we seem to be on the precipice of of

00:24:48.980 losing some of our liberties um there are times when when loving the people in your life and loving

00:24:55.060 your city and loving your state and loving your country which i think we are called to do um means

00:25:01.380 caring about a few issues that affect them and that you are also passionate about so are you

00:25:07.940 passionate about the education policies in your area i think you know we all should be to a certain

00:25:13.860 extent but if you're especially passionate about that get involved campaign with someone that you

00:25:18.500 believe in running for the school board run yourself if that's something you feel called to do

00:25:22.820 are you passionate about vulnerable moms and families volunteer at your local pro-life pregnancy

00:25:27.380 center are are you seeing some kind of of policy putting an undue burden on your community you

00:25:32.980 should meet with your representatives you should learn about that learn about the alternatives you

00:25:36.980 should talk about it with people you should get people to care about it by raising up the subject

00:25:41.460 in conversation you should raise as we say on this podcast a respectful ruckus about it get other

00:25:47.140 people um to to join you work collectively vote of course um that doesn't solve all of our problems

00:25:55.140 but i do believe that we are not called to just sit on our hands in all of this that we are called

00:26:00.180 to do something about the things that god has put on our hearts um by by serving in some way by speaking

00:26:07.300 up um and and that might characterize one season of your life or one day of your week or one day of your

00:26:13.940 month it might not characterize every day or your entire life it might not be your full mission and

00:26:20.100 your 24 7 calling and that's okay like most of your life may be done doing very main mundane seeming

00:26:28.260 things i do not think that god can't be glorified in the mundane he absolutely is like our entire lives

00:26:36.260 every second are meant for his glory and he can be glorified in everything we do whether it's seen by

00:26:42.340 the world or not whether it makes waves or a ripple whether it's shouted to a nation or whisper to your

00:26:47.380 family whether personal professional or political we can make a difference um colossians 3 17 and

00:26:55.380 whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the lord jesus giving thanks to god the

00:27:02.660 father through him and i've got some more practical tips for you guys

00:27:11.860 all right so some practical tips i kind of gave you some practical tips but um some more practical

00:27:17.940 tips i guess people ask me all the time like what do we do feels like the country's going in this

00:27:22.580 terrible direction it feels like things can't turn around and as i've already said i can totally empathize

00:27:27.060 with that feeling i feel like that myself sometimes and in addition to just knowing that this life is

00:27:33.300 not where our hope lies that we kind of have to i think as americans i at least i can't speak for

00:27:39.540 everyone but i think that we assume that things are always going that history is always going to

00:27:44.340 write its course um in our lifetimes that okay by the next election things will be better in just a few

00:27:50.020 years things will be better if this goes away or if this changes things will be better people will be

00:27:54.260 more sane they'll be more normal and yes i do think that we've seen the pendulum swing on a variety

00:28:00.420 of political and social cultural religious theological issues um in throughout america's

00:28:07.220 history and throughout world history and that is true but we can't hang our hat on that like we can't

00:28:12.100 trust in that because we don't actually know if that is true and depending on your eschatology

00:28:17.700 you may believe that it is absolutely inevitable that things are just going to go to hell in a

00:28:22.100 hand basket until jesus comes back we've talked about eschatology i'll actually link my end times

00:28:28.020 um podcast episodes in the description to this podcast so you can go listen to those um but the

00:28:34.420 fact of the matter is like we don't actually know we don't know if jesus is coming back tomorrow

00:28:39.860 we don't know if he's coming back in a few weeks we don't know if he's coming back in a thousand

00:28:43.540 years from now yes there are some things that we know have to happen before that but we don't

00:28:47.460 actually know how or when it's going to go down at the same time i understand people's

00:28:52.340 like apocalyptic feelings um about that and they're wondering okay well do we even care about

00:28:59.460 the direction that the country goes like are we even are we just distracting ourselves with politics

00:29:04.980 should we just remove ourselves from everything that's going on in the political and civic sphere

00:29:09.140 and just focus on what's happening in our homes and as i've kind of already touched on and as i've

00:29:14.580 explained many times on this podcast i don't think that's the answer i do think a way to love

00:29:18.500 a way to love your neighbor is to care about the policies that are implemented and the things that

00:29:22.740 are going on that i think looking after the welfare of the nation that you um are in is a very godly

00:29:29.380 thing to do i think it's a very loving thing to do now i know that there are people who think

00:29:32.980 that you shouldn't love your country but i think loving your country and having a certain level of

00:29:38.100 patriotism and a certain fondness for your country's culture and its ideals um is a very biblical thing

00:29:45.940 to do and it can compel you to seek uh seek the good and seek the welfare of your fellow citizens i

00:29:53.460 think that's a very good thing and so we do those things we pursue those things without trusting in

00:30:00.020 elected officials to usher in our version of utopia um elected officials are never going to be able to

00:30:07.540 fix anything no matter the political party there are corrupt people in both parties there are bad

00:30:13.140 policies um in both parties now you guys know where i land on that i don't think that it's morally

00:30:18.660 equivalent but the fact of the matter is is that neither party no politician is going to be able to

00:30:24.180 save us in the way that we want to be saved they're not going to be able to make the changes that we

00:30:28.660 want to that we want to be uh implemented um to achieve whatever we think our vision is of some

00:30:39.140 kind of great and glorious and moral nation it's just not going to happen so while i don't know if

00:30:44.740 things will swing back in a different direction and if things will go a different way as far as

00:30:50.820 politics and culture goes um i do know 100 percent that my hope can't be in that because i just don't

00:30:58.260 know and that's not where the lord tells us to put our hope like where my hope is is that there will

00:31:05.940 be a perfect ruler or there is a perfect ruler already he already rules and perfect justice and

00:31:10.980 righteousness but one day evil will be no more one day there will be no more wickedness there will be no

00:31:16.580 more injustice there will be no more oppression there will be no more unfairness there will

00:31:21.700 will, there will be nothing to worry about. There will be no stress. There will be no concern. There

00:31:26.660 will be no sorrow, sadness, sickness, deceit, propaganda. None of that will exist. That is

00:31:32.560 where my hope lies, that we are on, we are sojourners on a very, very quick temporal journey

00:31:39.300 here on earth and eternity will be gladness and freedom forever and ever. And yet while we're here,

00:31:45.380 there are, there's cause for concern and there are things to do. I think a strategy that could work

00:31:52.860 depending on your definition of work, it can, it can either buy you time or it can help you create

00:32:00.060 a community in which you are protected and your freedoms are protected and how you want to live

00:32:05.440 in accordance in your values is protected. And I think that you should polarize, localize and

00:32:11.540 prioritize. So those are the three things that I encourage you to do. And what I mean by that is

00:32:18.340 that if you live in a blue area that is solidly blue and you are pretty sure that you being there

00:32:24.240 isn't really going to turn the tide, like it's not going to change things, then I would move somewhere

00:32:29.840 red. Like I would move to a red state, I'd move to a red city and I would make it redder. A lot of you

00:32:35.840 ask me, should I move out of California and move to a red state like Oklahoma or Idaho where I'm

00:32:41.480 South Carolina or Texas or Florida? I say, yes, that's not possible for everyone. So I'm not

00:32:46.960 saying that everyone has to do that. I am saying that if you can do that, if there's any way that

00:32:52.680 you can do that, you will be amazed at how much better your life is being around people that care

00:32:57.800 about liberty and have the same values that you do. And so I would encourage you to polarize. I do not

00:33:05.620 mean that you can't or shouldn't have relationships with people who politically disagree with you. I think

00:33:10.240 that's very important. I think that we should allow ourselves to be challenged by people who

00:33:15.140 disagree with us on a variety of issues. But I'm talking about creating a life for you and your

00:33:20.220 family and hopefully your children in which your freedom and the values that you want to live by

00:33:27.520 are protected. That's not possible everywhere in this country, which is really, it's sad that you have

00:33:33.140 to, that you can move to a different state and live not just a slightly different life, but a radically

00:33:38.820 more free life. And so every single person, I've not talked to one conservative that moved from

00:33:45.460 Oregon or Washington or California to a conservative state and regretted it. Like every message that I

00:33:50.180 get about that is like, oh, it's the best decision of my life. I'm so much happier. And I think that'll

00:33:56.000 be true for you too. I, I encourage red states and red areas to get even redder than they already are 0.93

00:34:04.120 and to solidify, to solidify your holds on that. And so the second one then is to localize. So care

00:34:14.720 about the problems that your community is facing, as we've already talked about, get involved with

00:34:20.960 what's going on in the schools. Even if you homeschool or send your kids to private school,

00:34:24.800 you're still a taxpayer. Like you already know how I feel about public school, but you should

00:34:31.640 still be involved in what is being taught there and the, and the mandates and restrictions that are

00:34:38.060 being, that are being placed there because you have a vested interest in the community. And like I said,

00:34:45.660 you have a monetary interest too, because you pay taxes. And so get involved on the local level.

00:34:52.180 You should seek to influence in every sphere in which God has placed you with the values and the

00:34:58.940 worldview that you have. Now, I, for some reason, like people on the left freak out when people say

00:35:05.800 that, but everyone does that. Like that's what a representative democracy is. That's what every

00:35:11.700 single politician and any involved citizen does. Like you enter into a space and you try to influence

00:35:18.660 it with the values and ideas and ideals that you have. The only people that are scared to do that

00:35:23.060 are not progressives or conservatives and Christians who have been lied to and have been told that by a

00:35:29.800 conservative and a Christian speaking up about their values or trying to shape their workplace or

00:35:34.900 community or school or whatever with their values, that that's, you know, some kind of crazy 0.97

00:35:40.320 authoritarianism and some, you're just some religious nut job. Okay, well, the progressives are now

00:35:48.060 redefining what gender and sexuality and morality and reality look like for your kindergartner. So how'd that

00:35:56.000 work out? Don't buy that lie. Every single person, no matter their religious beliefs, no matter their political

00:36:02.580 backgrounds are trying to influence the space that they occupy. And so you, Christian conservative,

00:36:13.060 should be doing the same thing, unabashedly, respectfully, kindly. But you should absolutely

00:36:18.800 be trying to implement your worldview and your values. And that value might just be freedom. I think that's

00:36:27.980 what it is for most people. It's not that I want you to live how I live. That's not what I want. That's

00:36:33.220 not what conservatives want. That is like a fantasy by some people on the left, that I want you to be

00:36:37.660 forced to be a Christian or forced to live a Christian lifestyle. That's not true at all. Like,

00:36:42.780 that is not my value. My value is liberty. And I could get into all of the, you know, different ideas

00:36:52.360 for governance and for society that I have. But mostly, like, I want you to respect that I want to live and

00:37:00.940 raise my family how I want to. And I will respect how you want to raise your family. And I'm not speaking about

00:37:07.780 some kind of libertarianism, because I don't call myself a libertarian. Obviously, I believe in some kind of

00:37:14.260 moral foundation for the laws that we have. But that's not the same as a theocracy. Me saying, hey, I'm going to

00:37:19.700 join the school board. And I'm going to try to move it in a direction that I want to move it in

00:37:23.840 is literally what everyone does. So polarize, localize, prioritize, pick the things that you

00:37:29.560 care about. I don't even know if those three things are in order. But pick the things that you care about

00:37:34.680 in your local community, and lead them, influence them, get other people to care about them. I think

00:37:41.500 that is the strategy that we have to employ right now. I personally think like life is too short to live

00:37:47.820 next to tyrants, and to be controlled by the petty tyrants that run some of our states and cities.

00:37:54.560 And to be in constant fear of your life, because so many of our best cities have been run by these

00:38:00.000 progressive policies that have led to a rise in violent crime and increased homelessness and public

00:38:04.960 drug use and all of these terrible things that really just drive down quality of life, like life is

00:38:09.860 too short to live among that. And so move to a place that shares your values. Try to support people that

00:38:16.800 share your values, support businesses that share your values, start a business in accordance with

00:38:21.240 your values, provide services in accordance to your values. There's a growing market for that.

00:38:26.540 Because as conservatives are, you know, lumped into this other group that is no longer kind of like

00:38:35.200 welcomed in polite society, there's still going to be a market for goods and services and businesses

00:38:40.360 and all that stuff. And so that's what I encourage you to do. Now, some people say, well, that's not being

00:38:46.740 salt and light. That's not being a witness. Not all Republicans are Christians. Like I actually think that

00:38:52.500 I mean, there's a large percentage probably of Republicans who aren't true Christians and who because

00:38:58.240 Republicanism and Christianity are sometimes seen as synonymous. There are probably that's probably like a

00:39:06.660 bigger danger, I would say, in the Republican Party that there are a lot of people who just believe

00:39:11.060 that they're Christians who are not. So just because you live in a red area and they align with 0.92

00:39:16.040 your values as far as freedom goes doesn't mean that there's not an opportunity to share the gospel

00:39:20.540 with those people. And it doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to communicate to people who live

00:39:24.280 in blue states and things like that. So I don't really buy that argument. So that's what I say. I say

00:39:30.760 polarize in I'm talking about in the sense of where you live and where you where you move to and then

00:39:38.000 localize and prioritize. I don't mean polarize in the sense that you shouldn't be able to have a

00:39:44.540 conversation with someone on the other side of the aisle just to clarify. I want to read this quote

00:39:51.480 that I think is super comforting. Well, there's actually two quotes that are super comforting.

00:39:57.600 The first one is from C.S. Lewis. He wrote an essay in 1948 about living in an age where

00:40:05.900 people feared an atomic bomb, which is an age that lasted quite a while, gave people living at that

00:40:12.040 time a sense of impending doom. And here is what he said. He said, in one way, we think a great deal

00:40:18.300 too much of the atomic bomb. How are we to live in an atomic age? I am tempted to reply. Why? As you would

00:40:26.060 have lived in the 16th century when the plague visited London almost every year. Or as you would

00:40:30.940 have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any

00:40:35.800 night. Or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis,

00:40:41.400 an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents. In other words, do not let

00:40:48.500 us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and

00:40:54.980 all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented. And quite a high

00:41:01.360 percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. This is the first point to be made. And the

00:41:07.120 first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by

00:41:12.160 an atomic bomb, let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things. Praying, working,

00:41:18.680 teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends

00:41:24.820 over a pint and a game of darts. Not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.

00:41:30.180 They may break our bodies. A microbe can do that. But they need not dominate our minds. That is a word

00:41:39.840 for today. I mean, what do you want to bet that people living then who also perhaps lived through

00:41:46.560 both world wars and the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and who saw the continued totalitarianism

00:41:54.180 throughout the world in the 20th century, even after the wars, also thought that surely they were

00:41:59.200 living through the end times. I mean, they didn't face the same threats that we do. They didn't have a

00:42:06.100 lot of the same problems that we do, but they didn't know that. They had no reason to think

00:42:10.980 this wasn't the worst of it. People in other nations who have never known freedom, who have

00:42:16.700 always known tyranny and persecution and hardship, don't you think that they've believed that the

00:42:21.420 Great Tribulation was at hand? Like people have lived through what has seemed like apocalyptic

00:42:26.860 struggles for all of human history. Now, like I said earlier, this may be it. This may be the end.

00:42:33.400 And maybe things will never swing back and Jesus is going to return soon, or maybe not.

00:42:38.900 Like maybe this is yet another bad cycle of human history and it will continue to cycle through as

00:42:44.820 it always has. We don't know. And the point is we have to deal with what is before us right now.

00:42:51.680 Like our responsibilities are not suspended because the world is going crazy. And our responsibilities

00:42:57.440 are to love God, to love our neighbor, to live not by lies. Three ways I think that we can do that

00:43:06.240 in freedom is to polarize when it comes to where we live and where we spend our time and the businesses

00:43:16.780 and the people and the organizations we support. And to localize, to focus on the things that are right

00:43:23.400 in front of us and to prioritize, to focus on that, only that which we are really passionate

00:43:28.360 about and know something about and feel called to. Philippians 4, 4 through 7 says,

00:43:34.040 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness, reasonable.

00:43:39.380 We have to be reasonable. Be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. So there's a sense of urgency here.

00:43:45.920 Do not be anxious about anything. Wow. That's a really big blanket statement. Do not be anxious about

00:43:51.400 anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests

00:43:58.620 be made known to God and the peace of God. This is a promise which surpasses all understanding,

00:44:04.860 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So God knew all of the things

00:44:10.780 that we are going through right now, all of the things that we've been through, all the things that

00:44:15.360 are going to happen, not just in the world, but also in your personal life. And still he told us to

00:44:19.280 rejoice. I mean, the Christians in Philippi, the Christians in some of these churches were going 0.76

00:44:23.740 through hard times themselves. And God through Paul says, you are to rejoice always. You are to

00:44:28.680 be reasonable always. You are to be grateful always. You're worried about something? Tell me about it.

00:44:33.840 Present it to me. Literally tell me about it. Not like trying to belittle your concerns, but literally

00:44:39.620 God is saying, tell me about it. Cast your cares onto me. I care for you. And in Matthew 10,

00:44:46.840 Jesus talks about, we're not to worry about those who can throw, who can kill our body. We are to

00:44:53.500 fear the one who can throw our body and our soul into hell. Jesus tells us that not even a sparrow

00:44:58.980 falls from the sky apart from the Father's will. So if that is true, if he even controls the plight and

00:45:08.900 the flight of the sparrow, which too can be sold for a penny, Jesus says, then how much more does he

00:45:15.620 care about us? How much more is he seeing us? How much more is he attending to us? How much more is

00:45:20.720 he going to carry our burdens and be in control of our lives? Now I have one more really encouraging

00:45:26.760 quotes to read to you that I hope just ends on a peaceful note for you guys.

00:45:37.260 So this is a quote by John Newton that I saw shared over the weekend on Instagram that I really

00:45:42.260 appreciate. And it goes like this. We can easily manage if we will only take each day the burden

00:45:49.300 appointed to it, but the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today

00:45:55.880 and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it. I mean, that is so true that

00:46:04.160 we are trying to bear the burden of yesterday and tomorrow. And he is saying this in a day before

00:46:08.980 social media. And it's even more true today where we are actually like it is demanded of us by social

00:46:15.360 media and by the media in general to care about everything that's happened in all of history and

00:46:22.800 might happen in all of the future at once and bringing it back full circle to what we said at

00:46:27.540 the beginning. We don't have the capacity to do that. We can care and should care about what's right

00:46:31.920 in front of us. We should do what we can with what we are given and what we are called to,

00:46:36.140 but we can only manage today's burden. That is what Jesus says too, that it is sufficient.

00:46:43.620 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Let tomorrow worry about itself. There are things

00:46:49.040 that we can do to prepare. I think that Proverbs 31 talks about that, the importance of wise and

00:46:56.120 prudent preparation and planning and all of that. But we can't put our hope in what the future is going

00:47:02.300 to look like. We also can't put our fear there either because we don't know. What we do know for

00:47:06.360 sure is that God is completely in control. Nothing is too hard for him. All we can do is do the next

00:47:12.080 right thing. All right. I hope that was an encouragement for you. I will see you guys back here tomorrow.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - August 16, 2021

Ep 471 ｜ Things May Change If We Make These 3 Commitments

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