Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 771 ｜＂Why Do I Keep Sinning？＂｜ Guest： Jonathan Pokluda

00:00:00.000 for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is

00:00:06.220 right but not the ability to carry it out for I do not do the good that I want but the evil I do not

00:00:13.320 want is what I keep on doing that is Romans 7 18 and my friend JP Jonathan Pakluda he just wrote

00:00:22.060 a new book about this called why do I do what I don't want to do and it is about the process of

00:00:29.880 pursuing holiness sanctification why we as Christians continue to choose sin when we know

00:00:35.680 Jesus has something better for us and how we exchange the vices in our lives for virtues

00:00:43.880 this is going to be an extremely encouraging conversation you are going to love what JP

00:00:49.800 has to say the episode is brought to you as always by our friends at Good Ranchers go to goodranchers.com

00:00:56.920 use promo code Allie at checkout that's goodranchers.com code Allie

00:01:02.280 JP thanks so much for joining me thanks for having me yeah I'm excited to be here yeah can you tell

00:01:16.320 everyone who might not know maybe they didn't catch the last episode that you were on with me or maybe

00:01:21.240 they don't follow you on Instagram yet who you are and what you do sure so Jonathan Pakluda JP for short

00:01:25.980 was part of a church called watermark community church and specifically for most of that time

00:01:31.840 served in a ministry called the porch which was targeted toward young adults and four years ago

00:01:36.260 our family was called to serve with a church in Waco 144 year old Baptist church in the country

00:01:41.380 called Harris Creek and so we've been there for four years and you know pastor and author and all the

00:01:47.340 fun things all that good stuff dad three kids yeah yeah that's probably the biggest thing the most

00:01:52.780 the most significant thing been married to my wife Monica for 18 years and we have three kids

00:01:57.220 uh our youngest son and then two daughters yeah and you know you have had such an impact not just on me

00:02:03.940 but also other people that work for this show we were texting about it last night and one of the

00:02:08.940 girls was like oh my gosh this is going to be such a big moment for me because actually when she

00:02:13.260 came to Christ you were really the first pastor that she listened to and I have a lot of friends

00:02:17.940 like that JP because God has given you a really unique gift to break down the gospel and complicated

00:02:23.940 theological topics in a way that is relatable that is relevant but I think most importantly

00:02:29.780 easy to understand that was certainly true for me when I was in high school people knew

00:02:34.640 no I grew up in Dallas and I started going to the porch and I started listening to you and I was like

00:02:39.960 wow I've never heard someone explain the gospel like this like this actually captivates my attention

00:02:46.500 is interesting to me so just thank you you're so kind to say that I um I didn't do well in school

00:02:52.860 and so like I don't feel like that's my like the classroom is my strong suit and so I try to explain

00:02:57.580 things I'm a auditory learner and and a visual learner and this message of Jesus dying for our sins

00:03:05.080 and raising from the dead it's the greatest story ever told and I think here we can get

00:03:09.660 inoculated to it so we just kind of hear it everywhere so we never really hear it and so

00:03:13.860 when you really sit down with someone and you say listen there was a great exchange that happened

00:03:18.800 here this is what God did for you because he loves you so much and wants a relationship with you

00:03:23.540 and you see people's the light bulb go off and their heart respond to that and that's yeah most fun

00:03:30.140 and we're here to talk about your book but I am interested so you were the head of the porch

00:03:36.480 at watermark and now you're a lead pastor tell me what goes into preparing your sermons how do you

00:03:42.740 come up with the stories the metaphors that you do how do you decide this is how I'm going to explain

00:03:47.700 this passage I love that I wouldn't I know sorry I just threw that on you I appreciate that because

00:03:53.360 it's one of my favorite things to talk about and uh there's I'll start here and say there's a big

00:03:59.520 movement in the church world of planting and that's necessary and biblical and we see that

00:04:05.140 uh but where I am geographically there are a lot of churches and so something that I'm passionate

00:04:11.380 about is church revitalization and the way that we're focused on that is not necessarily planting

00:04:17.600 like so many churches don't want to lose their resources well we're trying to grow a place where

00:04:21.700 we raise up leaders pastors preachers and teachers that we would lose them that other churches would hire

00:04:26.320 them away and so to answer your question uh preparation starts on Monday we get in a room

00:04:31.600 at two o'clock and it's a it's a team effort and we say okay uh it depends the the conversation can

00:04:38.220 start a number of places hey where are we going next what series are we in are we in or are we

00:04:42.300 teaching through a book of the bible um I always teach a scripture and so even if someone says oh that's

00:04:48.100 a topical message if you look at the quote unquote topical message we take a passage and we break that

00:04:54.100 passage down and so there's a passage that deals with the topic um but if we're going through a

00:04:59.600 book like Philippians or James or something like that so we'll take the the the scripture we'll read

00:05:03.800 together we'll say hey what is the subject and then I follow an outline image subject need preview

00:05:09.140 text summary conclusion and so we try to fill in those blanks if we can I leave there do the theological

00:05:16.240 work uh Tuesday Wednesday Thursday that's just kind of reading commentaries understanding what other

00:05:23.200 people have said about the text sitting with the text praying through the text and then really seeing

00:05:28.160 the world through the lens of that subject so that you oh man that's a great way to explain that oh that

00:05:34.060 just lived that that conversation with the server oh this is something my kids just did oh this is a

00:05:38.620 story I just remembered that will help that text come alive and so when I say image what I mean by that

00:05:44.520 is like an opening illustration that leads to the subject uh that identifies the need here why this is

00:05:51.240 is important that goes to a preview here's the map of where we're headed into the text explaining

00:05:57.280 the text teaching the text illustrating the text to a summary this is what I told you to a conclusion

00:06:02.240 which is a closing illustration and so that's kind of the map and then I got your template what's

00:06:07.320 different I think uh what we do is then I give a run through Thursday at 3 p.m. so I give the sermon to a

00:06:14.640 panel of critics and who's the panel of critics and so it's it's kind of just it's not just elders

00:06:20.420 it's oh no no it's uh it's demographic it's like uh I want an older female there I want a younger 1.00

00:06:27.120 female there um I want uh you know somebody that's kind of the theology junkie if you will the theologian

00:06:35.460 I want them there and so we get a it's a diverse group different people bringing different things to

00:06:40.600 the table they give that message a grade one to a hundred seventy's passing and why and then page

00:06:45.520 by page wow wow have you ever gotten a failing grade and you're like oh my gosh I thought that

00:06:50.560 this was going to be the best sermon of my life you know uh that'd be kind of tough I I mean in real

00:06:57.160 life I feel like a lot of times for preaching you you'll get a sense that man that that crushed it

00:07:03.800 and so it's like man everybody's going to want to talk afterwards and no one's there it's a ghost town

00:07:07.440 yeah and then and then at times I've been like oh that was really bad and people come up and like

00:07:12.880 hey what do I got to do to give my life to Jesus you know she's like what in the world it's the work

00:07:16.820 of the spirit yeah and then you realize it's just not about you I love that it's a team effort I

00:07:21.240 wonder how often someone tells you something and you're like wow I had totally gotten that wrong or I

00:07:27.020 thought that passage was about that and it wasn't about that I feel like that would happen to me a lot

00:07:30.900 other people are just or even more than that it's just like hey that wasn't clear uh what you

00:07:36.640 wanted to say there didn't come across so you get that all the time and sometimes uh it will happen

00:07:41.340 where it's like hey I think this is a cross reference to this or have you considered that

00:07:45.740 he might be saying this because of this cultural context uh for example I just taught um the passage

00:07:50.880 out of John Jesus is the light of the world and I didn't realize that week was the feast of the

00:07:55.640 tabernacles which would have had these four lamps and not to bore your listeners with with theology

00:08:00.280 like that but it was you know someone said that it's like hey did you realize the feast of the

00:08:03.600 tabernacles was happening right there and I was like oh I didn't yeah and that kind of sent me

00:08:07.440 down the rabbit trail of study yeah something that you talk about in every sermon which it

00:08:12.300 sounds crazy to say but it's true that a lot of pastors are scared to talk about sin but you talk

00:08:18.880 about sin or mention sin I mean every time I've heard you preach and that's really kind of what your

00:08:24.380 book is about not just sin but vices virtues why do I do what I don't want to do why is it important

00:08:31.100 to talk about sin because it does seem like some pastors think that they can share the gospel

00:08:35.720 without talking about that negative part that scares people away well I might talk about it so

00:08:40.160 much because I'm really really good at it yeah it seems naturally what my flesh wants to do all the

00:08:46.600 time but um it is where the gospel starts in a sense or or it's it's a very core part to the gospel

00:08:55.100 is that we need a savior and the reason we need a savior is because we have you know metaphorically

00:09:01.060 this disease of sin we need someone to cure us like the Israelites in the wilderness who had been 1.00

00:09:06.240 bitten by the fiery serpents the venomous serpents and and they had to look at something in order to

00:09:13.100 live and without looking at that thing that's bronze serpent raised up in the wilderness they

00:09:18.760 would die well that is us if we do not look if we do not call upon the name of Jesus if we do not

00:09:23.480 trust in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins then we are destined to

00:09:27.840 to die a terrible eternal death and uh and so it's like when when you think about sales and I I my past

00:09:36.800 life is business development in the corporate world you you think about creating a need well we don't need

00:09:42.460 a need created like we are sinners and we need a cure like we have a disease we are dying it is terminal

00:09:49.680 and we need someone to come with us say hey this is the way out this is the way to life

00:09:54.840 and so I I think you're right I don't know why we don't talk about sin enough I think it makes people

00:09:59.680 uncomfortable um but it's it's a little bit of a no duh like yes I'm a sinner anybody who you know if

00:10:09.280 they think about it long enough and they audit their own thoughts and even their actions and their words

00:10:14.560 and their deeds and their desires they're going to get to a place like oh yeah there's something in

00:10:19.020 me that's not good for me like why do I do what I don't want to do

00:10:22.080 I think maybe it was you that I first heard defined sin as missing the mark or somewhere

00:10:39.120 outside the bullseye and I think what becomes difficult is when moral relativism is so pervasive

00:10:45.140 today that we kind of deny that there even is a mark that there even is a boundary and so convincing

00:10:51.020 people that you know what you're doing even though it feels really good even though it feels authentic

00:10:55.940 to you and you think that you're just fulfilling your dreams it's actually wrong because there is

00:11:00.840 a moral standard that you're not meeting that's right how have you approached you're in Waco that's

00:11:04.880 a college town I'm sure a lot of young people kind of have that mentality of what even is sin the

00:11:09.600 only sin is saying that they're set the only sin is being judgmental towards other people

00:11:13.760 like how do you kind of convince someone no there's a standard and you're never going to get

00:11:18.080 it by yourself that's right that's the whole message of Christ in the Sermon on the Mountain

00:11:21.960 so sin is a is originally an archery term meaning missing the mark missing the bullseye

00:11:27.180 and and it's it really is like sometimes I'll run this experiment with people I'll say

00:11:31.740 hey as we sit here for an hour or 30 minutes how many times do you think you're going to sin

00:11:37.800 and if there's a group of people it's really interesting I said I want you to think of your

00:11:40.920 number and then let's talk about it some people will say two some people say zero some people say

00:11:44.860 a hundred and I'm like well it's it's our our existence has fallen so we're constantly thinking

00:11:51.480 about how to please people which is sin you know operating out of pride which is sin and and so if we

00:11:57.620 can start with this idea of like oh I am drowning and I cannot save myself there is nothing uh there is

00:12:05.460 no stronghold around that I can grasp onto to keep my head above water uh and and I need someone to

00:12:12.080 come after me and save me and you know and and when you can paint that that picture for people

00:12:18.800 and so to address like moral relativism often what I'll do is I'll just say hey I want you to close

00:12:24.120 your eyes and uh and if I'm talking to somebody and I'll say I want you to take a good pointer finger

00:12:29.960 and I just all I want you to do right now you you've lived in this world for a long time I just

00:12:35.620 want you to point north and it's funny sometimes people will point straight up and you know they'll

00:12:42.120 try yeah no one in the history of doing that has pointed due north ever really I mean even someone

00:12:47.860 that points generally that direction if they're just a bit off you know if you if you go due north

00:12:54.480 you're going to hit Canada if you're just a bit off you won't I mean it's when you're talking about

00:12:59.920 traveling yeah a great length and so it's this same idea of like hey your truth can be that there's no

00:13:05.840 gravity and that you can fly but if you take that elevator to the 23rd floor and you jump off that

00:13:12.480 building no matter how hard you flap your arms the reality of gravity is going to overwhelm you and it's

00:13:19.280 not going to go well for you so if I come and say hey gravity is a real thing and you say hey that's

00:13:25.180 unloving because it's inconvenient right and I'm saying no I'm trying to save your life right I'm

00:13:31.280 trying to turn you from a way that leads to death the proverb says twice in there's a way that seems

00:13:36.260 right to someone but in the end it leads to death such a wise word for us that there's something that

00:13:42.360 feels right there's something that we sense is right but if we pursue that direction it's it can

00:13:50.140 lead to death and so our feelings are very very real but our feelings are not always reliable

00:13:55.520 they're they're certainly not the most most often not the most reliable thing that we say which is

00:14:00.740 counter to what culture would say when he says things like you know Selena Gomez the heart wants what

00:14:05.320 it wants or follow your heart listen to listen to your heart you know all these things that we've heard

00:14:10.880 on the radio and it's like well I really want something more reliable than my heart because

00:14:16.320 even if I look back on my dating relationships before marriage I'm like I you know my heart led

00:14:21.040 me into a lot of bad relationships and a lot of bad decisions so I really need to find something

00:14:26.040 more reliable or at least something that I can test it against yeah and this is I mean this is not a new

00:14:31.920 problem I know we talk about secular progressivism or moral relativism as if it's a phenomenon of this

00:14:38.160 generation and it's not it's obviously been written about for a long time I mean in some ways it goes

00:14:42.240 all the way back to the garden Eve did what felt good to her in the moment because she replaced the

00:14:48.240 God of scripture with the God of self which is the same thing that happens today but that temptation

00:14:54.220 doesn't end unfortunately even after we become Christian so we realize we're sinners we realize that sin is

00:15:01.180 bad that it's leading us to death that we've missed the mark that we need someone to wipe our slate

00:15:05.700 clean justify us before God we got all this stuff we understand the gospel now we have this new desire

00:15:12.800 to no longer sin to no longer be enslaved to that but to be enslaved to Christ and to pursue

00:15:17.900 righteousness and yet like why do we find ourselves still tripping up like why do I find myself losing

00:15:25.460 patience when I don't want to lose patience why do I find myself wanting to gossip when I know I would

00:15:31.040 not want to be gossiped about like tell us why do we do the things that we don't want to do even after

00:15:36.060 we become Christians some would say because you're not enough yeah gosh oh my goodness someone should

00:15:41.080 write a book about that it's brilliant good book about that uh is there's a question I've been asked

00:15:47.740 and even I've asked myself in in studies um we know that that the the Holy Spirit gives us a new heart

00:15:55.680 a heart of flesh not a heart of stone um that he lives with us and influences us toward that which

00:16:02.700 is good for us and and gives us life and so someone said well can we trust our regenerate heart and when

00:16:09.140 we talk about our heart we're not obviously not talking about the organ that pumps blood we're we're

00:16:12.720 talking about the gut the the moral compass of a person you know if your thoughts are stored in

00:16:17.620 your mind then your feelings are stored in in your heart and um I said well can we trust the

00:16:23.700 regenerate heart and and it's sure we can trust the spirit of God but the degenerate heart is always

00:16:30.180 with us under the sun meaning there's always going to be a part of our flesh no matter where we're at

00:16:36.420 in the sanctification process until we're glorified before God with Christ there's always going to be a

00:16:41.680 part of our flesh that the enemy can seek to entice us to to hurt us uh Satan understands that I mean I'm

00:16:49.520 crazy enough to to buy into this narrative that there is a God uh creator of all things father son

00:16:55.380 and holy spirit and and there's an enemy uh who is a demon and leads a demonic army and and we live

00:17:03.180 in this and it's not dualism it's not like they are uh equal and uh opposing forces God is the God of

00:17:10.340 even Satan he's sovereign he's in control and we're in the midst of and people don't like when I say this

00:17:15.580 but it helps me understand kind of a cosmic experiment of who and the scripture doesn't say

00:17:21.680 that word but it helps me understand it who are we going to worship are we going to go the way

00:17:26.880 of the little g god of this world the prince of this air or are we going to worship the creator the 0.95

00:17:31.600 heavens of the earth the one that we were made to be in relationship with and so this little g god

00:17:37.960 of this world Satan is going to appeal to our flesh in the same way that you know I can

00:17:44.280 bribe my three-year-old when I had a three-year-old and say hey if you eat that I'll take you if you

00:17:52.060 eat the broccoli I'll take you to get ice cream and that which they didn't want to do a second ago

00:17:57.160 they say okay I'm willing to do that well the enemy can work the same way he can say hey if you cheat

00:18:03.080 there I'll give you all of these things or or if you will compromise in that situation I will allow

00:18:09.720 you to experience this level of pleasure and we continue to fall for it just like Adam and Eve did

00:18:16.280 in the garden you know it's like hey certainly you will not die you will become like god uh you know

00:18:22.660 you will know all things you should eat of it it's it's delicious try it he's trying to keep good from

00:18:28.660 you it's the same lie that he will tell everyone who hears this right now today he's going to say

00:18:34.280 god is trying to withhold good from you and as my friend says he does not want to rip you off

00:18:41.940 he desires to set you free god does not desire to rip us off he wants to set us free and life is

00:18:47.340 always going to be found in him

00:18:48.520 i think that after you become a christian and after you've been a christian for a little while

00:19:04.040 you can almost trick yourself into thinking that you're not sinful or not as sinful as those other

00:19:09.300 people because maybe you're not committing the big sins like you know you're not you're not going to

00:19:12.740 commit adultery or you haven't committed adultery you're not you know getting drunk doing drugs things

00:19:18.100 like that and so you can kind of put on this appearance of holiness and even convince yourself

00:19:22.780 but then i think sometimes when we look even closer you're like what are the things i'm thinking

00:19:26.980 about like did i snap at my husband for no reason i mean those are just as much missing the mark

00:19:32.240 is those big things and like you talk about in your book not just getting rid of those big vices

00:19:37.540 but trading the vices for things that actually characterize even the things that we think and say

00:19:42.300 the so-called small sins humility forgiveness sobriety generosity diligence self-control authenticity

00:19:49.340 i'm interested to hear you explain that one rest optimism and gratitude so it's not enough just to say

00:19:56.280 okay we're going to try really really hard not to sin even with the power of the holy spirit

00:19:59.900 how do we pursue those things in every little thing that we think and do yeah john 10 10 says

00:20:07.020 the enemy comes to steal kill and destroy but i meaning jesus have come so that you might have

00:20:13.740 life and have it to the fullest i think we've taken that and reversed it and there's an entire

00:20:19.060 generation coming up saying well the church desires to steal kill and destroy they want to steal my fun

00:20:24.140 and kill my good time and and destroy the my relationships where i have you know experienced

00:20:31.480 this pleasure in and jesus came so that he would give us a bunch of rules i think that's how a lot

00:20:36.960 of young people look at religion christianity and the church in general and i said but that's not what

00:20:43.240 jesus said and he could have said anything right there and he's he's saying something really key he's

00:20:48.480 saying no i i've come to give you life like i think about the rich young ruler he had the opportunity

00:20:57.240 of a lifetime he could have been the 13th disciple he could have been someone we name our children

00:21:02.280 after like john you know or matthew yeah now we don't even know his name we don't even know his name

00:21:08.200 just three adjectives that describe him rich young and a ruler he's no longer rich he's no longer young

00:21:14.680 and he's not ruling anything right he missed out because he said hey this this this thing that's

00:21:20.840 gripping me is is too strong and so he's sitting there and he's like okay what do i what do i not

00:21:27.320 do what do i not do what do i not do and jesus is saying no this is what i'm calling you to follow me

00:21:34.360 i'm calling you to an abundant full life not not asking you to just not be prideful but i'm calling you

00:21:43.180 to humility not asking you just not to be greedy or materialistic i'm calling you to generosity

00:21:51.160 and when you you know what you know what's fun you know it's more fun than being greedy

00:21:55.020 being generous there's more life there and i think somewhere this message was was lost within the church

00:22:02.380 that jesus is not trying to steal your fun he's not trying to to to hurt your good time and in a lot

00:22:08.020 of ways he's trying to give you those things but it has to be we have to live this life with the

00:22:13.340 right mindset which is an eternal mindset that we're here for just a bit and then we're going to

00:22:17.740 be with god forever and ever and ever and ever and ever which is a really long time yeah tell me a

00:22:22.580 little bit more about authenticity this is a virtue that you say that we're supposed to

00:22:27.440 pursue i think there's good authenticity and bad authenticity so tell us kind of what you talk

00:22:33.160 about in your book yeah i want to hear your thoughts on bad authenticity but here's kind of

00:22:38.700 the heart behind that as the church is building in the book of acts the acts of the apostles you just

00:22:45.320 see this like powerful movement after acts two the holy spirit comes and and it's like three thousand

00:22:50.480 people were added to the number five thousand people are at peter preached the gospel peter preached

00:22:55.180 the the gospel and thousands gathered and the church is just growing in the momentum

00:22:59.320 like day after day is like thousands were added thousands were added thousands were added and you

00:23:04.020 get to acts chapter five and it's like someone slams on the brake they just like pull the parking brake

00:23:09.560 and there's this couple ananias and sapphira and what happens is they see barnabas sell some land

00:23:17.580 and get the money and bring it to the apostles feet and everybody claps and applauds and says oh man

00:23:23.080 barney he's the guy you know let's be like him and so ananias and sapphira they say hey we want that

00:23:28.600 we we want that a praise of man we want to feel that way and so let's sell a field let's bring the

00:23:35.100 money but let's hold some back for ourselves and says they lied i think the their their motive in

00:23:41.160 lying was an effort to manage perception right and and there's so many of us especially in the age of

00:23:48.400 social media where we're trying to manage what people think of us well this is this is different

00:23:54.340 than the level of authenticity that the scripture calls us to that we are children of the light that

00:23:59.880 we're to walk in the light that we're not to hide whoever whoever conceals their sin does not prosper

00:24:05.080 whoever hides their sin does not prosper and so a lot of times i think even today in in you know

00:24:11.280 the the 21st century i i think we think in terms of um i hear this word a lot in pastoral ministry

00:24:18.260 confidentiality confidentiality confidentiality confidentiality we we we want to experience

00:24:23.220 you know can i tell you this confidentially i think a lot of times by that word and not always

00:24:29.820 but often we mean secrecy uh hey there are things that i want to keep a secret that i and and what i

00:24:37.320 experience a lot ali in in pastoral ministry is someone says hey i i can't share my story

00:24:45.540 but what i see in revelation 12 is that the enemy is defeated by the blood of the lamb and the word of

00:24:52.920 our testimony and so if i'm satan what i'm going to try to get you to do is to not share your story

00:25:00.780 to not tell anyone those things and so that's what i mean by authenticity is to get to this place where

00:25:06.600 you're like hey this is who i am this is what i've done but it doesn't own me god set me free from

00:25:11.560 that and i'm going to be honest and i'm not going to manipulate people i'm not going to be like a um

00:25:16.640 you know a deceiver um a schemer yeah but i'm going to be honest yeah i think that's so true that we

00:25:23.800 curate our image and our appearance on social media and you can do that so well you can convince someone

00:25:29.440 that you are a completely different person than you actually are and god does free us because our

00:25:34.760 identity isn't in that it's not even in who we really are or how we feel it's in something better

00:25:40.300 um i talk about in my book the kind of trap of elevating authenticity and autonomy to your highest

00:25:49.000 values because like if you look at those words and just like the etymology of those words it's got that

00:25:54.140 auto in there which means self and so authenticity autonomy you're in charge of yourself you're being

00:25:59.300 yourself when those are your highest values when they're not submitted to obedience to christ then

00:26:05.040 they justify sin autonomy well i have bodily autonomy i can do whatever i want with my body

00:26:10.460 even if it means sacrificing my child authenticity well i'm just being myself and this is how i want

00:26:16.040 to identify this is what feels good this is what i'm going to follow so we're saying the same thing

00:26:20.500 that you have to submit authenticity and autonomy which can both be really good things

00:26:25.300 to christ in order for them to be virtues which i think is a you know you raise up a great point

00:26:33.700 in in an area i know we agree a ton on and i'm so thankful for your book uh for this reason is is

00:26:40.440 just the obsession with self right now and i think that's one of the reasons to go back to your first

00:26:45.420 question why we don't like to talk about sin yeah because we want to be our own god and that's what

00:26:51.300 made the devil the devil you know that that whole narrative he said hey i don't want to worship you

00:26:55.800 as god i want to be a god i want to be worshiped yeah you're right and i mean just as much as it was

00:27:03.120 a lie then it's a lie today and gosh he knew so much about the human heart that it's not really that

00:27:09.880 we just want to do things that feel good it's not really that we want that pleasure that's the kind

00:27:13.960 of thing that's in front of what is behind all sin is that we really want to be god it's not just a

00:27:20.140 lie either it's satanic and and again sometimes people are put off by that word but i mean it in

00:27:26.580 the most literal sense yeah like it is it is the desire and the emotion and the drive of satan like

00:27:35.580 he he doesn't like the opposite of worshiping god is not worshiping the devil the opposite of

00:27:42.080 worshiping god is worshiping yourself and that's what the enemy's after he's not trying to get you to

00:27:47.000 worship him he's trying to get you to worship you yeah you include this um you include this

00:27:52.580 quote by eugene peterson in your introduction and i just really love it this is from his book

00:27:57.740 a long obedience in the same direction sorry i'm reading a quote from someone else's book instead

00:28:01.940 of yours um there is a great market for religious experience in our world there's little enthusiasm

00:28:07.340 for the patient acquisition of virtue little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship

00:28:11.640 and what earlier generations of christians called holiness so there may even be a desire for salvation

00:28:18.860 i think sanctification is kind of what scares people away sometimes from christianity that's the hard

00:28:25.720 part that's the sacrifice why do you think that is yeah we want things quick and so we want we want

00:28:30.980 the fast like quick fix you know the microwavable uh christian life and we don't like the reality that

00:28:38.460 there are trials and tribulations situations and circumstances that the holy spirit can use to

00:28:44.300 conform us to the image and the character of his of jesus uh um i think that you know the scripture

00:28:53.140 says to discipline yourself for godliness well i don't like discipline i don't even enjoy being

00:28:59.780 disciplined uh the nature of discipline is is that you have to apply yourself what happens i think

00:29:05.940 often is we sit with the word and we don't enjoy it so we don't do it because if it doesn't feel good

00:29:12.400 it must be wrong and and this kind of uh goes against it's counterintuitive this to this idea

00:29:19.900 that no we're to do hard things like just because something's difficult doesn't mean it's wrong just

00:29:24.960 because it's it's hard and not enjoyable doesn't mean that it's the wrong thing and so that there is a

00:29:31.580 spiritual growth in the same i mean the physical uh metaphor works so well it's like to go into the

00:29:37.120 gym and to push up against things and to strain and to sweat produces something oh in the same way

00:29:44.340 uh godliness as we discipline ourselves for godliness we seek to understand the word uh we spend long

00:29:51.520 contemplative time and prayer you know i i think so often um we overestimate

00:29:58.580 what we can do with long obedience in the same direction i'm sorry we underestimate what we can

00:30:04.380 do with long obedience in the same direction and we overestimate just this kind of quick fix mentality

00:30:10.400 like hey what can i do tomorrow and i see that for sure in a generation i don't mean to attack it

00:30:16.380 you know gen z i'm very hopeful as i look at the future of the church but there are things that we have

00:30:21.700 to monitor and address and and work hard to change yeah we have to actively fight against all of the

00:30:28.540 things that the culture tells us our virtues because really like even me so i graduated from

00:30:33.720 high school in 2010 we started getting iphones and like you know 2008 we had myspace social media maybe

00:30:40.260 a middle school so even for my generation so much more for generation z everything really has been

00:30:46.440 about us everything i mean i had an about me section every you know valuable possession that

00:30:52.080 i owned had a little eye in front of it so everything has been centered on us our feelings

00:30:56.640 what disney princess are you what enneagram number are you everything is about us and so this idea that

00:31:02.420 no actually self-sacrifice is a good thing it's not something to avoid actually waiting for something

00:31:09.040 oh that's tough that's hard for me i'm used to just opening my amazon app and getting exactly what i

00:31:13.620 want tomorrow and so i mean that is something that maybe i know every generation in a lot of ways

00:31:19.580 like we deal with the same wickedness and the same evil and it's the same gospel the same holy spirit so

00:31:24.380 we can contend with these things but in some ways we do have unique challenges because we have to fight

00:31:29.660 so hard against this instant gratification culture that is just ubiquitous it's almost completely

00:31:36.380 inescapable we breathe yeah it's everywhere and and i i think we have to understand

00:31:41.980 that if if life is a movie you know we have a cameo man we are we are on the screen for three

00:31:51.260 seconds right it's not the movie's not about us right we can't go and leave and tell everyone's

00:31:56.920 like hey go see the movie it's about me i'm the star the whole movie it's no no no you have the whole

00:32:02.000 movie's about someone else and you have a cameo and really i think about the role john the baptist

00:32:09.560 played a lot he just pointed to someone greater than him and that's our role we're here for a

00:32:15.040 second and we're pointing to someone greater than us and that's a life well lived but what's the enemy

00:32:21.160 going to try to do is try to get no no no it's about you it's it's the i life

00:32:25.220 so we know that we keep sinning that we struggle with selfishness and all of these things even

00:32:40.540 after we are christians however it is possible to be free from some addictions and from some

00:32:47.820 sin patterns so i don't want people to hear us say well you're just going to sin no matter what just

00:32:51.640 pray about it it's possible to be free from your porn addiction free from your anger addiction

00:32:56.280 whatever it is right so that's my story right so i was a struggle with porn pornography you know it

00:33:03.240 wouldn't even said struggle i mean it wasn't a struggle i i had given myself to it uh i i was

00:33:09.620 enslaved to it when i and then and in sexual addiction but not just that i mean drug use alcoholism

00:33:15.480 uh materialism narcissism like all of those things marked my life and then i come i'm at a club 20

00:33:22.680 years ago and someone invited me to church i went hung over sat in the back row i smelt like smoke from

00:33:27.280 the night before and i start to wrestle with all right what do i really believe about god because

00:33:30.900 i always said i was a christian but i've always done what i wanted to do well now i'm in the church

00:33:35.440 i become i trust in jesus i believe upon him the holy spirit comes in my life and begins to to do this

00:33:41.360 makeover but it wasn't easy i mean some things were easy but i'll tell you i was able like drugs i was

00:33:47.020 able to pick up drugs set them down uh cussing like that went away overnight pornography no way like

00:33:54.580 it it grit me so strongly and i find that for a lot of people that that is an addiction that is

00:34:01.800 different like uniquely challenging to give up compared to other addictions yeah because because of the

00:34:07.660 accessible nature if if nothing else just the human mind how powerful it is so i don't have to go to

00:34:13.320 a dealer and score some heroin or ecstasy or no effort yeah it's it's all right here and so um

00:34:21.480 so i i had you know james 5 16 says to confess your sins to each other again and that's what i mean by

00:34:28.660 authenticity confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed for

00:34:33.440 the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective and so he's saying hey there's a there's

00:34:37.640 a healing that only comes by way of confession and prayer and not just your own prayer but having

00:34:43.620 others pray for you and uh yeah i would say there there is hope to anyone like i i've counseled hundreds

00:34:51.560 and hundreds and hundreds of people through addiction and i i and i i would say that i look back

00:34:57.940 on my own life and i was like man i i was really comparatively really enslaved to sin but i found

00:35:04.300 freedom and i say that to give you know your listeners hope wherever you're at step one raise

00:35:10.220 your hand say hey i need help i'm i'm not enough to overcome this i i need someone others to come in

00:35:16.920 and help me through this yeah and um this is something i ask some of my guests and i mean you've shared

00:35:23.040 it in a million different ways already during this episode but if you if someone's listening

00:35:28.300 because there are a lot of most people who listen they're christian women christian moms but there

00:35:32.600 are always people listening jewish muslim atheist maybe they think they're christian but they're 0.99

00:35:38.140 really not or they're scared to go to church what is the gospel yeah love it i love i love it you know

00:35:44.000 i would i would ask your listeners like there's a question i really like to reflect on and it's just this

00:35:49.880 if you know if i believe in heaven and hell i believe in eternal destination what do i think

00:35:55.520 how certain am i that i'm going to be with god forever and you can even put a percentage on that

00:36:00.620 am i 90 certain certain am i eight you know some people are like well i'm pretty certain i'm i'm 90

00:36:04.980 sure and uh and then i and then the second question is you reflect upon that listeners uh watchers

00:36:11.820 viewers the second question is um if i stood before god and he said why should i let you in

00:36:18.560 what would you say and so often we point to well because i went to church because i did good things

00:36:24.740 because i tried hard the gospel is the story of god getting his children back of god sending his son

00:36:33.820 jesus christ into this world as the representation of a human he's complete fully human fully god he lived

00:36:42.360 a perfect life for for 33 years he was completely innocent he did nothing wrong but they killed him

00:36:49.140 they crucified him uh humiliated on the side of a road nailed the two pieces of wood and that was a

00:36:56.820 payment for my sins god said hey it is finished my wrath my anger towards your sins is completely

00:37:05.740 satisfied on my son so i am free to just love you you do not eternally have to pay for your sins

00:37:13.540 they've been paid for the only thing that anybody can do in hell if you believe that there's only two

00:37:18.460 places the only thing that anybody can do in hell is pay for their sins forever so the only person who

00:37:24.660 doesn't go to hell is the person whose sins have been paid for and people say well that's really

00:37:29.300 that's really exclusive it's the most inclusive religion out there jesus with his arms out wide

00:37:35.340 says hey come this was for you you just have to trust in the payment i've set the money down on the

00:37:40.560 table you just have to pick it up it's like if i give somebody tickets to the to the cowboys game

00:37:46.560 and 50 yard line great tickets great seats and they go there to at&t stadium and they get stopped at

00:37:53.100 the gate and somebody says hey whoa whoa whoa why should we let you in they're gonna say because i have

00:37:57.520 tickets and if they say well did you pay for the tickets they're gonna say no they were a gift

00:38:02.140 that's heaven like god says well why should i let you in you shouldn't i'm a sinner but you paid my way

00:38:10.120 in through your son that's the good news you holy god paid my way in through your son jesus christ

00:38:18.160 and the same spirit that raised him from the dead lives with me or can live with me if i place my faith

00:38:24.100 in christ i can have access to the same spirit who raised christ from the dead to help me navigate

00:38:30.540 this world so that i'm not just relying on my heart i'm not just following my feelings but at every

00:38:36.120 every situation and every decision i'm saying all right lord what would you have me do how would you

00:38:41.360 have me respond what would you have me say how would you have me love and and he'll tell you he'll help

00:38:47.080 you in and through that so thank you and even the even the picking up the tickets we can't even take

00:38:53.920 credit for that even that the faith that it takes to pick up the tickets is actually a gift from god

00:38:58.800 as ephesians 2 tells us so even that is powered by the holy spirit we get to take credit for no part

00:39:04.820 of our salvation which is comforting i'm so glad that i don't get to take credit for it because then

00:39:10.380 i'm afraid that i'll mess it up yeah whereas by grace you have been saved through faith this is

00:39:15.500 not of yourself it's the gift of god not by works so no one can boast yep and my last question so

00:39:24.040 really we have to we have to finish it's a very serious question and i have never i've never met

00:39:30.060 someone with this but i've been i've seen it on social media i've seen pictures of it i've been

00:39:34.480 waiting for someone to see someone with a mullet and you have one you have a mullet and i've seen

00:39:43.040 a lot of the young folk i'm old i'm 31 it's kind of a baby so it's a little bit but it's it has been

00:39:49.520 a full-blown mullet has it not no no i'm trying i'm trying to get there i'm like oh you're working

00:39:55.160 on it direction you're working is it called flow did people still call it that is that what it is

00:40:00.660 so monica hated it and then and so i really like this week i was gonna go and and just go back to

00:40:07.280 the old school fade and and then the day before she goes you know i kind of like your curls and i'm

00:40:13.360 like all right that's all i needed okay that's all you needed now you can just grow it out so we're

00:40:17.680 gonna yeah we're gonna see where it goes it's pretty amazing how trends happen i didn't know

00:40:21.560 what you were gonna say i was like where is she what does she see on social media i think you're the

00:40:25.360 first guest on relatable with a mullet so it's an honor hey well thank you so much hey pastor in

00:40:32.900 the front college student in the back i like it i like it jp thanks so much everyone go out and get

00:40:38.860 his book why do i do what i don't want to do the question that all of us are constantly asking

00:40:44.540 ourselves it's out now it's out it got out yesterday went out yesterday so amazon all that

00:40:49.460 good stuff come on anywhere books are sold all right thank you so much thank you friend i appreciate

00:40:52.740 you so much okay guys hope you enjoyed that conversation reminders we talked about yesterday

00:41:08.460 new set next week new stuff new music new merch a giveaway and i've got an announcement it's going

00:41:15.460 to be a great episode i think it's going to be next monday i am a little bit hesitant to make that

00:41:20.160 promise because we've got a lot to get done in the next few days i think we're going to do it but

00:41:23.720 definitely sometime next week now i've already gotten a disappointed message from at least one

00:41:29.140 of you probably there's more of these than i've seen but i know some of you are sad that we're changing

00:41:34.420 the music because you and your kids like this particular message was like my toddler and i dance

00:41:39.520 to this music every day i know look that makes me sad too but i do think that it's time for a refresh so

00:41:46.740 you'll be able to dance to the new music too now if y'all absolutely hate it if you're like that is

00:41:51.880 the worst music that i've ever heard then you can let me know now also just understand that you might

00:41:57.560 you're not going to like it at first because it's going to be an adjustment but really try to think if

00:42:02.500 you like the new stuff that we have and then i'll take i'll take your feedback i'll take it under

00:42:07.480 advisement um all right that's all we've got time for today we will be back oh i'm excited about

00:42:12.580 tomorrow's episode tomorrow's episode is going to be a big one um all right i'll see you guys then

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - March 15, 2023

Ep 771 ｜＂Why Do I Keep Sinning？＂｜ Guest： Jonathan Pokluda

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - March 15, 2023

Ep 771 ｜ ＂Why Do I Keep Sinning？＂ ｜ Guest： Jonathan Pokluda

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Ep 771 ｜＂Why Do I Keep Sinning？＂｜ Guest： Jonathan Pokluda