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First up in today’s episode, we tackle the topic of Singleness. Often, without realizing it, the church can become very marriage and family-centered – to the point where singles in our midst can feel like they’re somehow less than what they should be. Aidan, CJ, and Pastor Matthew talk about how we can be mindful of singles – and that doesn’t mean setting them up!

In the second segment, Pastor Rob and Pastor Matthew look at some “misused” Bible verses – verses that get taken out of context or quoted as though they say one thing when they actually might say something different than we think.

If you have a question or a suggestion for something you’d like to hear us talk about, let us know with an email to media@stmatthewgr.com.

Transcript
Matthew Starner:

welcome back to Everyday disciples, I'm Pastor

Matthew Starner:

Matthew. Thanks for joining us today as we explore how our

Matthew Starner:

faith and everyday life intersect. First up on today's

Matthew Starner:

episode, we tackle the topic of singleness. Often without

Matthew Starner:

realizing it, the church can become very marriage and family

Matthew Starner:

centered to the point where the singles in our midst can feel

Matthew Starner:

like they're somehow less than what they should be. Aiden, CJ,

Matthew Starner:

and I talk about how we can be mindful of singles in our midst.

Matthew Starner:

And know that doesn't mean just setting them up. In a second

Matthew Starner:

segment, Pastor Rob, and I look at some misused Bible verses,

Matthew Starner:

those verses that get taken out of context or quoted as though

Matthew Starner:

they mean one thing when they actually might mean something a

Matthew Starner:

little bit different than what we think all this and more head

Matthew Starner:

on everyday disciples.

Matthew Starner:

Well, once again, I'm sitting here with Aiden and CJ, let's

Matthew Starner:

talk a little bit about faith and life coming together here in

Matthew Starner:

another topic that the three of us I think, are maybe uniquely

Matthew Starner:

situated to talk about. And that's we, you know, we had a

Matthew Starner:

brainstorming session a little while back where we, we had a

Matthew Starner:

whole bunch of topics and this was one that I think all of us

Matthew Starner:

kind of resonated with, was this topic of singleness in the

Matthew Starner:

church. All three of us here, not married. And we've all maybe

Matthew Starner:

had, I don't know what the experiences you guys have had as

Matthew Starner:

a single person in the church now. I'm a little bit older than

Matthew Starner:

you guys. And at my age being a single guy, people start start

Matthew Starner:

to go like, Oh, something's wrong with him. He's broken. And

Aidan Hunt:

which isn't true. Matthew. Starner is a catch and

Aidan Hunt:

a half. I should find that out right now. This man in the row

Aidan Hunt:

mercy Yeah. Oh, my God. Hope diamond in the rough even. Keep

Aidan Hunt:

that in Adam.

Matthew Starner:

So I don't know what experiences you guys have

Matthew Starner:

had, like, I know growing up in the church, and being around all

Matthew Starner:

sorts of because because churches predominantly married

Matthew Starner:

people just always seems like wherever you go. Before long as

Matthew Starner:

especially even coming here to St. Matthew, where I'm at now.

Matthew Starner:

It didn't take too long for people to realize like, oh,

Matthew Starner:

you're a single guy. Well, I've gotten I've got a nice I've got

Matthew Starner:

a granddaughter, I've got the like the list just started

Matthew Starner:

appearing. I had people who wanted to give my number to

Matthew Starner:

people like I met them one time. And they already wanted to give

Matthew Starner:

give me give give numbers to me or my number away to somebody

Matthew Starner:

and it's like, Okay, we're ready to hook you up. Because we can't

Matthew Starner:

have any single people around here. So it must be wrong if

Matthew Starner:

you're single. I've no one has ever said that. To me. I've

Matthew Starner:

never gotten that verbatim from somebody if you guys ever

Matthew Starner:

experienced something similar you have you guys have similar

Matthew Starner:

stories or how has it been being a single person in the church

Matthew Starner:

for you guys?

CJ Geluso:

Well, a few years ago, it kind of when I started

CJ Geluso:

getting on pastor Rob's radar, he tried to introduce me to

CJ Geluso:

every single girl around my age and the church just every Sunday

CJ Geluso:

after church, JC Yeah, come here. Come here. Come here.

CJ Geluso:

We're gonna go meet this person.

Matthew Starner:

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that that

Matthew Starner:

Pastor Rob did that too.

CJ Geluso:

Yeah, so that went on for over a year, too.

Aidan Hunt:

So when I got hired here, I remember, Matt, I think

Aidan Hunt:

it was you gave me the warning of like, Hey, I think I did a

Aidan Hunt:

blog on this. So I was

Matthew Starner:

here when I when I had my announcements at

Matthew Starner:

staff. To which one have I done more than one? So for a little

Matthew Starner:

while at staff, we we filled out sort of like an updates thing as

Matthew Starner:

part of the agenda. And on mine, I think it was after a time when

Matthew Starner:

Pastor Rob had he was he was all like, ready to go to have me

Matthew Starner:

married with off to somebody. And on my staff update sheet. I

Matthew Starner:

just put one up I did wasn't going to talk about it. Just one

Matthew Starner:

little bullet point that just said, I am I think I said like

Matthew Starner:

I'm perfectly content with my relationship status, no

Matthew Starner:

intervention is necessary. And that turned into a whole thing

Matthew Starner:

at staff. One time that might

Aidan Hunt:

have been before I was performing. I wish I was

Matthew Starner:

because everybody saw it on the sheet

Matthew Starner:

and they were like, Okay, we got to talk about this.

Aidan Hunt:

What is what is Matthew bride price? I think I'm

Aidan Hunt:

broke, Adam. So when I first started working here, I think

Aidan Hunt:

Matt, you gave me that warning. And I think I kind of just

Aidan Hunt:

played my cards close to my chest like I was new to town I

Aidan Hunt:

just get like just graduated college a month before had just

Aidan Hunt:

gotten out of the long term of this ship like a year and a half

Aidan Hunt:

before. So I was like I'm not really in the in the space to

Aidan Hunt:

like, de superseries right now especially like I don't want to

Aidan Hunt:

get set up with people in the church. I have feelings about

Aidan Hunt:

setting people up and like that's a whole other podcast

Aidan Hunt:

segment. But yeah, it was kind of prepared and I think you gave

Aidan Hunt:

me a good warning. So I I've gotten a few not as many as you

Aidan Hunt:

but I think I've kind of kept not people at arm's length, but

Aidan Hunt:

I think I've kept that conversation pretty distant. And

Aidan Hunt:

I'm gonna keep Keep it that way, especially now.

Matthew Starner:

It's always a challenge because you know,

Matthew Starner:

people mean, well, yeah. And it's always, at least in my

Matthew Starner:

experience, it's always coming from people who are married. And

Matthew Starner:

so you'll clearly they see the value of it. And we do sort of,

Matthew Starner:

I think, in our culture today have this today, I always have

Matthew Starner:

this sort of image that marriage is an ideal to strive for.

Matthew Starner:

That's, that's part of the American dream, right? It's the

Matthew Starner:

house, it's the marriage, it's the 2.5 kids and the dog and the

Matthew Starner:

cat, the minivan that goes along with it or whatever. Like,

Matthew Starner:

that's just part of that picture of what we think of life being.

Matthew Starner:

And yet, there are a lot of people in life who, for one

Matthew Starner:

reason or another, just don't ever get married. And the church

Matthew Starner:

can be a place where that's okay. Where that doesn't have to

Matthew Starner:

be a weird thing. So maybe that's the first thing the first

Matthew Starner:

first suggestion that I would have for folks is get to know

Matthew Starner:

someone before you before you try to set them up, before you

Matthew Starner:

start handing out phone numbers and, and lining up blind dates

Matthew Starner:

and those sorts of things to know whether whether or not

Matthew Starner:

that's something that somebody is actually looking for wood

Matthew Starner:

welcome.

Aidan Hunt:

Pardon me kind of thinks it was actually a recent

Aidan Hunt:

conversation with a friend of mine. But like, a lot of

Aidan Hunt:

churches don't know what to do with the single people. Because

Aidan Hunt:

it's like, you can't be part of like the marriage small group,

Aidan Hunt:

you can't be in the single single small group is always

Aidan Hunt:

just like, Okay, if we're banking, all of them, dating

Aidan Hunt:

events, right each other. But then we also like, they have to

Aidan Hunt:

go to the young adults ministry, but they're not young adults

Aidan Hunt:

anymore. And they don't like and it's it's this weird thing of

Aidan Hunt:

like, they don't know how to minister to these people. But

Aidan Hunt:

it's very clear. It's just like, oh, yeah, you're supposed to

Aidan Hunt:

treat them as image bearers just like everybody else. But it's,

Aidan Hunt:

it's come to this point where it's like your second string, if

Aidan Hunt:

you're not married, and like, why is that the case? Because

Aidan Hunt:

Paul was single, maybe have been, you could make the

Aidan Hunt:

argument. Was he a widower? That's a whole other I've heard

Aidan Hunt:

that argument. by Paul, a single Jesus of Nazareth, right was a

Aidan Hunt:

single guy. Yeah, the ideal human.

Matthew Starner:

Yeah. Who in every way lived a full life and

Matthew Starner:

was fully human in ways that we even because of the the sin that

Matthew Starner:

impedes us, we are not fully human. Jesus was single. And so

Matthew Starner:

I mean, we can we can, we can talk about how marriage and

Matthew Starner:

family are one ideal. How singleness can be another ideal

Matthew Starner:

and that they don't have to be competing. You know, I don't

Matthew Starner:

think they're competing values at all. As if one is better than

Matthew Starner:

another. I know married people who, who, who say, man, you

Matthew Starner:

know, there's some appeal to being single and then and single

Matthew Starner:

people who man just want so bad to be married. And so some of

Matthew Starner:

that is just you know, figuring out as a single person. Which

Matthew Starner:

which camp Do you fall in? Is this is this something that you

Matthew Starner:

are embracing that you maybe feel feel called to or feel that

Matthew Starner:

this is what God has for you right now and you're okay with

Matthew Starner:

that? Are you someone who you know, is just me and I can't

Matthew Starner:

wait for that day that I'm married. You know, figuring that

Matthew Starner:

out and, and, you know, maybe talking through that with

Matthew Starner:

Christian people around you and friends and people that you look

Matthew Starner:

up to, to kind of sort that out.

Aidan Hunt:

I love this quote. We read a book in youth group

Aidan Hunt:

last year called Love ology by John Mark comer. And this is a

Aidan Hunt:

great quote on his in the whole chapter about singleness where

Aidan Hunt:

it says this life doesn't start. When you get married, it starts

Aidan Hunt:

the second you fold your story in the larger kingdom and follow

Aidan Hunt:

Jesus forward. And I just think the most important decision you

Aidan Hunt:

make in your life is not am I going to get married, or it's

Aidan Hunt:

not even when you say I do, the most important day of your life

Aidan Hunt:

is the day you decide I'm going to follow Jesus of Nazareth as

Aidan Hunt:

my Lord and Savior, and I'm going to live my life for him.

Aidan Hunt:

My one like this is unrelated to that. But my one piece of

Aidan Hunt:

advice, as just as a follower of Jesus is married people, like be

Aidan Hunt:

friends with single people in the church, single people be

Aidan Hunt:

friends of married people in the church, the married people can't

Aidan Hunt:

just hang out with other married people in school people can just

Aidan Hunt:

say, Oh, they're single people, like, there's so much beauty and

Aidan Hunt:

joy, and just the body of Christ being made up of such a just

Aidan Hunt:

very different and diverse group of people who all just bear the

Aidan Hunt:

image of God in very different ways. And so don't limit your

Aidan Hunt:

friends to who is the same relationship statuses you like,

Aidan Hunt:

gosh, make friends with with your congregation isn't anyway

Aidan Hunt:

and that's exactly the point that I wanted to bring up was

Aidan Hunt:

that you know, the church. One of the metaphors and there's a

Aidan Hunt:

lot of different metaphors that get used for the church in

Aidan Hunt:

Scripture, but one of one of the best ones for this is that a

Aidan Hunt:

family the church is a family And this is the place that

Aidan Hunt:

church should be the place for all the single people among us

Aidan Hunt:

to feel like this is their family, or can be for the place

Aidan Hunt:

for you know, the couple who maybe wants kids but can't have

Aidan Hunt:

kids for one reason or another.

Matthew Starner:

Or that like the the retired couple whose

Matthew Starner:

grandkids don't live around here, like for this to be the

Matthew Starner:

place that feels like family for them, the kids of the church

Matthew Starner:

here are in an extension their kids or their grandkids or their

Matthew Starner:

their nieces and nephews that they kind of get to, to walk

Matthew Starner:

along with and feel like we're all family here. And I know, you

Matthew Starner:

know, different churches do that better than others. There's

Matthew Starner:

dynamics of size, and all that sort of stuff that come into

Matthew Starner:

play, in how many people you can know and have good relationships

Matthew Starner:

with, but to always be on the lookout for, who can I who can I

Matthew Starner:

be a friend to here at church? Single are not? What what, what

Matthew Starner:

do they need? How can I come alongside them as a brother or

Matthew Starner:

sister in Christ and support them and walk alongside with

Matthew Starner:

them.

CJ Geluso:

I had a youth pastor when I was younger, explained to

CJ Geluso:

me kind of like running that race of life for Christ. And how

CJ Geluso:

you kind of consistently want to be at a full on Sprint towards

CJ Geluso:

Jesus, if that makes sense. And then he told me, you'll know who

CJ Geluso:

your spouse is, when you look to your right, or you look to your

CJ Geluso:

left as you're running that full sprint, and that female is what

CJ Geluso:

is there with you running that sprint, if that makes sense. And

CJ Geluso:

so I don't think it's a do or die thing to get married or not.

CJ Geluso:

I mean, a couple weeks ago, we talked about knowing God's will.

CJ Geluso:

And we talked about a blueprint. And essentially it's, it's it's

CJ Geluso:

your choice to make, um, it's part of your blueprint. That's

CJ Geluso:

part of the gift from God and freewill. So that's, that's my

CJ Geluso:

look at look on it.

Matthew Starner:

Yeah, no, and I think I think that's, that's

Matthew Starner:

really good to remember that. Connecting that back with what

Matthew Starner:

yeah, what we talked about a couple weeks that, does God want

Matthew Starner:

me to be married? Or Does God care more about who I am as a

Matthew Starner:

spouse or who I am as a single person wherever I am. That's

Matthew Starner:

what God cares about. So I guess, I guess our message to

Matthew Starner:

the the married folks out there is don't feel like you have to

Matthew Starner:

set up all the signal people you know,

CJ Geluso:

and single people just continue to run that race

CJ Geluso:

for clip for Christ. Remember what our calling is and who we

CJ Geluso:

are, what our identity is, and and where we find that peace?

Matthew Starner:

Well, good. This has been a good, good

Matthew Starner:

conversation. And again, I hope it I hope it helps you look at

Matthew Starner:

the people that you do worship with and do life with around

Matthew Starner:

church, or wherever you find yourself to kind of open your

Matthew Starner:

eyes a little bit to those around you.

Matthew Starner:

Alright, welcome back for another segment here on everyday

Matthew Starner:

disciples. I'm sitting here talking with Pastor Rob. Today

Matthew Starner:

we're looking at the topic of misused Bible verses. I thought

Matthew Starner:

that'd be an interesting one to get your take on some of these

Matthew Starner:

pastor Rob. verses that people love to kind of throw around as

Matthew Starner:

like a life verse, or, you know, we're coming up on a

Matthew Starner:

confirmation season here at church, as kids are picking

Matthew Starner:

their confirmation verses, verses that mean a lot to

Matthew Starner:

people. And I've always sort of, on one hand loved Like, like,

Matthew Starner:

breaking people's hearts when it comes to like that verse doesn't

Matthew Starner:

mean it really means. Now, that's not just to leave it

Matthew Starner:

there. But like it actually means something better than

Matthew Starner:

damage gains. So I'm not like a psychopath or anything, but so I

Matthew Starner:

thought maybe we would share a few of those that versus that

Matthew Starner:

people like to, like get thrown around, usually a verse like a

Matthew Starner:

single verse pulled out of context sort of that, that we

Matthew Starner:

think means something. But really, I think it means

Matthew Starner:

something better than that. And when as soon as I mentioned the

Matthew Starner:

topic to you, you had one right off the top of your head. So how

Matthew Starner:

about we start with yours?

Rob Appold:

Okay, well, the one that came to my immediate mind,

Rob Appold:

but when you said confirmation verse, there's and will chime in

Rob Appold:

on that. But the one that came into my mind was first

Rob Appold:

Corinthians 10, verse 13, and it talks about God bringing relief

Rob Appold:

to us or God giving us a way out. Okay, that's the that's the

Rob Appold:

part people latch on to, but it talks about and if you I'll read

Rob Appold:

it out loud here. It says No temptation has overtaken you

Rob Appold:

that is not common to man. God is faithful. He will not let you

Rob Appold:

be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will

Rob Appold:

provide the way of escape so that you may be able to endure

Rob Appold:

it. And this I'm not sure the mental jump that happens in

Rob Appold:

people, but they apply it to Have a problem in life that

Rob Appold:

they're facing. And you can bear up under this problem. So the

Matthew Starner:

way that I usually hear this one get get

Matthew Starner:

taken is to mean that usually it's it gets rephrased as God

Matthew Starner:

won't give you more than you can. Yes. Right. And this is the

Matthew Starner:

verse they point to to back that up that God won't ever give you

Matthew Starner:

more than you can handle. So whatever you're going through,

Matthew Starner:

like God must think you can handle it.

Rob Appold:

So which isn't crushing for a person who's

Rob Appold:

right, you know, over, burdened,

Matthew Starner:

right. But when you're and I love to bring up

Matthew Starner:

this verse for folks, because like when you go to the

Matthew Starner:

beginning of First Corinthians where we're at the beginning of

Matthew Starner:

Second Corinthians, where we're Paul is saying, like, look,

Matthew Starner:

we've been through all this bad stuff, like we thought we were

Matthew Starner:

going to die. Oh, there were so much that we were oppressed by,

Matthew Starner:

we really fully expected to die, which sure doesn't sound like

Matthew Starner:

God thought I could handle it. You know, we relied on God

Matthew Starner:

through this. He's the one who got us through it. And so

Matthew Starner:

clearly, Paul is not echoing those words that God won't give

Matthew Starner:

you more than you can handle because Paul got more than he

Matthew Starner:

could handle

Rob Appold:

right? on his own. And the whole context is he's

Rob Appold:

talking about the children of Israel and their walk through

Rob Appold:

the desert, which was an abject failure for them. Yes, they

Rob Appold:

succumb to temptation at every turn. But he is he's telling him

Rob Appold:

you can you can withstand temptation, because you're

Rob Appold:

standing in Christ. That's where the relief will come.

Matthew Starner:

Right. Yeah, this is clearly talking about

Matthew Starner:

temptation. Not not just struggles that we're going

Matthew Starner:

through, but temptation. And I love you know that with the

Matthew Starner:

temptation, he will provide a way of escape. So not a way to

Matthew Starner:

not a way to push through or power through the temptation,

Matthew Starner:

but a way to get away from it.

Rob Appold:

Yeah. And maybe it's just, you know, the MIS use is

Rob Appold:

just the last, what six words there, you may not be able to

Rob Appold:

endure, so that you may be able to endure it. And maybe that's

Rob Appold:

what people are just, I can I can endure this right? Or God

Rob Appold:

won't give me more than I can handle.

Matthew Starner:

Right? Which takes me to the the next

Rob Appold:

well, can I just add one more thing. And the Bible's

Rob Appold:

full of people who who are crying out to God, I can't

Rob Appold:

handle this for romance. And, you know, the Psalm 40. are all

Aidan Hunt:

just God,

Rob Appold:

I need. So very good. But yeah, we can go to

Matthew Starner:

the IC, which brings me to the first one that

Matthew Starner:

came to mind for me and I was talking, I led a few weeks ago,

Matthew Starner:

the the sixth grader confirmation class here. And we

Matthew Starner:

talked about this very verse Philippians, 413. I told them,

Matthew Starner:

and so maybe you can, you can prove me right here that that at

Matthew Starner:

least one of the eighth graders has this as their confirmation

Matthew Starner:

verse. I was like, I can guarantee you one of those kids

Matthew Starner:

in there has chosen this as their verse because it's such a

Matthew Starner:

popular one. That just simply says I can do all things through

Matthew Starner:

Him who strengthens me. And I think a lot of times, we know

Matthew Starner:

I'm not accusing any of the confirmation kids of doing this.

Matthew Starner:

But I in popular culture, we pull a verse like this out,

Matthew Starner:

especially when you're like in high school, and you think I can

Matthew Starner:

do all things through Him with strings, so I can ace that test.

Matthew Starner:

Because Jesus is going to let me do I can make more free throws

Matthew Starner:

than anybody else on the team, I can, you know, run faster or get

Matthew Starner:

a better time and then than anybody else, because Jesus is

Matthew Starner:

the one who strengthens me. And so when I talked to the sixth

Matthew Starner:

graders about that we kind of we looked at this and said, Okay,

Matthew Starner:

so is that what this is really saying? Yeah. And I love when

Matthew Starner:

you look at the context of it. You know, Paul has come through

Matthew Starner:

talking about in just the verses immediately preceding the the

Matthew Starner:

concern that the Philippians had for him. He says, You're not,

Matthew Starner:

not that I'm speaking of being in need right now. But I've

Matthew Starner:

learned that whatever situation I'm in to be content, I know

Matthew Starner:

what it is to be brought low. I know what it is to a bound. In

Matthew Starner:

every circumstance. I've learned the secret of facing plenty

Matthew Starner:

facing hunger, facing abundance and need so like, Paul's not

Matthew Starner:

talking about going out and doing tremendous things because

Matthew Starner:

of Jesus. He's saying I can I can face whatever comes my way

Matthew Starner:

because of Jesus so I can endure suffering because of Jesus. Now,

Matthew Starner:

I don't think many people probably not many confirmation,

Matthew Starner:

students are saying, No, I can handle the suffering that's

Matthew Starner:

going to come my way because of Jesus. Which I think and I pose

Matthew Starner:

this to the sixth graders, and they agreed, I think This is a

Matthew Starner:

better understanding of this verse like to say that, you

Matthew Starner:

know, it's not about me doing great things, but it's about me

Matthew Starner:

being able to go through whatever fazes me, because of

Matthew Starner:

Jesus,

Rob Appold:

and I'm gonna do the things that God would want me to

Rob Appold:

do, no matter what the external circumstances are. Mm hmm.

Rob Appold:

Because God will strengthen me. But you're right, we'll have

Rob Appold:

this verse in one of our confirmational I'm sure and have

Rob Appold:

had

Matthew Starner:

I bet there I bet I know another one. Jeremiah

Matthew Starner:

2911 Is that going to be one of them?

Rob Appold:

I'm not sure but okay. Definitely been used. So

Rob Appold:

that's

Matthew Starner:

that's another one of those verses that I think

Matthew Starner:

it's can get misused by some folks. Jeremiah 2911 Which which

Matthew Starner:

says For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD plans

Matthew Starner:

for welfare and not for evil plan to give you plans to give

Matthew Starner:

you a hope and a future what one that everybody loves to hold on

Matthew Starner:

to and and like, those are some great words from God plans to

Matthew Starner:

prosper you prance plans to give you a hope for the future. But,

Matthew Starner:

but what I always try to remember remind people is Who's

Matthew Starner:

he talking to? What what's the context of those words, put it

Matthew Starner:

put it into, into its place? And so, Pastor Rob, you remember the

Matthew Starner:

context of what's going on there.

Rob Appold:

Definitely written to the people of the exiles

Rob Appold:

coming back, isn't it?

Matthew Starner:

To them when they're getting there, isn't it?

Matthew Starner:

Oh, when they're getting there, or who are in Excel now? I think

Matthew Starner:

Yeah, cuz if you back up to like around verse four and five, so

Rob Appold:

Oh, yeah, it's Jeremiah die heading is Jeremiah

Rob Appold:

is letter letter to the exiles.

Matthew Starner:

And like in verse five, so he's so this is

Matthew Starner:

the word of the Lord, to the exiles, you know, build houses

Matthew Starner:

and live in and plant gardens and eat their produce takes

Matthew Starner:

wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your

Matthew Starner:

sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons

Matthew Starner:

and daughters multiply their do not decrease. So like you are

Matthew Starner:

being carried off in exile, get comfortable, because you're

Matthew Starner:

gonna be there a while. You're not coming home anytime soon.

Rob Appold:

And serve there, instead of pining about, you

Rob Appold:

know, if I only could get back to Jerusalem, then I could

Rob Appold:

really serve

Matthew Starner:

rod, right? And he's saying, No, do that. Now.

Matthew Starner:

Do that where you are. Because you're, you're often exile and

Matthew Starner:

it's not going to end anytime soon. That skipping down a

Matthew Starner:

little bit to verse 10. For us as the Lord when 70 years are

Matthew Starner:

complete for Babylon, I'll visit you and I will fulfill my

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promise to bring you back to this place. So you are being

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carried away nouns for 70 years settle in. And then it goes on

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to the for I know, the plans I have for you. And so it's in

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context, it's a reminder to the people of Israel being carried

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off in exile. God's got a bigger plan in mind here, but it's

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gonna take 70 years, 70 years. And you know, some of you may

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not make it back. So have kids and get them married off because

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them or their kids are going to be coming back. And when you

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when you look at it in that context, wow. I mean, that's,

Matthew Starner:

that's a little bit different than, like, I'm going to have a

Matthew Starner:

perfect future because God loves me.

Rob Appold:

Right. And I should, I should have this perfect

Rob Appold:

future in my reality right now. Otherwise, I'm somewhere outside

Rob Appold:

of God's will. And goddess, I know, it's going to be seven

Rob Appold:

years, some of you will never make it back. I like verse seven

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out of that, chapter two. And I think it has a lot of

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ramifications, because, you know, we live in a world that I

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think, in our brokenness, we'd say, we should kick it out of

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here, right? Wish I could leave. God says to those who were in

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exile, seek the welfare of the city, where I have sent you into

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exile and God did it. Right. And pray to the Lord on its behalf

Rob Appold:

for in its welfare, you will find your welfare, huh? Yeah.

Rob Appold:

And when we serve our community, we're we are benefiting not get

Rob Appold:

away from our culture. I did think of another one if you're

Rob Appold:

Yes, yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say one other was have you this one

Rob Appold:

is more of a pastor one, but maybe people who have read

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leadership books, there's the it's from Proverbs and I not

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going to find the verse. And you'd have to go through the

Rob Appold:

King James version because the King James says, without a

Rob Appold:

vision, the people perish. Have you heard that used? And it's

Rob Appold:

designed to tell pastors, you need a vision for your

Rob Appold:

congregation, and come up with your B hags big, hairy,

Rob Appold:

audacious goals though Word, you know, and those are all great.

Rob Appold:

No, I'm not knocking that at all. However, that's not what

Rob Appold:

that verse means. The vision there is.

Matthew Starner:

Proverbs 2918 is the verse there? Yeah.

Rob Appold:

And what do you what is it in? Do you have? What

Rob Appold:

translation? Do I got the ESV pulled up here? Okay, what does

Rob Appold:

that say?

Matthew Starner:

Oh, wow, the ESV renders this a little

Matthew Starner:

differently where there is no prophetic vision. The people

Matthew Starner:

cast off restraint

Rob Appold:

there. Yeah. And the point was that I was going to

Rob Appold:

make is, yes, this is that not the vision of man, but without

Rob Appold:

the vision of God without the prophetic vision, people will

Rob Appold:

perish or languish. And yeah, but through off restraint,

Rob Appold:

they're all going to go their own way. Right? Which is not a

Rob Appold:

good thing. You don't want people doing their own thing.

Matthew Starner:

Well, how about we look at one more here?

Matthew Starner:

Another one that our culture likes to throw around a whole

Matthew Starner:

lot? And that's Matthew chapter seven. Oh, thank you. Seven,

Matthew Starner:

seven, verse one, I believe, okay. Yeah, seven, verse one,

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everybody loves to throw this verse around. It's probably the

Matthew Starner:

most quoted verse in like, all of our culture, and it's simply

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judge not that you not be judged. Mm hmm. Man, people love

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to, to quote that today. usually use this like, Who are you to

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tell me what I should or shouldn't be doing? Or, or, and

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nobody can

Rob Appold:

say, this is right, this is wrong, because, hey,

Rob Appold:

that's being judgmental. Yep.

Matthew Starner:

Which if there's anything our culture

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hates, it's being judgmental. Even though I guess that's a

Matthew Starner:

judgement statement in and of itself to, to do that. But when

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we look at the context of this one, I this is where I just you

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know, Jesus is such a masterful teacher. So, Jesus, these are

Matthew Starner:

Jesus words all in red here and my Bible judge not that you not

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be judged. And then he goes on, for with the judgment you

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pronounce, you will be judged with the measure that you use,

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and we measured. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye,

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but you don't notice the log in your own eyes? So you know,

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there's all this hypocritical stuff going on? How can you say

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to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when

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there's a log in your own eye? You hypocrite. This is where

Matthew Starner:

Jesus like, does this nice pivot, you hypocrite, first take

Matthew Starner:

the log out of your own eye, then you'll see clearly to take

Matthew Starner:

the speck out of your brother's eye. So first deal with your

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own, then you can judge. So like, Don't Judge Jesus says,

Matthew Starner:

but then he goes on and says, Here's how to judge Mm hmm. And

Matthew Starner:

I just love that because he, he kind of puts he holds the whole

Matthew Starner:

chair in your tracks for a moment. But then tells us like,

Matthew Starner:

we are supposed to judge we're supposed to help our brother

Matthew Starner:

take that speck out of their eye. You can't do that without

Matthew Starner:

judging, but he's going against that hypocritical, self

Matthew Starner:

righteous judge at the point where I just ignore what's going

Matthew Starner:

on in my life. And I just look at you.

Rob Appold:

And he clearly is, I mean, verses 15. Same section.

Rob Appold:

He's talking about, yeah. Discerning, teaching and

Rob Appold:

discerning, you know, right from wrong or truths from error.

Matthew Starner:

Right? How are you going to tell a false

Matthew Starner:

teacher from a true teacher, you have to judge them. You have to

Matthew Starner:

judge their teaching. So yeah, it's, it is one of those, we'd

Matthew Starner:

like to look at that little bit in a vacuum. And so maybe

Matthew Starner:

that's, that's the kind of the thing to pull away from all of

Matthew Starner:

these that we've looked at here so far, as to not look at them,

Matthew Starner:

or be wary, at least of looking at a verse in a vacuum, without

Matthew Starner:

the context around it. That's how we get the meaning from

Matthew Starner:

what's being said here. Because you can pull a phrase, you can

Matthew Starner:

pull a couple words out, and make it say, kind of whatever

Matthew Starner:

you want it to say,

Rob Appold:

Yes, I had a teacher that said, Tell me what you

Rob Appold:

want. And I'll find you but tell me what you want to say. And

Rob Appold:

I'll find a Bible verse to your point. Sure, whatever it is,

Rob Appold:

yep.

Matthew Starner:

The, the the example that one of the

Matthew Starner:

professors I had used was, I can't remember the verse

Matthew Starner:

references off the top of my head, but two different verses

Matthew Starner:

that you can stitch together where, you know, Judas went and

Matthew Starner:

hanged himself. Jesus said, Go and do likewise. And also you

Matthew Starner:

can you can take two different phrases from the Bible and make

Matthew Starner:

it say whatever you want to say if you're just looking at them

Matthew Starner:

in a vacuum there, but so, I guess our takeaway from today is

Matthew Starner:

we're looking at these these verses that oftentimes have a

Matthew Starner:

what we think is a surface level meaning to them. That meaning

Matthew Starner:

might not be what we think it is, but the deeper meaning from

Matthew Starner:

the context from what Scripture is really saying is often so

Matthew Starner:

much better than what we think.

Matthew Starner:

Thanks for listening to everyday disciples, everyday disciples as

Matthew Starner:

part of the online ministry of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in

Matthew Starner:

Grand Rapids. We're striving to be followers of Jesus wherever

Matthew Starner:

we are, and we hope you'll join us on that journey. if you found

Matthew Starner:

this podcast helpful in your spiritual journey, we'd be

Matthew Starner:

honored if you would rate us and review us wherever you listen.

Matthew Starner:

It helps people find us and get the good news about Jesus out

Matthew Starner:

there to the world. If you've got questions or suggestions for

Matthew Starner:

things that you'd like to hear about on everyday disciples, let

Matthew Starner:

us know with an email to media at St. Matthew gr.com.