Transcription

Connor
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris
Welcome.

Jeff
It’s good to be welcomed. Thank you. Chris.

Chris
Yeah he is Jeff I’m Chris and today we are the Bible guys. And we invite you to be a Bible guy or a Bible girl, wherever you are. Bible gal. Bible gal.

Jeff
Is that what you’d say?

Chris
I said girl, but did I say gal?

Jeff
Gal I don’t know. Yeah, it’s up to you, man. So I would.

Chris
Just say, uh, today we’re diving in to, uh, another, uh, passage that’s only found in the Book of Luke. But before we get there, we are going to read from our favorite news source.

Jeff
Only the only the finest news sources. Yes. And this one is, is one that I think is, uh, a cautionary tale to everybody coming into the Christmas season. Yes. Uh, we’ve got all these Christmas parties, and this one man erases an entire year’s worth of exercise in one meal. A heck of a headline, huh? I don’t know if it’s possible, but it is a worthy goal. Yes, it says Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania A local man undid an entire year’s worth of diet and physical activity over the course of one single hour during his family’s Christmas meal. Oh, yeah, Matt Carson told reporters. I can feel those pounds coming right back. That meal was amazing that I can’t see my feet anymore. Carson figures he ate a cumulative 500,000 calories in the space of about five hours, accounting for continued munching on leftovers throughout the afternoon. After doing a bit of addition while lying on the floor moaning, Carson believes he did indeed erase all of the calories he burned exercising over the past 365 days. Nice. I was impressed, Rebecca Carson, Matt’s wife, said. He just kept going and going. I made a lot of food this year and I thought maybe he’d pace himself. But after he went back to the table for his 65th helping a turkey and stuffing, I knew we might have a problem. Following last year’s Christmas meal, Carson had vowed to turn over a new leaf in the health department. He went to the gym twice per week, occasionally joined his wife for yoga, even took the stairs instead of the elevator when he could. Sadly, his entire year’s worth of hard work was canceled out once again in one single afternoon. Chris
You know that’s the way it is, isn’t it?

Jeff
Yeah, yeah it is. I tried, you got to believe me. I tried, Matt said. But the rolls got me. Well, the rolls and the mashed potatoes and the gravy and and the turkey and the and the jello salad and the the sweet potato casserole and the green bean casserole with the bacon and, you know, the stuffing and the pie and the other pie. The other pie. And hey, is that pecan pie over there? As of press time, Matt was seen quietly weeping and rummaging through the fridge for leftovers while promising himself a trip to the gym first thing in the morning.

Chris
Of course he did. Yep. You know, by the way, uh, it was, uh, I worked out two days ago, and I have a good job, a trainer, Mandy. And she said she said, uh, okay, now you’re going to do this section, then you’re going to do this, then you’re gonna do this. And then she read me over to the bike and she goes, I want you to race. Well, I mean, my my legs were killing me, right? She goes, okay, go. It was one of those fan wheels. Yeah. It blows the wind on you. And I’m just. I’m pushing and pushing. I’m pushing. And she goes, you have to. You have to race to three calories. I was like three calories. So I’m like, okay, three doesn’t sound like a lot, man. There was a long time to burn three calories. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was thinking to myself and she goes, well, you know, a mile on the burn is like whatever. It was like ten calories or something. And I said, and I said, are you kidding me? Or no 100 calories, whatever it is. And she said, she said, yeah, she’s you’re gonna have to, you know, like, like, like row for like, like five minutes. And I thought to myself, it’s no wonder why, like we all put on more weight. Yeah. Because you eat something like an Oreo cookie and it’s like, oh, that’s a 90 calories, right? And I had to I had to race with my, with my, with for five minutes to burn three calories.

Jeff
All you had just to burn three calories.

Chris
And so, yeah, if it’s truly like a 2000 calorie diet a day, huh? Like, man, some of these meals that we eat, they’re like three, four, 5000 calories.

Jeff
Wow. Where are you eating, dude?

Chris
Well, I’m saying America, not me.

Jeff
Oh, oh, I see.

Chris
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Well, good. Well, hey, uh, so that comes from the Babylon Bee, which is, uh, we think the finest news source in America. Yes.

Chris
And it’s just as reliable as every other news source.

Jeff
Absolutely. And, uh, it’s satire if you don’t know, but, uh, funny, funny, funny, funny. Okay, so be careful at Christmas. That’s our cautionary tale today. Yes. Okay. Uh, right now, there’s all these snacks. My. Somebody just gave my wife a box of snacks. Yes.

Chris
Was it my wife?

Jeff
No. And I walked past and I grabbed a snack, and then I walked past again. I grabbed another one, and then finally I turned back around and I started to put it back in the box. You can’t put it back in the box, I said. I didn’t take a bite. She said, you already touched it. Yeah. I was like, okay, I’ll suffer. I’ll eat that one. I said, you put that lid on, right? So then I walk by and then I start fiddling with the lid, trying to get the lid, you know. And finally I said, you need to put this away somewhere. Put it where I can’t reach it. So she puts it, you know, away, and then I know where it is. So now it’s in my head. It was bad, man. I’m telling you, it’s snack time. This is that time of the year when you just snack. Man, it’s so funny. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That’s why Chris
it’s the most wonderful time.

Jeff
Most snackable time. Yep. Hey, we’re going to give you a mission. Project to do. Would you like us? Follow us on Facebook. And would you then share us on Facebook with all of your friends and family? Because we know Facebook needs Jesus. Facebook needs a little bit of the Bible guys, so make sure you do that today. Well, we are in Luke chapter 14, verse 25 through 35, where Jesus teaches about the cost of being a disciple. Yeah. And this is one of those spots where he says, you know, take up your cross kind of thing. So, yeah.

Chris
He lays it down.

Jeff
Yeah. This whole passage is really significant. So he says a large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, if you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else. By comparison, your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there’s enough money to finish it. Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money. Then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, there’s the person who started that building and can’t afford to finish it. Or what. King would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him and if he can’t, he’ll send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is neither. Good is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It’s thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

Chris
Mhm. There it.

Jeff
Is. There you go.

Chris
Yeah. So uh you know.

Jeff
We always say that. Mhm. There it is. Well there you go.

Chris
You know I said before you read it I said Jesus lays it down. Uh I could add to that and say he lays it down by telling us we need to pick it up. Pick it.

Jeff
Up. There you go. Oh yeah. How about that? So, um, you’ve been really full of those really great phrases lately, have I? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You think about some of the, the lines that you’ve put in the message notes. Yeah. For several of the different messages, really, really pithy little sayings.

Chris
I can say this now because people will listen to this after the message. But I was so I was so, uh, I was so proud of the lines I’ve come up with lately. Yeah. So this Sunday, we talk about how there’s scandals surrounding the birth. You know, like a virgin, uh, mother who’s a teenager, unwed, those kind of things. The scandalous. Well, if you think about it, uh, not only was Jesus birth, you know, scandalous, but his death was very scandalous, right? You know, just illegal, all those kind of things. And then he spent his life around scandal. Right? So. So the line I wrote was, I said, Jesus is not afraid of scandals or scoundrels. Oh, there you go. And I really like that line because it is it is so true. Because if you really think about it. And by the way, I’m being totally serious. Not, not not from a human perspective, but from a godly perspective. Jesus. Uh, did that on purpose. Yeah. Like he knew that his birth and his death were going to be surrounded by scandal. Yeah, yeah. He did not avoid scandal. And people accused him of all sorts of things, you know. Oh, you’re doing this. You’re eating with sinners and you’re a drunkard and you’re a glutton and you’re all these different things.

Jeff
And possessed.

Chris
Yeah, you’re demon possessed. And of course, he was none of those things. He was on mission to love people who were scoundrel. Right. That’s it. Yeah. And so he never compromised himself. But at the same time, he wasn’t afraid of it. He wasn’t afraid of any of those things because he was godly. He knew who he was. Others knew who he was. And and so anyway, so I loved that line because I actually thought, I think this is true about God. Like, it’s not just true about us. It’s actually true about God. Yeah. He wasn’t afraid of scandals or scoundrels.

Jeff
That’s right. So, uh, but you’ve had a whole bunch of those lately. We’ve we’ve kind of laughed about that a little slogan. So. So today, the one Jesus laid it down by telling us to pick it up. Boom. There you go. I just came up with it. That’s another drop mic drop moment. Yes. You’re so cool, Chris.

Chris
Hey, I try to be the the, um. I think I already told you this, but my, my first youth group, that was like, probably my most special youth group that I worked at as a church youth pastor, uh, had this on our wall. It was the one from, uh, uh, no, it was this one. It was from Luke. This was it Luke? Uh, 14. Uh, was it verse number? Um, 27, 27 and 28 where it says, take up your cross and follow me. I think that the idea that we should take up our cross is, you know, it sounds to us today, I think, different than it did in the first century. So for us, we’re like, oh, take up your cross. It’s the it’s the cross of suffering and it’s the burden that Jesus bore. You know, uh, while paying the price for sin and paying the price, you know, as a savior. But, but but back then, the cross didn’t have any religious significance at all, did it? Right? The cross was the most torturous and devised, uh, you know, uh, piece of execution method ever dreamt up by the Romans? And so what he’s doing is he’s saying, take up your cross. And what he’s really saying is, uh, identify yourself with me. The good and the bad, you know, the commitments, everything. Right. And I think that it’s it’s it’s quite a message.

Jeff
You know, the the we love the life application study Bible and the note. For Luke 1427 said Jesus audience was well aware of what it meant to carry one’s own cross. When the Romans let a criminal to his execution site, he was forced to carry the cross on which he would die. So you’re carrying your own instrument of death, right? This showed his submission to Rome, and it warned observers that they’d better submit to Jesus. Made this statement to get the crowds to think through their enthusiasm for him. He encouraged those who were superficial, either to go deeper or to turn back. Following Christ means total submission to him, perhaps even to the point of death. Yeah. And, uh, you know, the there is this kind of sense here because he goes on after he says, take up your cross. He said, I need you to really weigh what this means, right. It’s not going to be easy. Yeah, yeah. So he says, you know, for, uh, you know, who builds a house or a building without first counting the cost? You got to you got to work it out and understand there are expenses, there are costs, there are risks, he said. Who goes to war? You know what? King goes to war without first measuring whether or not he had what it has, what it takes to win. And so Jesus is really saying, I want you not to just be flippant in your decision to follow me. I want you to know how much it’s going to cost, and then it’s going to require total submission, maybe even to death. Yeah, right. And that’s a really big thing. It’s I think it’s easy. Sometimes people can get caught up in, you know, in Sunday school. Jeff
Um, you know, I can remember sometimes it seemed like all of a sudden one kid raised his hand. Trust Jesus. Next thing you know, everybody raises his hand. You know, everybody goes out. Whatever. Uh, Vacation Bible school, whatever. Sometimes some some of those things that happen where it’s just a really flippant kids decision because all the other kids are doing it. But Jesus is saying here, hey, um, uh, that’s not the kind of decision you’re making. It might cost you everything. It might seem like your parents, your family might think you hate them. Yeah, because you you join me. Um, your your, uh. The cost people might mock you for entering into this process, or there’s great risk. You might lose a lot if you’re going to follow me. And so Jesus is inviting them, like it says here, um, either to go deeper or to turn back, but don’t just go halfway.

Chris
Well, you know, for me, there wasn’t a ton of cost when I started to follow Christ. I mean, I lost my friends. That was costly and not not a not a big deal for compared to people around the world. But, uh, but for me, at the time, it was my universe, uh, you know, I lost reputation. I lost, um, uh, you know, the, um. Let me think, uh, popularity, uh, you had to pay the price by, you know, getting ridiculed, you know, those kind of things, right? But, you know, there are other people in America who their family disowns them, you know, if they convert to Christianity. And then there’s people around the world where they risk their very lives. Right? Right. So here Christianity is not illegal. It’s not forbidden. But places around the world where if you if you convert to Christ or Christianity, you get killed and people still do it.

Jeff
I just got home from Nepal and they were telling me, you know, Nepal’s 90 something percent Hindu, and they were telling me that, uh, oftentimes if a person becomes a Christian, the family will have a funeral and announce that this person’s dead and then they they won’t even make eye contact. They’ll look right through them. If they happen to see them in town, they won’t communicate. They grieve as if somebody as if the person’s dead, um, and they’ll be banished from the village. And so we wound up, um, having a group of Christians up in the mountains. Uh, we were right at the base of the Annapurna range there. Um, I think the Annapurna range. There’s only 12 mountains in the world that are over 8000m, and three of them are in that range. You can see them all in the one picture right there. Just huge. And, um, so we right at the base of those mountains and, uh, there was a group of brand new believers, 19 of them, they wanted to get baptized, and they had invited us to come and just be witnesses. And then it was too dangerous. The police. There’s an automatic two year prison sentence. If you get baptized, there’s a five year automatic prison sentence for the person who led you to Jesus, right? Yeah. So they want to get baptized, and then it gets too dangerous in their area. So we wind up meeting them way out, um, right on the edge of the jungle. And we park, and then we hike in about a mile and a half, and there’s little sketches, chalk drawings on rocks with arrows. There was a, uh, a dove, a dove with an arrow pointing, you know. And so we keep coming across those as we’re walking out into the jungle. Jeff
And then there’s a waterfall. And at the base of the waterfall they were baptizing. And so we come out and they were singing, um, and rejoicing. But it was a secret baptism. They were going quickly because they, you know, concerned about getting arrested. And one of the last people getting baptized came up out of the water wearing a t shirt that said fearless and wanted everybody to know it doesn’t matter what the cost is. I’ve counted the cost. The song they were singing is a song that we know now in English. I have decided to follow Jesus. No. Turning back. No turning back though none go with me. Still I will follow. Right. That was. Those were the last words of a martyr, a Hindu martyr. A Hindu became a Christian who was a martyr in India. And those were their last words as they were executed. And then these people were standing around this pool singing the words of a former martyr.

Chris
Whom.

Jeff
I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, though none go with me. Still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back. It was so powerful and I was standing there thinking. One of the pastors I was with quoted this passage. They’ve counted the cost. Yeah. And they’re willing to take up their cross. Yeah. Now, it makes me so proud that you and I are a part of that kind of lineage, that there are those kind of Christians in the world, right? So I look around and I don’t know that I see a lot of those kind of Christians always around me in my little safe place, but it’s when I’m around them I want to aspire to them. I want to be worthy of having them as my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I think that everybody listening and watching the podcast today, I think there’s a lot of Christians go, yeah, I want that kind of Christianity. Yeah, fearless Christianity in the face of any cost.

Chris
Yeah. Well, that’s certainly incredibly inspiring. And you wonder, you know, you wonder, you hope that you would have, you know, that kind of faith and that kind of courage and, uh, you know, I remember when, uh, uh, I even hate to say this out loud, but like, uh, remember the Columbine shootings? Remember that? Oh, yeah. And I remember, uh, Cassie Bernall. Yeah. Cassie Burnell’s father came to our camp back then in the late 90s, and, uh, uh, he wrote a book they called. She said yes, because before she was killed, they said, do you believe in God? And she said yes, knowing that they were killing people. Right, right. And, uh, and and so she said yes. And the idea, like, I remember just thinking like that title still sticks in my mind, you know, she said yes, because I thought to myself, like, I would hope that I would say yes. Yeah. Right. Right. You know, because because I mean, you know, again, you just you just never know. Right. But I would like to think that I would say yes.

Jeff
I think that’s one of those things you prepare for. I think that’s exactly what Jesus is saying. Count the cost. You don’t know unless you’ve really worked out the scenarios. So many things in my life. If I just walk in with no plan, it’s a 5050 chance of it working out the right way. But if I come in with a plan and I’ve thought it through and I’ve worked it out, I’ve, I’ve determined what my responses would be in certain circumstances. I wind up being much more successful. If I’m negotiating, I wind up being much more successful if I’m making a presentation or if I’m if I’m, you know, trying to sell something or whatever. When you come in with a plan, when you’ve made up your mind ahead of time, when you’ve counted the cost, when you’ve considered the strategies, you know, can my 10,000 defeat those 20,000 when you’ve thought it through? I think you’re much more likely to succeed at it. And this is the invitation he’s having. So even today, I hope our people never are faced with those things. But the only way you can really know that you would do it is if you plan ahead. If this ever happens, God, give me the grace. I want to be the one that says yes.

Chris
Well, it’s it’s reminds me of Daniel chapter one, where it says that he resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Right. So he made up his mind beforehand. That’s right. Right. And so, so, so, so he prepared for what was coming his way. Right? Right. Yeah. And so yeah, that’s really what.

Jeff
There’s tremendous power in making decisions. Right. And as opposed to just winging it all the time. Right. And then the other part of it is I would say this if I can’t say yes just in the lunchroom or in the hallway at school or with my friends, if I can’t, if I can’t stand for Christ, then if I can’t stand for what’s right in my corporation, if I can’t, if I can’t do that, then I’m probably. If I was faced with a gun in my in my head, to my head, I probably wouldn’t honor Christ then either. And so counting the cost, there’s big costs and little costs. And if we’re not willing to pay the little things, we’re probably not willing to face the big ones either, right? Yeah. So we begin to develop the habits, um, necessary to make the big stands. You develop those by making the little choices between here and there, right?

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
And then let’s not forget that he also brings in salt right at the end. Yeah. Right. And so he says salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor how do you make it salty again. Because flavorless salt is good for almost nothing. And it’s thrown out to be, you know, to be walked on. Right. Have you ever.

Jeff
Had fries and you knew they were going to be the best fries? And then you take a bite and there’s no salt? Yes, in my mind, French fries are a conveyance for salt. Yes. That’s right. Yes. Salt and ketchup. Those are the two. And have you ever go, oh, that looks perfect. And you put it on and go, oh no salt. Right, right, right. It’s so disappointing.

Chris
Yeah. At one time I did an illustration at Springhill Camps where I made cookies without salt. Oh, and then I made cookies without flour. Then I made cookies without, uh, vanilla, whatever. I made all these batches of cookies and passed them all out and, and and had everybody sampled things with different ingredients. And then then, of course, I made a good batch of. Everybody was dying for it. Right, right.

Chris
Right. Right right.

Chris
So yeah. So with that one ingredient, it’s a it’s a, it’s a bad thing. So. Well hey that’s a great thought. It’s a great place to end. And, uh. Salty. Yeah. Be salty and count the cost. That’s right. So. All right, we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.