TR*NS says Christians are FAKE because of THIS | Pastor Reacts

Wise Disciple

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

This is a sincere question. Where are the Christians who are willing to stand between conservative

00:05

Christians and trans people? I thought part of the point of Christianity was to be more like Christ.

00:12

He said that this is a sincere question. I don't think this is a 100 % sincere question.

00:17

It's life or death out here in the real world, Jeffrey. And that's the point that I don't think you realize.

00:23

Or maybe Jeffrey refuses to. Because the question that he's not addressing that disrupts his whole framework is, what about sin?

00:31

If Jeffrey is truly asking a sincere question because he's sincerely on a journey to understand

00:36

Jesus and the Bible, at some point he must've come across sin. Got a challenge today for all you

00:46

Christians out there. This comes from a trans person who sees a problem, a contradiction, if you will, between how

00:53

Jesus acted and how Christians act today. Uh -oh. Does he have a point?

00:59

Maybe. We're about to get right into it. But first, welcome back to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate, and I'm helping you become the effective

01:04

Christian that you were meant to be, which means evaluating what it means to be like Jesus in today's culture.

01:11

Seems like it's getting harder and harder, isn't it? Don't forget to like, sub, and share this one around, but only if it blesses you.

01:16

Oh, I have a question about Jesus. And I am not trying to stir anything up.

01:21

This is a sincere question. I think probably the most important, I'm not

01:27

Christian, but the most important words in the Bible are love your neighbor as yourself.

01:34

So we're gonna answer this man's question. What's his name? Jeffrey. We're gonna answer Jeffrey's question.

01:40

We're happy to do it as Christians, right? Happy to talk about the scripture, okay? But before we get into that,

01:46

I'm gonna gently give a little pushback right at the outset here where he said that this is a sincere question.

01:53

I don't think this is a 100 % sincere question. And here's why.

02:00

If this were a question that came out of a sincere inquiry into the Christian faith, I think

02:05

Jeffrey would quickly realize that the most important words in the Bible are not love your neighbor. Not to the majority of Christians.

02:13

I mean, what I'm saying right now, I don't think is actually even controversial amongst Christians at this point.

02:19

The most important words, and actually, you know, it's hard to say one sentence or one phrase are the most important words in the entire

02:29

Bible. But if there was one phrase, it would have to be rooted in the gospel, right?

02:37

In other words, the core of the Bible around which everything else finds its orbit is the gospel.

02:44

So then the most important words in the Bible might be found in John 3 .16.

02:50

You know, look at this. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

02:59

You know, there's a reason why that's one of the most quoted verses in the entire

03:04

Bible. Why it's stitched onto pillows and stamped onto magnets, on refrigerators, and made into like a million t -shirts and a million bracelets, right?

03:16

It's because the gospel is present in this verse. But wait a second, that's actually not the only thing that's present in this verse.

03:24

Did you notice the part about perishing? What's that about? See, already we find a dichotomy here, don't we?

03:31

Between having eternal life and perishing or dying. Well, shoot,

03:38

Jeffrey. I mean, that means life and death is at stake here. And if life and death is at stake in the most important words in the entire

03:46

Bible, well, then maybe we should spend some time figuring out what leads to death and what leads to eternal life.

03:54

Because, you know, loving your neighbor is incredibly important. So I don't want you to hear me saying something

04:00

I'm not, but it's a by -product of having eternal life with Jesus Christ. In other words, loving your neighbor as yourself flows out of something more vital, more crucial, more central to what

04:14

God desires for even you, Jeffrey. So we're already off a little bit on the wrong foot here, but let's see where this goes.

04:23

And Jesus himself stood between religious conservatives and the people those conservatives are trying to persecute.

04:32

And Jesus stood there in the middle and said, no more. If you're gonna stone somebody, stone me.

04:41

Huh? I'm genuinely trying to think of what moment in the gospels

04:52

Jeffrey's talking about here. Is he talking about like the woman caught in adultery?

05:00

I mean, let's, I don't know. Let's go find out. Let's start in verse two. Early in the morning, he came again to the temple.

05:06

Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the

05:11

Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

05:19

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? Right? Okay, so right here, notice, has

05:29

Jesus thrown himself in between a woman and those who want to stone her? No, that's not what's going on here.

05:36

The Pharisees have brought this woman to Jesus in order to find fault with Jesus actually.

05:42

Watch this. So they say, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

05:48

Verse five, what do you say? But verse six, look at this. They said this to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him.

05:57

So this idea, look, did Jesus show care and concern for the outcast among him?

06:04

Absolutely yes, 100%. Okay, by the way, take special note of the children and how

06:11

Jesus had regard for the children, right? But this idea that he's throwing himself in the middle of people who are about to be stoned and then saying, no, stone me, that isn't, that's not a story that actually happens in the gospel.

06:27

Unless Jeffrey's, I don't know, he's trying to make some connection to something else, the cross or something. I don't know,

06:32

I just don't know what he's referring to. But let's stay on this a moment longer because I think this is actually instructive.

06:40

Verse seven, and as they continued, well, let me back up. Verse six, Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

06:49

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

06:57

Verse eight, and once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

07:08

Now, at this moment, so if you just stop the story, you're gonna stop short, by the way, maybe

07:15

Jeffrey has a point, right? Well, it looks like, you know, Jesus doesn't want other people to be condemned.

07:22

No, actually, that's not what's happening. See, Jesus knows that this whole thing is a setup, okay?

07:29

This woman, who by the way, has legitimately sinned, is actually being used as a pawn for some other purpose.

07:38

These folks are trying to bring a charge against Jesus. I mean, it's set up right here in verse six, right? By the way, have you ever stopped?

07:44

I mean, those of us who are familiar with the story, right? Have you ever stopped to wonder, why do they all drop their stones and leave?

07:53

You know what I mean? Think about that. The reason why people do anything, you know, even when they do something that's wrong, is largely due to the fact that they believe they're righteous in doing it, you know?

08:08

It's very hard to get a person to admit their deepest, darkest faults, particularly at the drop of a hat, you know?

08:16

But here we find Jesus challenging a whole group of folks, standing with stones at the ready, and he draws on the ground, and then he says, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

08:28

Then they just all drop the stones and walk away. I don't think this is a moment where they all suddenly become deeply introspective about their sins in their entire lives, you know?

08:39

I think they're realizing that Jesus knows what they've done in this moment. I suspect what's happening is they all know it's a setup.

08:50

This woman that has been brought to Jesus is a pawn. I mean, think about it like this, right?

08:55

Think about it in terms of the Old Testament. Where's the man who was sleeping with her? Why is it just about her, right?

09:04

Why is it just that she's the one who's about to be stoned? Where did the guy go? None of these people are following the law in this regard, and they know it, all right?

09:15

Go back and take a look at Leviticus chapter 20. There are clear instructions for both the man and the woman caught in adultery.

09:22

The woman's the only one that's here though. This is a highly unusual case.

09:28

Why? Because it's a setup, and I think everybody knows it. Jesus somehow, and so we're not told exactly how, he calls this out.

09:39

Maybe it's the part of the thing that he's writing on the ground, I don't know. But I think he tips his hat to the crowd, and they know that he knows that they're using this woman to set

09:50

Jesus up. It's wrong, it's manipulative and unjust, even though the woman was wrong as well.

09:56

It's wrong for the crowd to do what they're doing in this moment, and that's why they all drop their stones one by one.

10:04

I think it's because Jesus convicts them all for this obvious setup. Having said that, that's not the end of the story though.

10:11

Watch this. Jesus stood up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?

10:17

Verse 11, she said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you.

10:22

Go, and from now on, sin no more. Go, and from now on, what?

10:29

So if this is the moment that Jeffrey wanted us to think of, this is not a thing where Jesus just jumps in front of stones.

10:37

His stance is consistently clear, do not sin. Even in the midst of this entire manipulative mess,

10:45

Jesus still makes sure to tell the woman, don't sin anymore. Why?

10:52

Because sin separates us from God, which leads to the rejection of eternal life that Jesus offers, which brings us right back to the gospel, right back to John 3 .16,

11:01

right back to what's at stake. It's life or death out here in the real world, Jeffrey. And that's the point that I don't think you realize.

11:11

Or maybe Jeffrey refuses to, right? So because the question that he's not addressing that disrupts his whole framework is, what about sin?

11:22

What is sin according to Jeffrey? And how does sin fit into the way that he's thinking about Jesus?

11:28

See, again, this is what I was saying. If Jeffrey is truly asking a sincere question, because he's sincerely on a journey to understand

11:35

Jesus and the Bible, at some point, he must have come across sin, right? Jesus defended the people being persecuted.

11:48

So where are the Christians, this is a sincere question, where are the Christians who are willing to stand between conservative

11:55

Christians and trans people and say no more? There it is.

12:01

These people are human beings. We don't treat people this way. I thought, and again, this is sincere,

12:08

I thought part of the point of Christianity was to be more like Christ. What is missing?

12:15

I know there are wonderful, good Christians who are doing that work, but I don't see it often.

12:22

What's missing? Sin. Well, let me back up.

12:30

I think Jeffrey makes a great point, okay? I don't, it doesn't help his argument at all.

12:36

So I think this is totally by accident on his part, but he's making a point that I've made very often at this ministry.

12:42

We are supposed to be like Christ. And when we're not, we blow our witness.

12:48

Even when we speak the truth, Nate? Yep. Even when we're saying true things, look at this. 1

12:54

Corinthians 13 verse one says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

13:00

I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love,

13:11

I'm nothing. If I give away all I have, if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love,

13:19

I gain nothing. This is the apostle Paul speaking. By the way, notice all the good things that he lists, right?

13:29

Including the ability to say true things. I mean, that's what prophetic powers are. Biblical prophecy is proclaiming what is true and right about our

13:37

God. It's proclaiming the things of God to those who are willing to hear, right? Paul says those are all important and great, but if you have not love, you're nothing.

13:49

This is why he says later in Ephesians four that we should speak the truth in love. So Jeffrey is onto something here, right?

13:58

Like we Christians must exhibit the qualities that Jesus desires in us. And that's also why

14:03

Jesus says this, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another, right?

14:11

So the way that we evidence our faith is, believe it or not, not in our ability to say true things about God, but it's in our ability to say true things about God while also displaying the love of Christ while we do it.

14:26

Speaking the truth in love, that is how we operate. That's our bread and butter. Every single day, every single moment.

14:35

And that's what Jeffrey seems to misunderstand. You know, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing.

14:42

Look, that's what it says right here. It's back to 1 Corinthians 13, it's back to Paul. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, it rejoices with the truth.

14:51

It is because God loves his creation that he will punish injustice. It is because we love

14:57

God that we will speak the truth about wrongdoing. It's also because we love

15:03

Jesus that we will not rejoice in another person's sin. We can't do it. We love our

15:09

God too much. We're too loyal to him as our Lord and savior to ever go along with what we know displeases him.

15:18

Sorry, Jeffrey. We can affirm good things what we see in the world, right? But Jeffrey's premise was flawed from the start.

15:26

He thinks LGBT activity is a good thing. And we know from the scripture that it will absolutely lead to the perishing of all who choose to pursue it.

15:35

And that's what's at stake. It's your very soul. You know, you wanna talk about loving your neighbor.

15:43

The greatest expression of love that a person can give is to come alongside another and say, hey, you're wrong.

15:52

This is gonna lead to danger. Turn around. You're going the wrong way.

15:59

And I know that nobody wants to hear that. You know, nobody wants to hear that they're wrong in this day and age, right?

16:06

People think that somehow words lead to violence in this day and age, but that doesn't change the truth. By the way, there are jerks out there, okay?

16:14

That, you know, they'll say true things. They try to speak on behalf of God. Yes, absolutely, that is the case.

16:19

But that doesn't mean nobody should say hard things. As a matter of fact, to be a

16:25

Christian very often is to be the only one who will speak the truth in a world that doesn't wanna hear it anymore.

16:33

All right? Well, that's all the time that I have. If you made it this far and you're not part of the Patreon community, what is going on?

16:39

You gotta get over there and sign up. I've got an awesome Bible study through the Book of Acts, monthly trainings, exclusive live streams.

16:45

You can meet up with me one -on -one and chat about whatever. But listen, we do this often with challenges to the

16:53

Christian faith. And I just wanna make sure that I say this at the outset. Let's pray for Jeffrey. His name is

16:58

Jeffrey Marsh. Let's pray for him. Wouldn't it be amazing if in a month from now, six months from now, a year from now, his life is fully transformed and he's 100 % sincerely devoted to following after Jesus Christ?

17:14

That would be amazing. And that's what I think we should be praying for. Amen? All right. I wanna make sure you heard me say that.

17:22

Yeah, go check out the Patreon at the link below. Hey, in this video, I used the Logos Bible app. This app really is a game changer for the serious student of scripture.

17:29

I use it every day. Go to logos .com forward slash wise disciple and you can grab my cool discount, including my suggested book list for your perusal.

17:39

Also, if you're interested in learning biblical Greek or Hebrew, you can go check out the Biblingo app. They're offering a free week to try it out.

17:44

Click on the Biblingo app below and use wise disciple 10 at checkout. Hey, I'm gonna return soon with more videos, but in the meantime,