TikTok's PROBLEMS with Christian Churches | Pastor Reacts
8 views
Hey friends, we're back looking at Tik Tokers and their ideas about our Christian faith. This time, these folks have a HUGE problem with the Christian church. But are these problems legitimate critiques or something else? Let's find out!
Wise Disciple has partnered with Logos Bible Software. Check out all of Logos' awesome features here: https://www.logos.com/WiseDisciple
Get my 5 Day Bible Reading Plan here: https://www.patreon.com/collection/565289?view=expanded
Get your Wise Disciple merch here: https://bit.ly/wisedisciple
Want a BETTER way to communicate your Christian faith? Check out my website: www.wisedisciple.org
OR Book me as a speaker at your next event: https://wisedisciple.org/reserve
Check out my full series on debate reactions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqS-yZRrvBFEzHQrJH5GOTb9-NWUBOO_f
Got a question in the area of theology, apologetics, or engaging the culture for Christ? Send them to me and I will answer on an upcoming podcast: https://wisedisciple.org/ask
- 00:00
- Do I want to go to church or do I just want to like wake up early on a Sunday and have a reason to get ready with my friends?
- 00:07
- That's precisely the wrong reason to go to church. The vile, disgusting, transphobic and homophobic comments from the pastor.
- 00:14
- All right. So, so she's upset that the pastor is preaching the word. You want your place to be unconditionally loving and a very welcoming, open place.
- 00:26
- No, you don't. You are going to march with everybody. You're going to march with the Pride Parade.
- 00:31
- You're going to march in any sort of racism or Black Lives Matter parade. We'll just believe all activists.
- 00:36
- I know, by the way, if the name Saul Alinsky comes up, we'll just keep right on trucking. Right. Why? Because they said the word injustice, guys.
- 00:51
- TikTokers have lots of problems with the church. And as you know, there's all kinds of skeptics on TikTok, progressive
- 00:56
- Christians, atheists, ex pastors, ex evangelicals, even witches. And we've reacted to all of them in previous videos.
- 01:03
- But this time, let's look at TikTok's problems with the Christian church. What are these problems? Are they legitimate concerns or is this just more unbelief disguised as thoughtful critique?
- 01:13
- We're about to find out. If you're new here, welcome. My name is Nate Sala and this is Wise Disciple, where I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you were meant to be.
- 01:19
- Don't forget to like and subscribe to help the channel reach 200 ,000 subs. That would just blow my mind into a million little pieces.
- 01:26
- Also, if this video blesses you, would you share it with someone else so we can get the word out about this ministry? I'd really appreciate it.
- 01:31
- Finally, make sure to check out Logos Bible software. It is still the Bible app that I use to study the scripture, and it's a game changer for the serious student of God's word.
- 01:39
- Go to Logos .com forward slash Wise Disciple. We got some really super cool discounts running right now, including a free book this month.
- 01:45
- The link for that is below. For some reason recently, I've been wanting to go to church like so bad, like it's just even though I'm very aware of the issues with the church,
- 01:56
- I'm like, yeah, but doesn't it sound kind of fun? So I started looking up like,
- 02:02
- I mean, praise the Lord, right? Like this lady is desiring to go to church. Let's welcome her with open arms, even if she desires to go to church for the wrong reasons.
- 02:10
- Hopefully she'll hear the gospel preached and get saved. Amen. What would be really bad if her motives for attending church are inappropriate is that she searches for a church that is not going to tell her the truth, but scratch her specific itch.
- 02:25
- You know what I mean? New York City, liberal church. Well, actually, that's not true.
- 02:32
- The first thing I looked up was New York City Church of Christ, because I'm like fiending for a little acapella music.
- 02:38
- But then when I looked at like, I thought the Church of Christ in New York were going to be like liberal in every single way.
- 02:45
- I thought it was going to be like all my favorite things about the Church of Christ and all my favorite things about like living in a liberal city put together.
- 02:54
- So, OK, that's what I meant when I was talking about her motives.
- 03:00
- It's fascinating because we would not talk about doctor's offices or hospitals in this way.
- 03:08
- Right. Well, most of us, there's always somebody right who runs everything. But most of us would not look for a doctor based on whether or not they're liberal.
- 03:17
- You know what I mean? Like, what's the question we'd want to know in order to be seen by a specific doctor? Can they heal me?
- 03:24
- Right. Like, can they fix what's wrong? But that's what Jesus came to do. Look at this. Matthew chapter nine, verse 12 says, but when he heard it,
- 03:32
- Jesus, this is what he said. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick go and learn what this means.
- 03:39
- I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
- 03:45
- So Jesus has paralleled some important concepts here. Being righteous and healthy and being a sinner and sick.
- 03:54
- That's why churches have been characterized by Christians as a hospital for sinners. It's because we are all in need of Jesus healing.
- 04:01
- But I don't know. You see how like this changes, it immediately changes our motives for attending church.
- 04:10
- We don't go to church because the walls are painted the right color or because their bathrooms have our favorite smelling candle. We go because the word of God is preached and we need to fellowship with our brothers and sisters around the table of Christ.
- 04:21
- Amen. But from what I could tell online, that's not the case.
- 04:27
- So then I started Googling like New York City, progressive, like female pastor. But I just kind of got the ick so hard.
- 04:35
- Like I was like, oh, like, oh, like that. Like there's definitely some stuff that I still got to deal with when it comes to the church, you know?
- 04:44
- So then I kind of realized, like, do I want to go to church or do I just want to like wake up early on a
- 04:49
- Sunday and have a reason to get ready with my friends and then like do a thing that's sort of like supposed to make us be better people, like kind of listen to someone talk about how to be a better person for a week, hopefully, depending on where you go and then like go to lunch with your friends and you like look all cute and you like it's the people you like to hang out with.
- 05:10
- And it's like the super fresh, fun start of your week. And that's precisely the wrong reason to go to church.
- 05:18
- It's amazing how ingrained a lot of us are in a Christian culture, but have no context for what
- 05:25
- Christianity is. And then we see what happens next. We try to use Christian symbols and artifacts and biblical passages and actual church, but completely stripped of its proper definitions and understanding in order to, what, feel good with our friends?
- 05:42
- I mean, that's not Christianity. Like I said, this lady can come to church for whatever reason she wants to get her in the door, but I hope that she's met with the truth of God in a powerful way once she's there, because what's more important is how she engages
- 05:57
- God's word and the gospel as opposed to how she walked through the front door. Amen. So do
- 06:03
- I want to go to church or do I want something like that? I don't know. I'm going to try going. I'm going to try going one
- 06:09
- Sunday soon. Well, we'll pray for you.
- 06:14
- Right. What's this lady's name? Hope. We're going to a couple of hundred thousand of us are going to be praying for you.
- 06:20
- Hope. Okay. Listen, here's one of the biggest problems in the church today that I rarely hear anyone talk about. Do me a favor and Google your favorite church and look up their what we believe statements on their website.
- 06:30
- Here's what you're going to find. Almost always. What is missing from those lists is any mention of actually loving people.
- 06:38
- Friends, that's a huge problem. So I'm torn, you know,
- 06:45
- I mean, he has me with an aspect of this criticism. We should love others. Well, and a lot of us in the church today don't do that.
- 06:53
- We don't know how to do that. Our pastors don't teach us how to do that. But that's not what the church doctrinal statements are for.
- 07:02
- I'm going to let him finish. My dear friend, Steve pointed this out to me recently. And the thing is, it's not a new problem. It goes all the way back to the fourth century when the institution of Christianity got in bed with empire.
- 07:13
- So when you look at the most famous creeds or belief statements that came out of that time period, like the Nicene Creed or the
- 07:18
- Apostles Creed, you know, what's not mentioned in any of those. Yeah, you guessed it.
- 07:23
- Anything about actually loving people. So, I mean, again, this is boy, this is not correct.
- 07:30
- The Apostles Creed was not recorded in the fourth century like the Nicene Creed. It was the first century.
- 07:36
- The Apostles Creed is actually one of the earliest records we have of what Christians affirmed as doctrine.
- 07:43
- Also, doctrinal creeds have nothing to do with behavioral commands. I mean, that's that's not what they were. That's not what they were formulated for.
- 07:50
- That's why you won't find in any creedal statement a command to do something. It's because it's not about commands.
- 07:56
- It's about statements of foundational belief that were largely created in response to heresy. So this this is this is just thoroughly confused as to what the creeds are for.
- 08:05
- I mean, come on, friends. How can we not recognize that that's a problem? If loving people, the thing
- 08:11
- Jesus said was absolutely the most important thing, if it's not included in our guiding belief systems, what in the world are we actually doing?
- 08:22
- So how would you insert a command about loving people in a statement about your belief systems?
- 08:28
- So so a Unitarian says God and Jesus are two separate beings. We form a creed and we say,
- 08:34
- OK, we believe in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also, you guys got to love people. Right.
- 08:41
- We believe in the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body. Also, make sure to love people like Jesus. You see how those things belong in two separate categories?
- 08:50
- By the way, is love important? Absolutely. And is this a solid criticism against a lot of folks who go to church?
- 08:57
- Yes, sir. I agree with that. It's good to point this out, but he's he's looking for a good thing in the wrong place.
- 09:06
- He won't find what he's looking for in the creeds. Why? Because if you affirm the creeds, well, you probably will take
- 09:13
- Jesus command seriously. So, I mean, one definitely flows from the other, but they're not the same thing.
- 09:18
- Let's do better than that and get back to what Jesus taught. Sums up absolutely everything.
- 09:25
- Loving your neighbor as yourself. I mean, he's not wrong, right?
- 09:31
- He's just mad at the wrong thing. Y 'all, why did I just have to get up and leave church in the middle of service?
- 09:37
- I tell y 'all, I have never done anything like that before. Like, I felt so disrespectful, but I have to go.
- 09:44
- I had to remove myself. Typically, I am an at home service type of girlie, OK? I love being able to curate the message
- 09:49
- I'm going to receive. But today I woke up. Did she just say that she likes to watch church from home?
- 09:56
- That she essentially curates the message that she wants to receive? That's not a good sign.
- 10:01
- He said, I love a good praise and worship. I said, let me be in community. Let me let me go out. Let me actually go to the church house.
- 10:08
- Now, mind you, praise and worship. It was amazing, OK? We had almost an hour just doing praise and worship alone, which is not common.
- 10:13
- Why? When the pastor gets up there, not the main pastor, but like an assistant pastor. Why is his whole sermon about homophobia?
- 10:21
- Why in 2024 are we still playing away the game? Like I, I was looking around me, waiting for the shock, waiting for the confusion.
- 10:31
- And then why? Why is she upset? That's not clear to me. Is she mad because the pastor was talking about homophobia like as a category?
- 10:42
- Like, like, like he was getting on Christians for being homophobic in she thinks that's wrong.
- 10:49
- This is this is a little unclear. Didn't find it to me beyond just the vile, disgusting, transphobic and homophobic comments from the pastor.
- 10:59
- What really? OK, so there it is. All right. So so she's upset that the pastor is preaching the word.
- 11:07
- Is that is that what happened? Did he preach out of First Corinthians six or something? Because to a lot of folks who don't affirm the scripture, this sounds homophobic.
- 11:16
- Look at this. First Corinthians chapter six, verse nine. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.
- 11:22
- Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
- 11:34
- And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
- 11:42
- Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. So is that did he read that passage?
- 11:48
- Did he read from Leviticus? I don't know. Or even Romans chapter one to a lot of folks.
- 11:56
- Apparently, this lady as well. That's homophobic to do to those of us who take
- 12:02
- God's word seriously. It's the word of God that relays the truth about mankind. And if you keep reading, everyone will find the solution to all sin, which is
- 12:11
- Jesus Christ. Look again at verse 11. Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
- 12:20
- Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. That one by spirit was the comments from the other people in the congregation.
- 12:26
- Like it was y 'all are nasty black Christians who are still homophobic. Y 'all are nasty, nasty people.
- 12:33
- I left. I look like one thing about me. I do not play about my spirit, the energy that I have around me.
- 12:38
- And that was some really, really, really bad energy. How do you know I'm going to get comments when people are going to be like, this is why
- 12:44
- I go to church. Black Christians are such hypocrites, yada, yada, yada. And you know what? You're right. Some of them are. But I promise you, not all churches are this way.
- 12:52
- I've been going to church my whole life. And this truly is the worst experience that I've ever had. So, I mean, we don't know 100 % what she heard or what the pastors really said, because she's not saying.
- 13:02
- But it sounds like the church was affirming what the Bible teaches about sin. Now it's possible for the wrong type of person to use the
- 13:12
- Bible as a means to slam others and to look down their nose on certain behaviors. OK, granted.
- 13:18
- But that doesn't change the Bible stance on LGBT activity. It is abundantly clear that human beings were designed by God for a specific reason.
- 13:26
- And if you step outside that design, you can do so of your free will, by the way.
- 13:33
- You will be. But when you do, though, you'll be violating your purpose. And the Bible calls that sin.
- 13:39
- And the wages of sin is death, according to Romans 6. Why? Because God is the source of eternal life.
- 13:45
- And to reject your design is to reject your designer. I mean, the logic is pretty straightforward.
- 13:53
- And I get it. That's hard for someone who loves their sin to hear what I'm saying. But that doesn't change the fact that it's true.
- 14:00
- And unless we want to stick our heads in the sand, we all have to wrestle with what is true. And a good church will help their congregation wrestle with the truth while also showing everyone the love of Christ.
- 14:13
- Here is the problem with so many churches and just Christianity, right? Because, OK, here's like in the
- 14:18
- Christian perspective, if you want to save people, if you want more people to come to Jesus, if you want people to find
- 14:24
- God and have this light within them and, you know, go to God, you want your place to be unconditionally loving and a very welcoming, open place.
- 14:38
- No, you don't. You absolutely do not want that. Nobody wants that.
- 14:44
- Let me back up. Is love one of the character attributes of God? Yes. Does that mean that God wants you to do whatever you want, even if it means rejecting him and the purpose for your creation?
- 14:56
- No, that doesn't even make any sense. But God, don't you love me unconditionally?
- 15:03
- Don't you want me to reject you and let me spend my life without you? Wouldn't you just love me enough to send myself into an eternity without you?
- 15:13
- The answer is no. Why would God love it for people to reject him, to reject the purpose for which they were created?
- 15:20
- That doesn't make any sense. So when God says, look at this, Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- 15:29
- He also says this, Luke 9, 23. And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
- 15:39
- He's saying the same thing, actually. So in order to find rest for your weary soul, you need to deny yourself.
- 15:46
- You need to deny your own desires, which the Bible says war within you. That means that pursuing your own desires is detrimental to your own flourishing as a human being made in the image of God.
- 15:59
- And that conflict of desires has been there from just about the very beginning. I mean, look at how
- 16:04
- Galatians characterizes this. This Galatians 5, 17, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh.
- 16:13
- For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do. Any good church led by a
- 16:19
- Bible preaching pastor is going to love you well, but not let you think that doing whatever you want is
- 16:26
- God's best for you. That is completely unbiblical, and it leads to spiritual death.
- 16:32
- There is no way that you will be able to bring more people to God by being restrictive, judgmental, or outdated in beliefs and just.
- 16:43
- Outdated. The buzzword for folks who have no appreciation for what God's word really is.
- 16:51
- Outdated. Jesus told his disciples that in order to be trained to be his disciple, you need to take the ancient word of God and apply it uniquely in your own lives.
- 17:01
- Look at this. Matthew chapter 13, verse 51. Have you understood? So this is Jesus talking to his disciples. Have you understood all these things?
- 17:07
- And they said to him, yes. And so he said to them, therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure, what is new and what is old.
- 17:19
- The treasure is God's word. The thing that is old is God's word, and it does not change how you walk out.
- 17:28
- God's word in your life can be different than somebody else because the situation is contextually unique, but that doesn't change the content of God's word.
- 17:36
- I mean, you know, just imagine the greatest commandment. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, right?
- 17:44
- How should that change over time? How would that even make any sense? Or consider the fundamental components of the gospel, right?
- 17:53
- That you and I were created to be in relationship with God. How should that change? That Jesus lived a sinless life and died on the cross so that you can have right relationship with God again.
- 18:03
- How should that change over time? Does any of this make sense to say? But I know what this lady is going to say.
- 18:11
- Uh, you know, God's attitude towards sin should change. Okay. But if God's attitude towards sin needs to change, well, then the gospel needs to change too, right?
- 18:22
- So I don't know. I don't think this lady understands the implications of what she's really proposing. She makes it seem like it's like this tiny little insignificant thing.
- 18:30
- I've used this analogy before, but let's say someone buys a beautiful red
- 18:35
- Ferrari. Okay. By the way, just checked. Some of the latest models of Ferrari go for like several million dollars.
- 18:42
- Okay. This particular car, right? The Ferrari is meant to blaze down the road at incredible speeds, but imagine someone buys a
- 18:51
- Ferrari for millions of dollars and then they disassemble it and use it, uh, use its parts for like living room furniture.
- 18:58
- As a matter of fact, their friend comes over to their house and they say, well, come on in, come on in. Do you want to see my new Ferrari couch?
- 19:04
- It's made of some hubcaps and some bucket chairs. Like what that's, what would
- 19:11
- Enzo Ferrari, the inventor of the Ferrari say to that? That's not what the Ferrari is for, but you say, oh,
- 19:18
- Enzo, you know, you're too, ah, you're too, you're too restrictive Enzo. The way we understand Ferraris has changed over time.
- 19:25
- Why can't you just love the Ferrari enough to let it be totally disassembled to the point where it's unrecognizable and then used for something it was never intended for.
- 19:32
- You see how this quickly becomes absurd. That's, that is what
- 19:37
- I just think this lady does not understand to be fully human is to live according to our design by God, sin
- 19:46
- Mars, the image of God in us. And consequently it makes us less than human.
- 19:52
- And this lady just wants us to act like that's not like a big deal. And then
- 19:58
- God would totally love that. Church culture. If you really want to bring more people in, you will not be telling them what to do and what to believe you will literally run them away.
- 20:12
- This reminds me of Ryan from the office. I want leadership, but don't just like boss me around, you know, like lead me, lead me when
- 20:24
- I'm in the mood to be led. I allow people to be them show up authentically because think about it.
- 20:32
- If an alcoholic or a prostitute were to walk in a church and somebody like based on how they dressed or if they showed up drunk, however, they show up, it should become as you are because you are loved.
- 20:45
- You are welcome here. But so many churches are so judgmental and don't understand that you are doing the opposite of your, the light work you're supposed to be doing.
- 20:57
- You want everyone to feel accepted and loved because you want to show them the same love that God has.
- 21:05
- We are though. That's what church does. So, so again,
- 21:11
- I'm sure you can point to some churches who are hypercritical and judgmental. Although I would argue that for most churches, this is not a reflection of leadership.
- 21:19
- That's a reflection of some in the church who have their own struggles with critical hearts. I bring this up to point this out, but like if those people express critical judgment, they wouldn't be doing it because the church's leaders told them to do it.
- 21:33
- They would be doing it in spite of what their church is teaching from God's word. But to love people the way that God does is exactly what the church is designed to do.
- 21:44
- God does not love people in a manner that leaves them in their own sin.
- 21:50
- I mean, that's God seeks the lost. Yes, so that he can save and sanctify them.
- 21:56
- So the story doesn't end just by walking in the door, so to speak, right?
- 22:01
- He, he, he seeks the lost so that they can be holy and set apart to do good works.
- 22:07
- That's Ephesians 2 10, but that's setting apart, right? It's a really good thing.
- 22:14
- But a lot of folks believe it's the worst thing in the world. And it's because they have no idea what the church is really doing.
- 22:21
- Yet there's so many restrictions in church, you know, or like, even if there's not like a word for word restriction, there's still that, you know, like,
- 22:32
- I know if I were to show up to church in crop top, like corrupt or just like how, like,
- 22:39
- I know I'm going to feel unwelcomed. I know I'm going to feel uncomfortable. Maybe someone will say something to me.
- 22:46
- And by doing that, you're just going to drive more people away. Because what if someone's so broken and they come and they just come as they are, who they are.
- 22:56
- You want them to just be accepted for who they are. You want to show them what
- 23:01
- God's love is like. And God says, come as you are. I understand the sentiment that this woman is expressing.
- 23:10
- But again, she has no idea what she's really asking churches to do. Just let women go topless to church.
- 23:20
- That's, even if you weren't to church, that's a really foolish thing to say. Even if someone did come to church this way, because they are broken, right?
- 23:28
- So, I mean, that is a reality for a lot of people who go to church. There's just still nothing wrong with coming alongside that person and trying to help them.
- 23:39
- To help from a place of love, right? Because to help from a place of love is not the same as criticism from a place of judgment.
- 23:47
- Sometimes people just need to be okay receiving correction and recognize that it's given in love.
- 23:55
- More churches and especially Christian churches need to be more progressive and liberal and open and more accepting of people.
- 24:06
- Well, she's right about one thing. Churches should show the love of Christ to everyone. But that doesn't mean remaining silent about sin.
- 24:14
- It doesn't mean doing nothing about helping people understand God's design for their life. That's what we've been called to do as a people.
- 24:22
- Look, you're not going to like this, but I can tell you exactly how to make your church more loving and accepting and inclusive.
- 24:27
- It's only five things. Hi, I'm Jeremy. I'm a deep skeptic, also a pastor.
- 24:33
- Number one, you've got to stop confusing the culture of the Bible with the message of God. The Bible was written to a culture a long, long time ago that had all kinds of crazy views on gender and sexuality and race and slavery and the role of different genders, like all of those things.
- 24:54
- And that, that culture is not the message of God. The message of God is the thing that's underneath the culture that transcends the culture.
- 25:03
- The message of love and grace and acceptance. That's, that's the message. And so if you are not teaching the love and grace, you're teaching the weird cultural messages that you find there.
- 25:17
- This is a weird statement to make. So what would a criteria be to determine what's underneath the culture and then universal for all?
- 25:27
- Also, is there any way to explain this criteria without relying on yourself? Because if you start like a lot of progressives do with your lived experience as some kind of metric for universal truth, you're already off on the wrong foot.
- 25:41
- You're already teaching something that the Bible doesn't even teach. As a matter of fact, you're doing the very thing that the
- 25:46
- Bible warns you against. Look at this. Jeremiah 17, 9, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.
- 25:54
- Who can understand it? That's why Proverbs says this, look at this. Chapter 14, verse 12,
- 26:00
- There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Does that sound like God's word wants you to start with yourself and let that guide which passages you should accept and which to reject?
- 26:13
- What does hermeneutics even look like for someone like this? Can this man even point to an objective criteria to do what he's actually proposing?
- 26:24
- You're missing the point. The next thing is you've got to change your leadership. If your leadership is not affirming of all people's sexualities, if it's not affirming of women leadership, if it's not affirming of people of different races being involved in all of the levels, nothing is going to change.
- 26:44
- Those of us in traditional churches would be willing to consider what this man is proposing if he can go to anywhere in the scripture to show where it teaches us to do that.
- 26:55
- To affirm every one of all sexualities, guys. Where does the scripture teach that?
- 27:01
- Because that's the beginning of the conversation for us. Why? Because we respect God's word.
- 27:08
- But guess what? God's word does not affirm all sexualities because God does not either. This is cafeteria
- 27:16
- Christianity. You grab some things you like from the Bible, then you grab a bunch of stuff from the culture, maybe even some other religions, right?
- 27:23
- New Age mysticism. Then you put them all on your tray and call that Christianity. It's not. Next one.
- 27:29
- Marry everybody. If they want to get married, you're going to marry them because that's part of your role in society and in culture.
- 27:39
- If they are the same gender, if they are trans, if they are people of different races, because apparently some people won't do that.
- 27:47
- If they have lived together before, because that's a thing, all of those people, you are going to marry all of them.
- 27:55
- Yeah, that's the problem with the church, guys. We're not marrying everybody. See, this guy's problem is the same as the last lady.
- 28:03
- They think these are all minuscule little issues. They have no appreciation for how deep these concepts go theologically.
- 28:12
- Because the moment that we marry everyone, all of a sudden these passages of the Bible will just have to disappear too.
- 28:18
- Genesis 2 .24. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.
- 28:26
- Let's just marry everybody, guys. Oh, but we're also going to have to get rid of God's design for human beings and his purpose for marriage.
- 28:32
- So let's, yeah, let's marry everyone. But while we're at it, let's get rid of Genesis 2 .24, but also
- 28:38
- Genesis 1 .26 -27, right? Because having children can't be the expectation for all marriages because we're marrying everyone now, right?
- 28:46
- We'll also have to get rid of Matthew 19, where Jesus says that marriage is really God joining together a man and a woman through a divine covenant.
- 28:54
- That can't be the case anymore because guess what? We're marrying everyone now, right? But wait a second, we'll also have to get rid of Ephesians 5 and even 1
- 29:01
- Corinthians 7, because shoot, I mean, that's where the Bible teaches that a man and a woman marrying is really a reflection of Christ's relationship to the church.
- 29:09
- Well, let's get rid of the church's relationship to Christ, right? And the submission that takes place within that dynamic.
- 29:15
- Why? We'll just marry everybody, guys. You see, it's really not about just marrying people.
- 29:24
- It goes much deeper than that. And it rests in the specific design that God has for not only human beings, but marriage.
- 29:31
- As I've said many times on this channel, marriage speaks theology. That means this isn't about changing marriage.
- 29:39
- It's about changing theology. And those of us who take the Bible seriously, we absolutely cannot do that.
- 29:45
- And if you don't, if you exclude people, you're missing the point. The next one is you are going to march with everybody.
- 29:53
- You're going to march with the pride parade. You're going to march in any sort of racism or Black Lives Matter parade.
- 29:58
- When there is a parade or a protest for women's rights, you're going to be there with your church's t -shirt on, showing that your church is actively involved in working for justice for all of the different people who are victims of injustice.
- 30:16
- And we'll just believe all groups that claim injustice, right? Because they say so, guys. We won't vet them or their leaders to see if we can align with their values as believers in God.
- 30:27
- We're just going to jump right on in and support them all. We won't look into their claims and see if they're true or not.
- 30:33
- We'll just believe all activists. I know, by the way, if the name Saul Alinsky comes up, we'll just keep right on trucking, right?
- 30:39
- Why? Because they said the word injustice, guys. I'm getting a little amped.
- 30:50
- You realize justice is properly defined within biblical bounds by God in the
- 30:56
- Bible. It's not any old word that is defined 10 different ways by today's crowds. Also, don't hear what
- 31:03
- I'm not saying. We need to, as Christians, be incredibly concerned with the treatment of all people because they are made in the image of God, okay?
- 31:10
- And if we find mistreatment of folks, we absolutely need to defend them and love them well. Take a look at Isaiah 1, look at verse 17.
- 31:18
- Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
- 31:25
- Take a look at verse 23. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts.
- 31:32
- They do not bring justice to the fatherless and the widow's cause does not come to them. So justice entails taking care of the outcasts and also ensuring that everyone is treated fairly.
- 31:44
- But here's the question that no one's asking. What is the ultimate goal of justice in the Bible? Verse 27,
- 31:50
- Zion shall be redeemed by justice and those in her who, what? Repent by righteousness.
- 31:58
- The ultimate goal of justice is the redemption of God. That leads to repentance of sinners and true righteousness, which aligns to obeying
- 32:07
- God's commands. Now, you tell me, when the people who violate
- 32:12
- God's design for their lives march with flags and cry out for justice because they seek folks to affirm what the
- 32:19
- Bible clearly teaches as sin, is that justice? No, it's not. But according to this guy, we should march with them anyway.
- 32:28
- And because we don't, that's the real problem with church. No, it's not. As a pastor,
- 32:35
- I can affirm that there are problems with a lot of churches today. But man, it's just not anything that I've heard on TikTok so far.
- 32:41
- My goodness, this is awful. The one that might be the stickiest point, the next time you add new leaders to your church committees, two thirds of them need to be under 50, need to be people of color, need to be queer people, need to be women.
- 32:58
- That's what you need because you will change the priorities of your church when you change the leadership.
- 33:04
- You'll change the theology of your church? Is that what you just said? You'll change the Bible's teaching on sin?
- 33:10
- Is that what this guy is wanting? When the people who you need to make sure you are including are voiceless in your committees, it doesn't change.
- 33:20
- But when they are there and you get to hear their voices speak up and advocate for their communities.
- 33:28
- For God's desire for their lives? Advocate for the clear teaching of scripture? Is that what they're advocating for?
- 33:35
- Or is their community just code for their sinful lifestyle? Because that the church cannot affirm.
- 33:42
- Look at this. Isaiah 520. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.
- 33:50
- Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their roots will be as rottenness and their blossing go up like dust.
- 33:59
- For, here it is, they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and have despised the word of the
- 34:05
- Holy One of Israel. You want to know what God's justice looks like? Look at this.
- 34:11
- Verse 25. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people. And he stretched out his hand against them and struck them.
- 34:17
- And the mountains quaked and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger has not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.
- 34:27
- That's what God's justice looks like. And it comes for those who refuse to take
- 34:33
- God's word seriously and obey it. Not just the parts you think are acceptable, all of it.
- 34:39
- Notice this man keeps appearing to advocate for change. You hear the word change a lot, right?
- 34:45
- What needs to change though? Because I'll tell you what cannot change. 1 Peter 1 verse 24.
- 34:51
- All flesh is like grass and in all its glory, like the flower of grass, the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the
- 34:59
- Lord remains forever. That word never changes. It never fails.
- 35:05
- Malachi 3 says that God never changes. Hebrews 13 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
- 35:14
- So my goodness, we need to be wary of those who would try to get us to change
- 35:20
- God's word. Things will change. Just five things. That's all you gotta do.
- 35:28
- Yeah. The apostle Paul spoke of this very thing in Galatians 1. Verse 6.
- 35:33
- I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
- 35:40
- Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
- 35:52
- As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
- 36:01
- This is the issue that we face today, ladies and gentlemen. It's the issue that we've always faced since the first century.
- 36:07
- That's why we need to be so diligent about getting God's word right. Handling the word of truth rightly.
- 36:14
- Amen. I'm sure there are legitimate critiques of the church. One of them at the very top for me is biblical illiteracy, right?
- 36:23
- Which is ironic because just about all of these TikTok critiques are due to biblical illiteracy.
- 36:29
- So, you know, but if someone's critique is really designed to change God's word, designed to change your understanding of sin, which then changes the nature of the gospel, then what they're really doing is preaching a false gospel.
- 36:42
- And we need to stay far away from that. All right. Those are my thoughts. Just a reminder.
- 36:49
- Got a little heated towards the end there, but let's not forget. As long as these folks have breath in their lungs, there is still time for them to repent and experience the great and wonderful mercy of God.
- 37:01
- So let's pray for them. Let's pray for hope and these others that they'll finally forsake all in order to truly know the one true
- 37:09
- God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, right? All right. Well, since you made it all the way to the end, if you did,
- 37:18
- I hope, why not join my Patreon community? You can read the Bible with me. We're going over the gospel of Matthew on Patreon, and that's free for anyone.
- 37:24
- You can also watch these videos before they make it to YouTube and provide me feedback. You can join me for exclusive live streams or chat with me one -on -one.
- 37:31
- There's a lot of benefits to joining the Patreon. And the reality is I make these videos purely from the support of people like you on Patreon.
- 37:39
- So the link for the Patreon is below and I'll see you over there. And I also will return soon with more videos.