Bishop Julius C. Trimble is the Resident Bishop of the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church.

Bishop Trimble has the personal mission to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential. It is his commitment to his personal mission that led Bishop Trimble to create the “To Be Encouraged” Podcast along with co-host Rev.Dr. Brad Miller.

Bishop Trimble says, “I am compelled by Jesus to share with you an encouraging word or two about Jesus, theology, the Bible, the pandemic, the environment, racism, voting rights, human sexuality, and the state of the United Methodist Church.”

To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble is to be published weekly and is available at www.tobeencouraged.com and all the podcast directories.

https://www.inumc.org/bishop/office-of-the-bishop/

• Episode - 113 To Be Encouraged
• Welcome to a profound episode of *To Be Encouraged* where Rev. Dr. Brad Miller hosts the esteemed Bishop Julius C. Trimble in a compelling discussion encompassing faith, politics, and the true essence of leadership within the church and society. Bishop Trimble eloquently navigates through the multifaceted challenges faced by church communities today, framing these issues within the wider context of President Biden’s recent decision not to seek re-election and how church leadership can respond to evolving societal dynamics. Here are three key takeaways from this enriching conversation:
• ### Takeaway 1: Embracing Leadership with Love, Grace, and Humility
• Bishop Julius C. Trimble highlights the crucial role of love, grace, and understanding in leadership, especially within the church. Drawing parallels to the behaviors of Jesus Christ, Bishop Trimble underscores the importance of humility and servant leadership in today's politically charged climate. The conversation encourages leaders to approach their roles with compassion, actively listen to individuals' stories, and engage with their communities by prioritizing common good over political differences. This takeaway sheds light on how church leaders can navigate the complexities of modern leadership by fostering an environment of inclusivity, respect, and mutual understanding.
• ### Takeaway 2: Political Involvement Rooted in Gospel Imperative
• The discussion broadens to include the imperative need for political involvement grounded in the principles of the gospel. Bishop Trimble passionately advocates for justice, the care of vulnerable populations, and addressing societal issues such as homelessness and climate change. He stresses that political and charitable actions should not be mutually exclusive but rather complementary avenues to fulfill the church's mission. This takeaway highlights the responsibility of church communities to engage actively in societal issues, upholding gospel values of love and justice in the face of evolving political landscapes.
• ### Takeaway 3: Transition and the Significance of Vice President Kamala Harris's Role
• As the episode transitions to the implications of the upcoming presidential election and Vice President Kamala Harris, Bishop Trimble and Rev. Dr. Brad Miller delve into the historical and societal significance of her role. They acknowledge the challenges and biases she faces as the first female person of color to hold the position. This segment emphasizes recognizing and respecting the qualifications and leadership capabilities of individuals, despite existing societal barriers like sexism and racism. It calls for the church and its followers to champion dignity and respect in political discourse.
• This episode of *To Be Encouraged* concludes with a heartfelt prayer and reflection from Psalm 16, as Bishop Trimble and Rev. Dr. Brad Miller remind us of the enduring power of faith, community, and the teachings of Jesus Christ in navigating contemporary issues. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that inspires and challenges leaders to lead with love, grace, and unwavering commitment to justice.
• Thank you for tuning in to *To Be Encouraged*. Be sure to subscribe, share, and follow us for more insightful episodes centered on faith, leadership, and community.

Hello again, good people, and welcome to To Be Encouraged

to Bishop Julius C. Trimble. This is the

podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word to an

often discouraged world. I'm your co host, reverend doctor Brad

Miller. Bishop, welcome to the podcast. Let's talk a little bit about current

events. Well, it's a great day, Brad, and it's a

a great opportunity to really pay attention to our world

where we experience so much rapid change. You can go to bed at

night, and one person is the president. And the next day,

that that person says that he's no longer gonna run

for reelection. So a lot can happen in 24 hours.

Indeed. Indeed. So we're talking about, of

course, president Biden's choice to

no longer run for president and, vice and his endorsement

then of vice president Kamala Harris to be the on the

democratic ticket for, for president. But

for the prior episode of to be encouraged, we talked a little bit about a

personal meeting that you had with president Biden, a little bit of how

your son, Cameron, has worked for president Biden in the past. So this may have

had a little bit of a a personal thing for you. Tell

us a bit about your reaction, just personally, kind of a gut level

reaction if you will, to what when you heard the news about president

Biden deciding to step down for the race? Well, honestly, Brad,

I I was driving to the airport in Indianapolis

to pick up my wife, and, I pulled over

because I really got emotional

because I really felt, you know, this was, some certainly had to

be a hard decision for him to make. He is a president that I have

actually personally met and had a chance to visit

with briefly in the in the oval office with my family.

Our oldest son formerly worked in the for the White

House staff in digital communications, digital

and engagement. And, so we had an opportunity

a year and a half ago to take a picture in the White House

Oval Office with the president president Joe Biden. At the time,

the in the couple of minutes of conversation I had with him, I really

thanked him and and promised to continue to pray for him. I pray for all

of our elected leaders with whoever the president is from

whatever party. But I also advocated for

him to continue to work to ban assault weapons.

And, of course, just to connect the connect the peep

piece of current history and current events, an

assault weapon was utilized by a very young

man who attempted to assassinate former president Trump.

So my I pulled over and and and for a

moment was felt a sense of gratitude.

Well, I think he's been a very good president in terms of

keeping the government going and maintaining the the

wheels of of democracy. And though he's

not no per no leader is perfect, I think he he put in

the work, as they say. There's old saying, put in the work. And I think

president Joe Biden put in the work as as our president.

Yeah. Why don't you kind of make of the whole change of fortunes there? A

few weeks ago prior to the debate, there was a lot of positive

feeling about president Biden. The debate didn't go so well.

Things kinda changed and turned. And I I'm

just interested in your take on how things can

change quickly for all of us, can't they? You know, whatever they are, whether it's

age related or health related or circumstances in a

local church or anything else like that. And about how

president Biden handled that whole situation. Just your observation

how fortunes can change quickly and then the

dynamic changes moving forward. I think approval

rating of leadership across the board is is is

at an all time low, and particularly elected

leadership is at an all time low. And and president Biden's

approval rating has been low even though there are many

data points that say the, you know, unemployment is low and

the the stock market is high and and, you

know, new jobs are being created. But people, I

think, are experiencing still pain and and struggle,

and they direct that to to the president of the United

States. And I think to a certain degree, maybe rightfully so. But

I think president Biden has demonstrated

at least his a commitment to

embracing the diversity of America and also

attempting to work across the aisle in bipartisan

ways to to pass legislation that, for the most part,

really advances the well-being of the whole nation.

So, you know, I I I I'm sure there are many

things that people can find to criticize, and I know with the

high cost of health care and and

many other things, some people are not able to find affordable

housing, the the high interest rates. So a lot of things we kind

of we we kinda tribute to or blame the president

for. But I think part of what we are

experiencing, Brad, is there is kind of a low

trust level in leadership in all levels, particularly

in government. We've seen some of the low

approval ratings of the Supreme Court, which used to be very unusual.

Usually, the Supreme Court had a high approval rating.

And so people have a high degree of distrust

and a a high degree of skepticism. And I think

part of that has to do with the so many different ways we receive

information now, the different platforms that we receive information

now. And part of it has to do with, I think, people are

not settled in their own spiritual well-being. So I

think this this is really a a message to the church

for how we can help people live lives with hope and a

sense of of security and not maybe put too

much hope in elected officials.

Our best hope was that they would do their jobs and do it fairly

and and that we would not disadvantage certain

neighbors over the advantage given to a small

group of people, often those who are the wealthiest in

our society. And Biden's been given a lot of credit and a lot of

affirmation for doing something that's kind of unusual, especially

in politics and in positions of power. That is he

seems to have acted in his assessment of the best interest of the

country and did so with some

humility, with lack of hubris. And that's

not always the case with leaders in any realm, including the local

church. We probably are both aware of a pastor who didn't really want

to let go of leadership, but maybe it was time for a leadership to be

let go of, for instance. And, certainly, you're

in a transition period now as you leave the Episcopal proceeding, go into some

other things here. Tell me a little bit about I just like your take on

kinda leadership and humility, hubris,

all that type of thing, how that kinda went into, into play here, your

observations about that in this in this scenario? I

think, a number of experts on leadership, Lencioni and

others, I think I've heard say, I don't know who who originated this comment, but

the only true authentic leadership is servant leadership.

Yes. And I think the model for me you

know, model for me and you, Brad, you know, come Jesus. You

know? The the the one who is greatest is the one who who

presents themselves to be served to be a servant. So to me,

I what's been most disappointing, I think, was

when president Biden announced that he was not

running for gonna run for reelection. He was suspending

his campaign. That from some

leaders, there was immediate there were immediate

insults, you know, put posted on social media platforms.

You know? Well, he, he never should have been in the office. If he's not

well enough, she should just resign from being the president

as opposed to saying thank you, president Biden,

for your service. You know, I hope you get over COVID, and you

can serve out the rest of the the several months that are left

and do your job. Humility has its place.

And one of the thing we cannot say about Jesus Christ

was that he was arrogant or

narcissistic in the sense that we know

even as he encourages us to pray for our

enemies and to pay attention to our neighbors,

that there's a certain blessing that comes, I think,

from bringing humility to the table as a leader.

I don't think we need to have false humility. Sure. And then

No. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be confident. I have a

certain amount of confidence that I have a healthy ego, Brad.

Sure. Of course. I don't think we should starve our ego, but I don't

think we should become a glutton to feed feeding our

ego as if it's all about us or all about

you know? Like so I I think humility is something that

really maybe we should, you know, do more writing about that,

and it it it often is a good partner with

compassion. Yeah. Passion. The guy the guy who wrote good

to good to great has a passage about, you

know, the best leaders are the ones who have

incredible passion and vision and

humbleness. Yeah. Those ones and those are the ones who rise to the

top. Those who have passion and drive and

hubris eventually crash and burn. They may

rise, but they crash and burn because they are

not truly servant leaders and those who really rise

according to, Peterson, author of good good to great. That's how that

works. And I I have taken that to heart. You know? That just means you

can't be confident in what you're doing. And what do you want people who are

confident and even, you know, just a little

bit, you know, just

driven, I should should say, to get the job done. You gotta have some drive

and ambition is another word I'm I'm I'm looking for, and so that that's

a good thing. Well, we then I don't think ambition ambition is not

a bad word. Yeah. Of course not. Most of us could not have arrived at

wherever we are and whatever level of leadership we have if we

didn't have some measure of and this envision

some desire some desire to to arrive at a

certain place in life, in a certain location, if

you will, whether it's a a clear call into a

career or vocation or an educational

pursuit or relationship satisfaction and

so forth. Sure. At some point, you know, I couldn't just keep

dating my wife. It became

it it was something that one of the guys who wrote the wrote the book

More Than A Fan, the DTR defined

the relationship. At some point, you have to have that DTR conversation.

Yeah. That is true with our relationship with God and Jesus

Christ. At some point, we cannot just be fans of,

oh, wow. How great a man, the son of God

was. We have to be well, therefore, what does that

mean for our witness in our lives? No. Gotta get into the

arena. You gotta be part of the part of the game, and that that's good.

Well, pardon speaking of getting into the arena, part of the game, and kinda getting

involved, of course, the transition and and

and president Biden certainly ushered this in was to basically

hand things off to vice president Kamala Harris. And so

give me your reaction to what it seems to be happening as we record

this. A lot of affirmation of the Democratic

party and a lot of funds rolling in and a lot of good vibes

about, what she's doing and what that's all

about. Give me your reaction to that and, also, maybe look

forward to what challenges lie ahead for her and and the

dynamics that are going on there. Well, I think, you know, the word

serendipity, as I understand, it means an unexpected

blessing. Interesting. Yes. Yeah. Believe it or not, just I

wanna say maybe it was not even 2 weeks ago, on

Netflix, I watched a Netflix

movie film entitled Shirley. K. And it was

based on Shirley Chisholm. Oh, yes. I

remember her. Yes. Okay. Please please go on. I just had to had to make

connections. I was gonna fill in the gaps. Don't worry. Okay. Thank you, sir.

Yeah. Shirley Chisholm was a congresswoman

from New York. I think it was Brooklyn or Bronx

who ran for president, and she was an African

American woman. From, like, 50 years ago, aren't we?

Something in that neighborhood. Yeah. Yeah. She's Shirley Shirley Chisholm.

And so this notion that

here we are now with president

Biden choosing not to continue to run for a

second term. And then less than 24 hours

after not well, within hours after that

announcement, endorsing his vice president

as the the person who would assume

the Democratic nomination was,

to me, a moment in history that we should remember.

Because she represent she is the first

female vice president. Mhmm. The first

person of color who's a vice president. She has Asian

back she has Asian and African American,

lineage. So she's she she represents

a first already in her role as vice president. I

always believed and assumed that if a person was serving

as vice president, that inherently meant

that they were qualified and would be prepared. Because if something

happens to the president, the vice president should be able to step

in. A heart a heartbeat away is what they always say. Yeah. They say a

heartbeat away. So I don't think there should be any debate or discussion about

Kamala Harris's qualification because

she's the vice president and has been for three and a half years.

And prior to that, she has a 20 year career as an

as an elected and public servant, both as an

attorney general, a district attorney, a a

United States senator from the state of California.

So she came to the job as vice president with, you

know, 20 years of experience as, you know, as an

attorney and as a public servant that had been elected

by by the citizens in the state. All all that all that you're

saying is very true and undisputable in many ways, and

yet we both know there are many people who already are

and will will dispute all that in terms of her qualifications

and so on and that her her her right to be the

president and some of that's based on some pretty unhealthy

stuff, sexism and racism and other things as well. What do you make of

that when people respond? I think I think it's to be anticipated,

but just because people said something doesn't make it true. I

just I just gave the facts about her her experience

and her her, obviously, her educational background,

I think she well, I know she's graduate of Howard University, and I think

also Stanford, possibly as well. So so

she she's imminently qualified, and that the

anyone who brings that that brings that up, you that

that conversation should be shut down immediately. And if they

continue, then you know, typically, it's probably baked

and bathe baked and bathe in racism and sexism.

She is a woman, and she is a a person of color. She

is an she identifies as African American, African American, and

Asian of African American, Asian descent. So

so it's probably you know, we we we haven't

had we've had we've had men as presidents and men

as vice presidents. But, that we're one

of the few major major industrial nations that haven't already

had a woman who has been president or prime minister

or head of state. So we're kind of I would say, Brad,

actually, when you look around globally, we're a little bit behind the

times. Oh, I I agree with that, totally.

And, yeah, I just think it's gonna be a really interesting time. There's a lot

of, you know, there was a lot of momentum on

the Republican side after the assassination attempt and so on,

and now there seems to be a lot of momentum on the Democratic side and

a lot of people responded to it and that I just hate to see what

things responded to without dignity and respect. And, of course,

there's some of that and then some of that unfortunately comes from church

circles as well. And we spoke a little bit about this. I really like to

speak to it. I don't know a whole lot about it, but other than

the the facts of the matter is a Southern Baptist official was fired from their

position for complimenting president Biden for

making the humble move to step

aside. And I don't know. That that didn't feel

good to me. That didn't feel good to me to see that was done in

a church hierarchical circle. You've lived at the church hierarchy

for some time, and it's gonna be a reaction

to when you heard that news and kinda what can

we learn from that. What's going on there? It may you know, I it made

me respond. Lord, have mercy. I'm not an expert, obviously, Brad,

on Southern Baptist politics or or

their educational or their or their organizational

structure and hierarchy. My understanding, this is my

it's an an an officer who was maybe their ethics

an ethics officer with the Southern Baptist Convention

and cop who complimented president Biden

for putting the country first Yes. That was it. Yeah. And and

and choosing not to run for

reelection. In other words, setting aside his own ego

and his own personal desire to be a 2 turner president. You know,

one would think if you're an if you're an incumbent president

and you should have the right and and expectation if you're

physically able to run for a second term

because the law allows that for president to serve 2 terms.

So the to me, I thought it was a very respectful

commentary and comment, and his

utilizing his platform and voice to

basically point towards humility, what we began talking

about at the beginning of our podcast. You know, the role of

humility of putting putting aside your own

need to be affirmed and elevated

in order for the best needs of the country to be put

first. To me, that that that is nothing

but compliment worthy. And I'm

surprised and disappointed that this would result in

a person losing their position or their job

because they spoke the truth as they saw

it. Yeah. But that does happen. Let's kinda I'd like to kinda take

this up to you then to kinda pivot into the local church, into

pastors and other leaders who deal with difficult times,

politically and otherwise, and make hard decisions. It seems to

me that this Southern Baptist official made a decision

to say this may not knowing the consequences of what would happen to

him, but sometimes that happens that doesn't. So what do you think are some

lessons learned out of this kind of stunning transformation

in our current events of our country. What are some

lessons learned or what some things with that a local church pastor or local

church leadership could call from this to apply in

their situation about how to treat one another, how to make hard

decisions, issues maybe of leadership, maybe issues

of succession and handing off leadership. So give me

some thoughts that may roll in your mind about how this applies to the church

and the pastors. Well, I I think that if we really take

Jesus seriously and and really pay attention to some of

the New Testament messages, pen

parables, including the parables. You know? And we say,

listen. How do we apply this to our to our everyday lives? You

know, you might be subject being accused of being woke.

Oh my goodness. I didn't really I didn't really fully understand that,

but I I said, well, what's the what's the, alternative

to being woke? I can Yeah. Sleep. Asleep. Just

come on. So so I think, you know, what I would say is

that, you know, loving God and loving neighbor really

has to translate into relational engagement.

So we can't just talk about loving God in the abstract, loving

neighbor in the abstract, because we are we all are neighbors,

and we all have neighbors. And our understanding of

neighbor really cannot be so

constricted that it leaves out people who are not like

us, maybe not of our same race or our same

sexual orientation or our same location or our same

social location or economic place in society.

And that's a big challenge, I think. And churches have a big

challenge. Some of our churches are having big challenges now because the

communities where their church was built is not the

same community that it was a 100 years

ago. Sure. We celebrate our 100th anniversary, a 100 and 50th

anniversary, a 200th anniversary. Our neighbors, our

geographically close neighbors, may not be those same neighbors that

that were there when we sure sure baptized in the church.

So that is that's kind of an ongoing challenge and

opportunity, I would say, for us to continue

to constantly ask to answer the question, who is my neighbor,

and what does it mean for me to love God and neighbor in a way

that really provides opportunity for relationships. Yeah. Seems

to me this might be a great place to really focus on the application,

the practical application of grace, you know, to really just

embrace the grace in terms of when we you know, I

was in a meeting with a person the other day and he was wearing his

MAGA hat and things like that, and it it made me cringe a little bit.

And maybe some things I said made him cringe a little bit too. But we

gotta find some way to find a bridge there, find a way to

understand and love one another, whatever our circumstances are,

in order to move forward. So do you have any thoughts

or kind of final concluding thoughts about this whole scenario here? Anything you wanna

share? Well, I think right now, we're in an exciting

age and an this is an exciting opportunity for us

to really ask ask ourselves the question. Okay. So what

as a Christian who's I happen to be a

United Methodist. What does that mean for me to

to engage the world in a positive way,

particularly in in given the fact that our society is so

politically divided. Our involvement in political

systems is rooted in the gospel, but it's

rooted in the gospel imperative, Brad, to love. So

we never really divorce ourselves from the

commandment that we are to love, to love our neighbors. But, also, in in the

United Methodist tradition, includes to

do justice and to care for the vulnerable.

So when people ask me, so then how do you manage and navigate,

you know, political conundrums, I

said, well, I'm I don't have to apologize

for advocating for justice for all people and

particularly care for the vulnerable. So I denounce

the decision that their Supreme Court recently made around

basically criminalizing homelessness. Yes. And I

understand this was brought because, you know, cities wanna be able to move people

out of their beautiful once we redo our downtowns, we don't want

homeless people all over the place. So with but but to

criminalize homelessness, basically, is saying we can arrest

and imprison and jail folks, not just move them to

shelters. Or or, Brad, I say so we say,

let's address the issue of affordable housing Yeah. And mental

health support and shelters and

and halfway houses and transitional housing and help

for our veterans. You know, some say 20% of the people out

are, you know, are are veterans who who have not been able to find a

permit. It seems like there should be a way that we could find a way

to house the unhoused given the influence of our country and so on.

And we could It does. Yeah. Just and that, that's what we We acknowledge

that. But, see, here's the thing. Here's the bridge. We

acknowledge that love requires act political

action and policy action as well as acts of

charity and mercy. Yes. So as I

said a few weeks ago, you know, we should be serving

hot meals, but we should also be listening to the

stories of people that have to come to get hot meals

and asking, you know, not what's wrong with you, but maybe what

happened to you. And what is your story? What is your hope? And how can

I be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in your lie in your

lie? So I am opposed to politicians

who are not consented as I am to

feeding the hungry and reducing homelessness

or persons who deny that climate change is real

when each every week we're being, you know,

told that unusual weather patterns are continuing to be

irregular. What was unusual has now become

become unusual. So that's where that's where, you know,

it's it's tempting to just jump out and and endorse

candidates. I don't typically do that. But I do

endorse policies, and I denounce policies, for example,

or ideologies, Brad, like, quote, unquote,

Christian nationalism or the things that say

that, you know, there's divine appointment of persons to

be elected office. I don't believe in that.

I think we should do the right thing for the common good.

I do believe that our constitution can certainly be

critiqued, but it provides us a framework for us to really have

a democracy where the minority does not

abuse the majority and the minority the majority does

not neglect the the minority in the party. So

Kinda sounds like this, you know, this biblical thing of love your

neighbor is something we really can't apply. Maybe this Jesus stuff

might really work. You never know. Love I I heard somebody

heard somebody say You ought to try it and see what happens. I heard somebody

preach a sermon about love rains not too long ago about, some of this kind

of thing. Well, we appreciate your insights, and then you touched on an

area we'll touch on another episode of to be encouraged as you transition

into a role with the Board of Churches Society where we

deals really directly with some of these social issues we touched on here. We kind

of touched on it with a political framework. And I appreciate your insights

and your compassion about how they're

all interconnected, interrelated to the local church and to people's lives.

So thank you for sharing that. Can you close us with a prayer, my friend?

Absolutely. I'm looking at today from Psalm the

Psalms and Psalm Psalm 14.

Maybe maybe I'm I'm looking at the wrong okay. Yeah. Psalm 16.

Protect me, oh god, for in you, I take refuge.

I say to you, lord, you are my lord. I

have no good apart from you.

May the lord bless us and keep us and may we be reminded

that the good that we can demonstrate for others

is good that has already been granted us through the love of god

that which we experience as grace. And grace allows

us to not only bask in the love of God,

but also to bathe and to share that love of

God with so many others in our

world. May we may it be so. And may

we pick up this mantle of sharing God's grace

with all we come in contact with. Amen. Amen. And we thank

you for joining us today on the 2 Be Encourage

podcast with Bishop Julia c Tribble. This

is the podcast where we love to offer an encouraging word to an

often discouraged world.