The salient point of this discourse revolves around the critical examination of Luke 15:1-7, wherein the host, known as 'The Foul-Mouthed Preacher,' elucidates the parable of the lost sheep. This episode serves as a poignant critique of the evangelical church's tendency to misinterpret and misapply the teachings of Jesus, particularly in relation to the marginalized and the downtrodden. The host challenges the prevailing narrative that fosters a sense of superiority among believers, emphasizing that true Christian love transcends judgment and condemnation. Instead of merely seeking to correct others, we are called to embody the presence of compassion and understanding, particularly in our interactions with those deemed as 'other.' Ultimately, this episode implores us to reflect on our roles as shepherds, encouraging a shift towards authentic engagement with those in need, and away from divisive rhetoric.

Engaging in a profound examination of Luke 15:1-7, the discussion unfolds as we critique the prevailing interpretations often propagated by evangelical churches. These interpretations frequently espouse a sense of superiority among believers, fostering an exclusionary mentality towards those deemed 'other.' The Foul-Mouthed Preacher challenges this notion, insisting that the true essence of Christianity lies in unconditional love and acceptance, transcending superficial distinctions of race, gender, or belief. By employing the parable of the lost sheep, the host elucidates that the shepherd's pursuit of the one lost sheep symbolizes God's unwavering commitment to the marginalized and the downtrodden. This perspective urges listeners to reflect on their own attitudes towards the 'lost' in society, emphasizing the importance of presence and compassion over judgment and condemnation. Ultimately, the episode serves as a clarion call for Christians to embody the love of Christ by actively engaging with those who feel isolated or rejected, thus fulfilling the core tenets of their faith.

Takeaways:

• One must critically evaluate the prevalent teachings in evangelical churches regarding the parable of the lost sheep, as they often misinterpret the compassion that Jesus exemplifies.
• The contemporary church frequently fails to embody the shepherd's role by neglecting to support marginalized individuals in their communities, prioritizing judgment over presence.
• Jesus's parable serves as a profound reminder that true discipleship requires an active commitment to seek out and care for those who are lost and hurting.
• To genuinely reflect the heart of God, Christians must engage in meaningful conversations across ideological divides, fostering understanding and compassion instead of division and contempt.

Mentioned in this episode:

Anazao Ministries Podcasts - AMP Network

To hear more shows like this one, Christian Podcasts that aren't afraid of the big questions, check out the website for the AMP Network: https://anazao-ministries.captivate.fm/

We have been blessed to not be like them.

Amen.

We know that the Lord made us better than the immigrants, the kings and anyone else who we don't like.

Whether I be the plumber, we better than him.

If it's the electrician, we're better than him.

Certainly better than all the people at the dmv.

God would not like Disney live action movies or clowns or smelly people.

We must praise God and give thanks that we were born in the great US of A.

As wide street men who have little cubicle jobs that don't smell bad and know their gender.

Hallelujah.

This is the Bible after hours.

Can you hear me?

Is this thing on?

Okay, good.

I am the foul mouthed preacher and this is the underground church.

The word vulgar originally just meant to speak the language of the people.

That's what Jesus did.

That's what the apostle Paul did, what the disciples did.

And that's what we're going to do here today.

So if you have young children listening, we're going to be vulgar.

There's going to be strong language here.

So be aware.

The church above wants you to think that messages like what that moron at the beginning of this was saying is okay, that that's normal.

To talk shit about immigrants is normal.

That's not fucking normal.

And it's not Christian either.

Christians love everyone.

They care for the downtrodden and they hope that God will show mercy on everyone, even clowns and smelly people.

Christians love.

Christians care for the downtrodden.

They hope that God's going to show mercy just as he has shown mercy on us.

We forgive as we have been forgiven.

We hope for others mercy as we hope for our own.

We are saints, yet sinners still.

The fuck is wrong with people who think they're better than others?

You have your own shit, everybody does.

So everybody has a shitter because we all shit and we're all full of it.

God has shown mercy on us for our shit, regardless of any differences that we might have been born with.

Racial, gender, ethnic, I will even go as far to say sexual orientation, any of that shit.

Like God has shown mercy on all of us, regardless of how we may have been born yet.

I used to sound like that guy at the beginning.

I used to talk all kinds of shit about people who didn't believe like I did, didn't look like I did, who did stuff that I thought was against the Bible, you know, I was like, fuck the immigrants.

They're not paying their taxes.

Yeah, I didn't understand the shit, but I was still speaking, feeling that hate, because I was taught that that was God.

I was taught that God is love.

And love says you to everyone who's not like us sure as hell doesn't sound like love to me now.

But then I switched sides, right?

Like, I saw the faults in that side.

Now they're all hypocritic.

And the progressive character like to see same person on the progressive side.

I was the same person, though, then I was talking shit about the conservatives.

I was talking about how God doesn't like people who talk like that.

I'm so certain that I'm correct and that conservatives are stupid and like, all that shit.

Like, I was talking about how they were so uneducated because they think that God doesn't this and the God's this and like, Like I was talking the same, just from the other side.

That's still hate, that's still cruel.

That's still missing the heart of God.

God isn't in any of that shit.

Joshua, the, the voice actor for this show had a shooting at his house last year.

That's why we haven't had an episode in so long.

And that's why, before we go back to the psalms, we're going to be looking at a story that Jesus tells in the book of Luke about leaving the 99 for the morning Joshua's dog and his wife were shot.

Bull went through his dog's mouth and grazed his wife's arm.

A few people reached out to him after this.

Mostly they were Christians that he met at the progressive event Theology Beer Camp that same year, even while it was happening.

Shortly after this event, Joshua was attacked online by members of the church he grew up in, including some of the pastors he grew up with.

None of those same people who attacked him were the same people who checked to see how he was doing after the shooting.

They were concerned about him because he said stuff politically they didn't like, but didn't give a shit when his family's lives were in danger.

After Trump was elected, Joshua then advocated that we, we don't hate people who supported this evil regime.

I'm not sure if I'm on board with Joshua on that, but what he said is like.

Like, we still need to have conversations.

We still need to love people, even if they're on the wrong side of them.

That that was his message.

And you know what?

He got shit for that, too.

Progressive Christians that he knew started attacking him because he said this stuff.

The same progressive Christians that attacked him over this, none of the people who attacked him, were concerned about him after the shooting.

Either it's not one side or the other.

It's, are you concerned because he says stuff you didn't like or were you concerned about him as a person?

It became evident who was concerned as him as a person and who was concerned about his political views.

Not speaking to whether or not we should be talking politics on the Internet.

What I'm saying is, where is God in that?

I think it's pretty fucking clear.

God's not with those who are attacking you because they didn't like what you said.

But it's sure as hell with those who want to just be present when you need them, because that is the heart of God.

God is not with those who know that they are right, shout their opinions, any of that shit.

God is absolutely working through and is with those and in those who are with.

Joshua while he was at his lowest, talking about the story Jesus tells where the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1 sheep.

Everybody knows that story, right?

I think we all know that.

And all of us are the one at some point that the shepherd chases.

There's been a point in your life where you strayed or instead of people stinging, where all the good people are, someone came to you and said, hey, I give a shit.

That's the heart of God.

They come to you while you were hurt, while you were at your lowest, and say, I'm here.

A lot of times this gets hot as like, oh, we have to correct them and tell them the right teacher to bring them in and whip them into shape.

Fuck that shit, man.

The point of the story is the shepherd said, I'm going to be there with you.

I'm gonna get you out of this.

I'm gonna get you through this.

Not I'm gonna correct you and whip you until you learn to go where you're supposed to go.

Sometimes teachings needs happen.

That is part of shepherding, right?

Sometimes you need to pull people back into orthodoxy.

That's part of shepherding.

I'm not dismissing that that needs to happen sometimes.

But the important part of the story was that the shepherd was fucking there, not that the shepherd corrected him.

Don't miss not even the point, but don't miss the shepherd was there.

That, I think is way more important than to think that the shepherd corrected.

And even more, the story, as useful as is, I think, comforting as it is to know that sometimes you're the one.

So that's humbling to be the one the the shepherd goes for.

That's humbling.

It's comforting to people to know that God will be there with you, even if you're the only one and you're lost, that God will come for you.

Like, that's comforting.

It's not the point.

It's a little bit weird here.

So the message of the story and the point of the story, I think, are two different things.

The message of the story is absolutely, the shepherd is going to be there with the one, the lost, the hurt, the scared.

The shepherd will be there.

Like, that's the point.

That's.

Sorry, that's the message.

This is really confusing.

That's the message.

But the point of the story is a little bit different.

When you look at the context of why Jesus told that story.

He wasn't telling it to someone who was lost and scared.

Who was Jesus telling it to?

That's going to tell us a lot about why Jesus felt the need to tell the story.

I think it's going to shake some of us up.

Hopefully.

It shakes me up to be different.

Because I have to admit, again, part of why we haven't done the show so long, I've had a lot of fights and disagreements with Joshua.

I disagreed with some of what he said after Trump got elected.

And I too, was guilty.

I wasn't being there.

I was correcting.

There is a point to correct.

There's a point to have these debates, but there's also a point to know when someone just needs you to fucking be there.

Let's go a little more context before we get into this.

The church, honestly, church, has been kind of shitty about this.

You know, it didn't stop at the Pharisees.

It's not like there was, you know, Jewish people were bad and Christians were good.

Good and bad Jewish leaders of the Jewish religion.

In Jesus time, you see some that Jesus spoke to that were good religious leaders and a lot of bad ones.

And then afterwards, in the early church, we see a lot of good Christian leaders and a lot of really shitty ones.

Most of the heresies happened in the early church, right?

So don't think that this just stopped when Jesus came and all of a sudden all Christians are good like that.

That's bullshit.

We look at a region, it's unsure why he was dismissed.

It could have been from some of his universalist teachings that we, me and Joshua both can evolve more to.

It could have been because he's had some disagreements with an emperor, some political stuff.

There's a number of reasons it could have been.

But the thing is, like, whatever it was, the church excluded Him.

They didn't say, let's correct you and bring you in.

They said, we're gonna banish him later.

There's a heresy named after a religion that is probably pretty different than his version of universalism, but like rejinism.

I don't know, guys.

Some like that, but like some monks eventually kind of incorporated his teachings.

What was supposedly history changed, put their own twist on it.

It became a heresy again.

They get excluded.

Time and time and time we find something heresy and we exclude people.

We don't correct them and try to bring them in.

We say, up, you're wrong.

Fuck off.

That's what the church did.

The early church is what the early church did.

Go to Germany, but Nazi Germany, right?

What the church do.

The church embraced the political movement.

They said, we are for our country.

The God, the Bible wants to support our country.

And like a lot of the church was with the Nazis, they were blind.

They didn't see how what they were doing was hurting the marginalized.

They were excluding Jewish people, they were excluding other ethnicities because they thought the church was supposed to support this and that Christians were like the cream of the crop.

Everybody else needs to fuck off and go to hell or something.

I don't know.

Some bullshit, right?

Crusades, the same thing.

Spanish Inquisition, the same thing.

Time and time again, the church has been guilty of excluding people.

Tell them to off rather than correcting, bringing them in, loving them and correcting again.

That's not the important part.

The important part is being there with people.

The church was supporting the.

The government during Nazi Germany.

How much of the church was really with the Jewish people standing there in the concentration camp, standing there with them as they were getting brought in, getting executed.

There were some.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is an important person to study.

I'm not even sure he did that.

Well, look at the church today in America.

How much of it is supporting this regime that's excluding people, kicking immigrants out, denying refugees?

And how much of the church is saying a lot of online and fighting against the other side.

And they're having this online battle of the words and you and you and.

And.

And whatever.

Well, that's if no one's actually there with the marginalized, the herd.

If you're not actually with him, you're just talking on the Internet.

Shut up.

The call isn't to fight the government, to support the.

The call is to be there with those who need Christ.

That's what a shepherd does.

So when we look to this story in Luke 15 that Jesus tells, here are some of the context that's important.

First, Jesus was just telling people to go make disciples.

What does it mean to be a disciple?

And to be a disciple maker?

So he's talking to people who are going to be following him, that are going to be part of the church, who's going out and teaching people the ways of Christ, to teach them, to teach other people.

You know, if you know discipleship, you know discipleship.

If not, it's mostly a bunch of.

It's just about reaching people, telling them about Christ in nurturing relationships that build other relationships.

That's sort of what it is today.

I think that's mostly what Jesus was getting at, too.

I'm not going to get into a whole doctrine of discipleship here, though.

That's not what this is about.

After this, though, Pharisees and tax collectors come up, and that's when Jesus tells the story.

He didn't go find some lost people, say, hey, let me tell you this comforting story about how God's with you.

He's telling the people he's calling to disciples, as well as the current religious leaders at the time.

That's who he's telling the story to.

So you gotta think, yeah, the message of the story is that God's with the 1, not the 99, but he's telling that story to people who are supposed to be shepherding others.

He's telling them not necessarily just what God does, but he's telling, step the up.

Be a good shepherd.

So think about that in this context.

I'm going to read Luke 15, 1 7.

I'm going to jump past a few other stories to Luke 16, 14, 15, because after he tells a few other stories that are similar to this one, he addresses the Pharisees directly.

So that's why I make that jump.

And again, I think this is the new American, the standard Bible.

Now, all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to him.

And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.

And so he told them this parable saying, let's pause.

Not only is he addressing them, but they came to him saying, oh, man, how come you're with sinners?

You're stupid.

Now he's gonna address and be like, no, you're not doing what a shepherd needs to do.

Step the up.

That's what this is about.

Stop stepping the up.

All right, here we go.

What Jesus told them this parable saying, again, now I'm in verse four of chapter 15.

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other 99 in the Open pasture and go after the one that is lost until he finds it, no matter how long it takes.

And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me.

I have found my sheep that was lost.

And I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance.

Now I'm going to make that jump to chapter 16, verses 14 and 15.

The Pharisees who were lovers of money were listening to all these things and were ridiculing him, making fun of him.

Jesus said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of the people, but God knows your hearts because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.

See, we think it's all about all this other money, butts and pews.

We make fun of the pastors who are just trying to be there with people who are tree huggers, all this other kind of shit, whatever, right?

Like, oh, Well, I have 500 being one chart, you have 10.

What are you doing, man?

That's kind of that pastors talk to, to each other about.

And Jesus says, no, you're trying to justify yourselves, but God knows your hearts.

Look how many pastors say no?

Look, I'm touching so many people.

I'm doing so much good.

How can you say I'm not?

God knows your heart.

What you think is highly esteemed, that you have a lot of people who listen to you, a nice house, that you're on the right political side.

What you think is highly esteemed among people, it's detestable on the sight of God.

That's what Jesus said.

Said Jesus, Tom, step the up.

You're sitting there in the church with all the other people who are quote unquote righteous, who are already doing the right, talking about how much better you are than the other people, the smelly people, the clowns, Disney live action movies, right?

You're seeing you're better than all this, but you don't get your ass out of the church to be there with people who need you.

Step the up.

That's what Jesus is saying here.

So, yeah, it's good, it's comforting when you're lost, when you're sad, when you Feel alone and hurt.

It's comforting to know God will leave the 99 and be there with you.

There's a comfort in that.

And it's good.

Hold on to that.

Don't dismiss it.

That is the message here.

But the point, when you think about who Jesus was addressing, the point is for our leaders, for our disciple makers, for those who are in the church now who call themselves saved, call themselves Christians, the point is that Jesus is looking you in your eye and unseen, step the fuck up.

And then when they start to ridicule and say, hey, oh, how come you this, you're just a tree hugger, Jesus tells them, go, fuck off.

You don't even know the heart of God.

What you think is right is detestable to God.

Fuck off.

That's what Jesus is saying.

Either step the fuck up or off.

Good leaders and disciples see everyone as individuals, and they go to them to be present.

They don't sit in their churches the whole time and wait for them to come to them.

They go to the lost, to the hurt, to the needy, and they're present.

They don't attack other people online because you're not doing it right.

They go to the people who are hurt to be with them, to put them on their shoulders, bring them somewhere safe and to love them.

It's not about correcting, teaching the right thing, attacking other.

Like all this shit that people try and make the story about.

It's not what it's about.

It's about our leaders, disciple makers, Christians stepping the fuck up and being there for those who need God to be there.

We are the body of Christ today.

We need to be there with the immigrants, with those in the LGBTQ community who are deathly afraid right now in America.

Are you attacking others online about it?

Are you there with the people who need you?

Are you just talking a lot of shit about how you're.

You're proud of doge cutting jobs or how you're concerned with how many people lost their jobs?

Are you just talking shit about it one way or the other on the Internet?

Are you fucking there with people who are actually experiencing the hurt from this?

What you think is so good that you're doing online is detestable on the side of God?

If you're not there with someone, fuck off.

Step the fuck up.

Come on, dude, pick one.

Step the fuck up or fuck off.

That's the words of Christ today.

Yeah, it's strong, it's harsh.

There's a comfort.

But there's also a challenge, a criticism, a conviction.

That Jesus is offering here comfort.

If you are the lost in the hurt, a conviction.

If you're just talking online, if you're just talking in your church, you should feel convicted.

Should also make you think of the story.

Think it's also in the book of Luke.

You have a Pharisee and a tax collector praying together in the temple.

Jesus walks in, you see the Pharisee, the tax literature, praying for his family, praying for mercy, this kind of shit, right?

And the Pharisees like, oh, thank God I'm not evil like these other people.

I'm not like the immigrants and gays or this tax collector over here, they got him.

Not like him.

And he's like, hey, God's with that guy.

He's sure as hell not with that Pharisee him.

Jesus saw the heart of the broken and said, that's where God is.

It's all the heart of the righteous.

Those who thought they were better than others, the church leaders, the religious leaders, and said, yeah, God sees them as disgusting them.

Be there with the one who's hurt.

Don't even bother with these religious leaders who don't know and aren't there for people.

They're not stepping the up.

Don't even bother with them.

Be there with the hurt.

This isn't a challenge for you to go call other people out for their.

This is a challenge for you to evaluate yourself.

Are you stepping the up or Jesus looking at you, saying what you think is valuable is detestable, off or step up?

What's Jesus saying to you in this story?

That's what we need to think of.

That's what we need to reflect on.

We have to practice presence through meditation.

We want to be present with people.

We need to learn to be present.

A lot of times, especially with all this technology, we get wrapped up in what happened or what this person said yesterday or what's gonna happen tomorrow.

All this other shit, right?

Like, we get caught up in that.

Put all the technology down for a minute.

Keep your eyes open.

So not a lot of meditation to have your eyes closed, but keep your eyes open, open.

Look around you.

Listen deeply.

Smell what's there.

Practice meditating on what you're currently in.

Be practice presence.

You can't be present with others until you remind yourself in your own body how to just be present.

The other practical action I would say is have open conversations with others online.

Don't just attack people for saying the wrong things.

I actually do encourage you, be friends with people from both sides, Trump supporters, not, you know, people who Love trees, People who think the environment doesn't fucking matter, people who, you know, like, who are Christian, people who are atheists, who think Christians are evil.

Be friends with all of them and have real conversations.

And by that I don't mean, like, ask about them and have like a loaded answer.

I mean, like genuinely question why they believe what to do and be open to the fact that they could be right and you could be wrong.

Humility, that's something that Christ calls us to.

That's humility in our faith too, not certainty in our faith.

Humility is important.

And when you have these open conversations, if you are wrong, you can be made better.

And if you're not wrong, people are more likely to actually listen, to engage with you.

If you're having real conversations and not just attacking them or not just asking them questions so you can hit them back with a 1, 2.

So presence, humility, open conversations.

If you're, if you listen to podcasts like this, find multiple podcasts from both sides.

If you listen to a lot of progressive stuff, also listen to Al Mohler.

I, I find him cringeworthy.

But if you don't understand both sides, you're not having real conversations.

You're just picking aside and talking about the other.

But that's not what Christ wants you to do.

There's a real chance that the hurt and lost are the ones who are in these churches who listen to Al Mohler, who think this stuff about God is true and they have this view of God, that he's this angry almost someone I would say is evil, who doesn't love people if they have that view of God, they're probably lost and scared and they need someone to show them who God really is, a God of love.

There's also a chance that our progressive churches are wrong, right?

That they misunderstand love, that God wants to correct us.

There's a chance that I'm wrong.

And if that's so, I need people to have these open conversations so that someone can come to me as I'm lost, be present with me and show me who God really is, so that I can come in and feel God's love.

I think I feel it now.

I think I am right.

But if I'm wrong, how much more could I feel?

God's love if someone's actually willing to come to me and have these conversations?

It goes both ways.

It's also possible that we're all just full of shit and we need to not worry about it and worry about the people who are being affected, whether you think it's right or wrong.

Immigrants and refugees are hurting right now.

Whether you think it's right or wrong, people in the LGBTQ community are hurting and scared right now.

They feel lonely.

Whether you think it's right or wrong, there are Republicans and Democrats in America who feel lonely and scared, and they need you to step the up and be there for them when we do this.

We're going to see God.

We're going to move forward together.

Many who are lost, feeling lonely and scared won't feel lonely anymore.

They will feel the embrace of God as he puts them on our shoulders, the embrace of our shepherds, of us as we love them.

Put him on our shoulders and bring them back.

Salvation is delivered by the presence we can practice.

Presence, the presence.

Salvation is delivered by the presence of the body of Christ, which the Bible tells us is the church.

Today, the church needs to step the fuck up.

Be the body of Christ.

Go to those who are lost, hurt, alone.

Bring them back.

I talked about how Joshua felt after the shooting at his house.

He was scared.

He felt alone.

But there were people who were present with him, and that's not just physically or most of the people were texting him, calling him, and he could just feel that they cared.

They could feel their presence from far away.

Thanks to technology, they were there with him.

That was a single moment Joshua was confided to me.

We've talked about it, and he's the voice actor for this, and he's aware so many people who are immigrants in our country, that's every day they see shootings and stuff all around them every day.

People who live in certain parts of cities throughout the world, shootings around them every day.

They're constantly feeling this.

His wife was actually there.

She voted more than he did.

If how much he needed someone to be present with him in that moment.

How much more do these people who live a life where they constantly feeling this need the church to step the the up and be there for them now, present.

I don't want you to share this on your public social media accounts.

You know, there's a chance it might offend someone with the strong language, all that kind of.

If you think you can share it and no one will be offended, then please do.

It'll help the show.

That's great.

But if you think you share it and it's gonna offend somebody, just don't bother.

I don't want to offend anyone.

That's not why I do this.

I do want you to, though, find one friend or family.

Member who you think will have genuine conversation with you about these topics who might genuinely engage.

Share it with just one friend or family member you could have a meaningful conversation with that might benefit from this.

Share it with them.

Talk about these things.

Discuss whether or not you think Jesus is telling you to off or step the up.

Where are you in this?

Let's bring the church back to the common people.

Thank you for listening.