← All episodes

Ask a Pastor with JOBY MARTIN | June 2024 (Ep. 608)

June 13, 2024 39m 18s Full transcript available
Ask a Pastor with JOBY MARTIN | June 2024 (Ep. 608)
0:00 / 39m 18s
In this episode, Kyle Thompson and Joby Martin tackle tough questions about faith, morality, and the complexities of life as a Christian man. They discuss everything from the role of deacons to the moral implications of hypothetical scenarios involving historical figures like Hitler.
Transcript
625 segments
0:00 LinkedIn is pretty amazing at helping you grow your small business.
0:03 We cannot stop your new clients from emailing you at 3 a.m.
0:07 We can help you sell, market and hire in one place.
0:12 We cannot help you be in three places at once.
0:15 And while we can't help you organize your calendar,
0:20 LinkedIn can help you land more clients so you have a calendar to organize.
0:24 Grow your small business on LinkedIn.
0:26 Learn more at linkedin.com/smallbusiness.
0:30 (Music)
0:50 This is Undaunted Life A Man's Podcast.
0:53 I'm your host Kyle Thompson.
0:55 Let's get into it.
0:56 Joe B. Martin, you're back on the "Vaunted Amazing Adaunted Life A Man's Podcast."
1:01 But I just got to say, I don't know what your problem is here.
1:04 Because sunburns are my thing, okay?
1:06 Because I'm a ginger.
1:07 If I go outside for more than like three or four minutes at a time,
1:10 I end up looking like a tomato.
1:12 But I know that you recently did beach baptism.
1:14 Is that's what's going on with the face right now?
1:16 Did you forget to put some sunscreen on?
1:19 What's going on? Why are you so red?
1:21 No, I just stepped out of the sauna like 10 minutes ago.
1:25 So that's the red face.
1:27 Okay, well, how long did you do in the sauna?
1:29 Like, and what temperature was it at?
1:30 Because all the people want to know
1:31 just to what level you're torturing yourself at.
1:34 So it's an infrared sauna.
1:36 So it doesn't get like crazy hot like some of the others,
1:38 but it's got all the light therapy stuff.
1:40 And so I did 40 minutes at 170.
1:44 Okay, very good.
1:46 And guys, that's a decent temperature to do a brisket at too.
1:49 If you're going to do a brisket for a very, very long time,
1:51 so if you fall asleep and they're just be careful,
1:54 you might be someone's dinner later on.
1:55 But we're going to get into the questions and guys as always.
1:58 If you want to get your question,
1:59 enter it in for this so you can ask a pastor with Joby Martin.
2:02 You've got to be a monthly donor.
2:03 And as always, I do my question first because I'm selfish.
2:06 But first question, because I thought this was super cool.
2:10 By the time this comes out, it will have happened,
2:12 you know, a couple of months ago.
2:13 But recently you were talking about your dad at a sermon
2:17 at the San Pablo campus.
2:18 And I believe your dad was there.
2:20 And your dad actually got a standing ovation.
2:24 From the people that you were delivering the sermon to,
2:27 to the church of 11, 22ers.
2:28 So I just want to ask you what that was like because it wasn't like you said,
2:32 all right, guys, and on three, two, one, stand up and clap for my father.
2:35 This was just something that happened.
2:37 And so I'm like, okay, how did that make you feel?
2:39 How did that make Papa Martin feel?
2:41 Yeah, man, it's cool.
2:42 So the story of my dad and my church, you know,
2:45 I talk about him a lot when I preach.
2:47 And I prayed for a salvation for 30 years before he surrendered to Christ.
2:52 So that was just like three years ago.
2:54 And so again, our church knows that story.
2:56 And they knew the angst of me praying for his salvation for all those years.
2:59 And also they know that I've always said he's a good dad.
3:04 So when I was like, uh, when I was coming to faith as a teenager,
3:07 the Bible would talk about the fact that God is a good father.
3:10 That made a lot of sense to me because I got a good dad.
3:13 And so just from stage, I just thanked him, thanked him for raising me
3:17 and, and my brothers away did and loving us and pouring into us.
3:21 And I wouldn't be the man I am without who he is in my life.
3:25 And so I was just trying to honor him.
3:27 And then the church just surprisingly took over.
3:32 And it was, it was pretty awesome, man.
3:35 He shook him up pretty good in all the right ways.
3:37 Okay.
3:39 So you mentioned that it shook him up.
3:40 I remember you saying that somewhere else, but like, what does that mean?
3:44 Like, because you could be shook up in a lot of ways that aren't good.
3:48 That means like he, he didn't cry because, you know, he works out.
3:51 He has hobbies.
3:52 Yeah, you don't do that.
3:53 But he could tell he got a little, he got a little choked up, got a little teared up.
3:56 Okay.
3:57 Very good.
3:57 Well, I thought that was a very honoring thing because again,
4:00 that's like an extension of honor because you talked about, you know,
4:03 one thing that men, especially Christian men don't do very well as we don't.
4:06 Oh, what is it?
4:08 Where we try to outdo one another and honor.
4:11 And so people were honoring him through you, but also directly to him for you.
4:16 So it was, it was a cool moment, even though I didn't see it,
4:18 just even hearing it through the podcast feed.
4:21 I thought that was awesome.
4:22 But we're going to go and get into the first donor question.
4:25 This is from James.
4:26 So this is more like a life scenario thing.
4:28 So I'm going to take you through this.
4:29 And hopefully his decision hasn't been made yet.
4:32 So that you can give him a little bit of feedback.
4:34 Okay.
4:35 I'm retired from the United States Air Force after a 30 year career last year.
4:39 And we relocated to Alaska where I am now an airline pilot.
4:43 During my Air Force career, we lived in Hungary for four years.
4:46 And we did a tour where I was a commander for a multinational organization.
4:50 As a Christian surrounded by mostly unbelievers,
4:52 I often thought of Joseph in Egypt where he cared for a nation of pagans
4:56 as that was part of God's purpose for him.
4:59 Now, I possibly have an opportunity to return to Hungary in a different role
5:03 as a NATO civilian executive at the same multinational organization.
5:07 Despite much thought and prayer, if I were to get offered this job,
5:11 I am struggling with the decision, whether to go back or to stay in Alaska
5:15 in my current role.
5:17 Do you think God's purpose can be caring for a largely pagan organization
5:21 as a Christian leader?
5:23 Can it be that simple?
5:24 I'm struggling to know if this is his purpose for my new phase of life
5:28 after a military career versus remaining in Alaska as an airline pilot,
5:32 which I thought was his plan.
5:34 So this is a very specific scenario that I'm paying for you,
5:38 Joby.
5:38 Again, a lot of people kind of find themselves in this where you're like,
5:41 wait, I thought I was doing God's plan.
5:43 But now it feels like I'm being yanked here, which also seems like God's plan.
5:46 But if I stay, maybe it's wrong.
5:48 If I go, maybe it's wrong.
5:49 What the heck do I do?
5:50 Yeah, that's a great question.
5:52 First of all, thanks so much for serving people like you and me
5:56 wouldn't be able to do this without brothers like that.
5:58 Amen.
5:58 It means life on the line.
5:59 So thank you for that.
6:00 Martin Luther, I think it's Martin Luther.
6:04 Maybe John Calvin, I can't remember.
6:05 One of them said you're either a missionary or a liar.
6:10 If you're a believer in Jesus, you are either a missionary or a liar.
6:14 And so either way, you're called to be a missionary.
6:17 The real question is, is what is your role in the Great Commission?
6:22 Because those are the marching orders of every single believer on the planet.
6:27 My guess is you could probably do that.
6:29 Well, I know that you could do that no matter where you are.
6:32 So I don't know if God has like a specific, like,
6:38 you have to do A and not B, or if it's just general
6:42 that makes sure you were on mission as you were on the go wherever you go.
6:46 So the only way I know to distinguish between the two
6:50 is something that I can't do for this guy.
6:52 John 10 says that Jesus is the good shepherd,
6:56 that he speaks to his sheep and his sheep hear his voice.
7:00 And so you really got to pray and just dial in
7:03 and you need to pray with your Bible open.
7:05 And wherever you go, you've got to be on mission for the glory of God,
7:09 sharing the gospel.
7:10 But even when you do that, sometimes you don't have a,
7:15 like I know for sure what God wants me to do.
7:17 So at some point, you just got to pray, guess, and go.
7:20 And pray to the point where if you get it wrong,
7:24 and you are heading in the wrong direction,
7:26 you could trust that God will send a big fish, swallow you up,
7:28 and spit you out on the shore that you were supposed to be at.
7:32 So in a more practice, because obviously I would cosign that
7:36 because you've talked about that, I think even on these segments,
7:39 so you know, pray, guess, and go.
7:40 There are times when the fish doesn't come,
7:46 because that's pretty obvious.
7:47 Like, hey, you were in the wrong spot at the wrong time,
7:49 like this is not happening.
7:51 There are other times when you do what you fervently believe
7:54 is what God has for you.
7:56 And you think all the negative signs that happen there after,
8:00 that's just my challenge.
8:02 That's just where I need to cling to faith.
8:04 And that's just something like that's just the haters,
8:05 that's just Satan, like that's just whatever.
8:08 And so you're not seeing it or putting it in the correct category
8:11 of God's trying to get your attention to tell you no more on,
8:13 this is not the direction I wanted you to go.
8:15 But then, you know, there are times where it's like,
8:17 hey, God's gonna allow things to happen to you
8:19 so that you will lean on him and so that you can overcome.
8:22 Does that make sense?
8:22 Yeah, we are not really good sign readers in the moment.
8:26 So I would be way more apt to look at what the scripture says
8:31 versus whatever sign I'm reading.
8:33 This is where also, first of all,
8:37 it's got to be in line with what the scripture says.
8:39 He's not going to tell you something individually different.
8:41 Also, this is why the, he walks with the wise grows wise.
8:46 So hopefully he's got some foxhole brothers.
8:49 He could run this by or maybe some authorities at his church
8:52 that love him and care about him.
8:54 And he could get input from wise counsel, from other people.
8:59 That's what I would encourage.
9:00 Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the concept of foxhole
9:03 because again, there are certain times in life.
9:05 And even here recently for me,
9:07 I had some really, really big decisions I needed to make.
9:09 Some were business related, some were personal related.
9:12 And my goodness, like when you're in the thick of something,
9:15 like you just can't see clearly,
9:17 even if you're a wisdom-filled individual.
9:20 And so you need someone that's at least somewhat removed
9:23 from your situation because they're not you
9:25 and they're not living through it to just say like,
9:28 hey, I know you feel that way.
9:29 And I got a lot of this because people kind of know
9:31 that I'm a little bit of a crazy person.
9:33 So they'll start petting me and be like, Kyle, it's okay.
9:37 Like look at me, look at me right here.
9:38 Look, I've got a cigar right here.
9:40 And I've also got a candy bar.
9:41 Look, look, things are good.
9:43 But then they'll be like, brother,
9:44 how about we just tweak it a little bit like this?
9:46 Because my guys and my foxhole know they can't just be like,
9:49 no, this is a dumb idea.
9:51 Because it's like, they know I've done at least some thought on this.
9:54 So I'm in generally the right direction.
9:57 But the guys in my foxhole are great nudgers.
10:00 They'll be like, bro, you're pointed sorta in the right direction,
10:04 but you're going to miss your destination by about 15 degrees west.
10:08 Like let's just course correct just a little bit.
10:10 But again, you talk about that all time.
10:12 Guys don't have that.
10:12 They don't have corner toaters.
10:14 And they kind of do that to themselves as well.
10:16 I would add one thing too.
10:17 I would, I would, I'd really be interested in what his wife thinks
10:21 if he's married.
10:24 At least in my life, man, Gretchen has just is such a source of wisdom.
10:28 What one time I heard somebody say that the reason you should listen to the advice of your
10:35 wife is nobody loves you like she does, knows you like she does, and is less impressed than she is.
10:41 So that's a really great combination to get good advice from.
10:45 That is true.
10:47 She's not normally standing there in awe at how smart you are.
10:50 It is kind of funny. I'll go to do some speech somewhere and I'll come home and I'll say
10:54 something similar to what I said on stage.
10:55 I was like, it's like it doesn't land.
10:57 It's like you're bombing as a comedian.
10:58 It's just like, well, that was really funny to a group of 400 guys like 12 hours ago.
11:03 Now here I am getting crickets.
11:05 All right.
11:05 Next question here, this one's from me again because, well, I say it's from me,
11:10 but I've been asked this by other people before.
11:12 And it's been one of those things that I've also wondered about.
11:15 It's about bad words.
11:16 Okay.
11:17 It's about cursing because if you go to the Bible,
11:19 you don't get a list of words or phrases that can or can't be used.
11:24 Whenever I've, I've interacted with pastors before, that have said, hey, I use bad language
11:30 because when I use it around non-Christians, it makes them feel better.
11:33 And then you have other people that are like, you know, if a pastor says the word sucks
11:38 from stage, he has disqualified himself from ministry.
11:42 And obviously I've taken some liberties and, you know, episode four of my podcast
11:46 has called what it is and I've lost a lot of money because of the name of that podcast
11:50 because I'll get a speaking gig booked and then the elders will go review my podcast
11:53 and they'll see that I use the P word that they don't particularly like.
11:57 And then they're like, oh, we can't have that guy on stage.
11:58 He's, you know, he's a loose cannon.
12:00 And so I've always wondered about this because I've been around both types.
12:05 I've been around pastors that are literally choir boys and they don't even say the word sucks.
12:10 And I've been around pastors that just light it up.
12:12 And you're like, do you realize where you are?
12:14 But at the same time these pastors wouldn't talk from the stage behind the pulpit
12:19 with a mic on their face and use the same language.
12:22 And so yeah, it's a pastor question, but it's also just a dude question because it's like,
12:26 hey, are we allowed to say these words?
12:28 Like what, you know, is there a particular word that no matter the context is bad to use?
12:32 So help me here.
12:33 Yeah, it's complex.
12:36 Personally, I'm definitely not the speech police, you know,
12:44 but a part of the reason I try not to have cuss words in my regular vocabulary is
12:52 because I don't want that to be normal words that I use for the sake of I preach, you know,
12:56 pretty extemporaneously.
12:58 And I don't want to just be saying cuss words and be like, oops, didn't mean to say that there.
13:02 Now, yeah, I will say context matters.
13:05 Ephesians 4.29 says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,
13:10 but only such as is good for building up as it fits the occasion that it may give grace to those
13:16 who hear it.
13:17 So there are different occasions.
13:20 So me and you by a campfire just happens to be a different occasion than me preaching in a sermon.
13:28 And also, it's often the heart behind it.
13:32 So if my grandma said to you, bless your heart, that is not a compliment.
13:36 All the words sound sweet, but she just said, you're too dumb to talk to.
13:40 But if you and I are lifting or training together,
13:44 there is a way that you would, we would actually bless one another by using some really aggressive
13:51 language that my grandmother would not be comfortable with.
13:54 Now, but we shouldn't use the kind of words.
14:01 Well, one of the things I would say to people, even non-believers,
14:07 if you're going to be a cusser, people have made it so casual that it's lost all of its power.
14:11 And just from a communicating standpoint, I would reserve powerful words for powerful moments,
14:18 or those words just are meaningless.
14:20 So I think the heart of the word has as much or more to do with it.
14:26 And why are you using certain words?
14:29 Is it because you're trying to fit in, you know?
14:32 So to the guy that's cussing so that his lost friends get saved, I don't know.
14:36 I think you would want to dig into that a little bit, but at least on the surface,
14:40 the defense may be, hey, I'm becoming all things to all people that I might save some.
14:45 But I think as a general rule,
14:48 it shows a sign of maybe a lower sense of intelligence if you go just to the bottom shelf
14:57 cuss words for effect, and there's probably some ego and insecurity going on in you
15:03 if you feel like you have to use certain words to fit in with a certain group of people.
15:07 So I would try to get to what's under that.
15:11 Well, so, Joby, that actually attaches to something that I've dealt with here specifically on this show.
15:16 So there was a time, there was a news story that I think I talked about last year,
15:21 something like that horrific news story.
15:23 It was this gay couple that adopted these two brothers and not only were they raping these boys,
15:28 they were systematically pimping them out to their gay pedophilic friends to rape as well.
15:33 And so I was covering this story again, the stories that nobody wants to cover,
15:36 but here I am like marinating in it.
15:38 And I was going to read the transcript from these people's text messages that they were
15:42 sending back and forth between them and their pedophilic friends.
15:46 And there were literally the F word for sex, okay?
15:49 And it was like, hey, I'm going to F my son tonight, I got to go.
15:53 Like it's that type of language.
15:55 And so I was going to say it.
15:56 I was just going to read the transcript as it read.
15:59 I was going to break the F bomb ceiling on my show or whatever.
16:04 But I talked to a couple of guys in my foxhole and I told them what I was planning to do.
16:11 And one of them was like, yeah, I don't know that I would do it,
16:15 but it would make sense that you would do it.
16:17 I was like, okay, but then another guy was very much so like, yeah, I don't really see the point.
16:22 I don't know that saying it makes your point any more fervently.
16:27 And I fervently disagreed with him at the time.
16:30 But what I decided, Joby, was when the episode comes.
16:33 And when I get to that point of the episode and I'm reading the transcript,
16:37 I will decide right then, which is not my normal MO, I'm a pre-decider, right?
16:41 And in the moment, I chose not to.
16:43 I chose to just say the F word or whatever, something like that.
16:47 So in that moment, I'm not asking you for past permission.
16:50 Like should I have said that?
16:51 But my feeling was this is so horrific that this is under on life, a man's podcast.
16:57 I'll put the explicit label on this episode.
17:00 I don't care.
17:01 I feel like it needs to be said, but in the moment, something just didn't feel right.
17:05 And I didn't say it.
17:06 Yeah.
17:06 I mean, I would caution against it, but I don't know why I'm thinking that.
17:10 Like I don't know if it is fear and self-preservation and fear of man.
17:14 And I think we've got to be honest enough to say that, you know?
17:16 Because there are some things that you say, because I think I listen to pretty much every single episode.
17:23 And there are some things that you say and I'm like, come on, man.
17:27 Like, but all I'm all I'm thinking is probably would have advised against that.
17:31 But I don't know if it's just because I'm getting old and soft.
17:33 Like I don't know.
17:34 I don't know.
17:36 I think it's important to like, I mean, I have a board of elders and if they tell me,
17:41 hey, man, you can't use that language, then I need to submit to that.
17:44 So, but I want to do what the Bible says.
17:49 So if you think about it, I'm teaching through the book of Galatians right now.
17:52 Holy moly, Paul, at one point to the Judaizers who believe that you couldn't be saved if you
17:59 weren't circumcised.
18:01 He says, in the Greek, the next time, don't just take off the foreskin, but cut your entire penis
18:09 and balls off.
18:09 He says, emasculate yourself.
18:12 Well, that doesn't, that's that's strong language, right?
18:16 It's pretty rough.
18:17 In Philippians, when he says, he gives his resume of all the things that he has accomplished.
18:24 And he's like, but compared to Christ, I compare all of this to the Greek word is scubylon.
18:29 It gets translated rubbish, because I don't know if you've seen very many Bible translators,
18:34 but, you know, they don't use bad words, apparently.
18:36 That's not what the word is.
18:37 It's not rubbish.
18:38 It's slang for animal dung.
18:40 So BS is what it, and I don't even want to, I'm not going to cuss on your show,
18:46 but the actual meaning of bowl scubylon in our context is way is a much better translation.
18:56 And Paul was trying to be offensive there, but, but offensive in a way that built up the church
19:04 so that they would know what a big deal it is to equate works with righteousness in both
19:11 situations.
19:12 So he uses a shocking word.
19:14 Well, I think we would shock our audience right now.
19:17 If you just drop the up bomb, so just let it rip and just go, just do it.
19:20 Just do it right now.
19:20 Do it.
19:21 Joby, do it.
19:22 I'm not.
19:23 Am I now trying to win the approval of manner of God?
19:26 So yeah, just this man, just this man, like you don't have to worry about.
19:29 It's not man in general, it's just me.
19:30 Okay.
19:31 All right, let's move on to the next one.
19:32 This actually is a question from Eric from the forging table.
19:34 So one of our OGs, how has your prayer life evolved over the years?
19:38 What was helpful for you in learning and expressing this often hard discipline?
19:42 My hunting obsession and my prayer life are intricately tied together.
19:51 And so context mattered to me a lot.
19:56 I had to willfully put myself in places where honestly, there's not much more to do than to pray.
20:02 I'm a doer.
20:05 I'm a strategist.
20:07 I'm a very gold oriented person.
20:09 Those things feel they're not different than prayer, but it sure does feel different.
20:14 And so there's some, there's certain context that I put myself in.
20:18 And it's kind of like a little brain hack.
20:20 Like when you're getting ready to train, there's like three or four steps before you
20:24 walk into your garage and start doing deadlifts.
20:26 And it's like your body is triggered in the right way to be like,
20:30 Oh, this is what we're about to do.
20:32 Same thing with my prayer life.
20:33 So like this morning, I, you know, I know it sounds sissy, but I don't care.
20:39 I got a bunch of bird feeders in my backyard.
20:41 Cause I just like to sit out of there and watch the birds happen.
20:43 But I do, but so I went out there this morning before I got in the sauna and just read a little
20:51 in Galatians, set my Bible down, prayed a little, watched the birds.
20:55 And where this comes from for me, when we first planted the church in 2012,
21:01 dude, it blew up just overnight.
21:03 And I thought, holy goodness.
21:04 And I was reading these, I was reading these biographies on like Luther and Calvin and Wesley
21:10 brothers, and their prayer life was through the roof.
21:14 I mean, Martin Luther would pray every day for three hours.
21:16 And I thought, man, the responsibility that God has given me is not being matched by an
21:21 increase in prayer life for me.
21:23 And I was very, very convicted.
21:25 And so that's where the Mondays in the woods, you know, prayer, right sermons all day came from.
21:30 So for me, I just felt like with the responsibility of the Lord had given me,
21:34 it was, it was required of me to pray more.
21:37 And I don't think I'm a very good prayer, like by nature.
21:41 So one of the things I'll do too, is just pray scripture.
21:43 Like as I'm trying to like ramp my mind and heart up for prayer, especially when I'm not in a
21:50 time of desperation, then I'll go Lord's prayer.
21:54 I'll pick, I don't know Psalm 91, Psalm 34.
21:57 There's some psalms that are prayers that started in heaven that are in our Bible,
22:02 that I just want to lift back up to heaven and just use them as my own words.
22:07 And that for me can be like training wheels to get the train going in my own prayer life.
22:14 Another hack is when my mind goes somewhere else, I just have a list on my phone or even
22:21 sometimes next to me pen and paper.
22:23 And when my mind starts thinking about all these other things, I'll just write them down.
22:26 And I feel like, okay, I'll get to this when I'm done.
22:28 And what's great is the enemy's trying to distract me.
22:32 And I've got a really good to do list at the end of it.
22:34 And I always chuckle.
22:36 I'm like, ha ha, what you intended for evil got intended for good.
22:39 Now, not only was I not distracted, but now also I know that some of the things I need to pay
22:43 attention to today.
22:45 Hey guys, real quick, as you've likely heard me talk about on the show before,
22:48 it took me forever before I started taking supplements of any kind.
22:51 I was always nervous about taking like whey protein and creatine or really anything beyond that,
22:55 because I was just afraid of what was in the product and if it was going to like give me
22:59 cancer someday or something like that.
23:01 And I was always scared of these companies, these supplement companies,
23:04 just cutting corners and using low quality products and eventually putting things in
23:08 their products that could cause problems for me and my body.
23:11 So I've always wanted to partner up with an American company that uses high quality
23:15 ingredients in their supplements.
23:16 And that's why I want to remind you guys that we are partnered with Jocko Fuel.
23:20 So Jocko Fuel is Jocko Willing's American based supplement company.
23:23 So what are some of my favorite products that they make that I also use?
23:27 They have the best tasting greens powder on the market.
23:29 I love the peach flavor myself.
23:31 They also make whey protein powder.
23:32 The banana cream is my favorite.
23:34 They make energy drinks.
23:35 The Jocko go energy drinks.
23:37 My favorite is currently a tie between their iced tea lemonade
23:40 and their pink lemonade flavors.
23:41 I also use their creole oil, their creatine, their vitamin D, and also their sleep aids.
23:46 And they make a bunch of other stuff like ready to drink protein, protein cookies,
23:50 which are actually really delicious.
23:51 My boys even like them pre workout powder and much, much more guys.
23:54 If you take your health and wellness seriously, then you've got to put high quality products in your body.
24:00 Try Jocko Fuel out today by going to www.jockofuel.com.
24:05 That's jockofuel.com. Use the promo code undaunted to get 10% off of your order.
24:10 Again, that's jockofuel.com promo code undaunted to get 10% off of your order.
24:15 I think it's also helpful.
24:16 I would add is like take those little moments.
24:19 Like some guys don't turn on their podcasts or their music until they get out of the neighborhood.
24:24 That's just their normal cadence.
24:26 So they get out of the garage and they kind of drive through the neighborhood and silence for a little bit.
24:29 We'll throw up some tweet prayers real quick.
24:31 Like just chat like he's sitting there in the truck with you because he is.
24:35 So there's those little moments as well.
24:37 Well, that's a good, yeah. The first time I ever heard it,
24:40 explain that way. I think Chandler was preaching this is a really good idea.
24:43 He's like, there's, you know, my wife and I have two types of communication.
24:46 One is like a date night, which is face to face and long and deep conversation.
24:51 You should have that kind of prayer in your life, but you can't do it all the time.
24:56 And then sometimes G and I just quick little text. Well, there's nothing wrong with that kind of
25:01 prayer too. So don't, don't, don't fit yourself into some structure of somebody else's prayer life.
25:08 And I'll tell you this, man, I bet I've got 50 journals with two pages filled out in them.
25:13 Because I just, you know, all these guys were journalers and I thought you had to be a journaler
25:19 to be a Jesus follower. It just has never worked for me ever, ever, ever.
25:24 So part of it is try to find how God wired you and lean into that in regards to prayer.
25:29 Joby, I think that might be your next book after run over by the grace train. It can be
25:33 my first two pages and it'll just be like the first two pages of every journal thing. Maybe
25:37 that could be your devotional. What do you think? That's a great idea. Yeah. 50 days of almost
25:43 full thoughts like that could be basically what you're doing. All right. Next question is for me
25:47 because other people have been asked this, but I have never heard a pastor answer this question.
25:51 So I'm going to give it to you. Okay. And I mean this, this, this is no tongue and cheek. I literally
25:56 mean this question. Okay. If you were transported back in time to when Hitler was a newborn baby,
26:02 assuming he would go on to do exactly what he did during his life, would you have a moral
26:08 obligation to kill him? And would you?
26:10 Um,
26:13 I don't know, man. Uh, I would try to share the gospel with him when he was like 13.
26:21 No, you just, no, you transport it back to when he's a baby. He's a newborn. He doesn't understand
26:26 anything other than mama's milk at that point. No, I would not because I am pro life. And so,
26:32 uh, I don't think I could kill potential sin.
26:37 I think I would have to wait until he was, he had, he had earned the right to be put down.
26:46 We'll see you, you have changed my question because in this scenario, you know, he's going to go
26:52 on to do what he was going to do, unencumbered. And so that's the conundrum is as someone that is
26:59 pro life, well, there's six million Jews that wish they, that they were still living at that time.
27:04 And then there's tens of millions of others that were pulled into a world war that I'm pretty sure
27:08 would have much rather been farming or building a business or taking care of their families.
27:12 And yet they were dying in trenches in Germany. So that's kind of my thing. If you knew he was
27:17 going, I know we're, we're suspending reality here, like this is a, a other worldly scenario. But if
27:22 it's not, Hey, I can change this. The only option you have is to let him live or to kill him.
27:28 Since we're in the hypotheticals, and I don't know, because I would have to do the John 10 10
27:35 thing that I told the first question asked her to do. And really deeply pray, God, is this your
27:41 will for me to like, is this like an old Testament thing where you want me to wipe out evil?
27:45 Or is this like a new Testament thing where you want me to forgive my enemy and you're in control
27:49 of all things? So I don't know the answer. One of the things I would say, if there are any pastors
27:55 listening, I know you're my buddy, so you're never trying to get me on the gotcha things. But
28:00 you don't have to answer every question. The, the Pharisees would come to Jesus and ask him
28:07 trick questions. And then he would be like, well, let me ask you a question. John the Baptist,
28:11 was he from God or not? And they were like, we're not answering. He goes, then I'm not answering,
28:15 right? So I don't know. I mean, that's, you know, they're complicated, complex moral
28:22 hypotheticals out there that whatever answer is both right and wrong in so many ways.
28:29 Well, Joe, you don't have to answer their questions, but you do have to answer mine. That's kind of
28:36 the point of the show. It's not ask, ask a pastor and accept, expect nothing in return. It's ask a
28:41 pastor and get an answer. I think, honestly, goodness, I don't know, in the moment, I would,
28:47 I would have the same decision making that you did about cuss words in your show.
28:51 Once I got there, I would say, Lord, what you want me to do.
28:54 All right, I'll let you off the hook because,
28:58 all right, I'm going to let you off the hook temporarily to get to a question from Dylan.
29:02 And I'm going to say this from the beginning. I think I may have already asked you this question,
29:06 but it's a good question. So if I'm asking it again, you get to answer it again. And if not,
29:09 you get to hear it for the first time. My name is Dylan, 25 year old married dude from Nashville.
29:15 I was recently ordained as a deacon in my church. I used to view deacons as just old men in the
29:20 church who prayed over dying people. But I've learned that's not really the case. What advice,
29:25 wisdom or lessons would you give to a brand new young deacon? You know what, this sounds
29:30 familiar because I think I answered it on an AMA, but I don't think I asked you it. But so what would
29:34 you, what advice would you give to this 25 year old deacon? So in the Bible, deacon is not power
29:40 broker. It literally means dirty foot washer. So the best thing you can do as a deacon is go to
29:47 the leadership of your church and say, how can I serve to free you up to do what y'all are called
29:53 to do? So really, the first time you see kind of the idea of deacon is like Acts chapter six,
29:59 the Grecian widows are not getting their daily handout of food. And so the apostles are like,
30:07 well, we're not going to stop preaching and praying in order for this service to happen.
30:12 So they raise up six men, they lay their hands on and they pray for them so that they can do,
30:17 they can serve the body so that the preachers can pray and preach sermons. And then what's great
30:23 is at the end of it, it says, and many were added to that number. It doesn't say, and all the widows
30:28 got their food. So the best thing you can do is just ask how you can best serve
30:34 and do that for the sake of the advancement of whatever your church is doing.
30:39 What's funny is I think I told him because I answered his email personally and then I talked
30:46 about it on AMA, I said, yeah, you need to find you some old men in the church who pray over dying
30:51 people and get them to mentor you. It's like those guys at the very least have seen more things than
30:56 you have seen. They may not be smarter than you. They may have not done better than you on your ACT,
31:00 like whatever the situation is, but like, hey, these dudes have seen a thing or two. And so
31:05 get some of those sage guys that are in your life that can really, really pour into you in that way.
31:11 All right, next one is from Winkler, the Winkler from the forging table. He's the largest of the
31:16 forging tableers. He's Shrek size. Here's his question. If our actions are divinely predetermined,
31:23 why has God given us commandments? Who said our actions are divinely predetermined?
31:29 I don't know. Winkler did. It's just a question. Don't don't make fun of me. I just asked the
31:33 question as it was written here. So I don't think our actions are divinely predetermined.
31:40 I do think we have agency and God made people not puppets. And the reason we have commandments
31:46 is because we are image bearers of God. And his commandments are not rules and regulations.
31:53 As much as they are, the Creator knows how best to live this life. And they are a reflection
32:00 of who he is. And when we walk in line with who he is, then we have a much better chance of flourishing
32:08 and those around us flourishing. And the reason that we have commandments is because we are
32:13 broken people and we have a war going on in us and our flesh wars against the Spirit.
32:19 And the commandments are both a map and a mirror. It's a map to show us how to rightly live before
32:25 a holy God. But it's a mirror to diagnose the problem that we can't pull it off on our own.
32:32 So we need a Savior. We need someone to do for us what we can't do for ourselves.
32:36 So the law is the diagnosis that we're a sinner. And if there wasn't a law, we wouldn't know
32:45 when we broke the law or sin. So take, for example, you pull out on the highway and it says speed
32:51 limit is 70. Well, if you just said drive safely and you just had to perceive under yourself what
32:57 safely means, well, some of us will go 125 and feel real good about it. And some people will go 35
33:02 be putting on their makeup and feel great about it. But we know what the law is. It's 70 and to go
33:09 over 70 means I'm breaking the law. So the law of the old covenant was so that we would know
33:15 that we're just not bad people trying to be better. But we are dead in our sins because we are law
33:20 breakers. So therefore the covenant Paul says was like a babysitter until the Savior showed up.
33:28 What I think, again, I've talked about this many times, a origin meaning morality destiny. Like all
33:33 world these have to answer those questions. The third one is morality. How do we know the
33:36 difference between good and evil? Like what authority do we appeal to? Do we appeal to what
33:40 society has generally agreed upon? Our own individual feeling some sort of a higher
33:44 you know, book is it the Bhagavad Gita or is it the Quran or is it the Bible? Like, you know,
33:50 how are we getting this delineation between what is good and what is not? So I think that plays
33:54 into this as well. All right, Joby, we've only got time for one more question. So let's just
33:59 launch into it here. If you were transported back in time to when Hitler was a newborn baby,
34:03 assuming that everything would go exactly the same way it went during his life, would you have
34:07 a moral obligation to kill him? And would you do it? I don't know. I still don't know.
34:12 Moral obligation to kill someone. Every word of that is very, okay, let me back up.
34:20 All right. So a part of it, maybe this is part of it if so me, I don't think I would,
34:26 but I think maybe if you were like some sort of covert operative and they figured out time travel
34:31 and your, you know, commander in chief sent you, that's a very different thing than just like a
34:36 regular citizen. Like when you get into moral obligation and Romans 13 and Revelation 13,
34:44 I mean, that's a complex question. What would you do?
34:48 Well, so what I would say is, so let's let's change this scenario just a little bit since
34:51 you're changing my question. I guess I can change my question. So if somebody were hurting
34:56 Gretchen and you weren't around, no, no, no, you're not there. You're not there.
35:02 You're, you're off in wherever'sville shooting some animal with that has a face and its own life
35:07 and needed to live. So but I'm there and somebody is violating Gretchen. I have a moral obligation
35:14 to stop him. Okay. Correct. That is a moral obligation because I know in this moment,
35:20 like I can't tell the future, but I know that if I don't step in, it's going to get worse for this
35:26 particular image bearer of God. Now let's take Gretchen out of it. Let's just say it's Jane Doe,
35:30 a woman I don't know. I feel the same amount of compulsion, but I'm probably not going to be as
35:34 angry afterwards as I would be with, you know, a woman that I know and love.
35:38 Sure. But in this situation, if you know, because there's the scenario, I think you may have seen
35:43 back in World War one, which Adolf Hitler fought in, there was a soldier that led him live. There
35:47 was a soldier that had him dead to rights and didn't shoot him, right? Because he was by himself,
35:53 he was a young guy. And for whatever reason, the soldier on the opposite side did not choose to
35:57 kill this German soldier. That's a German soldier just so happened to be Adolf Hitler.
36:01 So how different is history if that guy just pointed his rifle at Adolf Hitler and pulled
36:07 the trigger? Like everything about the 20th century is completely different. And so for me,
36:13 knowing what I know about what he would go and do, it is open and shut. I'm killing this human being.
36:19 Like there, there are no two ways about it. I understand that there's the complexity. But again,
36:24 in this other worldly scenario, which I did not make up, but I am just parroting back to you,
36:29 you know that this baby is going to grow up to be Adolf Hitler and that tens of millions of people
36:35 will be slaughtered because of him. Yeah, I mean, this is like minority report stuff. And we got
36:42 precogs kicking off people who would potentially, if things go the way you think they're going to go,
36:48 deserve the death penalty. I would, I would ask to be to get sent after he had created,
36:56 after he committed some heinous crime that deserved the death penalty very, very early.
37:02 Well, Joby, I have this pension for making people feel uncomfortable. And I do get a little bit of
37:06 a thrill from it. And I get the sense that I have made you uncomfortable several times in this
37:09 conversation. So I feel like I've checked my box for this day. And I'm so excited that I can bring
37:14 a little bit of your discomfort. Or maybe it's because I'm perceiving you blushing because you've
37:18 been read this entire time. Maybe it's it's some of those different things. But that's all for now.
37:23 I'll let you off for now. Let's y'all hook for now. Is there anything else you want to say before we
37:27 let you out of here? Let's see a man. Thanks. All right. Until next time, Joby, we'll see you.
37:32 Thank you for listening to this podcast. Wherever you're listening to this, please subscribe,
37:35 rate and leave us a positive five star review. If you want me to come speak live at your event or
37:39 on your podcast, shoot me an email to info@undonton.life. That's i-n-f-o @undonton.life.
37:45 Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook and check out our website for everything else,
37:48 including how to donate to keep more content like this coming your way. Just go to www.undonton.life.
37:54 And as always, we want to thank the band Holy Name for allowing us use their music for our content.
37:58 The music on this podcast is our song Perpetua, which is off their self-titled debut album on
38:02 Face Down Records. The links are in the description. I'm your host, Kyle Thompson. Remember, keep pushing
38:08 back darkness, keep forging spiritual, mental and physical resilience, keep seeking the lion of Judah.
38:28 [Music]
Key quotes
2
Kyle Thompson
I have this pension for making people feel uncomfortable.
Joby Martin
The best thing you can do as a deacon is go to the leadership of your church and say, how can I serve to free you up to do what y'all are called to do?
Free Resource
31-Day Resilience Reset
If this episode hit, the next 31 days will be the reset. Free PDF, instant download.
START FREE →
Brotherhood
Apply to Dominion
Six pillars. Application only. The men's program Kyle built around the show.
APPLY NOW →
Dig Deeper
Ask the Archive
"Which episodes cover this topic?" Get answers grounded in all 940+ episodes.
START A CHAT →