0:00:00 - 0:00:26 A mid workout and I was sitting here listening to the scriptures and I just wanted to make a brief point here. Um We have this misconception of good people and what that looks like here. Um I think we have this idea from movies and stories or whatever that um heroic people, people who are uncommonly 0:00:25 - 0:00:50 good um in character and what they do, what they contribute to the world that uh these people are celebrating and that's just not true. Um If you find someone for whom that's true, they're an exception to the rule and in most cases, they are not anywhere near uh the highest con contributors in those 0:00:49 - 0:01:18 things that we um value heroes for. So, um I'm gonna quote a scripture here in a second. Um But this is a pattern that you see all over the place. Well, uh sorry, this is out of order. This is ad hoc. I'm sorry if it's disorganized. Um Luke six verse 22 Jesus says, blessed are you when men shall hate 0:01:17 - 0:01:39 you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake, rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner. Did their fathers unto the prophets? That's Luke 622 and 0:01:39 - 0:02:08 23. So uh the 1st, 1st thing I wanna say here is that um we can plow through scriptural language and not really understand what we're reading or maybe it's better to say not uh put it in the context of what that means in modern language or in our individual lives, our our experience. So um Jesus is saying 0:02:08 - 0:02:44 in plain English, it's a good thing when XYZ happens to you for the son of man's sake and that you could decode um as because you do what you believe is right? And I phrase it that way because a lot of people who experience the XYZ don't explicitly believe in God yet or maybe they don't know a lot about 0:02:43 - 0:03:07 him. So um the name of God or for the Son of man's sake, um that doesn't have to mean and it usually doesn't mean somebody with a T shirt on that says I'm not ashamed or like Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake. And she told the priest just stand in front of me with a cross. So I can see that as 0:03:07 - 0:03:41 I die. Um So even even sincere people, um earnest people, it doesn't mean that per se um God's goodness is in and through all things and uh you, you just can't look sorry, I'm just getting a little emotional, uh you can't look at or experience anything good without experiencing God. And uh he's gracious 0:03:40 - 0:04:08 enough that he doesn't need credit for that. He doesn't impose credit on that. That uh I don't know, I'm, I'm getting a little choked up because I, you know, I think it's amazing. But uh anyway, um so let's go down this list, the XYZ and put that into plain English. So just going back to the framework 0:04:07 - 0:04:34 , um, so blessed are ye you're in good shape if, and then the end of it is because you're doing what you understand to be right? And uh just a caveat on that, understand, to be right deep down inside, sincere. I'm not doing this because I think other people want me to, I'm not doing this because someone 0:04:34 - 0:04:55 told me it was right. I really sincerely believe that this is the right thing I'm living according to my conscience. OK. So that's the framework. Let's go down the XYZ when men shall hate you. Well, that, that would make sense and I don't know why, but like, when I have conversations with folks and I 0:04:55 - 0:05:13 bring up the word hate, I say, ah, that's, that's a really strong word. I'm uncomfortable with that. I don't really believe that there are a lot of people who hate other people. They act like it's the same as being a serial killer. Like, you'd have to have something seriously wrong with you to hate another 0:05:12 - 0:05:34 human being. How many million abortions have there been in the last? Well, since Roe versus Wade, since the seventies, you really think that there's a shortage of people who genuinely hate other human beings. If a mother kills her own baby, I'm pretty sure she's capable of hating another person and not 0:05:34 - 0:05:56 to pick on them. There are plenty of other examples. If you think it's a rare thing for a human being to hate another human being, you're either willfully ignorant of reality or you yourself are such a depraved person that you're insulated from this because you yourself hate other people and you can't 0:05:55 - 0:06:14 see light that you don't have. There's a limit to that. So, I mean, I got kind of pointed there. I'm sorry, I'm not making this video to call people out. I just, it's actually quite the opposite but that it needs to be said, uh hate is a very common thing and it's at least as severe as people think it 0:06:14 - 0:06:34 is, but it is way more common and we need to get real about that because it's not just us pointing the finger at other people. We need to see that in ourselves. Um There's, there's a verse in the scriptures, it says uh you hate the poor because of your fine things uh paraphrasing and that's interesting 0:06:33 - 0:06:53 phrasing. So like what hate are, are you capable of. Uh what hate am I capable of? And how often do we practice that? Because we practice that every time we deprive people of good that we could give them, we're, we're opting out of that for our own comfort and convenience and that is hateful. Ok. Let's 0:06:53 - 0:07:17 keep going when they shall separate you from their company when they avoid you, when they ghost you, when they block you, when they get a restraining order on you, when they tell you you're legally not allowed to come on this property. Um When they fire you, when all these things they cancel you, that 0:07:16 - 0:07:45 is when they separate you from their company and this happens and shall reproach you. What does that mean? Well, um it cast out your name as evil. So when you get criticized for the good that you do, um when people lie about you and contrive all sorts of uh machinations to present you as someone that 0:07:44 - 0:08:11 you're not as someone who is more evil than you are. Um when they accuse you of things that you did not do when they interpret your love as hate, um That's fulfillment of these things cast out your name is evil. Um That's saying bad things about you and character assassination, um bad things about you 0:08:11 - 0:08:37 that aren't true. Your name is your character, the name of God is his character uh for the son of man's sake. So Jesus is saying when you take flack for being like me, for doing what I would do as far as you understand, for saying what I would say as far as you understand, blessed are ye rejoice in that 0:08:37 - 0:09:02 day and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven for, in the like manner. Did their fathers unto the prophets and that's what they did to Jesus. So if you think this is rare, then uh your eyes aren't very open. But here's a great book that's totally secular, in spite of the title, The 0:09:02 - 0:09:29 Savior Generals by Victor Davis Hanson. And uh he presents a hypothesis that great people are not celebrated by humanity sometimes across the course of history. So he gives vignettes of historical figures and lead you through this pattern. It's the same pattern again and again and again. So here it is 0:09:28 - 0:00:00 , the people are resisted and rejected their whole lives until stuff gets bad enough that people finally get out of the way and let this person do what they were born to do and they are willing to do what no one else is willing to do and they save the day. And then that's not the end of the pattern. 0:00:00 - 0:10:09 It's not like a Disney movie. They don't like have a ticket tape parade and then set this person up with a lifetime fellowship at uh Princeton or something. Um Instead, these people are relegated to a footnote in history because they're cast out. They usually die in poverty. Uh There's one example of 0:10:08 - 0:10:30 a general, I can't remember now if he's from Greece or what Ancient Athens or something. And he ends up having to live in the country of their mortal enemy who he was famous for defeating because he was cast out by his own people uh sometime after saving the day. And that's what happens, right? That's 0:10:29 - 0:10:45 what really happens to people. And so Jesus isn't messing around when he says, look what king goes into battle without counting the cost ahead of time and saying like, do I really want to do this? Am I committed to paying whatever it takes? Because it'll take everything in the kingdom of God, there's 0:10:45 - 0:11:08 no partial payments. Um And again, just to underscore how widespread, widespread this knowledge is, although for some reason, modern people seem to be completely ignorant of it. So here's a quote that I love, I have it written down on a post it and I keep it on my desk. Um This is from Gut's Faust. It's 0:11:08 - 0:11:32 interesting because in the play or poem, the the character who says this is Satan. So it just goes to show you you find truth in strange places, folks. But but I'm going to read this and I hope that this means as much to you as it does to me because this testifies to me of Jesus. And I see echoes of 0:11:32 - 0:12:00 this whenever I see people doing what Jesus said in Luke 622 trying to be like he is to the extent you are uh acting and speaking like he did and does people will treat you like they treated him and like they do treat him the few who knew what might be learned foolish enough to put their whole heart 0:12:00 - 0:12:28 on show and reveal their feelings to the crowd below. Mankind has always crucified and burned. That is a historical fact. Uh an historical fact. And even if I can't say it, it's true. It's a historical fact. So think about that and you should, you should honestly consider the cost of discipleship to 0:00:00 - 0:00:26 A mid workout and I was sitting here listening to the scriptures and I just wanted to make a brief point here. Um We have this misconception of good people and what that looks like here. Um I think we have this idea from movies and stories or whatever that um heroic people, people who are uncommonly 0:00:25 - 0:00:50 good um in character and what they do, what they contribute to the world that uh these people are celebrating and that's just not true. Um If you find someone for whom that's true, they're an exception to the rule and in most cases, they are not anywhere near uh the highest con contributors in those 0:00:49 - 0:01:18 things that we um value heroes for. So, um I'm gonna quote a scripture here in a second. Um But this is a pattern that you see all over the place. Well, uh sorry, this is out of order. This is ad hoc. I'm sorry if it's disorganized. Um Luke six verse 22 Jesus says, blessed are you when men shall hate 0:01:17 - 0:01:39 you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake, rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner. Did their fathers unto the prophets? That's Luke 622 and 0:01:39 - 0:02:08 23. So uh the 1st, 1st thing I wanna say here is that um we can plow through scriptural language and not really understand what we're reading or maybe it's better to say not uh put it in the context of what that means in modern language or in our individual lives, our our experience. So um Jesus is saying 0:02:08 - 0:02:44 in plain English, it's a good thing when XYZ happens to you for the son of man's sake and that you could decode um as because you do what you believe is right? And I phrase it that way because a lot of people who experience the XYZ don't explicitly believe in God yet or maybe they don't know a lot about 0:02:43 - 0:03:07 him. So um the name of God or for the Son of man's sake, um that doesn't have to mean and it usually doesn't mean somebody with a T shirt on that says I'm not ashamed or like Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake. And she told the priest just stand in front of me with a cross. So I can see that as 0:03:07 - 0:03:41 I die. Um So even even sincere people, um earnest people, it doesn't mean that per se um God's goodness is in and through all things and uh you, you just can't look sorry, I'm just getting a little emotional, uh you can't look at or experience anything good without experiencing God. And uh he's gracious 0:03:40 - 0:04:08 enough that he doesn't need credit for that. He doesn't impose credit on that. That uh I don't know, I'm, I'm getting a little choked up because I, you know, I think it's amazing. But uh anyway, um so let's go down this list, the XYZ and put that into plain English. So just going back to the framework 0:04:07 - 0:04:34 , um, so blessed are ye you're in good shape if, and then the end of it is because you're doing what you understand to be right? And uh just a caveat on that, understand, to be right deep down inside, sincere. I'm not doing this because I think other people want me to, I'm not doing this because someone 0:04:34 - 0:04:55 told me it was right. I really sincerely believe that this is the right thing I'm living according to my conscience. OK. So that's the framework. Let's go down the XYZ when men shall hate you. Well, that, that would make sense and I don't know why, but like, when I have conversations with folks and I 0:04:55 - 0:05:13 bring up the word hate, I say, ah, that's, that's a really strong word. I'm uncomfortable with that. I don't really believe that there are a lot of people who hate other people. They act like it's the same as being a serial killer. Like, you'd have to have something seriously wrong with you to hate another 0:05:12 - 0:05:34 human being. How many million abortions have there been in the last? Well, since Roe versus Wade, since the seventies, you really think that there's a shortage of people who genuinely hate other human beings. If a mother kills her own baby, I'm pretty sure she's capable of hating another person and not 0:05:34 - 0:05:56 to pick on them. There are plenty of other examples. If you think it's a rare thing for a human being to hate another human being, you're either willfully ignorant of reality or you yourself are such a depraved person that you're insulated from this because you yourself hate other people and you can't 0:05:55 - 0:06:14 see light that you don't have. There's a limit to that. So, I mean, I got kind of pointed there. I'm sorry, I'm not making this video to call people out. I just, it's actually quite the opposite but that it needs to be said, uh hate is a very common thing and it's at least as severe as people think it 0:06:14 - 0:06:34 is, but it is way more common and we need to get real about that because it's not just us pointing the finger at other people. We need to see that in ourselves. Um There's, there's a verse in the scriptures, it says uh you hate the poor because of your fine things uh paraphrasing and that's interesting 0:06:33 - 0:06:53 phrasing. So like what hate are, are you capable of. Uh what hate am I capable of? And how often do we practice that? Because we practice that every time we deprive people of good that we could give them, we're, we're opting out of that for our own comfort and convenience and that is hateful. Ok. Let's 0:06:53 - 0:07:17 keep going when they shall separate you from their company when they avoid you, when they ghost you, when they block you, when they get a restraining order on you, when they tell you you're legally not allowed to come on this property. Um When they fire you, when all these things they cancel you, that 0:07:16 - 0:07:45 is when they separate you from their company and this happens and shall reproach you. What does that mean? Well, um it cast out your name as evil. So when you get criticized for the good that you do, um when people lie about you and contrive all sorts of uh machinations to present you as someone that 0:07:44 - 0:08:11 you're not as someone who is more evil than you are. Um when they accuse you of things that you did not do when they interpret your love as hate, um That's fulfillment of these things cast out your name is evil. Um That's saying bad things about you and character assassination, um bad things about you 0:08:11 - 0:08:37 that aren't true. Your name is your character, the name of God is his character uh for the son of man's sake. So Jesus is saying when you take flack for being like me, for doing what I would do as far as you understand, for saying what I would say as far as you understand, blessed are ye rejoice in that 0:08:37 - 0:09:02 day and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven for, in the like manner. Did their fathers unto the prophets and that's what they did to Jesus. So if you think this is rare, then uh your eyes aren't very open. But here's a great book that's totally secular, in spite of the title, The 0:09:02 - 0:09:29 Savior Generals by Victor Davis Hanson. And uh he presents a hypothesis that great people are not celebrated by humanity sometimes across the course of history. So he gives vignettes of historical figures and lead you through this pattern. It's the same pattern again and again and again. So here it is 0:09:28 - 0:00:00 , the people are resisted and rejected their whole lives until stuff gets bad enough that people finally get out of the way and let this person do what they were born to do and they are willing to do what no one else is willing to do and they save the day. And then that's not the end of the pattern. 0:00:00 - 0:10:09 It's not like a Disney movie. They don't like have a ticket tape parade and then set this person up with a lifetime fellowship at uh Princeton or something. Um Instead, these people are relegated to a footnote in history because they're cast out. They usually die in poverty. Uh There's one example of 0:10:08 - 0:10:30 a general, I can't remember now if he's from Greece or what Ancient Athens or something. And he ends up having to live in the country of their mortal enemy who he was famous for defeating because he was cast out by his own people uh sometime after saving the day. And that's what happens, right? That's 0:10:29 - 0:10:45 what really happens to people. And so Jesus isn't messing around when he says, look what king goes into battle without counting the cost ahead of time and saying like, do I really want to do this? Am I committed to paying whatever it takes? Because it'll take everything in the kingdom of God, there's 0:10:45 - 0:11:08 no partial payments. Um And again, just to underscore how widespread, widespread this knowledge is, although for some reason, modern people seem to be completely ignorant of it. So here's a quote that I love, I have it written down on a post it and I keep it on my desk. Um This is from Gut's Faust. It's 0:11:08 - 0:11:32 interesting because in the play or poem, the the character who says this is Satan. So it just goes to show you you find truth in strange places, folks. But but I'm going to read this and I hope that this means as much to you as it does to me because this testifies to me of Jesus. And I see echoes of 0:11:32 - 0:12:00 this whenever I see people doing what Jesus said in Luke 622 trying to be like he is to the extent you are uh acting and speaking like he did and does people will treat you like they treated him and like they do treat him the few who knew what might be learned foolish enough to put their whole heart 0:12:00 - 0:12:28 on show and reveal their feelings to the crowd below. Mankind has always crucified and burned. That is a historical fact. Uh an historical fact. And even if I can't say it, it's true. It's a historical fact. So think about that and you should, you should honestly consider the cost of discipleship to 0:12:28 - 0:12:32 Christ and it's worth it, but not for the reasons people think.