The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Spirit of Discontent
Have you noticed how everyone seems to have a complaint these days? In this thought-provoking episode, we dive deep into Jesus' observation about His generation in Matthew 11 and how startlingly similar our modern culture of criticism appears.
Jesus highlighted how the people of His time criticized John the Baptist for his asceticism while simultaneously condemning Jesus for His sociability – proving that some folks just aren't satisfied no matter what approach you take. We explore this timeless truth through contemporary examples, including reactions to Elon Musk's astronaut rescue mission. Despite the successful return of stranded astronauts, many couldn't simply celebrate this achievement because of political disagreements with Musk on unrelated matters.
The core message challenges us to examine our impulse to criticize things beyond our expertise or calling. Are we speaking from knowledge, or just joining the chorus of complaints? Before offering your opinion, three crucial questions should be answered: Has God called you to address this issue? Do you possess actual working knowledge about it? Does the Holy Spirit give you peace about speaking on this matter? This discernment process can transform how we engage with the world around us.
Wisdom is indeed justified by her deeds (or as the King James beautifully puts it, "by all her children"). Rather than rushing to judgment, let's cultivate thoughtful speech grounded in prayer and genuine understanding.
#wofoyo
Hey everybody, welcome to another Wofo, yo Short. We're going to start by getting in the Word for ourselves, matthew 11, starting at verse 16, reading now the NASB but to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace who call out to the other children and say we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a song of mourning and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating or nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking and they say Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker and a friend of tax collectors and sinners, and yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. I love the King James that says wisdom is justified by all her children. In this day and age in which we live, it seems like everybody has a bitch, everybody has a complaint, everybody has something they're not satisfied about, and it's no different in this generation than it was in that generation Because, let's face it, john the Baptist was John the Baptist.
Speaker 1:This stems this comment and this passage stems from Jesus basically singing the praises of John the Baptist after John the Baptist sends his followers to just make sure that he got it right, and he did his followers to just make sure that he got it right. And he did the generation. Who, in there, was prophesying like John? Who was calling to people to repentance like John? Who was baptizing like John? Who was standing up and confronting the sinfulness of Herod and Herodias like John the Baptist was no one. Who's preaching mercy? Who's preaching kingdom? Who's preaching and demonstrating with the miracles what Jesus did? Who's showing he's the Messiah? Who's calling the children back into right relationship with their father, like Jesus is? Who's casting out demons? Like Jesus was None of them.
Speaker 1:So I just want to ask you a question, because it is so easy to get caught up in the spirit of the age, to get caught in the trap of either criticizing what you don't know anything about or letting things slide. And so I can't criticize anything. No, we're supposed to judge with righteous judgment, but if you're going to be fair, make sure you can do it, make sure you know something about what you're talking. Three weeks ago, posting on all the social media, friends of friends of mine, friends of family of mine, so righteous, so virtuous, love to parade their virtue in front of everybody, you know, rather than focus on their virtue in front of everybody. You know, rather than focus on cutting government programs and government waste, elon Musk, he ought to be rescuing astronauts. He ought to focus on this and not that. And I know that these are the same people talking about go electric, go electric, go electric. Elon Musk going electric three years ago and all of a sudden he has some views that they don't agree with, and now anything Elon Musk does is wrong. Well, guess what? There's some views that Elon Musk has that I don't agree with.
Speaker 1:But I guarantee you this I don't know anything about sending rockets up into space and I wasn't asked to help find waste, fraud and abuse and all this other stuff in the government. I am kind of tasked in the area of personal responsibility for trying to weed out waste, fraud and abuse on my part when it comes to my checkbook and my accounts, because I'm accountable for what I spend. I'm accountable to the Lord for that and accountable to the people that I pay my bills to. I'm accountable to those who live in my household. I'm accountable to the future generation of my children, and what kind of legacy am I leaving them. So I'm accountable that way, but I know that cutting the wasting government and launching rockets into space to rescue stranded astronauts is not really in my purview, but neither was it in the purview of the people that are complaining.
Speaker 1:And you know, guess what? Praise God? He got the astronaut. You know, got his rocket up there, got the astronauts back down. And so my big thing is this what's your bitch? What's your complaint as a human being?
Speaker 1:Ask this Politics aside are you genuinely happy that people who were stranded in space for a lot longer than they were supposed to be, are you happy they're back? Can you just be happy? It kind of reminds me of when they had an assassination attempt, the one that grazed Trump's ear in Butler, pennsylvania. People wanted a virtue signal. Well, now that it's a presidential candidate and not a school shooter and all that, really, you can't just be happy. You can't just be happy that someone wasn't killed, just be happy that someone wasn't killed.
Speaker 1:So I just want to encourage you to take a minute before you speak. Pray about it. If it's something that the Lord's called you to address, then address it. If it's something that you have a working knowledge of, make sure you got all the info and address it. Your opinion does have value, but all too often it's just like those that were criticizing Jesus for this and John the Baptist for that, and nobody understood their calling, and I guarantee you no one was doing it as well as Jesus and John the Baptist.
Speaker 1:But people are going to complain no matter what, because the bottom line is some people aren't happy unless they're miserable, and so I just want to encourage you again for this reason, in the spirit of the age that is trying to assert itself, it is so easy to bitch and moan and complain about things you really don't know anything about. And lo and behold, the world doesn't work how a lot of folks told you how it works. The world doesn't work how a lot of folks told you how it works, and all of a sudden you're just upset and discontented and you don't know why. Make extra sure that before you speak, do some homework. First of all, pray about it. Is this something the Lord even wants me to address?
Speaker 1:When you issue your complaint, do you have a check in your spirit by the Holy Spirit? Do you have peace, or else some kind of righteous anger that's not merely your own emotion and being butthurt or angry, or maybe just upset at your own ineptitude, that you just got to lash out at something and call it righteous indignation. You just got to lash out at something and call it righteous indignation. Just make sure, before you speak out, that you're in that word, that you're listening to the Holy Spirit and you know what you're talking about. Wofo, yo. Hey, everybody. We thank you for listening. We hope this challenges you and encourages you and causes you to grow and also think before you speak. You can always check us out at woefoyoorg or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, spotify or Audible From both of myself. This is CW reminding you. If you're going to grow, you got to woefoyo. Get in the word for yourself.