96 | Discerning the Balance Between Peace & War

🚨 Welcome back to The Future is Now Podcast! 🚨
In this episode, we dive into one of the most crucial questions for every believer: How do we discern when to fight and when to embrace peace?

Life is full of volatile situations—division in our world, disagreements within the church, and personal battles we all face. Join me as we unpack Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and Matthew 5:5, exploring Jesus’ call for meekness: power under control and submission to God’s righteousness.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

🔥 Why the world thrives on division and how Christians can rise above it.
🤔 The balance between standing for truth and maintaining unity in the church.
🕊️ How to live out Philippians 4:8 and focus on what’s pure, noble, and praiseworthy.
⚔️ Knowing the “hills to die on”—when to fight for biblical truth and when to let go of lesser disagreements.



TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Welcome Back!
2:17 Why the World Thrives on Division
4:05 The Balance of Meekness (Matthew 5:5)
7:10 Self-Reflection: Where Do You Stand?
9:01 The Church’s Role in Unity (1 Corinthians 1:10)
12:12 When to Fight: Closed-Handed Issues
15:18 When to Let Go: Open-Handed Issues
19:10 Adopting a Philippians 4:8 Mindset




Sign up for Theos University - The best way to learn theology
https://www.theosu.ca/?via=Spencernak
___________________________

Become a Partner of the Ministry
https://spencernakamura.com/partner
__________________________

Give a one-time donation to the Ministry
https://spencernakamura.com/donation
__________________________

Download my FREE 5-day Devotional helping you understand the importance of The Word of God
https://mailchi.mp/d3bd65882c1a/5-day...

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:19:20
Unknown
Well. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Future is Now podcast. We are number 96. And I just want to say a thank you and a welcome back to everybody. I know that we have taken some time off of this podcast. I know it might look a little bit different if you're on YouTube. Audio wise, it's the same because the same voice.

00:00:19:20 - 00:00:38:21
Unknown
But I just want to welcome you guys back. You know, before we go into this, I'm excited about this episode. But before we go into it, I just kind of wanted to talk about a little life update. This last season, you know, my wife and I, we, took over the young adult ministry at our church, and, that was all the way back, this last year.

00:00:38:21 - 00:00:59:19
Unknown
And so I kind of knew going into that, that it was going to require us to really take time to pray about it and get everything figured out and, and build teams and do the whole infrastructure and it was a lot to take on. And, you know, we felt really good about it, when we were considering it, but we knew that it was going to be a sacrifice in other areas.

00:00:59:19 - 00:01:18:06
Unknown
So that's why, you know, I had taken a step back from the podcast. I took a step back from posting more frequently. But, you know, because of how awesome the team has been, because of how we been growing, we are able I'm able to really step back into everything that I'm doing on YouTube, on Instagram, on podcast, the whole thing.

00:01:18:06 - 00:01:37:21
Unknown
So the future is now is back and it is back better than ever. I'm excited to continue to put out episodes. And so going forward, that that will be the norm. So if you if you're new to the channel, well then welcome. If you're new the podcast welcome. But for all those that have been following along, thank you for your patience and your grace.

00:01:37:21 - 00:01:53:14
Unknown
And it's just a new season. And life comes with new seasons and you've got to adapt. But I'm excited for this next one for us. If you haven't yet, make sure that you subscribe to the channel. Make sure that you, give us a review on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening on the podcast, and we're going to jump right into this.

00:01:53:14 - 00:02:17:01
Unknown
You know, the title of this is the balance between peace and war, balance between peace and war. And, we live in a very volatile world, guys. I mean, look around, right? Like everywhere you look, people are arguing, people are fighting. There's a lot that happens in our world. And, and that's there's a number of reasons. But mostly, you know, it's the darkness in this world.

00:02:17:01 - 00:02:44:23
Unknown
It's the chaos in this world. And a lot of, you know, on YouTube, you'll see it on on social media. You see it. Why? Because bad things get more clicks than good things, right? Like turmoil gets more clicks then things that are going good. And I never want to be a creator that just thrives off of division. I never want to be, somebody that's using my platform and putting out videos just because I know it's going to get a bunch of clicks.

00:02:44:23 - 00:03:05:13
Unknown
And so that's just not been, that's not been a mature believer is it's thriving off of the divisive natures. And so it's like this last even this last season, you know, it's like we saw the presidential election crazy, crazy divisive things going on in the presidential election, obviously. And with that, you know, there's there's two sides.

00:03:05:13 - 00:03:24:18
Unknown
There's the side Trump and there is Harris. And there is this and there is that. And it was just this big old mess of, of a lot of turmoil in our world on social media. Everywhere you look, it's like, this is really bad. This is this is the end of the world is happening and crime. And why?

00:03:24:18 - 00:03:45:15
Unknown
Because bad negative things get clicks. And, I just don't want to be somebody that that thrives off of just getting clicks. And, so I thought that this was an important episode to kind of talk through, you know, the balance between peace and the balance between war. As a Christian, we have to know when to fight and when to not.

00:03:45:23 - 00:04:04:00
Unknown
That is just kind of one of those discernment things that you have to learn as a believer on what hills you're willing to die on and what things that you need to stand up for and what things you need to let go of. You know, I love Ecclesiastes three one. It says, there's a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to love and a time to hate.

00:04:04:00 - 00:04:29:17
Unknown
A time for war and a time for what? Peace. This is difficult because we have to navigate and figure out what season we're in and what season the Lord is calling us to. You know, generally speaking, the world is is broken up in between two types of people. Either you're somebody that naturally is somebody of peace, right it, or that person that's like, I don't want to I don't want to stir the waters.

00:04:29:17 - 00:04:49:12
Unknown
I don't want any drama. Like, let's just let this go. You know, that's you or you're the person of war where you're like, no, justice is important. Like, we need to figure this out. And you're not afraid of the combative nature of figuring things out. Now, neither is inherently bad at all. Like the world needs people that are prone to one side or the other.

00:04:49:12 - 00:05:07:22
Unknown
But at the same time, we have to understand that being a mature believer, being a mature Christian, and that's what this channel is all about, is growing in your faith, requires you to recognize and discern where you're at in each category and in certain situations and seasons where you ought to lean and what you need to lean into.

00:05:08:12 - 00:05:31:21
Unknown
You know, I love in Matthew five five, this is Jesus at the sermon on the Mount, and he says something that's awesome. He says, blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. You know, I love this scripture for a couple reasons, but Jesus is speaking to the balance between when to fight it, when to have peace.

00:05:31:23 - 00:06:03:00
Unknown
That's what he's speaking towards, like the meek. What is meekness? Meekness is simply power that also has self-control. It's power that is submitted to righteousness. That's what meekness is. And when you look at our world, it's interesting because you you see a lot of people on both sides of this spectrum. You see people that are very, very powerful and they've gotten their power through influence, skill set, different things, call it even an anointing on their lives.

00:06:03:00 - 00:06:39:13
Unknown
Like there are people in this world that are very, very powerful and yet they lack self-control. And then on the other side, you have people that have great self-control, right? That that have that ability of restraint in the the they have the diplomacy, you know, they have the conversational nuance. And then yet they lack the ability to really stand up for themselves or stand up for others when something is required of them, like they they lack the ability to have courage in certain situations and stand up for what is right versus what is wrong.

00:06:39:15 - 00:07:09:20
Unknown
They tend to take the easy way out of things. And so because you have these two polarizing positions, our world is not filled with a lot of virtue and courage. Our, our, our world is instead filled with tyrants and cowards. You know, like when you have people that are so polarizing towards power and then so polarizing towards just being self-control without the middle, you will get a world that doesn't have virtue and doesn't have much courage.

00:07:09:20 - 00:07:30:08
Unknown
And instead what you have is a bunch of cowards and a bunch of tyrants that are running this world. And so we must be willing to show power, but that power also must be submitted to the will of God. Does that make sense? Like, does that, does that resonate with you guys? You know, and so how do we aim for meekness?

00:07:30:08 - 00:07:47:20
Unknown
You know, simply we just have to have a full on, honest assessment of yourself. Right? You have to be willing to ask yourself difficult questions and really have some proper introspection into who you are and how you know how you function. And if you can't, like, if you're not there, like, that's all right. Guess what? If you're on a journey and you're like, you know what?

00:07:47:20 - 00:08:05:05
Unknown
I actually don't think I'm that self-aware. That's good. Like, all of us have blind spots, all of us have areas in our lives were like, no, I definitely need help in that area. And so if you need help, ask a trusted friend, ask your pastor, ask somebody that can speak into your life and ask yourself a couple questions.

00:08:05:05 - 00:08:22:02
Unknown
You know, those questions are am I prone to one side or the other? Do I let people walk all over me? Like, do I have a hard time standing up for myself? Am I a very combative person? Like, do I have to have my way all the time? Do I have to argue if somebody doesn't agree with my top ten movie choice?

00:08:22:02 - 00:08:35:05
Unknown
Is that just like a non-negotiable where I'm like, well, you're an idiot and you don't know movies? If you don't agree with me, do I? Do I have to be combative about the best types of food, about the way to do things? If that's you, then sorry to say it, but you know, you might be a little bit of a tyrant.

00:08:35:05 - 00:09:00:16
Unknown
Sometimes it's okay, but it's all about. So it's all about knowing where you're at and where you need to go. So why am I like, why am I talking about this? Our aim as Christians should always be the unity of the body of Christ. Always. That is, the aim is the unity of the Body of Christ. Now, when I say the aim of Christian should be unity, I'm speaking specifically to the church.

00:09:00:16 - 00:09:25:20
Unknown
Unity in the church. I'm not talking about the world. Christians get this confused. So often they think that Christians and the church should be at peace at all times with the world. That's not true. It's nowhere in Scripture. In fact, in Luke 1251 through 53, Jesus says, do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division from now on there will be five and one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.

00:09:26:01 - 00:09:46:05
Unknown
It will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother in law against daughter in law and daughter in law against mother in law. So the world should not agree with everything that you say as a Christian. Why? Because the spirit of the world doesn't like the Spirit of God. It is completely contrary.

00:09:46:05 - 00:10:13:04
Unknown
There is darkness and there is light. So in your life as a Christian, if you are not getting any combat of nature from the people around you that aren't Christian or the world around you, then you know my my, question to you would be, are you really preaching the full gospel because Jesus says that the gospel will divide?

00:10:13:06 - 00:10:37:23
Unknown
Why? Because it is a divisive message. If you're coming from the world. Christ knew his message would divide, because the spirit of the world will always hate the Spirit of Christ. So? So that's what I'm saying. As a believer, the world shouldn't be good with everything that you're saying, because what you're saying and what you're preaching and what you're believing should be counter to that world.

00:10:37:23 - 00:11:02:19
Unknown
So like, I just hate this, you know, whole idea of, you know, the world, like evangelism, right? Evangelism is not getting everybody in the world to like you. Evangelism is preaching truth, preaching the Bible, and trusting that the Spirit of God will work on the hearts of those that you are preaching to. It's not your job to convince people to like God.

00:11:02:21 - 00:11:36:03
Unknown
It's your job to preach the word and preach truth and embody Christ, and let somebody else come to the decision themselves. Right? Evangelism. The burden of evangelism is not that. If if I preach the gospel and somebody rejects it in my face, that's a failure on my part. Like if I preach the full gospel, if I tell somebody about Jesus and they spit in my face and they reject it, I haven't failed because Christ doesn't or God doesn't, give me the responsibility of salvation, right?

00:11:36:03 - 00:11:53:09
Unknown
God doesn't give me the responsibility of salvation. He gives me the responsibility and burden of evangelism and preaching. And then whatever somebody does with that is what they do with it, and it's up to them. That's why he says this message will divide. So when I'm talking about unity, I'm not talking about you should be unified with the world.

00:11:53:09 - 00:12:11:13
Unknown
I'm saying you should be the church should be unified. So we're specifically talking about first Corinthians 110 says this. I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another and what you say, and that there will be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and in thought.

00:12:11:13 - 00:12:41:06
Unknown
Unity is the goal. And I just think sometimes we're just not unified. You know, it's a shame when when people prioritize being right in their own eyes versus unity. And I think that like Satan, his whole goal is to divide the church, is to destroy the church is to cause division. And the shameful thing is, I wonder how many times Satan comes to cause division and divide.

00:12:41:08 - 00:13:03:21
Unknown
And then all of a sudden he looks at what's going on with Christians and he goes, oh, actually, I don't I don't have to do anything at all. They're doing it all themselves. Like, I wonder how many times Satan, I wonder how many times the, the, the enemy, Satan, hell, demons come to do something, come to accomplish what they want to do, which is, you know, steal, kill and destroy.

00:13:03:23 - 00:13:23:13
Unknown
And then all of a sudden they step onto the scene and they look at the scope of Christians and they're like, actually, pack up your bags, guys, we don't gotta do a thing. Like they're doing it all themselves. They're they're self-sabotage. You there's friendly fire going on everywhere. All right, let's go. Let's get out of here like I don't I don't want to be somebody that is like that.

00:13:23:13 - 00:13:51:02
Unknown
I don't want to be a Christian. That causes division within the church unnecessarily. And that's the that's the that's the key of between peace and between war. You got to know when to fight, and you got to know when to have peace. Wesley Huff is a Christian, or a Canadian apologist. And, you know, recently he went on this debate with Billy Carson and bro absolutely eviscerated Billy Carson.

00:13:51:02 - 00:14:13:18
Unknown
Billy Carson was like this guy that was like, I know all about the Bible, and I know that there's a versions of the Bible that say that Jesus didn't get resurrected and and the crucified died. And here's why it's not historically accurate. And all these crazy claims that are obviously stupid. And, they had a debate and Wesley have absolutely picked this man apart in front of, you know, tons, thousands, millions of people.

00:14:14:00 - 00:14:31:16
Unknown
And it went viral. Billy Carson tried to kill him. It was a whole thing is hilarious. But all of this happened in Wesley have actually got to be on the Joe Rogan Podcast, which is the number one podcast in the world. And they started talking about the validity of scripture, the historical relevance of Scripture, like the historical, how it can be verified historically.

00:14:31:22 - 00:14:56:19
Unknown
And it was incredible because we saw this man, Wesley Huff, being used by God. He's blowing up. He has 400,000 subscribers on YouTube now. Like there's so much curiosity in young adults in this group now that Bible sales are going up and people are wondering about Jesus more, and all of this has happened, and yet I just like see these videos popping up on my feed about criticisms of Wesley Huff.

00:14:56:19 - 00:15:17:02
Unknown
And he got the he said this in this three hour interview. He said this thing wrong. And here's why that's damaging. This it blah, blah, blah. Whatever it it's so it's so stupid. Like it's so stupid. It's like, what are we guys. What are we doing? Like, are we being so for real? Right now in the critique and criticism of this man?

00:15:17:02 - 00:15:38:12
Unknown
You know what it all stems down to? It stems down to jealousy. Jealousy to to critique in such a way. Because here's the thing. There are close handed issues and there are open handed issues in Scripture. Closed handed issues are things like the the Triune God. It's things like salvation through faith. It's things like, the, the death, resurrection of Christ.

00:15:38:12 - 00:16:06:23
Unknown
Those are the types of things Jesus being the Son of God, being God in the flesh. Like those are all core beliefs, core doctrine. Now there's open handed issues, and those things are like practical leadership in the church like practice is of spiritual gifts. Women in leadership, all of these are open handed, meaning that there is subject to a level of interpretation that people will agree or disagree on that is not contradictory to the core beliefs.

00:16:07:01 - 00:16:42:00
Unknown
And so when I'm talking about right versus wrong, always, that's that's the time to fight, guys. The time to stand up to the time for war is between right and wrong. So what does that mean? The time for war is when you have a, progressive, theology sneaking into the church, that saying that things aren't sin, that are sin, aka man being with a man and a woman, being with a woman like that is a close headed issue because it is an irrefutable, biblical doctrinal statement that historical Christianity always has agreed on.

00:16:42:01 - 00:17:02:09
Unknown
And that is a close hand. It is a close headed issue. Salvation. A closed handed issue is things like, the Trinity, like I was saying. And so with those things, that's the time to fight when people are like, well, hold on, right. Like Mormons, when Mormons are like, well, hold on, there's not the Trinity. No, that's the time to fight.

00:17:02:11 - 00:17:21:01
Unknown
That's time to look at somebody and say, I'm so I'm, you know, you're wrong. Like, I love you, but you're wrong. And then there a time for peace and a time for peace is the times when we are not talking about right versus wrong. We are talking about looking at a color red and saying it's ruby versus crimson.

00:17:21:03 - 00:17:41:13
Unknown
And so in your life, maybe you're choosing to die on hills, that it's an open handed issue. It's not that big of a deal. You just need to let it go light. Like some of us are out here losing friendships over stupid disagreements. It's not worth it. You have to know the hills that you're willing to die on.

00:17:41:15 - 00:18:01:04
Unknown
And so. So we have to realize that, like, yeah, okay, we're all prone to one side or the other, but the goal of our lives should be unity up as, as, as much as it's, you're responsible for it. So, like, I'm going to try and have unity now, I can't control other people, but that's just that's.

00:18:01:10 - 00:18:26:04
Unknown
I can't control them, but I control how I do. So we should always aim for what we should always aim to live in unity. We should always aim that that that meekness, that power, but also that self-control. And I'm not going to lie, guys, I am like so prone to critique, like legitimately. I am so prone to cynicism and critique, and I have to get that out of me sometimes.

00:18:26:06 - 00:18:52:10
Unknown
Like it doesn't unite the the body. And something that I've taken as a statement for myself is like, I get I get videos and clips of pastors and churches sent to me every single day with people saying, what do you think about this? Oh, this person said this, what's your what's your what's your take on it? And, and so often like, guys the take is not beneficial or unnecessary.

00:18:52:10 - 00:19:10:03
Unknown
I don't attack churches and pastors where I'm like, you know what they believe the core doctrinal things and they, they, they really are trying their best. Yeah, maybe they might get it wrong a time or two. Maybe they might miss the mark. But like, it's not my job to be out here calling people wolves in sheep's clothing when they just like, misinterpreted something on accident.

00:19:10:03 - 00:19:35:11
Unknown
And it was an open handed issue. That's not my job. My job is to unite. And, unite within the church. Now, why am I saying all this? I'm just saying this because, like, Philippians four eight says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.

00:19:35:13 - 00:19:56:07
Unknown
And our world is so full of like, oh my gosh, you just go on YouTube and everything is like the world's ending and this church sucks and this pastor sucks. And here's my reaction to this person's reaction to this church. That sucks. And it's like, at what point are we trying to unite? And what point are we trying to edify?

00:19:56:09 - 00:20:21:19
Unknown
I am all about calling out sin. I am all about heresy not being tolerated. I'm all about looking at things. But at some point, like we have to realize what hills are we willing to die on, what things actually matter in order to critique and otherwise we just have to focus on uniting, like we have to learn how to take the wins.

00:20:21:19 - 00:20:38:18
Unknown
Ultimately, that's what Philippians four eight is same living a life of the spirit is being willing to take the wins in your life. If you want to live a life of the spirit, just learn how to take wins. What does that look like? It means, I'm sick with the flu, but at least, at least I'm alive. Like, at least I got air in my lungs.

00:20:38:21 - 00:20:58:03
Unknown
At least I'm here. Like, oh, man, I'm in a super lonely season. But at least I know that the Lord is always there with me. And at least I know that in my loneliness, God actually works on my heart and prepares me for relationships and things in the future. Like, like, my friends hurt my feelings. But at least I have friends.

00:20:58:04 - 00:21:18:16
Unknown
You know, I'm saying, at least I'm not alone. And so when we take the winds in our lives, we learn how to live in the Philippians four eight mindset, and we learn how to properly balance what is good, what is pleasing, what is perfect, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable. Focusing on those things will help you live in the balance.

00:21:18:16 - 00:21:36:03
Unknown
And that's what I have to do all the time. Because again, my mind is so prone to negative and this person sucks and this sucks and they all sucks and well, yeah, okay, that might all be true, but I have to have a level of that. I allow God to work in that and I trust God in that.

00:21:36:03 - 00:21:52:02
Unknown
So. So what does a there's a time for peace and a time for war. Discern asks the Holy Spirit for wisdom in your life to know what is a time for peace and what is a time for a war. Sometimes there is a time for war, and there's a time to look at something and say you are wrong.

00:21:52:02 - 00:22:07:14
Unknown
What you did was wrong, and I'm not going to tolerate it. There's a time for that. There's also a time to look at something and say, man, we really don't see eye to eye on that. And I disagree with you, but for the sake of the body, you know, I have to live in peace. That's just that's just a matter of fact about it.

00:22:07:16 - 00:22:23:00
Unknown
And, I think the church is going to be really great. And I think you as a believer, are going to be in a really great spot if you learn how to, to live that way. So, episode 96, time for peace and a time for War. I hope you enjoyed it. A little bit shorter of that episode, but we're going to be back.

00:22:23:00 - 00:22:44:01
Unknown
We're going to be I'm going to be posting, episodes of my sermons on the podcast, different topics. If you have a thought, want me to speak about something, leave it in the comments. Message me on Instagram. Direct message me. I'm always there on Instagram if you need me or on threads. I'm a little bit unhinged on threads, but as always guys, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and we will see you next episode.