Living Outloud: Bragging About Weakness

We dig into why vulnerability feels so risky and why Paul’s testimony in Acts 22 shows a better way to talk about Jesus. We challenge the idea that testimony only means a dramatic conversion and share practical reasons people stay silent, from pride to shame to fear of rejection. 
• Paul leading with weakness and shared background 
• vulnerability versus disclosure and why risk matters 
• feeling like you have no “big” testimony 
• church culture that trains people to expect extreme stories 
• testimony as sanctification and small moments of change 
• how comfort comes from admitting we needed comfort 
• pride, shame, and the fear of sounding like we are complaining 
• “too boring” versus “too much” and why both can silence us 
• not knowing who will relate and how God uses ordinary words 
• rejection fear and the temptation to make it about us 

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Transcript

Why This Talk Feels Risky

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hey, join Kelsey and I for another Living Out Loud conversation. Every week we have this conversation at the end of the week to pick out something that we talked about earlier in the week on the podcast and just dig a little bit deeper, get a little more personal. How can we actually live this stuff out? So Kelsey's here. Hello. And uh I'll start by saying I didn't want to have this conversation, but Kelsey made me do it. So here we are.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yeah, Mike came to me and was like, so I think this uh picture of Paul kind of sharing his testimony and his vulnerabilities with the Jews would be a really good conversation, but I don't want to talk about that. So then he came to me and was like, Hey, I've got like three other topics we could talk about. And I went back and I said, Well, why don't you want to talk about being vulnerable? And uh here we are having that conversation anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

So yeah, we're referring to Acts 22. If you want to take another look or go pause this and listen to that episode, that'd be cool too. But in Acts 22, Paul is doing his thing, sharing the gospel, and the local Jews

Paul’s Example In Acts 22

SPEAKER_01 1:14

get upset about it because they don't wanna they don't want to hear about this Jesus thing, and it flies in the face of all their tradition. And so uh he actually gets beaten and the Romans have to interfere and say, Whoa, whoa, what's going on here? And so Paul has a chance, it's hey, can I address the crowd? Like, okay, if you want, I guess. And so he addresses the crowd of angry Jews and tells them, Hey, hey, you gotta know, like, I was like you once, like I was zealous, I was all in on persecuting the Christian church thing, the people of the way that's been going on. Like, I I was where you are right now, just as angry about this, but Jesus himself came and showed me that I was wrong, and I I I'm just here to share that message anyway. Uh Paul gave a really great example of sharing from his vulnerability, from his weakness, from his past. Um, and he he just leaned on like, hey, here is my where I failed in the past, and if you can relate to that, then I like I I hope we can talk, you know, and and it's just a great reminder of the power of leading with your weakness, being vulnerable when it comes to your weaknesses, your shortcomings, your your failures in the past. And uh we'll get more vulnerable in a second, but since I'm since before we get there, uh it did remind me of I was uh a couple all right, I'll get vulnerable. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend uh a retreat put on by the New Canaan

Vulnerability Versus Simple Disclosure

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Society. It's a Christian men's organization, and uh and I I know that with based on the local chapters of of groups of men that get together and meet, and of which I've been able to attend, uh, that vulnerability is a is a virtue in this group. That that really if you're here to share something, be vulnerable, lead with vulnerability, they'll say. And um and I I saw this uh really led into more when the the CEO of the of the organization opening session was just saying that vulnerability produces humility and brag about our failures to brag about our God. Um and which which is just a different way to see vulnerability. I I think and we'll get into maybe reasons why we do this, but like one thing is I don't want to be seen as like a complainer, I don't want to be seen as someone who's focused on the negative, but it's not complaining and it's not focusing on the negative, it is it's frankly bragging about like look look at how weak I am, look at what a mess I am or used to be or or whatever, just to show that like look, uh if God can do what he does even in spite of me, then uh if that gets you to think anything greater about God, then that's worth thinking less of me, you know? Um he said Mason Rutledge, the CEO here, he was saying that it's that being vulnerable risks something, so that if you're not nervous about what you're saying, then you're not being vulnerable. You're disclosing. Vulnerability is not the same as disclosing. And uh so here we are.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

So here we are.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Here we are, because here's and here's where I I stand is one uh a reason I didn't want to necessarily talk about my vulnerabilities

When You Feel You Have No Story

SPEAKER_01 4:51

or or or talk about vulnerability in a vulnerable way is because here's my vulnerability. I don't feel like I have a whole lot to be vulnerable of. Like I ugh I I've had a a uh I got saved when I was very young. I don't have a whole life without Christ. And even growing up, I I didn't really stray. I I I kept to the way that my parents modeled to follow Christ, and I didn't really go out and try to do my own thing apart from that. And uh and so on that grander sense, I feel like I don't want to be vulnerable because I don't know, I I don't know what I'd be vulnerable about, and even saying like, and so I don't have anything to be vulnerable about makes me feel like I'm gonna be, I don't know, misunderstood, or someone thinks that I'm not being honest or I'm not you know disclosing. Uh I mean it even happened um a couple weeks ago, met with another group of men for for breakfast. They were being very vulnerable about some some struggles that were going on, and and I'm thankful for that and thankful for that group that is safe and and loving each other and supportive of each other, uh, to be able to be uh vulnerable and accountable. But uh I honestly couldn't relate to some of the things that they were talking about, and so I didn't really say anything because I didn't want to appear, I don't know, like better than or uh like I can't relate or I'm unrelatable, or well, don't talk about the stuff around Mike because he doesn't think anything, you know. He does he's not in the same lane we are, or something, you know? Um and I I I share that hoping that someone else might be in the same boat as me, where it's uh look, hey, and if you've got a if you've got a story that's like, oh man, yeah, what a mess. And and Christ has done some great work in me, that's awesome. Share those stories. Uh I I I also have to admit, like, I'm without Jesus, I'm a mess too, you know, and and maybe more isolated incidents that that Jesus has just honed and refined over the years. Um but I think it's worth talking about vulnerability, what keeps us from being vulnerable, and how how much can it improve our ability to share Jesus with others when we allow our weakness to show, whatever that weakness may be.

unknown 7:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

I remember growing up in church. Uh I like how Nate Bargazzi, the comedian, will say that growing up in church in the 90s and 2000s is like the

Testimony Is More Than Conversion

SPEAKER_00 7:37

most Christian time.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

That's the most Christian time to be a kid.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

I really, really relate to his comedy sketches about that period of time and being a church kid. Um, but I remember being in a church where people would share their testimonies, and it was like I being addicted to drugs and living on the street and having four kids from three different daddies, and Jesus saved me, and now my life is completely turned around. And I remember growing up thinking that if I didn't have some huge, like black and white night and day difference between my pre-saved self and my post-saved self, that I didn't have a testimony to share, like Paul. And so even using Paul as this example has the the um threat of perpetuating that messaging of see, you should share like your drastic night and day testimony, your I was one way and now I'm completely different testimony. And if you have that testimony, by all means share it. But for those who don't feel like you've got this drastic, I was one way and now I'm something else, and the thing that happened in between was Jesus. Um if you don't feel like you have that, Mike and I are in that boat with you. And it's it's interesting because it's like those are two different kinds of extremes, but both require vulnerability still to share your story. Both require putting yourself out there, both require a risk of rejection, both require risking something in order to share your testimony to make much of God and and less of you. And so uh hopefully you're with us on one of those two ends here, and we can have uh a valuable conversation together. I think one thing that we need to kind of recognize in this conversation is that even my teenage self in that church, hearing these testimonies, making me feel like I didn't have a testimony, was limiting testimony to how I came to know Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Was limiting sharing my testimony and the understanding of what that means, limiting that to just the story of conversion.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, a testimony doesn't just have to be, well, before Christ, I was like this, and then Christ met me on the road to Damascus, and then I turned my life around, or he turned my life around. Uh that is a great story and very helpful for people who are a little bit nervous about maybe becoming a Christian or don't know it's possible or whatever. Like, there's great moments for that, but that isn't the only testimony you have. That isn't the only thing Christ has done in your life. And for like Kelsey or or I, like I I can't really tell you what life was like before Christ. I don't remember. I was so small, and there wasn't a whole lot of weakness there, except, you know, I don't know, I cried because my diaper hadn't been changed. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Um, but we were taught very early on about our sin nature, and we recognized that very early on, and very early on, we recognized our need for Jesus to be our savior. So we've been walking with Christ l a really, really long time. And so that that conversion moment wasn't perhaps as drastic. Like in the in the spiritual realm, it was drastic. But as far as our memories before and after, it's not much of a story. Um, but that doesn't mean that that we were complete and without need after that conversion. Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

You better believe that Jesus has been doing his work of making us more and more alike him all along the way since then. And there are plenty of stories of our failures and what Jesus has done to do that. So these are the kinds of things that we can share. Like, for example, I can talk about when we were early on in our marriage, uh, I I was so conflict avoidant. I still am.

Marriage Lessons From Conflict Avoidance

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Jesus is still showing me what's how how to how to navigate this, but I was so conflict avoidant I wouldn't even stand up for Kelsey at some injustice. And uh I remember there was a time it's so stupid. Um man, two two times in a short period of time. One was something dumb at a pharmacy where you picked up like a little jar of cream, like hand cream or something. Yeah. And you opened it up, and there was like a it was gross. There was like a fingerprint already in it, like someone had swiped it and used it and put it back on the shelf. That's gross. And you were like, obviously, like a person would do, you're holding it and you're like, ew, gross. Is that someone's finger? And you put your finger in it just to see, is that like someone's finger size? Oh yeah, that's like didn't come that way. Someone's finger is that, and just at that moment, a worker comes up and is like, ma'am, don't put your finger in the in the cream, and you had not, like you were being falsely accused of that. But my gut reaction was like, Well, frankly, Kelsey, yeah, you probably should just leave it alone. It's it should have been, and I I I would hope, I would hope now after 17 years of being married, I would say, excuse me, she was just inspecting that this was the case. She didn't do this, that would be stupid. Someone did. Anyway, that but it's it's been this process of of Jesus teaching me, like, hey, look, avoiding conflict is gonna cause conflict somewhere else, because there was definitely conflict.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

I was not happy.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

And and a more uh like serious uh case, I don't know if it was before or after that, but uh but there was a point we were checking into a hotel together early on in a marriage when we were traveling together for the first couple years of being married, and like you went to go check in. I was staying back in the van to do some paperwork or something, and you were checking in at the hotel. You come out of the hotel hopping mad because some guy in the lobby was hitting on you. Is that what what it was?

SPEAKER_00 13:43

This story doesn't strike me as hard as it does you, so my memory is foggy.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

It wasn't a big deal to you, apparently. Well, you came out hopping mad because like you just I don't know, you were offended by some guy who did or just being a jerk somewhere, and so you came out to me and and said, like, I I need you to go in there and like I I I feel like you said punch a guy. I don't know if I don't know if you actually said that, but that's what I heard anyway.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

We were married less than a year. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Um, and I just like I'm not gonna go in there and like punch a guy. I don't even want to go in there and talk to a guy. I don't even know who you're talking about, I don't know what he said, I don't know what I don't know what happened. Like, I'm and like I am not going to go in there and confront a guy about something. Uh I think it what you what you wanted was a remember in It's a Wonderful Life when George Bailey is like mad and talking to his kid's teacher on the phone, and the kid's teacher's husband comes on the line and say, Hey, why are you making my wife cry? You know, I'm gonna punch your lights out. You wanted that sort of husband to show up, and I was not being that husband. I was like, Hey, I don't, I am not going in there. And you were so mad that I wasn't standing up and defending you, defending your honor. And that was a big fight. Like you went, it's like you you went to the hotel room, I stayed in the van, and I was just so upset like with myself for like I mean, she should have a guy who goes in and defends her. And I why am I so like am I afraid of getting into a fight? Am I do I am I not protecting her? Like, whatever. I don't I didn't know. And I was I just felt and I I think it was I'm very certain it was Satan now getting more of a voice, but I all I could think was like, well, someone's gotta get beat up for this, and if it's not gonna be him, then it's gotta be you. And I would I was literally like hitting myself in the face. Like I was like, I will have to feel the pain because someone has to feel pain for this. It was a very, very low moment, and also feeling like, well, maybe I'll get sympathy for this or something. Like, I don't know. It was a very it was a very uh confusing and and uh dark mental state for me. Um and since then Jesus has taught us both, like how he's put us together to be able to support each other's strengths and weaknesses, that he's given you a fighting spirit, Kelsey, and he's given me a peace-seeking spirit. And there are some times where you need to drive because conflict needs to be uh addressed or or or some injustice needs to be addressed, and maybe you have more energy for that than I do. Um and there are some times I do have to go confront people, and it wouldn't be appropriate for you to go confront someone, and I you can you can give me some motivation, some words, some you know, and some of your energy that I can borrow.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

And and likewise I've learned that there are uh everything doesn't need a fight, and there are times to pursue peace, and I've learned that from you too. And so, so God's really, like you said, used our weaknesses to cover each other, our our strengths to cover each other's weaknesses so that we can be more Christ-like together.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

And and all this just serves as an example of like, look, our vulnerability and sharing from our weakness doesn't have to be this big story of how I came to find Jesus. It can be little moments along the way.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And that's what sanctification is, right? We're we're growing these day to day, moment to moment, choice by choice. We're choosing to either crucify our flesh and be more like Christ and be some more submitted to God, or we are choosing to live for ourselves and and and and though every one of those choices is a story of God working in our lives.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

And it's a way that we can live out 2 Corinthians

Comfort Others With Your Struggles

SPEAKER_01 17:57

1, 4 that says that he comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. And when they're troubled, we'll be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

unknown 18:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

And and how how can we share comfort that we've received except by sharing the fact that we needed comfort also at some point? That's good. That when how can we relate to someone's trouble if we're not also sharing, like, yeah, I've been in this trouble before too? Yeah. And here's how Jesus has helped me, here's what something I learned in that, and I want to share that with you. A little bit of hope, a little perspective, a little bit of big picture sometimes can really help people in a similar situation. And so we have to be open and vulnerable about the times that we also needed comfort sometime. Maybe we're we received it, maybe we it it was a while before we received comfort, but uh we can be that to someone else.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah. I let's change gears a little bit. Mike, why don't we get vulnerable? Like what keeps us from sharing our testimony? What keeps us from vulnerably sharing

Why We Stay Quiet About Jesus

SPEAKER_00 19:03

with people what God has done in our lives? We've come up with a couple ideas. Maybe you have more reasons, but these are the ideas that we've come up with, and perhaps you'll relate to to one of them or or the Lord will show you in your own heart why you're not sharing your testimony more frequently and more freely.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

But the first one I think I think the I think the first one here is probably the most obvious, but it's still worth saying because it doesn't mean that oh, it's obvious. Well, then I, you know, that doesn't apply to me. But I think it's obvious because it it does apply in in a lot of ways. Uh for one, we we just have this sense of pride and we we don't want people to see us as weak. We don't want people to see us as vulnerable because those aren't positive qualities.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

And uh, and so we want to kind of keep some airs about us. But Paul talks about this himself in 2 Corinthians 12. He's in a position where the Corinthians, they're being immature, they're kind of being jerks, and there's a lot of people who are questioning Paul's authority, um, thinking that well, he's uh I don't know, he's fake, or he's not as strong of a speaker as he is a writer. He comes across big, but he in person he's weak, or that they think that he's not really an apostle, or that he's bragging by saying he's an apostle, and all these accusations on both sides of the fence that just he he's finding it very difficult to to earn anyone's respect. And and so he he says in 2 Corinthians 12, uh, in in regards to this idea of pride and weakness, I'll just read the whole thing because it's real good. He's he's kind of boasting about some of the good things that he's done, some of his credentials basically. He's but he says this this boasting will do no good. But I I'm gonna go on. I'll reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. See, I was caught up to the third heaven 14 years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know. Only God knows. Yeah, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they can't be expressed in words, things no humans allowed to tell. Like, okay, he says, I mean, that experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not gonna do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so because I'd be telling the truth, but I won't do it because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So, and then he explains about this thorn in his flesh that was given to him to keep him from being proud. And he he said three different times I beg the Lord to take it away, and each time he said, My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. And that's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults and harness. Hardships and persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I'm strong. So Paul's flipping the script here on what we assume weakness to be and what we consider bragging to be.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah, I I think sometimes you even said it when we were planning this episode. You're like, I don't want to have that conversation to feel like a therapy uh appointment. It's like I don't want to just complain about what is going on in my life. And there is a difference, can we be honest? There's a difference between complaining about your life and sharing a testimony. There's a difference between dragging people into your therapy session versus sharing what God has done through your weaknesses. But but that is something that can hold us back, not wanting to feel like you're just dragging people down with your stuff. What if we flip the script and say, quoting the guy that you quoted at the beginning of this episode, that it's not about your weakness or vulnerability. It's about what God has done. It's glorifying God through your weakness. And that is when it turns beautiful. Um, sometimes, though, I feel like it's not even a pride-saving move to not share a testimony or be vulnerable. It's actually that we feel like our story is not compelling enough. Like it's just too boring and it's not gonna move anyone. Uh, and so we just stay quiet because we just don't feel like there's anything really worth saying.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah, I think that's a lie. I think uh if Jesus has done anything in your life, that's worth sharing.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I would also flip the script on that even and say if we're really sitting in a position where like, ah, my testimony is too boring, that might, that might be a really tricky spot where pride is actually creeping in to say, I'm not, I haven't like done anything that bad, and Jesus hasn't done that much for me. Is ultimately what you're saying if you if you say your testimony is boring. Like I've been pretty good and my life is good, and so therefore it's boring.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Is it's real it's real tricky because I I I started this test this whole episode talking about that. And and look, hey, look, I gotta always do the pride checks. And in the same way that we need to make sure that pride isn't a factor there, we also have to give people with such a story grace that they're not being prideful or that they're not being, you know, uh skirting around an issue. However, uh it if you think that something Jesus has done in your life, even the small things aren't really relatable to anyone else or helpful to anyone else, it it it it's don't don't stay there. Don't let yourself stay in that mindset.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

We might want to just be praying for for God to really help us be aware of what he has done, like the gravity of what he's saved us from, the the immense beauty with which he's infusing our lives. Like if your life really is very good and very blessed, then praise God for that.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

And be a testimony to be a testimony as blessings in your life can look like and and inspire others to start new to break old cycles of sin.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Testimonies don't have to be dark either. Like they can be encouraging, they can be beautiful. And so so I I think that that my story isn't interesting or my story's not compelling is really just a lie that Satan's gonna use to keep you silent and and not sharing anything.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

But on the other extreme, I will I will also say, like we said earlier, it doesn't even have to be the large story of everything. You can you can also just share stories of individual episodes of of how Jesus has how you have failed and how Jesus has taught you from that too.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

So but then the the other extreme can also be true. We just we just met a woman a couple weeks ago who feels like her story is quote too much. She's been told by people in her church that her story is too much and it's too

When Shame Says Your Story Is Too Much

SPEAKER_00 26:11

intense. And uh a lot of thoughts on that, but but just to share that, like if you're hesitant to share your story, to share what God's done in your life, to share the change that Jesus has made in your life because you think it's too much, that might be a sign that that you're actually still enslaved to your past. Because freedom in Christ means that you are free from those things that you were, from that person that you were, from the things that you did. He's made you a new creation. And so one thing I know is true from my own experience is that when I used to hold on to the shame of having uh struggled with depression in my late teens, early 20s, I used to hold on to that and I didn't want to share it because I was ashamed of it. But once I started sharing and opening up with other people about that experience in my life, like the the grip that that had on me was released. Like I didn't really truly experience freedom that Jesus provided me until I shared my story and released it. And that's actually where I kind of disagree with the quote that you shared at the beginning of if you're not nervous, it's not vulnerable. Um I I almost disagree with that because where I see where he's coming from, there is also this sense of sharing your vulnerabilities is gonna make you less nervous to share your vulnerabilities. And it's gonna remove the power of those vulnerable things from holding you back from sharing them. And now I'm very comfortable and very confident uh sharing with people the vulnerability of the depression that I went through in my younger years and that I have struggled with in my 30s.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Um, but it's just easier to share now that I'm free from the shame of shame and also hopefully to grow free from what people think of you. Yeah. Because that would be another reason to be nervous. I don't know what I'm gonna think when they hear this part about me I haven't shared before. And that that can make you nervous. Um, but the more you do, the more you realize, you know what, it's it's God's story. And if people think less of me, that's their problem. Um but yeah, this idea of my story is too much or maybe too intense. Was it too much for Jesus to save you from it? No, of course, that's the story. He saved you, and there's nothing too much in your life that Jesus can't save you from. Right. Um, and if and you know what, there's you're also not the only person whose story feels like too much. Right. There's people on the on the side who have not received Jesus' salvation yet, and your too much story may be exactly the uh right amount of much for them to realize that Jesus can save them too.

unknown 28:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

So you might also feel like I don't I don't really want to be vulnerable, I don't want to necessarily share my testimony because it doesn't really relate to the person that I'm talking to. Like, I don't have anything to I

You Never Know What Will Connect

SPEAKER_01 29:04

personally don't have anything to say to as far as to someone in jail. Like I I I have I have some very good friends who have spent some time in jail, and uh now on this side of it, they've they have a powerful testimony of what Jesus has done in their life, and um and and if and when they show up to a a a jail and share their story, people lean in and listen, and it's awesome. Um now is that to say someone in my position should not go and share stories of what Jesus has done in my life? No, I think certainly should. Don't disqualify yourself. Um but uh but there there is a sense of like look, there are people for whom your story is gonna be a perfect match, and Jesus will bring you into those situations.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

There's also And I think that's where we see Paul is it's a perfect match to these hyper religious Jews. He want he knows where they're coming from, so he wants to speak to them and be like, I know where you are, I've been there myself, and Jesus can save you too.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

However, you were saying And also you don't know how your story is gonna connect to someone. Obviously, like, don't assume, especially with a group of people, but even one person that you you know what relates to them or not. There's gonna be something that you say that just kind of uh just triggers something in their mind, and you don't know that that the way you phrase the thing, the way the detail you mentioned, uh that they're like, oh man, that is exactly what I need to hear. That's exactly right. And then just imagine what can happen from that.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

I mean, I I remember talking with a group of friends at one point, and we were talking about I don't even remember the topic because it was so kind of mundane in my mind. I can't even tell you what we were talking about, but the result of that conversation were friends in that group were a married couple, and the result of that conversation like literally saved their marriage. Like he'll Jesus used that what I thought was a mundane conversation between a group of friends. And she was like, You're right, she's like, Oh my gosh, I don't trust him, and I need to. And we and that and Jesus healed like decades of marriage wounds in their marriage as a result of that conversation. So just to say that you you never know how how the Holy Spirit is going to use something you say, some way you say it, some perspective that you share to reach into somebody's heart and and change them for the rest of their lives.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

So I think one more I think reason that we will not necessarily be inclined to be vulnerable or share a testimony or share our weakness is because the potential rejection. We talked about that, how there's the

Fear Of Rejection And Doing Hard Things

SPEAKER_01 31:46

kind of a fear of people. And yeah, I know this Jesus and other places in scripture tell us to not fear man, not to fear people and what they think of us.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

In Luke 10, 16, Jesus specifically says, the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. Like it's literally not about you.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

He takes it on himself. He's like, look, they're not rejecting you. Like it, and if if they reject you, they're really rejecting me. If you're talking about me and telling them what I've done in your life, then they're just rejecting what I want to do in their life too.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

It really still feels personal, though, and that's what stops us, is that feel of rejection because sharing your vulnerability is personal. And so it feels like if you get rejected after sharing that vulnerable piece of yourself that you're being rejected. But I think that this whole conversation can kind of be summed up in if you're if if if we, I'll include myself in this, if we are not sharing our testimonies, if we're not sharing our stories, if we're not sharing what Jesus has done in our lives, we may need to take a step back and be really honest with ourselves and say, am I making it about me instead of Jesus? Because Jesus says if they reject you, they're really rejecting me. And so if I'm more worried about what how people are going to respond to me or receive my story than whether or not they're receiving Jesus, I need to reconcile with that. Like, I need to reconcile with like they they need to know Jesus more than they need to know my story. They need to know Jesus more than I need to be well liked or respected. And so it is God has given us our stories. God has given us our relationship with him and the way he interferes and and directs our lives. He's given us all of those experiences so that more people can get to know his love and his power in their lives. And if we're holding it back, we might just be thinking too much of ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

So from here, I hope you feel empowered to just do the hard thing and be vulnerable. Share, share some weakness, share some story of what Jesus has done in your life, even if it makes you look bad. Because like Paul said, the like the worse, he didn't say these word for word, but like the worse he looks, the better Jesus looks. Then then great. I will share all the stories of how bad I look, if it means that you get to see Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Go do the hard thing. I saw a neurosurgeon sharing a testimony on a video, and he was saying that what they've discovered in in neurosurgery is that when you do hard things, even when you don't feel like it, like sharing your testimony when it's scary, your mid-anterior singulate. That's, I don't know, some part of your brain.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

That's a word that's never been said in the Outloud Bible podcast before.

SPEAKER_00 34:33

But he said it gets more robust. And I'm quoting, he says, so any kind of positive movement you can make makes you more equipped for the next time. It's like your brain remembers that you're capable of doing hard things even when you don't feel like it. And he he went on to say that the Bible really is proven to be true here, that suffering really does produce endurance. And so hopefully your testimony and sharing your testimony doesn't feel like suffering. But if you but the principle I think still remains that when you do the hard thing and you share your testimony and you overcome whatever obstacle is between you and sharing your testimony with others, sharing what Christ has done with in your life. It when you do that hard thing, you're helping yourself develop the ability to do it more. And you can do it better and with more strength the next time you're given that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

All right, my friend. Well, go tell everyone all about your weaknesses and your deepest, darkest vulnerabilities.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Do the hard thing.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Do the hard thing and uh and see how much glory Jesus gets out of it. Awesome. Well, thanks for joining us in this conversation of Living Out Loud here on the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We'll see you next week.