Why Do I Need Jesus If Christians Are So Messed Up?

Have you ever looked at Christians and thought:

"If that's what following Jesus looks like, I'm good."

You're not alone.

In this Fearless Friday episode, Sara and Tina tackle one of the biggest objections people have to Christianity: the misrepresentation of Jesus by imperfect people. From church hurt and hypocrisy to pride, judgment, and lukewarm faith, we explore how believers can unintentionally push people away from the very Savior they're trying to represent. 

Together, we discuss:

✨ Why people walk away from church
 ✨ The difference between believing and following Jesus
 ✨ Church hurt and healing
 ✨ Representing Christ in everyday life
 ✨ Why Christians still fall short
 ✨ Grace, forgiveness, and spiritual growth
 ✨ How to love people the way Jesus did

The truth is, Christians aren't perfect. We all fall short. But our faith was never meant to point people to us—it was always meant to point people to Jesus.

If you've ever been hurt by the church, struggled with hypocrisy, or wondered why you need Jesus when Christians seem just as broken as everyone else, this conversation is for you.

💜 Fearless Queens Podcast
 Done with lukewarm faith. Bold faith. Biblical truth.

🎙️ New episodes every Fearless Friday.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I mean, I had one person say to me, Y'all are effed up.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Which we are.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And he is like, why would I in his mind, why would I do that when I'm living justly, I'm walking humbly, I'm doing good things, my the fruits are showing in my life. I'm talking about this individual. Why do I need Jesus? Welcome to another Fearless Friday. We are your fearless queens. I am one of the hosts, Tina.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

And I'm the other Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

We are ecstatic to bring today's episode to you today. We are we are just like Holy Spirit inspired, ready to fire hose you with some really good truth, but also want you to hear, see, and receive that is actually not about you. And it's not about us, it's about others.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yes. Uh, this was totally inspired by conversations Tina and I have had in our own personal lives, realizing what damage we can do as Christians. As claiming the name of Jesus, as girlies wearing a cross, having a tattoo, wearing Jesus apparel, and then misrepresenting what all of that means. Either because, forgive us, we don't know what we're doing, or intentionally sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Um, or we just let our flesh take over, like Paul said. Why do I do what I don't want to do? Yes. And this, we're really speaking to the person who is wondering and kind of scoping out, should I do this Jesus thing? I mean, I see a lot of people talking about revival. I see these baptisms, I see these things happening, but then I look at Christians and I mean, I had one person say to me, Y'all are effed up. Which we are. And he is like, why would I in his mind, why would I do that when I'm living justly, I'm walking humbly, I'm doing good things, my the fruits are showing in my life. I'm talking about this individual. Why do I need Jesus?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Because you can have some fruit that looks like the Lord's, like that looks like Jesus, and not know that it's from him. Uh, I we have a friend that, you know, she didn't believe. She didn't obey the Lord, she wasn't following God, but she was a patient person, she was a loving person. You can have some of these attributes, but the Lord knows what's in somebody's heart and if he dwells in their heart or not.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

And who are we? Who are you? Who is anybody to look at another person's life and say they should be somewhere they're not? You know, there's a lot of conversation right now about church hurt, and it's a big topic right now. And I think it is important to touch on because the outsiders are looking at the inside, at least of what people are talking about, thinking to themselves, I don't want to be up in there. You all got some drama, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Yeah. And you know, church is a hospital for healing. We we go to church to be clean, to hear the Lord from the body of Christ, to come along other believers who have very similar um worldly, worldly uh beliefs because we have it through a Christ-like lens. And it's a place where we are should be able to be authentic and open and real and honest. And wherever people are, there are sin.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

And it's messy. It is people are messy, they always have been from the time Adam and Eve ate the fruit all the way to today. We are no, we are no different than Adam and Eve because we all have that in our hearts. We all have a Judas in our heart. Thank God that Jesus has come into our hearts and continually molds us and perfects us. It is not us doing it. You listen to the fruits or the excuse me, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is not us. Nothing we did. We are obedient, yes, but it's the Holy Spirit speaking through us. But to the person who doesn't understand, hasn't learned about that yet, you're not gonna speak to them on that realm because they don't, they're not there yet. And I think we as believers, we as God-fearing saved sisters and brothers in Christ have to be more aware of what we're representing. Because what I see is a lot of misrepresentation. And I, my heart is out for my heart is compassionate towards those who are like, yeah, I'm good. I don't need Jesus because I look at what the flesh is, the humans in the church, the the capital C church, not just separate churches, are representing. We are called to love one another. We are called to build one another up, and it's not easy. Sinners love those who love them. We are called to be better than sinners. We are, I mean, we're all sinners, we all fall short. But we are called to be different as believers, as Jesus loving narrow path walkers, is if that's what you're doing. And my heart, like I said, is out is really compassionate towards the people who aren't wanting to walk with him. I wouldn't if if people would have treated me how well they did, but I had the Holy Spirit living in me, so it was different. But treating uh tell the story about your friend and how she was um turned off of the Jesus way because of how humans were perceiving one image but saying another thing.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, which is why we have to be so careful because people are watching. People are watching you what you say, what you do, what you think, what you wear, what you listen to, who you're hanging out with, all of that. And it's not you, but you have Jesus within you.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

I was I went into the store yesterday to grab a shirt, and um, I saw this girl at the checkout, and she was in her early 20s, very early 20s. And so you think, I don't know what you think, you make your assumption of what you think of young kids these days. And all of a sudden I looked at her nails and she had on one of her nails a cross. And then I looked at she had like a cross necklace, and and I was like, oh, I wonder if she's a believer. Lord, I had to say, Lord, present an opportunity, right? And it doesn't really matter per se, but like I think if we can join together as believers, we can just create a bigger capital C church filled with all the fruits.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

We have a solid foundation of something in common.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah. And I looked at her after I was done checking out and I was like, I love your nails, and you know Jesus loves you. And she like her eyes like lightly perked up and she goes, May God bless you. I'm like, what? How cool is that that someone in their early 20s, it's like she was waiting though. She was waiting for me to say something. And and she had, because obviously at certain stores you can't talk about things like that, which is crazy to me, but it is what it is. Thank God I don't live in a secular working world. But it was so beautiful that she is in the marketplace, shining Jesus, and that's that image right there, her is what we're called to do.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Well, that's well, what you just said is the secular world is so most people that's what they do. They're in the secular world. And if there is somebody in the secular realm who does believe in the Lord, then they should look different than their coworkers. And I'm not shitting on anybody, but there's a higher standard of living because now you're you're probably in the word, you're probably going to church, um, you're listening to worship music, your eyes are open, the veil has been torn. There is a difference between create the creation of the world versus the children of the Lord. Everything belongs to him. And it's having the grace, the wisdom, and the understanding and the forgiveness to know how to tread in those waters when you're in the secular realm because people are watching. If she's wearing, you know, the nails and the cross, but she's cussing out her coworker, that's not representing Jesus well. And that's such a turnoff for the people who aren't there in their walk with the Lord yet. Why would they want to be? You're you're there, you're no different than the world. And so this is yes, for the non-believer, but also to the believer who's not who's one way in the world and one way in the Lord, and that's lukewarm. And we've talked about this before. That's why this mug says done with lukewarm faith on this podcast, because the Lord wants you hot or cold. If you don't want to be with him, awesome, unfortunately. But go be like the world and go do whatever you want to do because you have free will.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

And it's confusing. Very much so.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

That's you're giving a wrong uh picture of who Jesus is. And we are human beings. But if you're a human being who's claiming the name of Jesus, you're called to be light, you're called to be the salt, you're called to preserve his word and share it boldly. Um so often we as Christians can be the turnoff. And somebody had said this, which is so profound to me, is how many Christians leave dead bodies behind them wherever they go. And that struck me because we're called to, as Jesus said, you know, he brings dry bones to life. What Tina did in that grocery store. Yeah, she's talking to a believer based on what she sees. But I mean, just a nice word to somebody. You don't know what that's gonna do for somebody because you don't know where they have been. Yeah. And just the Christianese language that we can say is, you know, love them where they're at, that can be offensive to somebody, like especially somebody who's not following the Lord and has a deeper relationship or goes to church or is around other believers. Like maybe they have their own relationship with the Lord and they're not, they have so much church or do they see all these Christians who are very um negative and mean and judgmental and condescending that they don't want to step foot into church because what's the point? They're all this, that, and the other. And I don't blame them, but we pray for them that the Lord leads and guides them into a body of believers who they can do life with because we do need a community that's founded in Christ and unity in that. And you don't, I don't want to be that. I know Tina doesn't want to be that. We don't want you to be a Christian who's wearing and doing a proclaiming, and you have a bad day, and you crumb up, you come up and your flesh comes out and you say something that you really know isn't like the Lord, it's not representing Jesus well, or you're doing something that isn't Christ-like, and it turns that person off who was on the fence, or turning that person off who's so far gone, but they needed a sliver of hope. And you know, we just pushed them when they were already down. We don't want to be those people. And so this is a more so of like a where like a look in the mirror of a Christian, too, of like when we step out into the world, our did we put on Jesus today? Did we put on that shirt to be seen because you know it's a try it's a fad or it's a trend that you know Christ is cool and you know, he is more, you know, we're living in a time where there is a Jesus generation going on, there's a revival happening, and if you have eyes to see and ears to hear, what a glorious thing it is to be a witness of. But in return, if you're not there and you're wearing that and you're acting like the world, then don't put it on, don't wear those things, and we all fall short. Forgive them for they know not what they do. So Tina asked me to share this story with you. Um, this stems from a conversation I had with a very close friend of mine who she has a friend who's going to, you know, Bible college, if you will, Bible school. He wants to know more about the Lord and more power to him. Um, but he's sharing with her, like she called him to vent and just talk about life.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

And he's like, you know, as friends are supposed to do, as brothers and sisters are supposed to do. Yes. Especially when you're inside, we're called to build one another up, be there for one another. If you, I mean, you can find tons of scripture in what we what we are called to do, what we are commanded to do from Jesus. So this individual, if he is going to seminary school or theologian or whatever he's doing to grow in his faith to the Lord, he at the very least, at the very bottom of the bottom of the bottom, it's encourage, love, bring joy, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

So what Tina's saying, you know, that's anybody though. Like we're there, they might not be brothers and like they they might be brothers and sisters in Christ. That's the Lord only knows what's in somebody's heart and who's truly accepted them as their Lord and truly accepted him as their Lord and Savior. So one's claiming and the other one's kind of quiet, and that's okay because at the end of the day, they both, I I could say without a doubt that they both know where they're going at the end of their life. Yeah. But it's the misrepresentation of Jesus along the way that we want to debunk because in this conversation with these two individuals, from what I had heard the story of, she's telling me that she called her friend um to just vent and you know, share what's going on in her life and vice versa. And the guy turns to her and says, you know, you just need more Jesus. It's like, okay, yes, we all do. Don't we all like I could drink more? Yeah, I need to eat, drink, sleep, all the Jesus things. Um, but it can come across a condescending that I'm not good enough, that um condemning, and you know, there is no condemnation in Christ when you are a believer in that the word cuts like through barrow and mo or yeah, bone and marrow. So when you aren't in Christ yet, it is meant to condemn because there's something wrong and you need to turn around, turn or burn, because there's hell, and people need to love you enough to tell you the truth. That's what majority of this entire podcast existence is. This episode specifically is how do we love everybody like Jesus? Because everybody's different. So you need the Holy Spirit's wisdom and understanding, tone, attitude, attributes to be able to do that. So back to the story, she's like, Yeah, yeah, like, okay, but I I didn't call you for that. You know, we're just having like you brought it all the way over here, like, okay. And he's going through to seminary school, whatever, and he's giving her all this advice, and he's saying, This is really good advice. Like, everybody needs to take this advice. And he's like, Well, also that's like pride. Yes. Also, if somebody's giving you advice, other people will say that that was good advice because they'll take it and run with it, or they'll tell somebody else about it while they're taking it up and run with it. You don't gotta tell somebody that it's good advice.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah. And did you know? Just kind of this made me think pride is the reason why the serpent deceived the uh Eve. He wanted to be bigger and better than God.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yeah, that's why he fell from heaven.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

He pride is why he fell.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Yes. Um, we're totally gonna do a pod servant sermon series or whatever you want to call it, episode series about the seven deadly sins, because I think it's very important. Yeah, but to stay on the topic of today, so she's my my friend is telling me all of this stuff of the conversation. She's like, it just like why would I need that? Like, you're being this way. Yeah, and then exactly this individual goes on is like he's going to seminary school and he's saying this is really good advice, and that this that my friend needs more Jesus, but then the actions of this individual claiming all these things, saying all these things to my friend, and then she knows behind the scenes of what's going on because they are around the same friends, and they have this similar friend group. And he's like, Well, dude, you're pushing my friend who said, like, no strippers at my bachelor and bachelorette party, but you're the one, you Jesus lover, you good advice giver, you telling me I need more Jesus. But I don't think Jesus would want strippers at this person's bachelorette and bachelor party, and you're the one that is like honing in all that, like, oh, you need to. And it's like, dude, respect what the wife or the soon-to-be wife and the soon-to-be husband said that if there are strippers in this vicinity, there will be no wedding, and you're the one that's pushing it. So be careful what you were saying and be careful what you're doing because it is under a magnified glass when you say that you are a believer in Christ.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah, more than anything else, if you say you're a believer, you tell someone they need Jesus, they're people are gonna watch every single thing you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Yes. And it's not, you're not, we're never gonna be perfect. I want to like say that. We are never gonna be perfect and forgive that person for they know not what they're doing, the damage that they're doing to the individual, my friend, who loves the Lord in her own way and is resistant towards the body. I mean, plain as day, you can see like, why would I want more of that? Look what you're doing over here. And you know, it's everybody's own walk. The Lord says, you know, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. But what we have to understand as human beings is there are many ways to that one path. There is one way into heaven, but however the Lord gets you to, his pathway is endless. Yeah. The way that I got to the Lord, one believing, and then the next step in that is following because there's a difference there, and it's obedience. And we fall short every day. There's many scriptures as I'm speaking to the Christian of why am I a dog that goes back to its vomit? And why do I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't do it? And why do I do the things that I know I'm supposed to not do? We all fall short. On a on my best day, I can I am still a filthy rag compared to Jesus Christ, who is white as snow. But the beautiful thing in that is we are washed and covered by the blood. You know, we're washed by the blood and washed by the water. I'm like, oh, hallelujah. There is so much hope in that. And you want to walk in that. It's not to be like, oh, I I'm trying, like each and every day, you just do the best with what you know how to do. Yeah. And then there was another situation in my friend's life that another turnoff from another Christian who's said, Oh, like, do you go to church? And she's like, No. Uh granted, like this this friend of mine moved to another city, isn't familiar with anybody. You know, she's just trying to gain her, you know, footage in a new area for a job that she took out there. And so for somebody that she's super close to who is now, praise the Lord, they're in church. I believe, you know, you can only you the Lord only knows what somebody's doing behind closed doors and where they're at in their walk and what's in their hearts. So you can believe and think that you know where somebody's at all day long, but you really don't. And people can claim that they're somewhere that they're not, farther or behind. Like the Lord only is the one who knows. But with that being said, this girl is telling my friend, oh yeah, like you totally need to be going to church. You you need to go to church. Yes, she is not wrong. However, the tone of that matters, the the conversation before and after matters. Like, what context was that in? Because it sounds the way my friend was describing it, based on the conversation, it was very condescending, condemning that I'm not good enough, that I'm not doing enough to be where you are. And it's like my friend's like, well, why would I not want to be where she is or where he is based on what they're doing? Like, I think that is why the Lord says, in you know, in his God breathed word in Galatians, is you will know them by their fruit because you walk it like you talk it. Yeah, on my best day, I can still misrepresent Jesus incorrectly. I'm a human being, everybody is that way. So there's grace, there's mercy, there's forgiveness, and not holding on to those things. Well, like, I'm not gonna do that because this person's this and that person's that. God is bigger than those people. There are many people in the world who love the Lord and do their utmost best to represent him well each and every day. And we fall short, but where we fall short is where God's strength kicks in.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think it's important to touch on, and you did this a bunch of times in a really beautiful way, that I can remember when I first came. Came to the Lord. And when I first, and then when I first got baptized, and then when I really started feeling the Holy Spirit changing me, and then when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and I think along that path and I think along that journey. And there were times when I thought to myself, everyone needs to be going to church. Everyone needs to be going to church. There were times along that path that I'm like, you need Jesus. You need Jesus. And I look back and I'm like, oh man, did I misrepresent him? Because the thing to remember in this is each person is on their own journey. They're having their own experience. You're not going to communicate the faith to a three-year-old the same way you communicate the faith to a 14-year-old. They're in different places. Their mental capacity can only handle certain things just like a 14-year-old is different than a 30-year-old, right? You get what I'm saying. And I've had three-year-olds that are ecstatic. I've had 14-year-olds that are ecstatic. But as you get to 14, you start to observe the world around you. Like, wait, how that that guy, that kid was was baptized, but he's actually doing behind closed doors what God has ordained to happen between only a married couple. Why? Why is it that that that's happening? Well, because we all fall short. We all are on our own path. We all are on our own journey. And the Lord has really revealed to me. You know, I had I also had somebody in my journey come at me about, I can't, I didn't know. This is the thing. We've talked about this before. I I literally didn't know. Horoscopes or um talking about yoga and doing yoga. Like I just didn't know the origin and where that came from. I my whole life I talked about it or I did it, or it's just really good for the body. Well, now I know I'm not gonna go at someone who does yoga and tell them you're worshiping other gods, you need to stop. Like, no, I pray that the Lord reveals for them their God-honoring truth in his time. Because if I'm coming at you judging you or telling you, you need Jesus, you need to go to church, that's condemnation. And that is not Christ, that is not a relationship, that is not what he wants. And I think it's common as Christians, and I think we do what we're taught. And when we can get out of our own way, get out of our own selfish desires, maybe in my heart of heart of hearts, maybe in their heart of heart of hearts, they really did have good intentions. They really did want to help. They really, they saw the dark path or the dark choices, I should say, that I was making and they wanted to help me. But your approach as a Jesus-loving, God-honoring, saved sister or brother in Christ, we have got to, when they say, like, just love, just love, love everyone, love everyone. I think that's what they're trying to say is Jesus came to love, he came to tell truth, he came to show us the way, but it's up to each person to decide to open the Bible and read the truth. You can't make someone read the Bible. You can't make someone go to church. Maybe they're scared to go to church because of people like you.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Well, the thing about the church is you know, people like you're talking about these people who said something into you. Like, we are called as brothers, sisters in Christ to sharpen one another. Yes. And sharpening does hurt. Is that person in a place to receive? And you know, that's all on the Lord, too. We can't change anybody. The only the the only person that can change anybody is the Holy Spirit. It's and realizing that and this takes wisdom and I and revelation um and God just like it's just so crazy. But essentially, when you are representing Jesus, it's less of that person and more of Jesus. Yeah. So you're dimming the light of you and shining the light of Christ. Because if I go out and I'm shining the light of Sarah, left to my own, and I'm just gonna be really blunt and honest because there's nothing else to be. I would eat all the dark chocolate I wanted, I'd listen to all the Taylor Swift I wanted, I'd smoke all the weed I'd wanted, and I'd do whatever I want whenever I wanted. Left to my own, that is what Sarah would do. Sarah has a bigger calling because I am now in Christ, right? That is not, those are things of the world, that is not what he has called me to do. I could keep doing that thing, all of those things I just said, and be a believer. But then there's a turning point in somebody's life where they have come to the end of themselves of trying to do this Jesus thing or trying to do it their own Jesus way. And you turn and you realize that there is more to just believing, and it's called following. And when you're following the Lord, there is a step, and that's obedience. And a lot of times believers are believing, they believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, and they know where they're going next because they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and they can live their whole life however they want to live. But they never took that next step of living the life God has for them. And that's also why this podcast exists. God has so many problems for you to solve. You're a problem solver. That's why you have a birthday, and that's why you are listening to this because you're not dead yet. There's still something for you to do here. And if you try to do it all on your own, you're gonna mess it up. But with the Lord, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you because it's not you doing it anymore, it's him doing it through you. So it's each and every day to the believer waking up and wanting to be the follower. How did Jesus live here on earth? What did he do with people? How did he treat one another? How did he speak truth in a loving yet firm way? Because we the church does a great job of saying how much Jesus loves you. But there is also the wrath of God, and there is hell coming for anybody who is not in Christ. And that is something that needs to wake every believer, believer, follower, human who claims the name and knows that there are unbelievers in the world. That is why it's imperative to put on Jesus and put off yourself. Put off the old ways of the world and you put it, your new creation. I want to read this. Um, I just think it's so, you know, for for such a time as right now. This is Romans chapter 5, verse 18. Yes, Adam's sin brought punishment to all. So I gotta stop right there because Adam is the first person that God ever created. So we all come from Adam, Adam and Eve, and they all read Genesis if you want to know what happens. But essentially, Adam disobeyed, and because of Adam's disobedience, we live in a sinful world. Now it keeps going. But Christ's righteousness makes men right with God so that they can live. So people who are we are all from Adam until the person individually decides that they want to be a new creation in Christ. And then there is life to be lived because it is in Christ's righteousness, not their own, but his Christ's Jesus Christ, because he was a perfect person who did this life and took on the sins of everybody else, so that we could have a relationship with the Lord. That is why Jesus says he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, because he was the perfect sacrifice for everybody, because we all by default are sinful. We all come from Adam. So whether you're talking to the Adams of the world, which would be the creation, the unbelievers, the atheists, the agnostics, the Muslims, the everybody who doesn't believe in Christ Jesus. I mean, we're even talking about the Mormons, we're talking about the people who believe in Confucius, whoever that dude is, the Buddhists, like all of that. How you represent Christ Jesus has to be in his righteousness. And so often we can keep us in our self-righteousness and we're telling people and misrepresenting Jesus wrong because we're doing it in our own strength.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, and it's important to, I mean, we've talked about this many, many times. It's important if you're representing Jesus to first step back and assess your life, your choices, the things you're doing. Because if somebody is wondering if they should follow the Jesus way, if they should turn their heart towards the Lord, and they have an individual coming at them saying, You're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong, you need Jesus, you need to go to church. And then this person who's wondering is looking at their life and they're like, wait, they just got pregnant and they're not married. They're uh gonna get strippers for their friend's bachelor party. They're they're out getting drunk. And here's the thing that I want to impress upon you any of those things, I am not judging. I've done them all. Okay. I have misrepresented Jesus wrong for a very long time. Absolutely. But because he has saved me, because he has redeemed me, because he's taken me through so much and I've come out on the other side of a better human, a better God-fearing woman, I can now look back and I can see the person who's pregnant and unmarried. I can see the person who is dabbling in yoga. I can see the person who is maybe even practicing a sort of witchcraft. And I'm not gonna go at them with scripture and tell them they need Jesus. The first thing I'm gonna do is pray for them.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Right. Right. There's so much power in prayer. And in that, if they are still in Adam and they're not in Christ, there is a veil that is not torn. They don't have eyes to see, they don't have ears to hear. This will not make sense to them. So you can't scripture them all day long because it's not gonna make sense. No. I think of one of my best friends who had seen me live the way I wanted to live for a very long time. And I started going to church, but I was living with my boyfriend or fiance at the time. I was having um premarital, like premarital sex. I was a yoga instructor. I was cussing like a sailor. I was drinking until at the beginning of dawn, till the end of the day. I was smoking all the weed I wanted to, but I had a cross tattoo. I was wearing a Jesus necklace, I was going to church, I was in small groups, I was in a prayer uh note session at church. Like I forgive me for I didn't know what I was actually doing to the Jesus that lived inside of me. And it's to and so my friend was my friend that whole time because nothing's different. She's my friend, I just believe in Jesus. I'm going to church, but I'm still doing all the things that she's doing. And so for so long, as I then something switched in my own life, and I came to the end of myself of like, what I'm doing is getting me absolutely nowhere. Because the next part I want to do is I don't want to be here anymore. And so something had to change, or I wasn't gonna be here on this planet anymore. I couldn't take anymore. And so thank you, Jesus, for always being there, he's always there. And when we decide to call out to him, he's you know, his hand is ready to be held. And the journey it took from where I was to where I am now has been excruciating. It hurts to be pruned, it hurts to be molded, it hurts to be when you are becoming somebody that you've never been before, there is so much grief that comes with the old person you used to be.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

And in order to become somebody you've never been before, you have to do things that you've never done before. And in the doing, it gets messy, it's hard, it's challenging. And that is where brothers and sisters in Christ are called to walk alongside of and build them up, not condemn them for their choices that they're making. And I I really I'm speaking to the Christian right now. Like you cannot tell someone enough they need Jesus, they need prayer, they need to read the Bible, they need to go to church for them to be like, oh, you know what? You are so right. I do, I'm gonna go. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is not what they need from you. Though those are all good things. Like the relationship that I have built going to church, the the relationships that I have built reading the Bible, the relationships that I have built praying. What I could not even ask think or imagine the glorious things he has done in my life. But I'm not speaking to that. I'm speaking to how you represent our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the person who's on the fence. How do you know if they're on the fence? You don't know if they're on the fence. You're not supposed to know because that I believe that's like a parable where Jesus, like, you reach out the hand to the lost, the scared, the hurting, even the person who maybe is prideful. Uh as I hear that story, I'm I'm thinking to myself, he needs Jesus more than your friend does. All right, we all need Jesus, right? I'm not, I'm not here to decide who needs him more than the next person. But the point of that is to me, I see a mirror. I see him looking at her and seeing himself. I see him looking at her and actually talking to himself. Because anything that we carry in our hearts, we overflow it out. Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

And there's always three fingers pointing back at you. So hello. Any anything that we say on here, we are spoon feeding ourselves. And that's time and time again. And in this, going back to my friend who saw me doing living the way I wanted to, but claiming the name of Jesus. And then I, you are always one moment, one second away from doing a U-turn and coming back to Christ. One second. It just takes one, Lord. I repent for what I just did. I repent for what I'm doing, and you can U-turn all day long in this reverse circle. Come back to Jesus every day, all day, all the time. We fall short, pick back up, ask for forgiveness, come back to Jesus. That's how simple yet not easy it can be. And I remember my friend seeing my new life, what God was doing in me. I didn't have the same friends anymore. I wasn't listening to the same music anymore. I started to dress different and I wasn't cussing as much. Um, and I had boundaries with certain people, not because of anything that they were doing, but because I couldn't be around them because Sarah would come out and Jesus would not.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

And so my friend has now turned to the Lord and has eyes to see and ears to hear. And we've had conversations. And she says, I didn't understand. I mean, I saw this joy around your friends, but and your people, your friends would tell me, Oh, you're gonna do this and you're gonna do that. But like internally, I was thinking, no, I'm not. They don't know anything about me. No, I'm not gonna do this thing, and no, I'm not gonna go there, and I don't need to do this, and I don't need to do that. It is what it is somebody's personal choice and decision. That's why God gave us free will. We are not robots. If we were all robots, he would program us all to love him and worship him and never sin. Yeah, we have free will, and because of Adam, we all fall short of the glory of God. On everybody's best day that they have haven't lied, cheated, stolen, said a bad word, done an ill thing, we still look like filthy rags compared to the white as snow as Jesus. And you know what? On everybody's worst day, they're never gonna look as best as Jesus. And the so the sinner and the savior, we're all sinners, but the saint and the sinner, because if you are saved, then you are a saint. And it's not anything that you are, it's everything that Jesus is in you because you're representing Jesus now and he's a saint. Yep. So the saint and the sinner come from the same cord. Amen. The difference is, especially if that sinner is in Adam still and they are not in Christ Jesus, they don't have the eyes to see, they don't have ears to hear yet. Our position as saints is to pray for the prodigal sons, to pray for the lost, to pray for our nation, to pray for the people that don't think like you do. We are that's why you go to church, they're Christ-like-mindedness.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

You know, I'm as you're talking, oh, so good. As you're talking, I'm thinking about we work with a lot of teens. You work with even younger kids within life wise. And I'm thinking to myself about young kids, young hearts, young brains that are not developed yet. Where do they learn what they learn? A lot of times they learn what they learn from the elders that they are around, their parents, their older friends, their older siblings, things like that. And I have witnessed one more than one, but I've witnessed kids who look to somebody. Well, this kid, this person goes to church, this person volunteers, they were baptized, they go to the Christian concerts. So they must be good Christians, but then you see them in other areas of life where they're falling short. They're not kind, they don't have patience, the fruits of the spirit are not shining in their life. And so we have to. So maybe it's the same, if they want to follow the path, because they're like, well, why is this person doing this? And I said, Well, well, you, you know, we have to, we have to share with them the knowledge that we have, and we have to share with them from a place of love. And I said, Well, is there ever a time when you've acted this way? Is there ever a time when you've spoken ill to somebody or maybe not treated somebody kindly? And you know who Jesus is, you read the Bible, like you go to church. How are you any different? You you're not, we're not different. None of us are different unless, unless we truly are filled with every vein in our body with the Holy Spirit, which that's a very tall order.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

It is, and this is not, I mean, I beat myself up often because I feel like I'm supposed to be this perfect person, and I'm just not. I am just not. The only person that's perfect is Jesus. Yep, and I know that I I know you you know you better than anybody else. Jesus knows you better than anybody, he knows you better than you. He made you. However, there are days that I can't run away from myself fast enough. And so God only knows why this podcast exists, why he chose two sinners who have uh done horrible, crazy, schmazy things to be speaking on all this stuff, but it's not, it's not us. It is the Holy Spirit in and through us, and that's the only good thing. The only good in me is Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Okay, I'm gonna read something because, ooh, girl, when you were just talking, and when I was talking, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. This can happen in your car, in your shower, in your anywhere you are. This does not need to happen in the floor walls of the church. Okay. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him. The Lord will always have compassion on you, always, always, always. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. This part right here that I'm gonna, it's 50, Isaiah 55, 8. It reminds you of what you just said. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. And you could keep going, read it. Isaiah 55 is a beautiful scripture, but my thoughts are not your thoughts. We don't even think like Jesus. So how are we gonna act like Jesus? The only way, the only truth, the only life is to be filled with more of Him. When you're filled with Him, you're not, you're not even gonna see a sinful person. You're gonna see a person that you have been called to love. Just like the woman that God flipped me around last night and asked me to pray for a random stranger on the street, and what God did in and through that, and the things that she revealed to me, and the tears just started pouring out. I had never seen her. I didn't know what I was doing, but God knew what he was doing. And I pray and I hope that I was obedient to the Lord in that situation to the best of my ability, praying over her, and her life has changed because of what Jesus did in her heart. And that's what we're called to do so much. And I want to just real quick touch on one other thing. I had a woman that I encountered that I felt the Lord nudging me to ask her for prayer. And she said, No, don't do that for me. And I could have been defeated, I could have been depleted, I could have been like, oh my gosh, I'm never gonna ask anyone else to pray. I mean, those thoughts went through my head. I'm never gonna ask anyone else ever to pray again. And the Lord told me, it is not up to you to decide. You are obedient. I want all my children in heaven, right? And so had I succumbed to that, the woman who I believe there were spirits on her, which we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against the principalities and the mystical forces within the The realm that we're in, right? So I'm kind of getting off track, but I'm gonna bring it back. So this woman, if I had sucked under that, which I believe was evil forces, I would have never prayed for this woman on the street who felt hopeless and that she was never going to get out of this hole she was in.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

It's because you're not operating in a spirit of fear. If you would have been still in that and been fearful of man, you wouldn't have operated in the spirit of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

That's so good. And I bet you, I bet you that that man that let's call him a boy. He's not a man. The more the boy that was talking to your friend was operating out of a spirit of fear.

SPEAKER_01 44:40

And that's the thing about, you know, all of us Christians, believers, followers. I believe there's two differences, believers and followers. However, you don't know what somebody's wrestling with, the spirits that have come in, the trauma that they've endured. Yes. Um, the the people that have hurt them along the way. So people are truly only giving you what they can give themselves. So forgive them. Don't hold them accountable for that one time. Like just because you had an icky encounter with somebody who misrepresented Jesus well, it misrepresented Jesus to you doesn't mean that the real Jesus isn't loving, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, self-controlled, and he won't show you a great human being who represents him in that moment of time very well. We've said this before: just because you had a bad uh meal at a restaurant doesn't mean you're never gonna eat again. Right. Why do we do that with the church? Why do we do that with Christians? They people stink. Everybody has opinions, just like everybody has buttons. Everybody has something to say. Everybody has something that they want to do. And so it's having the wisdom and revelation of the Lord because guess what? This is Romans 5, 8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. So Jesus died for the homosexuals, he died for the transgenders, he died for the persons who's cheating on their spouses right now, he died for the people who committed murder, he died for the people who have cheated on tests, he died for the people who have lied, he died for the people who have beat somebody up, he has died for the person who has misrepresented him well, he has died for the people who hate him. It doesn't matter. He died for all people because he loves us all that much.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

And the second that you think that you are any better than any of those people, you've missed the mark. You've completely missed the mark of why he came and did what he did. And so today, we I because I haven't discussed this with Sarah, I challenge you today. That person that annoys you, that challenges you, that you want to just say, you gotta do this, this, this, and this because that's gonna help you. Let that all go. Surrender, leave that at the foot of the cross, let God change them. You just go and you love them and you pray for that person. Pray for that most difficult person that doesn't give you the love that you believe they should, that difficult person who hurt you, that difficult person who is acting in such a manner that to you seems repulsive. And remember every time Jesus forgave you. Because I can't think of the scripture, Lord help me. Forgive me my sins. Forgive others. What is it? It's the Lord's prayer. Forgive others as I have forgiven. I don't know why I can't think of it right now.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. So sin, trespass and sin go hand in hand.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

So we're asking God to forgive us for our sins. And he, and there's another scripture too that talks about for the measure that you use to others will be used against you. So that is my challenge today for for each and every one of you, because I know that there's a person that irks you, and I know it's hard, and I know it's challenging. Keep giving it to Jesus when you go and pick it back up, keep giving it to Jesus, surrender it because no amount of your condemnation will change another person.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

No, and I for everybody, especially the unbeliever, uh, I just want to end on this note. So you might think, well, why would I need Jesus? All these people who claim the name stink. You're right, they do. Which and when they follow the Lord, when they obey the Lord, they stink a little less. However, however, Jesus, what he came to do is we all have broken the law. We all have lied, we all have stolen, we all have cheated. And it might not be in the physical, but it's in the in your heart. You've thought bad things, you've done, you've said bad things all in your heart, and God knows what goes on in there. So we every single human being falls short, and we have all committed a crime, and there is actions for consequences. And so the action for sin, the consequence of that is death, hell. And so what Jesus did is said, Hey, it's like we're all in a jury room, and Jesus comes to the front and says, Hey, I'm gonna take whatever punishment that you give Sarah, that you give Tina, that you give you, I'm gonna take that punishment and they're free to go because I didn't do anything. They are free. Don't give them anything, give it all to me, and they can walk free and they can live a life that I was living, that I was called to do, but I'm gonna take it and I'm gonna bear their punishment because I love them that much. That is Jesus. He was a perfect man who did no wrong, who thought no ill things, who obeyed the Lord, his father, to the fullest, even when he didn't want to. He said, Lord, if this is, if if possible, take this cup from me, but not my will, let your will be done. That's why people say and pray, Lord, not my will, your will be done. Because it's nothing that we want, it's what what it's what Jesus wants, it's what the Father wants. And so Jesus said, Hey, on today, when he died on the cross, he died for everybody while we were still sinners, for the person that is still bonded in sin, for the person who's still held by the spirit of addiction, the person held by the spirit of fear. You name it, he died for it. So there is no more condemnation in Christ Jesus. You are forgiven, it you are white as snow, you are washed by his blood. God doesn't see you the way you used to be. He doesn't see that sin on you. He does, he forgets when you ask for forgiveness. He doesn't remember, he that's the beauty of God. He's not a human who holds those things sometimes and remember reminds you of what you've done wrong. He is not, he does not operate that way.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

That's human y.

SPEAKER_01 51:24

And so Jesus says, Hey, I stand up for the one, I stand up for all of the one, and I'm gonna take their place instead of the wrath that they deserve, Lord. I'm gonna take the wrath of you instead of them. And that is why we need Jesus, because at the end of the day, we are all guilty as charged. No matter if you have been walking with the Lord for a hundred thousand years or one second, or have never believed in a moment. That's okay. But when you're ready, his hand is there for you and he's saying, Hey, I died for you too. Yeah. And that is why we believe. So I'm sorry about the misrepresentations that have happened in your life. People are only doing the best with what they know how. Give them grace, forgive them because one day you probably will need that same grace and forgiveness. Yeah, absolutely. So until next Fearless Friday.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Have a wonderful, blessed day. I pray this fed you well today, and that you are ready to go out and share the bread of life with somebody. I pray that you heard this and maybe your heart wants to turn more to him. And I just I praise him for his great name. And if this turn out, if this is something that you want to share, please share this. Subscribe to our YouTube. We want to get this out to more people because we want to make heaven properly. Have a wonderful blessed day this Friday.

SPEAKER_01 52:49

Bye.