Hot Takes & Holy Things
Hot Takes & Holy Things is where bold opinions meet honest faith conversations. Each episode dives into real questions, everyday struggles, and the topics students are actually talking about—through the lens of Jesus and Scripture. It’s thoughtful, a little unfiltered, and always centered on what matters most - the Gospel.
Hot Takes & Holy Things
Being the Church Out There w/ John MacTaggart
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Episode 08: Being the Church ‘Out There’ with John MacTaggart
We cannot just live out our faith within the church walls; we have to embody it outside the church, too! In this episode of Hot Takes and Holy Things, Jarvis Koyate, Cole Bearden, and Jake Kimbrell are joined by Family Church student Pastor, John MacTaggart, to discuss today’s hot take about the importance of being the church ‘out there’. As always, we start with our Word of the Day Segment before shouting out our student leader at Family Church in the Farms. Pastor John goes on to share a personal story of a student who massively impacted his faith, and he talks about how we can define being the church ‘out there’ and the power of embodying God’s love for us in the way we interact with the world. He even touches on the tension students may face between identity and performance and discusses how faith and ‘works’ can complement each other, instead of competing with each other. Finally, we discuss how students can practically share the Gospel and live out everyday, ordinary, radical faithfulness. If you want to be inspired to be a ‘doer’ of the Word, not just a ‘hearer’, then this is for you, so be sure to tune in now!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Introducing today’s guest, John MacTaggart.
- Today’s word of the day: Larping.
- A shoutout to a high school student leading at Family Church in the Farms.
- Why you cannot only live out your faith within the walls of the church.
- The disconnect students feel between their beliefs and the way they live their lives.
- Pastor John tells us about the impact a student had on his faith during his youth.
- What it means to be the church ‘out there’ and the power of embodying God’s love.
- Identity versus performance and how faith and ‘works’ can complement each other.
- How to live this out practically and how students can share the Gospel.
- Today’s challenge for students: plan a Church event ‘out there’ with your student pastor.
Quotes:
“The simplest definition that we have for [being the church ‘out there’] is simply loving other people. – To me, that’s the key to Christian growth.” — John MacTaggart [00:18:14]
“True spirituality is when we start to understand God’s love for us, and as our knowledge of that expands, it begins to shift the way that we think about other people.” — John MacTaggart [00:18:35]
“We’re so used to working for things that we think we have to work for grace.” — John MacTaggart [00:22:40]
“It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance. It’s what He’s done. – We’re not trying to earn God’s grace; we’re living from it.” — John MacTaggart [00:23:25]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Family Church | South Florida Church Campuses
Family Church Students on Instagram
Welcome to Hot Takes and Holy Things. This is the podcast for the students of Family Church in South Florida. We're tackling the real questions students are asking and bringing you hot takes backed by God's Word. This is Hot Takes and Holy Things.
SPEAKER_00We are on episode number eight. Or some would say episode Ocho. Okay now.
SPEAKER_02Boys, how are we feeling? Feeling good. Hey, it's a it's exciting to be here for episode eight. We've got two episodes after that. And I know we don't want to get any, we don't want to get sad or sentimental or anything like that. But it's uh this is exciting. And for me, ah man, this is just this is a fun season of life right now. Miles is 11 and a half months. We're getting ready to celebrate his first birthday in like two weeks. It's just an exciting time. We're almost through season one. Miles is almost one. It's just all the right feelings today.
SPEAKER_05All the ones. Cole, it is a fun season, man. I I'm super grateful all the time that we get to do this. And you know, right now in the Kimbrel household, it's a lot of fun. Cassie and I, we just got back from a little trip away. I got to spend some time at the beach, which if you guys know me, you guys know I hate it. I hate the beach. But it is different whenever you don't have to lug all of the toys and all of the chairs and all of the things down to the beach. Just a little different. So you know what? I actually enjoyed it, and it was really chilly the first few days, which is kind of like what you don't want at the beach, but I loved it. Was the water cold? The water was freezing. Won't catch me in it. Yeah, so I didn't go. I'd also watch Jurassic World on the plane before I got there. I've never been afraid of things in the water, but after watching that, I was like, nah, I'm good. I'm out, I'm out.
SPEAKER_02That's fair.
SPEAKER_00That's fair. But yeah, things are good in the Camberg household. I love it. The Koyate household's doing well. We're in the busy, crazy time right now. Because gentlemen, at any moment, Hannah could have this baby. Yeah. And so right now we're just we're just waiting. We're excited. And might be episode nine, might be episode ten. I mean, you can get the call right now as we're my phone is on Do Not Disturb, but I do have it set to where if Hannah does text or call me, she goes straight through. So that's safe. I could get the Texas episode that Hannah is, you know, going in the labor and secretly is that kind of what we all want, though?
SPEAKER_05Like, would that be kind of cool if Jarvis is like mid pod has to run out because we follow? Would we just bring the mics with us?
SPEAKER_00Would we drive him there? Hot takes holy things on the go? Yeah, we'll play it by here. I'm also excited, boys, because we got a great guest. We do. And I love this pod because we've had some amazing guests the past few episodes. You guys know every episode I like to introduce our guests, give them a nice little bio that sometimes I create, sometimes the family creates, sometimes our good friend ChatGBT creates. And so uh let's see what Chat has to say about this bio, huh? About this guest that we have. Let's hear it. Alright, so this person is from uh a lot of different places, but mainly this person is known from being from the great Lake Placid, Florida. Some would call it the Calladium Capital of the World. Some do. That's what it's known as. He played football there. He was a very high-level athlete at the Lake Placid High School. The Dragons. Go Dragons. He was a problem. He set the tone early. Some would say his freshman year, he broke a kid's leg.
SPEAKER_04Some would say rumor has it.
SPEAKER_05Hey, hey, if you're listening and our guest broke your leg, don't leave a bad review.
SPEAKER_00So he had a great career there. Grew up, got his PhD. He's here at Family Church. He's great. We all love him. We all know him. Let's get up for Pastor John McTaggart.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Hey Pastor John, how are you? Good. Really glad to be here, guys. Let me just tell you what an honor and a privilege it is to be on Hot Takes and Holy Things. I listen to it every week, man. Grateful for what you guys are doing for our students.
SPEAKER_05Means a lot. Appreciate that. Appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02Well, Pastor John, we're excited to have you here. This is my favorite segment that we do. It's our word of the day segment. The way that this works is Hudson Champion from Family Church Village. He gives me a word that our students, you guys, the listeners, are using in your everyday vocabulary. And so I'll bring that word to the table, and then all of you, the three of you, have the opportunity to guess what that word means. Right now, scoreboard check on the season. The score is currently two words for Jake, one for our guest, and one for Jarvis. And so, Pastor John, Jarvis, you guys have the opportunity to tie it up today. It'll be two in no time. That's all I gotta say. Jake, you've got the opportunity to take a 3-1 lead.
SPEAKER_05I don't know how the audio will come through, but I do have We Are the Champions cued on my phone to play through my microphone when I win today.
SPEAKER_02He's a humble king.
SPEAKER_05Humble king.
SPEAKER_02All right, gentlemen, today's word. I get so nervous. Today's word. It's good. It's good. It can be used as a noun or a verb. It is LARP or LARPing. No, I got it.
SPEAKER_00Oh wait, I like the company. Actually, no? Well, here's the issue, John. We had this. Here's the hard part. This is a big part of Jarvis's past. We had this a couple episodes ago where they give us a word and it's the very obvious choice of what the word is. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. It's sometimes never that word, or it's always just what that word actually is.
SPEAKER_05It's a 50-50 chance, like you said, of of it being the most outlandish thing. Like it could be an acronym for LARP, for all I know. Or like SALTS. It's just the definition. Okay. Who's gonna Jake? You're pretty confident. Yeah, I'm pretty confident. I will say that because I'm already leading, I'll take the riskier answer rather than just going for the straightforward one. Okay. But I do think it's pretending to be something you're not.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05And so I think that LARPing in the actual sense of it is, you know, when you can dress up in a costume, you can go out and do these things, and you're kind of pretending to not do what you normally do for a minute, right? I think you're trying to be someone that you're not. And you know what? I'm comfortable with that. I'm confident in that. I'm gonna lock it in.
SPEAKER_01What's your confidence level? Like one through ten on that. Ten.
SPEAKER_05My confidence level is always at a ten.
SPEAKER_01That's a great answer.
SPEAKER_02I've never met Jake when he's not at a ten.
SPEAKER_05You know, I will say, but Jarvis is always critical of my answers every other way.
SPEAKER_00I'm changing my mindset. Jake, I think that's a great answer, and I'm I really hope you get this one. I hope I do too. I really do. I hope I do too. You want to go with me next? Yeah, you go. All right. So LARP, I think of the obvious answer, LARP, a live action role play. Right. Yeah. Did not know that. Yeah. So that was the original answer. So that's like the original excuse to me. That's the original intention of it. I think though, because you said it's a noun sometimes. Noun or verb. This person is a LARP. I don't think they would use it like that. So when I think of someone as a LARP, I think this is someone who's in theater. So this is someone who acts role-playing, right? So you have a role. So I think this is someone who's in theater, someone who's in drama or in movies or something like that. So that's what I think a LARP is. And when they're doing theater, they are LARPing.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I'm gonna be honest with you. The first thing that came to mind for me, this is I don't know why, just association was do you remember planking? Yes. Yeah. That needs to come back. But that's not LARPing, but that's what came to mind. So that's not my definition. What my definition, what I'm gonna go for with LARPing, is somebody who is constantly always trying to pick up girls or pick up guys, like a person who's like constantly trying, like they're just a LARP. Like that's what comes to mind. I didn't know about the whole acronym thing. So that's gonna probably change the way. But I I'll roll the dice, and this is somebody who's always trying to LARP at somebody else. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_00This is three solid definitions. Very different definition. Very different. Very different. Which means there's one obvious winner, it sounds like there is one obvious winner for this one, gentlemen.
SPEAKER_02The definition of LARP is someone who is a poser and thinks that they know everything, but gets all of their knowledge from TikTok and things like that.
SPEAKER_00What in the world is that?
SPEAKER_02So the so it's someone who's, in a sense, pretending to be someone they're not. So keep the music, Jake. You got it.
SPEAKER_05I didn't really have it.
SPEAKER_01I was kind of We are the chance. Thank you.
SPEAKER_05Like, I don't know. Maybe we can edit that in.
SPEAKER_00Wow. That's very impressive, Jake. It's my Easter song.
SPEAKER_05It is three to one to one. That's right. This is episode eight. There's two episodes left. So, best case scenario, someone could tie. Yeah, but we don't believe in tiebreaker. So we'd have a tiebreaker. Yeah, yeah, we'd have a tiebreaker.
SPEAKER_00We can make the points worth more in the next two weeks. Yeah, yeah. Next round's worth 10 points.
SPEAKER_05I'm sorry, guest, I let you down the back. Is Grace Ann the Grayson's the only one the one point for the guest right now? Wow. Shout out, Grace Ann. Well, hey, students. Speaking of the shout-out, this week we have another student shout out that I'm really, really excited about. And so we actually have a student shout-out this week coming from Family Church in the Farms. That's right. And so Tucker Rayborn. So Tucker Rayborn was super excited to nominate this student for the student shout-out. And so, gentlemen, today we're going to shout out the one, the only Mrs. Deanna Lee. Yeah, Deanna! Gentlemen, before we even talk about all of her accomplishments, let's give her three.
SPEAKER_01Pastor John. Pastor John, you didn't. I I practiced Pastor Guy for so long. And the moment, when the moment came, my brain didn't register what was happening.
SPEAKER_05The definition of the moment being too big.
SPEAKER_01We talked before the episode. I didn't know. It's not in the show notes. I never know what it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_05John was brushing his teeth this morning. Oh man. All right, guys, let's give him three. Wow.
SPEAKER_00It happens quick. It happens quick.
SPEAKER_05Well, y'all, Miss Deanna Lee, she is a rock star out at Family Church in the Farms. She's a student leader for them. She served as a point leader on advance this year. We've already given our point leaders a big shout out. We know the weight that they carry on advance. That's right. She is always inviting students, which is one of our family values, is to be a bringer. So she's crushing it. And also to take it a step further, she's also going on our UK missions trips. And so, guys, I know what these students mean to our different ministries. And so when you hear something like this, I mean, how fired up does this make you guys?
SPEAKER_00I love it. It's exciting, especially doing it as a high schooler. Yeah. Where like your life is busy with schoolwork and with sports and with all the extracurriculars and be able to do all of these things with your schedule that you have, I think it's absolutely amazing. So I'm fired up thinking about it.
SPEAKER_02That's right. It's not always easy to lead, and it's not always easy to lead for Christ. And so to see a student that's doing this in so many different environments, from school to inviting their friends to leading at church to then going to lead in a completely different country. Like this is awesome to see. It's an encouragement to me. And I know that it's an encouragement to our student ministry at Gardens as well.
SPEAKER_01I'm always impressed by our students in this segment, because I don't know about you guys, but think about where you were when you were in high school or when you were when you were in middle school. Let me just tell you about six guys. Don't even want to get into those stories. You know what I mean? But this type of stuff, man, it sets a trajectory for their lives, which is pretty cool. I mean, you think about the students who are building these rhythms and these habits now, what that means for them for the next 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years of their life of being a Jesus follower, they've already worked these muscles. And so to me, it's just it's so impressive, and we're so proud of you guys. Yeah. So great. So one more time. Let's give Deanna ready. Pastor John, you're included in this one. I'm so ready. My fingers are wiggling. Let's go.
SPEAKER_00Let's give Deanna three. Here we go. There we go.
SPEAKER_02I felt good about that. Good job, Pastor John. And good job, Jarvis. Yeah. You did a great job leading that. Jarvis is really proud of you.
SPEAKER_00Teamwork makes you drink very much. Well, speaking of being the church out there, guys, we got a great hot take. And like, I think I know we say it every episode. This is the hottest take that we have. This one's free. This is good.
SPEAKER_02This one's really a hot take. I mean, I'm getting warm just thinking of it.
SPEAKER_00This one might ruffle some feathers. All right. So our hot take today is if you aren't being the church out there, you're pretending to be the church in here. Yeah. You know, I say it again for the people in the background. If you aren't being the church out there, you're just pretending to be the church in here. That's the bacon sizzle.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05It's the first guest to ever make a sizzle sound of the Bible. I do love that hot take because we talk about being the church out there a lot at Family Church, right? The way that we end every one of our worship services is it's been great getting to be the church in here. Now let's go be the church out there. This is a family, thank you, Travis. This is a family value that we have in our student ministries, right? The five new family values that we just put out. One of them is to go and be the church out there. Number five, correct? That's right. Yeah, yeah. The last one, go and be the church out there. And so I love that we're talking about it, but here's the tension that I feel when we say that hot take is that I think that maybe this is someone who's new in their faith, maybe this is someone who has just really yet to kind of mature in their faith and make it their own, but they're really trying. And so they're coming to church every week, they're reading their Bible, they're praying, they're saying all the right things in group, and they're really, really trying to grow and do all that they can. But then they hear this hot take and immediately they think, oh great, so now you're telling me that what I'm doing's not good enough. You know what I mean? So now there's just something else I have to do. And so for the table, are we saying that discipleship doesn't matter? Are we saying that time with God is less important than the things we do for other people or sharing the gospel? Are we saying that attending church doesn't matter? What do we mean when we say that if you're not being the church out there, you're just pretending to be the church in here?
SPEAKER_02When I think of that, like I think on Sunday mornings, it's easy for us to put on a good face, to keep up appearance when we're at church. Like we read our Bibles, we bring our Bibles to church, we're in small groups, we're answering questions, we're leading conversations in our small groups, but then it's a lot harder to live that same way Monday through Saturday because we're in our normal environments. We're at school where there's temptations, we're in our locker rooms and on our sports teams where there's other temptations and other pressures. And so the take is hot because we shouldn't just be living out our faith on Sunday mornings inside the church walls. We need to be living out our faith outside the church walls, in our sports teams, in the locker rooms, at school. And the the way that we look and the way that we appear on Sunday mornings to our friends and the people in our student ministry should be the exact same way that we present ourselves Monday through Saturday in whatever environment that we're in.
SPEAKER_00I also think culture wants our students to kind of believe that, hey, our faith is private. So like obviously I can go to church on Sundays and I can be with a group of people and be in community on Sundays, but like through Monday through Saturday, like my my faith is private. I can do it on my own. Or I don't want to be like offensive to others with my faith and what I believe, and so I'm just gonna do it on my own. And so like some of us sometimes might believe that hey, faith is something we don't really have to act on in public during the week because it might offend somebody.
SPEAKER_01And we've seen this and felt this. Like, so I've been in student ministry for over 20 years, and there's just been so often this disconnect with students between, hey, I believe in God and I believe the Bible, but yet my life and the reflection of my life and my character doesn't there's like this disconnect that doesn't align. And one, that's really hard for the student because I think they feel that and they wrestle with the guilt and the shame of that and knowing how to move past that. But two, it's also difficult for guests that are coming into the church. For people come into a youth group and they look around and they're like, hey, like all these kids, they are look totally different at school. They look totally different. And so, like, I'm not really understanding the message of what we're talking about here. And so I do think it creates a really big spiritual tension for our students all the time that's felt by many of them.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I mean, Pastor John, and we joke around about you in Lake Placid all the time because it's funny, but I think that Lake Placid means so much to you because that's really where your faith really took off. And and that wouldn't have started unless someone was really being the church out there for you. And so before we jump in any further, I mean, as someone who's been so in, like, why is that so important for our students to do? What kind of impact did that have on your life?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so the guy that really reached out to me when I was in high school was a guy I played football with. His name was Brian Moore. Brian was a wide receiver. I was, believe it or not, an offensive lineman. And I just moved to Lake Placid. Yeah. 165 pounds soaking wet offensive guard. But that's that had more to do with our football team. It wasn't as legendary as you made it out to be.
SPEAKER_00Chat got that wrong.
SPEAKER_01We were 0-10, 1-9, and 0-10, my sophomore junior. I know that one win felt like the Super Bowl. You have no idea. I'll never forget our middle linebacker pulling off his helmet after the game and just looking up at the crowd and being like, so this is what it feels like. I'll never get this feeling. That'll be etched in my mind forever. Anyway, so Brian was a guy who was on our team and he came from a Christian family. His parents were Christians, and I remember going to his house after football practice, and we would go and we would just like eat dinner together. And his dad, get this, it's blew my mind. His dad would pray for the food before they ate. Now, I came from a very broken home. This like changed everything to see like Christians living it out, to see somebody living out their faith. And that what was a normal routine thing that they just did started to kind of turn my heart and go, wait a second, there's like a whole different way to live life that I'm not living. So it was that was really impactful for me.
SPEAKER_05And what I love about that is is that what you just described was something that is just so ordinary and so faithful, but so obedient to what God has called us to do. And so, Pastor John, I guess to the other side of that question, for students listening uh that maybe have some confusion or some misconceptions about this idea, how would you really define being the church out there?
SPEAKER_01I think the simplest definition that we have with that is simply loving other people. And I don't mean to like oversimplify it, but to me, that's the key to Christian growth. Our natural tendency, and like you can scholars write about this and all this, but our natural tendency is inward turn. It's selfish, it's pride, it's like, hey, I'm gonna make this about me. But true spirituality is when we start to understand God's love for us, and as our knowledge of that expands, it begins to shift the way that we think about other people because God's love is not just for us. God's love is for everybody. And when we start to see the world through his eyes, through this powerful idea of God's love, it's something that will begin to shape the way that we think about our interactions with other people. And Paul prays for this in the book of Ephesians. He prays that they would have the knowledge to comprehend how vast, how wide, how deep. Like that's one of the main concerns for Paul for the church in Ephesus, is like if you guys get nothing else, like we're gonna talk about theology, we're gonna talk about these, but if you get nothing else, I need you to know how much God loves you because I think that's actually the driver to how we interact with the world around us. And so when God, when we say God loves you, this isn't just so that you can be like, oh, cool, like God loves me, I'm chosen and all this stuff. That's true. But every time in scripture you see selection, it's always with a purpose. Every time you see God choosing somebody, it's always with a purpose. And that purpose is meant to be outward turn being the church out there.
SPEAKER_02That's really good, Pastor John. And I think it kind of leads us to like the tension that we're feeling with this between identity and performance, right? Because we're talking about being the church out there, loving others. And so we we feel this command to go and love others, whether that's the way that we serve on Sunday mornings, if that's in the treehouse or in kids' ministry, or if that's holding a door as a greeter and hospitality, helping serve coffee and donuts, whatever that is. But then we think outside of church and different opportunities that there are to serve the people's needs that are around us, there's this battle that we're feeling of is this for performance or is this because of the identity that God has placed in me to go and love others the way that He's loved me? And so I think that that's a tension that our students are battling with this because I think in the performance side of it, we're looking at the wrong motives. Like we're trying to serve others, we're trying to do these things out of a place where we're trying to make up for maybe past sins that we've had or past mistakes that we've made, and we're trying to earn our salvation when in reality what God has told us is that our salvation isn't earned. Our identity doesn't rest in what we can do. Our identity rests in what Jesus has done for us on the cross. And so we need to recognize that this isn't about how we can perform for others or how we can show up for others. This isn't about the spotlight that we bring to ourselves. All of this is about who Jesus says that we are, what he's called us to do because of what he's done for us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I also think like, I mean, it's a scary thing because like I mean, I see it all the time in my student ministry, and I've seen it so many times and just student ministry in general, where like we do all these these sinful things during the week and we feel terrible about it. And some of us probably felt it growing up too. Like, we feel terrible about it, and it's like, oh man, if I do if I do enough good things on a Sunday morning, though I'll be alright. Like if I serve on a student leadership team on Sunday morning, or if I go and serve in Treehouse, hopefully all of the the things that I do are considered good things, hopefully that will erase the debt that I've done this past week, and hopefully God will then look at me differently and will love me a little bit more.
SPEAKER_05Which is such a dangerous place because it tells us that we can save ourselves and we really can't. And like we really, really have a need for Jesus to fill such a big hole in our hearts and to for his blood to wash over our sins and And really it's the outflowing of that is really what we're talking about. And and Pastor John, I do think that there's also an interesting argument where there's this one group of people that say, well, because I've I'm redeemed, because I'm saved, because I, you know, have a relationship with Jesus, I don't need to do anything because even my my most righteous deeds are like filthy rags. Right. And then the other group that we're talking about now where you feel this tension of I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. How does faith and works complement each other, not compete with each other?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I simply think about the two prepositions for and from. The danger when you talk about grace is that, and this is the way the world operates mostly, is that you earn things. And so we're so used to working for things that we think we have to work for grace. But what the Bible talks about is from, that because of what Christ has done, we are operating out of the overflow of that. We are already in a place of victory. We are already free. And part of the Christian life is realizing these things, and that truth and that identity is actually going to be the thing that starts to change and transform us, not simply our willpower to go, hey, you know what? I'm going to start living through. No, it's like God is that good and that kind and that gracious and would pay that much for us and loves us that much, that this actually begins to, through his Holy Spirit, transform our hearts. He writes the law on our hearts, and we find ourselves starting to change. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. It's what he's done. So thinking about those prepositions have been helpful for me of like, hey, we're not trying to earn God's grace, we're living from it.
SPEAKER_02That's really good, Pastor John. I love that you look at those prepositions for and from, because I think that leads us right into the holy things conversation about all this. What is scripture saying about how we should be living as the church out there? And for me, I really think of what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 16. He says, in the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Jesus is reminding Christians in this Sermon on the Mount that we are cities set on a hill, that we are the salt of the world, that we are lights in the world. And so we live not for our own glory, but to point those around us and those who see us to the one who's worthy of all of the glory. And so when we live as the church out there, others see our works and are drawn to glorify God because being the church out there means glorifying God and not ourselves.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like the place my mind goes to over and over again is when we think about being the church out there is the Great Commission. Man, when Jesus tells his like all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, therefore go make disciples of all the nations, like that is the essence of what the Christian life should be centered around. And it's like when I was younger, I used to think, man, that's like that's kind of hard. Like I've got like thoughts and dreams and things I want to do, and like I'm gonna give all that up and just like walk around and tell people about Jesus. Well, like, no, you can do those things while telling people about Jesus. But what Jesus is talking about here is because of what has happened. Like when you understand, again, when you have the knowledge and grasp the love of God in your life and how gracious he's been to you, like it's one of those things that it's a get to, not a have to. It's like, man, I have experienced grace on a level that I can't even begin to describe. And that changes the way that I want to talk to people about. We get excited about so many things in life, right? Like we get excited about the NBA playoffs, we get excited about this, and those things are like they're fun, they're fun to talk about. I talk about them. But like the grace of God in our lives and what that has meant to us, man, there's something in us that should compel us to go, man, I want to be a part of this mission. I want to be a part of God, transforming other people's hearts like he's transformed mine. That's right. And when we experience that, I think that just becomes a natural should, and it's a process. It's not like, oh, now all of a sudden I get it, but like it's a growth and a sanctification process of pulling us deeper and deeper into the mission of God and wanting to be a part of what he's doing in the world.
SPEAKER_00That's good. And so I think like I love those verses. Those are all great verses. And I think one thing that stands out to me is ultimately your life should look different compared to others. And so if you're in a room with a bunch of unbelievers and you're the one believer in the room, like you are that light. You are the one who should theoretically look different. So I think that's really important when we think about these verses as well.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think we've talked so much about what we do, what we do, what we do. And like, you know, if I'm a student listening to this, I'm kind of thinking, well, okay, well, how do I apply this then? If I really want to go be the church out there and and live my life in this way and be set apart and be different, like you just said, Jar of like, well, how do I be different? And so the verse that just comes to my mind is what I would say is Romans 1.16, for I'm unashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to anyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. And so when I read that and I'm thinking through, well, how do I apply any of this to my life? Well, number one, I'm gonna pray for boldness that I'm actually going to live my life unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because maybe you're sitting at a lunch table with your friends and none of them know Jesus. What if you just prayed for your food? Like that one dad did for you, Pastor John, like way back in the day. Well, if I'm praying that God would transform my heart and that my actions would reflect that I'm unashamed of the gospel of Christ, well, then now praying for my food is not something mundane that like I should do because my parents told me I should do it. It's a gospel opportunity. And so I'm gonna pray that my life would reflect someone who's unashamed of the gospel. And I'm also gonna pray that the Holy Spirit would give me the opportunities to practice those things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. One of the things that I used to do with my students a few years back, yeah, and this with our leadership team, is I would tell them, we you know how we got our big three uh student camp. We used to talk about a little different big three, so I don't want to confuse you, but we would create a big three list. And what that was was three people that they identified in their in their life that they wanted to pray about sharing the gospel with. I remember I was telling this to our student leaders. I had one kid who had kind of just joined our team. He was he was a newer believer, kind of just came around church, was reading the Bible, God got a hold of his heart, that whole thing. His name was Jake. And Jake Not me. Different children. I was confused.
SPEAKER_05Pastor John was my new pastor.
SPEAKER_01So Jake actually he takes it seriously, which is like, I know it shouldn't blow up, but like I was like, oh, he's like actually doing this. And you saw he's like he's got this in his Bible and he's got these three guys praying for him. And then he invites one of them, and this kid comes out to church, man, and we're we're like so excited. We're like, we're like, dude, he's here. I think his name is called Carson's here, this is awesome. Carson ends up giving his life to Christ, and Jake was the one who led him. And then Jake's like praying for a second one. And over the process of about nine months, we got to watch Jake lead all three of these friends to Christ. Come on. And I don't think there was like, I don't think Jake like had magic words. I don't think he was like that. He was a great kid, but he's like not super talented. Like he was just he was just a kid that was faithful and going, hey, I believe God can do more through my life than what I can do. And so I'm just gonna pray and I'm gonna ask God and I'm gonna trust him and I'm gonna be intentional to look for opportunities to invite people in. And man, that's three people's eternities that were changed because of Jake just taking it seriously.
SPEAKER_02I think what Jake did is Jake modeled the kind of same encouragement that I want to leave our students with is the same encouragement that really God gives us in the book of James. Don't just be hearers of the word, be doers of it. Live out everyday ordinary radical faithfulness, representing Christ in all you do because the glory belongs to him. It's ordinary because it's nothing that's complex and it's radical because not everyone's doing it, and it's faithful because it takes consistency. And so live out everyday ordinary radical faithfulness, just like Jake did with those three guys that he was constantly praying for, keeping in the forefront of his mind and in the ways that he was reading his Bible and praying. And over time he got to see those guys come to Christ. And so for our students, I want to challenge you to do the same thing. Live out everyday ordinary radical faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. Well, hey, every episode we like to do a challenge, right? A challenge where you can be the church and hearer, church out there, and you can also be hearers and doers of the word, right? So today's challenge is to get with your student pastor and plan a church out there event. All right, now you're by how do I even plan a church out there event? One, talk to your student pastor. He probably has some great ideas about it. But another example of it is like, hey, maybe you have a student night that you plan. Maybe it's going to the beach, you're playing spike ball, and then you have a Bible study, or maybe you have a family night event where the whole family is invited. But your challenge is to get with your student pastor and plan a church out there.
SPEAKER_05North Stewart does such a phenomenal job of this. And says if you need some ideas or like a template for it, call Miss Jacqueline and she will give you all the stuff you need.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, hey guys, thanks one more time for listening to Hot Takes and Holy Things. And we want to thank you, Pastor John, for being here. Doctor, Dr. Pastor John. Dr. Pastor John, Reverend. Pastor John Reverend. All right. Well, hey guys, thanks for listening to Hot Takes and Holy Things on behalf of Jake and Cole and myself and Pat. He already has his hands ready. Fingers tingled in that wiggling and myself. Hey, it's been a great episode. Gentlemen, Pastor John, let's give him three.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for tuning in to Hot Takes and Holy Things. To stay up to date on new episodes, follow us on Instagram at GoFC Students. Share this podcast with a friend and send us your questions. We'd love to talk about the stuff you care about. Catch you next time on Hot Takes and Holy Things.