Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is all about helping you navigate your relationship with God in practical, real-life ways. Hosts David and Phil dig into scripture—'chopping up the word'—and bring it to life with insights you can actually use every day. And while they’re at it, they share their favorite 'brews'—don’t worry, it’s not booze! Just a solid lineup of classic coffees and teas to keep the conversations flowing.
Bible, Bros & Brew
Unveiling Modern Idolatry | Celebrities, Careers, and Politics | Bible, Bros & Brew
Have you ever considered that the idols of today aren’t ancient statues, but the celebrities, influencers, and ambitions we follow daily?
Join us on Bible, Bros & Brew as we uncover how modern idolatry subtly infiltrates our lives. From the celebrities we admire to the influencers we follow; we explore the dangers of elevating people to a god-like status. While sipping on Phil’s Peregrine Columbia decaf, David’s Red Barn Caramel coffee, Ryan’s Iced Americano from Starbucks and John’s Salted Caramel Delight, we dive into this pressing issue with a conversational and engaging vibe.
But it doesn’t stop there. We also take a deep look at the personal idols that creep into our hearts—careers, wealth, and politics. These pursuits, while important, can easily turn into consuming obsessions, pulling us away from our true values and relationships. With candid anecdotes and relatable examples, we discuss the dangers of idolizing work and political ideologies, reminding ourselves that true fulfillment and transformation come from the life-changing power of God's Word, not human systems.
Before we sign off, we reflect on the importance of community and connection. We’re grateful for your continued support and invite you to join the conversation on social media. Share your thoughts, questions, and reflections with us as we continue to explore the complexities of modern idolatry. Stay tuned for more insightful discussions with David, Phil, and Ryan as we foster a community of thoughtful reflection and spiritual growth.
Phil's Coffee: https://peregrineroasters.com/coffee/
David's Coffee: https://redbarncoffee.com/
Jon's Coffee: https://www.lidl.com/search/products/coffee
gotbrew@biblebros.net
Welcome back to Bible Bros and Brew. We're glad that you're here. Last week, we laid the foundation for what an idol is kind of an old churchy term that we just kind of hear when we get into church and read the Bible and we talked about if it even has even any relevance to our life today. Well, does it? That's what we're gonna get into on this episode of Bible Bros in Birth. Look, we're so glad that you're here and we're ready to dive right in. Get out your bibles. You want to get out your notepads.
Speaker 1:For this one we're going to go in deep and wide and, um, and we're going to come out the other side hopefully, hopefully, feeling a little bit, uh, more confident. And well, our, our challenge at the end is that you'll be able to uh tackle any um idols that you have, and we're going to pray in a minute that God will begin to reveal any idols, because I think, kind of the thing that we're realizing is that when we have idols in our life, we're finding that oftentimes we're blind to them and we don't realize it until it's maybe a little bit too late. And so get your Bibles out, get your notepads out, got your coffee ready, because we're going to dive into it. I got my coffee ready, phil. What are you drinking tonight?
Speaker 2:Dude only Peregrine for me this week. Exclusive dude only peregrine for me this week. I'm doing the peregrine columbia decaf.
Speaker 1:Yes, I put the extra a in there, um well, I would say that's very inclusive of you and we are really proud of you for pronouncing it that way.
Speaker 4:It looks like an EDI coffee.
Speaker 2:But it has notes of marzipan, cinnamon, chocolate and tangerine. What is marzipan? I forgot what it is it's like a dessert treat. Let me get back into focus.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a variation of a. It's a variation of kind of a marshmallow.
Speaker 2:Come on camera. There we go.
Speaker 3:It's a variation of kind of a marshmallow Come on camera, there we go, it's working, it's thinking about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you went into the witness protection again, phil, yeah.
Speaker 4:Try just holding your hand up in the front.
Speaker 1:Do the Iron man?
Speaker 4:Now bring it slowly back to your face.
Speaker 2:Oh, look at that Face reveal. David is a bomb dude.
Speaker 1:And also I'd just like to note man, your hair is looking good, your beard is looking good, You're looking good.
Speaker 3:I think this is a little new.
Speaker 4:I don't know if there's an episode that we've seen Philip without a hat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree so everybody.
Speaker 4:This is a first.
Speaker 1:I mean he's been here before. That is Philip Rich, by the way.
Speaker 2:Right, we try to break barriers here on Bible Bros and Brew and just do new things.
Speaker 1:That's right, absolutely. We're taking people to new levels and all that good stuff. David, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 4:Ryan, I'm good, and I just want to thank you for asking.
Speaker 1:You're very welcome. You're looking good too. May I say, did you get your hairs cut too?
Speaker 4:Yes, I did. I got a few of them whacked off so that I would be a presentable man.
Speaker 3:Wow, I presented myself last week.
Speaker 1:You're looking handsome as ever. What are you drinking tonight, tonight, in my hands?
Speaker 4:You look handsome as ever, what you drink in tonight, tonight in my new goofy cup, oh well, the good people.
Speaker 2:Man.
Speaker 4:I am drinking from Red Barn a bit of caramel coffee. Nothing too special or wild about it, Just a straightforward coffee has a, I will say, and maybe if when you taste it you might feel differently. It's got a little bit of a little bit of a bite, a little bit of kick on the end, and then it goes smooth. Back of your palate.
Speaker 1:Okay, good, little nice woodsy caramel kind of flavor that I think people will enjoy and the red barn is not to be confused with the big barn. Um, you'll have to go see that commercial on youtube. It's very entertaining okay john we're glad that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with us. It's always what your cup. You've got an interesting mug. What are you drinking out of and what is in your mug?
Speaker 3:Brother, this is a pumpkin having a great time trick-or-treating. Hold up, can we see that? There we go. He's got a little Holy Ghost. That's right. The Holy Spirit has his little Halloween bucket inside the pumpkin. The pumpkin is actually a mug and inside the mug there is a salted caramel. It's a little, I believe, Hershey's caramel creamer. I'm having the time of my life, dude, All right.
Speaker 1:So just really quick, we want to know from our audience how do you pronounce caramel? Just comment below, because it's very important that it is pronounced caramel. We don't.
Speaker 3:You might as well be asking who they're voting for. Dude, that's a little sensitive.
Speaker 1:Well, we're not going to go there, john, that's all right, but, john, I know I didn't want to leave you are. You're looking exquisite as well your hair parted down the middle and no Spider-Man cap. I like it. I didn't get the memo. I wore my ball cap. I feel like I should take it off, but your mustache is looking good, sir.
Speaker 3:So very kind of you. I appreciate it. Very kind of you. I appreciate that I feel like you need this as well. You're looking exquisite as well.
Speaker 1:Well, I wasn't fishing for comments, very green arrow is John's look.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, james. You might be thinking to yourself Ryan, you're overdoing it with the Braves stuff. I don't care. The Braves made it to the postseason, they could be eliminated tonight, go Braves. And so, absolutely, I'm drinking an iced Americano from a mainline vendor that we will not promote nor say the name, but it is there because. Just a little backstory. This might be too much information, but I'll say it anyway. I work from home, so I'm in this office all day. I was like I need to get out, so I drove down the street to the mainline vendor that's on every single corner and it started in Seattle and I was like, well, I'll just go get this. Ryan, you need a good box.
Speaker 2:I think it was called Char Lux, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 4:Oh, my gosh Ryan sacrificed his coffee money to the gods of wealth. I didn't want to do it.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to do it, Dude it is definitely an offering of a sort because you don't get much in return.
Speaker 4:Yes, it's an idol and you've made a financial gift as a sacrifice.
Speaker 3:And I feel like you're judging me. Oh boy.
Speaker 1:Well, with that being said, let's get right into it, because we don't want to take up too much time, and we've already taken up quite a bit of it. Um and and by the you know, thank you again for joining us. It's always a pleasure and an honor, uh, that we get to tune in and and uh be a part of your lives, and we're thankful that you're a part of ours. If you want to continue to be a part, we love it when you comment. We love it when you shoot us an email and ask questions. We like to tackle those. It's a lot of fun. So chime on in and participate. We love it. David, take it away. Lead us. Where do you want to start?
Speaker 4:Well, I thought we would. We spent some time last week talking about idolatry in general. We defined it, we talked about some different elements of it, like how idolatry provokes God's jealousy, and we even gave some examples of how we see idols in our modern day, and so I thought it would be good for us to have a conversation about modern day idols and to talk about the real life, existence, or how we create idols in our lives.
Speaker 4:And look, let's just, let's just be honest with ourselves. Last week, one of the things that we said was the old gods are still alive. You just have to know what you're looking for. But we've also created new gods, uh, and when I say god's here, I'm talking little g, and there's a, there's a verse, um, let me, let me identify it really quickly. There's a verse that I thought that we could kick off with, first of all, with our central verse, which is 1 John 5, 21. And when we look at it in the New Living Translation, it says Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your heart. And so there's that part. And then, but if you look at the King James version of it, it says little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Speaker 4:And so, as we've been talking about these idols, I found another verse today that I thought was pretty important. It says that the rest of, not the rest I'm looking at Psalms 16 and four. It says those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take their names on my lips. And then Leviticus 19 and 4 says do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord, god. And so we have some very specific instruction from God that we're not supposed to be fooling around with these idols. But yet they exist in our lives and I thought we'd talk about a few of them tonight.
Speaker 4:First of all, if we could, let's talk about the gods of our own creation, and what do I mean by that? I think when I talk about the gods of our own creations, it's the gods that we make for ourselves, the things that we put in front of God, that we allow to take God's place in our hearts. When you hear that, one of the first things that I can think of is we make celebrities and famous people, even influencers, our own gods and we put them in front of God in our lives. You know, I think about Taylor Swift and all the Swifties out there, and just look at how people go so far. They dress like her, they talk like her, they go to her concerts over and over again, they give their money to her.
Speaker 4:You know they. They really. There's a form of worship that's being extended to taylor, swift and to other stars. Look at beyonce, look at little nas x and what he's doing excuse me, sam smith and the things that he's doing. And you just look over Hollywood. It's a mess, it's just an absolute mess. When you guys hear that and you hear of the God of your own creation, what do you think of what comes to mind for you, god of your own?
Speaker 2:creation. What do you think of what comes to mind for you Now? But just what you're saying, david, as far as how people have they put folks on a pedestal a lot of times that, quite honestly, probably isn't a good idea on either side of that equation. Can.
Speaker 4:I just say something right there. Sure, what you just said was so fundamentally the item. We put people on a pedestal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in other words.
Speaker 4:We treat them like a special statue that were put on the pedestals back in the old days that people worshipped.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's so fascinating to me because the story plays out the same every single time. I mean, this has been going on for decades and decades. We exalt somebody. It could be a musician, an actor, whatever man, a sports figure. We put them in this I think it's called the halo effect where the person can like, do no wrong, you know, and we forget, or we fail to remember, rather, that they are people, just like we are people, and I think about this even in terms of some of the celebrities recently that have went through I hate to say this because it's such a cliche right now, but like mental health struggles. You know, like we've heard about what happened with Justin Bieber and the crazy things he went through, coming from his teenage years into his early, I guess, 20s now I don't know and even like some of the other child stars that end up, you know, maybe they started on Disney and they were sweet and cute and innocent and all of a sudden they turn into the music industry and next thing you know they're, I don't know, making a video with smearing blood all over their face and satanic imagery everywhere and it's like, okay, what happened to this person? You know, some stuff like that has happened, you know, more than once, and we see people dealing with these um, honestly, many of them because they were so young when they got their start. They don't know how to deal with the pressure of everybody's eyes on them, everybody idolizing them and things like that. And so inevitably, when that person crashes and burns and we've seen it happen over and over again all of a sudden folks get distraught over situations like that.
Speaker 2:And I'll venture to say too and I don't even want to bring this up right now, but why not? Even with preachers? There's people who have exalted these ministers and preachers that are on TV or have large churches, for whatever reason. We've put them up on a pedestal and fall victim to the idea that these people are infallible, or that they're somehow going to always uphold a moral standard, or that they're invincible spiritually or whatever. And I'm telling you, more often than not, when a person ends up in that type of status, the pressure becomes too great, temptations become too strong. Next thing, you know, this thing pops up that was buried under the rug for 10 years. You know, whatever you find out, this person's been doing shady stuff and it's like oh man, you know, and now you've got members of the congregation of these churches that fall away. They get upset, they get offended. They're like they fall away from the faith, sometimes even away from God himself, because of what a preacher failed to do or whatever the case is.
Speaker 2:And so to me, the Bible says in Jeremiah 17,. Not to me, that's not the part that's to me. But the Bible says in Jeremiah 17,. It says cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm. And what that means is when it says he makes flesh his arm, it means he makes natural things his source of strength. You can't do that. As soon as you begin to put too much trust into man, inevitably you will end up disappointed in one way or the other. So it's better to not even do that. It's in the book of Psalms, I forgot which chapter, but it says it's better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. And so we have to remember to not put people where they don't really belong, otherwise, you know, the outcome is going to inevitably be a disappointment of some kind. And I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, maybe, but I we've seen it happen so many times. I think that we should be getting the message by now, so yeah, what about for you, ryan?
Speaker 1:Well, I, you know, I I think you said it all I have a hard time relating to this one, because this has not really ever been a struggle for me personally, although I get it, because the allure is there of like, well, somebody that has a lot of influence and things like that, it's easy to be drawn to somebody that is like that, you know. So I understand it. But I guess my question would be, you know, would be, how do I know? How do I know I've made an idol out of a, whether it's a celebrity or a pastor or whatever right, or whoever. Where's the line? Because then, are you saying like, is it like I can't listen to any music or watch any sermons or love any pastor or watch any? Or, you know, have a football team or love baseball or whatever? Where is the line In your guys' opinion? What's the line between all that stuff? Do I just need to cut it all out? Do I need to throw away the baseball shirt? I mean, have I made an idol out of the Braves, maybe? Where's the line?
Speaker 4:First of all, don't throw away the baseball shirt until we're finished. I feel I'll throw a thought out there and you can. The answer is in our kind of kickoff scripture. It is being mindful of anything that would take God's place in your heart. God's place in your heart. So anything that you desire or want more than you are wanting and looking to him is a problem. Anything that you would go to for here's another great example If you'd rather go to the tarot card reader or the palm reader than to pray and seek God or the palm reader than to pray and seek God.
Speaker 4:You've made that an idol. Absolutely Anything that you've put in God's place is the thing that you've made an idol, even just a boyfriend-girlfriend situation yeah, a boyfriend-girlfriend situation yeah.
Speaker 4:You know I have. There's a young man and I always knew when there was a girl involved in his life, because whenever there was a girl involved in his life, the first thing he wanted to do was stop serving at the church. Yeah, because he wanted to quit leading worship and doing other meaningful, useful things for the kingdom so that he could spend time with this girl. And it's like you know that can't last, right, because anything outside of God that has all of you like that will eventually become a problem for you.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's good. I think that it's one of those things where you've got to really examine yourself and go am I investing a little too much of my emotional stability, my spiritual stability, even my natural stability, whatever, in this thing or this person? You know, and and we do see this, like David was saying, we'd see this a lot of relationships, man, where, um, especially if it's kind of a new thing, and let's say, you're somebody's, you know, you're dating somebody, and uh, they send you a text one day and it makes you super happy. Then all of a sudden you don't hear from the next day, all of a sudden you're going into depression because do they not like me anymore? You know, and all this kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:It's like this, this roller coaster of emotions that depend on another person's actions or inaction. If you, if you find yourself getting caught into something like that or caught up in something like that, you're probably putting too much focus on that person, meeting your emotional or spiritual or whatever type of need, instead of God meeting those same needs. And to me that's that's a big red flag, man. If you, if you rise or fall on other people's approval of you, things like that, more than likely you've probably invested too much confidence in what they think about you versus what God thinks and says about you. You know, we have to really be mindful of that man, because you know I forgot the exact way the quote went, but I heard this quote. It was something like um, if you live for their approval, you'll die from their rejection, yeah, or something like that. So, yeah, don't want to be in that position.
Speaker 4:I was just going to say. The other thing that you can do and this is kind of an answer that at the end of this podcast we'll probably touch on again is you can also because God speaks to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And you can just ask.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:Lord, am I making this thing an idol in my life? Does this have a wrong place in my heart? And God will tell you.
Speaker 1:True, indeed. Well, well, yeah, and and I guess, like well, as I heard you guys talking, I think we're going to identify a couple of more modern day idols that people in general have. Maybe you have some or none or multiple, but one thing I heard was, you know, like that we're going to these and creating these idols to get something in return. So, you know, with celebrities, I feel like what we get in return is is a sense of of peace, and what I mean by that is that the celebrities they're a distraction from my everyday world, like my everyday life and my everyday problems. Why do we go to concerts? Because we want to party in life and my everyday problems. Why do we go to concerts? Because we want to party and I'm not against concerts, but I mean the reason why people in general go is to party and to be a part of something bigger than themselves and to go.
Speaker 1:I guess that I haven't been to many, but but while you're there, you're distracted from all of, you know, potential chaos in your life.
Speaker 1:You get to take a break from all that for a little bit, you know, you get to watch the ball game and you take a break from the chaos and you get to hurrah, hurrah and all that for an hour and a half or whatever and we get to walk in. There's a sense of comfort there that, wow, I know this person and you get to know them and because you know them, there's a sense of comfort and peace there. And so I think, I kind of think that that's what you know from celebrities. I think each of these idols, there's something missing in our lives that we're trying to get, and I think the reason that it's an idol where we draw the line, you know, god says don't let anything take this place in your heart, because he ultimately wants and maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, but he ultimately wants to be the provision for that need or desire. If you have chaos in your lives, he wants to be the provision of peace in your life.
Speaker 4:Yeah absolutely, I completely agree. Yeah, absolutely, I completely agree. And you know, it's like when you think about it I was thinking about a concert. Lori and I talked about it the other day. We were listening to the last episode of the podcast and we remember a concert that we went to and it was a great concert and we didn't feel any kind of way about the artist in the sense that know, he was dope, we knew he was dope, we liked him, but there was just there are sections in the concert. Well, it was like, you know, raise your hands, get your hands up side to side. I'm like that feels too much like praise. That feels too much like you're trying to get me to get into a variation of praise and worship.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 4:So Lori and I were looking at each other like I'm not doing that, like I'm not doing it either. And you know, some people might look at us weird and say that's too much, but we were unwilling to give place for a moment.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah yeah, anything that even might take opportunity as an entrance to uh into our hearts, to take god's place. So you really do, you have to close the doors and you you said something, ryan, here just a minute ago and you said it these things are escapes, you know. They take us away, which is why social media is another one. We talked a little bit about it last week, but I think I think the singular biggest idol that exists in our world today is probably social media yeah and it's because look what happens when it takes you down the rabbit hole.
Speaker 4:You can literally sit there scrolling mindlessly for hours on end. You can start at 8 o'clock, look at this for about 15 minutes and look up and it's 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning and you know you're laughing because you've done it.
Speaker 2:True Jim yeah.
Speaker 4:And just think of what it takes our minds into this, just this place of numbness.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:We're not thinking super deeply during that particular part Right, super deeply during that particular part Right. And on top of that it begins to reshape our minds in a way that we have shorter attention spans, that if we don't get information in six second clips, 10 second clips, it's too much. Our memories are impacted by it. Yeah, we don't remember stuff the way that we used to, because we don't have to, because we don't do long-term memory work like we did before. Everything's short, everything's fast, everything's now, and that's social media, which is another guy.
Speaker 4:It's, it's a god of our own creation because, ultimately, each one of us is responsible for whether or not or how much time we're going to give that place. I don't think social media is all bad, I don't. That's not what I'm saying, right? So the media has you locked up to the place where, every free minute you have, you're turning on Facebook or YouTube or Instagram or TikTok or WhatsApp or whatever it may be. There's a problem. I mean did you realize that people can't even do like a phone?
Speaker 4:do like a phone, free weekend right maybe it's even deeper than just social media. Maybe it's the concept of that phone in your hand right yeah, it's, it's uh, it's wild.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've seen, you know, footage of like, even kids at school who, if the teacher decides, tries to take their phone. Kids have actually broken out in the physical fights with teachers. You know what I mean Over not taking their phone away. I'm like this, this that's not a good sign. I don't care, I mean, and what really to me? I think, like you talked about David, the God of our own making, part of the problem is and again, I'm not against social media. We use social media for Bible Bros and Brews. So, you know, we're obviously not against it.
Speaker 2:But in terms of a God of our own making, a lot of times people manufacture a fake lifestyle and try to maintain that fake image and fake lifestyle to present to other people to supposedly show how their real life is, but it's actually not their real life at all. You know, and I've seen this over and over again, man, some influencers have been busted doing this stuff, you know, I mean after it was found out that they, you know, weren't really taking all those vacations, weren't really living in a multimillion dollar mansion, and things like that, and it's like, ok, you know, and just just this idea that you feel the need, necessarily, or whatever, to to take pictures and set up a scene and then take a picture of it. Pictures and set up a scene and then take a picture of it, just so you can post it for other people to see it, so they can, I guess, give you compliments or whatever it is likes, and whatever it's like, what is your real motive for doing this? I think you know what I mean. It's like why?
Speaker 3:I don't get it, I don't get it you this real quick.
Speaker 4:That fits right what you're saying, please. I was looking at a video today, right, and it was at a church conference, a big, huge church conference, and there was this guy and it was him worshiping. And then it occurred to me is there somebody videotaping you, right? And his comment underneath was you just don't know how deep this was. Oh and it's like did you got somebody videotaping you while you're in worship at this conference? How shallow and empty must we be.
Speaker 1:I mean go into your closet and shut the door. That's what, that's how, that's what Jesus said.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, I mean, even I saw this thing a while back and bless this woman, whatever. But she set up a camera and she's filming herself making a birthday cake and she's crying while she's making the cake. See this making a birthday cake and she's crying while she's making the cake. See this and and the caption was like crying while I'm making my own birthday cake because I something like I'm but, my kid was celebrating her birthday or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because nobody said it was like. So you set the camera up you you hit record, you stopped it after you cried enough, I guess and then you uploaded it and you made a caption for it. What it just? It blows my mind, dude. I don't get it. I don't understand that line of thinking at all, man.
Speaker 4:And you just think of how this thing is set up. It's set up so that each of these creators and people will have what are called followers. You know, on instagram and I think on tiktok as well. So you know, there's a house that they have in californ house and cars and it's an agency where you can literally go in and rent the house for an hour for like $95.
Speaker 4:It's a mansion so you could take your video, you can shoot your stuff and do it all in this mansion for an hour or whatever. You can rent the Maserati, the Lamborghini, you know, mclaren, whatever you want to rent for an hour or 100 bucks, bucks. Get all your shots in and then post it to the internet as if it were your own I don't get it, man, I do have followers so you can be like a god and have followers yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 2:There was one guy, um, who he was trying to uh present himself like he's this big, successful stock trader and he was in front of this big mansion and and had a nice lamborghini he was, you know, standing in front of and it's like I worked real hard to make it. Now I'm finally here. It feels so great, blah, blah. Then some dude in the replies put a picture of that same mansion and it was on like Zillow as a rental. It's like, bro, this ain't even your mansion, dude. Yeah.
Speaker 4:But you see why we shouldn't look at people again on the internet, or people in any form or state or place of life, and can we just talk about this too, since we're here? You know, it's even the preachers right. We talk about putting people on a pedestal, that that is where the danger for most preachers starts.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure when people start putting them on pedestals when we forget the fact that that man is, like you said earlier, philip, is no different than me. He has had sin in his life. He's walking out his faith with fear and trembling, just like I'm supposed to be walking out my faith with fear and trembling. Just like I'm supposed to be walking out my faith with fear and trembling. And it's just, it's wild, the people and things that we will pedestal and then start worshiping.
Speaker 2:And I just see it in different. I don't want to go there. I better not go there.
Speaker 4:I'm saying it, I'm saying it.
Speaker 2:What you find is, especially if you're dealing with certain gosh man I'm trying not to say anything.
Speaker 4:I'm not saying it. I'm not saying it. I usually get in trouble. It's your turn.
Speaker 2:There you go, it's your turn. There you go. The multi-campus church trend that's happening and what you often see is like they may have a local guy who's like installed there to be the local pastor dude, but it's amazing that the local guy sounds just like the main guy. It's almost like a copy paste template that, no matter what church you go to, the local dude has no personality of his own. He thinks that the success of that local place is going to be in his ability to imitate the main guy who's on the screen. And it's like you got to be careful, man. We make idols out of those things Even in churches, like we make idols out of a marketing strategy. Instead of just teaching what the word of god says, we're going around doing, I don't know, focus groups or whatever to try to figure out. You know what are the, the trends that are, uh, you know people are interested in right now and we'll do some skit at the beginning to make a thing on it. You know that way that, uh, it can draw people in.
Speaker 2:And it's Jesus. I don't think he ever focused anything at all on those types of things. He just went around preaching the truth. You know he's, he's stuck with the scripture. He's stuck with the word and I don't know, man, I'm not trying to rag too much on this stuff, but but I can. I believe that a lot of times we start putting our weight too much on this stuff, but I can. I believe that a lot of times we start putting our weight too much on those things instead of on just ministering God's word to people, thinking that those things are what's going to draw the crowds and bring the appeal and all the stuff like that. It's like no, the appeal has always been truth. You know, that's what draws men's hearts to God is being exposed to the truth. Either drive or draw one of the two.
Speaker 4:You know we went to a church and Ryan can attest to this. You know we went to a church where they got all seeker friendly and so then it all became gimmicks to make younger people feel.
Speaker 2:That's the word right there.
Speaker 4:They were more wanted. So if you were an older person with some gray in your hair, they didn't want you hosting at the doors. They wanted young people to see other young people and the person doing the communication from the stage couldn't be an older person. That needed to be a younger person, but the pastor could be an older person, right, of course, he's seeker friendly oh man, we just, we just do.
Speaker 4:We do all of these things that take god's place not only in our hearts but in our churches yeah and so we esteem the seeker friendly, we esteem our, even our church process, our, our Sunday flow more highly than we esteem having. I remember at one church I they their schedule for every Sunday was so tight. I asked the question where is there room for the Holy Spirit to flow? And the answer I got was the Holy Spirit knows what time our services are and he knows how he can move in between. So I'm like, okay, that's great man. Okay, oh man dude. Okay, oh man, oh boy. I guess that means we don't want him, or maybe I don't know. I don't know what it means. I just knew that was the beginning of the year, yeah, oh boy, can I tell you guys, another thing that we've made an idol out of, and this is going to well.
Speaker 4:there's two more I'd like to get in the last couple of minutes that we have here, but one of them is people make an idol out of their careers and their work, their jobs, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:What's your thoughts there?
Speaker 2:Ryan.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, I would agree, like, I think it's, it's another good distraction. Hey, we see it all the time where nothing wrong with trying to be successful, I mean, you have to work. Even the Bible commands that you know that you're not lazy and that you work, um, but uh, to the point where it's all you do and neglecting your other responsibilities and neglecting discipling your family, I think that that can become a problem, um, and it becomes like, well, I don't want to you know where, you don't want to be at home or take care of your family or what you know. You just just consuming yourself with work. I think can be a a real big idol, um, in the sense of like it's and again I go back to what I said earlier like we're all it's, and again I go back to what I said earlier like we're all.
Speaker 1:Each of these idols that we create and set up in our lives, we're, we're looking for it to provide us something, whether it's peace, or distraction, or provision, or praise, or the acceptance of other people. I think we're always looking, so you know, for guys that are setting up their career as an idol. I don't think it's just money, I don't think that's as an idol. I don't think it's just money, I don't think that's it. I think I think it's a lot more than that. I think it's one they want to. You know, you want to feel successful in your life. Um yeah, you want to, uh, maybe again detract away from other responsibilities or feeling obligated to those responsibilities, because this is just easier, you can. Maybe it's a control thing. You can control your work and your career. You can control what goes on in the office because you're the boss, you're the man in charge, but at home it doesn't really work that way. Maybe, I don't know. And so I think it can definitely be an idol.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I think, too, a danger that people run into is when, let's say, something goes bad with the career. Let's say you lose your job or you get demoted or whatever it is. If you've wrapped your identity up in your job, then when you, when the career is no longer there, you feel like you're also over. You know, and that's that's when you get folks jumping off of buildings because they they lost all the money, all their money and you know, and things in the stock market or whatever it is.
Speaker 2:It's like this idea that my monetary success is what defines me. Well, what happens if the money you know, you lose it somehow, or something goes wrong or a deal goes bad, somebody cheats you out of whatever man. Next thing, you know, you feel like, because there's nothing in your bank account, that you are nothing you know, and that is very dangerous. You know, and that's when you got to go back to the word and where Jesus said in Luke 16, he said a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. You know, and we and we talked about this all the time it's like it's not that possessions are wrong, it's not that making money is bad.
Speaker 2:We all have to, unless you want to depend on someone else who is making money. There's no way to get around it. But the problem comes when you've wrapped your identity up in those things. That is a God of your own. Making your career becomes your God, because you feel like if your career goes away, you've gone away and that is. That is not ever how it's supposed to be. You're still the person that God made. You're still the person that God loves, regardless of what happens in your career or how your bank account fluctuates.
Speaker 4:You know that you know a close second with that work thing connected with that oftentimes is the money. Sure, the Bible talks about mammon. Yes, and so a lot of people, you know. Bible also says many people have pierced themselves through with many sorrows, chasing after wealth and riches. And so we have to be so very careful that we don't let the pursuit of wealth and riches become everything to us, yeah, our first priority for whatever we do, to the degree that not only is it piercing us through, but then we never seem to attain it, or we get it and we find ourselves empty it's just a bad.
Speaker 4:it's a bad deal, yeah, all the way around. But I think you said something important here, philip, and it is that word identity. You know, at work, they tell me I'm wonderful At work, they tell me how good I'm doing. At work, I feel like I'm needed and wanted, and you can get so blown up at work and get into wrong relationships as a result of letting work become an idol in your life that it can just go awry on so many fronts and it's dangerous, dangerous, dangerous that's good, I'm gonna throw at you guys, and I think it's appropriate because of the season that we're in, and that is, we let politics, especially, I think, in the last umpteen years or so I can't quantify an umpteen, it's more than 20, but maybe less than 50.
Speaker 4:We've allowed politics to do something just unusual to us, yeah, and we're leading our worlds and our lives based on what's going on politically. You know, I'm pro kamala, I'm pro trump, and the only way your world's view starts with one of those two people or some other person and you, just you, lead from there. You know, I remember a time where people believed the bible was the bible and it was the way to live. But now that's where you get some of this concept of, you know, of weird nationalism, where somehow or another, the Bible has become mixed up in politics and it's like you know the people who held this Bible up and bled, you know, for our country, and you know this Bible is sacred and it's like no, the Bible is sacred because Jesus bled. Come on now and shed his blood.
Speaker 4:And it has nothing to do with all of this other stuff. Other people who have died have died for the love of country. And out of loyalty or duty, they felt him given to them by God to go and fight for their country.
Speaker 4:Or to go and do for their country or for their neighbor, but never have we allowed the Bible to become gosh. I can't even think of the word just be overtaken and replaced with this weird kind of political crack and knock a bull, as Lisa would say, that we have to do, and everybody does it on both sides. I can't watch another sermon or see another sermon where on one side you've got the guy talking about the blood of Jesus, the blood of the soldiers, but on the other side you've got somebody validating homosexuality and sin and trying to use the word as their means to do it. So politics to me has just gotten way, way out of control.
Speaker 4:And it's something that we've now made an idol in our lives, and I think it's again another dangerous thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, I definitely think. If you're expecting a politician to come in and rescue you or save the day in any kind of way, you're hopelessly deluded. It's not going to happen. I't care which one, which side, which color red, blue, does not matter. If you think there's anybody on this planet that's going to be, uh, some type of messianic figure that's going to come in and set everything right, you probably need to read some more bible, because it's not. It's not going to happen, dude, dude.
Speaker 2:I remember when Obama got in office and there was a lot of excitement over that and, truth be told, dude, when he came into Hyde Park and that big crowd was there and he had that nice trench coat on, he looked dope, dude, and he presented himself so well and I was like man, this dude, okay, he's pretty legit. I didn't vote for him, but that moment I had to give it to him. He looked pretty dope. But I also know how politics goes. Most of the time, in the four-year span that person's going to be in office, or even if it's eight years, they'd be blessed to get a light bulb changed in the Oval Office. That's politics, man. It's mostly this and hardly any real change, except maybe a deterioration of things that we're doing okay. And so to me, stumping for any politician to the point where you're yelling in people's faces, willing to punch somebody, willing to get on social media and wish death on the other side, you know to me it's like, and mean it and mean it's like you're gone, you're something's wrong, dude, you have.
Speaker 2:You have put your trust and hope in a system that doesn't deserve it and then, honestly, in people that don't deserve it because they can't deliver. You know, only God can save anyone. Only God can make things right. I don't see it. I don't see it. I think you're in a bad place. If that's the position you're in, man.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, Ryan, I'm reminded. You know, when Trump was recently shot, and he was shot in the ear, the voices on X and social media who were like darn, they just missed.
Speaker 2:I can't even believe it, dude.
Speaker 4:I can't believe it and were unrepentant about it. Yeah, you know it's soant about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You know it's so wild to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'll be honest, man, I'm not a fan of Kamala, but if somebody tried to assassinate her, I would believe I'd have a little bit of compassion for that situation. Dude, you know, it would be horrible, honestly, if we saw her get shot at on live TV and she's bleeding down her face. I'm like that's actually a bad thing. I don't know how people can mix this up in their minds, dude, I don't get it so but-.
Speaker 4:Brian, what were you about to say there, buddy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you guys If politics is causing you, as a believer, to sacrifice the fruits of the spirit in your life well then we got.
Speaker 1:We've made an idol out of politics yeah uh, and so you know, yeah, okay, have your side, okay, but, um, don't sacrifice the fruits of the spirit in your life. I agree, like when we're sitting there on Facebook and and not just downplaying the other political side, but we're downplaying our own brothers and sisters that may not fully agree with you. We, we've put Washington DC and our political party above the church. Yeah, and this is not that I don't know, I, I don't know about you guys. I don't agree Like that, that that, as a believer, you should just remove yourself from politics and just say, well, that'll be that and this will be this. I don't agree with that.
Speaker 1:I don't agree with it either, I think that the church and, as a believer, you should be involved, you should be informed. You know it's a cop out to say, well, I don't care about politics. I'll say that you should care about politics because politics cares about you and, more importantly, they care about what's in your pocket, in your pocketbook. So you really should be, you should care about politics, you should be informed, you should know what's going on. It's your culture, it's your country, it's all that. But when we start putting that above the truth and above our brothers and sisters in Christ, to sacrifice them on the idol, on the altar of you being right and you feeling victorious, on the altar of you being right and you feeling victorious, uh, that that, to me, is where we have to draw the line and say, okay, there's a major problem, and I think that's what david is saying that the crack knackable is we keep cutting, cutting each other up over. Yeah, well, I believe this.
Speaker 1:I believe that abortion should be this, uh, illegal immigrants should be and all of it. No, that abortion should be this, illegal immigrants should be and all of it. No, what it, what it is, is the kingdom of God is going to reign and prevail and in you know we, we got to really fight for that above everything else. And then, secondly, I think we fight for our communities and our culture so our kids can grow up in a healthy culture and a healthy community that center around kingdom values. I think when we threw out and we allowed the Ten Commandments to be thrown out of schools, I mean that was prayer at schools. That was kind of the start of it, and then it's kind of snowballed from there. So we keep throwing out the, the christian values and and and morals and look at how we got drag talk, drag queen, story time and whatnot and so yeah, when we start, when we start willingly forfeiting relationships with one another, yeah, With one another.
Speaker 4:For the sake of our politics Right, we've missed God. Yeah, entirely yeah, I love what you said, Ryan. When we start forfeiting the fruit of the spirit for our politics, then you know you've created an idol.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I know you've created an idol. Yeah, created an idol. Yeah, um, those. John jonah two and eight says those who cling to worthless idols, turn away from god's love for them. Judges 10, 14 says go and cry out to the gods you've chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble. If you read this and you read some of the other verses that we've shared with you, you clearly see that God has a problem with idols and he doesn't want them in your life. And look, the only way to get rid of an idol in your life is you have to kill it. Colossians 1 Corinthians 10.14, well. Colossians 1 Corinthians 10, 14, well. Colossians 3, 5 says put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Yeah, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Mm man, go ahead, phil.
Speaker 2:No, no. That scripture always grabs me when it says greed is idolatry. That's just. We could do a whole episode on that, so I won't get caught up on it now, but that's powerful man.
Speaker 4:You've got to leave, you've got to literally kill idolatry, you've got to turn your back on it, repent of it, and you've got to walk a completely different way and stay walking that other way. If you're going to, whether or not you're dealing with idolatry number one, consider the 1 John 5.21. Look out for anything that has taken God's place in your heart. And the second thing is pray and ask God, and I believe that God can break through the noise and reveal it to you and lots of times.
Speaker 4:if you're asking God, that means there's probably something you're already concerned about that you might need to deal with anyway.
Speaker 1:Yeah, final thoughts. Yeah, just in complimentary to what you're saying, david, I agree. I think another good measuring stick, in addition to the first John scripture, is do you have a need that you're trying to fill, that you're looking for in another place, other than your heavenly father you're looking for in?
Speaker 1:another place other than your heavenly father. And I found a great prayer that you can pray if you're not sure, because a lot of times we have these needs or these insecurities or these holes. I know in my life, and I've been oblivious to it, that I've been trying to medicate, doctor it, fulfill it, and somewhere other than my Heavenly Father, until I invite the Holy Spirit to come in and heal it and show me. And a great prayer I found is found in Psalm 139, verse 23 and 24, and I'll read it and I just want you to listen to it and I want you to pray it as well. It says search me, oh God, know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there'd be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way. And I think, as humans, that that's what we're looking for something that's everlasting. You know, whenever we're trying to something that's everlasting, you know, whenever we're trying to medicate something, we always need more of it. We always need more, taylor Swift, we always need more alcohol. We always need more marijuana. We always need, we always need more. Whatever, it's never enough, it doesn't ever last. We're always looking for something to fill the void, to fill the hurt, to fill the need, to fill the pain.
Speaker 1:Whether it's social media and you're needing acceptance and praise, your heavenly father will encourage you and praise you. Whether it's celebrities and you're looking for peace, jesus is the prince of peace. Whether you're in your career and you've made an idol of career because you're looking for control, success or an identity, god will free you from the control. He'll give you the success and He'll restore your identity. Whether it's politics and you're trying to fill the need of power, filling right or finding a savior, jesus will be your savior. He will give you the truth and you'll be at His right hand and He'll give you the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, whatever it is, god wants to be your source of whatever you're trying to fill. So pray. I invite you to find Psalm 139, verse 23 and 24. And pray that over your life.
Speaker 2:That's awesome Good stuff, Ryan. Anything, Philip oh one thought about the politics thing. If you're viewing your faith through the lens of your politics, you got it backwards. You need to view your politics through the lens of your faith, otherwise you put politics ahead of your faith, and that's not good. That is not good.
Speaker 4:So just a little thought there yeah, well, there you guys have it, we have. Um, we're gonna put a bookmark in it right here. We're glad you've joined us for this episode. I think it's a pretty important one and, look, we've only just named a few things. You could probably name other things that you know of and in your life or that you've seen in others' lives, where we've tried to make something in idle that shouldn't be.
Speaker 4:Remember what Ryan shared in Psalms 129 and take that opportunity to pray that John's going to put that up on the screen so you can have that and use it during the week and just review that before we go. We just want to say thanks for watching this particular episode. We hope that you found it inspirational. We hope you found something in it that makes you think and consider. We want to invite you to remember to click on the subscribe button to like to go out and do the same on social media, like our page there on Instagram. We're also on Facebook, but we'd love to get connected with you, so if you have questions, you can always send us a question through whichever podcast or viewing platform that you're watching on or social media, or you can email us at gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Again, that's gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Until next time. I'm David, he's Philip, that's Ryan, and we're out.
Speaker 3:Peace.
