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
We've All Messed Up Before - Here's How to Handle It When You Do | Walking in the Spirit | Bible, Bros & Brew
In the first verse of Galatians 6, Paul talks about how to handle situations where a fellow believer falls into some type of fault, error, or sin. We are instructed to engage in the process of restoration with that person, but it also warns us to do it with humility and meekness, because none of us are above temptation. In this latest installment of our series called "Walking in the Spirit", David, Phil, and Ryan discuss the importance of sticking to the scriptural prescription for restoring believers who get derailed by sin, and provide key insights to help bring about the end goal of genuine restoration.
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All of us have made mistakes, all of us have fallen into sin at different times, or we've encountered other people, friends and so forth, that have dealt with things as well. What is the spiritual response when you mess up, when you go off track, when you get derailed? How should you respond? And how should you respond when others in the body of Christ do that as well? We're going to find out on this episode of Bible Bros and Brew.
Phillip Rich:Welcome everyone to this episode of Bible Bros and Brew. My name is Philip and, of course, along with me is David to my Oops the other way I got to get that right Right is left and left is right. Praise the Lord. And then, of course, Ryan, over here on this side on the wheels of steel. We're glad to have you with us tonight and if you've been following along with what we've been doing for the past upteen weeks, we've been talking about Galatians, chapter five, focusing in on walking in the spirit. What does it mean to walk in the spirit?
Phillip Rich:We went through everything from what Paul talked about with the works of the flesh all the way through to the fruit of the spirit, covered most of Galatians chapter five. And then now we figured hey, why should the fun in there? So we decided to go ahead and roll into chapter six because, as you guys know, when the Bible was first written those letters from Paul were first written. They did not have chapter and verse divisions, they were just one big long string of words. So when he was completing his thoughts in Galatians 5, at the end of that chapter, he had that same train of thought going into the beginning of chapter 6. So we're going to talk about what Paul mentioned as far as how to restore somebody when they get overtaken in sin or overtaken in a fault. But before we get into the deep end of that, I wanted to first ask the famous question what is in the cup? So, david, if you don't mind, could you tell us what's in your cup tonight, sir?
David McIntyre:Tonight, I bring to the table a new coffee, one that we've never had here before. Okay, I bought this coffee specifically for you and with you in mind. Ah, okay, I recently caught wind of a video and watched it about a coffee upstart. Mm-hmm, that started just a couple of years ago with a young lady and a dream and a bean. Yes, and from that dream with a bean came Kahawa coffee.
Phillip Rich:Aha 1893.
David McIntyre:Now, Kahawa is the Swahili word for coffee.
Phillip Rich:Oh, that's cool.
David McIntyre:And 1893 has to do, when the story, when coffee origins can be traced back to 1893. So you can see the story there. But what I'm drinking tonight, african spice that is made with real spices, which are cinnamon and cardamom oh, this coffee is so nice. Her whole concept, one of the concepts she has behind the coffee, is that it has great taste with no bitterness on the back end. And let me tell you that she has achieved and to be an upstart coffee company with only five years, I think, in the making. She has a fantastic coffee and she's generating over $3 million a year in coffee sales and she has a new customer in me. I have to finish this one off and then I'll be moving over to their safari blend. So I highly recommend this one to everybody the kahawa and it. As far as the taste is concerned, uh, it's a little bit like, if you recall, one of my other favorites, it's a bit like pumpkin spice oh yeah um, but it doesn't have the pumpkin part.
David McIntyre:But the spice is there and the cardamom and the cinnamon are just um, are just two really nice flavors together. You'd really enjoy this coffee. So cheers to them, and one for you too, philip, in my seinfeld cup of course, dude shout out to the seinfeld mug.
Phillip Rich:For sure man, good stuff. I gotta try that man. It sounds really good. So yes, sir um ryan, what about you, sir?
Ryan Holdeman:well, I don't really know how I follow that up meaning there. Silence, ryan with silence, but David proud of you because you said you're going to get on the game, and you got on the game.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
Ryan Holdeman:Really proud of you. Tonight I've got the Pete's Classic yes, big Bang Medium Roast tonight and we're rocking and rolling and it is good, hearty, classic, can't beat it I like pizza, man.
Phillip Rich:pizza is a good brand, dude. Well, instead of sporting a mug tonight, I'm actually sporting a glass with a straw. Yeah, because, believe it or not, I'm doing cold brew. I do it every now and then, as you guys know. Most of the time, I'm rocking the peregrine of some kind or another, but then, every now and then, I get a hankering for some cold brew. So this time around, I decided to try this new situation from a company called Busy Busy Cold Brew Nice.
David McIntyre:Now, isn't that the one that Ryan tried that one time?
Phillip Rich:Maybe it was, maybe I did before.
Ryan Holdeman:I have no clue.
David McIntyre:I don't think I've tried that one before. Okay.
Phillip Rich:Okay, yeah, but they're good man. They're high octane for doggone. Sure, I'm finding that out as I drink more of this, but I like, sure I'm finding that out as I drink more of this. But, um, but I like it, man. And for those who may not know, uh, cold brew with heavy whipping cream. It's a match made in heaven, dude, if you get the right one. So, um, but yeah, I recommend them. Busy with the cold brew situation. So, um, avail yourself to those goods that we've discussed tonight.
Phillip Rich:But, um, moving into the Bible portion of our Bible Rose and Brew we wanted to go ahead and just transition from all the things we've been talking about in the past. I don't know how many weeks it's been, but I do encourage you to go back and look at all those videos that we've done on the fruit of the Spirit, on walking in the Spirit. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? We've got a whole library of videos on that topic now, but in this particular episode, we wanted to kind of take it one step further into Galatians, chapter 6, where Paul has another angle that he starts dealing with in terms of and, of course, you know, remember, when Paul was writing these letters. He was writing them to churches. He was writing them to groups of believers who were in different cities all over the Mediterranean Rim. He was constantly traveling back and forth checking on these guys and, of course, anytime you're dealing with people, you're going to have issues to pop up. And so and that's what I love about these letters from Paul is that these were real situations, real people, and at the time Paul wrote these letters, believe it or not, he had no idea they would end up in anything known as the Bible. You know, it was just at the time he wrote them. It was just. I'm writing this letter to this church in that city called Galatia to give them some, some pointers on how to stay away from people who think you got to be works, minded and-minded, and also to help them understand how to deal with folks when they get off track. So that's just a cool thing to me when I think about it.
Phillip Rich:But in chapter six of Galatians, paul talks about a situation. Evidently it was something that was probably a specific thing that was going on at the time, but then he used that situation more than likely to explain a principle, a spiritual principle, and so I wanted to look at verse one, we'll take it from there. It says Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you, which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. And then in verse 2, it says Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now this is fascinating to me, david, because right off the rip he's saying if you're dealing with somebody who's overtaken in a fault, meaning in one way or another somebody got derailed, somebody went off track, they fell into sin in some kind of a way, notice he didn't say you, who are spiritual, kick that guy out. He did not say that.
David McIntyre:It said you who are spiritual, or talk about him like a dog and run his family down and talk about how you've made bad decisions and how you knew it all along.
Phillip Rich:Right, right, not approach it with suspicion and approach it with. You know this, you know, standing up here and looking down there at this person because they screwed up. It was hey, you who are spiritual, you who are spiritual meaning, mature in the things of God, you who are spiritual, restore that person. So I thought it was interesting just that his first instinct to tell them was to begin the process of restoration with that person right off the bat.
David McIntyre:Right right.
Phillip Rich:I love that.
David McIntyre:Philip. It's so true because there's a piece of this puzzle that we also have to connect from Galatians, chapter 5. Because if you look at the beginning of Galatians, Paul is talking about how we deal with one another and then, even in starting in verse I believe it's 12 or 13 through 15, he talks even more about it. And he talks about you know, be careful that you don't bite and devour one another, so that you don't end up destroying one another.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:And then we go in and he reveals these works of the flesh that would be behind some of that biting and devouring, and then he tells us that the answer is to walk in the Spirit. Yeah, and then he comes to something practical. That is an implication of something going on in Galatia, in the church. So there's something specific that he's dealing with here.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:Even though he's speaking about it in a general way. And I'm with you. I love that concept that if you find somebody in a fault, you know again, the answer isn't to tear them down. We do that so much in the body of Christ. Now, anyway, where, and I don't know, it's like it's this weird thing where people get off on feeling like they're better than that person because that person's fault and we wait to see people get in sin so we can talk about it but not do anything to help them along.
David McIntyre:You know there's a I can't tell you the number of people who, particularly when we were doing our marriage stuff, you know people would say to me you know there's a I can't tell you the number of people who, particularly when we were doing our marriage stuff, you know people would say to me you know, I appreciate that you guys would even talk to me because nobody else would talk to me. Wow, I had one friend who you know he was like you're the only person who would come to me and talk to me about the fact that Jesus still accepted me. Wow, and it's like that shouldn't be. Yeah, and so Paul is telling us we can't be the way that causes us to bite and devour one another, right Destroy one another. We've got to govern ourselves in a way that restores and rebuilds one another, because when we restore and we rebuild one another, then we make the whole of us stronger.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, that's right. If you think about it, david, it's like we are the body of Christ. That's what it says, and I think first Corinthians 12, maybe it says you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And so if the body, if any part of my body is injured, you feel it. You know it's not like I don't know. It doesn't happen like without your awareness of it. I don't know it doesn't happen like without your awareness of it. You know it could be just a paper cut on your finger, but you sometimes it'll, it'll. You know it shouldn't just. It's just a thing where it affects the whole body. You know, in a way it does Like if I'm, if I'm, let's say, I have sprained my ankle or something like that, then I'm going to be limping, and because I'm limping on that side now my other side has to compensate for it, you know. And the next thing, you know it's affecting my whole, like even I might not be able to sleep comfortably because of how my leg is laying or other things like that. So it's amazing how one injured part of the body can affect the whole thing.
Phillip Rich:And I remember back when, um, uh, a few years ago, I had a pinched nerve in my neck, I had, uh, injured myself and my C4 vertebrae was pushed to the side and it was just sitting on a nerve and I'm telling you that was the worst pain I've ever been in my life. Man, like nerve pain is no joke. So, um, I had to go to the chiropractor this whole situation to get it all fixed up. But, um, but everything it felt like it was affecting every part of my body. I mean even down to, uh, I had shooting pain going down my arm. I had my fingers were going numb. Everything was affected by that.
Phillip Rich:One vertebrae back here that was like millimeters off from where it normally should be, and so it was just, it was a fascinating thing, but also painful at the same time. Like, yeah, just how much, how integrated the body really is. And I know, in the, on the spiritual side of things, I'm sure that that's how God views the body of Christ as well. We truly are all one body, and so if you've got somebody over here that's being injured, it will affect the rest of us in one way or the other, and so it's not the wisest thing to just, you know, look at what that person's going through and go well, they probably deserved it, you know, or something like that you know that that shouldn't be our attitude, even if they did quote unquote deserve it.
Phillip Rich:How?
David McIntyre:does that?
Phillip Rich:help the situation right now, you know.
David McIntyre:But you know what, phillip, it even goes. Can we go a little step deeper than that? What business of yours is it? Whose fault it was?
Phillip Rich:Thank you, thank you.
David McIntyre:It really isn't our business to sort, you know, to get in there and be like, okay, who started this, who did this? Not unless there's some practical application to resolving the problem that presents that it's that there's a brother who's hurt and it could be because that brother was dead wrong every step of the way and what they were doing, but the Lord would still have that person be restored.
Phillip Rich:There you go, he doesn't want them down forever.
David McIntyre:And if you look at this, something stands out to me. Here I'm going to read from the New Living Translation you did verses one and two right, philip.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, one and two yep.
David McIntyre:The New Living Translation says Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you, who are godly, listen to that. You, who are godly.
Phillip Rich:Okay.
David McIntyre:So now that differentiates me who am godly, from the average run-of-the-mill person or the Christian who is Christian in name only but not walking in godliness. And I think, just when it says you who are godly, it's those who walk in effort to be like Christ, to be like God in how they cover and deal with things.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:But it says that you who are godly, here's how you should handle it Gently and humbly. Help, Gently and humbly. Help that person back onto the right path. Come on and be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. You know, I remember, I remember back in the day when Pastor T had that women had that ministry where she was going out to the strip clubs and stuff like that and she was serving the women there.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:And really trying to help them to see that there was another way. But they did that through loving on them first.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, yeah.
David McIntyre:And meeting them where they were, and that was fruitful for a period of time. But, then I heard about another, but I never felt like that was my ministry.
Phillip Rich:Right.
David McIntyre:That I needed to go and do that Because I didn't need to be put in a position to call myself helping somebody and to fall into a trap Right. Remember the story of a man who was doing a ministry that went to New York City and called themselves helping prostitutes and other people to get free, and all of that? And lo and behold, you find out a little bit later on he's caught up in that behavior. And so when the Bible tells us to approach this stuff with humility and gently and, if you remember, gentleness is one of the fruits we just finished talking about so you see, Paul has left the fruit of the spirit, but to do it humbly. Why? Because humility says I too have been in sin before and even though my sin isn't this, I know that sin separates me from God and God doesn't want any of us separated from Him. There you go, and so I'm going to come low and do my best to be of help to you, because that could be me.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, come on man.
David McIntyre:I could have given myself over to that situation of that circumstance or that situation, whatever may be, and so we have to be careful, because we can come and call ourselves helping somebody and being haughty about it and find ourselves trapped in the same temptation, ourself needing someone now to come and rescue us.
Phillip Rich:See, dude, jesus said judge not lest you be judged. And he said, with the same judgment, that you judge others, you'll be judged yourself. And it's like you know, be careful pointing that finger at somebody you know. And how dare they do this? And oh, they suck. For you know, whatever getting off track or whatever Next thing, you know, dude, you can be caught up in that same thing.
Phillip Rich:If it wasn't for the grace of God, dude, if it wasn't for the grace of God, I mean, it's like let us not think for one second that it's in us to be able to fight these things off or to live a righteous life or whatever. It's telling the truth. It's only by the grace of God, by the help of the spirit of God, where we stay in tune with him and locked into his will and his way and trying to walk that out. That's the only way that we can stay away from these different landmines and traps that are out there that can easily ensnare any one of us, man. None of us are beyond temptation. None of us are beyond that stuff, man.
David McIntyre:Nope, nope. I love that, Philip. I really love that, and that's the humility that we approach this with.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, yeah.
David McIntyre:And when we do that, when there's a restoration that can happen in people's lives, that honestly we've just skipped, that we've just been void of and it's cost us. It's cost us believers, it's cost us people who once trusted in God and once they saw what happened after they fell short and how they were treated and how they were looked at, they didn't want to have anything to do with that God anymore.
David McIntyre:Right that wasn't God, that was his people falling short, and you've got to be careful not to assign to God what his people may not do right.
Phillip Rich:There you go, absolutely.
David McIntyre:You've got to judge, You've got to look at that thing and say you know what? That's not God having a problem with me, which you know. And in saying that when you're in sin and you're needing to be rescued, that may be one of the hardest things to hear, right, it's one of the hardest things not to hear but to understand within yourself at that time, because of what you may be dealing with. Yeah, God is for you, regardless of whether someone rescues you or not.
Phillip Rich:Come on, man, but we should all be running to rescue.
Phillip Rich:That's right. That's right. And you know, there's so many scriptures that prove this out. I mean, jesus said he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. You know, and even the whole parable of the prodigal son is all about this is you know? I think it's what luke 15 maybe when you know it talks about how you know these two sons, one was the older, one was the younger. The younger one just decided to to while out. Basically, he's like I'm not waiting for my inheritance anymore, go ahead and give it to me. I want to do what I want to do. So he hits the trail, he goes out there and just I mean he's partying with strippers and cocaine or whatever he's doing out there. You know.
David McIntyre:No, you didn't put cocaine in that man's hand, sorry, man.
Phillip Rich:Forgive me. Forgive me, it's just maybe some primitive version of cocaine.
David McIntyre:I don't know what it's called it was white and powdery and they had it back in the day there's some dead sea salt or something we don't know but anyway man, he was on that stuff.
Phillip Rich:Man, he was on that stuff and he was out there. He was totally out there. It said he, he lived, he. I think the king james said he wasted all his inheritance in riotous living yeah that phrase riotous man.
Phillip Rich:That's like he was. I'm talking, you know, just just wiling out. Finally he ends up destitute because he blew every dime that he had. All of a sudden he's like trying to find a job, to get you know, whatever, and and at this point he's like man, even my father's servants were treated better than I'm being, you know, than I'm being right now. He's like I could probably maybe go back to my father and ask him to come on as a hired hand or something. And so he gets that in his mind. He's like I'll prepare this speech and tell him how sorry I am. Blah, blah, blah man.
Phillip Rich:The Bible says that by the time he got, by the time, the father saw his son afar off, like the dude hadn't even showed up to the house yet. The father was looking for him out in the field and, it said, the father started going towards his son. And that's just such a powerful thing to me, man. It's like the father was not only willing to take him back, he was eager, he was like I'm so glad he was once dead but now he's alive, you know, and so it. To me that shows the heart of God, and that was the whole point of Jesus. Even sharing that parable which interesting little side note, david man that parable of the prodigal son I found out it's the exact opposite of a traditional Jewish parable that was common in that day, the traditional Jewish parable that was common in that day, the traditional Jewish parable. The father rejected the son and turned him away forever. And I got to do more research on it to find out where this is located. I just remember hearing that he's trying to tell us like, okay, we're going to be law-minded or we're going to be grace-minded about this thing, you know. And so next thing, you know, the father accepts the son back a hundred percent, restores him, and that should be the same mindset that we have.
Phillip Rich:When somebody's showing a willingness to repent and now that's David, that, to me, is the part that really can get sticky is okay. How willing is this person to repent? I think that if you have somebody who has an earnest intention towards getting their self squared away, getting right again and living and leaving that sin behind, that's somebody who we can work with. That's somebody who we can work with. But when you have somebody else who is blatantly defiant and they're like you know, I don't care, I just want to do what I want to do. There's not much you can do. You can try to restore them, but if they're not willing to be restored, if they're not willing to change their ways, then I think the other response that Paul mentioned was the one to go with, which was hey, don't even so much as eat with that person If they're showing an unwillingness and a complete, blatant disregard for you know God's standards.
David McIntyre:So, right, right, that's the. That's the chapter, you know. Verse two share each other's burdens and, in this way, obey, or the King James says, fulfill the law of Christ. You know, it's a burdens are easier to move when they're shared.
Phillip Rich:That's good.
David McIntyre:And you know, can I just keep it 100? I really wish we did a lot more burden sharing in the body of Christ. Yeah, I'm with you on that I've been, you know, in my church that I'm in. Now they have this thing called the prayer loft and for the first time, you know, I put in a prayer request and oh, I just put two and three together and got four. Dad blum it. I put in a prayer request specifically to see some things move in our new business.
Phillip Rich:Amen.
David McIntyre:And you know what has been so encouraging to me? Every time somebody sees that prayer request at church and prays over it and they hit a button that says I prayed over this and I get a note that says somebody's been praying for you.
Phillip Rich:That's so dope.
David McIntyre:I have been so encouraged for the last couple of days, ever since I saw that. The first time I saw it I thought it was just a notification from the church. You know they're just letting me know somebody's praying and I'm like cool. But then I've gotten at least 14, 15 notifications now that people have been praying for me, and it's similar to carrying the burden of the thing that I'm praying for to let me know that others are just as involved and just as interested in that thing moving forward as I am. It may not be theirs, they may not have any benefit from it, but they are at least enough, concerned enough to lift up their voice in prayer to God on my behalf and for what we're building and help to move it forward, because God hears prayer. Now here's the wild thing Since I've done that, all of a sudden today we started racking up people who are connected with us and until now I just got seven and realized that there's a connection there.
Phillip Rich:Come on man.
David McIntyre:Because earlier today I was thinking about I wonder which platform and this, that, what did I do? That caused this? And I was like you. You know it's all right, and I'll just say this, and you can talk about it for a minute too Phillip, there's just something different when somebody is walking with you.
Phillip Rich:Yes, a hundred percent, dude.
David McIntyre:Something different.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, yeah. And truth be told, man, no man's an island to themselves. You know, we were not meant to try to handle everything by ourselves. Staying disconnected, staying isolated, that is not what God wants for any of us.
Phillip Rich:Man, I know one thing like the times when I've run into some really, really rough patches and I'm saying this to anybody who's listening out there I'm thankful that I have people like David, people like Ryan, people like other guys that I've known for years and years, that I can trust and know that if I share something with them, they're going to come back at me with something scripturally based, something that's grounded in the truth, and they're they're willing to be honest with me and jack me up if I'm, if they need to, right Cause sometimes you're just flat wrong and you need to know that you're wrong.
Phillip Rich:You know all of us have blind spots, man. You know we think that we're looking at a situation correctly, but a lot of times you may not be, but you don't see it, and that's the whole thing. It's like it's that famous phrase If you, if you want to know what water is, don't ask the fish. You know, sometimes you're too deep into it yourself to have the right perspective and so when you have a good friend or a good you know, uh, just a brother in christ or whatever, that has enough of an angle on it from the outside, in where they can, they can go. Okay, well, here's where you're probably slipping up a little bit, you know, here's where you can probably make some adjustments or tweak some things. That is super valuable, man, because all of us can get out of shape spiritually at times, you know oh my gosh, yes dude, and and oh my gosh, yes, because, because iron sharpens iron.
Phillip Rich:You know, that's the whole thing, and we got to be there to sharpen each other. Ryan, what's your thoughts on?
Ryan Holdeman:it. No, I fully agree. I just was just thinking about this word restore and so I went and I looked it up on the Strongs in the Greek and I just I really like this. You know the word definitions to restore and I like this to equip, to perfect, to prepare, to mend, and then I like this. The meaning is join together or to meet, compact together, prepare or perfect for its full destination or use for its full destination or use.
Ryan Holdeman:And you know, sometimes you know all you know the thing about like and you kind of mentioned it earlier, I think it was in the pre-show but like, people are gonna people and we're everyone. You know we're gonna fail, we're gonna mess up, people around us are gonna fail, they're gonna're going to mess up. And I guess, as brothers in Christ, as bears of fruit of the spirit, you have two options keep them down and kick them down Right, and there's various ways to do that. Or you have a calling to help perfect and put back. Help put that person back together so they can be used for their, for their intended purpose, or help them get to their intended destination. So either keep them down, and I think, even as we continue to read Galatians 6, we'll kind of see this like this bringing together to move forward, and I just thought that that was interesting, that this the meaning of this word was to help bring it to its proper condition, to put it back together to this mending.
Phillip Rich:That's good, excellent. I like that a lot. That's good. You know, I like what it says. There too, it says to perfect for its full destination.
Phillip Rich:Something about that just really jumped off the page to me.
Phillip Rich:It's like, I think, that our willingness to help each other, to bear one another's burdens, to restore each other when we need it, it's helping all of us to get to the destination God wants us to be at.
Phillip Rich:I think that a lot of times and I've seen it over and over again, man, I'm telling you I used to be a part of the men's fellowship at our former church and I was heavy, heavy into that ministry and dealing with hundreds and actually thousands of men, and it's like I could see so many times certain things would pop up in different guys' lives that took them completely off the path they were supposed to be on, so far off.
Phillip Rich:I mean, they missed their destination for something silly, you know, for something that was totally just impulsive or flesh-led or whatever else it was, and sometimes even maybe they got offended at someone or got hurt by someone, and that was enough to drive them away to where now they don't want anything to do with, not only with the church, but with God himself, and I know that's not the heart of God, man. It's not the heart of God for someone to just be so hurt that they turn bitter. Because the Bible talks about I think it's in Hebrews, maybe 13,. It says beware lest a root of bitterness start to spring up in you. You know that's a dangerous thing, man, and I believe that us who are, you know, who are attempting and endeavoring to walk by the spirit, if we can help restore somebody, um, that can keep them from going that way and getting derailed and starting to develop bitterness or other things like that. So right?
David McIntyre:Well, it also. It also aids your own spiritual journey, though.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, for sure, absolutely it does.
Ryan Holdeman:Sorry, no, you're good, but I'll just say like to like when you're doing, when you're walking, or you have a brother or sister in Christ, like some, you like that destination, you see it in them Like you know, like this is not where you're supposed to be. And I know David sometimes gets frustrated with me because he's like, ah, you're not supposed to be right, but really like sometimes you'll in. Like as a youth pastor, you see it in in your students. Like when I was a youth pastor I could see in students like I don't know exactly where or when or what it looks like, but you know it's like this is not it, yeah. And you're like, dude, we got to keep going, this is not it. And you, you pray for them and you try to encourage them and you're like, can't stay here, yeah, we got to keep going.
Ryan Holdeman:And so when you're, when you're walking with someone, fellowshipping and in the body with somebody, you you know like this is not your destination, yeah, and so you can, you can pull that out of somebody by encouraging them, loving them and restoring them, and so I guess that brings kind of a good question. Yes, sir, and maybe we get into this next week, but how, and then I'm going to pop off of here, but what are some? What are some practical ways that you can help restore somebody that has, like you're doing life with, and they're just not where they need to be. Good question.
Phillip Rich:David, your thoughts first. I'm gonna throw you out there.
David McIntyre:I think it's in the scripture humbly and gently, yeah, that that's the way I'm going to throw you out there I think it's in the scripture humbly and gently, yeah, that's the way.
David McIntyre:And then with every situation, every situation is different. So you have to have an open ear. You have to have an open ear to hear from that person and you have to have the same open ear to hear from God, clearly and to know what to say and how to govern yourself. That's good, but I think the answer is right there in the scripture it's gently and humbly, and yeah, what do you think, phil?
Phillip Rich:I love that man. I love because, again, we talked about it. You know, consider yourself lest you also be tempted. You know we have to approach it with the appropriate level of humility when we're dealing with these types of things. And I think too that when you're dealing with somebody who's who's fallen into something and and and they know they've messed up, well it's obvious they're probably going to be feeling bad about it already. You know they're probably already dealing with condemnation. They're maybe beating themselves up.
Phillip Rich:It's good to be an encouraging an ear, to listen first of all. You know, just take time, even if they need to, kind of I don't want to say that kind of a negative way, but if they got a dump on you a little bit, you know that's something maybe you have to do sometimes, to just kind of help them vent and kind of get things out that they need to get out. Be that listening ear and then just search for certain things in what they're saying or certain things about the situation that you know, kind of pick little things that you can try to connect to a scripture or to something God said and go okay, well, here's what the word says about this.
Phillip Rich:Maybe we can approach it this way, you know and try to come with that, helping them get grounded in the truth again, because in one way or another, that's really the only way we all depart from the right thing. To begin with is we've departed from some truth in God's Word in one way or the other. You know, I mean it's tough, man, it's tough. I don't want to sit here and act like it's not. When you're dealing with some stuff that's heavy, especially if you're talking about a relationship situation, you're looking at it from the outside in. But this person here, they've got their side of it. Then there's the other person's side of it and then somewhere in between there's the truth, you know.
Phillip Rich:Between there's the truth, you know, and the Bible talks about, you know, every person seems right when they bring their case to court, until the second person comes up and kind of cross, you know right. So there's always that part of it too. I say like I think, david, you nailed it. Man, listen for what the spirit of God tells you. He knows how to give you wisdom in those moments and just make sure that, whatever you do, you're trying to be led by the spirit in terms of sticking with what the word says about that situation for sure.
David McIntyre:And I think the other thing too is pray, yes, pray with that person.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:And let them know you're going to continue to pray for them, you're going to be there for them and you're going to pray for them. But pray, because prayer is an avenue to God that will help open up doors and open up paths and open up wisdom that you'll need to help that person, and it will help them in the process too.
Phillip Rich:Absolutely.
David McIntyre:Phil.
David McIntyre:I want to, oh, go ahead. No, no, you go ahead. I'm sorry. I want to tackle the next part of this, though, because I think it's important, because it plays a role both in what we've been talking about. But it also sets up the next piece of the puzzle, and it's verse 3 and maybe 4,. But it also sets up the next piece of the puzzle, and it's verse three and maybe four, but it says if you think you're too important to help someone, you're only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Oh boy, that's the new living translation, and that that again it it's. It's two-sided it's when you're helping someone and when you're choosing not to help somebody. When you go in and help somebody, you don't go in as the right, reverend, so-and-so and all of this bravado and all of that good stuff. You're not that important, right? You're not as important as the restoration of this individual is.
Phillip Rich:That's right.
David McIntyre:That's the most important thing, and restoring them back to God is what matters most.
Phillip Rich:In the same sense.
David McIntyre:You're not so important that God doesn't need to use you for the benefit of others. So you stand back there with your white gloves on. You know I'm not getting dirty at that. That's for somebody else to do. You know you're just not. Just don't get full of yourself.
David McIntyre:That's right man, you're not that important. Even when you see a person through to victory, be careful that you remain humble, because it wasn't you who did it. It was God who did it. You were the avenue through which he was able to work, and God will reward you for that and you are to be congratulated for it. But don't get all blown up about things and lose sight of the fact of who it really is that does the work, who makes the change and causes people to change their hearts, to change their minds and to change their positions.
Phillip Rich:Come on man.
David McIntyre:That's not the work of, that's not the work of flesh, that's the work of God.
Phillip Rich:There you go. Hey look, man, god can use anything and anyone at any time to help somebody. I mean, think about you know Balaam, the situation. He used a donkey, made the donkey talk so that Balaam would change his way. We can't get arrogant. On the flip side of that, david, this just came to me. On the flip side of that, you can't take too much responsibility for what someone else is dealing with either.
David McIntyre:Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
Phillip Rich:Because a lot of times and I've done this, I know you have too, david, because you and Lori, y'all counsel couples all the time you can take on other people's problems to an unhealthy degree sometimes, and that's not what God wants either. Correct Talk more about that.
David McIntyre:Look, we have worked with couples and one of the things we had to learn early on with working with couples was don't let their problem become your problem.
Phillip Rich:Yes, sir.
David McIntyre:We were having arguments amongst ourselves about foolishness and realized that's not us, that's them. Yes, that's what they had on them.
Ryan Holdeman:We're not going to realize that's not us, that's them. Yes.
David McIntyre:That's what they had on them. We're not going to take that home with us. We're not going to, we're not going to play those games. I also remember you know this is kind of unrelated, but it's related you know, we were babysitting somebody's kid and they came over late in the evening and the kid was already asleep and, um, you know, woke the kid up and the kid had a bad attitude because she'd gotten woken up. And the dad said to the kid you know, I don't know where that came from, but you better leave that here and my wife so astutely said no, she doesn't. You need to take that on right. You, you got to be on spiritual guard when you're working with and helping people. That's true.
David McIntyre:And one of the things that we've had to learn is not to take on other people's stuff.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:Yeah, to recognize, to be moved by, to feel, to be touched with the feeling of their infirmity, similar to the way Jesus did, but is much, much more intense. That is the Christian walk, but owning their stuff as if you were accountable for the reason why or whatever it was. Yeah that's the wrong position and that will get you in trouble.
Phillip Rich:Man, that's good, David.
David McIntyre:And that kind of leads Philip to verse four, and I know we got to cap it here, but it says pay careful attention to your own work, or then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else, for we are each responsible for our own conduct. So, even in the midst of all this stuff going on, where you're reaching out and you're helping people, there's then this responsibility that says pay attention to your own work yes in one sense it's almost like a mind your own business yeah, exactly exactly.
Phillip Rich:There's another witness to that in second thessalonians. He said you know, study to be quiet man, mind your own business. You know, it's in the bible. Um, you do want to be a help to people. You do want to, you know, show compassion and empathy, because that's what Jesus did for us. But don't cross that line over into now. You're taking things on and now expecting to be the solution when you can't. Only God can be the solution to whatever they're dealing with, when you can't be that.
David McIntyre:Only God can be the solution to whatever they're dealing with. And similarly to what I'd said a little bit earlier, right along with that is it says for them you'll get the satisfaction of a job well done. You come alongside somebody, you've helped them. They're restoring their situation of being restored, they're walking back with Jesus. You'll have the satisfaction of a job well done, not because you did it, but because of the awe of God being willing to use you while you were busy, just doing what you're supposed to do, not getting high, not getting low, not being involved in all this stuff, not getting caught up in their stuff, and just doing your thing and being focused. And in the midst of that, you won't need to compare yourself to them. You won't need to compare yourself to other people doing similar things. You'll just be able to walk on and recognize we're each responsible for our own conduct, and there's more to that that we'll touch on next week. But it's just such a good thing and Paula's giving us some great, great, great feedback and how to walk this thing out.
Phillip Rich:Yes, yes, absolutely. Well, guys, this is a, I think, a good time for us to put that pin into where we are. We'll pick up with it next week, but, david, any final thoughts before we wrap up.
David McIntyre:No man, just keep just. I want to encourage you to keep walking right. Remember to walk humbly, walk gently. Remember you're not all that, so don't think of yourself. The scripture says don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to. Yes, right, so think, see yourself soberly, think soberly about yourself and just be. Make yourself available to be the kind of believer that says if I find my brother in a fault, I'm going to do my best to be of service to them, even if that means all I do is they don't. I may not, you know, even if I don't know them well, I can still pray for you.
Phillip Rich:That's right, that's right.
David McIntyre:I can still believe, to see God's best in your life and see your situation turn around. And that's what we ought to do, man. I just I pray that we'll all sober up. We'll sober up and we will approach things the right way and change from our being offstanding to our hands in, so that we can build a stronger body. That's good Good stuff, david. Well, guys, we want to say thank you for joining us for this episode so that we can build a stronger body.
Phillip Rich:That's good, good stuff, david. Well, guys, we want to say thank you for joining us for this episode and, of course, we, as always, want to encourage you to go back and watch the ones that happened before we got to this one. And if you have not yet done so, please subscribe. Definitely, hit that little like button, hit the subscribe button, whatever app you might be listening to or watching with, leave a comment if the comments are available, that type of thing, and, of course, if you have any type of questions, suggestions, thoughts on a topic we could cover anything like that, we definitely encourage you to reach out to us, either through the comments or we also have an email address. It is gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Once again, gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Please, please, please, avail yourself to those things. Until then, until the next time I have been Philip, he has been David and Ryan has been Ryan, and we will see you guys in the next episode. Thanks again for watching Peace out and we will see you guys in the next episode. Thanks again for watching.
David McIntyre:Peace out.
