April 12, 2025

Are Christians Satisfied? Pt 2

Are Christians Satisfied? Pt 2

A discussion about satisfaction in the Christian life.

Spreaker Apple Podcasts Spotify PocketCasts Amazon Music Overcast Audible Castro iHeartRadio Castbox Podchaser TuneIn Deezer Pandora RadioPublic Podcast Addict RSS Feed YouTube Fountain PlayerFM Goodpods Podverse Podyssey Breaker Podurama Audacy JioSaavn
Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast Audible podcast player icon Audible Audible Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Castbox podcast player icon Castbox Castbox Podchaser podcast player icon Podchaser Podchaser TuneIn podcast player icon TuneIn TuneIn Deezer podcast player icon Deezer Deezer Pandora podcast player icon Pandora Pandora RadioPublic podcast player icon RadioPublic RadioPublic Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podcast Addict Podcast Addict RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed YouTube podcast player icon YouTube YouTube Fountain podcast player icon Fountain Fountain PlayerFM podcast player icon PlayerFM PlayerFM Goodpods podcast player icon Goodpods Goodpods Podverse podcast player icon Podverse Podverse Podyssey podcast player icon Podyssey Podyssey Breaker podcast player icon Breaker Breaker Podurama podcast player icon Podurama Podurama Audacy podcast player icon Audacy Audacy JioSaavn podcast player icon JioSaavn JioSaavn

A discussion about satisfaction in the Christian life.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:05.960
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.599
the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good evening everyone.

3
00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:17.079
It is Saturday, April twelfth, twenty twenty five. It is

4
00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:21.079
currently six thirty eight pm Central Time, and I'm coming

5
00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:25.239
to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

6
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.640
here in Abilene, Texas. Now, the goal in this episode

7
00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:32.479
is pretty simple. We're going to try to advance our

8
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:39.840
discussion about Christianity and satisfaction. Right. I kind of asked

9
00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.320
the question in the last broadcast in part one of

10
00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:47.600
this discussion, are you really satisfied with your life? Are

11
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:53.079
you really happy? Content? You have joy? You don't feel

12
00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.799
any that you're something is missing, that you're lacking something,

13
00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.880
that you're wanting something, because you just are completely satisfied

14
00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:05.560
your Your life is overflowing with satisfaction. Everything just seems

15
00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:09.920
so wonderful and perfect. Is that the case? And I

16
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.719
will argue that just looking at the reality of life

17
00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:18.280
Christian non Christian, the reality is there's a lot of

18
00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:21.799
people who are not satisfied. No matter I know, Christians

19
00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.920
are gonna claim the opposite, and they're gonna claim, Oh,

20
00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.840
in Jesus, I've got everything I need I have complete

21
00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:30.239
satisfaction in Jesus, and they're gonna make all of these

22
00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:35.120
big claims, but the reality is no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

23
00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:41.000
no no, it's not that way. So I'm challenging everything

24
00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.719
that's basically taught in Christianity on this subject, and it

25
00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:46.480
really fits with a lot of the other things that

26
00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:49.760
we have been discussing. We talked about fear, well, I

27
00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:52.640
don't like the way Christians handled that entire subject, So

28
00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:56.359
we challenge that we utilize a kind of a discussion

29
00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.280
about pornography to once again look at how Christianity handles that,

30
00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:06.159
and it completely denies some very important realities. So with

31
00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.840
this kind of fits together, everything is kind of all interconnected,

32
00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.240
and hopefully you're seeing that. I don't know if people

33
00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:14.120
are going to put all of the puzzle pieces of

34
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:19.199
the puzzle together, but we're having some very important conversations.

35
00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:21.560
So let's put this all back together, and then we're

36
00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.599
going to see how far we can advance this all. Right, now, remember,

37
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.719
to start this, we have to go back to nineteen

38
00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:32.800
forty three. Nineteen forty three, you have the psychologist Abraham Maslow,

39
00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:37.560
who proposed a now famous model of human motivation known

40
00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:42.599
as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. All Right, and this hierarchy

41
00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:45.240
of needs I think is foundational. If we're going to

42
00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:48.080
talk about Christians and satisfaction, if we're going to talk

43
00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.159
about a lot of issues in Christianity, we have to

44
00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:55.520
really understand Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In fact, I'm going

45
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.280
to go so far to say I didn't say this

46
00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:59.240
in part one, but I'm going to put forth the

47
00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:02.599
hypotheses that I don't know if you can truly understand

48
00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.719
sin without understanding Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I'm going to

49
00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.520
go so far to even put forth that hypothesis. So

50
00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:13.120
I'll and I'll try to defend that as we go

51
00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:18.759
through this. All Right, So this model basically says, I'll

52
00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.719
just kind of break it down here that basically that

53
00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.840
there's a hierarchy of needs and the end there's basically

54
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.599
five levels to these needs. Okay, I think in modern

55
00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:32.159
times they've added a sixth, but the five are the

56
00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:36.120
core basic needs every human being has and the desire

57
00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:40.240
for these needs, these needs are built inside of us.

58
00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.319
You didn't ask for these needs to be there, You

59
00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.800
didn't ask for these desires to be there. You're born

60
00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.840
with these needs and desires. Okay, and then you add

61
00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.680
you're born with these needs and desires and you have

62
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.919
a sinful nature. You can just see where all of

63
00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:56.800
the problems begins to our right, and nobody wants to

64
00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.520
talk about it at this level. Christianity, the best he

65
00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:02.199
can do is stop it. Don't do it, stop it,

66
00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.360
don't do it, stop it, try harder, read more, go

67
00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.080
to church more. It's just very just stop it, stop it,

68
00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:13.400
stop it. Just don't do drugs. That's basically the Christian mantra.

69
00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:15.800
Now that we'll try to claim, Oh, but you've got

70
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.720
the power of God to help you, but I have

71
00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:19.519
the power of God to help me, then I should

72
00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:23.079
be able to get to perfection. Basically, everything Christianity says

73
00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:27.519
is just massively flawed in so many areas because they

74
00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:31.600
get the fundamentals so very wrong. Right, So, but this

75
00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.519
hierarchy of needs, and we'll we'll we'll work through all

76
00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.240
of this. I'm kind of just giving you some previews

77
00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:39.800
of where we're going, all right. But Maslow's hierarchy of

78
00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:45.240
needs are these number one physiological needs. This includes food, water, shelter, rest, food,

79
00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:49.560
water shelter, rest. Everybody has those needs. And guess what happens.

80
00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.240
You can get a you can get a sense of

81
00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:56.279
what happens just by taking some of these away. Right,

82
00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:02.480
go one mill, just skip one meal, no food. What happens.

83
00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.319
Let's say you miss breakfast in lunch by two or

84
00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:08.959
three in the afternoon. What happens. You're frustrated, you're irritated,

85
00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:14.000
you're grumpy, you're snapping at people. What happened? What happened?

86
00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.079
What I thought Jesus was enough? And you'll say, well,

87
00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:20.720
that's just ridiculous because obviously I need food. Well, I

88
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.800
know you do, but all these other needs are just

89
00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.519
as strong as that in many and many ways, and

90
00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.000
people don't want to admit. So the point is having

91
00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:34.800
Jesus doesn't fit, doesn't fix your hunger problem for food. Right,

92
00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.160
you have Jesus, but your body still desires food. Guess what,

93
00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:41.879
You have Jesus, but your body still needs rest. And

94
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.319
if you don't have rest, there's all the ramifications from it.

95
00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:48.079
And if you remove food, if you remove water, if

96
00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.560
you remove shelter, and you remove rest, you remove these

97
00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:56.519
any physiological needs, it will manifest itself. And how you act,

98
00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:59.759
how you think, and it may even lead you to

99
00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:05.279
doing that which is in moral and ungodly. All right.

100
00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:11.319
Number two safety, So first is a physiological Second is safety.

101
00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:18.120
This is security, stability, protection. You want to feel a

102
00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:22.480
sense of security. This can be emotional security, mental security.

103
00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:26.000
This can be this physical security. You want a sense

104
00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.319
of stability. You don't want things ever go like it's

105
00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:31.240
this way, then it's this way, then it's this way,

106
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:32.959
and then it's this way, and then you're going this

107
00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.680
direction and whack you get whacked upside the head and

108
00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:40.079
pulled this direction. You want stability, you want security, and

109
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:43.839
you want protection. And if any of that is missing,

110
00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.879
there is may it's gonna show up in major ways.

111
00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:52.560
You want love and belonging. You want intimacy. This can

112
00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:57.759
be mental intimacy, emotional intimacy, physical intimacy. You want friendship,

113
00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.279
you want relationship. You may want some sense of community.

114
00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.920
This love and belonging. And once again, if some of

115
00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.639
this is missing in any way, shape or form, it's

116
00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.319
going to manifest itself in very obvious and clear ways,

117
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.920
and it's going to have a profound negative impact. You

118
00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.439
want a sense of self esteem. If you're missing that

119
00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.839
self esteem, then guess what uh, you're you're going to

120
00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:26.279
be longing for it and and this esteem can show up.

121
00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.680
You want to you want to feel a sense of respect,

122
00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.680
that you are respected, that people respect you at least

123
00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:35.720
about something about something that you that you feel like

124
00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.560
you can be respected for. You want some sense of recognition.

125
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.800
You want to be recognized. You want some people to

126
00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.600
to respect you and recognize you. You want to feel

127
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.720
that you have a sense of purpose. There's esteem, and

128
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.879
then number five is self actualization. You want to feel meaning.

129
00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.000
You want to have a place you can you can

130
00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.959
be creative, you can you can do something that's somewhat creative,

131
00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.079
and you can have some sense of fulfillment. Now anything

132
00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.040
any if you're missing any of those areas, it's going

133
00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:10.759
to have a profound impact. But here's what Christianity does,

134
00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:15.120
and this is where things get interesting. Christianity will come

135
00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:19.439
along and claim to offer a different solution. Many sermons,

136
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:21.480
books and worship songs tell us that when we come

137
00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.920
to Christ, we gain a kind of complete soul level

138
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.759
satisfaction that transcends and even replaces all of those needs.

139
00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:32.559
So you have these needs, they may be built into you,

140
00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.080
but when you become a Christian dun dun, dun dun.

141
00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.240
You transcend these needs. You have Jesus and that's all

142
00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.279
you need. You set your affections on things above. You

143
00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:45.440
love God, and you desire the Word of God more

144
00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:50.120
than food and gold. You don't need anything. That's the

145
00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:56.039
way we sell it. That's how Christianity handle handles Maslow's hierarchiveneys.

146
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.320
It's like, well, you have these needs, but if you

147
00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.279
have Jesus, you're never hunger and thirst again. Is the

148
00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:05.840
way it will be sold. They say Jesus is enough,

149
00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:08.519
that he fills the void, that if we truly believe

150
00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:10.919
in him, we won't hunger or thirst anymore, that his

151
00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.000
word and presence are more fulfilling than food, sex, safety,

152
00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:19.000
or human love. This idea is deeply embedded and modern

153
00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:22.799
Christian culture. But here's the problem. Most Christians still hunger.

154
00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.639
Most Christians still ache for connection. They wrestle with loneliness,

155
00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.840
They long for intimacy, They fight fear, and they and

156
00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:33.360
they grieve and they have and they and they get

157
00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.399
bothered and upset if the absence of safety, love, or meaning,

158
00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.759
and when those needs aren't met, the Church tells them

159
00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.879
Jesus should be enough. It doesn't lead to Joit typically

160
00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.879
leads to guilt, It leads to shame, it leads to silence,

161
00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:50.320
and ultimately it will lead to pretending that you've got

162
00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:58.679
it all when you really don't. So we are talking

163
00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.679
about this now, and that's kind of just summarizing some

164
00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.360
of the basic premises of this hypothesis because I'm challenging

165
00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.000
the Christian's approach to this. So what we talked about

166
00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:13.120
last time is we talked about the examples of how

167
00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:16.080
a lack of fulfillment manifest We talked about what happens

168
00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:19.799
when your physiological needs are not met, when missing when

169
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.000
you're missing love and belonging, when you're missing esteem, when

170
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.759
you're missing self actualization or meaning. And we talked about

171
00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:30.639
how all when you're missing that it's going to manifest itself.

172
00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:32.759
And we talked all the different ways it can. I'm

173
00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:34.519
not going to go back through it. It was a very

174
00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:41.919
important conversation. So here's what happens. I decided considering Maslow's

175
00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.559
hierarchy of needs another thing to spark this was a

176
00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:49.360
sermon on spiritual satisfaction and just kind of just discussing

177
00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.919
this with myself, kind of talking with myself about it,

178
00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.879
I decided, you know what, let me talk to artificial

179
00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:59.799
intelligence about it. So I spent probably three hours having

180
00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:05.960
a conversation with artificial intelligence about this entire subject. And

181
00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.600
I'm going to share with you that back and forth,

182
00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.440
that conversation. And the reason I'm going to do this,

183
00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:14.000
and I mentioned this at the end of the last broadcast,

184
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.279
is because I believe by sharing the conversation, instead of

185
00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.279
just taking the conversation turning it into like bullet points

186
00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.240
or just turning it into an outline and teaching it,

187
00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.000
if I share the conversation, I feel it unfolds in

188
00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:33.279
a natural way. You get to kind of listen to

189
00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.600
me wrestle with these questions in real time. You're gonna

190
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.559
you're gonna see what I was wrestling with artificial intelligence

191
00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.960
in regards to this subject of satisfaction. In real time.

192
00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.360
I think it's going to You're gonna be able to

193
00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:51.279
hear an honest exploration rather than me just starting with

194
00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.399
some rigid thesis. You're gonna hear me kind of work through.

195
00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:57.240
Now you'll hear some of my hypotheses and some of

196
00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:59.360
my theories, because I've already put forth that I have

197
00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.919
a hypothesis that goes against most of Christianity. But you're

198
00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.720
going to be hearing the conversation, and from the very beginning,

199
00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:11.720
as I'm developing that hypothesis, over time, I think it's

200
00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:16.480
going to allow you to listen and follow the progression

201
00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:21.480
of thought. Instead of being told believe this, You're gonna

202
00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:24.360
kind of hear me try to figure out well how

203
00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.080
to possibly approach this subject. And I think that the

204
00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:34.480
conversation offers a good balance of psychology, theology, scripture, and

205
00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:37.559
my own personal reflection in it. And I think that

206
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.759
will make it somewhat interesting. So what you're going to

207
00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.519
hear over the next I don't know, thirty minutes, thirty

208
00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.320
five minutes, ever, how long I take this episode, you're

209
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.960
gonna hear about a conversation. You're gonna hear a conversation

210
00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:57.000
about how the I struggle with and try to understand

211
00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:02.639
and somewhat challenge the normal understanding of satisfaction that many

212
00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.799
churches put forth. And I'm going to argue against the

213
00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.120
way Christianity sells itself because I think it's all I

214
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.320
think it's all a fraud. I think the whole thing's

215
00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:15.840
a fraud. And nobody wants to admit it. So where

216
00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:19.159
did the conversation begin, Well, if we start at the

217
00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.320
very beginning, it started because of a sermon on spiritual satisfaction.

218
00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.519
So what I originally did is I'm like, hey, Ai,

219
00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.039
I have a sermon here and that's called spiritual satisfaction.

220
00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:33.480
How do you think it's going to handle it? Give

221
00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:35.440
me your prediction, and it basically says, well, it's going

222
00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.440
to handle it like all Christians handle satisfaction, and it

223
00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:40.720
kind of gave me the basic overview. So then I

224
00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:42.480
gave it the text, and then we had this long

225
00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:45.960
conversation about Some one nineteen and how can it be

226
00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:48.200
used this way? What is a law gospel? I'm going

227
00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.080
to leave all of that out because that went on

228
00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.440
for like an about forty five minutes, and it's going

229
00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:55.919
to take us way too far from the subject at hand.

230
00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:02.320
It was some interesting conversation and definitely, and I've ultimately

231
00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:04.840
gave Ai the sermon itself, and AI was like, well,

232
00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:06.200
I told you what it was going to be about,

233
00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:08.200
because they basically did everything I told you they were

234
00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.720
going to do to the very letter. And I'm like, well,

235
00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:15.240
I don't agree with the way it handled it. And

236
00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:17.960
AI was like, okay, well I kind of figured that

237
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.720
since you don't agree with anything that Christians do, Okay,

238
00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.039
but here we go. So then I'm like, all right,

239
00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:31.279
how then, how do most Christians? How do most pastors

240
00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:39.279
define spiritual satisfaction? How do they understand it? Ai says

241
00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:44.600
In the modern evangelical or non denominational context, spiritual satisfaction

242
00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:52.759
is typically defined experientially, emphasizing feelings of peace, joy fulfillment,

243
00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:57.879
are closeness to God. It's typically tied to emotional well being.

244
00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.320
I feel full when I worship or pray or read

245
00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.200
the scriptures. See, you can have complete emotional well being.

246
00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:08.799
But what I always love how Christianity does this? Like

247
00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.120
when you're a Christian, you'll get emotional well being, but

248
00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:12.840
then you're told no, no, no, no, it's not just as

249
00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:15.399
simple as becoming a Christian. If you really want emotional wellbeing,

250
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.000
you got to read your Bible. You've got to go

251
00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.799
to church, you got to pray, you got to join

252
00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:20.720
a small group, you got to do Bible study, you

253
00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:22.799
got to do devotionals, you got to have a quiet time.

254
00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:24.320
And now all of a sudden, it becomes a list

255
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.320
of thirty seven things you have to do in order

256
00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.480
to get emotional wellbeing. But I thought I got a

257
00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:31.039
emotional well being because I have Jesus. Well, you do

258
00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.600
have Jesus, but you don't get your emotional wellbeing until

259
00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:36.840
you do abcd FG. Well, how much of it do

260
00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:39.039
I do to have emotional well being? Well, the more

261
00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.639
you do, the better your emotional wellbeing will be. Well,

262
00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:43.279
if I'm doing all of these things, do I have

263
00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:45.679
emotional wellbeing? What about all the other? Okay, well, then

264
00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:51.080
you could just it just becomes a vicious cycle. So

265
00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.799
typically they will tie it to emotional well being. They

266
00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:57.399
will also kind of connect it to a sense of

267
00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.519
purpose or identity. I know who I am in Christ,

268
00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:07.200
and I feel complete. Hey, your identity is found in Christ. Now, look,

269
00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:10.000
I'm not rejecting this idea that my identity should be

270
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.519
found in Christ. But what comes with it is your

271
00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:15.159
identity is in Christ. So you don't need anything, You're

272
00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.200
not lacking anything. You should be perfect, you should be satisfied,

273
00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:21.759
you don't need self esteem. You've got Christ's esteem. And

274
00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:27.399
it all sounds so good, it sounds so good. But yet,

275
00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.799
even though we are in Christ, even though He's our identity,

276
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:37.440
come on, two thousand years of church history as my proof.

277
00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:42.799
Christians have complained, there's been frustration here. They just in

278
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.600
the biggest details to the smallest details. There's a lack

279
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.919
of satisfaction because all you have to do to get

280
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.240
Christians to act a certain way is just remove part

281
00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.919
of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs and you will see

282
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.639
a completely different side. Even though they talk to big

283
00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:05.200
game relational connection. See, you can have satisfaction because God

284
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.960
speaks to me. Is how some will say, I feel

285
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.640
his presence. So you have a relational connection. You may

286
00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.240
be longing for relational connection, but you don't need relational

287
00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.200
connection because you can have the perfect relational connection because

288
00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.880
you have God. Again, it sounds so good, it preaches

289
00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:27.640
so good. I won't even get into the issues here,

290
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.200
but this is how typically Christians will handle this idea.

291
00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.440
You have complete satisfaction. Why because and they will usually

292
00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.200
connect us having perfect satisfaction and contentment and all of

293
00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:45.680
this because you now have victory over sin. You're now

294
00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:50.079
living a spiritually victorious life. You don't live in defeat.

295
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.640
You've been set free. You're a new creature, the oldest

296
00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.079
passed away now and well and everyone says, amen, Amen,

297
00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.480
Amen to it, and then you but nobody wants to

298
00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:01.960
admit you're perpetually in a state of sin twenty four

299
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.480
hours a day, seven days a week. So so much

300
00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:08.599
of how Christianity teaches us it's a lie. You've got

301
00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:12.119
to be have complete, perfect emotional wellbeing. I have a

302
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:16.599
sense of purpose, I have relational connection to my God,

303
00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.079
and I have victory over sin. I'm more than a conqueror.

304
00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:23.759
And all of this is understood in a practical way.

305
00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:27.240
And the reality is, no, you're in a perpetual state

306
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.160
of sin, and you're not. All these things you're claiming.

307
00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.920
Your life demonstrates you don't. You're not even experiencing these things.

308
00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:41.519
They will also connect this spiritual satisfaction to personal growth

309
00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:48.799
or spiritual progress. Typically within Christianity, it leans more towards

310
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:54.799
a therapeutic language, satisfaction as an inner calm, a fulfillment

311
00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:00.720
sometimes detached from deeper theological or covenantal realities. It's just basically,

312
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:05.119
everything is good in life. Everything's wonderful, everything's great, everything

313
00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.359
is as perfect as it should be because you've got

314
00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:15.359
Jesus and that's all you need. So I'm like Okay,

315
00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:18.119
thank you. I think that pretty much agrees with everything

316
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.880
I hear and see. So I'm like, okay, A, I

317
00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:23.759
can agree with this. But then I asked Ai a question.

318
00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:30.440
I said, do you think Christians really, at a true

319
00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:39.200
and honest level, actually experience this kind of spiritual satisfaction

320
00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:44.279
as it is defined by most sermons and Christian books?

321
00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.279
Do you I know what all the Christian books say,

322
00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.359
I know what all the sermons say, I know what

323
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.759
I've been told my entire Christian life, But do you

324
00:19:52.880 --> 00:20:01.240
think anyone really experiences what Christianity constantly sells? Ai says,

325
00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:07.839
Christians do not experience spiritual satisfaction in the way it's

326
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:14.839
commonly defined in sermons and books, at least not consistently, consistently, sustainably,

327
00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:20.880
or deeply. And many are quite aware of that reality.

328
00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.839
So AI is like, no, they don't. And most and

329
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.960
many Christians really know this. They know it deep down.

330
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.640
They may not admit it, but they do not. They're

331
00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.920
not experienced this in a consistent way, in a sustainable way,

332
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.680
or in a deep way. It's a facade. It's all pretend,

333
00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.839
and it's it's maddening because I fell into the same

334
00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.559
trap of a lot of this nonsense, buying into this,

335
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:53.680
believing this. So I asked Ai, well why not? I mean,

336
00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.720
that's that's a bold statement for Ai to go, No,

337
00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:01.680
don't think it's happening. I'm like, WHOA, that's that's pretty cold.

338
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:08.359
Why not? Ai says? The definition is unrealistic. The definition

339
00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.720
is detached from reality. This is what Ai said. Most

340
00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:17.559
sermons and Christian books describe spiritual satisfaction as feeling close

341
00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.759
to God, living in peace and victory, overcoming sin on

342
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:27.480
a regular and consistent basis, enjoying Bible reading and prayer daily,

343
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:34.599
having emotional and spiritual fullness. This is essentially an idealized

344
00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:39.000
an ideal. Basically, you're kind of giving the the the

345
00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:45.720
the perfect idea of what almost heaven. Right. It's it's this,

346
00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:52.559
It's essentially an idealized experiential state, and it's marketed as

347
00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:59.680
attainable if you just do the right things. It's it's

348
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:05.039
the ideal concept, right. It's more, it's like Christianity sells

349
00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:08.559
this essentially that this is what it should be, and

350
00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:12.000
it sounds almost like heaven. It almost sounds like glorification,

351
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.039
and they want to say that this is what you

352
00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:18.759
can experience. It's something that that basically this is how

353
00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:24.000
it should be in your everyday life, and Christian's Christianity

354
00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:27.519
market markets it as an attainable thing. You can have it.

355
00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.200
But here's the thing. Christians play this game with you.

356
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.880
It's almost like bait and switch, right, because what they

357
00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:36.000
do is they say it's attainable, you can have it,

358
00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:38.240
and they almost sell out, like if you get Jesus,

359
00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:41.119
that's all you ever need, you'll be content. But then

360
00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:43.480
inevitably you don't read the fine print because it'll be

361
00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.319
like no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. You become

362
00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.200
a Christian, but you've got to do a B, C, D, E, F, G,

363
00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.039
h I, J, K, leman O, P q, R S,

364
00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:56.200
t U, v w X, y n Z, and we'll

365
00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.599
go to a couple of other alphabets because you've got

366
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.400
to do those things as well, and you know what

367
00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.359
those things are going to be. You've got to pray,

368
00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:04.960
you gotta read, you got to go to small group,

369
00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:06.920
you gotta go to church, you need to tie ten percent,

370
00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:08.440
you got to do this, you got to do that.

371
00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:09.920
You got to do this, you got to do that.

372
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.279
And you're like, well, wait a minute, I thought so

373
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:14.240
you've got to do all of these things in order

374
00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:23.759
to supposedly get this satisfaction. This kind of satisfaction is

375
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:28.680
rare if you ever even briefly experience it. It's fleeting,

376
00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.039
and it's largely at least AI is allowing for the

377
00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:36.440
possibility largely unattainable in this life. I think AI is

378
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.160
being nice. I don't think it's largely unattainable. I think

379
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:43.759
it's one hundred percent unattainable. And Christians lie to everyone

380
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:47.200
when they sell this nonsense and sermon after sermon after

381
00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:54.640
sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon. So the first

382
00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:58.119
problem why Christians don't ever experience this is because the

383
00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:03.200
definition is detached from reality. It's just it's unrealistic. It's unattainable.

384
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:06.799
It's just ridiculous. It's basically trying to say, you know,

385
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:13.359
to quote a famous lyric, heaven on earth. We don't

386
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:19.319
get heaven on earth, ladies and gentlemen. Number two second

387
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:28.920
problem sin doubt, losing my voice, Sin doubt and suffering

388
00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:33.079
are ongoing. I would like to say, AI says, sin

389
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:35.160
doubt and suffering or ongoing, I'm going to be like,

390
00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:39.000
this is what I'm going to say, sin, doubt, and

391
00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:43.640
suffering are realities of your life and my life. People

392
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.240
struggle with spiritual dryness, they struggle with doubt, they struggle

393
00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.960
with apathy, they struggle with guilt, and they often do

394
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.400
this quietly because you're not supposed to do it loudly

395
00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.400
and be open and honest with it. Because something's wrong.

396
00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:59.759
Because you've got Jesus, and that's all you ever need.

397
00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:02.680
Have you got Jesus, You'll never hunger and thirst again.

398
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:06.960
If you've got Jesus, you don't need anything else, because

399
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.480
that's the way it's always sold. Now you say, well,

400
00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.519
there's verses that seem to indicate this, and I think

401
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.160
these verses are radically misunderstood because we take these verses

402
00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.480
and I think they refer to something spiritual and we

403
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:23.119
make it somehow related to our physical, materialistic life. And

404
00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:29.200
I think that's where the problems begin. Ongoing sin and

405
00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:32.759
failure make it hard to feel spiritually satisfied because you're

406
00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:35.480
in a perpetual state of sin. How are you going

407
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.400
to feel spiritually satisfied when here's the reality. God says,

408
00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:41.200
be holy. You're not holy. You've never been that for

409
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:45.079
one second of one minute of one hour of one day.

410
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.160
You're never going to be that. You're in a perpetual

411
00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:49.920
state of sin. The Bible says to love God with

412
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:51.559
all your heart and mind, body and soul. You have

413
00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:53.839
never done that, you never will do that. The Bible

414
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.400
system may meditate on His law day and night. You

415
00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.279
have never done that. You never will do that. The

416
00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:03.920
Bible says to love His word more than you do gold, silver,

417
00:26:04.279 --> 00:26:06.960
and food. You have never done that, and you never

418
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.400
will do it. I can go on and on and

419
00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:12.839
on and on. Scripture after scripture after scripture. You live

420
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.400
in a perpetual state of failure. But you're supposed to

421
00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.599
somehow know. Oh, I'm spiritually satisfied now. It depends now

422
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.480
if you're talking about how you understand this, If we

423
00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:25.200
talk about my positional standing before God, I can have

424
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.079
complete satisfaction, right because in Christ I perfect and obedience.

425
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:31.880
But in my practical life you're in a perpetual state

426
00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:36.480
of failure. Every single time you open the Bible, you're

427
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:41.680
confronted with God's law that says you are a failure.

428
00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:44.880
And if you think otherwise, then you are not reading

429
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:52.799
the scriptures even remotely. Honest, sin, doubt, and suffering or

430
00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:56.839
ongoing and this life, prayers feel unanswered all the time,

431
00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:59.319
as much as you want to pretend otherwise, prayers feel

432
00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:04.839
unanswered all the time. The Bible can feel closed. Emotions fluctuate,

433
00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:09.279
that's just a reality. Alive. Emotions fluctuate. Why because emotions

434
00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:11.559
are not so simple as you get Jesus and now

435
00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:14.839
all of your emotions are right. Because emotions are complicated.

436
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.839
They're they're there's all kinds of things going on inside

437
00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.160
of us. There, they're they're influenced by external factors. They're

438
00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:26.400
influenced by internal factors. There's body chemistry going on, there's

439
00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:30.240
a million issues. So therefore, you're never truly going to

440
00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:34.279
have complete satisfaction the way Christians lie to you and

441
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:42.400
tell you you can. All right, If spiritual satisfaction is

442
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.079
measured by how close we feel to God or how

443
00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.200
victorious we are, then most Christians will always feel like

444
00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:52.240
a failure or a second class believer. You're always going

445
00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:54.000
to feel like you're a failure. You're always going to

446
00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:56.720
feel like you're a second class believer. You're always going

447
00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.319
if you're even remotely honest. So what's the game that is?

448
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:02.759
You got to pretend the game is you got to

449
00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:06.200
pretend to be that which you know everyone knows you're not,

450
00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:12.960
but you continue to pretend that way. So why do

451
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.440
Christians never going to feel true satisfaction? Is because the

452
00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:20.920
definition is detached from reality. It's unrealistic. And because sin, doubt,

453
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:22.920
and suffering is a part of this life and it's

454
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.559
always going to be a part of this life. For

455
00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:26.720
some people it's more than others, but it's always going

456
00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:32.799
to be there. Third, most Christians fake it, not necessarily

457
00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:36.279
out of hypocrisy, but out of pressure. The way satisfaction

458
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.519
has talked about makes people feel ashamed if there aren't

459
00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:43.359
experiencing it, pretend they have to. They have it to

460
00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:46.400
fit in at church or small group, buy books, go

461
00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:51.160
to conferences, or seek experiences hoping for that missing feeling.

462
00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.720
So instead of honestly saying, I don't I'm not satisfied,

463
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.039
I'm not content, I'm unhappy about this. No no, no, no, no, no

464
00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:02.599
no no, I still sin. Oh, you can't say that.

465
00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:07.000
You mask all of the inner emptiness, you mask all

466
00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:10.279
of the needs not being met, and you pretend, and

467
00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:13.960
you pretend, and you pretend and you pretend, and you

468
00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:18.400
may overcompensate because you feel that something is not right.

469
00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:20.480
So what you do you become you get involved in

470
00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:23.480
a performance based religion, and you do do do Do,

471
00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:26.920
do do do, and then you become arrogant, judgmental, and

472
00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.799
condemning to cover up the reality that you know something

473
00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.599
still isn't right. Even though I'm a Christian, you start

474
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:34.960
sounding like you're singing YouTube. I still haven't found what

475
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:43.680
I'm looking for. So obviously, most Christians are never going

476
00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:45.920
to find true satisfaction because many of them are spending

477
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.920
most of their life faking it. Number four the laws misused.

478
00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.240
When spiritual satisfaction is presented as the result of your

479
00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:57.039
obedience hunger and effort, then it's functionally law and not

480
00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:59.680
gospel a lot of times. And that's this weird thing.

481
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.279
If you get Jesus, you've got everything you need. You'll

482
00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:05.599
never hunger and thirst again, but almost inevitably again, bait

483
00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:07.920
and switch, you get Jesus, you get it all, and

484
00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:09.559
then all of a sudden switch no no, no, no,

485
00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:12.599
no no, you get Jesus. But now you got to

486
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:14.759
do this, and you got to do this, and you

487
00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:16.359
got to do this because if you don't do this

488
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:18.359
and you don't do this, and you don't do this well,

489
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:20.440
then you won't feel satisfied, you won't feel content, you

490
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.440
won't feel happy. You've got to be basically perfect then

491
00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.960
you'll be happy. I'm telling you you can be perfect.

492
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:28.599
You're still not going to be happy because why Because

493
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:32.480
you've got these needs inside of you, and the minute

494
00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:35.839
those needs are not being met, I don't care how

495
00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:38.039
godly you are, I don't care how holy you are.

496
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.680
You're going to feel it because it's built inside of

497
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.160
our body, and then we have a sinful nature inside

498
00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:50.240
of us. So when spiritual satisfaction is presented as the

499
00:30:50.279 --> 00:30:53.039
result of your obedience, hunger, and effort, then it's functionally

500
00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:55.319
law and it's not gospel, and it becomes a burden.

501
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:58.920
You're not satisfied because you don't want God enough. You're

502
00:30:58.920 --> 00:31:01.599
not satisfied because you're not seeking your affections on things above.

503
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:04.799
You're not satisfied because you're not seeking first the kingdom

504
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:08.759
of God. You're not satisfied because you haven't died to yourself.

505
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:13.599
It becomes a performance metric. If you were spiritual enough,

506
00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:17.480
you would feel full. If you were spiritual enough, you

507
00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:20.720
wouldn't be depressed. You wouldn't be discouraged, you wouldn't be frustrated,

508
00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:23.400
you wouldn't be better. Come on, snap out of it,

509
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:30.480
act right now. They may say it in a nicer way,

510
00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:33.960
but when you strip away all of the verbiage, it

511
00:31:34.039 --> 00:31:38.480
becomes do more, do more, do more, do more. So

512
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:42.759
it becomes a cycle of guilt. Try harder, want it more,

513
00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:47.400
Come on, you can do it. This will ultimately crush

514
00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:51.720
people who are honest about their feelings and their emotions

515
00:31:51.720 --> 00:32:01.400
and their desires and their needs and their wants. So

516
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:04.319
why do most Christians not experience Number one, The definition

517
00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:08.440
of satisfaction is completely unrealistic. Number two, Sin doubt and

518
00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:10.039
suffering are going to be a part of life. And

519
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:12.200
guess what, Sin doubt and suffering is always going to

520
00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.079
impact Maslow's hierarchy of needs because one of the reasons

521
00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:16.920
you're suffering is because one of those needs are not

522
00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.920
being met. Number three, most Christians are spending their time

523
00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:22.039
faking it, so they're not going to get anywhere. And

524
00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:25.359
typically this is once again a never ending problem of

525
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:29.400
where everything becomes law based and not gospel based. And

526
00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:32.440
number five, I think this is important. True satisfaction is

527
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:38.279
found outside of ourselves. The paradox of the Gospel really

528
00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:42.559
is this. You're not spiritually satisfied by what you feel

529
00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:47.799
or by what you do. You're spiritually satisfied because Christ

530
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:54.799
is your satisfaction, no matter what you feel, no matter

531
00:32:55.400 --> 00:33:01.319
what is going on Christ in Christ, Christ is my satisfaction.

532
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.079
This leads us back to a positional understanding. In Christ. Positionally,

533
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:09.319
I will never hunger or thirst. I don't need anything

534
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:12.240
to be eternally saved. There's nothing I have to do

535
00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:14.720
to keep my salvation, so I never have to hunger

536
00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:18.519
and thirst for righteousness because it's all been fulfilled in

537
00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:23.200
Christ Jesus. He's everything I need spiritually to get me

538
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:27.240
from salvation to eternal glory, to a new body. No

539
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:29.920
more pain, no more suffering, no more death I don't have.

540
00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:33.440
I can be perfectly content and what Christ has done

541
00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:36.440
for me now there I can find satisfaction. But that

542
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:40.400
satisfaction is far different than what it turns out practically,

543
00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:43.920
because practically I may be depressed, I may be discouraged,

544
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:47.480
I may be frustrated, things may be going horribly wrong.

545
00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:51.519
But in my position, I'm perfectly satisfied because Christ is

546
00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:55.799
my satisfaction. He satisfied the wrath of God on my behalf.

547
00:33:55.960 --> 00:34:04.799
He paid for my sins. Jesus kept the law perfectly.

548
00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:09.039
When you could not, and you cannot, he cried out

549
00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:12.239
and abandonment so you could be accepted. He was the

550
00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:14.719
Word made flesh. When you can barely read the word,

551
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.159
here's your peace. When your soul feels absolutely chaotic. That's

552
00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:28.199
not emotional, it's not circumstantial. It's positional. It's the objective

553
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:31.519
satisfaction we have in Christ, even while the lot, while

554
00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:37.039
we lack the subjective feeling of it. Positionally perfect satisfaction,

555
00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:44.239
perfectly complete, never hunger, never thirst again, never need anything again. Practically,

556
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:49.400
may never feel this, may never experience it, may live

557
00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:59.039
a life of so many negative things. Most Christians don't

558
00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:02.039
experience spiritual satisfaction the way it's preached or sold, and

559
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:04.039
when they don't, they often feel like something is wrong

560
00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:07.119
with them. They try to hide to fit in. They

561
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:12.079
try to hide it to fit in. They chase after books, worship, experiences, disciplines,

562
00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:14.519
trying to recapture it. They go to this conference, they'll

563
00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:17.239
buy a book on the five spiritual disciplines, and they

564
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:19.000
do this, and they're gonna do this, and they're gonna

565
00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:20.880
do this, and they're gonna do this, and they're always

566
00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:24.159
chasing this elusive thing where they can truly feel satisfied,

567
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:28.280
truly feel the blessed life. No, but I am blessed

568
00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:32.320
in Christ Jesus spiritually, not based on anything that's gonna

569
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:34.199
happen in my life. Because my life may be filled

570
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:37.199
with pain, turmoil, and missing a good portion of the

571
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:41.760
Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And God doesn't guarantee or promise

572
00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:44.360
that he's gonna make me feel better because these needs

573
00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:48.039
are meeting missing. Because with those needs are missing, there's

574
00:35:48.119 --> 00:35:54.039
going to be issues and what can ultimately happen. Well,

575
00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:56.440
Christians will chase and chase and chase, and sometimes they

576
00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:59.199
just stop chasing, they stop running, and they're like, this

577
00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:03.440
is all this whole system is a lie. It's all garbage.

578
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:07.000
You Christians are insane. Y'all got mental problems because you're

579
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:10.159
all pretending. It's like you're still running around and dress

580
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:12.719
up at Disneyland and you haven't woken up to realize

581
00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.360
the real world calls. And it's not this nonsense that

582
00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:22.920
you Christians teach because they never hear the gospel. They

583
00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:28.199
hear this law based system, but the Gospel tells us

584
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:33.800
a completely different story. Satisfaction is not found in your experience.

585
00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:36.800
It's not based on your experience. It's found in Christ,

586
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:40.679
who satisfies God's wrath fulfills God's law, and invite sinners

587
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:43.280
who are still thirsty, who are still broken, who are

588
00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:47.199
still weak, who still doubt, who still sin, to rest

589
00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:50.039
not in what they can do, but what He did

590
00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:53.480
perfectly in his finished work. This is you do not

591
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:56.239
trust or rest in your feelings. You don't trust and

592
00:36:56.280 --> 00:36:58.920
rest in your good deeds. You don't trust and rest,

593
00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.920
and how good a Christian you can be, you, it's

594
00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:13.360
all finished in Him. Your rest in that. So I

595
00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:16.320
was like, WHOA, that's really good, Ai, that's some really

596
00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:18.480
good stuff. And they drave home some really good points,

597
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.079
and of course I added my own thoughts in some

598
00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:24.320
of that, but yeah, it's We had a good conversation.

599
00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:28.119
But I was left with kind of After I had

600
00:37:28.119 --> 00:37:31.159
that conversation, I'm like, hey, so these are my words,

601
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:34.480
I said Ai. I didn't say Ai, but speaking to Ai,

602
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:39.280
typing to Ai, I said, many Christians who claim to

603
00:37:39.360 --> 00:37:43.719
have this so called spiritual satisfaction, which I don't believe

604
00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:48.519
anybody actually does, but I do find this somewhat irritating

605
00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:52.519
to me. Many who claim to have this spiritual satisfaction

606
00:37:54.239 --> 00:38:01.400
are often at the exact same time surrounded by material stability.

607
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:07.360
They have a home, they have a family, they have food,

608
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:18.320
they have income, they have health, they have security, they

609
00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:26.320
have intimacy, they have relationship, they have all the things.

610
00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:29.480
They basically have pretty much everything on Maslow's hierarchy of

611
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.320
needs pretty much met. They've got most of them there,

612
00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:45.159
and so it's not always clear whether they're satisfaction is

613
00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:50.960
truly spiritual, are just the psychological and emotional comfort that

614
00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:59.280
comes from having a good life. Now you'll see this

615
00:38:59.400 --> 00:39:08.639
a lot sometimes. The Christians were so loud about Oh,

616
00:39:08.679 --> 00:39:11.239
in Jesus, you got everything. In Jesus, you got everything.

617
00:39:11.480 --> 00:39:13.239
A lot of times you look and go, but look

618
00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:17.519
at your life. You're claiming Jesus is your all, Jesus

619
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:20.599
is all you need. Jesus is your satisfaction. You claim

620
00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:23.480
all of this stuff in a practical way, But look

621
00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:26.639
at your life. Let's go through Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

622
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:30.199
Name one thing is missing, Name one thing missing. You

623
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.880
got every single one of them. So if you've got

624
00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:35.559
them all, they're for crying out loud? Then how do

625
00:39:35.679 --> 00:39:39.199
you know that's Jesus satisfying you and that you or

626
00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:41.840
it's not? Or is it really Jesus satisfying you? Or

627
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:45.719
is it just the psychological and emotional comfort that comes

628
00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:49.000
from having a good life. You've got pretty much everything,

629
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:53.760
so how can you be claiming it's Jesus? You don't

630
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.119
know if it's Jesus. You can say, oh, day, it's Jesus.

631
00:39:56.199 --> 00:39:58.920
You've just added Jesus to your list of everything else

632
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:03.159
you've got maslow'shierarchy of needs check check, check, check, check,

633
00:40:03.239 --> 00:40:06.159
and then add in Jesus. Oh but Jesus is the

634
00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:15.960
thing satisfying me. Stop your nonsense, so AI said, Let

635
00:40:15.960 --> 00:40:24.000
me be blunt. Material comfort, emotional intimacy, physical intimacy. Add

636
00:40:24.039 --> 00:40:28.440
all of that stuff together gets confused with spiritual satisfaction.

637
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:33.719
If you ask someone who says they're spiritually satisfied, would

638
00:40:33.719 --> 00:40:37.280
you feel that same satisfaction if you lost your job,

639
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:47.719
you lost your health, you lost your marriage, you lose

640
00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:53.039
your kids. Would you still say God is enough? If

641
00:40:53.199 --> 00:41:01.920
everything was stripped away? Would your peace survive the unraveling

642
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:07.079
of your life? All these things were taken away. Go

643
00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:13.079
with Maslow's hierarchy of needs and start removing things. Now,

644
00:41:13.119 --> 00:41:15.159
I know what you're supposed to say. Oh, I'll be

645
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:17.840
satisfied because Jesus is all I need. Well again, it's

646
00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:20.280
big talk. When you got everything. It's big talk to

647
00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:22.559
say that in the sanctuary, or you're sitting next to

648
00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:25.000
your nice little family. And then you all get together

649
00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:27.480
and walk out holding hands, get in the car, stop

650
00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:30.840
by your favorite restaurant, get some food, go home, play outside,

651
00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:35.679
go to the park, walk the dog, give everyone a

652
00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:37.760
hug and kiss, and then you and your wife get

653
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:45.199
in bed together. Oh yeah, you've got everything. But I

654
00:41:45.239 --> 00:41:47.559
know when you start stripping some of those away, people

655
00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:51.760
don't sound like they're all satisfied, do they? Hmm, job,

656
00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:56.079
didn't sound so satisfied. Did he just keep that in mind.

657
00:41:56.079 --> 00:42:03.760
We'll come back to that in greater detail. So this

658
00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:09.000
question exposes something. A lot of what passes for spiritual

659
00:42:09.039 --> 00:42:12.840
satisfaction in the modern church is deeply entangled with material

660
00:42:13.199 --> 00:42:17.800
ease and circumstantial blessing. Now they may say, oh, I

661
00:42:17.880 --> 00:42:20.079
have all of this because God gave it to me. Well,

662
00:42:20.119 --> 00:42:24.039
that a great good. That's good. But the person one

663
00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:26.360
block away who doesn't have all of that. Waight, God

664
00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:28.280
didn't bother to give it to them. Okay, now we

665
00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:40.000
get into a whole different theological discussion. So I think

666
00:42:40.039 --> 00:42:42.800
a lot of what is put forth as satisfaction in

667
00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:48.239
the Christian Church it's fraudulent. It's fake. You claim to

668
00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:51.719
be so satisfied and that Jesus is your everything because

669
00:42:51.719 --> 00:42:54.199
you've got all this stuff. And my question is, if

670
00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:56.079
Jesus is everything, why do you need all of this

671
00:42:56.119 --> 00:43:00.880
other stuff? Why do you need timacy, Why do you

672
00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:04.400
need physical intimacy, Why do you need companionship? Why do

673
00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:06.719
you need this? Why do you keep by? Why do

674
00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:09.760
you have this and this and this? Oh you should

675
00:43:09.800 --> 00:43:18.159
need is Jesus. It should just be you God, the word, prayer, praise, confession,

676
00:43:19.639 --> 00:43:23.719
meditating on it, feeding upon God's word, because man does

677
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:25.480
not live by bread alone, but by every word that

678
00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:29.199
proceeded out of the mouth of God. You hunger and

679
00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:32.599
thirst after righteousness. That's that's what it should all be about.

680
00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:35.800
It's a it's a big game to say all of

681
00:43:35.840 --> 00:43:42.719
that and then you have everything else. Imagine your life

682
00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:55.239
and a monastery or a convent, become a nun become

683
00:43:55.280 --> 00:44:01.079
a monk. That's your life. Just God, just God. Morning prayers,

684
00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:06.679
afternoon prayers, evening prayers, late night prayers, following the Liturgy

685
00:44:06.679 --> 00:44:13.000
of the hours, reading, attending services, hearing homilies, reading from

686
00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:17.079
spiritual books. That's it. Nothing else. You don't have anything else.

687
00:44:23.920 --> 00:44:26.639
Now that's going to challenge your whole concept of satisfaction

688
00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:43.599
in about three point two seconds, so Ai again says,

689
00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:45.880
a lot of what passes for spiritual satisfaction in the

690
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:53.880
modern church is deeply entangled with material ease and circumstantial blessings.

691
00:44:54.119 --> 00:44:58.280
We could ask this question, what if job won thirteen

692
00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:04.800
through nineteen happened to you Job chapter one, verses thirteen

693
00:45:04.840 --> 00:45:07.440
through nineteen. Just write down job one thirteen through nineteen.

694
00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:08.960
What'd you should do to take a piece of paper,

695
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:12.519
write it out like, just paraphrase it. Just get the

696
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.639
basic concept of what happens here. Just write it down

697
00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:17.840
and just put it somewhere like on the refrigerator. You

698
00:45:17.840 --> 00:45:19.679
could see it every day and just ask what if

699
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:25.119
what if it happened to you? See, the test of

700
00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:27.719
spiritual satisfaction is not when your life is full, it's

701
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:32.320
when your life is empty. Job lost everything his livestock,

702
00:45:32.800 --> 00:45:38.239
his servants, his children, his wealth, his health, his wife

703
00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:42.440
even told him to curse God and die. Now in

704
00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:44.760
all of that, Job did say, though he slay me,

705
00:45:44.840 --> 00:45:52.559
yet I will trust in him. Now did he have satisfaction? Now,

706
00:45:52.840 --> 00:45:55.159
me and Ai had a little back and forth here,

707
00:45:55.239 --> 00:45:57.639
all right, and I'll go to the I'll skip some

708
00:45:57.679 --> 00:45:59.840
of this and go down to the next conversation. Because

709
00:45:59.880 --> 00:46:02.039
we had a conversation about this. Ai is like, well,

710
00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:04.719
most Christians are going to say, well, job was satisfied,

711
00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:08.280
and I'm like, that's complete garbage. I don't believe he was.

712
00:46:08.599 --> 00:46:12.880
I believe he maintained trust in God. That's far different

713
00:46:12.920 --> 00:46:17.360
than being satisfied. And we'll talk about that in a second.

714
00:46:20.079 --> 00:46:22.760
Jesus said this would be the test. A person's life

715
00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:26.199
does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Blessed are

716
00:46:26.239 --> 00:46:28.400
the poor in spirit. If anyone would come after me,

717
00:46:28.519 --> 00:46:32.320
let him deny himself. If our so called spiritual satisfaction

718
00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:35.639
collapses when life gets hard, then it wasn't really spiritual.

719
00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:43.480
It was circumstantial. But see, my thing is, I think

720
00:46:43.480 --> 00:46:49.360
it even goes deeper because if we truly had this satisfaction,

721
00:46:50.119 --> 00:46:53.159
because Christianity basically sells the idea that we can have

722
00:46:53.239 --> 00:46:56.079
this satisfaction that goes you know, we don't need Maslow's

723
00:46:56.119 --> 00:46:58.639
hierarchy of needs because we have Jesus. But the point

724
00:46:58.760 --> 00:47:01.119
is is, if you sell it that way, it's just

725
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:06.159
a garbage because we wouldn't then be pursuing all of

726
00:47:06.199 --> 00:47:08.199
these things. Why do we pursue all of these things?

727
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:10.119
Why do we I gotta do this, and I want this,

728
00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:11.719
and I need this, and I desire this, and I

729
00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:14.199
need this and I need this because we're still hungering

730
00:47:14.199 --> 00:47:16.559
and desiring. Because we have all these needs and all

731
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:19.000
of these desires, why do we get frustrated? Why do

732
00:47:19.119 --> 00:47:21.960
we get irritated? A much of our fighting and frustrating

733
00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:26.079
and bickering and backbiting and gossip and slander and bitterness

734
00:47:26.079 --> 00:47:29.800
and unforgiveness. So much of our sin is because we

735
00:47:29.880 --> 00:47:32.320
still have these needs, and when those needs are not met,

736
00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:36.639
they manifest in very real ways. So our ongoing sin

737
00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:39.880
in some ways prove that we're not truly spiritually satisfied,

738
00:47:39.920 --> 00:47:42.840
because we're truly spiritually satisfied. The way Christians sell it,

739
00:47:42.920 --> 00:47:45.920
you wouldn't want anything, you wouldn't need anything, so you

740
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:47.800
wouldn't even worry about sin because you would have no

741
00:47:47.880 --> 00:47:50.000
need for it because you're perfectly content and happy with

742
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:52.119
what you have. But that's not the case, is it.

743
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:03.840
Christians who talk about peace, joy, contentment, and satisfaction are

744
00:48:03.840 --> 00:48:07.360
not facing starvation, they're not facing persecution, they're not facing prison.

745
00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:11.320
They have health care, and in most cases, they're relatively healthy.

746
00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:14.119
They have electricity, they have clean water, they have access

747
00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:17.280
to churches, Bibles, and freedom of worship. They're financially and

748
00:48:17.320 --> 00:48:21.639
relationally stable. Even if life has some challenges, overall, they've

749
00:48:21.639 --> 00:48:24.400
got most of that. So what they call satisfaction is

750
00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:27.639
often basic human comfort paired with religious language, not the

751
00:48:27.760 --> 00:48:32.239
kind of deep, durable, soul level satisfaction that many Christians

752
00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:36.280
talk about. So what does all of this do well?

753
00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:40.440
It creates unrealistic expectations for suffering Christians. Why aren't you

754
00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:43.679
joyful in your trial? Why aren't you joyful? What is

755
00:48:43.719 --> 00:48:47.920
your problem? It causes guild and believers who are poor, lonely,

756
00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:50.760
sick or depressed. Maybe I just don't love God enough,

757
00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:53.960
Maybe something's wrong with me. It gives the wrong impression

758
00:48:53.960 --> 00:48:56.360
that Christianity is a pathway to peace in this life,

759
00:48:56.559 --> 00:49:00.480
rather than through crosses pain and deferred hope, because that's

760
00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:04.920
the reality the Christian life. You go through pain, suffering,

761
00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:23.800
deferred hope, sin, guilt, shame. Most Christians who say they're

762
00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:27.800
spiritually satisfied are also well fed, Howe's loved, safe, and employed,

763
00:49:28.159 --> 00:49:31.639
And that raises the question would they still claim spiritual

764
00:49:31.639 --> 00:49:35.000
satisfaction if all of that was gone? If not, maybe

765
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:38.960
it wasn't spiritual satisfaction to begin with. Now at this point,

766
00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:43.320
I interrupt Ai, and I'm like, hey, hey, I'm not

767
00:49:43.480 --> 00:49:50.199
sure Job confessed to having spiritual satisfaction. To me, he

768
00:49:50.360 --> 00:50:01.639
sounds very unsatisfied practically, emotionally, and mentally. AI says, You're

769
00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:05.320
right to question this. The idea that Job was spiritually

770
00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:09.199
satisfied in the way modern Christianity defines it calm, content,

771
00:50:09.559 --> 00:50:14.039
emotionally emotionally peaceful, is not only inaccurate, it completely misses

772
00:50:14.079 --> 00:50:17.159
the point of the book. All right. So AI's like, Okay,

773
00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:19.639
You're right to question it because the way AI framed

774
00:50:19.679 --> 00:50:21.679
it was a way like many Christians would frame it.

775
00:50:22.159 --> 00:50:23.480
I don't know if a I was trying to say

776
00:50:23.480 --> 00:50:26.920
what most Christians was trying to say how most Christians

777
00:50:26.920 --> 00:50:30.079
would put it. But I'm just like, ah, he's trusting him.

778
00:50:30.119 --> 00:50:34.360
But I don't think that's satisfaction, right. So this is

779
00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:36.960
what AI then goes on to say. Job was not

780
00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:41.039
spiritually satisfied by today's definition. If we define spiritual satisfaction

781
00:50:41.079 --> 00:50:45.239
as feeling close to God, having enter peace, being emotionally fulfilled,

782
00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:49.599
experiencing spiritual victory, feeling content no matter the circumstances, then

783
00:50:49.719 --> 00:50:54.360
Job fails the test absolutely horribly. He felt it miserably.

784
00:50:54.840 --> 00:51:00.159
What Job actually experienced He experienced emotional and mental agony,

785
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:03.840
Job chapter three, verse eleven. Why did I not perish

786
00:51:03.920 --> 00:51:08.039
at birth? Job three twenty four? My groans pour out

787
00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:13.440
like water? Job chapter ten one. I loathe my life.

788
00:51:14.079 --> 00:51:17.400
Job is not just sad. He's in full blown despair.

789
00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:20.400
He curses the day of his birth. That's not spiritual

790
00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:26.079
satisfaction by any modern definition. So when Maslow's hierarchy of

791
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:29.440
needs are pulled from Job's life, he wishes he was dead,

792
00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:32.280
he wished he was never born, and he loathes his

793
00:51:32.480 --> 00:51:45.760
very existence. That's not satisfied. Job experienced spiritual confusion and accusation.

794
00:51:46.360 --> 00:51:49.039
Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the

795
00:51:49.079 --> 00:51:52.599
work of your hands? Job ten three, Though I cry violence,

796
00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:57.159
I get no response. Job nineteen seven, Job nineteen six. Basically, God,

797
00:51:57.199 --> 00:52:01.800
you've wronged me. Basically, Job is accusing God. He feels abandoned, betrayed,

798
00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:05.719
and unjustly treated. This is not spiritual peace, it's spiritual torment.

799
00:52:08.239 --> 00:52:10.960
There's no sense of closeness with God. There are long

800
00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:13.039
stretches of the book where Job pleads with God and

801
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:16.079
hears nothing in return. He feels like God is hidden, silent,

802
00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:19.519
and distant. He does not know the end of the story.

803
00:52:19.639 --> 00:52:22.519
We read Job with hindsight, knowing God will restore him,

804
00:52:22.639 --> 00:52:25.960
but Job didn't. He lived most of the book in darkness, confusion,

805
00:52:26.039 --> 00:52:28.920
raw pain, still holding onto some faith, but not feeling

806
00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:33.159
satisfied at all. So what was Job actually doing. He

807
00:52:33.320 --> 00:52:36.719
wasn't showing satisfaction. He was showing faith in the middle

808
00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:42.039
of dissatisfaction. Job never pretends to be okay. He doesn't

809
00:52:42.119 --> 00:52:45.360
mask his sorrow with cliches. He doesn't call his suffering

810
00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:49.199
a blessing in disguise. He doesn't feel peace. He protests it,

811
00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:54.880
he mourns it, he argues, but he refuses to curse God.

812
00:52:55.400 --> 00:53:02.719
That's faith, not satisfaction. Faith and satisfaction are two different

813
00:53:02.760 --> 00:53:07.880
things Job had faith and his dissatisfaction he did. That's

814
00:53:08.360 --> 00:53:16.760
the reality. The Bible never commands emotional emotional satisfaction. It

815
00:53:16.800 --> 00:53:19.159
shows us to be honest, to lament, to protest, and

816
00:53:19.199 --> 00:53:22.280
to grief. It doesn't. Everyone thinks it will gives you this,

817
00:53:22.519 --> 00:53:26.119
Hey be emotionally satisfied. No, no, no. The Bible basically says,

818
00:53:26.159 --> 00:53:29.760
be honest, scream out and a lament, which is a

819
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:39.159
spiritual scream of pain, agony, and dissatisfaction. Protests grieve. Faith

820
00:53:39.239 --> 00:53:44.079
doesn't mean feeling good. That means clinging to God when

821
00:53:44.119 --> 00:53:47.920
you don't feel good, everything is wrong and you're ticked

822
00:53:47.960 --> 00:53:56.360
off about it. Spiritual satisfaction, as it's preached by most churches.

823
00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:59.280
They would condemn Job to the fifteenth level of hell.

824
00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:02.239
He kicked out of Sunday School. If Joe come walking

825
00:54:02.320 --> 00:54:04.480
into Sunday School has said some of the things he said,

826
00:54:04.599 --> 00:54:09.039
he would be kicked out, excommunicated, done. He's a sinner,

827
00:54:09.199 --> 00:54:11.920
he doesn't love God, he doesn't trust God. He would

828
00:54:12.039 --> 00:54:15.039
all basically, ever, we would treat him like his friends did.

829
00:54:16.440 --> 00:54:18.400
I don't act like we wouldn't. Oh, give me a

830
00:54:18.440 --> 00:54:21.320
stinking break, because we also self righteous. We would think

831
00:54:21.320 --> 00:54:27.800
what is wrong with him? We would condemn Job. We

832
00:54:27.800 --> 00:54:31.039
would condemn many of we we condemn the psawmist, We

833
00:54:31.119 --> 00:54:33.920
would condemn many of the prophets. We probably would even

834
00:54:34.480 --> 00:54:43.880
condemn Christ. Come on, trust in him. Why are you grieving?

835
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:46.440
Why are you, you know, sweating as if great drops

836
00:54:46.440 --> 00:54:48.760
of blood? Why are you why are you so worried?

837
00:54:48.760 --> 00:54:51.400
Why are you filled with so much anxiety? Why are

838
00:54:51.480 --> 00:54:53.679
you screaming out on the cross? My God, my God?

839
00:54:53.719 --> 00:54:56.599
Why has self forsaking me? Have a little faith, Jesus?

840
00:54:56.639 --> 00:55:03.519
What's your problem? We can't say anything like because we

841
00:55:03.840 --> 00:55:08.159
if we express strong feelings, we make the We got

842
00:55:08.159 --> 00:55:10.719
to make the little church uncomfortable. We can't make the

843
00:55:10.760 --> 00:55:15.639
little Christians uncomfortable now because Christianity is nothing more than

844
00:55:15.639 --> 00:55:18.239
a Hallmark movie or a Disney movie. Oh, it can't

845
00:55:18.239 --> 00:55:21.679
be a Disney movie because that's satanic, all right. It's it's, it's, it's,

846
00:55:21.719 --> 00:55:32.360
it's it's. An episode of Veggie tells a real picture

847
00:55:32.360 --> 00:55:34.760
of righteous suffering Jesus. You can think of Jesus on

848
00:55:34.800 --> 00:55:37.199
the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

849
00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:46.599
Job did not feel satisfied practically, emotionally, mentally, or even

850
00:55:46.639 --> 00:55:50.519
spiritually by modern definitions. And that's the point. The deepest

851
00:55:50.559 --> 00:55:55.559
spiritual maturity isn't calm satisfaction. It's raw, relentless faith when

852
00:55:55.599 --> 00:56:08.119
all satisfaction is gone. Now, I'll stop right there. We

853
00:56:08.199 --> 00:56:12.599
still didn't get anywhere near where I went to go. Well,

854
00:56:12.639 --> 00:56:16.239
I mean we got a lot further. There's still much

855
00:56:16.280 --> 00:56:20.320
to this conversation. Because I said it went on for

856
00:56:20.360 --> 00:56:26.760
three hours. There's a disconnect with the way Christianity sells

857
00:56:27.079 --> 00:56:34.360
itself well, it sells the satisfaction. And again, I think,

858
00:56:34.400 --> 00:56:38.320
if you want to understand sin. Now, I didn't get

859
00:56:38.320 --> 00:56:43.480
to defend this much, but we will get there. I'll

860
00:56:43.480 --> 00:56:46.320
put forth some of my ideas here. I think when

861
00:56:46.320 --> 00:56:48.519
we look at Masslow's hierarchy of needs, when those needs

862
00:56:48.559 --> 00:56:55.800
are not met, it manifests itself in very clear ways emotionally, physically, behaviorally, mentally,

863
00:56:56.239 --> 00:56:59.599
and spiritually. And a lot of sin is directly connected

864
00:56:59.639 --> 00:57:02.599
to these these needs. Not being mad or satisfied. I'm

865
00:57:02.639 --> 00:57:05.719
not justifying the sin. I'm saying there's a deeper reason

866
00:57:05.800 --> 00:57:12.719
for it. And a lot of times you see this

867
00:57:12.800 --> 00:57:19.480
game gets get played. Right. As people get older, older,

868
00:57:19.519 --> 00:57:23.039
teen years, going into the single years, they have some needs.

869
00:57:24.039 --> 00:57:29.320
They have some desires, right, oh, come on, now do

870
00:57:29.400 --> 00:57:33.039
we do? I'll try to be you know, careful how

871
00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:35.519
I say this. But they have some needs and desires

872
00:57:35.559 --> 00:57:40.480
for intimacy, for love, for relationship. They desire it. Now

873
00:57:40.599 --> 00:57:43.159
the church will say, hey, hey, hey, find it as fast

874
00:57:43.199 --> 00:57:46.159
as you can and get married as quickly as you can,

875
00:57:46.440 --> 00:57:49.519
because you can't meet these needs other than you meet

876
00:57:49.519 --> 00:57:51.719
the needs this way. So a lot of people then run,

877
00:57:51.760 --> 00:57:54.480
they get married very very early. Sometimes that works out.

878
00:57:54.639 --> 00:57:57.239
Sometimes it's a complete and total and utter disaster. But

879
00:57:57.599 --> 00:57:59.719
Christianity is even aware that these desires are there, but

880
00:57:59.719 --> 00:58:02.119
we got get these met as fast as possible. But

881
00:58:02.159 --> 00:58:05.719
for many things don't work out so smoothly. So in

882
00:58:05.760 --> 00:58:08.800
many cases they kind of withdraw from the church, maybe

883
00:58:08.880 --> 00:58:11.239
kind of walk away from the church, don't get so

884
00:58:11.320 --> 00:58:13.599
close to the church because they got these needs, these

885
00:58:13.599 --> 00:58:16.159
wants and these desires, and they kind of walk away.

886
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:19.079
In many cases there or even if they stay in

887
00:58:19.119 --> 00:58:22.800
the church, they're involved in sin. They're struggling in sin,

888
00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:24.840
but a lot of cases they keep it hidden and

889
00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:28.360
nobody knows they're struggling and they're doing these sins, but

890
00:58:28.599 --> 00:58:31.320
sh keep it, keep it down. Low, and then what happens,

891
00:58:31.480 --> 00:58:33.880
Then they can finally get married. They get married and

892
00:58:33.920 --> 00:58:37.800
now they have a family and then done. Dun dum,

893
00:58:37.920 --> 00:58:41.599
God gives me power over my sin. I'm completely satisfied.

894
00:58:41.800 --> 00:58:44.159
Look at me, and it's like yeah, because now you're

895
00:58:44.199 --> 00:58:46.840
able to fulfill the very thing that you were struggling with.

896
00:58:47.079 --> 00:58:49.199
Now you have a way to fulfill it. Now you

897
00:58:49.199 --> 00:58:51.519
have a way to meet that desire. You have that need,

898
00:58:51.639 --> 00:58:54.800
you have the relationship, you have physical intimacy and physical

899
00:58:54.880 --> 00:58:58.440
satisfaction on a pretty consistent basis. You've got this, You've

900
00:58:58.440 --> 00:59:01.239
got that. Now you talk a bit game, and sometimes

901
00:59:01.239 --> 00:59:05.760
it's those young Christian couples who are loud condemning and

902
00:59:05.880 --> 00:59:09.039
think that they've got it all figured out because they're

903
00:59:09.159 --> 00:59:13.920
Christians and they're got it. Fifteen minutes ago, before you

904
00:59:14.280 --> 00:59:16.719
had all of this, you were struggling and sinning and

905
00:59:17.599 --> 00:59:21.320
frustrated and depressed and because some needs weren't being mad.

906
00:59:21.480 --> 00:59:24.360
So it's not that all of a sudden Jesus satisfied you.

907
00:59:24.559 --> 00:59:26.199
Now you have a way to get the very needs

908
00:59:26.239 --> 00:59:27.920
mat And now that you've got the needs met all

909
00:59:27.960 --> 00:59:31.039
of a sudden, now it's zip bitty dude. Uh zip

910
00:59:31.039 --> 00:59:33.679
bitty dah. All of a sudden, the rainbow is in

911
00:59:33.760 --> 00:59:37.559
the sky, Skittles are falling, unicorns are running by. Everything

912
00:59:37.639 --> 00:59:41.000
is wonderful, everything's happy. You're in the honeymoon stage. Life

913
00:59:41.039 --> 00:59:44.599
is good. You're pursuing your career. You may be starting

914
00:59:44.639 --> 00:59:47.039
to make a little bit more money. You've got freedom now,

915
00:59:47.119 --> 00:59:50.119
you're you're not living under your parents. Things are going good.

916
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:52.079
You've got you want to do this. You're thinking about

917
00:59:52.079 --> 00:59:53.639
all the things you want to do in life. You've

918
00:59:53.639 --> 00:59:56.239
got all of that going. So, all of those emotional

919
00:59:56.280 --> 01:00:00.360
needs that is on the Mazzole hierarchy is being matt

920
01:00:00.440 --> 01:00:04.639
and you're saying, it's Jesus, It's Jesus, stop it. You

921
01:00:04.800 --> 01:00:11.199
just got all the needs mad, And so you become

922
01:00:11.239 --> 01:00:18.360
this arrogant, condemning, self righteous jerk. And many times the

923
01:00:18.440 --> 01:00:23.519
facade begins to crack, and then you realize, huh, not

924
01:00:23.639 --> 01:00:27.960
as perfect as you pretended to be? Are you? Not

925
01:00:28.199 --> 01:00:32.719
so righteous? Are you? Because sooner or later, the other

926
01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:36.880
needs will begin to emerge, other desired things won't be

927
01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:40.199
going out perfectly, and then guess where you're going to be?

928
01:00:44.079 --> 01:00:47.719
And so what happens, Well, some cases of what over

929
01:00:47.800 --> 01:00:49.960
forty percent. I depend I don't know the latest number,

930
01:00:49.960 --> 01:00:53.480
somewhere between forty and fifty percent. Sometimes it's been listed

931
01:00:53.519 --> 01:00:56.039
as fifty. Sometimes it's been around forty two, forty three.

932
01:00:56.280 --> 01:01:05.000
But a good number of those Christian marriages. Wait, I

933
01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:10.199
thought everything was perfect. Now or this happens, or this happens,

934
01:01:10.360 --> 01:01:13.760
or this happens, and there's grumbling and there's fighting, and

935
01:01:13.800 --> 01:01:22.559
there's bickering and there's unhappiness. But I thought Jesus took

936
01:01:22.599 --> 01:01:28.039
care of it all, made everything perfect, complete satisfaction in him.

937
01:01:28.400 --> 01:01:30.760
I should never hunger and thirst again. I should be

938
01:01:30.800 --> 01:01:42.159
completely content. I shouldn't need anything. Sometimes we can't see

939
01:01:42.159 --> 01:01:46.280
that we're fooling our own selves. Now, I know some

940
01:01:46.320 --> 01:01:49.199
of your quoting scriptures, right, you're quoting, but Jesus says this,

941
01:01:49.320 --> 01:01:52.559
and I understand again. I believe many of those passages

942
01:01:52.880 --> 01:02:00.559
have to be understood from a positional perspective, because in

943
01:02:00.559 --> 01:02:03.880
a practical sense, come on now, or we have to

944
01:02:03.920 --> 01:02:06.440
understand them as law calling for something that we never

945
01:02:06.519 --> 01:02:09.639
can do, which drives us to Christ, who is our satisfaction.

946
01:02:11.679 --> 01:02:16.400
Christ does fulfills all of that perfectly for us. That's it.

947
01:02:17.440 --> 01:02:18.960
It's going to all fall apart. We will get to

948
01:02:18.960 --> 01:02:21.440
some of those scriptures further on in this, but now

949
01:02:21.480 --> 01:02:25.880
we're over an hour, and I think we did pretty good.

950
01:02:29.519 --> 01:02:33.760
I think we took that apart pretty good, and we

951
01:02:33.880 --> 01:02:37.360
took apart job, and I think I think we did

952
01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:43.360
pretty good. All right, we'll stop right there. Thanks for listening.

953
01:02:43.760 --> 01:02:45.920
We'll continue this. I don't know if we'll get to

954
01:02:46.039 --> 01:02:50.400
anymore tomorrow, maybe tomorrow May. I would like to try

955
01:02:50.400 --> 01:02:53.519
to do this. Maybe so tomorrow we'll be live streaming

956
01:02:53.559 --> 01:02:56.599
everything for church. So a lot of times I like

957
01:02:56.639 --> 01:02:59.719
to start one like at around not eight forty five,

958
01:03:00.239 --> 01:03:02.719
try to be done about nine fifty, then go ten

959
01:03:03.199 --> 01:03:06.280
to eleven, then start, but it always gets really rushed,

960
01:03:06.320 --> 01:03:08.760
and so I may not do that tomorrow and just

961
01:03:08.840 --> 01:03:12.360
try to just do ten and broadcast at ten, broadcast

962
01:03:12.360 --> 01:03:17.159
at eleven, and then yeah, and then maybe just wait

963
01:03:17.199 --> 01:03:20.000
till Monday to do more on this. And we got

964
01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:21.519
to get back to our study on Salem. We still

965
01:03:21.519 --> 01:03:24.239
got to do the storms of life stuff, so and

966
01:03:24.400 --> 01:03:26.400
Acts twenty seven we need to work on that. We

967
01:03:26.480 --> 01:03:28.679
still got a lot of things to do. But yeah,

968
01:03:28.760 --> 01:03:30.880
all right, thanks for listening. In other words, I'm not

969
01:03:30.960 --> 01:03:34.079
satisfied with where I'm currently at and some of these

970
01:03:34.079 --> 01:03:36.159
series and I'm not really satisfied and how tomorrow is

971
01:03:36.159 --> 01:03:37.960
going to go because I don't really know, and probably

972
01:03:37.960 --> 01:03:41.039
when I'm done, I won't be satisfied about that, and okay,

973
01:03:41.119 --> 01:03:45.159
well all right, thanks for listening. God bless