Connection: Faith and Reality

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. In just a few hours, you're going to start hearing some this sound at your front door. You're gonna hear that, You're gonna hear the doorbell, and there's going to be people standing at your door right and you're going to open the door and you're gonna be like, wait, they're Spider Man. Wait wait, there's there's there's a serial killer from a horror movie. There's Jason, there's Michael Myers. Oh wait, wait, wait, wait wait, there there's a there's this, there's that. And you're gonna be like, what is happening on my front door?

0:42 How did all of these fictional characters show up on my front door? What? There's a princess, there's a warlock, there's a witch. What is there's there's there's a devil. What is happening? Well, you know what is happening because well it is Thursday, October the thirty first, twenty twenty four. It is currently three zero five pm Central time here in West Texas, and that means we're just a few hours away before you're going to open your door and You're going to see all of these things, spider Man, iron Man, who knows Captain America, I don't know, a superheroes in I don't know where You're You're going to see all types of things. And you know what you're actually seeing, right, what you're actually seeing is not really spider Man, not really iron Man, not really a witch, not really this not really that. You're going to see people dressed up because it is Halloween, whether you celebrate it, whether you don't celebrate it, whether you leave the porch light on and open the door, or whether you turn the porch light off and turn off all your lights so that no one will bother you. Whatever your tradition is, whatever your ideas, whatever you will participate in or not participate in. You will if you happen to look outside, you're going to see all these people walking, you know, down the street, along the sidewalk, maybe even in the middle of the street, and they're going to be dressed up in all kinds of different costumes. But you're going to know that they're just dressed up in a costume. Right, You're not going to go with a minute wit a minute, wit a minute. No no, no, no, no, no, no, No, that's really a ghost, that's really a witch, that's really

2:14 that's really a superhero, that's really You're not going to do that because you know what is happening. You have some correlation between everyone dressing up, playing pretend versus what reality is. There is some correlation. You know, they're pretending. You may want them to have fun. You may even pretend and go oh and act all scared and play along with them. Right, You may even do that, right, I don't know. There may be a lot of people dressed up tonight, like Caitlin Clark from the Indiana Fever. I bet you there's a lot of little girls will be dressed up that way. There's gonna be a lot of different costumes and characters. And you may play along, but everyone knows, Hey, we're just playing along. You know that here, here's reality. Here's what we will call fantasy, reality fantasy, right, and we know that how that correlates. Right, We like to escape into fantasy, but at the same time we know what reality is. Right. You don't want to get lost in fantasy, but you do like to escape there sometimes, right, But you know the difference you can separate them. That makes sense, you go to a movie, you may. You may in a sense respond emotionally. You may respond with a gasp or or shock, or applause, or with crying based on what you're seeing on the screen right You may. You may because you at so caught up into the story that you act and react almost as if it's real with your emotions. Some people

3:46 may be more than others. Some people can in a sense set aside any of their you know, perception of what's real or not real, and just escape into the story. Some people can do that. So a lot of that will be happening tonight, where there'll be people pretending, people playing along. But everyone knows the difference when you go into a movie, even though you know the difference, But you can allow yourself to just be caught up into the story and escape, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's great, that's fun, that's wonderful. In a similar way, not exactly the same, but just for illustration purposes, just to try to connect something that you can relate to to maybe something that may be a little bit more abstract.

4:34 So I'm going to take that, which is you understand tonight October thirty. First, there's going to be all these people in costumes. It's Halloween. You're going to understand that, and you're going to know the difference between the pretend and the reality. Right, you understand that. But I think when we enter into the world of Christianity, I think sometimes we have a problem because we have this thing called faith. We have this thing that called faith where we believe in what we cannot see. We believe and a lot of these concepts that maybe seem abstract, we can't necessarily see them. They're spiritual, they're not necessarily physical. We believe in it. But at the same time we live within this reality. And I think sometimes as Christians there is not only a conflict between faith and reality.

5:26 I think sometimes we don't know how they connect. When should they disconnect, should there be agreement, should there be disagreement? How does this work? And it leads to some really bizarre things within the history of Christianity. I'll give you the most obvious, you know, the most obvious. There's an entire stream of theology out there, an entire stream that will say, hey, by faith, I believe that the Bible teaches that physical fee is guaranteed in this life. We're not talking about something in eternity in this life. If you will believe you can be healed, it's not if it's God's will. It is God's will because by faith.

6:14 I believe that's what the Bible teaches, and I believe it. I don't care what I see. God guarantees helly. God will fix He can raise the dead, he will raise the dead, he will get rid of that cancer, he will let you walk again. And they believe it. It doesn't matter what reality says. They say they are not walking by sight, they are walking by faith. Well, this leads to some weird things, right, They're making all of these claims and over and over and over. You can be like, uh, your claim and reality are in conflict. But they'll say, but you're walking by sight. I walk by faith. I know you're walking by faith. But look around you. People are not being raised from the dead.

6:59 People with missing arms and legs are just they're not just growing back all. And a lot of your claims of miracles turn out to be fraudulent. So how do you reconcile that? For some they don't feel like they have to reconcile. They don't care. They just they have in a sense they have committed themselves. Dare I say to the fantasy, to the dress up, to the pretend, and they they are so convinced that these things are happening, even though everything around you says, look around, there's a hospital here, there's a hospital here, there's a hospital here, there's a cemetery there, there's a cemetery there. There's kids in hospitals all over the country right now suffering from horrible childhood diseases that are terminal, and they're not going to make it to sixteen or seventeen. They're going to live their lives, in many cases in and out of hospital, suffering and suffering and suffering and suffering. Yet you say that healing is guaranteed, and so then what do they have to Well, then they have to blame the person not being healed. You don't have enough faith. It's like they've almost entered into a well, a halloween dress up and they're playing these characters and you're like, can we take the mask off? Can we take the costume off?

8:22 Because reality is saying something completely different. That's one example. Another one much closer to what we've been talking about for now. It feels like a good portion of twenty twenty four is this reality. There is a reality in your life and my life. And here is the reality. God says, be holy as he is holy, that is perfect, that is perfection. You have never been that. You are not that, and you never will be that in this life. Meaning you will always fall short. Meaning you're in a perpetual stat of sin. You cannot fulfill that. You cannot fulfill God's law, you cannot keep it. Be holy as he is holy, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

9:07 Do all things without grumbling and complaining. Uh. I mean, I can go Love God with all your heartmind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemy, turn the other cheek. I can go on and on and on. You cannot accomplish that. That is a reality, ladies and gentlemen. It's an it's not even disputable. You live in perpetual sin. That's reality. But Christians come along and go no no, no, no, no no no no no no no no no no. By faith in Jesus Christ, I have become a new creation. All things have passed away, all things have become new. You're but but you're but there's a conflict here the reality you're in perpetual sin. Well, no, no, no, I'm a new creation. Whole things are passed away, all things have become new. Like, no, you're still sin, but I'm a new creation. No, you're still a sinner. It's as if Christians have perfected this. Halloween is not a one time event. For Christians, we live in a perpetual state of dress up, a perpetual state may of make believe, a perpetual state of fantasy and our fantasy. Well, for some, as I've already stated, their theological stream is God guarantees healing.

10:15 No reality says it. So, oh, you're walking by sight and not by faith. We walk by faith and not by saying no reality is healing is not guaranteed. Right now, can you stop saying that? Oh no, no, no, I'm not taking off my Halloween costume. I'm gonna continue to wear it. And then you've got others going look, look, look, look. No. When I became a Christian, I became a new creation. All things have passed away, all things have become new. I can now say no to sin and yes to God. I now have been free, freed from the bondage of sin, I can do it. And you're like, but you don't. If you break one point of the law, you're guilty of all the law. So guess what, You're guilty of every point of the law, because you're always guilty of one point of the law. Because you never love God with all your heartmind, body, and soul. You never love your neighbor as yourself. You're never as holy as God as holy, You're never perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect you. I can go on and on and on and on and on, but there's this conflict. And if you scream wait reality, they're like no, no, no faith.

11:17 And you're like reality, They're like, no faith. Just like if you walk up and some kid walks up to your door tonight, knocks on the door and open the door, and who knows what they're dressed up as it It doesn't matter whether something scary, whether something heroic, whether something from fantasy fiction, It doesn't And you're like, look, kid, I know what you are. You're just a kid. Take off the mask, you know, just show you're the kid. Will be like what are you doing? What are you doing? No? No, no, no, no, I'm really I really am spider Man. No, really, I'm really a skeleton. No, I'm really a ghost, I'm really a witch, and I'm really a warlock. They're gonna be like, what are you doing? Stop ruining my Halloween. Don't I'm not a kid, I'm right now. Well that's how many that's for some weird reasons. That's how Christians are. No, no, no, no, you're still a sinner. No, no, I'm not taking off my mask. I'm a new creation. I can do all things.

12:13 I can basically stop sinning. No, you're a sinner. No, I am not taking off my mask. It is Halloween every day of the year. I'm pretending to be basically sinless. Now they always throw in basically because well push comes to show, they will admit that they are a sinner. It's the same kind of concept we played dress up. Oh no, healing is guaranteed. Look around, you stopped with your nonsense. Oh no, no, no, you just don't have faith. You just don't have faith. You just don't have faith. See, if you truly have faith, you would realize that you really are a new creature in the old pastway, and everything has become new it you've been freed from the bondage of sin, and now you can say no to sin and yes to God, so I can be perfec Well, I mean, well, wait a minute, I thought you just said I didn't have enough faith. Can you make up your Are we playing dress up? Are we not playing dress up? Are we playing We're not playing pretent? It is reality? Well, if it's reality, then I can be sinless. Well, I mean, come on. And so then it goes back and forth, and we've talked about all of this just confusion.

13:22 Now why am I starting? Why have I spent thirteen minutes using this kind of Halloween illustration and talking about this kind of conflict between basically faith in reality. Just as there is a conflict or there's a connection, conflict and connection. I want you to see both concepts. There's a correlation between faith and reality, and there should be a correlation obviously between fantasy and reality. When we lose when we lose grasp of reality, whether it's fantasy or reality, or whether it's faith in reality, things go horribly wrong. Right. There was just the big news story I don't know release the last week. I think, in fact my daughter sent it to me. I think was it today? Let me.

14:04 Look here. She sent me a lot of news stories here today. You see here? Where is it? She sent me a lot? I can't keep track of all of them. Here here we are, this is the news story. There are no guardrails. This mom believes inn ai chatbot is responsible for her son's suicide. Let me read that again. There are no guardrails. This mom believes an AI chatbot is responsible for a son's suicide. This teenager started chatting with an AI chatbot that I think was supposed to mimic pretend to be a character in games Game of Thrones if I remember correctly, And what happened is next thing, you know, he's committing suicide. And they're saying, well, he got so lost in the fantasy that he forgot reality.

14:54 When anyone gets so lost and fantasy and loses touch of reality, we say that's a bad thing, right, We condemn that. We're like, no, you gotta stay in touch with reality, or once you get lost in the fantasy, it's a bad thing. Right. Well, in a similar way, what happens when Christians lose touch of reality and fall into this faith faith, faith, faith, and they can there's almost like a disconnect between reality where you walk around telling everyone no, no, no, no no no. God guarantees healing. If you'll just believe your cancer will be gone, this will be gone, and they and so they say, I'm gonna believe it and then they die. Well guess what That disconnect between faith and reality leads to pain, suffering, confusion.

15:42 Well what do you do when you run around telling everyone no, no no. When you become a a Christian you're a new creature, old things that passed away. All things have become new. Okay, well, then I should be able to stop sinning. See, if you get so caught up in the faith part, you've got to keep it correlated to reality, to lovel Isn't there a correlation somehow between faith and reality? Isn't there some connection? Now? Again, as I was saying, and I cut myself off, why am I talking about this? Why am I going through all of this illustration? Because well, we have been talking about some realities in the Christian life that I believe Christianity is not they're not willing to accept, they're not willing to deal with in any meaningful way. And here is the reality you keep sinning even as a believer.

16:32 You will never stop sinning. You're in a perpetual state of sin. You cannot keep the law of God. You cannot. Now that means that's a reality that many Christians are not willing to accept, not willing to acknowledge, and almost minimize because they get so caught up in the so called faith aspect. Well you've got to see it by faith. Well you can try to see it by faith, but that faith has to be connected to reality to some level. And we have talked about this before. I did an entire message on faith versus reality. But here's what happened. We've been working through this book, the Sixth Secrets of the Christian Life, and I opened it up to chapter five for the fifth Secret, and it really started emphasizing this idea of faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. And so then I just had to step back and go, m is faith the secret? If I just have the right faith, if I just believe the right things that done dun't to done, I have found the secret to the Christian life. And I guess I will almost basically be free from sin. Now I'm not saying that that's exactly how the book puts forth. The argument will actually work through the chapter at some point, but it made me step back and go this concept the struggle between faith and reality. There has to be correlation. So I started doing a little bit of work kind of basically

18:04 with this mindset, this kind of question in my mind. I basically should I basically asked, I basically. Put forth this concept of there being possibly a conflict between faith and what isn't seen versus what actually is seen and experienced. Right. I started talking about this possible conflict because I had read an on Ai kind of a summary of chapter five of the book Six Secrets of the Christian Life, and it really emphasized this faith faith faith faith thing. And so then I basically asked AI, well, doesn't this create a conflict between having faith and what isn't seen versus what we actually see and experience, because you can't just say, well, if we have faith and I guess you know, all of a sudden we now just we never sin, or like, how does this work?

18:58 Because there's a reality. So AI acknowledged this. Hodge, which is the you know, Zaane Hodge is the author of the book Hodge's Approach. This is what Ai said, Hodge's approach to living by faith rather than site, can create a noticeable tension between trusting and the unseen promises of God and navigating the realities we see and experience daily. This conflict is often part of the Christian experience, as believers try to reconcile faith in God's invisible truth with tangible, visible circumstances that may appear contradictory or challenging. So AI acknowledges this is kind of the conflict in the Christian life.

19:48 We have these supposed promises, these ideas, which in a sense are spiritual. They're not tangible, they're in some cases they're unseen. But we while we have these, we live in the real world, and the real world in many cases calls into question greatly some of these concepts. So AI gave me this. The sources of conflict between faith and sight Number one, they give human natures need for tangibility.

20:28 Humans are wired to rely on their senses and reasoning to interpret the world, making it challenging to trust in something unseen or not immediately verifiable. Faith, however, calls Christians to move beyond sensory evidence to rely on God's promises, even if they don't align with visible circumstances. Now, this is where the problem shows up. And I think, and at least with me and a lot of Christians, because they say, lying on God's promises and as long as I have a promise, who cares if they don't align with visible circumstances. And that sounds so good, and that preach is so good, and there is maybe a level of that I can agree with, but there is also a danger. Charismatics will say, see, we rely on God's promises even if they don't align with visible circumstances. God guarantees healing by his stripes. We are healed, so healing is guaranteed for now. And you're like, wa, wait, wait, wait, I don't think that this is a conflict in that case between God's promises and visible circumstances. I think because you are misinterpreting those promises and misapplying those promises, right, see that. I don't think the charismatic issue is that, well, they're walking by faith and I'm walking by sight. I No.

21:51 I think the issue is they're putting faith and promises based off of misinterpretation and a misunderstanding. Is healing guarantee in the atonement? Well, yes, and glorification when there'll be no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, and will have a new body. Then not for now, So it's a misunderstanding. So I believe faith, and now see this is where I would would argue, if I put faith that there is a time of glorification in a new body, that I am putting my faith in that which I cannot see, which goes beyond and it does not necessarily align with visible circumstances. So in that case, it is doing that I am putting my faith in something I cannot see that goes beyond visible circumstances. But at least it still can be somewhat correlated with reality, because they can explain the reality now of people not being healed, people not being healed, death, death, death, death, death, death, children suffering, people suffering, pain, disease, all the things, because it would be remove those promises not being for now, but being for eternity. See, then I can correlate. I can correlate and connect my faith to reality. So I do believe human nature has a need for tangibility, and I think that need for tangibility means that there has to be some way to correlate and connect faith and

23:22 reality to something that actually works and not basically Halloween every day of the year where we're all dressed up pretending something that's not the case. Saying when people say, well, if anyone's on Christ is a new creature, old things have passed away, all things have become new. Well, you can put your faith in this promise and say that it's for now, but you're going to be living in complete disconnect between faith and reality. But if I understand that promise to be referencing my position in Christ, if anyone is in Christ, that's my position, then I'm a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things have become new. It is speaking of my positional reality. Now I cannot see that reality. It does go beyond visible circumstances, but I can believe it and yet remain in connection to reality because reality is you're a center. I'm a center, Sin Sin Sin Sin. Since then, the big mega church right right down the street from me, five minutes from my house. There's a south side campus and a north side campus. I live about five minutes from the south side campus. It is the Megachurch here in Abilene, Texas. Right.

24:31 Oh wait, here's the breaking news story. Youth leader from the church right down the street arrested for child pornography. Now, how does that happen? Because the reality and people, that's horrible. He's not even a Christian. See, that's what we always run. That's our only way to be able to see. We can't process that reality that someone could be in the church, even be a believer, and be committing some horrible sin. We can't process that because we want to play dress up. No no, no, no, no, no, no, we're all perfect. No we're not. We're sinner, sinner, center sinners, and sinner sin. They may not commit your sin, they may not commit my sin, but they sin. Oh and I can, I can go. I can pull up probably I probably pull up five ten fifteen reports probably from the last week of different horrible things that's happened inside churches.

25:33 I saw there was a report about some either some form of sexual sin, some something bad in a church, right, And they said, oh, this is the fruit of once saved, always saved. Right, And so I wanted to respond to the person and say, oh, yeah, you're right, because all of that horrible Catholic sexual abuse scandal, and they and it's all because they believe in once saved. Oh yeah, that doesn't work. That doesn't work because because churches who don't believe in what saved always says they never commit sin. So we always got to find some reason to excuse, to explain the sin. It can't just be Christians still sin. No, no, no, we've already given that up and we're playing dress up.

26:15 No no, no, everyone's in Christ They're a new creation. So basically we don't sin. No, we are a new creation positionally. Practically, guess what we are? A sinner and guess what that means. You can have your faith and still be connected to reality. But Christians want to separate and so remove the two that we live. We say and live and say things that are just utterly disconnected from reality. This is where this what cares. This is what charismatics do. They live in this fake, fake, fake world. All right. So the first thing AI gave me was if I can go back here, if I can go back here, that human natures need tangibility, We need tangibility, but that needing it can create the conflict. And I think what happens is many Christians start denying that need for tangibility and then turn their faith perspective into tangibility even when it's not. And I think this leads to really psychological just craziness. Number two, visible challenges versus spiritual promises.

27:23 Life's hardship, such as illness, financial struggles, relational conflicts in justice often seems inconsistent with God's promises of provision, healing, and justice. This discrepancy between present trials and God's promises can cause doubt, as it may feel like faith requires ignoring or overlooking real life difficulties. And as the thing, some people so live in this faith world, this faith we'll call it a faith halloween where they're playing dress up and they just cannot They have some like, well, why is all these bad things are happening? So then they come up with all, well it's satan, Well it's free will. They come up with a million excuses because they just can't accept that maybe their idea of faith and their idea and the promises is that they have just so disconnected their faith to reality that they've created a fantasy world. They go on to say a kind of a third idea that society often lives by empirical evidence and proof living by faith and what isn't seeing can feel countercultural or irrational within a world that prioritizes scientific reasoning and observable outcomes. This cultural backdrop can make faith based decisions seem disconnected or even foolish. Well, listen, disconnected decisions can be foolish because in many cases they've disconnected it with reality. Yes, we live in a world that should care about empirical evidence. I think we no

28:54 longer live in a world that cares about empirical evidence. That's a whole different discussion, but I think there is, and I think that that conflict should make us go, wait a minute, Wait a minute. Have I so abandoned empirical evidence for a faith concept and that I have abandoned any connection to reality? Therefore, my theology says things that are just empirically not true. God guarantees healing. He's doing all of these miracles. Now you're the empirical evidence proves that you're a liar, because every time we go investigate your so called miracles, they turn out not to be anything but frauds. Oh, if anyone's in Christ is a new creature, old things have passed away, All things have become new Is that true? Practically yes, empirical evidence says you're a liar. Okay, so what do we have to do? We have to throw out anyone out of the Kingdom of God who doesn't quo quote unquote live up to what we claim. But what we're claiming is not true. Another issue is many Christians grapple with internal expectations of how God's promises shouldn't be menifest. I think any real Christian, any good Bible students, should be like, wait a minute, if that's what God's promising, how should that be made manifest in a real, practical way. That's all I do on the podcast. In many cases, when I challenge Christianity, I'm like, well, wha wait, wait, wait, wait, you're claiming the scripture says this, but reality tells you that your interpretation here is maddening, it's insanity. It's not

30:27 connected to reality in any way, shape orform. Faith in reality should have some correlation with these expectations. When these expectations don't align with actual experiences, it can lead to frustration and disillusionment. Faith then requires trusting that God's understanding and timing differ from our own, which can be difficult. Now, I think it's not about reconciling. I don't think it's about trusting in God's understanding about timing. Now, I think what we have to do is sometimes go, wait a minute, is my am I believing something that's not actually been promised? For example, if anyone's in crisis, a new creature old things, old things have passed away, all things have become new. Well, if I connect that promise to real life every day, that I basically be completely transformed, well, then the only practical reality would be sinlessness. Well, since no one is sinless, then I either have to argue people aren't saved, which would include me because I'm not sinless, or maybe we misunderstand this promise, and then we can say, well, if we look at it from a theological perspective, this speaks of my standing before God based off imputed righteousness, and practically I'm still going to sin. So there, I don't have to say, well, I got to try to come up with some explanation. No, there, I've been able to maintain the scriptural belief, place it in a correct philological perspective, and maintain my connection to reality. Now, AI says this

31:58 conflict isn't about denying reality. Now, this is where I don't know if I agree with this statement. This conflict isn't about denying reality, but reinterpreting it through the lens of faith. Now I get a little nervous there. I don't think we need to reinterpret reality. I think what we have to do is reinterpret our understanding of the things we read in scripture that we then create a fantasy faith world, a faith Halloween where we play dress up to pretend something that's not real. I think what we have to do is reinterpret how we've understood these things and our faith and go, wait a minute, there's got to be a way that this correlates better with reality to some level. I'm not saying this is always going to be the case, but it has to at least be a major a major point of it. They say.

32:49 Here is some of the approaches Christians take viewing challenges as faith building. Some believe that visible hardships or opportunities for God to deepen their faith as they trust Him to work behind the scenes, even in adverse. So they're like, Hey, there's these problems, but God's using it. Okay, great, but you're still acknowledging the problem, and you're still not creating some idea that these problems should just magically go away. So I think that that is at least putting faith in reality together. Many Christians hold that while what is visible is temporary and what and while spiritual truths are eternal, this perspective can provide comfort is that frames current experience and experience within a large faith centered narrative. Now, I like this when I see some promises. That promise may be for eternity, that promise may be about my position, it's not about my temporal practical life. And if I can separate that, then I can have the eternal promise, I can have the positional promise and at the same time acknowledge the temporal, practical reality. So that means I'm interpreting the Bible and its proper context because I'm understanding that's an eternal promise, not a temporary promise, and that is a positional promise, not a practical promise. Therefore, I can acknowledge the position and the eternity, and yet very much willing to acknowledge here's reality. Now. AI went on

34:19 to say the tension between faith and sight can be uncomfortable and challenging, but Hodges and many other Christian teachers see this struggles central to spiritual growth. The conflict becomes an invitation to rely less on human understanding and more on God's promises. See I don't know about that. I don't think the conflict becomes an invitation to rely less on human understanding. I just I disagree with that. It's human understanding and how we understand the Bible right because we're using principles of reading, reading, comprehension, reading interpretation. I know many see, even many Christians. That's why we'll never agree on biblical harmoneutics, because many Christians believe it's some mystical thing just praying God will tell me what the passage means while people have been praying for two thousand years, and if God is telling everyone the meaning of the passage, something went wrong because nobody agrees. I don't think it's a it's where we decide to become less to rely less on human understanding. I think this is where we become more acknowledging of human understanding, but at the same time trying to ensure that we're understanding scripture correctly and light of what we see in experience cultivating a faith that matures it learns to trust in God's invisible yet enduring presence and power. Well, I can trust in God's enduring presence and power, but I must understand that sometimes that power and that presence is no guarantee that anything

35:51 practically is going to change or anything's going to happen, because that promises, those promises may be about eternity and about my position and not practice and not temporary. So after reading AI, I was like, huh, I got some problems here. So I questioned AI. I said, well, shouldn't there be some correlation if someone says things like God is guaranteed physical healing in this life and God is freed from sin, so we can say noicein and yes to God, and at the very same time, reality says healing isn't guaranteed in any way possible, and Christians obviously can't stop sinning because we never come close to God's standard up perfection. There has to be some place for reality.

36:40 So AI says, you raise a crucial point that many people grapple with. There's a real tension between the promises often taught or assumed in Christian faith. Let me say that again. I love how Ai says that there is a conflict. There is a tension between the promises often taught or assumed in Christian faith. Christians just assume promises. They just hear things being taught in many cases the teaching of the promises and the ideas. Again, those promises and ideas are about eternity and positional, they're not about the temporal and the practical. But yet we just assume that they are. And so then you come into Christianity and they're like, here's your Halloween costume. Welcome to a life of faith. Halloween. You're gonna play dress up and you're gonna pretend to be this, this, and you're never any of these things, but we're all gonna pretend it.

37:37 We're gonna pretend that this is happening, and we're gonna pretend this is happening. And someone's got to say, hey, hey, hey, Halloween's over. Take off the costume. It says there's a real tension between promises often taught or assumed in the Christian faith and what's actually observed. The expectation that faith will correlate with reality, especially in specific areas like healing your sinlessness does not does seem necessary for a grounded honest faith. If you want a grounded honest faith, there has to be a correlation between faith and reality. If you disconnect that, it just loses. You've lost, I don't know what you you You've left the planet. You're You're just over there in fantasy land. It's like, okay, hey, hey, hey, hey, what's that over there? Oh? Sh be quiet? Why because they're playing they're playing make believe. They're playing fantasy. We don't want to We don't want to disturb them. But but don't don't they shouldn't they wake up? Ssh, they're Christians.

38:40 We don't want to disturb their make believe world. Let them should be very quiet. Now. I know that's offensive to many Christians, but that's exactly what happens. There's we we just we untether ourselves from being connected. We cut away the anchor. We just drift away into cuckoo land. Okay, that's what happens. Cuckoo for cocoa puffs is what happens. We have to have a grounded, honest faith. We have to we have to have a grounded honest faith if we don't. I don't know what it is at that point. Now what some people say, if I say grounded and honest, they'll say, you're teaching a powerless Christianity, you're removing the miraculous, or I'm I don't know, trying to live in the world that we actually live in, you know, the world we actually can see. Like you could sit there and pretend all day. You can stand behind the pulpit and make all your outrageous claims, but when push comes to show, reality always wins out. That doesn't destroy the concept of faith.

39:54 So the importance of this is what AI then says, well, what is the importance of real list stick correlation and faith? Oh that's good, Wow, what is important? What is the importance of realistic correlation and faith? Like? Where does the How important is reality and correlation with faith? How how important is it? Well says number one, Faith with integrity. For faith to hold integrity, it should engage with reality. If believers are told that God promises physical healing or sinless victory in this life, and the ongoing presence of sickness or struggle with sin feel like a contradiction, leading to confusion or even disillusionment. There's your faith has and not just that I think you're living a lie. Faith with integrity is enough to acknowledge. Guys, guys, come on, now, stop this nonsense. And even in many of the sermons, especially many that deal with basically, oh, if anyones in crisis and new creation, whole things have passed away, all things have become new, You've been set free from sin.

40:56 You can say, notice sin and yes to God. All of them preach that, and we've heard it a million times in all of our sermon reviews. Then they'll say, but however, you're still fighting against it, You're still struggling. You just said that I'm a new creation and everything is gone and I'm completely free from it. Why am I struggling? What am I fighting? That? They and they contradict themselves because no matter how much they want to teach that, even they can't go so far to say you can be sinless because they know deep down they can't. So why don't we just be more honest with that and say, hmm, maybe our theology is messed up here, because you know what, if you don't fix that, you know what you create, You create a situation where not now most Christians are good at playing dress up. I think the majority go to church, they're ready, they're ready for their their their faith Halloween costume, and they play dress up right, and they're ready, they're ready to go.

41:52 But there's some I think who look around. I think these are always the minority. They kind of look around and and kind of like they start taking off the costume and they're like, guys, what are we doing? You sin? I sin? God's standard is perfect. Nobody here. What are you talking about? People being healed? This person died, this person got sick, this person, what are you talking about? And they become disillusion and you know what, They'll start thinking that Christianity is a scam. It's not Christianity as a scam. You went to a fake you went to a church dedicated to faith Halloween. So I need we faith with integrity. Number two. Avoiding misinterpretation of promises. Many theological traditions interpret certain promises of healing or freedom from sin as ultimate promises fulfilled in the new creation, rather than immediate ones. This interpretation allows for a realistic faith that sees God's promises as beginning now but reaching full expression only in eternity. For example, freedom from sin is viewed as a positional being declared righteous by God, but not yet fully practical, still wrestling with sin daily. That's what I've always talking about that so much of this is not even as you disconnect faith from reality when you misinterpret promises. When you go to Ezekiel thirty six, that's clearly about Israel and say, oh, we get a new heart, we get a new this, we get work perfect on the inside. We have a new heart, we

43:23 have a new spirit. We've been set free from sin. Well, you preach it that way. Nobody's experiencing that, so why are you pretending? But I can understand. Well, first that promise for a new heart, and ezekiels for Israel, and they get that right before they go into the land. So you already got to just put that in its proper context. But many of the other passages, if anyone is in crisis, a new creational things passed away, all things wound come new. It's clearly positional, not practical. So then I can guess what I can still have faith that's connected to reality. See this interpretation allows for a realistic faith that sees God, that sees God's promises, is beginning now, but reaching full expression and an attorney. But I want you to hear that if a realistic faith faith connected to real reality, it's a realistic faith. Now I've got more here. I'm skipping some. A faith that incorporates reality tends to recognize the role of suffering, imperfection and brokenness in this life. This view doesn't dismiss faith. Rather, it suggests that faith can grow precisely because of challenges.

44:48 Faith in this sense isn't about denying reality, but trusting God's promises for the future while accepting the imperfect, complex nature of the present. We've got to have that. There's a balance faith, but there's a reality. Many believe that a mature faith can hold the tension between God's promises and the current imperfect state of the world. This perspective acknowledges that while certain realities don't yet align with divine promises, faith is still meaningful because it points towards the future where those promises are ultimately fulfilled. This allows believers to live with hope while also being honest about the limits and struggles present in this life. I think that the more mature you become in your faith, this is what I think immature faith. You just put on the Halloween costume and you're run around pretending to be whatever because you can't accept the reality. The reality is too much for you. The more mature you finally like, you know what, I got to take off the costume. Ladies and gentlemen, Okay, I'm not this. I'm not this, I'm not that. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. God is not healing. All these supposed things are happening, are not happening. None of this makes any sense. This is all broken. Come on, guys, let's have a faith rooted in reality. That's maturity. Immaturity

46:21 is you just create a fantasy world. Oh you may talk with much more bravado, you may talk with much more whoo, you've got it all figured out. And you sound so certain, and you sound so dogmatic, and you sound so sure, and you're so condemning and you're so judgmental, and you think you've got it all figured out. That's because you're immature. And trust me, I've spent most of my Christian life right there in the immature classroom. Allowing faith to correlate with observable reality creates a more sustainable and resilient belief system, one that holds on to hope without requiring the distortion of what is tangibly experienced. We don't distort our reality. We acknowledge it. So when we get to secret number five and it talks about faith, we'll see how they handle it. But I just want to see that there is has to be a correlation between faith and reality. Faith and reality, how do they connect?

47:39 Typically we put at odds faith versus reality. There there's a there's a there's a an attack between the two. And I understand that right, in some ways, there is a conflict between faith and reality. So let me try to explain in some ways there is right if I believe that there's gonna come a time, I'm gonna have a new hen, there's gonna be a new heaven, a new earth, I'm gonna have a new body, there's gonna go wait, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death. Okay, none of that correlates with reality. Reality would not lead me to that conclusion in any way. There's my faith, So there is a core, there is a disconnect there, there is a conflict there. But at the same time, by saying that it's going to happen, but it's not yet.

48:30 Now I can then at the same time hope, maintain that faith, but then put that faith in the context of reality and go. But as of right now, I'm still a sinner. I still have a sinful nature. I cannot fulfill the law of God. There's gonna be pain, there's gonna be suffering, there's gonna be death. God's not going to intervene and do all these miraculous things as he's done in the past. He's not healing people today as he has in the past. There's just those things are not occurring, or it would be everywhere twenty four to seven. It's not happening. And if it does happen, and you're talking about something that's so well unusual, it's because it's supernatural. It's not natural. It's something that would be so just obviously it's not seen all the time.

49:11 It would be everywhere and all and every single time you hear claims that this stuff. What if we find out either they won't give us evidence, or they won't open up, you know, the medical files, or or you start doing a little bit of investigation, you'd be like what or they just give you something like, well, this person was having cancer and it went into remission, and that happens to atheists too, Okay, and I without even any prayer. Okay, things happen medically that are unexplainable, and it happens to people who pray. People have different faiths. So you can, you can try to, you can do whatever you want with that. But then again you start trying to make it more pretend instead of connecting it to reality. There's gotta be got to be. They gotta be together somehow, they have to be. And I think the Bible exists with the connection between the two. Right.

50:19 The Bible may say that, hey, we're in that we are a new creation in Christ, and you know, and the old things have passed away, all things have become new. But the Bible also says, for I know that I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out the Bible. The Bible, the same author who says, if anyone's in Christ is a new creation, old things have passed away, all things have become new, are the same? Is the same one who said, Hey, I want to do good, but I can't do it, and I continue to sin and I continue to struggle. How do we reconcile the two. Well, maybe the promise it is about position and not practice, and practice is we struggle and we sin. See. I think if we put the promises in the right category and in the right place and in the right timing, then we can maintain our faith even though it's going to be in conflict to some level, but at the same time have a correlation between our faith and the real world of what you know, what you see, and what you experience. And the more your faith removes you from reality, the more worthless your faith becomes.

51:36 You move towards immaturity and not maturity. I think the Biblical writers constantly acknowledge reality. All right, I will stop there. It's fast approaching four pm Central time here in West Texas. Won't be long. People are going to be knocking on your door. You're gonna open it up. You're gonna see all these costumes. Now, you know reality versus the fantasy.

52:18 You know the difference, and you can allow them to play dress up, pretend you can even Oh, oh, that's so scary. Oh iron man, I'm so glad you're here. There's some bad guys two blocks down the street. Go catch them and put them in jail. Right, you can play it long because you know the reality you still are connected to. You can have a little fantasy, but still connected to reality. And I think as Christians we can have faith. It's got to be connected to reality. And when people stop being connected to reality and fantasy, bad things happen, really bad things. And when Christians disconnect reality and their faith, I think theologically, biblically and practically gets a little weird. You can tell me what you think.

53:13 I always want to hear from you, so I appreciate any feedback you may provide. But for now, go do whatever you do, whatever you're going to do tonight. Not here saying telling you what to do or not to do, because I know Christians will fight about this fro until the end of time, so I'm not here to get into the fight. I'm just acknowledging the reality that it's Halloween in the United States of America. You may choose not to participate in it, but if you look out your front door, you're going to see the reality of it. So I'm just using that reality to try to show you that we in some ways play faith Halloween where we dress up. Thank you for listening, God bless