Wednesday, November 22nd | Thankful for Church Family

Hello, everyone. Today is November the 22nd. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm Jon Galantis. You're listening to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearViewTodayShow.com.

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We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. And today's verse of the day is coming to us from 1 Timothy 6, verses 7 and 8. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. That's a good reminder that everything that we accumulate in this life ultimately amounts to nothing in the scale of eternity.

That's right. We can't take anything with us. A lot of people try to have the nicest and the best, and it's not bad to have good things. It's not bad to have a nice house. It's not bad to have a nice car or even a boat.

I mean, it's not bad to have those things. But if that's your entire identity and your drive in life, what happens after this life? That's right. You can't take that into eternity, but what you can take into eternity is, number one, a relationship with Christ, and number two, what you do for Him here in this life.

That's right. What did Jesus say? Like, the birds have their nests and the foxes have their holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head at night. And He's not saying that you're only really a Christian if you're homeless. What He's saying is that, listen, what God has given you is truly enough.

It really is. The things that we strive for in this life are blessings from God, and they're not goals to, like Ryan said, to revolve our entire identity around. My identity is not based in how many cars I have or how many women I have or how many houses I own or all this different stuff that you see on TikTok. That's not what life is about, and that's not what your goals should be.

Your goals should be centered around God, and in time those blessings will come, but even if they don't, we are content with the life that God has given us, because it's enough. You know, he talked about that, and having food and clothing, we're going to be content. I had a question about food, because I was having a conversation with someone. We did a Kindle event, which is our outreach ministry here at Clearview Church, and every now and then we'll have events to help people out in the city. I was talking to one of the ladies that was cooking, and I was just joking around.

I was trying to get a reaction out of her, just kind of get a rise out of her, but she actually sparked a conversation that I thought would be good for us here in the studio today, and David, you can hop in on this too if you want. Southern etiquette. We live in the South. We do. I would say we live in the deep South. North Carolina?

Maybe not. Yeah, I mean, I would consider us pretty southern. This is a southern state, so we have southern etiquette. Here's the question, and I think people can land on either end of this. Who eats first, men or women? Because I know for a fact the first reaction that you and probably David will say would be women eat first. I would say it depends.

What would it depend on? So here's my take. If you are out with a group of friends or you are in a small group and you are eating somewhere, I would say certainly women eat first. You know, ladies first.

That's kind of a thing we're brought up, especially as guys here in the South. You say go in line first? Yeah, ladies first. But yeah, if we're out at a restaurant ordering food, I would let Elizabeth and the kids go first, and then I would finish out. But, and I have seen, if you are at like a family reunion, or a family gathering, sometimes maybe a funeral, like the meal after a funeral, things like that, most of the time it is the older men who are served first, or like the patriarch of the family is served first, and then everyone else can get their food.

That's 100, you're 100% right, and I'm not saying this is how it should be or shouldn't be, but that's how I grew up. And so I always saw the women, because I don't think a lot of time back then, a lot of women in our family didn't work. Their cooking for the family gathering was their work, and so, I don't want to say that, but they just didn't work. So to show that they were appreciative, I remember, vividly I remember being in the room playing, and my aunt would come in, and she was like, alright, the food is all ready, it's on the table, all the men come on and fix your plate now. And the women would go sit down, and they would tend to the children, and the men would fix their plate, then the women would go make the kids plate, and then they would eat. And so we would all eat together, but the men definitely were intentionally put first. That has changed, I think, in people's minds since then. Growing up for me, it was definitely the women and children get their plates first. For real?

Yeah, yeah. So it would be women and children, we make sure that it was kind of like an order. So children go first, obviously. We get their food, get them situated out of the way. Then the women get their food, and then the older members of the family will go, men or women, in that range. And then all the guys that are just kind of hanging around. But I said that to this woman just trying to get a rise out of her, because we do it that way at Clearview, where it's like, hey everybody, ladies first. Guys, y'all sit down, we're going to let the ladies go. So I was just joking around trying to get a rise out of her, and I said, you know, when I was growing up, the men ate first, and that was intentional.

Just trying to goof around. And she was like, that's how it needs to go back to. That's the way it ought to be. She said, that's what's wrong with these women today. And there's a lot of people who feel very strongly about that. A lot of women feel that way. But yeah, I just thought that was a fun kind of topic that we don't usually talk about.

Because I certainly, when I started getting into youth group, my youth group when I was a teenager was the same way. Hey guys, y'all sit, we're going to let the ladies go first. And I was confused, but I was like, that's the opposite of what I think is normal. Are you sure the ladies go first? I think the men go first. I don't think that's right. They were like, nope, we're letting the ladies go first.

And I remember not fighting it, but just being like, why? Why? I think whatever works best for your family. Write in and let us know. I'm interested in this now.

I want to see how it's split. For how many of you is it ladies first always? Is it the men get to eat first? Does it depend who's cooking?

Write in and let us know. I feel like these intro, these customs kind of take on a life of their own. I do feel this is the only thing I'll say that could be kind of controversial. I do feel that the reasoning might be different because in our family it was the men eat first because they work hard and because they've earned it and they have earned our respect. The women eat first because they're women. That's it.

That's, that's the, that's the only thing that I'm still see for thinking through. For us, it was, it was the women eat first because they almost always eat last when the kids are concerned. Like the women go ahead and go first so that they can actually have a plate of warm food instead of trying to take care of all the kids and everything else. So let them go first as a respect thing. Like we're going to take care of women. That's a good point. So I don't know. Write in and let us know what those rules are for you. Those unspoken rules that we kind of just adopt in a family.

I wonder what the custom was in India. I'm curious to see that. Yeah. Let's ask him when he comes back in. Stay tuned after this. We'll be right back. Hey, what's going on listeners? My name is John and I'm Ellie and we just want to take a second and let you know about Dr. Shah's new book on the market right now called Can We Recover the Original Text of the New Testament?

Boy, that is a long title. True, but it's a very simple message. The original text of the New Testament is not only attainable, but there are lots of different ways that scholars go about discovering it. There's a lot of people out there saying that the original text is lost forever or that it's hopeless to actually try to find it or that there's many texts of the New Testament. But alongside Dr. David Allen Black, Dr. Shah has actually compiled papers from some of the world's leading experts in textual criticism, including one written by himself on various methodologies for extracting the original text. And listen, if you're interested in textual criticism, this book is a great introduction to the field. You can pick up your copy on Amazon or you can buy it from our church website. That's ClearviewBC.org. We're going to leave a link in the description box so you can get your copy today. Love that. Ellie, let's hop back in. Let's do it. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028. That's right, Dr. Shah. Happy Wednesday. Happy Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday to you guys as well. Do you have, is there a term for the day before Thanksgiving? That's, that's Thanksgiving pre-evening. Pre-evening. Happy Thanksgiving pre-evening. But it's pre-evening. I was trying to come up with something like, like Thanksgiving Eve.

Like the intro or Eve or something. There's not really anything. It's like, uh, it's like, it's like, uh, empty your gut. Fasting day.

You know how, uh, the day after Christmas is Boxing Day. This is fasting. We're fasting in preparation. There you go. There you go. Let me ask you this, Dr. Shah. When y'all, um, when you grew up or, or even, even if it's, if it's not growing up, it's just family dinners.

Right. Who ate first? Was it men or was it women? Or was it just everybody go fix your plate? Food tables open. Definitely not everybody go fix their plate. So it was men would sit down and the ladies would serve. And it was, um, it was kinda like if you were a guest somewhere and you were not as familiar with the family or you were not, the mom or the wife was not as friends with the wife or the mom of the host family, then you would just sit down with your husband or your, your, your, um, your children in, in the living room or the dining room.

And then, you know, you'll be served. But men usually ate first. Yeah. See, that was, that was a staple in our family too.

And I didn't know if it was an old, if it was just like a strictly United States Southern thing or if it was more of a universal thing back in those days where the men did eat first. Yeah. Yeah. It was a different time, you know, and I, growing up in India, that's common. That happens a lot.

Nowadays I think things are changing over there too. Like when I went for my mom's sickness and then of course eventual funeral service, I was staying with the family and in this family there was a wife and a husband and their little child. And so the wife was serving the whole time.

Yeah. And the husband sat, I sat, the wife's brothers were there and they sat. My sister was there and she helped the lady because they were friends.

So they helped. And then, you know, I, I was like, man, why don't you come sit too? You know, I said that and she said, oh, I will, I will after you guys eat. I remember this one time moving over to this person's home and you know, people talk about the Indian food being hot. It's not like every Indian loves hot food.

Really? It's not like that. It's just spicy.

Right. But my mom didn't care for it to be that hot. She liked it hot but not like that. And I remember sitting down and my mom was there, my dad was there and all this family people are sitting there. And then there were some church families as well that were there. And then the host family was sort of, even the husband was not sitting down.

He was, he was standing there kind of, you know, guiding the whole process. And I remember my mom just looking at my dad and saying, why does he do this? So the thing is this guy loved to make really hot food and then watch you suffer. Just like blow your face off hot. And I remember sitting next to them and I was like, this is why I didn't even want to come. Why does he do that?

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, it's all the same. There's always that person who is just hot for the sake of being hot. Like I just want to make other people miserable. And then he would stand there and be like, so what do you guys think? Yep. And what he wanted to say is like, Oh, this is really hot. Oh my goodness.

But nobody was enjoying themselves. It was just like sweating, snot everywhere. We're all just waiting to get up from the table. As if that's the mark of a good meal.

Like you successfully prepared a meal for us, you culinary expert. And then for the man, it's like, what do I do? How do I play this? Do I just play it off? Cause like, I don't want him to know that I'm hurting cause that's what he wants.

So do I just play it off? Like it's no big deal. Like, Oh yeah, it's good. Or do I tell him like, Hey, this is really hot. It's like, I have a lot of pain. And for the benefit of our listeners or viewers, we're not talking about a hot temperature. We're talking about like spicy, spicy. And then I remember every year my mom would say the same thing when he would invite us for, this is Christmas week dinner. So that's what he did. It was nice.

Except that golly. Was he, was he a man from your church? From the church family?

I got you. My mom would tell my dad, it's like, can you not find an excuse? Cause we don't want to go. We got so much going on this week. Don't we? Like this is, he does that every time.

Why does he do that? How many of your memory, how many of your fondest memories would you say revolved around those like family meals? Like just sitting down at the table and just making it our own family or with other people?

I guess in your own family and your church family as well. Just, yeah, it was a lot, a lot of memories. I have so many funny stories of things. I mean, it just, maybe we can share them here and there. Yeah, absolutely. It brings a humanness to all of us. It really does. Cause the stories funny there are still funny here. You know, there's a, there's a universality of around sitting around the table I guess.

Yeah. One that, you know, we use that language church family and that may be unfamiliar to some people if you especially haven't grown up in a church setting, but there's a reason that we talk about the church in terms of being a family. You know, it very much has that feel of like, Hey, there's some people here who, you know, maybe, maybe they do some stuff that gets on our nerves.

Maybe we do stuff that gets on their nerves sometimes. But at the end of the day, we are a family. We're a church family and maybe we should do that funny story. So we're going to tell the funny story. So, so this is back in the early eighties, late seventies, early eighties.

I remember we decided to feed the hungry, the homeless, and just people off the streets. And so, so that was a very interesting how do I say this? Not a project, but this endeavor, I guess. It was very interesting because people came that we didn't know existed and many times they had not had any care given to them. Wow. Any care. I mean, any care, like they hadn't had bathed in years, nothing, nothing at all. Yeah.

Oh, nothing, nothing. And for, and so then the next test was, we're not just going to feed them. We're going to sit with them and eat.

Wow. And it's not just, we're going to sit on nice tables and chairs. We're going to sit on the floor because there's so many people you cannot, in India, many times the meals are on the floor, not like on a dirt floor or anything. It's just nice sheets are laid out and nice, you know, plates are there and all that. So it's, it's, but it's done so you can accommodate more people. So this was to feed the hungry, the homeless, the people on the street and, and don't confuse them with the people on the street here in America because there is, there is a difference because these are people many times they have not seen the inside of a house in, you know, like truly the street is their entire existence.

The side of the street is their home. Wow. And so anyways, they came and then it was kind of scary because you had beggars, you had, you had people who were sadhus.

Sadhus are like these, these holy men, you know, who walk the streets and they, they are looking for God or whatever, but they just haven't bathed in years. Wow. So they came and we were, as little kids, it was scary sitting next to people like, oh my goodness, what's, they didn't do anything. They were just hungry. They were just there to eat.

But it for a moment did a real gut check. Yeah. How much do you really love people? Exactly.

That's true. Do you really love people enough to sit on the floor and it's not like one or two, we're talking about four or 500 people. And so we had people in our church who were high up, like general managers in the railway or this and that, and they were all sitting and I'm sitting there and we're eating away. How old were you at that time? Do you think maybe like seven or eight years of age? Wow.

Very young. Like maybe we've been five. Wow.

It's incredible. And we're feeding the hungry and it was the whole time I'm thinking, I wonder if this is what it looked like when Jesus fed the 5,000. I wonder if this was like, oh, that's cute.

I like that. Yeah. And I think in some ways maybe it was maybe not as extreme, but maybe it was. Yeah. Cause that was a multitude.

Multitudes were not like people with big businesses and industry. These were common people. Yeah. The people on the street. Common people. Yeah. And so, so many of those were following Jesus because he was feeding them.

Well, that's a great example because you brought up that gut check. Like how much do I truly love people? Do I have compassion on people the way Jesus did?

Cause I think for a lot of us in America, it's like, I love, I have love for all people, especially the needy and the homeless as long as they stay over there. Yeah. See, that's, that's what I'm trying to get at to have them sitting next to you left and right. That makes a difference. You feel very vulnerable. Yeah.

Although they didn't do anything, they just were grateful. Right. Yeah.

But your mind begins to play games with you. Because we, I think we have this understanding in ourselves that what they really need is my sympathy. I'm going to give them my sympathy and that equals my compassion.

And I can keep them over there and maintain my own comfort level. Someone should do something. Yeah.

It's not going to be me, but somebody. Somebody ought to do something. And yes, they were concerned about safety because you know, you have pick pockets and you have all those kinds of people.

So there were men there who were just kind of walking around and making sure things were being done properly. Yeah. And nothing crazy would happen. But still it was eye opening because especially if you feel like, Oh, people are dirty or smelly or whatever, or their clothes haven't been washed. I mean, think about that. Your clothes haven't been washed. That's bad.

In years. And you're wearing the same tattered clothes. So don't think of them as nice big jackets on. No, half their clothes are gone. So what they have behind them is their knapsack. That's what they carry around. That's their entire life. That's their life. That's their home. Wow. That's their wardrobe. That's it. That's incredible. Very different picture than we used to. That's a very, very different picture.

And you really have to ask yourself, do I really love people the way Jesus, cause Jesus died for them. That's right. Yeah. That's right. I think that's such a Testament to what your family taught you and what they not only taught you, but modeled for you in doing that.

Cause your dad was the pastor of that church. Oh yes. Yes. So, I mean, he was the one leading that up and it showed the love he had with, for people. We didn't do it that often though.

Oh really? It's just, it was like, okay, we're going to do this. We're going to muster it up. Let's do this thing.

Yes. In Jesus name, we're going to, and I hope our audience and our listeners and viewers understand this is not making fun of people who are in that position. It's just understanding the sadness of human depravity is so low. It's so sad. And tackling it is not such an easy thing as we thought. It's not just about throwing money at it. Right. Yeah. Right. And you can't just, and it's not, it's also, it also has to be, like you said, it's gotta be regulated and it has to have people there who actually know what they're doing.

People who are keeping everybody safe and who are vigilant. And it's that thing we talked about, like we want someone to do something. Just throw the money, send it somewhere, it's being done. Right. I don't want to deal with it.

I want to see it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Well, I love that. I love that it wasn't just you or wasn't just your family who do this. This was the church family. This is the church initiative because that's what it takes. It takes the body of Christ and the church family coming together and serving that number one, it makes an impact in the community. And number two, it increases that bond you have with your church family. And yeah, yeah, definitely.

And, and our church people, you could just see the, the look in their eyes, just like this wide eyed look. Where do I sit? Anywhere. You see that opening right there? You go right there between those two people. And then even then it's like, it's like, I see a group of my friends over there. I'm just going to scoot that way. It's like, why don't you sit with the people who need you?

I'm very uncomfortable, but I'll do it anyway. But it created a certain bond between the church family. That's right. That's very special. And you know, you think about like your earthly family that you spend time with, like at the end of the day, it's, it's a temporary thing that God has given us to enjoy. Our spiritual family, like our brothers and sisters in Christ, that's, that's forever. You know, that's eternal. Right. Yeah. Well, Paul says in Colossians 3, 12, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on knowledge, wisdom, Bible studies, exegesis, Bible conferences. I know some of our people are going like, what translation is that? I don't know.

At first, when you said wisdom, I bet people were driving like, yep. Of course. No.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-surfering. Yeah. I mean, that's what we're called to do, being a church family.

Yeah. And that's not easy. I can tell you as a pastor of this church, it's not easy. And it's not because people are bad or anything. It's just not easy because we are selfish, self-centered people, laden down with our own cares and worries.

And anybody else, forget about the homeless, living on the streets of India, never bathed in five years, just good, nice people. We don't want them to infringe our circle, our comfort zone. It's really something to understand how little we want to love others and live alongside others. And our church family is in a way meant to teach us how to do that.

Yeah. And so each of those words, like the word splanchna, which is talking about the heart, the lungs, the liver, and kidneys, these were considered to be the source of our emotions. And the word implies mercy from within, tender mercies.

The word is splanchna. And it's euchtermos. Euchtermos has the idea of compassion, the kindness, what it says in Colossians 3, 12, therefore, as the elect of God, holy beloved put on tender mercy's kindness.

The word is euchtermos. Together, splanchna and euchtermos have the idea of a deep gut level compassion for others. So if you don't have that compassion, I understand because I struggle with it too. I like to live in my nice clean world, but you have to get outside of that and show compassion, which means you have to, number one, connect with Jesus and then number two, connect with what moves him. And what moves him is the lostness of humanity and the hurt and brokenness of people.

Another word here is the word kristates, which is, has the idea of kindness, but is the opposite of harshness. So it is always alive and active and breaks out spontaneously in the life of the person who is led by Christ. Wow. That's what that means.

That's beautiful. Then there's a Greek word, tape nofrosune, which means a deep sense of humility. Again, we're going back to Colossians 3, 12, therefore, as the elect of God, holy in blood, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility. And that word Jesus used to describe himself when he said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

I am humble, lowly in heart. That's that word, that same Greek word that Paul uses. Then there's a Greek word praoutes, which means gentleness.

It's the fruit of the spirit. Then there's a Greek word makrotumia, which has the idea of patience, because that's also in that word meekness, long suffering, that's patience. And then there's the word anekomai, which means to put up with, you know, put on tender mercies. So it means don't say or do what comes to your mind. And it's also reciprocal in the context. So put on, let Christ be put on, and that's what comes through.

And then there's the Greek word karidsomai, which is another word for chorus, which is grace. So show grace, show forgiveness. That's right. We talked about that yesterday.

Yeah. I mean, I can go on and on about the Greek, but this is what it means to be a church. Well, you know, we're thankful for these godly relationships. And we know that it's not perfect. It's never going to be perfect relationships between people in the church.

Yeah, because we're imperfect people. Right. But there is this spirit of thankfulness that we have for the people around us that God has put into our lives. One of the things we do in our church is at the end of the service, all our main leaders are in the front or in the back. You know, they're shaking hands, welcoming people, thanking them for being there.

That's connection, right? That's what a family does. Hey, thank you for being here. Hope you have a great rest of the day. Drive safe.

Be careful. And I love that you do it even as the pastor. And I love that you've set this as a boundary and expectation for yourself that no matter how big we get, I'm never going to retreat to my office and let people walk out the door. A lot of pastors do that. Well, and even with Sunday morning, I mean, we have three services back to back.

830, 945, and 11. So it would be very easy to say, you know, I can't go out in the lobby and shake people's hands. I've got to get ready for the next service. I've got to make sure my mind is right.

I've got to make sure that I have these things really ready to go. And I don't even think anybody would bat an eye at that. They'd be like, yeah, sure, obviously. But you go the extra mile and make sure that you are connecting with people. And that I think sets the tone for people to know that if he's going to do it and he's much busier on a Sunday morning than I am, then it's expected of me. That's the culture here.

It resonates because you're not going the extra mile to make the product better, to make the presentation better. I'm taking the extra time and it's to bless people and it's to connect with people. That's right. And I'm grateful for you guys.

And I just don't want to do this. I want our listeners to understand this is not just, hey, you pat my back, I'll pat your back. This is really the way you guys do it. You're connecting with your team. You're connecting with the people. Of course, you could do more, but then again, there's somewhere to suffer. But what you're doing is, is so I'm grateful for how much you guys do and making sure that our people, our workers, our worship team, our volunteers feel like they're valued. Right?

So if you don't feel that way, it's not intentional. It is being done is because we are so busy. So many things are happening. But as much as possible, you guys, every one of you do that. And I'm grateful to you. Even, I mean, right down to our young staff, Nicholas and others, they greet people, they shake hands, they'll stop and talk. And to me, that shows that they appreciate the church family and the church family appreciates them. That's right. Well, we appreciate you for teaching that to us. And yes, for anyone listening, know that that's very rarely comes naturally. It has to be intentional. It has to be a choice, an act of the will. And if you do it, your people will follow you.

That's right. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, maybe today was helpful to you in thinking about your church family and where you worship. We want to hear that from you. 252-582-5028. Or you can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com.

Don't forget that you can partner with us financially on that same website and be part of what God is doing through our show here at Clear View Today. John, what's coming up on tomorrow's episode? You already know what tomorrow is. It's Thanksgiving Day! I knew it was.

I knew it was. I've got my stretchy pants ready to go. They're laid out, ready for Turkey Day tomorrow. There's going to be some chowing down tomorrow.

And a lot of people think Clear View Today is going to be taking the day off. We're coming at you live on Thanksgiving Day. Make sure you play the episode at the Thanksgiving supper. Yes. Because I've got some strong opinions on Thanksgiving, especially Thanksgiving food.

Specifically the menu that's offered. We'll talk to you tomorrow. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clear View Today.