Disciplined by the World

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Welcome to The Masculine Journey. We are glad that you're with us this week and we're doing a follow-up to your show last week, Andy. So we got your show last week and this week, so it's really kind of cool. No, no, no, no, no. No, we're not playing that game. We play that game every week.

Yeah. So last week was- What, it's not my show? Yeah, it's not- It's your show. No, it's Andy's show, because it's a game we play every week. So last week it was actually your show, and so we're kind of doing a second part of that in a little bit different direction.

So why don't you tell us a little bit about last week's show? So last week, you know, I think it was a week before that, I just had woke up at night late and, you know, I just sometimes just hear things from God when I do, and it was just like, he got me thinking just about what my life was like since I was trying to be a disciple of more of a focus on the heart than just a disciple of actions or the flesh or just, you know, I don't know. There's a lot that I learned early in my Christian life about following God and being his disciple, but there's a lot I didn't learn. There's things that we just don't become aware of in our life.

Just by osmosis, sometimes we have to go through experiences. There's things that put us in positions to where we need to really go deeper, and I felt like that's kind of where I was at. That's what I, you know, what was on my heart to share is what did discipleship look like before, you know, before you'd been walking with God, but then whenever you got in the wild art message and really talking about what it was like to be a disciple and take an action more in a relationship with Jesus instead of just following a bunch of rules, and again, I had a relationship with Jesus all along. There's just things you're not aware of and that you can follow him closer. Whenever you've been through an experience, you have that experience to build on, you know that you've been wounded and he heals those wounds.

As you go through those things, you can become a true disciple, I feel like, of Jesus as you, you know, have a better understanding of what it looks like. Well, thanks for listening. No, just kidding. A little long winded there.

No, no, it was great, Andy. I think one thing to say is, you know, when you look back at the disciples, when they walked with Jesus, right, they didn't walk in a way that paralleled the world, right? They did things that were really very different than the world, right? The world of their day was the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the rules, and yes, they knew the Scripture, but they didn't know Jesus and they didn't know him obviously intimately, right?

They didn't even recognize who he was, or if they did, they didn't admit it, you know? And so when the disciples walked with Jesus, they were the opposite to the world, which kind of brings us to today's topic of what are the messages the world's sending to us, right? Because they're constantly sending them to us, mostly in advertising, but just TV shows, just anything you can list, social media of all sorts, it's constantly bombarded with messages. And so those messages of the world typically don't align with what God wants for us, right? And so what are some of the messages of the world that we're constantly bombarded with and have been for our whole lives? Maybe not Harold's, but that was before TV and radio and stuff, but no.

It's kind of hard to do that with the tablets with your chiseled mountain and everything. But yeah, Andy, the first clip is yours, so if you want to tell us a little bit about this first clip. So remind me.

Will Ferrell. I was so into what Sam was saying there. No, so I, you know, what Sam was talking about, I think as a society, we see it a lot now, we really have a tendency, our advertisers know how to get our attention. And so, you know, what the message that's been out there, this came from the 70s, a show on, you know, the beer commercial just based on, you know, the idea that things are pretty darn good here on this earth, which I think the enemy would love for us to believe if there's nothing else but this world, you're going to live to those feelings as dictates of whatever makes me feel good. I'm going to get here because when I die, that's it.

And that really causes society to kind of go down the way it has. Will Ferrell poking fun at an old advertisement that said, which was old Milwaukee beer, saying it doesn't get any better. Yes, thank you. All right.

Yeah, we'll go ahead and listen to it. Old Milwaukee just doesn't get any better than this. I mean, sure that the moment my first child was born, that was that was pretty special.

And I'll never forget the time I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time. No, you know what? I take that back. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Those things are meaningless to me. Go ahead. Pop one open. You'll see what I mean. It just doesn't get any better than what's in the contents of this. Can. Can. That is the way to video. We didn't try to cut that. Same noise that quick on the draw there.

It was just cut it off. But yeah, I mean, that's the whole point is, you know, all these good things that God can put in our life, the enemy can make us feel like we're not getting what we want or, or that the things, again, of this world really do satisfy our heart. But really, they don't.

They really just satisfy our flesh. I was thinking about this topic. And you can go back and at least from historical look back, you know, I wasn't around at that time. But you know, when you had the greatest generation and you had a lot of that, it was very much about what's best for everyone. Right?

That's kind of what you hear from World War One, World War Two, it was what's best for everyone. And then somewhere along the way, it started to shift. And for me, that started with another advertisement.

It was with a Burger King commercial. And so we'll go ahead and play that. It's going to feel a lot more than like a minute, but it's only a minute, I promise. And we're gonna come back and talk about it. Special orders don't upset us. All we ask is that you let us serve it your way. Oh, well, in that case, could I have the other whopper with extra ketchup?

Sure. We can serve your broby flopper fresh with everything on top of any way you think is proper. Have it your way. Now that's the way to do things. Our way. Have it your way. Have it your way at Burger King with Burger King. It feels a lot longer than a minute.

And I think they could have cut that off at 30 seconds and it would have been just as effective. But I was working at McDonald's in the late 70s. And so this would have came out in 74, I think, when I looked it up. And so I was working at McDonald's, gosh, late 70s. And it was a big deal when you worked at McDonald's.

There was no messing with their formula. If someone came through drive-through, and they would say, hey, we want to get our hamburger without pickles, the answer was no, it comes with pickles. And it had been that way. And so Burger King went right at that with this advertisement. But in my mind, what they started doing was saying, okay, what you want is more important than anything else. And society's just continued down that trend.

I don't think Burger King probably started it in my life, though that's the first I really remember of someone just saying, look, it's all about you. It doesn't matter about anything else. It's just only about you. You're the center of the universe. And so some of the stuff that we're going to talk about is some of the messages that the enemy in the world keeps sending.

The world is a tool the enemy uses to disciple us in his own way, right, to get us to think the way he wants us to think, whether that be on advertising, social media, TV shows, whatever it may be, it's a constant bend to get you to come to a point where you're in alignment with the thinking of the enemy. Darrell Bock And as a Christian car guy, I was thinking tonight as I was listening to my brothers. I need to come up with a jingle for the for the rate road rage, you know, something that would rhyme so beautifully like Burger King because, you know, when we're driving, we believe the road is ours. And the people that are going slower, those are idiots. People that are going faster are maniacs. Darrell Bock That should be a comedy routine.

Darrell Bock It just is. And but it is it's part of the entitlement, like man, and I'm not any different than anybody sitting here. I believe me. And is my family will quickly tell you that that somehow or another, you know, that's a place where it really just shows up in your own life. Like, how do you feel? John Green Oh, yeah, driving for me is the absolute worst.

Yeah, I have commentary, rolling commentary, and everybody that's in front of me, I think, you know, just about lesser, going at the same speed I want to go, you know, then there's some type of commentary going. You know, I think that this continued to escalate. I remember when I was playing Little League as a kid, growing up, it wasn't, yeah, I wanted to be the champion. Every year, you had a championship, and someone won it. And they were the only ones that got trophies. Darrell Bock Oh, absolutely. John Green Right? I mean, you had to win the championship to get a trophy.

Right? And I still, about, I don't know, a month ago, one of the guys that I grew up with sent me a picture back of Little League, you know, back when I was playing in those years. And I could still remember just that desire to want to win and compete and play hard and, and all that, you know, I think well meaning people came along and said, look, everybody needs a trophy. Well, at the end of the day, I don't think it just lends into that entitlement. You know, some, some people don't deserve a trophy. If you don't win, you don't deserve a trophy. John Green I was thrilled on those rare occasions, I got a third place ribbon and an eight man swimming match. Because that was an accomplishment.

But, you know, eight out of eight, not really exciting. John Green No, it's just something's lost. I think, I think not only is it lost the, the victor, you know, whoever is the one that won the victory for him, you know, but it's also lost on the ones that got the participation ribbons or trophies, too. Yeah, you know, there's just something lost there. John Green Yeah, I think that I mean, you know, we have become a really competitive society.

And you would think, well, that's just an adjustment for it. I was just sitting there thinking, you know, it probably was difficult for the kids. I mean, I lost I mean, I was on some sorry teams. But my, my, John Green But you had nothing to do with that. John Green No, absolutely.

I was a, I was part of the team, that's for sure. But you know, the thing is, is people want to say, okay, well, that's going to damage that kid for life. No, it just tells that kid to go do something different that he's more gifted at, you know? John Green Yeah, or to practice harder. John Green That true. John Green Right. You go back to the whole Michael Jordan being from his high school basketball team, right?

You know, and going on to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, which I would say is the greatest. Anyway, go to masculinejourney.org. Register for the upcoming boot camp coming up November 18 through 21. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving. Go register now while we're on the break and then come back and listen to us. through the 21st. Go to masculinejourney.org and register today. to P.O.

Box 550, Kernersville, North Carolina 27285. John Green That's an interesting song. You know, I was looking for something. That's my bump.

So if you hate it, oh, well, it's me. But I was looking for something about entitled, you know, and honestly, that's, that's the thing that you see in society is everybody feels like they're uniquely entitled in their own way. Right? Even me on the road, right? I don't care where you're trying to do you need to pull up so this guy can move so I can move. You know, that kind of thing.

We all have this entitlement mentality. And that was a pretty interesting song. Actually, I'll have to look up on my notes who sang that and I'll tell you here in a minute, but Jack White, thank you. And it was just a guitar and a violin fiddle, whatever you want to call it, depending on where you're from. And it was a go listen to it.

It's on YouTube. It's got some pretty interesting lyrics. Darrell Bock But it brings up a fabulous biblical point that, you know, I was just thinking about it, that in Ephesians chapter four, after Paul goes into Ephesians chapter one, that you're chosen before the beginning of the world, you're a special person, you couldn't be more special, because you were chosen before the time began to be a son of God. So I mean, talk about entitled, you're literally, you know, the son of the king. But then he works on that till he gets into Ephesians chapter four. And he talks about there is one in this whole idea of Akkad. There's one God, one baptism, one spirit, one body. And that that word Akkad, which I'm sure, you know, my friend, Jim here would enjoy.

It means one, but it comes with it this process of nullification. In other words, I have to take away my position to realize that Jesus is the hero of the story, that the kingdom is going to move forward is way more important than my individual position. And to turn to the larger story rather than the smaller story, which is all what he was getting to is this concept, which is, is really a beautiful thing. Because if you really think about it, if you ever played on a team that truly was good, that, you know, we, when I was, you know, playing basketball as a kid, you know, we did win, you know, the championship. And what that felt like was a team. And that was a team. You know what I'm saying?

You didn't feel like there was two or three stars that you felt like that team was the team. And it's a beautiful feeling to feel like that, which is how we are to feel as we are one body. Thank you. No, I was just thinking as you're talking through that, if anyone had the right to feel entitled, would have been Jesus. Oh, yeah. Right. But that's never in his behavior. That's never that you see or you read about. That's, it's not who he was.

Right there. He knew his identity, but the identity didn't, I don't want to say this wrong. He could have chosen to walk entitled, right.

But he chose to walk humbly alongside of people as a servant. One of my big revelations and reading the Bible was when I discovered it never really says anything about life being fair. I mean, God is just, but no two of us have the same life. We're all unique. So in one respect, we are entitled to be who we are and do the best we can with what we've got. But should I be as good looking as Sam?

No, God didn't make me that way. That's it really is. The entitlement is I got to have it better than other people or something's wrong. And when people that have more and we look at them with envy, it, we're assuming something about them. It's probably not true.

The worst class of people I've encountered with drug problems have been the very wealthy. And it's an issue that, I mean, everybody can be, but it's what you do with what you've got. It's not, you know, I should have the same thing you have. Yeah, I was, this is what happened to me.

I can't remember probably about two or three months ago. I remember sitting around the house one evening and I was just thinking, wow, I'm actually not angry about anything. I'm not frustrated about anything. I don't feel like I've been gypped in some way. Am I okay?

Apparently not. But it was like, because it's so much a part of everything that you see, TV, news shows, TV, TV shows, movies, social media, everything, right? It's a part of it that I seem like I should be angry about something all the time.

Harold, do you have something you want to add? I was just going to say one of the things that seems to be current in our country today is that if there's something that you're not happy about, change it, regardless of what it is. Change regardless of what it is.

Choose your identity, etc. So this mentality that we have, of course, my problem is, I'm sitting here next to the big gym. I cannot make myself as tall as him, regardless of how bad I'd like to be tall.

But there are things that we can change. But society that people were tall back in those days for the year. I mean, actually, actually, I would be a little bit taller than David. He was around five feet tall.

That's what I was thinking. I don't know how you didn't bump your head in all those buildings. You would have played sinner on the Bethlehem team. Just saying. Well, you know, the problem is that we have to be satisfied with what God has given us. And it took me a long time to realize that, because I didn't like being the short guy.

But I bet when you visit Old Salem, you don't walk away with half a concussion. No, that's fine. There are disadvantages to being tall.

I like it, but we don't have a choice, really. Yeah, it's not really the way God made me. And you are a spiritual giant, I guess.

It is an advantage being my size when you get on the airplane. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I'm gonna go ahead and go to another clip here. This is from, it's actually my clip, but I need Robby to set it up because I've never watched the movie.

Yeah, it's another C.S. Lewis Dawnshredder. We still got Edmund and Lucy. And now, you know, they're in a position to, you know, get extreme power. And they're with Prince Caspian, who now finds himself in a conflict with Edmund.

And it's a beautiful thing that, once again, the younger Lucy is like the voice of the Holy Spirit, speaking to these two, who don't see how the world has grasped them, when actually, as you watch the movie unfold, these two become very, very, very close, and certainly have a lot of admiration for each other. Yeah, what's happening in this scene when we pick it up is, Edmund's realized that if he dips anything into this spring or this little pool of water, it turns to gold, right? And he's starting to say, okay, well, what can happen if I could take this with me out of Narnia? Right.

What are you staring at? Whoever has access to this pool could be the most powerful person in the world. We'd be so rich, no one could tell us what to do or who to live with. You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund. Says who? I do. I'm not your subject. You've been waiting for this, haven't you? To challenge me, you doubt my leadership. You doubt yourself. You're a child. And you're a spineless sap.

Edmund. I'm tired of playing second fiddle. First it was Peter, and now it's you. You know I'm braver than both of you.

Why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own. I deserve to rule.

If you think you're so brave, prove it! Prove it! Stop it!

Both of you! Look at yourselves. Can't you see what's happening? This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you.

This is exactly what Koriaki was talking about. Let's just get out of here. You know, when you listen to that clip, you know, I want to be judgmental of Edmund. I deserve, I deserve, I deserve. But in reality, I'm frustrated because it mirrors how I feel a lot of the time. Right, you know, Robby, we've talked a lot about if something's not going right to, you know, lift up the hood and kind of see what's going on underneath. For me, I've really started to see when I get into this place of I deserve, it's a time to lift up the hood because I'm really following the way of the enemy. I'm listening to the world. I'm listening to the voices tell me that I deserve things that may be partially true, but it's not wholly true.

Right, it's not totally true. And so it's a time to say, okay, what's really truest here, God? Help me step into this and see why I'm feeling the way I'm feeling and what part of it's true and what do I need to let go of? And then how do I deal with the truth? Right, and then I need you to disciple me to share it, to teach me on how to go through this. Right, and that's the only way you break that cycle because you get stuck in, and that's what we see society doing right now.

They're stuck in this I deserve place. Right, and the idea was God was designed to fill that hole. Right, and so what he actually knows is that, you know, what's going on is you're trying to find him to some extent, but you're going about it in all the wrong places, so to speak. And so the idea of being poor in spirit is being poor needing his spirit, not poor needing the world's spirit. And so it's a trap, and Lucy points it out well.

Yeah, she does, and it breaks that cycle. And I guess I would just ask for each one of us and for the listeners to say, okay, God, help me to see those things that are my triggers. Maybe I don't hear the words I deserve, but I bet you it's something similar. Right, that shouldn't have happened to you, that shouldn't, you know, whatever. And again, there may be a lot of truth in the situation, but the enemy is going to try to spin that truth in a way that takes you away from God. Right, and to take that thing and say, okay, God, how do I take this back towards you? My grace is sufficient. And as the sinners we are, what do we really deserve? We have much better than that.

It doesn't matter what our circumstances. Yeah, we live in a, we live in a microwave society that, you know, cook my popcorn faster. It's not fast enough, right? I can't believe it takes a minute and a half. Yeah, really? That takes that long? You know, I'm waiting in line at a fast food restaurant, you know, and I'm just frustrated that it's taking longer than I think it should. And I'm like, really? How about the circle of death on your computer? Oh, yeah, yeah.

But you remember your dial-up days, just go back. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, a lot there. They got unpacking for you this week. masculinejourney.org. We'll talk to you next week. This is the Truth Network.