Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 307 | The Dire State of American Theology

Episode Date: September 30, 2020

Many people who identify as Christians don't know their Bibles. According to a recent study, while 61% of Millennials profess to be Christians, only 2% have a biblical worldview as defined by Barna. Ligonier Ministry's "The State of Theology" reveals why: Many self-identifying Christians don't know the basic tenets of their faith. This theological confusion negatively affects people's worldview in a way that impacts society for the worst. The time has gone for true Christians to be complacent. As the world strays further from God's truth, we must hold fast to it. That starts with knowing what it is. Today's Sponsor Fundrise is an investing platform that makes investing in high-quality, high potential real estate as easy as investing in your favorite stock or mutual fund. Get started at https://fundrise.com/RELATABLE Today's Links Millennials Have Radically Different Beliefs About Respect, Faith, and America https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CRC_AWVI2020_Release10_Digital_01_20200922.pdf The State of Theology https://thestateoftheology.com/ Your questions, biblical answers at Got Questions. https://www.gotquestions.org/ Allie's Recommended Resources https://alliebethstuckey.com/2020/08/15/recommended-resources/ Previously on Relatable: Ep 132 | Predestination https://podcasts.apple.com/mn/podcast/ep-132-predestination/id1359249098?i=1000443312786 Ep 135 | Socialism https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-135-socialism/id1359249098?i=1000444116227 Ep 165 | Nancy Pearcey https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-165-nancy-pearcey/id1359249098?i=1000450481830 Ep 297 | The Christian Case for Trump | Guest: Dr. Wayne Grudem https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-297-the-christian-case-for-trump-guest-dr-wayne-grudem/id1359249098?i=1000490063693 ------ Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.

Hey guys. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. I hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. As you guys know, most of you know anyway, I record my podcast on the previous day, which means on Tuesday night, as I'm saying, this, there were the debates between President Trump and Joe Biden, which means that I could talk about that if I were recording this on Wednesday. But because I'm recording this on Tuesday morning, I do not have the prophetic ability to be able to comment on the debate. I'm sure it was very

entertaining. I would guess if I could, if I could wager that Trump was fact-checked, that Joe Biden was not that the, that the questions were skewed toward Biden, but my guess, as I'm sitting here right now on Tuesday morning, is that Joe Biden was very well prepared for this, that he had been preparing for this for a long time. President Trump was a little bit busy campaigning and running the country, but hopefully that fared well. And I will give more commentary on that today on Wednesday on Instagram because I'm sure that I will have a lot to say. There are a lot of different news stories that we could talk about.

We could talk about Trump's taxes. My overall thought about that is that there is no proof of illegality there that he paid the lowest amount of taxes that he possibly could. That is what a lot of rich people tried to do. It also showed that there was no Russian collusion in his finances or anything like that. He is not in Putin's pocket as far as we can tell from the tax returns. I really don't think it's that big of his story. We could also talk about Hunter Biden and how he is being connected to Russia and China and possibly trafficking, sex trafficking there. And so there's a lot to talk about. But I got a request from at least a few of you on Instagram to take a break from the news and to focus on a biblical topic, to focus on theology.

And I want to do that. It's still going to be relevant to everything that is going on, certainly. But I want us to take kind of a step back and to take a deep breath and to just kind of sigh a sigh of relief, as we remember, who is in control. And so we're going to talk about a couple studies. We're going to talk about a study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University that said that millennials, only 2% of millennials, hold a biblical worldview. And then we'll talk about the Ligonier study that they conduct every two

years called the state of theology that assesses the theology of the U.S. population in general, and then professing evangelicals. And we'll talk about what that means. And then I'll give some encouragement at the end. I'm really excited about this episode. I love the episodes where we focus exclusively on theology. And I know that you guys, too, before we get started, if you guys could do me a favor. If you love this podcast, could you please go on iTunes and leave me a five-star review? You don't have to leave this long and lengthy review. You can. I read them. I love them. They mean a lot to me, but you certainly don't have to do that. I know a lot of you are busy. But if you have the time and you are so willing and you love this podcast, if you could go on iTunes

and leave a five-star review, it really helps us out a lot. Also, I haven't talked about my book in a while, but you're not enough and that's okay escaping the toxic culture of self-love. Right now it's actually sold out on Amazon until I think just a few days. I think it's back in stock on October 4th. And so you can go ahead and order that and I'm sure it will be at your doorstep soon if that's something that you're interested in. But you can also go to alleybethsducky.com slash book and you can see all of the places where you can purchase it.

A lot of you. So many of you, hundreds of you, thousands of you, maybe tens of thousands, have reached out to me personally and have told me what this book is meant to you. And I take no credit for that. I praise the Lord that he has allowed me to have this platform that then allowed me to write a book that was meaningful for a lot of you. A lot of non-religious, non-Christian people read this book and it impacted them. And I really do praise the Lord for that. He is so good. And using us as vessels when we don't deserve it. And so it's freeing to know that we don't get to credit for the things that he does, that we can just turn around and give him all the praise for that.

Okay, let us talk about some of these studies. So the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, they conducted a study about biblical worldviews among millennials. What they found is that while an estimated 9% of adults in both elder and boomer generations, defined as ages 75 and older in those 56 to 74 years of age, respectively, have a biblical worldview. That figure drops to 5% among those in Generation X, so ages 37 to 55, and a mere 2% among millennials. Millennials were born anywhere from 1981 to 1996, so I am a millennial. I was born in 92. I know all of you who were born in 1981, and in those early 80s, you do not want to associate yourselves with the 90s millennials because we really are kind of a different subset of a generation, I would say.

But alas, here you are. We're all in here together. It's okay. The Christian Post reports about this study like this, quote, a biblical worldview, as previously defined by Barna, includes believing that absolute moral truths exist in that such truth is defined by the Bible, as well as firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views are that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life. God is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator of the universe and he still rules it today. Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be

earned. Satan is real. A Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people and the Bible is accurate in all of its teaching. So only 2% of millennials actually hold to those views which define a biblical worldview. Compared to other adults, millennials are significantly less likely to do these things. One, believe in the existence of absolute truth. Two, be deeply committed to practicing their faith. Three, contend that human beings were created by God in his image. Four, believe that God is the basis of all truth. Five, view the purpose of life to be knowing, loving, and serving God. Six, considered the Bible to be a reliable source of moral guidance. Seven, believe that God loves them unconditionally. Eight, seek to avoid sitting because it

breaks God's heart. Am I on nine? I don't even remember possess a biblical view of the nature and character of God. Ten, say they have a unique calling or purpose from God. So all of these things that people with a biblical worldview who follow Christ believe in say and hold to very few millennials agree with this. Millennials are less likely than the previous generations to hold to these beliefs. This study also found, which this is interesting, I think unsurprising. for most of us who are in the millennial generation or who share social media platforms with the millennial and Generation Z generations. Millennials are less tolerant and respectful of others than previous generations. Millennials generally are seen as tolerant, yet the study findings

show that millennials, by their own admission, are far less tolerant than other generations. In addition, they are more likely to want to exact revenge when wronged, are less likely to keep a promise and overall have less respect for others and for human life in general. That doesn't surprise me. That is what characterizes the entertainment that we watch and we listen to. Self fulfillment doing what you want to do no matter what, no matter who it hurts, shunning any idea of self-sacrifice in favor of self-absorption and self-cinnerness, narcissism is glorified.

Narcissism is a destructive force that is going to want to exact a exact or and get people back when they have wronged you rather than give grace and forgive knowing that you have also wronged others and most importantly you have wronged God. I was just reading this morning in Ephesians 4 how we are called to forgive one another and not just that but as God in Christ forgave us. Well God in Christ forgave us in the most radical way. We were dead and sin enemies of God hated God before Christ and then by grace through faith God saved us not because because of anything we had done, but because of his own goodness and mercy. And we had sinned against him immensely enough to condemn us all to hell. And God forgave us, again, not because of our

goodness, but because of his goodness. And the Bible is saying we are to forgive other people like that. Whenever someone wrongs us, what I try to remember is that I have done worse against God. And that is true of all of us. And God himself tells us that we are to forgive other people as God so radically and lovingly forgave us. And yet, millennials, because they do not hold to a biblical worldview, they are not going to have that perspective. They're not going to have that desire. Millennials are also less enthusiastic about America, not just this study. It's not just the study that has found that there have been several other studies like Gallup, who have said the same patriotism is low among millennials. All of these things, by the way, go hand in hand. That is not to say

that Christians are supposed to idolize our country, but we are supposed to, as we'll talk about in this podcast, as Jeremiah 29 says, when God is talking to Israel, that is an exile in Babylon, that you are supposed to seek the welfare of the city that you are in. It is good to love your country. That does not mean that we put our country above God or that we think that Americans are more special or more important in their value than people from other countries. But it does mean that you have a special care for and a special attention to the people in your country. And again, we'll talk a little bit more about that at the end of this episode.

Hey, this is Steve Daste. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking

for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch the Steve Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. They demonstrate millennials little awareness and interest in government and politics and are far less informed about current political conditions and events other than either busters. I've never heard it called that. The silent generation. Or, oh, I guess, no, that's the Generation X than either Generation X or Boomers. They are far more accepting of socialism than other generations.

So I would say that millennials, just in my experience, that they are aware. of what's going on generally politically. Like I think that young people know the latest outrage and they know like the latest headline. But really all they all all they have is what they heard from someone or what they saw on Snapchat or what they saw on Instagram or Twitter or whatever, whatever headline they might have seen on Facebook which says like, you know, Trump only pays X in taxes and that is because of tax fraud and tax evasion when that's not really true. And I think most young people do not take the to actually look into those claims. And so their minds and their awareness of what's going on are really just a bunch of click-baity headlines that shapes their view of what is going on in the world.

That's actually often a very inaccurate picture. The fact that millennials are far more accepting of socialism than other generations directly is correlated to their lack of real knowledge, I think, of what is going on. Their lack of knowledge of politics, how policies work, how the economy work. Socialism sounds good if you don't think about it. It also makes you feel virtuous without ever having to get off the couch because you can say that you care about the least of these by voting for Bernie Sanders without ever forking over any money or any of your time and energy for other people. And so socialism is very appealing for people who don't think very hard about the consequences of it, who don't know the history of socialism and communism, don't realize that it is a limitation of freedom

and everything you love is from capitalism. And so it can be extremely appealing for people who are not very knowledgeable, not just in history, but also in policies today. Also, we know, and people, you know, they get mad when I say this, but it's just true. It's not a coincidence that millennials are the most godless generation, the least likely to have a biblical worldview, and that they're most likely to be socialist.

There's a reason why, according to Pew, 75% of atheists in the country voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary. That worldview goes hand in hand. So if you are someone who believes in socialism, who identifies as a Christian, as I've said many times, you should ask yourself why you have the same worldview as every atheist that you know, the people who don't believe that human beings are made in the image of God and that every human is valuable because of that. That's just at least a good way for you to start digging into your worldview and asking yourself why you believe what you believe. Go back and listen to my episodes on socialism.

I will include them in the link here. And I talk about why socialism isn't biblical. It is, its history is wrought with suffering and injustice and inequality, the exact opposite of what socialism promises. And also, we have to make sure that we're actually talking about what socialism actually is. When we say socialism, I'm not just talking about some social programs. or some welfare.

Scandinavia is not socialist. It has actually a flat tax, whereas America has a very progressive tax system. You pay a larger and larger percentage the more money you make rather than just a larger dollar amount, the more money you make. But in Sweden, they have a flat tax. Everyone pays 60%. It's not socialist. You just pay a lot in taxes.

It's basically a welfare state, but they do have a private market. They do have capitalism to be able to fund the well. welfare state, which of course is necessary. As Margaret Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of people's money. And so if you're going to have a welfare state, you have to have capitalism to be able to fund it. That's something that socialists don't seem to understand. So anyway, the worldview goes together. The socialist, atheist, worldview goes together. Karl Marx, of course, believed that religion was the opium of the masses. He hated Christianity. He hated belief in Christ. He really hated religion in general. He believed.

that it inhibited people from true happiness, that it gave them a sense of delusion, a delusion-type happiness, that if they just got rid of it, they would be able to realize real happiness. Well, let's look at the history of officially atheistic regimes. Have they valued human life? Has it led to happiness? Has it led to plenty? Has it led to prosperity? No, we can see that in every single Marxist regime that has ever existed.

We see that today in China. Officially atheist regime, they care nothing for the individual lives of their citizens. They only care about productivity. I mean, that is why we have seen so many egregious policies end in famine, end in poverty, end in suffering and persecution in the loss of human life there. Because atheism doesn't know how to value the individual. Only Christianity can do that. Millennials are increasingly distinct from other generations.

in the area of faith, the study shows, surprisingly six out of ten millennials consider themselves to be Christians. Yet, when asked about their personal beliefs and faith practices, they differ significantly in many areas from other generations. For example, millennials are significantly less likely to believe in the existence of absolute moral truth or that God is the basis of all truth, to believe that human beings were created by God in his image and that he loves them unconditionally, pray and worship regularly, or seek God's will for their lives. And so a lot of you have asked me, you know, like I have this friend who calls herself a Christian and yet she's posting this that is totally unbiblical. Why is that? Well, it's because they don't have probably the basic foundations of a

biblical worldview. A lot of people identify as Christians. That's called nominal Christianity. Christians in name only. They were raised to Christian or they have adopted some kind of spiritualism that vaguely resembles Christianity. And so they identify as a Christian, but they don't, they don't reflect at all what Christianity actually is according to God's word, according to Christ himself. And so that is going to color their political views. That's going to color their views on right and wrong, their views on morality. And so if you're wondering why there's some cognitive dissonance there, that's probably why. Now, they might just be early in their faith. They might be in early stages of sanctification. It might not mean that they're not really a Christian. And you should

definitely be praying for them and spurring them on to loving good works and to speak the truth in love absolutely. Or they could just not be a believer at all. And they have unfortunately believed a false gospel and have deluded themselves into thinking that they follow Christ when the person that they follow isn't Christ at all. And so in that case, you still, you pray for them and you love them and you point them towards their creator. So none of this is really surprising for any of us again who spend time on social media, but it's also a little bit comforting to realize. I think a lot of you have said, what is happening? Like, what's happening to the church?

I turn around and all these people that I thought that I trusted. They're saying things that are unbiblical, not just when it comes to politics, but when it comes to sin and repentance and holiness and all of that. Why is that? Well, the gate is narrow, my friends. The gate is very narrow. And so the fact that there are only 2% of millennials that actually have a biblical worldview, that just goes to show that, yeah, the vast majority of people who we see, the vast majority

of people who identify as Christians that we see don't actually believe in the Bible. They don't actually hold to that. Again, they might just be in a season of error in one thing. We've all grown. No one becomes a Christian and has a perfectly biblical worldview. Like we're all going to be learning our entire lives to conform ourselves to the likeness of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and to become more obedient to him and his word. And so I'm not saying that in order to be considered a real Christian or to have a biblical worldview,

that you have to be perfect all at once. But we also have to realize that there are people who their whole lives, they will call themselves a Christian and never actually align themselves to God's word. The gate is very narrow, as the Bible says, which transitions us to the Ligonier state of theology. This is a study that they do every two years. the description is every two years we take the theological temperature of the United States to help Christians better understand today's culture and equip the church with better insights for discipleship.

And so they look at some questions are to just the U.S. population in general, obviously a sample of the U.S. population. Some questions are just posed to people who identify as evangelicals. And some questions are posed to both groups. And so I'll go through some of those questions. It's really insightful and revealing just the worldview that we have that Christians versus the rest of the population have. So they have to agree or disagree with a particular statement. First statement is this.

Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. The U.S. population, 52% agree with that versus 36% who disagree. the discrepancy there is in people who are just unsure. So the majority of the U.S. population believes that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. And of the people who disagree, you also have to wonder if they are disagreeing, you don't know which part of the statement that they disagree with. Do they disagree because they don't believe Jesus was a great teacher at all? Or do they disagree because they believe he was God? And so I'm not even sure if that 36% of people who disagree are all Christians. They could be people who. who don't think Jesus was a good teacher at all. Among evangelicals, 30% agree. 30% agree that Jesus was just a great teacher, but he was not God. 66% disagree. So obviously the majority of people who identify as evangelical Christians

believe that Jesus was himself God, but 30% think that he was just a great teacher, but he was not God. Okay, let's look at what the Bible says. about all this. John 1 through 5 and verse 14. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And without him was not anything made that was made. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. Glory is the only son from the father full of grace and truth. For some reason, I just got choked up a little bit reading that. I just love scripture. I love the

book of John. I love the beginning of John. This is such a great introduction to who Jesus is and was. Colossians 1.15 through 20. I also love this passage. I love reading scripture on this podcast because you guys tell me that you love it too and it's just so refreshing and powerful. The word of God really is like a lion. You let it out and it defends itself. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven. And and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body of the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn

from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. So obviously, Jesus was God, according to God's word. God's word is where we get our basis for what Christianity is. I encourage you to get systematic theology. A big book by Wayne Grudem. It might be an investment for some of you. It is a little bit more expensive, but this is a resource that you will have your whole life. Had Wayne Grudem on my podcast several weeks ago, he is a wonderful theologian, has written lots of great resources. But if you're wondering why we trust in the Bible, how the biblical canon came together, why evangelicals, why Protestants don't have

the same Bible that Catholics do, how that decision was made and why the canon that we have was inspired by God, get systematic theology. Also gotquestions.org is a great resource for those kinds of questions as well. So if you're just wondering that very basic question, of why we even trust in the Bible to answer these questions, then you can go look at those resources. Maybe I'll do an episode on that in the future. Second statement, God chose the people he would save before he created the world. Among the U.S. population, 26% agree versus 50% disagree.

I am actually kind of pleasantly surprised that 26% of the U.S. population believes that God chose the people he would save before he created the world. evangelicals 38% agree. So really not that much more than the general population versus 44 who disagree. So and then there's a good chunk in there who say they're unsure. So a larger proportion of evangelicals disagree with the statement that God chose the people he would say before he created the world. Obviously, this is a very contentious topic. But I've talked about predestination. There's an episode titled predestination. And if you need to go back and listen to an episode and you don't know how to find it, just type in wherever you get your podcast, relatable predestination.

You might need to type in Allie Stucky, too. It just kind of depends on what comes up, but just type in the title of an episode that I give you on the podcast when I make a suggestion like this, relatable, scroll down, it'll pop up. The Bible is very clear about this. Now, there is some nuance in this in which, you know, Bible believing Christians, all true Christians, disagree on, but again, the Bible is clear that God does choose the people that he would save before he created the world. Ephesians 1 3 through 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons, through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his well, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. Amen. Romans 829, those of you who memorized Romans 8 with me will recall this verse. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the first born among many brothers. Romans 9 is also a great explanation of this as well. Now, here are some questions that Ligeneer asked just the U.S. adult population or statements that they made to them and asked them to agree or disagree with.

The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths, but is not literally true. Among the U.S. population, 48% agree, 41% disagree. 11% are unsure. So a larger proportion agree that the Bible is not literally true, which is unsurprising. I mean, it's a little bit troubling to think that a large proportion of America doesn't take the Bible literally, doesn't take the Bible probably seriously at all. But it's ultimately, I mean, I think it's unsurprising, especially in this day and age.

Another statement, religious belief is a matter of personal opinion. It is not about objective truth. Fifty-four percent agree with that. So religion is not about objective truth. It's just a matter of your truth and my truth. This is a myth that we tackle in my book. You're not enough. The myth is that you determine your own truth. We talk about why that is faulty and why that leads to wrong views about things like morality and justice and politics. and all of that. But here's something interesting. 54% agree that religious belief is just a matter of personal opinion in 2020, but in 2018, 60% agreed with that. So it's gone down about 6%. I don't really, I don't know the cause of that, but maybe that's encouraging. Maybe people are starting to care a little bit more about theology because they want to put

their feet on solid ground. Now, among evangelicals, here are some questions that were posed directly to them. the vast majority of evangelicals disagree with the idea that science disproves the Bible. So that's good. This disagreement has actually gotten stronger over the past couple of years. So I would say that's encouraging. Here's a statement posed to evangelicals professing evangelicals anyway. Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.

So everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature. 56% in 2016 agreed with that. but only 46% in 2020. So that percentage has dropped by 10 points, which again, I think is very encouraging, but but is still troubling. That's almost half of self-identifying evangelicals who do not understand that we are dead in our sin without Christ. If you miss that, then you don't understand your need for Christ.

You don't understand salvation, which means that you miss the gospel entirely. And this is what happens, in my opinion, when pastors are too scared to talk about sin when they're more concerned with the self-esteem of their congregation than the salvation and sanctification of their congregation. That has eternal implications. Isaiah 64-6, very clear. We have all become like one who is unclean. And all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away. Ephesians 2-1 through 5 and you were dead.

Y'all know, this is one of my favorite passages. I've probably read it 50 times on this podcast. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we're by nature, children of wrath like the rest of mankind. kind. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we

were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace. You have been saved. And so, no, we are not all basically good people. We are depraved. Now, that doesn't mean that everyone who is not a Christian acts in a way that is immoral all the time. That doesn't mean that everyone who is not a Christian is the worst that they could possibly be. And that people who do not profess Christ are just going around and stealing and murdering people. That is not what that means. That means that the ultimate state of our heart, the state of our soul is corrupt and depraved, that we are dead in our sin apart from Christ. That doesn't matter how many good deeds that we've done, that we are still sinful people and we need the work, the

atonement of Jesus Christ to be saved. If you miss that, you miss the entirety of the gospel. What's also troubling, the decline in number of people who agree with the statement, evangelicals who agree with the statement, God counts a person as righteous, not because of one's works, but only because of one's faith in Jesus Christ. 91% agreed with that statement. In 2018, 84% agree in 2020. So that's still a vast majority and that's good. but I'm concerned that they're 16% of identifying evangelical Christians, not Catholics, identifying evangelical Christians who think that we have to add to our faith to be counted as righteous

again. You misunderstand this. You misunderstand the gospel. You misunderstand Christianity altogether. Galatians 216. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith. in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be saved.

Now, a counter that we typically here is James 214. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works, does that faith save him? The idea, you know, faith without works is dead. That is typically how people counter that, hey, you actually do have to prove your faith. You have to earn a bit of your salvation. However, I think Ephesians 2,8, and 10, through 10 reconciles those two ideas and shows that they're not contradictory at all. Ephesians 2 8 through 10 says, for by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should

walk in them. So God prepared the good works that we are supposed to do through our faith beforehand. So we can't even take credit for those. And so I think what we learn from that is that true saving faith always comes with works. That does not mean that we are earning our salvation, but the faith that was given to us by grace will by nature produce good works. The good works that we did or that we do, God already prepared for us beforehand so we don't get to take credit for them. They don't add to our righteousness or deservateness in becoming saved. Christ is our deservedness. We don't deserve it. It is by grace, as Ephesians 2 8 through 10, says that we have been saved. The Holy Spirit through Paul takes special pains to emphasize to us

over and over again that it is not our work. It is not your own doing. This verse says, it is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast. And it says that we are his workmanship. God prepared our good works beforehand that we should walk in them by faith. Again, that's a big one. You don't understand that. Then you don't understand the gospel. You miss everything.

Here's another statement. God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam in 2018, 51%. of professing evangelicals believed this. That is the majority. That's crazy, man. But in 2020, 42% believed that. So that number went down again. I would say encouraging. I would say encouraging. I do think I've seen over the past few years the church start to take more seriously theology. And I've seen more social media accounts correcting the record on bad theology, speaking out against bad theology and saying we've got to get to our Bibles, folks. Like we we got to get back to what is true and to what the gospel actually is. And so I'm encouraged by that

change for sure. Now, 42% is a big number of professing evangelicals who believe that God accepts the worship of all religions. John 146, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Jesus said that. Pretty exclusionary. First Timothy to five. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ. Now, here's something that is actually encouraging. I would say, praise the Lord for this. So the statement was given, gender identity is a matter of choice. In 2016, 32% almost a third of professing the evangelicals agreed with that statement,

that gender identity is not something that's inherent. It is not something that you are born with that God gave you. it is a matter of what you decide in your mind. A third of evangelicals agree with that in 2016. And 2020, that's down by 10%. 22% agree with that. Again, still too high. When the Bible is so abundantly clear, and we're going to kind of go off on a tangent for a second here, because people ask me to talk about this all the time. I have talked about it several, several times, but it is so important. So I'm happy to re-explain and to re-emphasize this. Genesis 1-27, very clear. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him.

Male and female, he created them. So there's no fluidity there. He made men and women distinct. He made them different and with specific purposes. We see this reiterated throughout scripture. We see it in Proverbs when over and over again. Solomon says, listen to your father and your mother. That is an important distinction, an important dichotomy that is not just arbitrary. It's purposeful. We see this from Jesus in Matthew 194. When Jesus is answering a question about divorce, he says, quote, he answered, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And said, therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh, what therefore God has

joined together. Let not man separate. People love to say that Jesus never talks about gender or the definition of marriage. First of all, he clearly did. I just read it. Secondly, when people say, oh, well, Jesus never talked about X, and so it must not be important, that's a red flag that their theology is confused because a Christian believes and knows that Jesus is God. And therefore, anything that God says in Scripture, Jesus also says. Ephesians 5 talks about the relationship between the husband and the wife, how the husband is to love and sacrifice himself. for the wife as Christ sacrifices himself for the church. And the wife is to submit to her husband as to the Lord. This is the greatest biblical support, I think, for the purposefulness and

importance of the distinction between the two genders and the specific definition of marriage by God as between a man and a woman. Because God is saying this is not just a physical union. It is a spiritual union that reflects the gospel. And the way God says that marriage reflects the gospel is by the husband representing Christ through his service and sacrifice to his bride and the bride representing the church through her submission to her husband. Those are particular roles specific to particular genders. God doesn't do things or say things arbitrarily. To say that God doesn't care about gender or the definition of marriage is to say that God is, uh, that God is, flippant, that the creation of our bodies actually didn't mean anything, that Jesus didn't really

mean what he said about gender and marriage in Matthew, that God's depiction of marriage is reflective of the gospel is meaningless. Well, that is a misunderstanding about the nature of God and who God is. I would venture to say, if that is your perspective of God, you do not know him. God does not do things arbitrarily. God made our bodies. He made them good. He made them distinct. He made them purposefully, both for practical, pro-creative purposes. but more importantly, to bring him glory. And this is precisely why when you see Christians start to go soft on the issues of gender and marriage, eventually their entire theology falls apart.

Because to claim that God doesn't really care about gender and marriage is to ignore what we read throughout Scripture, to misunderstand the unchanging and purposeful nature of God, and in that way, misunderstand the gospel entirely. this isn't one of those peripheral issues. This is a big one. God cares about it immensely. And again, yes, you might have friends that are not right on this because they're in a certain stage of their sanctification.

And so I cannot judge their soul that is certainly not my role. I don't want it to be my role. And so I'm not judging their salvation. Maybe they are early Christians. Maybe the Holy Spirit is working on them and convicting them of this. But this is still a big issue. God says that it's big. that the definition of gender and marriage is rooted in creation.

It's reiterated throughout scripture by Jesus himself. It is reflective of the gospel because it is representative of Christ and the church. That is the alliteration that I typically use to explain why the definition of marriage isn't just coming from random verses in Leviticus or even just the creation account. it is a reflection of the gospel. The specific definition of marriage as between a man and a woman is reflective, representative of Christ in the church. It is a really big deal to God. I highly recommend the book, Love Thy Body by Nancy Piercy.

Such a good book in so many ways. I mean, she's got amazing resources. I've also had her on my podcast. But if you want to learn more about the subject, I think I'm actually going to read it next with my book club on Facebook, women's book club with Allie's Duckie. so feel free to join along a really, really good book. I have a pretty strong feeling that if you ask the 22% of self-proclaiming Christians who say that gender is just this arbitrary thing that God doesn't actually care about or define, it's just a matter of choice, if you ask those 22% of self-identifying Christians

to share the gospel with you, to explain who God is and how he redeemed people through Christ, I have a pretty strong feeling that they would not be able to do it. I don't know that for sure. I could be wrong. But again, I just explained why it actually shows a huge misunderstanding about the nature of God. There was a tweet by Adam Wren, who is a liberal journalist who reported for Politico that Amy Coney Barrett, quote, was a trustee at a South Bend private school that described, quote, homosexual acts as, quote, at odds with scripture and said marriage was between one man and one woman years after Obergefell versus Hodges. That last part of his tweet just makes me laugh. As if a decision made in 2015 by the United States

Supreme Court changes what Christians from all over the world have believed for millennia. True Christians will be defining marriage, how God defines it 200 years after Obergefell. Centuries and millennia and eternity after Obergefell. The Supreme Court think the Lord does not dictate what we do or don't believe. God in His Word does. and God does not change. What I've noticed in the recent coverage of many of the Amy Coney-Barritts, many of Amy Coney-Barris personal beliefs about marriage and faith and the value of life

is that Orthodox Christianity is totally foreign to the journalism class. Most of them, it seems. Most of them apparently have never read a Bible. If they have, they don't understand that there are millions of people who believe it and actually take it seriously. Their ignorance and disdain has become even more. obvious over the past few days. You only have to go back eight years, by the way, to 2012, according to Pew Research, to find a time in American history when the majority of Americans

were against gay marriage, 52% just in 2012, eight years ago. Now the majority do accept it, but culture has changed very quickly over the past 10 years while Christians have not. So this shock and dismay being expressed by journalists over these traditional views are an indicator of their shift to the left, not our shift to the right. I also just want to point out, this is a little aside, doesn't really have a lot to do with what we were talking about. I just thought it was interesting when I was looking at these Pew Research studies. For all this talk on the left, that evil white Westerners are the ones that are oppressing the marginalized, including LGBTQ people. The support for gay marriage is not lowest among white Americans.

It is lowest among black Americans, according to Pew Research. It is actually highest. Support is highest among white Americans. Black support for it, according to these studies, has always been lower than white and Hispanic support of it. Also, if you look at a map of countries and their views of the acceptability of homosexuality and society, Western countries are the ones who most accept it. Russia, nope, Nigeria, nope, Kenya, nope, India, nope. So again, the narrative always pushed by the left that America is in particular homophobic, this cruel place against the marginalized. it's always been incorrect.

It is still incorrect. It is a faulty worldview. I just thought that was interesting. That was a little rabbit hole. But to bring it back, to bring it back to the whole point of this episode is that very few people have a biblical worldview. Self-identifying Christians included, very few people have a biblical view of marriage, of gender, of sexuality, of God himself, of truth, of who Christ is, of the nature

of scripture, which is going to affect their view of the world, their view of politics, of justice of right and wrong, the role of the government. As God becomes smaller in someone's life, their idolatry of the government and secular causes typically become bigger. The screw tape letters by C.S. Lewis is an amazing book. We read it together in my book club a few months ago. If you're not familiar with it, it is a senior demon writing to his nephew, a junior demon. And so whenever they talk about the enemy, they're actually talking about God. and when they're talking about their father, they're talking about Satan. I'm going to read you a little excerpt from the screw tape letters. Again, the enemy, when they talk about the enemy,

they're talking about God. This is a demon speaking to another demon. And this goes to show what happens when we make God small and the government or our social and political causes big. Screw tape says, certainly we do not want men to allow their Christianity to flow into their political life. For the establishment of anything like a really just society would be a major disaster. So first, I want you to hear that, that Satan, that the demon is saying that they don't want Christians to allow their Christianity to affect their politics, which is what I talk about so much on this podcast. People believe that we should compartmentalize our Christianity from politics because that's separation of church and state. Separation of church and state does not mean the separation of

Christianity from the rest of your worldview or your faith from the rest of your worldview. No one does that. You should have a cohesive worldview. Everyone's politics and their view of culture is downstream from theology, whether you're an atheist or monotheist. So let's just be aware of that. So Satan does not want our Christianity to flow into what we think about politics. What he does want is this.

On the other hand, we do want and want very much to make men treat Christianity as a means. The thing to do is to get a man at first to value social justice as a thing which the enemy demands, and then work him onto the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. For the enemy will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of heaven as a shortcut to the nearest chemist's shop. Fortunately, it is quite easy to coax humans around this little corner. So again, what he's saying is that Satan wants to get Christians to see Christianity in Christ

as a means of social justice, as a means to their political ends. And I would say this is something that not just the left is guilty of. Maybe the left has a higher propensity towards this, but the right does this too. I think some people on the right think of conversion to Christianity as a way to accomplish their political ends. And whether it's on the right or the left, that's wrong. Leftists tend to think of Christianity, their version of Christianity, social justice Christianity, as a means of societal liberation, as a means of a new social order, as a way to usher in socialism. We see this all the time.

People on the left claiming that Jesus came to reorder society. He came as a social revolutionary against imperialism when, no, that's not an accurate depiction of Jesus at all. The reality is that Jesus reached both the societal oppressors and the societally. oppressed. He specifically reached out to people, societal oppressors, people like Nicodemus, like Paul, like the Roman centurion, like the tax collectors, and those who were considered societally oppressed, like the lepers and the sick and the unclean woman and the poor, because both groups, the societal so-called oppressors and the societally oppressed, had one thing in common. They were and are oppressed by sin.

Jesus came to deliver men and women rich and poor, disabled and able-bodied, powerful and weak from sin. He came to preach repentance from sin and salvation through him. He came to make disciples who are then called to crucify our flesh and its desires and to live a life dedicated to the glory of God. And yes, it's true. When people follow Christ, their hearts change and when lots of hearts change, society changes for the better. and sometimes that does mean literal liberation. The abolition of the slave trade was spearheaded by gospel-powered believers. When Christianity takes hold of hearts, we see the recognition of equal dignity of human beings

in society, and hopefully one day it will mean that we will see the end of the atrocity of abortion as well. And it's a good thing for Christianity in that way to influence society. These are outcomes we should all hope for. But Jesus was not a social revolution. whose goal was to rebel against the state or reorder society or to smash the patriarchy. You will not find that in a reading of the Gospels. Jesus is brash.

He is offensive to our flesh. He is straightforward. He is serious about sin. He's unafraid of truth. He's also compassionate and gentle and kind and lowly and humble and unbelievably loving. He was God made flesh. Our only reconciliation between a holy God and a sinful people. Our only path of redemption.

that is who God is, anyone who tries to minimize him or to bring him down to this crude representation of this social justice warrior, you do not know Christ. And you are seeing Christ in Christianity is a means to an end that is blasphemy. That's not Christianity in the same way that if someone on the right saw Christ as a way to, I don't know, spread patriotism or a means to their own political and societal ends, that is also blasphemy. That is also. wrong. When people follow Christ, yes, society's change. They make changes that are good for everyone, but societal change is not the goal of the Christian. And it was not Jesus's goal. Our goal is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. In my family, we read a catechism together. One of the first

questions is, how do you glorify God? And the answer is by loving him and doing what he commands. That is our goal in life, to become more like Christ in holiness and truth and in love and to make disciples to share the gospel with the people around us and to love them like he has loved us, which is radically. Do we attempt to have influence over our lawmaking to ensure that our laws are just? Yes, I obviously believe so. But we have to make sure that because we are following Christ, our definition of justice is it social justice, but God's definition of justice. Social justice is concerned with equal outcomes, which is impossible outside of tyranny. Request for cosmic justice by Thomas Sol. Justice is not retribution or revenge. justice does not show favor based on skin color or socioeconomic status. True justice is concerned with truth, with actual equity, with a fair process, with righteous judgments and punishments based on evidence, mercy where possible, and restitution where applicable. God's justice, as we have said, a million times on this podcast, is for things it is truthful, it is direct, it is proportional, and it is impartial. Those characteristics are very different than the kind of so-called justice

that people are raising their fists for in the street right now. So yes, Christians want and can work for a just society as long as we, A, define justice as God defines it, B, understand our role in justice versus the government's role, being careful not to give government the role in responsibilities that God has clearly given in his word to individuals, the church or the family. And C, we understand that Christianity is not a means to our ends, either personally or politically. That's one of the problems with the prosperity gospel. It sees Christianity as a means to your prosperous ends.

But as C.S. Lewis says, God will not be used as a convenience. Christianity is the end. Jesus is the end. He is the prize. And one day, we will be with him forever, and there will only be joy and peace. No politics, no dissension, no anger, no malice. Some conservatives got all up in arms when I posted on Instagram that no matter who wins the presidency, Jesus is king. For some reason, they interpreted that to mean that it doesn't matter, that I don't care who wins and that you shouldn't even vote because, you know, whatever, I've spoken specifically to that fallacy so many times. Obviously, what I do is helping to get you guys to care and to see what's going on. I want you to be knowledgeable and involved. But I am not going to riot.

and burn and cry and weep and gnash my teeth if Trump loses, even though I think a Biden presidency will be very much destructive to the country. The same God who ordained Trump to be president has already preordained the next president. And no matter what happens, every day after the election will be a day that the Lord has made. And therefore, I and all of his followers, will rejoice and be glad in it. And I will share this country that I love so much. with people who hate both it and me. And I will refuse to hate them back. Will I fiercely disagree with them? Yes. Will I push back on them? And their ideas when I think it's necessary? Yes. But will I hate them? No. Christians here in America and on earth are in exile. Our citizenship is in heaven, as God's word

says. What we do here matters, how we vote matters. Politics matter because they affect actual people, especially the least of these. But this life is not where it ends. In Jeremiah 29, Israel has been sent into exile in Babylon. God tells them, while you're here, do this in verses four through seven. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles who might have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage. that they may bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare. I'm not trying to say that America is now Israel, but just as God's people were in exile there, Christians are in exile here on earth now, and we are to seek the welfare of the city of the country that we are in. There's that famous verse. In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah 29 11 that says that God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope in the future.

Too many times I see people using this verse as a way to say that God is not going to let anything bad happen to you. That's not true. He's telling this to people who are in exile, who have gone through a lot of suffering. God is saying that even in exile, God is working to fulfill his promises on our behalf, which is that one day he will rescue his people once and for all and defeat evil and sorrow and sin forever. And in the meantime, we are to trust him and seek the welfare of the place in which we dwell. I think that includes voting. I think that includes caring about the policies that are being pushed while still understanding that God is totally sovereign and he's not thrown off by anything.

And so we are in perfect peace, those of us who follow Christ during all of this. Act 1726 through 27 says, And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him, yet he is actually not far from each of us. So God has determined where we are to live. He has determined, by the way, the boundaries and the borders of nations. Like nations are supposed to be sovereign and distinct.

And he placed you and me here now where we are when he has purposefully. He will equip us to confront whatever obstacles we have. have ahead of us. He chose us to be born when and where he did. He chose our kids to be born when and where he did. He doesn't do anything by accident. You are here now purposefully. And in him, you and I have everything that we need to face the days and the years ahead. Hebrews 1320 through 21. Now, may the God of peace who brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever

amen. So don't be discouraged by the state of the world. Certainly don't be surprised by it. The world is acting like they're meant to act. They're supposed to be anxious. They're supposed to be freaking out. They're supposed to be putting all of their hope in the government. They're supposed to be burning down businesses and harassing people in the street and slandering people in the press and believing false narratives. They don't know the Prince of Peace. They don't know the source of all wisdom and truth. They don't have the hope of heaven. They don't have the bread of life. They don't have the living water, the well that never runs dry. They're unsatisfied and lost. Ephesians 417 through 20 says, Now this, I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do and the

in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ. So while they are, while the rest of the world is freaking out, burning things down and feeling like the world around them is crumbling, Christians are cool. We know who is in control. We know who is ultimately leading us.

We care about what's going on in the world. I sure do. We care about policies and politics because, again, these affect the lives of real people, but we are steady, knowing that God is on his throne. What we see is this, and I said it earlier and I'll say it again, the gate is narrow. We shouldn't be surprised that only 2% of our millennial peers have a biblical worldview. So when you're on social media and you're scrolling through and you're seeing your friends

who profess to be Christians sound exactly like your friends who profess not to be Christians. And, you know, again, we have all messed up. I certainly have. I have not conducted myself always in the way that I want to conduct myself. There are times I have snapped on social media where I sound just like the rest of the world. So I'm not telling you to judge someone's salvation on a bad moment. But if you're wondering why you are seeing your friends increasingly sound like the world and look like the world, even though they are professing to be a believer, this is why. The gate is narrow. what we will see in the coming years, I believe, is friends falling away. You're going to see pastors fall away. You're going to see fellow church members. You're going to see your favorite bloggers and influencers and authors whom you trusted renounce their faith. Family members. The days of cultural Christianity, as I have said, as I said, or I think he actually said in my interview with Dr. Albert Mueller, the days of cultural Christianity are over. No matter who is president next, it's going to be less popular and comfortable.

and lucrative and safe to be a Christian, I believe. And to most people, it will not be worth it. They will count the cost and say no. First John 219 tells us this. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. So it's time to count the cost. Let's stop being lazy and complacent about our own faith and the faith of others. Pastors preach sin and repentant, to your congregants, there are people in your churches who have sat in a pew for 40 years and do not know Christ. Youth pastors, it is not too early for the kids in your care. It's no theology. Now is the perfect time for them to understand theology. This is the time to challenge them with a real study of the

Bible. It is not too early to have them reading C.S. Lewis and Spurgeon. Stop feeding them fluff because you're afraid that they're going to get bored. The thing that actually started to excite me about Christianity was when I was in high school was realizing how intellectually rich apologetics were and how much there was to learn about Christianity. I was reading C.S. Lewis, I read Tim Keller's reason for God. And it was those two, mere Christianity reason for God, a particular pastor that I used to listen to all the time, who was just brilliant and brought everything back to the gospel. And Romans 9 that really did it for me. It just engaged my mind. in my heart in a way that I had never been engaged. It wasn't fluff that finally did it. It wasn't

another metaphor. Not saying the metaphors are bad. I love metaphors. But it wasn't another fluffy talk about how God thinks I'm awesome. It was the realization that I am a sinner and that there is this amazing merciful God who has sent his son to die for me and that he wants me to know him and he knows me and there is so much to know and to learn about him. Do not. Do not underestimate the minds and the capacity and the ability to critically think of the people that are in your congregation, especially if you are a youth pastor, your job is to not, is not to make them feel good about themselves. They get the message of self-love from literally everywhere. Their biggest problem, our biggest problem, is not that they feel bad about themselves.

It's not that they have low self-esteem. It's that we are without Christ, sinners, bound for hell. That is everyone's biggest problem. And if you're not looking to solve that problem through the gospel, then you're not doing your job. Make sure they know the gospel. Make sure they know who made them what his authority is, what it means to glorify him. Parents, we got to teach our kids. A lot of y'all have more experience and more experience in parenting than I do. So you should be giving me advice. So I'll just say, teach your kids the Bible and don't apologize for it. I am going to include a link to a list of

resources that I have on my blog in the description of this podcast. Toward the bottom, you will see some resources that I have for kids. I love the truth and grace books that Tom Askell, who have had on this podcast, has written just really good kids, catechisms, and understanding theology. Everyone else who doesn't fit into those three categories, go to that page, read the recommended theology books, use the church finder app that I provided. Founders.org slash church dash search, join a local church and share the gospel. These are all things that I break down in my book. Also, like I said, you can find that on my website as well, Ali beth stucky.com slash book.

If you are already a Christian, understand that you, through the power of God, have the ability to help change people's minds. We don't get to take credit for it. The Bible says that the one who plants and the one who waters and the one who gives growth all ultimately, the credit for all of that goes to God. God can use you and he will use you

to help change people's minds. Ultimately, it's him. It's the Holy Spirit who does that work, but he will use you as a vessel. I am just an ordinary person. And I get emails every week from people who say, I hated you. I hated your podcast. I hated your post. I was angry every time I listened. I was angry the first few chapters of your book. But then something changed. And I can't take credit for that. I can't take credit for that change of heart and that change of mind. But Christ certainly can. I got an amazingly meaningful email that brought me to tears from someone who was raised a Muslim who said that she had been watching my videos and realized the distinction between the quasi-religion of social justice and actual Christianity and that she finally understood the gospel for the

first time and started following the Lord and joined a local church that sounds wonderful. If that is possible through this podcast, it's possible through anyone. It's possible through you. We are not different. We are just Christians that God has decided to use because of his goodness and mercy and not anything that we have done to deserve that. And so be encouraged. I get those kinds of messages every week. And if God can use me and will use me, he can and will use anyone, including you. So God has given you all of the equipment, all of the tools that you need to disciple the

people in your life and to share the gospel and to change people's hearts and minds through the power of the Holy Spirit. And we give him glory for all of that. So I hope that was encouraging to you. I know another long episode. I've had a lot to say over the past few months. My episodes used to be like 30 minutes. That's actually how long they're supposed to be. But I just always have so much to say to you guys. And you guys give me so much good content ideas to talk about. So thank you guys so much for listening. I am really excited about Friday's episode. So excited. I had a conversation with

Christopher Rufo and we're talking about how critical theory has infiltrated the highest agencies in our country and how we can push back on it. And it was just a brilliant, amazing conversation. He is an awesome guy. So can't wait for you to listen to that on Friday. And we will be back here. Then have a great rest of your week. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective. reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions

and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.