Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 507 | Our Real Enemy, Our True Family & Our Ultimate Goal
Episode Date: October 18, 2021Today we're discussing theology and how the current moment we are in politically and culturally is so much more than just Right vs. Left or Republicans vs. Democrats. On both sides you'll find profess...ing Christians who don't actually keep the word of God in their hearts, and this is a reminder that the faith Christians have in God is a more important bond than our political affiliations. While debates about mandates, guns, or communism are important, they pale in comparison to the spiritual battle that we are called to take part in. Then, at the end, we have a fun Things I Just Don't Get segment, analyzing the question: why are millennials paralyzed by menial tasks? --- Today's Sponsors: NetSuite by Oracle is the #1 financial system - gives you visibility & control of your finanials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, & more. Right now, they're offering a one-of-a-kind financing program only for those ready to switch today! Go to NetSuite.com/ALLIE right now! Good Ranchers safely deliver American craft beef & better than organic chicken right to your door, individually wrapped, vacuum sealed, & ready to grill. Go to GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE to place a one-time order OR subscribe & save 20% on each box of mouth-watering meats. Plus, get an additional $20 off & free express shipping when you use promo code 'ALLIE' at checkout! Paint Your Life is a professional, hand-painted portrait, created from any photo, at a truly affordable price. It's fast too — you can receive your portrait in as little as 2 weeks! Get 20% off & free shipping by texting 'RELATABLE' to 64-000. --- 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
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 Monday.
Hope everyone had a great weekend.
We're off to the races this morning.
So this morning I was at a protest against vaccine mandates for Southwest Airlines.
just to, I wasn't actually protesting myself.
I was getting some interviews from a lot of you guys.
And it was really exciting to meet some of you and to talk to Southwest employees who are pushing back against this mandate.
And I'll play some of that footage once we have it all put together maybe on Thursday.
But very interesting to hear from those of you who are standing up against this.
What I heard was it's about sincerely held beliefs, not even necessarily about the vaccine,
although it is for some people.
But it's really just about freedom,
the ability to be able to provide for your families.
A lot of the people I talk to have been working for this airline
and other airlines for decades.
And this is just the breaking point for a lot of you.
And I think that it would do well of these corporations
and, of course, of the federal government
to listen to people who have sincere, well-thought-out,
reasons to oppose these mandates. So we'll talk a little bit more about that later in the week.
Today I just kind of want to give us some perspective about a lot of the things that are
that are going on right now. There is so much chaos. There's so much confusion. There are so many
different news stories that everyone's trying to keep up with. And I just want to make sure that
we as Christians are looking at all of this from the proper perspective. It's easy to get so consumed
with politics that we start to lose sight of what is eternal and what is temporal. And I just want
to bring us back to where we should be standing as the church, I believe, in all of this,
and explaining to you why I, as a Christian, stand where I do politically, but also, you know,
opening the door to the areas of Christian liberty that I think are important.
I want to take a break from the news, even though there's so much that we could talk about,
I will say just briefly, Colin Powell, Secretary of State under George W. Bush, he died from
COVID complications, and he's 84 years old.
So whether someone is vaccinated or not, the chances of surviving COVID,
aren't really great. And so he died, sadly. We should be praying for his family during all of this.
And everyone who knew him, it's always kind of shocking off putting when someone who has been such a
pillar in American political life for so long dies, even when they are old. So that's the one bit of
news that I'll say. But other than that, we're going to take a break from the news just to kind of get
our bearings, to kind of get our legs underneath us a little bit. So I want to explain this issue that I
see on the left and the right. And I realized as I was writing this out, that this takes a little bit
of repetition to break down where I think we are in this moment. But there's this issue that I see
on both political sides. And I see this among Christians and among secularists. And then I'm going to
explain, like I said, where I sit and where I hope to have everyone who listens to me sit in the
midst of all of the craziness politically and culturally that that's going on. And maybe stand is actually a
better word than sit because we are all standing against. We feel like we're standing against
these waves of chaos and confusion right now as Christians and as conservatives. And then I'll
talk about why I stand where I do theological and politically. And I hope that these explanations
give you a whole lot of clarity. And I hope that you end this Monday episode feeling very
encouraged about why the heck any of us are here, why we talk about the things that we do,
why I believe we are called to the fight that's before us. And yes, that does include
politics. The reason that we talk about the things that we do that yes are temporary, yes,
are physical and political and cultural, sometimes rather than spiritual and eternal, is because
we believe that there is no neutral ground. That's what C.S. Lewis says. There's no neutral
ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed
by Satan. And we say often on this podcast, neutrality is a
myth. Secularism is not neutral. Christianity is not neutral. Conservatism is not neutral.
Neither is leftism. Nothing is truly neutral. No book, no movie, no show, no second we spend is spent
neutrally. Everything in one sense is spiritual warfare. Like everything that is thought,
everything that is said, everything that is done or not done is all in submission to God or to Satan.
Everything that exists is either claimed by God or by God's allowance is claimed by Satan.
Ephesians 2-2 calls Satan the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Spirit that is now at work in the Sons of Disobedience.
So Satan is actively working in the universe through those who do not follow Christ.
We were all once sons and daughters of disobedience.
That's what Ephesians 2-3 says.
So we all once walked as sons and daughters of disobedience following the Prince of the Power of the Air.
The chapter goes on to say, it is only through the power of Christ by the grace of God
manifested in our faith in Jesus that we are now sons and daughters of obedience.
We were once rebels, vessels of wrath, tools of the evil one.
And now, not because of anything we have done, but because of God's incredible mercy,
we are now children of God, friends of God, heirs of God with Christ, vessels of mercy,
ambassadors of Christ.
So the old has gone, the newest come, a sense.
2 Corinthians 517 says.
Ephesians 58 says, at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right
and true.
That last part is something that you'll hear me say on relatable a lot, that which is good
and right and true.
That is what we as Christians cling to and push for.
And then in Ephesians 6, we're told this, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic,
powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.
So we, new creations in Christ, children of light, lovers of all that is good and right and true,
haters of that which is not good and right and true, we are in a spiritual battle against
children of darkness, sons of disobedience, haters, again, of all that is good and right and
true. That spiritual battle is real. Neutrality is a myth. There's dark and light. Okay, so we got that.
That's the whole big, grand context that we're all living in, whether we acknowledge it or not.
But here's where I think things get complicated. When we talk about the things that we do,
when we talk about these different political issues, here's where I personally struggle.
When it comes to the culture wars, political wars, it is fairly easy for me to say,
what is evil and dark and what's not according to not my feelings but God's word.
So anything that glorifies what God calls disorder sexuality, anything that normalizes what
God calls perversion, anything that seeks to corrupt or abuse children, physically,
sexually, psychologically, all of the above, anything that seeks to disintegrate and redefine
the nuclear family, which God defines clearly in the first chapter of Genesis and reiterates
throughout scripture, specifically by Jesus himself in Matthew 19, and is necessary, a necessary
building block for any functioning free society, anything that disincentivizes work, which existed
before the fall, before sin entered the world, and is therefore inherently good and necessary for both
individuals and nations to thrive, anything that encourages, covetousness of someone else's possessions,
anything that replaces the God-given role of the parent or the church with the role of the state,
anything that intentionally dehumanizes or oppresses a group of people, anything that enables or
exacerbates anarchy and lawlessness, anything that causes people to believe in other lies,
anything that calls evil what God calls good and calls good what God calls evil.
Now, within these kind of broad categories of what according to God's word are very clearly evil,
within those categories are packaged my specific thoughts about immigration, about guns,
about free speech, about abortion, welfare, race, etc., which I've detailed, obviously, many
times over the years on this show, and all of my specific views fall into one of those deal breakers
I listed above.
And it's on those specific.
So it's on the how of those things, especially on the how policy-wise.
on the policy specifics that I think faithful Christians may disagree.
That doesn't mean both sides are right, or even that both sides are biblical,
or that it's not important to debate and determine who is correct.
But it also doesn't mean that either side is not a believer.
Like, for example, I voted for Trump.
There are Christians, faithful Christians, who didn't vote for either candidate.
I respect that decision and their faith.
And yes, I even know Christians.
who voted for Joe Biden is really hard for me to understand that decision. I will debate that
decision until the cows come home. And at the end of the day, I will probably at least get them to say
that voting for Biden was not a good decision. But those Christians that I know personally who voted
that way, I will see them in heaven. Like, I have no doubt about that. They're Christians who disagree
on the particulars of gun policy, of immigration policy, welfare policy, COVID policy,
even though I really think they're wrong.
And I could root my beliefs about each specific policy in scripture.
I have to believe these are not salvation issues.
Because if I don't, then I've just placed spiritual burdens on people that don't actually
biblically exist.
And I've added something to the gospel that biblically is not there.
So there are people who I believe peddle factually and biblically incorrect information.
On race, for example, racism, police brutality, justice, so-called social justice.
so-called social justice, who call themselves Christians.
Many of them are.
Some may not be.
Not based, and I'm not saying that based on my feelings about them, but based on their general
rejection of the Bible as authoritative and their seeming insistence upon worshiping
the God of self rather than the God of Scripture.
And then there are people with whom I agree politically and culturally, and honestly,
this bothers me more.
People who I really agree with politically and culturally, who I really agree with politically and culturally,
who I believe really see things, like as they are right now in this political moment,
their eyes are opened in that way.
And some of whom, you know, they don't even pretend to be Christians and that's fine.
But then there are some who I agree with on so much politically who call themselves Christians,
who, based on what they say and based on what the Bible says,
they seem to not be walking out a genuine faith in Christ.
It seems like they believe Christianity is like.
less about taking up your cross and following Christ and more about some strange mix of patriotism
and self-help. And that really distresses me. That really makes me sad. And now here's why I think
we have what we do. We've got Christians who believe that they align with some left-wing
values or left-wing policies on things. And again, I think they're completely wrong about that,
but, you know, we're free to be wrong on things that are not salvation issues.
And I'm sure they think that I'm wrong on some of those things as well.
And then we have people on the right who are right politically, but have their theology
all out of whack to the point of where I am not even sure that they could articulate
the gospel.
So it doesn't give you any clout to be a Christian on the left.
according to leftists.
Like you are not going to get any more credibility being a Christian.
You're probably actually going to have less credibility from leftist secularists if you are a Christian.
But it does give you clout with the secular world to be on the left if you are a Christian,
which is why I believe they're Christians who adopt some of the left-wing values that don't align at all with scripture,
like say abortion.
And they just call it like nuanced or something like that because it's easier to be mainstream politically.
still try to hold on to the Christian faith. It's cooler. It's less controversial to be
maybe center left. And of course, they may sincerely believe the political things that they do,
but the truth is they agree with the secular world on these things. Almost 100% of atheists
and agnostics identify as on the left side of the political aisle. Now, it does give you clout
to be a Christian on the right, which is why I believe there are secular people on the right,
simply say that they're Christians because most people on the right are. Like there are a ton of
evangelicals on the right. And it gives you a boost if you espouse Christian values, whether you're
a Christian or not. And a lot of these people on the right really don't know the first thing about
the Christian faith. I think, and I know this is controversial, I think that Trump probably falls into
this category. And before someone calls me judgmental, I think that we are supposed to just discern the
fruits of what people say and do. And again, this is not coming from a place of condescension because,
as I already said, all of us, according to Ephesians 2, were all once in that place. We were all
part of the old way. And now we are part of the new way as new creations. We were all sons and
daughters of disobedience. Now only through by grace, by grace through faith in Christ,
are we sons and daughters of obedience? So this is not coming from a place of superiority or
ascension. I'm just saying what is. So I think that they're a Christian liberal seeking affirmation
from the world. And then I think there are secular conservatives seeking affirmation from the Christian
right. Does that make sense? And so both are dealing with a form of compromise that I think that we have
to be really discerning about. Now, I am not an arbiter. Thank the Lord of who is a Christian and who is not.
We may be surprised by some of the people that we see in heaven. My point is that the spiritual
battle of good versus evil, light versus dark, does not primarily break down into left versus right
because of what I just described. It doesn't break down primarily as Republican versus Democrat or
conservative versus liberal. It is not primarily political. And I'll explain that a little bit more
in just one second. Hey, this is Steve Deist. 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 Steve Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever
you get podcast.
I hope you'll join us.
So this spiritual battle that Christians are facing is not primarily against vaccine mandates
or COVID restrictions or gun control or abortion or even communism.
And let me just say like, that's tough.
Okay, that's tough for me.
I imagine that it's probably tough for you too if you're as passionate about these things
as I am because I hate all of the things that I just listed.
I think all of them are evil and cumulatively.
they have a very oppressive effect on societies, and thus I think that they should be opposed
by Christians. That's my view, and I believe it's a biblically based view. I am very passionate
about those views, and I want to persuade other people to hold those views on those subjects.
Even so, I have to understand that believers who disagree with me on these are my brothers and sisters,
and at the end of the day, I have more in common with them fundamentally than I do with the
atheist who agrees with me on, say, the dangers of critical theory. At the end of the day,
my allegiance is to Jesus. My citizenship is in heaven. I'm a member of the body of Christ.
That doesn't mean that I'm not a citizen of the United States. It doesn't mean that I'm not
politically involved. Obviously, you guys know how involved I am and how much I care about it,
but ultimately, fundamentally, like that's where my association is. At the end of the day,
it is still light versus darkness.
It's not ultimately pro-abortion versus anti-abortion.
It's not ultimately capitalism versus communism.
It's not ultimately freedom versus tyranny.
It is ultimately, ultimately sin versus salvation,
Christ versus Satan, the church versus the world.
That is really hard to remember when everything is so insanely political right now.
And when I see so many Christians who just don't get it,
who still think Black Lives Matter,
is really about saving black lives, who still think that all of these COVID mandates are really
about our health, who think that Joe Biden really is empathetic and unifying, who think that critical
race theory and gender theory have some merit to them, who think that abortion is some nuanced
issue that maybe we don't need to be involved with politically, who think saying a man is a man
is unloving, who think social justice is actually just. They really think the biggest problems
facing our country or white supremacy and Christian nationalism. It's insane to me. I mean,
it's mind-boggling. They don't see what's happening. They have no idea what's coming. They are totally
and completely ignorant and their ignorance works as complicity and tyranny. And they don't see it.
They don't see the parallels to the Gulag Archipelago or Brave New World or 1984 or the screw tape letters.
They literally do not see it. And that is maddening to me. And yet, and yet at the end of the day,
I have to remember where I stand.
On which side, quote unquote, I am ultimately and most importantly.
And that is on the side of those with whom I agree on the gospel and disagree on politics.
Is there a debate about how much secular progressivism you can buy into before it's logical to wonder if you believe the Bible at all?
or just secularism in general right or left.
Yes, yes, there is definitely a debate about that.
Absolutely.
We talk about that a lot.
But I'm talking about true believers who simply have maybe given into mainstream dogma on political issues without even really thinking.
And that's actually why I have this podcast.
This podcast is for believers.
It is to inform believers on my side of the political aisle.
And it's also to persuade believers on the.
the other side of the political aisle. There are non-Christians who listen to this podcast. I'm very
thankful for that. I have non-Christians whom I've had on this podcast who have a lot of wisdom
to share. And I am happy to have their voices on those important subjects. I just wrote an article
that's out today for World Magazine saying that, you know, we can learn something as Christians
from Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan, even though we really disagree with them, theoretically, we
disagree with a lot of the things they say. But the fact that they're willing to come out and say,
hey, biology is something that exists.
Like a man is a man.
Like that kind of secular sanity infused into the cultural conversation matters.
I welcome it.
That's great.
But as far as I know, Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan aren't Christians.
Like, that is not ultimately who I am linking arms with.
And even though they have more wisdom on these subjects and more courage on these subjects than a lot of Christians do.
That just means that Christians should be ashamed about their lack of wisdom and courage on it.
doesn't mean that I am no longer in alliance with them as my fellow believers.
The secular voices who are saying in all the categories that I'm talking about are so important,
but they're not family.
The Christian church is.
The Christian church are the ones that I am supposed to be fighting alongside.
That's why I am much more interested in arguing with people who bear the name of Christ
than I am interested in arguing with non-Christians about politics.
I mean that in the sense that I want to talk to true Christians who are left wing and show them
where I believe they're wrong politically.
I also want to show conservatives who are not true followers of Jesus, who are maybe just Christians
in name only.
I want to show them what Christianity is and what the gospel is, that it's bigger and better
and deeper than a tagline in our bio, you know, faith family freedom or something like that,
or it's better and bigger and more profound than the campaign slogan or an identity.
that we know was going to, you know, get us in with the conservative evangelicals.
Like, that is deadly.
That's deadly.
That's just as empty as any kind of secular progressivism.
It's bigger and better than a narrative that centers on the rise and fall of the United States.
I see a lot of conflation of that on the right.
And that does worry me in the same way that it worries me that there are Christians
that compromise so much on political.
and cultural issues to the point of basically almost being indistinguishable from secular leftists.
I love when I get Christians you tell me, yeah, I was a Christian, but I was ignorant politically,
and now I've changed my mind for listening to your podcast or reading a book or whatever it is.
And usually it's not me, but when people become Christians and when they get involved in the
Christian community and they start studying scripture, they do take.
to move to the right politically and socially.
I know people get so mad when I say that, but it's true.
I mean, it's true.
When I did a survey the other day on Instagram asking people, you know, what changed
your mind on abortion?
If you were previously pro-choice and now you're pro-life or maybe you were someone
who said I'm personally pro-choice, but I'm personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice.
If you're one of those people who maybe didn't think that the law had anything to say
about it, what changed your mind?
almost every single person said becoming a Christian or realizing that you weren't really a Christian.
You just said that you were a Christian, but really reading the Bible. That is what pushed you to be
anti-abortion. Most people that I talk to, if I say if you were on the left and you moved right,
what changed your mind? Most people say someone introducing me to God. And I'm not saying that being on
the right is the same as being a Christian. I just spent a few minutes talking about that.
That's just typically the trajectory that happens. So you can get mad at me.
all you want to about that, talk to people. It is typically true. It's, and it's because, like,
it's really hard to stomach the legality of abortion or the disintegration of the family or the
unencumbered growth of the government as a Christian. But, but I love even more when I get
conservatives who tell me that maybe they were already pro-life. They already hated big government.
But now they're a believer. Like, God used this podcast or God used.
a bunch of different people, a bunch of different conversations, a bunch of different resources to
show them that even though they aligned with a lot of Christians politically or maybe even that
they thought they were Christians, they, you know, they realized that they weren't. They didn't
know anything about theology. And so that's where I sit in the midst of this. That's where I
unabashedly want my listeners to sit. I want you to sit in the midst of all of that.
That doesn't mean that I'm in the middle politically. You guys know that I'm not.
but I want us to be so careful, especially on the right.
Because, you know, I've seen a lot of conservative figures lately,
who I didn't even realize were Christians,
and I would have assumed maybe that they weren't,
even though we, you know, even though we agree politically,
like going out to churches and giving sermons.
And I just, I worry a little bit about that.
I worry a little bit about that on the right,
that we stop caring about theology,
and we stop caring about whether or not someone
believes the gospel when they align with us politically.
Like that's, it's a little, it's a little shaky and it's a little difficult.
Like when we see the onslaught of, you know, tyranny in some ways that we see coming and
has already manifested itself in places like Canada and Australia, like it's really easy
for us to believe that left versus right is darkness versus light and to conflate this political
fight that we're in with a spiritual fight.
And it's not the same thing, but the political can be spiritual.
They're not the same, but they can definitely be intertwined.
And I hate the word nuanced because I think it's overused,
but it truly is a nuanced look of what is going on.
So I see it as I care about politics because I
care about people as we say so much, politics matters because policy matters because people matter.
Politics affects policy. Policy affects people. And so I care about the things that I care about.
I vouch for the policies that I vouch for because I believe that it's best for people.
But I also see that ultimately what people need is the gospel. Ultimately, what people, what I want people to do is not to be a
Republican necessarily, but I want them to bow to Christ. I want them to see Christ as king.
Everything else that I advocate for it, I think is good for society. I think it's good for people.
And I love the country in which God has placed me. And so I push for policies and I push for
issues and sides of issues that I think is best for the family and that glorifies God the most
and allows people the freedom to speak and to worship and to think and to provide for their
families, all these things that I see, according to the Bible, are good and right and true,
while at the same time holding my partisanship loosely when it comes to the gospel and when it comes to
who I am ultimately linking arms with. And I can't tell you exactly specifically what it always
looks like to walk that out. Because obviously I've linked arms with people who are not,
who are not believers when it comes to, for example, gender ideology or critical theory or
things like that. But I can't do that at the expense of my partnership with fellow believers.
And things have become so heated, so hot that really, I think that a lot of us feel like
we do have more in common with unbelievers who agree with us politically than we do believers
who disagree with us politically. And I think people on the left feel like that too, 100%.
So I don't know what it looks like to necessarily walk that line. Because certainly if we care
about tyranny, if we care about the threat of totalitarianism, which I think that we should.
and we obviously do on this podcast, it's going to take
ally with people who are not believers who care about this stuff.
And we do that while at the same time wanting to change their hearts
and knowing that the gospel is ultimately the answer.
It's this tension.
It's this tension that Christians live in.
That's another overused term, tension, nuance, all that stuff.
Sometimes these are just excuses for people to not really know what they're talking about.
And I don't mean it in that sense.
But we do.
We live in this tension of being here and knowing that we have to care about the people around us and
care about the world and care about what's going on right in front of us while knowing
that our hope is in heaven, that our faith is in God, our trust is in God, not in any
politician or political party, wanting what's best for our nation, wanting what's best for
our families, wanting what's best for our community, being logical and true.
Truth matters so much, not just when it comes to biblical truth, but also when it comes
to when it comes to just factual truth, scientific truth, like all truth is God's truth. So
all of that matters a whole lot. And I'm always going to be advocating for that while also feeling
this sense of, but this is not my home, but this is not my ultimate calling. But these people
around me who don't agree with me on the gospel are not, are not my family. And I think we are,
we get confused sometimes when we're reading the Bible. Our Western, I think, lenses make us view
particular verses in scripture that are really talking about loving the church and caring for
the church. Like, for example, caring for the least of these. We think of, oh, least of these in
society. It's really talking about persecuted Christians. It's talking about the least of these within
the church. We look at a verse that says, you know, visit those who are in prison and we're thinking,
You know, this means everyone in prison. It's really talking about persecuted Christians who are in prison.
And I think that we think really that so many of the commands in Scripture are about taking care of people outside of the church when our primary responsibility, yes, we're supposed to go out and make disciples and evangelize, but our primary caretaking responsibilities are really to our families in the church.
Like those are the people that we are mostly supposed to be ministering to and serving.
And I think we've really neglected that.
I think the local church so often is so focused on growing numbers and so focused on missions
that we neglect building very intimate, uplifting community within the church.
And we sometimes fail.
I'm not saying always, but sometimes fail facilitating these very important discussions
and debates about politics so that Christians in the local church can come together and say,
you know, I really disagree with you on this so passionately.
But at the end of the day, you're my brother, sister, and Christ.
the church really needs to be the one bringing people together.
I'm not talking about some big organization doing that.
I'm talking about the local church equipping believers to be able to discuss these things
that matter but are not ultimate.
So that's what I hope that we can see.
Maybe there's pastors, there are people who are listening who can help us craft a vision
for how to help churches do that in their own way.
I think that this is such a moment in the age of vast globalization that seems to be crushing
us in so many ways, whether it comes to supply chains and big government, big government policies
that are exacerbating and enabling unemployment, when things seem to be just getting
bigger and bigger and more and more overwhelming, like the church needs to be focused,
laser focused on its people, laser focused on its communities.
I think Christians are really called to simplify our lives right now.
And yes, national politics matters, state politics matters, these big picture things matter,
but we really, I think, need to localize.
We need to be taking care of one another.
That's how we're going to get through this, I think.
And we need to lean into that.
And remember where ultimately our allegiance lies,
even as we are pushing for policies
that we believe are best for everyone.
I hope that makes sense.
Okay, so I just wanted to,
we haven't done the things I don't get in a really long time.
And I don't know if this qualifies as the things I don't get.
So if you're fairly new,
you haven't been listening since the beginning.
We do, like, sometimes I'll say, like, things I don't get, like, people who wear flip-flops
and airports.
You guys know I have very strict airport etiquette.
What I'm wearing right now is great for an airport, actually.
So I believe, like, this is not even what I was going to say, things I don't get, but this
put me on this tangent.
So for airports, you got to wear clothes-toed shoes, preferably, I mean, with socks, even if, I
know, if you have TSA pre-check.
you're like, well, I don't have to take my shoes off when I go through security. I know, but still,
I just don't think toes, they don't need to be seen. They don't need to be seen on airplanes.
They don't need to be seen, especially if you're a guy. If you're a guy, no one ever needs to see
your toes at all. Flip flops are just off limits, period. That's another attire rule.
I have, again, another topic for another day. But airports, everyone needs to be wearing close-toed
shoes. You don't need to wear heels or anything like that. Think about an emergency. Like if you
have to slide down one of those slidy things if you crashed in the ocean you don't want your heel to
puncture that so we're thinking practical here close-toed shoes socks are preferable just in case you do
have to take off your shoes for any reason and you don't want your feet to smell on a plane that's the
worst thing you need to have long pants on maybe a long skirt it's not ideal but you need to have
long pants on the joggers that i'm wearing right now are ideal for that because they've got an elastic
waistband jeans uncomfortable acceptable but
uncomfortable. And then, like, I'm having, I have a tank top on, but then I have a sweater over it.
So I've got some layered options here. The planes are cold. They're almost always cold. And so
you need some layers. And I had a sweet lady sit next to me and like her little tennis outfit
the other day when she had a like a tennis skirt on and a tank top on. And she was shivering
the whole time. I don't want that for you. So things I don't get, that's one thing. When people
don't wear the correct attire for airports. I should probably just like, I don't know.
create some company where I help you pick out your airport outfits.
And I know some of you are going to be offended by that.
I'm sorry.
Again, not ultimate issue.
We can still be fellow believers in Christ.
But the thing that I don't get, that is completely, I don't even know how I got on
to that.
The thing that I was talking about on Instagram was this, like, thing that millennials
have.
And this is a real thing.
I'm going to tell you about it.
And you're going to be like, oh, I do that too.
I thought that I was the only.
person. You're not the only person. This is actually a phenomenon that I read about in some magazine. I think I
even wrote about it or almost wrote about it in my book and I can't even remember what it's called now.
But so we have anxiety as millennials. Millennials born anywhere from, I think it's like 1982 to
1997. I was born in 1992. So I'm right smack dab in the middle. I'm very much a millennial.
It's just all, most of the characteristics that you think of when you think of a millennial, I embody. And one of
those things is like we're okay or at least I'm okay and I think most of us are okay making like the major
life decisions the people who are kind of on like the older end certainly of millennials sometimes
they're called like the early 80s are called like Xenials like Generation X millennials but
we're okay with like the major life decisions um like I'm married I have kids I have a job
we pay our bills we've got a mortgage so like we've got I'm fine with
all of that and we're responsible in that regard. It's little things that give us anxiety. So what I mean
by that is like, okay, we might take care of all of our major life decisions. Maybe you went to law
school. You became a lawyer. You're engaged and all that good stuff. But I bet that your trunk is
filled with boxes of clothes that you have been meaning to give away to Goodwill for like six months.
and you probably have like a row of wrinkly shirts hanging up in your closet that instead of ironing or steaming,
you have just decided that you're going to avoid wearing because you just feel like you never have
time to do that.
I bet that your voicemail box is full right now and that you not only maybe haven't called
these people back or maybe you have, but you're not going to listen to the voicemails and
it actually gives you a little bit of anxiety to think about.
listening to those voicemails or when someone calls you that you don't want to talk to,
you just let it go because you don't want to pick up the phone.
You might have a closet that's filled with packages, Amazon packages of things that you don't
want to send back or that you know that you need to send back, but you haven't sent back yet.
This is a problem that millennials have, and I'm going to give you my analysis on it.
I'll give you my analysis on it, my quick analysis on it.
Okay.
So just my quick analysis about like why we have anxiety about these little things.
And I would love to hear your analysis too.
So I read about this somewhere and I can't remember.
I can't remember what it is.
One, I think that we are oversimulated at all times.
We are consumed by technology.
And we have this sense of rushedness.
Like we have this sense of hurry that may.
may not be real. And we always feel like we don't really have time to do things that we don't
have to do. For me, it's really difficult for me to do things or to even text. I'm terrible
at texting people back. Terrible at texting people back. And it's not because I don't care,
although if I'm honest with myself, I do think that not texting people back can build up to
like a character flaw. Like I'll just own that. Like I think that it makes you seem unreliable and untrustworthy
or uncaring when that's not really the case. It just, I really just forget. And I think that millennials are
constantly feeling just overstimulated and overburdened by things that may or may not affect us.
We probably don't have a whole lot more responsibilities than generations past, but we have
access to so much more information, access to so many other problems that we are, we feel
burdened in ways that we're not. So maybe we as millennials need to, again, kind of
of going back to what we talked about, simplify and cut down a little bit so we can actually do
these things because it actually matters. Like, I know it's funny, but I don't think it's a good
habit to get in to not send things back that we want to return. Obviously, that waste money,
or to not take the stuff to charity that we want to donate to charity or even something as
simple as like not ironing our shirts or not steaming our shirts, I think makes us lazy.
I think that we could all do better. And I know this isn't applied to everyone out there.
We could all do better at managing our time. I am definitely preaching to the quiet. Like I am talking to
myself. I just constantly feel encumbered by so much. And some of it is real. Some of it is in my imagination.
And you know, when you decide that you're going to do something, when you decide that you're going to make a
priority, for example, to work out. And the thing that's been holding you back from working out so far has been that you don't have time.
and then all of a sudden when you make the priority for it, you realize that you do have time and it's
even hard for you to imagine why you thought that you didn't have the time before. I think that
that can be true of millennials, that we need to do a better job of prioritizing. There's so many little
things that I hate to do. Like, I hate to call, like if I have to cancel subscription and I have to
call someone to do that or I have to go through the hassle of doing something, I really, really want to
avoid doing that at all cost. But then when I realize that I just do it, it doesn't take that
long. And really, I just wasted a whole bunch of time beforehand that I didn't need to waste.
So this podcast is called Relatable for that reason. I am you. You are me like better or work.
And if you understand that reference, you need to stop paying attention to politics too much or
too consumed like I am. All right. That's all we've got for today. We've got a lot of good stuff this week.
We'll be back here tomorrow.
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.
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