Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A: Middle Ground Where Kids Aren't Too Sheltered But Not Given Social Media Access, and More!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The next era of Logos is here. The world's most powerful Bible study platform is now more affordable than ever. I personally don't know where I would be without Logos. I literally use it almost every single day. It's become an essential part of my writing and research. So if you've always thought of Logos as out of reach, then you'll want to go to Logos.com forward slash theology to start your free trial and start digging deeper into the Bible today. Are there Christian communities that you are aware of for parents of LGBTQ kids that aren't praying the gay away? If Israel builds a third temple, will that change my view of prophecy? Is it okay for Christians to save for retirement? How is hell different than a parent allowing their toddler to run into a busy street simply because he didn't believe or understand the

Starting point is 00:00:55 danger at stake? Are there any words in the Bible which can be considered swearing or cussing? And is there a middle ground for our kids where they aren't too sheltered from the outside world but also not given social media these questions and so many more I'm going to address in this bonus Q&A episode at theology in the raw. If you want to become a patron supporter and also participate in asking the questions then you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw, become a member of the patron community. All right, let's jump into these questions. Okay. Let's start with this one from Davis. Is there a middle ground for our kids where they aren't too sheltered from the outside world, but also not given social media? This I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question.

Starting point is 00:01:51 And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking about the answer to the question. And I'm going to be talking yet. I have one when my oldest is married, no kids yet. Um, you know, I've, I've told my kids, you're not allowed to have kids unless you read this book by Jonathan height. It is that good. I, so let me just kind of, uh, give a running

Starting point is 00:02:15 start into, uh, you know, uh, to my, to my response. What height argued, uh, is that it's not allowed to have kids unless you read this book by Jonathan height. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word.

Starting point is 00:02:38 I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the right word. I'm not sure if that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be.

Starting point is 00:02:54 And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be. And I think that's the way that we should be., I'm 48. We often, you know, chuckle at the freedoms we had as kids. You know, I used to, when I was, how old was I was in fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in

Starting point is 00:03:17 the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade. I, we often, you know, chuckle at the freedoms we had as kids. You know, I used to, when I was, how old was I was in fifth grade and almost every day during the summer, my, my best friend, Andrew Aller, shout out to Andrew. I don't know if you're out there. I don't know if you're still alive, but Andrew Aller is my best friend and fifth grade. And we used to walk, I think two to three miles felt that maybe it was like a mile by ourselves in the store. We'd always, you know, it's scrounged up enough change to go buy a Gatorade and an Abba's Abba bar.

Starting point is 00:03:53 Do you remember Abba's? Do those things even exist? What are they by the way? Maybe I should have been sheltered from eating Abba's Abbas. And if we got enough money, we would buy not just a, a 12 ounce or 16 ounce Gatorade, but my goodness, we'd buy a 32 ounce Gatorade and we would actually purposely not drink any fluids that whole entire morning so that we would be like deathly thirsty, walk into the store and Oh man, throw down the change by that hopefully 32 ounce Gatorade sit under a tree and just chug it. And it was, it was one of my greatest memories growing up. It was so fun. We would ride our bikes all around the neighborhood. We would walk down to the seven 11, even farther from

Starting point is 00:04:37 the store. We used to get our get her that and so on and so forth. Right? We, we had lots of freedom and stuff and we got her one time time I, uh, did some crazy, yeah, I'm not recommending this. I rode under a, a, a pull-up bar and we were riding our bikes and we would grab onto the pull-up bar as we had watched our bikes fly out into the middle of the field and we had to see how far we can let our bikes go. One day I did that and my hand slipped off and I fell down and knocked myself out and woke up in the hospital. It was fine. it was okay, got some bruises. Anyway, yeah, maybe that's a bad example. But we have, I mean, over the last 20, 30 years,

Starting point is 00:05:13 we have nerfed up our life for our kids and we have made them very scared of life. They have not built up resilience. They have not learned to navigate the real world. And then we, when we send them out into the real world, they oftentimes can't really cope with the real world, cope with adversity. Or when they get into an argument with somebody or have to face a bully or something, because parents are always jumping in and protecting our kids from all these things like we're, we're, we're withholding from our kids, the very real life experiences that

Starting point is 00:05:49 made us who we are. Anyway, I cannot more highly recommend the book. So there are certain things in the real world that we have learned that, you know, these are good. These are good things that are actually producing a more safety in a good way. Like bike helmets, going back to my illustration, maybe I should have been wearing a bike helmet. It wouldn't have been knocked out. Um, bike helmets are a good thing. We've seen that statistically. A seat belts are a good thing. We've seen that statistically. Um, but there are a lot of, a lot of other things that we have, uh, padded our world with that are actually keeping our kids from experiencing adverse hurdles and circumstances that actually

Starting point is 00:06:27 build healthy resilience. Oh, what is that book by Talib Talib said, not seem to leave that his name. Oh, I'm blanking on the name. I'll try to think of it as I'm talking here. It's not anti anti fragile, antiile. A lot of this stuff is built on that book, anti-fragile. Uh, I think it's a 10 or 20 year old book. It's, it's not, not the easiest read, but the concepts in there are really, really helpful. Um, now we have this online world. Okay. So we give our kids a phone at 13, give them access to more information and stimulation that a human was ever designed to try to navigate at 13, 14, 15 year old. And that online world is, has been proven to be way, way, way, way,

Starting point is 00:07:21 way more dangerous than the real world. I just want to add a caveat. There are people growing up in quote unquote the real world that is actually dangerous. There are some parts of the country, the world, certain cities, certain parts of certain cities that yeah, maybe having your 12 year old go walk to the store would not be advantageous. But for the most part, we are instilling in them, I think unnecessary fear of the world out there when we should be letting them experience things as they grow up. But the online world is very, very dangerous. I mean, you could go down the list of social media, bullying, envy, pornography, consumerism, or just that, you know, that

Starting point is 00:08:04 need to get more clicks and likes and friends and clicks and likes and friends, which has been proven to foster extremely unhealthy means of seeking a dopamine rush. And they end up being addicted and unhappy and anxious and depressed. And I would even add a struggle in with suicidality more than any other younger generation has ever struggled with these things. Yeah. So all that to say, let me go back to your question and see if I can actually give an answer now. Is there a middle ground for our kids where they aren't too sheltered from the outside world, but also not given social media? I would just, Naadid, let's just skip the middle ground

Starting point is 00:08:40 thing here and say in general, yes, I think we overly shelter good thing to have. I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have.

Starting point is 00:09:00 And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a good thing to have. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids.

Starting point is 00:09:15 And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. And I think that's a great way to get to know your kids. being a bit too strict. Um, when it comes to, I don't know what other, my kids probably don't want me talking about them too much, but like, you know, we're more lenient on other areas where we're typically fairly lenient on things that involve physical risks as long as they're not just stupid. Like for instance, my, my 15 year old son rides his dirt bike

Starting point is 00:09:39 to school every day on a canal and he goes through a field and I don't know if it's legal or not. So don't turn me in, but, uh some people, and he has to straw cross a busy street and, and, um, yeah, I think that that's actually, he wears a helmet. All right. He wears a helmet, but I think things like that, like we're, we're pretty leaning on. Most parents I know would say, how are you letting your kid on their dirt bike 15 on a canal? Like guys, he's a good writer. Um, he's just got his YouTube channel. Um, it's pretty cool. He, he's videos himself going to school and, and doing things. And sometimes he does things on his way to school. I'm like, Hey, yeah, you shouldn't be riding wheelies maybe

Starting point is 00:10:13 on the, on the dirt, on the, on the canal. Um, so yeah, all that to say, I think we should in a healthy way. Okay. I'm not saying give them a gun and walk around the city at six years old or something. I mean, obviously there are again, like bike helmet, seat belts and so on that that might be healthy. But there's such sort of fear that like, if we'd let them outside, you know, a white van's going to pull up and kidnap them. I'm like, well, let's just think rationally here. Like the odds of that happening is extremely rare. In fact, it's way more unlikely that your kid will be kidnapped on the way to the store by himself than he would be kidnapped or even sexually assaulted by a family member that you trust. I'm sorry to take a quick turn there, but I mean, there are,

Starting point is 00:10:59 if you just go statistically, like I do think we have a lot of unsubstantiated fears of what's going to happen if we send our kids out there. So, yeah, all that to say, you got to read Jonathan Haidt's book, Ancient Generation, and at least it'll give you some food for thought, even if you don't agree with everything he says there. I agree with almost everything he says in that book. So, what are some notable differences between how Christianity is practiced in the United States versus Europe or other areas where Christianity is not outlawed? Okay. So you're not talking about like certain countries where Christianity is illegal or outlawed or heavily persecuted, but other countries where it is allowed. This is a big question. And honestly, let me just, first of all, say there's people that are probably better at answering this question than I am. Okay. Now I

Starting point is 00:11:48 did live in Scotland for three years, have been to many different countries, maybe 30 different countries. Most of them, almost all of them would be countries where Christianity was pretty widely accepted, even if Christianity was a small population. So I've got, I guess I have some experience. My best experience would be comparing it with maybe Europe. So I would say in general, now again, this is just a 30,000 foot general officer, anecdotal observation in my experience. I would say Christianity, for instance, in the UK Christianity, for instance, in the UK is much less consumeristic, much less consumeristic, because there's not as many evangelical churches to choose from. In fact, at one point in Scotland, there was a small handful of Bible-believing, gospel-preaching,

Starting point is 00:12:43 evangelical churches in the entire country. Now there's quite a bit more. Yeah, it just kind of takes away that, well, if I don't like this sermon, I'll just go down the street and find another Bible-believing church that has a slightly better sermon. Or, you know, this guitar is a little too loud, I'm going to go over here. Like, you just don't have those options. So you just, it just produces less consumerism. Also the culture, at least in my experience, is far less consumeristic.

Starting point is 00:13:07 And culture often bleeds into the church. It always does. So I'm sure the UK has its own cultural problems that bleed into the church. And my brothers and sisters out in the UK can let us know what those issues are. But just consumerism is just not nearly as widespread. Like I remember, like when I was studying at Aberdeen university, you had these like world renowned professors that didn't even like own cars. Like most, most people, most families, their own, at least were in my experience, like they have like one car. And I would see like these world renowned professors like

Starting point is 00:13:42 Francis Watson, like riding his bike, you know, to school in the rain, you know, it's like, well, that's, why is he doing that? Well, that's just, you know, part of it might be environmental issues, might be exercise or it might be like, I just don't have a car. Um, and if they do have a car, it's typically not like a flashy car. It's just like something that works, you know, and, and people, uh, clothing, it's just, you never saw like just exuberuberant displays of wealth, sorry, as much as you see in the United States.

Starting point is 00:14:12 So just consumerism is just not as widespread as in America. Churches are less personality driven. Not that that doesn't occur, but the idea of being're a big charismatic leader. Like that happens, that happens, but it's not to the same extent as it does in America. It's less, the church is, I would say less tribalistic with other churches as it is. And so, you know, I think that's a big it does in America. It's less, the churches, I would say less tribalistic with other churches as in America. Again, like in Aberdeen, where

Starting point is 00:14:51 I was at, you had, you know, a pretty small handful of Bible-believing gospel-centered churches of various denominations, and they were all like friends, and they never like competed for sheep, for people. Like there was for people. There was just such an excitement, like, oh, you're a gospel-leaving church too? That's awesome. We're on the same team. I think that's true in other parts of maybe America. I've seen this where there's a lot fewer churches, maybe a lot of secularism that makes it really hard to be a Christian. You tend to have fewer churches that tend to be less tribalistic with each other in those kinds of environments. So you

Starting point is 00:15:29 have that on the whole across the UK. More generational diversity. Most churches, even if they had a younger, vibrant kind of service, you would often see a wide range of old people, middle-aged people, young people. And even some more conservative, more formal type churches would have, again, a similar spread of people, much more than I've seen in America. I don't know why this is. Maybe it has to do with just fewer churches. I don't know. But like, you know, it's not uncommon for churches in America to have, And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point.

Starting point is 00:16:10 And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point. And I think the thing that stands out a lot is, again, this is a

Starting point is 00:16:27 general, okay, this is a very general observation. I would say that churches in the UK, at least in my experience, were more thoughtful pastors and leaders and even congregants tended to be much more educated. And maybe, I mean, right now I'm comparing it to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able like, I remember being at a church and every other person I talked to was either studying for PhD, had a PhD. It just wasn't a big deal. It's like, that was kind of like, yeah, of

Starting point is 00:17:07 course. Well, why don't you have a PhD? You know, like, whereas like at least in Idaho, where I'm at, like it's, I would say the majority of churches I know, thinking I'm just off top of my head to go like 30, 40 different churches, it's extremely rare for a pastor to even have like a master's degree. Some pastors would have like an undergrad Bible college degree or maybe a year of Bible college and a decent number don't have any kind of theological education. And I'm not, I'm not, well, yeah, I prefer my pastor to be educated by preference. But yeah, I, you know, like it's for a pastor to be also looked upon as not just a spiritual leader or a good preacher, but an actual intellectual leader in the community.

Starting point is 00:17:55 Like that was much more the norm than I found in my experience in the United States. Now again, some parts of the United States is different. You know, you go to like New York And so, yeah, that's a, I didn't even plan on giving that long of a response, but yeah, I would, I would love to hear almost feedback. Maybe through the, through, um, patron from some of you that might've experienced, um, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, yeah, I would love to hear almost feedback, maybe through the, through a Patreon from some of you that might've experienced kind of different theological cultures, if you find this to be your experience as well.

Starting point is 00:18:40 Our next question, Ben wants to know that, well, you're struggling with Jesus' words about no marriage in the resurrection versus the creation narrative, okay? So Matthew, is it Matthew 22, Luke 20? There's no marriage in the resurrection, but marriage is built into the creation narrative prior to the fall, right? It's a Genesis 2 thing, not a Genesis 3 thing. Why set up marriage in the beginning and then none in the resurrection? I do want to say there are different interpretations of Jesus's words about no marriage being in the resurrection. In fact, my friend Drew Johnson in the On Script podcast, which is an

Starting point is 00:19:22 excellent podcast. You got to go listen to it. And Drew Johnson, he's been on this podcast before, a very thoughtful guy. I don't remember the episode. I should have looked it up before I started recording here. But I think it was maybe a year or two years ago. Maybe you just Google Drew Johnson, No Marriage and the Resurrection. He had an interesting take, and I can't remember what his arguments were, where he said Jesus is not, I believe, or at least, you know, he was kind of offering this as a potential way to read the passage where Jesus was not saying there will be no marriages in the new creation. But I'll leave that for you to

Starting point is 00:19:56 go and investigate. I think we should look at the differences between, well, there's, there's various purposes of marriage. And just to make it easy to memorize. I mean, in general, different purposes of marriage, you have procreation and picture procreation and picture. So in terms of procreation, marriage is set up. Earthly marriage is set up to be the means by which humans would populate the earth and spread image-bearers around the earth. In the new creation, this purpose will have been complete. And already in the New Testament, we already see an elevated interest in singleness in a way that goes beyond what's envisioned in the Old Testament. In fact, you don't really envision singleness in Genesis 1 and 2. Hey friends, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the Patreon-only Q&A podcast.

Starting point is 00:20:46 If you'd like to listen to the full-length episode and receive other bonus content like monthly podcasts, opportunities to ask questions, access to first drafts of my research and monthly Zoom chats and more, then please head over to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw to join theology in the raw's Patreon community. That's patreon.com forward The Doctor and the Nurse. World renowned brain coach, Dr. Daniel Lehmann joins me as a co-host as we dive deep into the mind and the brain of everything high performance. I've been fascinated for years as I've worked with top athletes, high powered CEOs, Hollywood actors,

Starting point is 00:21:45 and all high performers in all types of different fields of how they break through pressure, ignite drive, how they overcome distractions, how they put fear on the bench, how they tap into flow state, and just dominate all these different areas of high performance. So on this season, my good friend, Dr. Daniel Lehmann,

Starting point is 00:22:04 will break down what is actually going on in the brain in these different areas, and I will give actionable tools to be able to use and apply in your life. So buckle up, the doctor and the nurse on the David Nurse Show, coming at ya. Hi, I'm Haven, and as long as I can remember, I have had different curiosities and thoughts and ideas that I like to explore, usually with a girlfriend over a matcha latte.

Starting point is 00:22:31 But then when I had kids, I just didn't have the same time that I did before for the one-on-ones that I crave. So I started Haven the Podcast. It's a safe space for curiosity and conversation. And we talk about everything from relationships to parenting to Friendships to even your view of yourself and we don't have answers or solutions But I think the power is actually in the questions. So I'd love for you to join me Haven the podcast

Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A: Middle Ground Where Kids Aren't Too Sheltered But Not Given Social Media Access, and More!

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