Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1387 | Uncle Si Gets Real About the Struggle He’s Battled His Whole Life

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

Uncle Si lets slip the very Si-like thing he says whenever he catches his reflection in the mirror. Jase, Al, and Gordon happily promote Si to elder statesman of the Robertson clan while they trace James’ warning about gossip, slander, bitterness, and the unruly tongue. Gordon recalls the church hurt that consumed him until the Lord’s Prayer forced him to reconsider forgiveness and the way he viewed the man who wounded him. The guys discover how remembering that every person bears God’s image can transform relationships, unite unlikely people in Jesus, and replace the fear of death with real freedom. In this episode: James 1:23–24; James 3:1–18; James 4:1–3; Romans 1:26–27; Romans 2:12–14, 27; Romans 3:9–18; Romans 11:21–24; Galatians 2:15–21; Galatians 3:26–29; Galatians 4:4–8; Matthew 5:44; Matthew 6:9–15; Matthew 11:18–19; Matthew 12:22–37; Matthew 15:1–20; Matthew 21:18–32; Luke 10:25–37; Luke 15:1–32; John 3:16–17; Hebrews 2:14–18; 2 Peter 1:3–4 “Unashamed” Episode 1387 is sponsored by: https://chministries.org/unashamed — Get a better solution at half the cost of traditional healthcare! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Chapters 00:00 Uncle Si Confesses to a Big Struggle 03:08 Created Equal & Equally Trapped 07:12 The Tongue, Violence & Chaos 12:04 Gordon Confronts Bitterness & Church Hurt 16:41 Seeing God’s Image in the People Who Hurt Us 20:21 Jews and Gentiles Grafted into the Same Tree 25:45 Jesus Turns the Good Samaritan Story on Its Head 31:11 Jesus Came to Save the Condemned 35:33 The Solution to Every Relationship Problem 41:47  Baptism is Freedom from Fear of Death 47:12  Becoming Heirs in God’s Nature — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? The tongue is a powerful thing. That's why it says, okay, and they use bits for horses. Yeah. To handle a strong animal. Yeah. Rothers on a ship.

Yeah. Okay. Well, the tongue is the same way. Those that proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's powerful. Oh, is it powerful? Okay. It's the most powerful thing. you can use with your time.

Well, no, no, because that's why when you start reading in here about, okay, you know, you need to control that. Well, I had never realized. I mean, how are you doing with that? No, I'm not, I'm not my man. You know, hey, I've failed miserably. Okay. And really, I hate myself just like he does.

I've been talking bad about people and I forget. They're made an image of God Almighty himself. I'm telling. I mean, Sa, look, isn't it ironic? Welcome to the podcast,

Al. Well, we closed the last podcast with Gordon confessing, and we opened to this podcast with Sai confessing.

So that's pretty good. I like the hearts. We brought in. I mean, we're in James 3. It's talking about taming the tongue, which we said that

taming is just subduing. It's not just investigating. Well, no, no, because when you bring it into focus here, okay, that's why America is so unique and the American people

God Almighty gave us inalienable rights and three of them are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Yeah. Okay, and then his word, you know, when I was coming up here, all I was thinking, I said, well, I'm going up to on a shame today and we're going to talk about what God has given us,

life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. And it said he created, he, he, he, he's the creator of life. Yo, well, that's buried, okay, in me, so deeply in my soul. Yeah. Okay, that when I see somebody misused their flag and misuse our national anthem. Yeah. I get hot. Yeah.

Okay. Because you, good grief. Because the basis of it, they got this right. I mean, they had this right. the book of James right, even in that document, which is that we are created equal, which was this whole point, you were the studio audience of our last podcast, this whole point where when he says all kinds of animals, he uses that word to say kinds of people. He does it in a male-female content.

Oh, yeah. And that's very important. We're both human, but we're a different kind of. human. And, you know, it doesn't take a rocket scientist, as my dad would say, to look at a woman and look at a man and say, yep, two different kinds of human. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a different there. Yeah. For crying out loud. Yeah. And then he would describe what you need to do to figure that out. Jason, I wanted to read a passage that I thought of in between the two podcasts. And it really, because you were making the point in the last one, and we just kind of. I scratched into that about the different kinds, which we include male and female, Jew, and Gentile. And it reminded me of when Paul was wrapping up in Romans 3, his sort of idea of describing what sin is and they were all under the curse of it before he kind of gets into the good news. It's interesting because he uses a lot of the same language that James does because he says in Romans 3, 9, what shall we conclude then? Are we any better?

Not at all. We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. Exactly. Well, look, let me give you the fuel for that. So that word, what was our word? Fususus. It's more fuses. So found in James 3 where he said all kinds of animals.

I think it's the root word of physical. Yeah, I think so. I think so. So Romans 2, Al, look how he said, look how Paul made this argument, which is exactly. like Ephesians too. Watch how he sets this up. Romans 2.14 is

where he uses that word. So let me read Romans 214. It says, well, let's just start reading in 12 and you'll see the word. It said, all who sin apart from the law will also perish

apart from the law and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. So we have sins committed, who don't have the law, which would have been the Gentiles, which is addressed in Romans chapter 1. It's all about the Gentiles, which is the U. The we is addressed in Romans chapter 2, which is the Jews.

So then he says in verse 13, for it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but those who obey the law, which James makes that point. That was the problem with the Jews. It wasn't that they didn't hear it and understand it. they couldn't keep it. Yeah, couldn't practice it. Now, the Gentiles, they weren't keeping it either because they're following other gods.

And they're not even, but it's still classified as the basic principles of the world because the basic principle of the world we found out last podcast is I'm just going to survive because I have a fear of death. And I'm going to take Rob, Steele, lie, cheat to get what's mine, and pass it on to my people. That's just the way we operate. And it's a delusion because you are going to die. And then face the creator, the one who created you,

and he's going to say, well, what did you do with what I gave you? And if you're a robber, a thief, a liar, a cheat, it's not going to go well. That's not going to be a good conversation. You're not going to like that day. No, exactly. Which we'll get to that in James. Then watch what he says in verse 13.

For it is not those who hear the law, I read that, but is those who obey the law. Now look at verse 14. Let's see where the words use. It's used in 14 here, so let's find it. Indeed, when Gentiles, so he's talking to the Jews, now he's going back to the Gentile, who do not have the law. Now watch this word. Do by nature.

There's the kind. There's the word the different kind do by their kind without the law, without being an Israelite, without having this promise from God. When they do in their kind things require by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though since they do not have the law. So that's the first time he uses it. He also used it in 126 about male and female. We didn't read that, but I'm going to read it now.

126. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lust. Even their women exchanged natural to their kind. They were made to be with a man when it comes to sex. And he said they exchange that kind for unnatural, for a kind that they were not made for. So there you go. Now, he also uses it in 227. I'm just going to take this out of context and read it,

but I just want to show you. And you were right, Gordon, the physically, because it's translated in English physically here. The one who is not circumcised physically, talking about the Gentile, and yet obeys the law, will condemn you who, even though you have the written code

and are circumcised, or a lawbreaker. So you see what he's saying there? To your kind, even though you weren't circumcised physically to that kind, which is the Jew. So he has the Gentile, then the Jew. Then he goes to Romans 3, what you just read, Al, and his whole point, it all leads to verse 9. So what shall we conclude? Are we any better?

So that's the Jew, there's the we, are we any better than the Gentile? Not at all. Nope. He put them all in the same boat. We have already made the charge. Now here's the, here's the, he's screaming this. That Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. You've all missed the mark whether, whatever kind you are. Don't make a difference.

Then if you violated your own natural kind as far as male and female in exchange, the, no matter what happens, you're under the control of the evil, which was his point. in Ephesians 2. And look, he makes the same point than this word is used in Galatians 4. I don't know if we want to read that or if y'all want to talk about that. Yeah, go to that. But I want to read the rest of what he says after that statement of nine. Because listen to how familiar this is to what we're studying James.

There's no one righteous, not even one. There's no one who understands. No one who seeks God. In other words, he say we're all of the same curse. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. there's no one who does good, not even one. And listen to this. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

I mean, all that's the exact same language that James, and these are all quotes from the Old Testament. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruined and misery marks their ways. And the way of peace, they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. So all those quotes from the Old Testament is the exact same language about the tongue, about violence, about all the things that it leads to. And ultimately, there's no peace. There's only chaos, which we're going to talk about in the next section when we talk about wisdom. Healthcare has just gotten insanely expensive over the last, you know, 10 years or so. I mean, we honestly, as a family, we haven't had insurance for many years just because the price is so expensive.

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So see why believers across the nation are better off with CHM. Get started today by visiting ch ministries.org slash unashamed. That's CHministries.org slash unashamed. Going back to my comments about my proclivity for putting other people down or gossip or slander. It's what am I saying whenever I'm... way side's great to see my favorite brother-in-law you're now my favorite so uh but it it's saying that i'm i may be guilty but i'm not as guilty as you and so when i go when i work through this like the step studies i'm doing it with other people and trust me phyllis's book illustrated this

there's so much trauma and especially childhood trauma that people are enduring they've been sexually abused. I never was. They were beaten by a drunken father. I never was. There was no alcoholism or or anything like that in my family of origin. But there was pain. And so the question becomes, and this is so central to recovery, how can I ever get to a point, and I love Lisa for this, how can I ever get to a point where I can look at the person that did me wrong and not like hold them accountable. Well, truly forgive them. Yeah, yeah, to be able to sincerely pray to God, love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you.

And so I had to put this into practice. Your aunt, your sister, Jan, I got kind of church hurt one time like I was entitled to preach the gospel, you know, and Almas and Jace. But it was two years of me. I'm not lying. I laid in bed at night and I dreamed about. about catching this guy that had wounded me out in the woods somewhere. And I knew that I was stronger and younger than I could beat him to a pulp.

And I thought that I would enjoy it. I literally had those thoughts. And we were, I wouldn't even go to, I wouldn't, I wouldn't even go to church. Jan said, okay, we're going to have family devotionals. We go to the Swanee River. We go down to the Gulf of this place called Sherrod Island. I remember we were sitting on Sherrod, right off of Sherrod Island. And she read the Lord's Prayer.

And when she read, Father, forgive me in the way that I forgive others, it hit me like a ton of bricks. And so I had to put this into practice. Like I've been ripping this guy to shreds publicly. Like anybody that would listen to me, I ripped him to shreds every chance I got. I exposed all of his sin. And I tried to destroy him. And when she read that, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm going to be held accountable in the same way that I hold other people.

people accountable. And if I'm going to rip them to shreds, somebody else is going to rip me to shreds. And it's going to be like a cosmic ripping of me. I cannot walk with God and live with this kind of bitterness. I'm not surviving. Jay said we do this because we're trying to survive. We go on the attack because we're trying to survive. But I'm not surviving. I'm not thriving. I'm not growing. I'm not, I'm not healing. I'm not pressing into the presence of God. God, I'm actually being destroyed from within when I act this way. Well, let me help you out there. That was your sister, Jan.

Yeah. Let me help you out there. One of my prayers to the Almighty is, Lord, help me love like you do. Oh, that's a tough prayer. No, no. That's a tough prayer to live. Well, no, because I'm like him. Yeah.

I talk bad about people, and that's not me. Yeah. Yeah, it's coming out of me, and I'm going, you know, I'm like him. I look in the mirror, and I said, you're so stupid. You know better than this, and then you're doing it. Well, you quoted James one where he said, you look at a mirror, which I have another rabbit hole in that. And then you look at your face, it says you're, because it's another word for

natural. It means birth face. You look at your birth face and then walk away and immediately forget what you just looked at. You were made in the image of God. That was his point. See, and we need to put that in the front of our lobel, the brain. Keep that in there, but hey, we're all made in the image of God and look, we're all equal. And he said we've all, we're all sinful. Exactly. Here's one. You've got to remember this too,

Si, the person who did you wrong or me wrong, he or she was created the image of God too. The person who abused me also bears God's image. So that's where it gets tricky.

But look, I just want to jump ahead because what you just said, Gordon, that's where James is going because he then says, and we'll preview this for when we get here,

When he talks about the two kinds of wisdom, he says, if you harbor verse 14 of chapter three, bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. So that's what happens with your survival instinct. You have bitter envy toward other people because you want what they have. And your ambition is just self-preservation. I never understood this until I got James's point completely. But then it goes into what? In chapter four, what causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don't they come from your desires at battle within you? It's these survival instincts. You want something but don't get it. So what do you do? You kill and covet. So you can have it. You say, you kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.

Of course, you're doing all this with your tongue mainly, but you do not have because you don't ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive because you have wrong motives so that you can spend what you get from killing, from coveting, from the bitter envy, from the self-itambition, all so you can spend what you get on your pleasures. That goes back to the Jew. He saw it the Jews and then he's all about the Gentile.

You're sinful human beings. Exactly. Okay, it's the same ground. It's part of who you are. Yeah. So to go back to our study on this, Fusis, I didn't. I was going to go to Galatians, but I want to show you where he uses it again in Romans 11, because Romans 9 and Romans 11, there's been all kinds of doctrines come out of this.

I must insert this in here, because when James says in chapter 3, after saying you're made in God's likeness in verse 9, he then goes on that little, those two verses that says, out of the same mouth come praising and cursing, this shouldn't be. Can fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Nope. My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives or grapevine, bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

So it's saying if you claim to be following Jesus and you have all this cursing towards other people, that won't work. What's interesting is he uses the analogy about the trees and the fruit and the spring. Well, Paul uses the same analogy to say that Jews and Gentiles are alike, sinners, when he gets to Romans 11. That's his point. So here's the two places in Romans 11. There's actually four in two verses where he uses that natural of your kind. In 1121, I'll read it.

For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. So he's talking about the Israel born as God's chosen people. But watch what he does. So then he goes on and says, consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God to those who fail but kindness to you, providing that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you would have been cut off. If they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in.

For God is, you're saying, what is he talking about? Grafted in? Grafted in the branch, the trees, the tree of God. What's he talking about? So verse 24, he uses that three times about the kind, your natural, the way you were created. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, that is wild by nature to its kind, talking about Israel or talking about the Gentiles being cut off from the natural

and contrary to nature there it is again were grafted in into a cultivated olive tree there's the Gentiles how much more readily will these the natural branches back to the Jews and their kind be grafted into their own olive tree you see what he did there I know that's deep

but he's using Jew and Gentiles as different branches being grafted into the same tree. And I know what the tree's about. It's the tree of life that started in the garden that we lost access to that Jesus then through death brought life on a tree across where Jews and Gentiles could be part of the same tree. That's his point, overriding, and he makes it again in Galatians. And he uses that same analogy about the, in his little illustration, one of them, about the idea about what can be born of, you know, one fruit. Remember he said there's a, you can't get a fig tree to produce grapes?

You can't, or something else, you know, he makes the same idea as what you just said. But the beauty of that is, okay, is that he's taken two separate identities and made them one. Exactly. Just like the father, son, and Holy Spirit, they're one and everything they do. That should be our goal because God has taken Jews and Gentile and using a creation of tree. And it goes even deeper than that because where did Jesus die, he died on a tree that he created for crying out loud. Yeah, it's a great point.

Tim Tebow wrote a book about that. Well, no, no, because it's the system. It's the system and the circle. Yeah, exactly. So watch this. So in Galatians, too, he does it again. In verse 15, it's the first time that words mentioned. We who are Jews by birth, there's our Phus, their kind.

And not, now watch what he says, Gentile sinners. Who also had a birth. Well, there's their kind. They're the sinners. We're the religious people. Which, Al, I feel like here is the place we should read that prayer. about the two sons. Remember the cliffhanger? Yep, yep.

This is the place we should read it. So why in the world would Jesus make this parable that I didn't even realize was in the Bible? And we did a whole podcast on Matthew. I don't know what we said when we got to this parable. You missed it, oh, I missed it. Did I miss it? The two sons, where is that parable at? And it's in 21, verse 28.

I'm going to read it right now based on that Galatians. And by the way, before you read it, the context there is he had just, remember he walked by a fig tree. Oh, exactly. Had no fruit on it, and he cursed it. And it withered and died immediately. So that's the context of this parables. Now you know why he did that. Yeah.

Because we look at different tree based on its kind, and we're like worthless. The Jews looked at our trees, the Gentiles, and said, worthless. The Gentiles looked at their tree and said, oh, man, that's too ritualistic. Y'all, that's a bunch of rule-oriented. And we don't like each other. We said this before in between podcasts. It's also why Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, which I heard a sermon on that yesterday, which did you know,

is the most thought of parable, of all the parables, people poll, whatever you want to get that information, the most famous parable, I guess. And the reason it's so crazy is because in that conversation, this guy comes up, a Jew, and asks, Jesus, how can I have eternal life? Remember, I'm doing this off the top of my head, but the parable of the Good Samaritan,

And he's like, what must you do to have eternal life? He's like, well, you know the commands. And then he says, love God. The questionnaire had it right. He said, love God with all your heart, soul, minus truth, love your neighbor as yourself. Well, Jesus pulled a James and said, well, go do that then. But he didn't want to do it.

He said, well, who's my neighbor? What a question. That's James' whole point. Who's your neighbor? So then Jesus weirdly tells this story. There's a guy, you know, dying in a ditch, and one of your rabbis comes by, and he goes to the other side. The Levite comes by. These are people that are supposed to be in charge of helping other people on behalf of God.

And then a Samaritan, a person they don't like that. He comes by, and he helps him out. And so it was so stunning that the guy asking the question couldn't even say when Jesus said, who was the neighbor. He's like, well, the one that helped him out. He showed love, but he turned that on its head because he picked the person that they despised. And here's this expert teacher of the law.

And he's like, how do you feel about Samaritans? That was the underlying point. Well, you feel pretty good if you're the guy. Because the whole point in this parable is, you're the guy dying in the ditch. Well, when death comes knocking at your door, you're going to like that Samaritan. if he helps you out, but you don't like him now.

What's the problem? You know, it's interesting about that, Jays, is with the history of the Samaria and the area, they were their own kind because they weren't really Jew or Gentile. They were some mix of both because they had been corrupted is the way the Jews viewed. That's what they call them half breeds and all that. Exactly. They just, they made, they didn't love them, much less like them.

And they weren't accepted by either group. And Jesus was trying to get the concept. up no matter what kind of person you are. Because we do the same thing in our culture. We divide everybody up in their kind. You know, we're Native American. We're African American. We're European America, whatever it is.

We're all. We're stupid Americans. Instead of remembering. We can't get it right. Yeah. We're all created and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. Yeah. We're created equal and we're trying to make the same point.

So this is fascinating in Matthew 21, kind of echoing Galatians and James. He says, what do you think in verse 28? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, son go and work today on the vineyard. I will not, he answered. But later he changed his mind and went. then the father went to the other son and said the same thing he answered i will sir but he did not go which of the two

did what his father wanted the first the answer even though he didn't do it at first he didn't it once jesus said to them now watch what he says this is this is fascinating i tell you the truth the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of god ahead of you. That's the Gentiles. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him.

But the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. It's a Jew- Gentile analogy. That's why Jesus hung out with the tax collectors and sinners. That's why he told a parable about a Samaritan,

be in your neighbor. That's why these things happen, value in people. Remember when he talked to the Samaritan woman at the well? Remember when the woman who was caught in sin, violating the religious law? So it's an attack on the teachers of the law, which is

why James started this section off saying, not many of you should be teachers, because you're going to be judged more harshly. So I look this up, Al, rabbit hole, in the gospels. Teachers of the law are brought up. Now, when you, in

include scribes and some of the Pharisees, I estimated about 60 times. Do you how many times that they were viewed favorably by Jesus? Zero. No, there was three times. Three times a teacher of the law came up and said something. I was close. I got zero and three.

Well, exactly. That was three times, and then I would say four, you can make a case for Nicodemus, because eventually he did exactly what this is. He didn't do it at first, but he eventually came. If you include him, you got four. But the other 60 times, oh, he just, I mean, lit them up. You brewed a vibrant.

Oh, exactly. It was that kind of. So conversely, how many times did he speak to people caught up the tax collectors and the prostitutes? How many times did he rip them to shreds? None. None. I can't think of one. No, he didn't rip them truth at all.

Well, he ate, that's why he had a reputation when they said he developed, remember in Matthew 11, he said, they say John has a demon because he's a wild man, eating crazy stuff and hollered about repent for the kingdom. He's like, they look at me and say he's just a drunk and a glutton. They're saying that about the creator of the universe standing in human form. They could not wrap their head around it because of the people he assigned. associated with, which another famous parable is Luke 15. The whole parable is because he was eating with tax collectors and sinners.

Yeah, but I got a point to bring in on this. You know, he does stuff that, okay, kind of, we don't understand it. My mother told me when I was 13, you will be known by the people you run with. Yeah. Well, Jesus ran with all of us when he was on this earth. Well, that should tell you something. Good point. You're just making one good point after another.

Well, no, no, but you've got to think about that. Okay. We just like our camps. We like our camps. We like our people who are like us. Well, that's why when people ask me my favorite verse, it's John 3, 16, and 17, and everybody knows 16.

For God's a little war, he's seen his only son. But they don't read 17 and really get it in their mind. Jesus is the only man I know that is qualified to judge someone. Yeah. And this is Jesus speaking. I didn't come to judge you. I came to save you.

Yeah. Well, that's that. To add to your point you made about Luke 15, which starts out with, that was the criticism of Jesus and, you know, about him eating with tax collectors and sinners. And you and I have made this point many times before on the podcast.

the story of the sons, it's not the story of the prodigal son, it's the story of the two sons. It's just like that other parable because it's representative of two different kinds of hearts. And one messes up and comes back and says, okay, I got it. I was wrong. And the other one is just a dot, dot, dot. What's going to happen with? You know, his score didn't get settled in the parable. And that's the picture of trying to somehow do this without Jesus being at the center about the repentance

of the heart. And that's why I had to do this study. Every AI question I had to say, without theological interpretation or denominational background, just give me the definition of the words and the grammar of the original language and how it works itself with the theme of the Bible. And so what I noticed is this is what it's about. And it's not as modern day, you know, bumper sticker type things that come out of this. It's not individualizing everyone where, you know, like you come up with these crate. To me, they seem crazy now after reading all this where, you know, in the beginning, God determined this group of people is not going to make it.

And this people, these people are. And by birth, we're all just doomed. it's just so contrary to what it's about he he definitely divides people into classes that's what this word's all about and different kinds like he did the animals but his whole point is collectively i'm after all of you as a as a jew and a gentile that that's the whole group that's who he's after and that's the theme from genesis to revelation and and uh james is trying to highlight that because our nature is to classify people into groups, and then we just pick certain ones we want to do life with.

And that's contrary. He wants you to do life with everybody because he came to bring life to everybody. No, because here's a good question, okay. Here's a question. Jesus came to this earth with two things, full of it. Truth and grace. Yeah. Okay, and everything we've been talking about here, okay,

and Bush the astronaut was on my podcast and I asked him a question and he gave me a biblical answer. He said, I don't care what you believe. But I got a question to ask you, is there any truth in what you believe? Yeah. Which is a good point.

Well, exactly. Because that's going to eventually lead you to Jesus. No, no. That's why he said, I am the truth. Yeah. Because everything we've been talking about here, okay, is about the truth. Exactly.

I want to say this. I was just thinking every single relationship issue that I've ever had, without exception, finds its solution in verse 9. For with the tongue, we praise our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been created in God's likeness. And if I can live, if I can live in that. reality that I don't care who it is that I look at and think, well, that's my enemy or this person's wounded me. I need a little payback. I need a little defense here. I need to go on the attack. But if I look at that person and say, that person bears the image of God in the same way that I do, all my relationship issues are solved. Yeah. That's why that's why Gordon, he's going

to go to, I mean, I'm glad you brought it up. Because when he gets to the wisdom, coming from heaven, he is going to give all these relationship qualities on how you do that. In verse 17, when he says the wisdom that comes from heaven is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Well, there's all your qualities on how you relate to people. Just think if you did that every day. If every person that you came in contact with, your motives were pure, peace-loving,

considerate, submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial, and sincere, peacemakers who sow in peace

raise a harvest of righteousness. I never realized that that was all about people. It's all about every single quality that he put that wisdom that comes from heaven you can have it.

has to do with another person. Yeah. And if you live humbly before God in that way, how can you have bitter, envy, and selfish ambition in your heart? Well, and that's going to get into the fear of death. And to go with the wisdom and the fruit, you've got to come up with the fruit of the spirit. Peace, joy.

All of what I call the intangible good qualities come from God Almighty Himself. That's the only place you're ever going to get it. And he just read it. And we all need to set our mind like that. We should want, you know, because it ain't but two commands. And the second command, you know, love God with everything you got first. And then turn around and, hey, love your neighbor as you would yourself.

Who also bears God's image. Yeah. if we could keep that in the front of our brain we we be way better people you've become the family's elder statesman he is he's the new he's the new patriarch yep and dad said he was dad said he was born with dementia we just got used to um i don't believe that oh i've had all that i mean i've had it all i've had it all i've had it all but i think i But I think I've handled it well. Hey, you've made a living out of it, son.

You've made the most of it. Hey, you're the most famous of the bunch. I enjoy it guys. Thank you, Gordon. Jason, I want to make the point because when you went back to in that Matthew text, in Matthew 21, there were a couple of other texts where Jesus makes the point about fruit and fruit trees and the heart of what's behind them. And one of them is in Matthew 12, 33 through 37. And then he does it again in Matthew 15, 1 through 10.

And I thought it was interesting because in both of those cases where he makes the point that out of the mouth flows what's in the heart, you know, it's his point. So it uses the analogy of the trees again. But in both those contexts, when you said this earlier, it made me think about it with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. That first context in Matthew 12 is when the. Pharisees, he had healed a guy who was demon possessed. And they said, oh, well, the only way he can do that is that he is a demon. He's possessed by demons himself. Talking about Jesus. So they slander him and say he's of the devil, which is how he's able to cast out the devil. And that's when he comes out with this slam on them, which says your hearts are bagged because that doesn't even make sense. How could, how could, if I were a demon, why would I be casting out demons? I would be possessing people, you know? So he makes that point. And then the other one, the one in Matthew 15, is the one where the Pharisees said, why do your disciples not wash their hands, which is the tradition from the elders, you know, before they eat, and basically calling them unclean. And again, it's this idea of slander again,

because he slander in the disciples. And out of that, he gives them that same context. So I thought it was interesting that it's the same deal. It's the use of the tongue. Two times you see the Pharisees slandering first Jesus, then his disciples. And his response is, you're using your tongue to slander us, but the problem is your hearts are bad. Yeah. Because these things flow out easily for you because you have categorized us and put us in the box, which we're talking about this whole context. And they're doing the very things that he's telling us, and James is telling us in several different ways, to not do to be the judge of others, to go by your own traditions and your own bad hearts intelligence. So all that he says, James says, that kind of wisdom is not from here. I mean,

not from above is from here. It's earthly. It's of the devil. It's unspiritual is the way you described it. And so it's really interesting that it's this projection you see over and over again. But he uses the same analogies that we've been talking about here with the tongue. All right. I wanted to finish that Galatians because we took it a right turn. So my point was, Galatius 2.15 when it says, we who are Jews by birth. So there's the Fusus word by their kind and not Gentile sinners. Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Christ Jesus. That was the point.

So then, you know, and look what that leads to about this God using death, all the way back to the animals and holding people accountable for taking the life of another human and protecting the, or respecting the lifeblood in animals and people, just so we wouldn't destroy the planet. God has this plan on using death to bring life, and he echoes that right after 215 when he says, verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I live in the body, I live by faith, and the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, to your point. For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. You're minimizing the conquering of death that God showed in Jesus by saying, oh, no, I'm going to stick to my kind. God gave us the law. I'm a Jew.

I'm going to do that. And so then what's crazy how he uses this word, He then goes to Galatians 3, which ultimately he says what we're saying and what James is saying. In verse 26, when he says, you're all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who are baptized into Christ. This is totally changing. Enhance my view on baptism because it's through death that you find life. Because you find the death of Jesus and the resurrection.

This whole thing started in general. Genesis. Three, when death entered, when death became the way of life through spiritual forces of evil with humans, the flood happens. Then he has a reset. When it comes to death and the fear of death, he actually made animals scared and gave them the survival instinct and humans held accountable for taking the life. So that fear of you being held accountable for causing the death, and you fast forward all the way through this God takes a cross in Jesus in his resurrection and then

allows us to participate in that and his whole point was you're baptized into Christ you close yourself with Christ there's neither Jew or Greek all these kinds of naturally of people yeah there's neither slave nor free male or female, all the same words that this fuses used as how you were created in your kind, all of that becomes one in Christ Jesus.

So then he uses the word again in four, eight. And to get there, he says verse four of chapter four, but when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, so that was his kind. He wasn't Israelite. To redeem those underlaw that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out of a father. So now the way he conquered death and the fear of death that the evil one uses,

read Hebrews 214 through 18 again. Jesus came to destroy that power that the evil one has that started Genesis 3 that showed it. Yeah, that fear itself, he replaced that survival instinct. Think BG's, you know, they wrote the song, Staying Alive, I'm Staying Alive. And if you look at the lyrics of that song, everybody's crumbling around me. And they're just like, I'm surviving, you know, I'm staying alive. Staying alive, John Devolte, he's singing like, I'm alive.

I'm alive. I'm dead. Well, how's that working for him? You know, you just look, as the years go by, it's getting hard to stay alive. You know what I mean? As time passes. I mean, all this of the world and what they'll do to stay alive and survive, no matter what to the expense of others. Well, God gives you a spirit that's incorruptible.

It's imperishable, even though your body dies. Yet shall you live. And you have that inside of you, and you become a person who is not manipulated by your fear of death and your desire to stay alive no matter what, whatever I have to do, to take, kill, rob, lie. All this stuff is no longer affected if you don't fear death. If you have no fear of death. So then he uses the word again to the Gentiles in verse, well, let me read verse 7. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And since your son, well, God has made you an error.

I now figured out why he keeps bringing up air because part of the reasons people kill people in our society is life insurance. They won't get that money. That is the self-preservation in total action with that. And that's why God's saying, look, don't fear death. I'm going to give you everything I have, which is everything, and you're an heir. So then in verse 8, he uses that word.

Formally, when you did not know God, you remember the you is the Gentiles. You who by nature, there's that fooses again. You were slaves to those who by nature are not gods, because the Gentile world was all about serving other gods. That was the kind of humanity that they were born into. There's other gods. Whether it's idols or whatever you're praying to to appease the gods, you know, and the history of that has, and it's still going on today. There's people looking to anything that tries to help their well-being right now to the expense of others.

And so isn't that fascinating how he keeps using that word and how it's mission? used by the word flesh and saying, you know, calling it sinful nature and then using these words, still using like, well, that's the nature. We're just born with this bad root. No, you're born fine. You're born in the image of God. And there's a process that goes when you encounter the rebellious spiritual forces of evil, using that survival nature with your desires combined and you start making choices that are

not within the image of God what you were created to do. And that's what happened. And then Jesus destroys those powers through his death. He produces life. Not only does he destroy death, but the very powers that are used to manipulate you and making wrong choices. I mean, that's what this is about, and that's what the word means. And in that context, without any kind of denominational persuasion, you don't get off into all this kind of individual doctrines that are contrary to the will of God. So basically what I would like to do is when we get into that, when he said the tongue is lit on fire by the fires of Gahena or hell, that's where you truly see this survival instinct, which he calls hell,

which is justice before God in the way you treat people starts. And we can do that next time. Well, it's also, yeah, it's also a hell on earth. I definitely want to get into that concept. Yeah, because that's the only thing we haven't covered. But I just want to remind you, I know we're out of time, that the good news of all this is, oh, Peter, I'm telling you, when he said that in verse three.

Yeah, read that again. We'll close with it. because I'm telling you what Jesus also did by his death, bell resurrection and given us the spirit, his spirit inside of us, is he welcomed us to participate in the nature of God. In verse 3, it says, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness,

so that we don't have to go kill and lie and cheat and steal. through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness through these promises through these he has given us very great and precious promises so that through them you may partner in the divine nature and there's that thesis god's kind we're god's And escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. It goes right back to the cycle of death in James I and the cycle of life that God provides. And we have that. Okay, we have what God gave us on this earth right now.

We're participating. We're partnering right now. We're out of time, so we went over. Sad, thank you for coming on. You're always welcome. Always. Always just learn so much. All right.

We'll see you guys next time. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed Podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.