Questions host examines signs pastors lack courage to defy tyrants, warning that mirroring MSNBC policies while superficially sprinkling Jesus indicates failure. He distinguishes genuine bravery from pseudo-courage, noting attacking slain giants like defeated feminism misses the mark against living threats like abusive masculinity. Using engine cylinder analogies, he critiques theologians who fail practical ministry, urging families to test shepherds by asking if they could entrust spouses and children to them today. Ultimately, if trust is broken, respectful departure is necessary because the church's core purpose remains watching over souls. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, WAV2VEC2_ASR_BASE_960H, sat-12l-sm, script v26.04.01, and large-v3-turbo
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Challenge Your Pastor's Courage00:06:31
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On what are common signs that your pastors or elders lack courage to lead and equip their flock, stand for truth, and love God?
And defy tyrants.
A follow up question would be if they lack courage, when should you consider leaving the church and finding another one?
I think what AD talked about was probably the closest to that, the spirit of that question.
Yeah, no, I think so.
This is a tough question because I don't want to cause any trouble at your churches, right?
But the thing is, when your pastor's policies or opinions on controversial everyday issues are identical to MSNBC, except they sprinkle a little Jesus on top.
That's a big sign.
You know what I mean?
That's a huge sign.
And when they don't show a willingness or even an ability to take a little time to think it through, you know, like they just jump on it, that's a big sign.
And I think that you shouldn't just, at that point, you don't just leave, right?
And I think most of the people in this audience know that, right?
Have the conversation with the pastor, try to talk to him.
And I think that those conversations sometimes go really poorly, sometimes they go really well.
But I think it's in those conversations when you realize his willingness.
To sort of stand up to some of this stuff, it's in the kind of back and forth, the questions, hearing them out, where you find that kind of thing.
But my thing is, like, so many guys sound, it could be, what's that woman with the short hair on MSNBC?
Rachel Maddow.
Maddow.
Like, they sound like Maddow, and they kind of look like her, too.
I should have said that.
Except they're, you know, they have Bible verses for it.
So it's just weird.
It's weird.
So I would add to that, kind of like the quote that I think I shared in my talk.
But the Martin Luther quote, right?
Did I say that in my talk?
The Martin Luther quote?
Oh, it was to you guys, yeah.
So the Martin Luther quote that I really like, and we talked about it in our recording yesterday.
But it says, and I'm going to do my best to paraphrase, I don't have it memorized.
But it says, wherever the battle rages the fiercest, there the loyalty of the soldier is tried.
If he is faithful in every battlefield across the gambit, but he flinches, he fails at that one point that is currently being contested.
He is not professing Christ.
And so, what I would say is, and I'll be frank.
It's like what AD said.
He's like going to a Baptist church as a Presbyterian.
And the reason why is some of the Presbyterian guys, some of the PCA, Revoids and stuff like that, not all PCA churches, but then there's OPC.
I love the OPC, I really do.
And the Vantillion, the Voss, rich treasure troves of doctrine.
But for me, as a Reformed Baptist, 35 years old, It's like I've got like two cylinders, but I'm firing on both of them constantly.
Right?
And there's other guys who got like a V12, but all they do is rev it up in the driveway and they never go anywhere.
And so, my thing is if you're Vantillian, right, and you're presuppositional and you're OPC and you've got a podcast and you've got lectures and you've got dissertations, but you have a mass service and no singing, you failed.
So, my point is, how do you test courage with a pastor?
It's not just, don't just look at comprehensive theology.
He affirms the Trinity.
He's a Calvinist.
He checks all these theological boxes.
See which doctrine is currently under fire.
Does he flinch at the point that is currently contested?
That's currently contested.
If he flinches there, he's a coward.
And so, what I would say is that true courage is willing to fight Goliath before David kills him.
So, when the armies of Israel run after the Philistines after David is holding Goliath's head in the air, that's not courage.
And so, I think there's a lot of guys who it's a thin veneer, it's a fake.
Courage, a pseudo courage, counterfeit courage, that what they do is they go around to giants that have already been slain in a circle and they're kicking them and spitting on them, reviling them.
You know, so, right, like, so toxic masculinity.
Like, are there actually men who abuse women and abuse children?
Yes, yes.
Is that, though, is that the giant of this hour?
Is our problem abusive masculinity or is our problem Jezebel?
In feminism.
Right?
So, what you have is, but there was a time when that was pervasive.
Yeah, and you're 50 years too late.
Right?
So, if you're Amazon Prime, you say, elevating black voices, that would have been great 50 years ago.
That would have been courageous.
It's not courageous now.
It's not courageous now.
And so, that's what I would say courage is not just fighting against actual sin and actual problems, but it's fighting over the giant that's still at large, the one on the wanted poster who hasn't been brought in yet.
That's.
Courage.
But like AD said, don't just get up and leave.
Challenge your pastor to be courageous and see how he responds.
But if he responds poorly, then I think you can leave respectfully, but do him a loving service.
Tell him why.
The Lord might use it.
I had to face this with my wife at a church.
So I'll just very briefly say that there are a number of questions that I had to ask myself.
This is the main one, and this is what I tell people who are in this predicament.
Especially, and it's tailored for guys, but if you're a mother and the situation pertains to you, it may.
But so if a guy comes to me, it's like, I don't know about this church, I usually ask him, okay, well, what if you died tomorrow and your wife and your kids are still going to this church?
And if you're a single mom or something, what if your kids are there?
These shepherds are responsible for the spiritual development of your children, of your wife.
Know When To Leave00:00:41
Would you be comfortable with that?
Would you entrust the pastors there?
To do that.
And if the answer is no, if you can't trust them, then I think you have your answer.
Like, you shouldn't be going there because that's their whole purpose is to watch over your souls and the souls of your family.
So if you have to, like, everything they say, you have to have a conversation about or correct what the pastor just said to your children, then you're at the wrong church.
It's pretty simple in my mind.
Thanks so much for listening.
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