Welcome to the Daily Disciple Podcast, where we seek daily to be with and to become like Jesus, our team. Welcome to the Daily Disciple Podcast, Travis, and I'm going to title the podcast, They Are We Actually Trying. Now, this podcast might come across just a little bit harsh, and I don't mean for that to be the case. Honestly, I am more of a truth guy than a great guy, and that even sounds harsh.
I tend to lean into solving problems than leaning into offering a soft place to fall. And I think I need to work on being a softer place to fall. I think I need to work on mercy just a little bit. But where I do lean in my own life and in my interactions with others is more of a problem-solving truth kind of oriented approach.
Now that was way too autobiographical for a short podcast, but there we go. I guess all that to say, I'm not trying to be harsh. I just had an experience, and I wanted to share it, and it made me think about a few things. And I think there are things that Daily Disciples could really, really think about.
So here's the experience, and I'm going to try to not use obviously names or even some of the specifics because I don't want the person that I had this encounter with to know that I'm talking about them to everybody on the podcast. But this was about a year ago, and after our Sunday services, I went up to somebody and I said, what would you like prayer for? And they said, I want prayer because I hate this certain person, and I just can't stand them, and they represent everything that I hate, and they're harming me, and they're harming this country, and they're harming the people that I love, and I just hate them, and I don't know what to do, and I just don't know what to do. Now remember that part of the story, I just don't know what to do.
So I said, okay, we'll tell me a little bit more. We had a brief conversation, and I prayed for this person, and then at the end of the prayer, I just felt like I needed to ask a question. And so I said, do you think that this person is an enemy in your life? To which the person responded, absolutely a total enemy, an enemy of everything I hold to be good, an enemy of me, and the people that I love, my family, a total enemy.
And so then I said, well, what does Jesus encourage us to do when we come face to face with an enemy? And no answer. And so I said again, what does Jesus encourage the students to do when we come face to face with an enemy? Again, no answer.
It's like that thought had not even been thought. And that's why I titled the podcast, are we taking it seriously? Are we taking Jesus' ethic and teaching seriously? I mean, practically.
Like are we taking it really, really practically? Because all Jesus is teaching is very, very practical. And so I said as kindly as I could to this person I had just finished praying for, I said, you know, enemies show up in my life as well, and this isn't always easy to do. But Jesus is very, very clear when we face an enemy that we're to figure out what it looks like practically to love that enemy.
And while we're figuring out what it looks like practically to love that enemy, we're just to regularly pray for that person, just pray for them, not against them, but pray for them. When I said that, the person that I just finished praying for had this look on her face like that's crazy. That's impossible. That's ridiculous.
I've never thought about that. I mean, I've heard the teaching of Jesus, but to actually take that seriously, to actually do that for toward this person. And maybe in order to really get into the angst of this podcast, you may need to think about someone who really is functioning as an enemy in your life. Maybe you feel like there's someone who represents everything that you hate.
Maybe there's someone that you feel like is oppressing you or others. Maybe there's someone that drives you absolutely crazy and not in a jovial way, but just like really they just get your goat. You know, it's just like you find yourself hating this person. This person is kind of a person that is very, very easy for you to not like.
They're functioning as an enemy. And so what does Jesus say to do toward that person? What is his very, very, very, very, very practical advice? And of course, the answer to that question is Matthew chapter five to turn the other cheek to love, to figure out how to love.
And that of course is opens up a whole another dialogue. What does it look like to love that person? What does it look like to return good for evil? What does it look like to not be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good?
What does it look like to not retaliate? What does it look like? And then the instruction, of course, the practical, practical, daily instruction is bring that person that's functioning like an enemy into the presence of Jesus and say, I'm going to pray for that enemy. I'm going to pray for that, not against.
You know, don't grab an Old Testament in Precatory Psalm and be like, Lord, dash that person's kids against the rocks. Break the teeth of the wicked, oh God, don't grab one of those old Davidic and Precatory Psalms. No, it's, it's, let's be in the New Testament and bring that person into the presence of Jesus and begin to pray, not against, but for that person. There's no praying against anyone except Satan in the New Testament.
It's always praying for, praying for. And so that story, and of course, I could tell you story after story in my life where this question would be appropriate. The question is the title of the podcast. Are we really taking it seriously?
Are we really trying to do by the power of the spirit what Jesus said was best? And when I had this encounter with this person and I said, here's what Jesus encourages us to do in that kind of situation. Here's what Jesus encourages us to do in that kind of situation. And the person's face was just blank like, no way.
That's impossible. That's crazy. That's ridiculous. And so I'd like to ponder that as daily disciples.
Jesus' teaching is incredibly practical. And in fact, and this will be a whole other podcast, but Jesus' best friend John says that his teaching is not burdensome. Jesus himself says, my yoke is easy, my burden is light. And so could we just think about someone who's functioning as an enemy today?
Could we think about someone who is representing everything that we hate, someone who is hurting us maybe? Or what does it look like to love them? What does it look like to return good for evil? What does it look like to not retaliate?
What does it look like to not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. What does it look like to take seriously the ethic of Jesus and actually practice it? And the way we learn what it looks like is through prayer, through praying for that person. So as daily disciples, let's read through Matthew chapter 5 of Fresh this morning.
And let's begin to pray for that enemy. And maybe we'll have to do that throughout the day, the week, the month, and maybe even the year. And let's put his teaching to the test. Jesus says that if you put my words into practice, you're going to discover that you are actually building your house on a rock and nothing can knock it down.
But if you refuse to put my teaching into practice, you're going to discover that you're building your house on sand. And it's not a good foundation. And it's going to be very easy to knock your house down, knock your life down. So putting my words into practice leads to life and refusing to put them into practice or refuse to try to put them into practice, refused to take it seriously will lead to death.
And so I know this is a hard word. It's a hard word for me. It's a hard word for you. And again, this is another podcast, but there is something provocative about Jesus saying, my yoke is using my burdens light and about Jesus' best friend saying his commandments are a lot of things.
The things that they are not is burdensome. He will talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Daily Disciple podcast. We truly hope that you were encouraged by it today.
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