Lego Batman and Toy Story

Rhett 0:13

Welcome back to another episode of Armchair Authentic , a podcast with Rhett and Justin designed to help you fulfill your God assignment through real conversations about real life with real people . Justin , I'm looking forward to today's episode . In fact , before we got into really the meat of what we're going to be talking about , man , we had a lot of fun just catching up right here around the table , man .

Justin 0:35

Yeah , that's right , red . It's normal for us to be sitting around a table and just bust out into laughter and it can be so random and today we happen to have it recording and we decided why not just throw this on here before we get to ?

Rhett 0:49

our normal conversation . I mean , why not take moments of us being authentic , real living room environment of just some silliness , some things that just really have honestly no spiritual context to it all , but just straight up laughter ? In fact , when we went back and listened to some of it , we were like there's no way we can't not include this because somebody out there needs to laugh I don't know , Maybe it's just me and so we thought we would share some stuff that are just off the wall topics , conversations that hopefully you can laugh at our own expense .

Justin 1:20

Oh man , and then when we really do get serious , we take a turn and we jump into really the power of humility and , in fact , how selfless living is actually an accelerant to recognizing your current God assignments . So we hope you enjoy that , but let's get started . We're going to have a lot of fun . Yeah , it's going to be great . So we've watched a lot of the lego type movies yeah I love like lego batman first try .

Rhett 1:51

He's throwing a little batarang , keeps missing it , missing it nails , and he's like first try .

Justin 1:58

He's so cocky . I feel like I watch these movies and always growing up . I wanted to be , special . I'm always that main character I insert myself . I'll cry watching a Toy Story movie . I'm like I get it Woody and Buzz , like Woody is finally branching out to do something .

Rhett 2:29

I'm watching that , crying with my family because I'm over here , like , take a step . I don't remember what Toy Story it was , but Toy Story 4 , I guess where're all , like saying goodbye and being separated from each other . Whatever we watched that , um , I don't know . A couple months after we moved to idaho and in that moment it it's like this is exactly what we just did when we moved away from everybody we've ever known and all this stuff and my son I guess he might have been eight , nine years old at the time . He looks back with tears in his eyes .

Justin 2:42

He's like I hate this movie .

Rhett 2:45

This is what we did .

Justin 2:46

I was like yeah , it's true , there's , there's all these truths in these movies . There's so much spiritual truths that could come out of the stories you know

Jesus, Movies, and Twister

Justin 2:58

it's why jesus frustrated all the religious people because he talked all these toy stories and whatever movies were out there , and people were like you can't do that with god .

Rhett 3:09

And jesus said watch me yeah , and to be clear , there weren't any movie theaters down at the , you know in jerusalem at that time it was the jerusalem six there was there , there were , uh , there were stories . They called them parables and they sit around and tell the stories . For sure it's true . And he would twist it in a way that would shed light on God's truth and love through it , like the prodigal son , for instance , I'm going to do what Rhett does to me .

Justin 3:33

I'm going to now create context . Rhett's not saying that Jesus twists things .

Rhett 3:37

Yeah , that's right , do it . Yeah , yeah , no , I thought that when it came out of my mouth .

Justin 3:43

I was like , okay , I'm hearing you right , let me be reticent If I'm hearing you right by saying Jesus doesn't twist things bad , he twists things good .

Rhett 3:56

Remember that game , twister . Could you imagine Jesus playing that ?

Justin 4:00

with his disciples . Well , he'd probably just have the three .

Rhett 4:06

Hey , my foot's on the one , yours is on the four . What's ever , oh my God , become a human pretzel Give your foot , John . But you're the one I love .

Justin 4:17

Get your head off my chest .

Rhett 4:22

Oh man , peter's blowing the whole thing up , knocking everybody over . Get out of my car .

Justin 4:27

I'm red , I'm green To give clarity , Fred , they did not have Twister back in the day .

Rhett 4:37

No , they did not . No , let's be clear , but they did have the Jerusalem Six Theater .

Justin 4:43

They're showing the Chosen at the Jerusalem Six , and then Judas is cheap . He's like don't , it's going to be free streaming later . Wait till it comes out on video and we'll all sit around and watch the Chosen together .

Rhett 4:57

Oh man .

Justin 4:58

The Jerusalem Six the .

Rhett 4:59

Jerusalem Six .

Justin 5:00

Because Six was . I mean , that was the standard theater seating when we were kids , I mean we whatever , if you lived in alabama is the bama six , I'm sure if you lived in texas it was the texas six . I mean there was something about six spaces and then one day they come out with like festival 12 oh yeah , that was epic well , jesus the 12 , and he had the three and he had the , you know . So Jerusalem 12 is probably what it was . That's probably the theater .

Rhett 5:30

That's probably the theater the Jerusalem 12 .

Justin 5:32

It's so good .

Rhett 5:35

I laugh when

Laughing With A Wheeze and Speaking English

Rhett 5:36

I get to laughing so hard . I laugh at myself for laughing , because I've got the old wheeze now I'm like I do too .

Justin 5:43

Happens all the time .

Rhett 5:46

I'm old wheeze . Now I'm like I do too . Happens all the time , like what is happening . Why am I laughing this way ? Is something changing in my lungs , dear lord ? I mean , there's doctors out there who can , uh , you know , tell us the scientific reasons behind , yeah , why our laughs turns into wheezes . Please leave your comments wheezes .

Justin 5:58

Is that even a word ? Wheezes ? I think it's . I think when it's more than one , it's a wise .

Rhett 6:07

Oh man A wise .

Justin 6:09

A wise . It's a lot of wheezing . It's a lot of wise Wising . The plural thing gets me too . It's like what's the comedian's name ? He's talking about moose , moose . He's talking about learning English and how it's got to be the hardest language . Oh that can be . He's like how do you say moose , johnny ? And he's like moose .

Rhett 6:31

No , it's moose Johnny .

Justin 6:34

Moose , how about box Boxing ? It's boxes , johnny . Oh man , yeah , English doesn't make sense a lot to people who are learning it for the first time and it doesn't make a lot of sense to those who know it . Yeah , like I'm still figuring it out . It's like what a strange language . I don't like talking to those people . That kind of sound like they've been drinking . I mean , it triggers me . I think back to childhood all the alcoholics . Hey boy , get me a cigarette .

Justin 7:05

It would come you know hang with my mom and stepdad . I don't know , I don't know I'm snogging . You want some candy , you boys ?

Werther's Original and Other Old People Candy

Rhett 7:12

Want a Werther's original . The world's worst candy I'm like ah , I love .

Justin 7:17

Werther's original God the nasty . It reminds me of being at my mama's house .

Rhett 7:20

Yeah , exactly Nothing wrong with your mama's house . That's why I love licorice .

Justin 7:24

It's why I love licorice or there's reminds me of my grandmother .

Rhett 7:28

I want a peanut butter , licorice reminds me of my granddad yeah , there's nothing wrong with that . I didn't mean that in a bad way . I guess you didn't like going over to my grandma and grandma . I loved it great memories . But like I'm like it , just old people have the candy . It's all I'm trying to say they do have the candy . The church guys had the candy , you learn which ones had the candy .

Justin 7:49

You would try to be like you didn't want to ask for the candy because you were so much cooler than that , but you had a way to approach . Yeah Say , hey , mr Earl , how you doing . I'm doing good and you're like man . If there was anything I could have right now , I wonder if anybody has any candy .

Rhett 8:06

Those burgers

Burgers With The Buttersworths

Rhett 8:07

sure smell good . Hell yeah , Remember that we were playing football in the backyard and we didn't know who they were at the time . They were grilling burgers up on the . We knew .

Justin 8:16

We knew it was Miss Butterworth . Yeah , miss Butterworth , because she was my teacher , she was my PE teacher , that was her real name last name . Her original name was Miss Cook .

Rhett 8:24

Yeah .

Justin 8:25

And she got married to Buttersworth .

Rhett 8:27

Yeah , buttersworth , buttersworth . Wait , let me think , buttersworth , miss Buttersworth , miss Buttersworth .

Justin 8:33

It was Buttersworth , it's Buttersworth , and they were grilling burgers and me and you were throwing football and we kept smelling that , oh , the aroma of grilling out and we kept saying Mmm , this is all good up there , wish I had a burger . I think after the eighth time he's like you boys want a burger . Y'all come on up . And we had dinner with the Buttersworth .

Rhett 8:57

Yep , I would not suggest anybody doing that now walking into a stranger's house .

Justin 9:02

It's such a new day . Well , she wasn't a stranger . Well , yeah , true , she was to you , but you trusted me to know you're not eating a stranger's burger .

Rhett 9:08

Yeah , they're amazing people they are . They're so kind , yep , the butter's

Prosperity Gospel, Saturn Cars and Expired Tags

Rhett 9:13

worth . I don't know why I'm coughing so much today , yeesh .

Justin 9:17

Maybe I got you sick last Wednesday , I hope .

Rhett 9:20

I refuse that . In Jesus' name , that's right I speak life and health and healing and wholeness in my body .

Justin 9:26

I was hoping you were going to cough after you said that .

Rhett 9:29

Yeah , no , I didn't say I'm not coughing .

Justin 9:32

I am coughing .

Rhett 9:36

Over my body .

Justin 9:38

Oh man .

Rhett 9:39

It becomes weird when you deny the fact that you're coughing ? No , I'm not coughing .

Justin 9:46

Well , it sounds like you're coughing to me , that's that I don't have a cough in .

Rhett 9:48

Jesus' name . No , you have a cough . Now you're praying and believing the promise of God to heal your body . Let's go , I'm all about that . Oh man , absolutely , but don't deny the fact that you're sick . No , I'm not sick .

Justin 10:03

It's like the guy at our original church we went to , our pastor had given the stage to an individual at that time and he spoke and he was very much on the name it the claim it , no , the name it claim it Our pastor was out of town .

Justin 10:24

He let the short-lived youth pastor there go and speak a message keyword and he gave this message and he just started going all in about . If you're going to influence the gospel of Jesus , people ain't going to listen to you if you pull up in a hoopty . No , you need to drive a nice car . And he started name-dropping these really nice brands and he started talking in that really nice brands . Yep and he started talking in that direction . Any area you can imagine .

Justin 10:50

And of course that concerned some of the congregation . They had never heard this teaching and they went to the pastor after to say , hey , we're concerned with some of this . This doesn't make a lot of sense . And our pastor met with him and I'll never forget he met with him and he's like Mm-hmm , I met with him and I'll never forget he met with him and he's like so-and-so yeah .

Rhett 11:09

He says you drive a Saturn and , if I remember correctly , the following statement from that was and your tags are expired and he moved from a different state to move here . He's like don't you think it's time to get those tags renewed ?

Justin 11:30

it is time to get to the content .

What We Mean By "God-Assignments"

Justin 11:36

My thought is , we're talking about assignments so much and it really is reminding people that when we say assignments , we , we , our world naturally deals for the past . What 20 , I mean , my goodness , maybe 26 , 27 years ?

Justin 11:53

Our focus has been pastors , leaders and people in that , kingdom-minded leaders within local church . That's where we've naturally gravitated towards . So you'll notice with us , that's what you hear . That's where we've naturally gravitated towards . So you'll notice with us , that's what you hear . But really we have such a heart for people accomplishing their God assignments and God assignment when we say that , even if we project that , it means this local church ministry stuff , it is your life , it's your nine to five , it's whatever you do We've said this before but if it's parenting , if it's being a good spouse , if it's serving your local church , if it's running your business or it is , you feel like you're at the lowest level of the totem pole at an insurance company , like that's still an assignment and there's something you're getting out of it . So anything we bring , if we tend to gravitate towards what sounds like in the church local church , nonprofit type ministry in leadership , it's because that's our atmosphere . But we want everybody to still be able to listen to this where it feels like , okay , I can relate with that because that still fits my life , because ours is just a progression that got us to where we are , because we've talked about it before . I mean we give a heart to Jesus and I had just started playing guitar and I just remember meeting you every day , going to the church and playing , and it was never about we didn't recognize this as an assignment . What we're trying to do now is show that there might be assignments that were assignments and you've kind of discounted them and you didn't realize that was a training God was putting you through , because we sometimes put training on the epic stuff when really the best training is the most ordinary , mundane things that you'll ever go through , and we want you to be able to see that what you're in right now is very much a God-ordained season . It doesn't have to have all the glitz and glamour on it . It doesn't have to be the stories that we're going to bring of people that are epic stories and we are going to try to understand their origin that got them there , but with us we're sitting there playing guitar every day , every week , just because we love playing guitar , until one day our youth pastor lets us sing on the stage to just show whatever we've been working on . I don't know why he did that , but we did it and it was as we referenced earlier in an earlier podcast . It blew us away the response we got and we just kept doing it and our life right now is just a progression of all these things that have happened .

Justin 14:18

We were very much involved with local youth group , cut our teeth on being dedicated to serving our local church . I think we definitely had ambition , but when we thrived it wasn't necessarily in our selfish ambition to go be somebody . Even though I had that and still can have that , I feel like I'm trying to kill that off every day because I still want to make a great impact and there's that fleshly side for myself . But then there's that side of ambition we had because we were just so in love with Jesus and because of our love for Jesus we were progressing along the spectrum and we had no clue . But it would take us to the next point and we can go into any conversation of our childhood to our first jobs , and it doesn't matter how ordinary it is . God is right there . That's one of many God assignments that may be going on in your life .

Preparation In Ordinary Moments

Justin 15:12

Yeah , when it comes to God .

Rhett 15:13

Assignments . I think I like what you were saying earlier about we didn't recognize that we were really in an assignment in the season that was preparing us for the next . Recognize that we were really in an assignment in the season that was preparing us for the next . We were just enjoying the moments , living in the wonder of it , all of just wow . This is amazing .

Rhett 15:35

We get to get be a part of this incredible church we get to be a part of . I mean , we like going back to the , the story of us just sitting around playing music and instruments and grabbing whatever was there . It was truly out of just the love for God and love for just the community that we were part of . And I think , as we get older , seeing how that turned into , wow , we were preparing for something we didn't know . We were preparing for Playing music and then just writing these songs and having a good time , and then our youth pastor hear it and then , hey , y'all ought to do that and we're like what we were just doing , ordinary things that we were drawn to . We were drawn to it .

Rhett 16:13

Yeah , I mean , we loved it .

Justin 16:14

We were having a great time .

Rhett 16:16

And then it turned into a moment to where obviously , we talked about it , where we perform the song in worship before the Lord and for his glory and for his honor . But , like it turned into a moment where , like , wow , there's something here and there was fulfillment that happened . But I think it was those kinds of moments that set me up for the perspective to realize . Now , that was a high , like a high mountaintop moment , but it was to realize that God can and will use any and every moment , if we'll allow him to . He's always speaking and he's always teaching us in every moment .

Rhett 16:45

In my mind goes to a moment where I was graduated high school in and out of like the community college , trying to figure out what was next , and I'm find myself moving furniture and I'm working for a furniture store on the back of a moving truck , 28 foot box truck , loading it up . We're there like five , six in the morning loading it up , going to have a long day , it's going to be hard and I was miserable , but I was . I will never forget , almost to the point when the guys were in the warehouse and I had a moment . I'm loading the truck and tying things down and it's hot and I'm sweating and I'm like God . I know you have more for me and I know I'm in this season right now and I know it won't be forever . But , like Lord , what is it that you're trying to teach me in these moments ? Because I know there's something for me to learn . I know this won't be my forever story .

Rhett 17:31

Working for a moving company , working for them on the back end of the truck , whatever it is you're trying to teach me and trying to . I want to maximize that moment so I don't have to live here forever . That's good . And I started to see the through the lens of the guys that I was working with here . I was this guy who loved God wouldn't perfect , but I genuinely went from hell to heaven in my soul , and all of these guys would have never been guys that I would ever been able to connect with had I not been a part of being on that truck . Yeah , and so I had a captive audience with my fellow employees , the guys my coworkers , if you will and I just talked about Jesus and I had a lot of zeal probably didn't have a lot of wisdom at that time .

Rhett 18:19

But in the moment it was pure and I ended up leading the guy that I worked with to Jesus . I couldn't like he came to church . I led him in the prayer and just in his faith journey and his moment and it began to transform his life , not really because of the things that I said , but how I lived my life . And he saw a difference and I looked at it . I was like you know what , if , for just any reason , for while I'm here , to make the best of this moment , to shine the light , shine the love , be the salt , if you will according to scripture .

Rhett 18:51

And there were lives changed and transformed by my story , in those moments that I really I was like God , get me out of here . I don't want to be here , but I recognize in these moments there I want to maximize these moments and not take them for granted , even though it's miserable , but yet make the most out of it , because I know it won't be forever . But how can I steward this moment , even in my personal misery of being in 115 degree trucks , sweating from head to toe , hard manual labor , and God taught me a lot about perseverance and keeping to commitments and the logistics of moving , but , more than anything , how to connect with people that were completely different from me .

Justin 19:31

Yeah , I mean , it's these simple things . There is that wiring we have that makes us naturally do what we do , but then there's the you just got to get out and live life and it is like the most miserable situations are some of the greatest lessons you learn , and if you can be aware of those in the moment , man , it's wonderful . You can't always be , but I think that we're trying to bring an awareness to the listeners that there's more that's going on in your life , this hurricane of activity

Understanding Your Unique Wiring

Justin 20:00

. One thing we learned to recognize is this is just like Panama City Beach at the hot tub . Like me and Rhett will mention that throughout , I mean the past 30 years , we've mentioned that because what that means to us . We didn't recognize it then and you begin to recognize it later . But we realized we would go into a domain , wherever it is . It could be the beach , it could be the mall , gas station , gas station , the Waffle House yeah , yeah , praise the Lord , the huddle house we love it .

Justin 20:29

We could go into these environments and there was a true authenticity there and a love for the person that we saw because of the encounter we had with Jesus . We just believe that everybody can have that same encounter and whether they had already had it or they had not , we didn't really discriminate or judge , we just went into the situation . So the hot tub you know we'd be there at the beach . I mean , my goodness , we'd have such a fun time and we would notice if there's eight of us chilling around a hot tub . We didn't know anybody A hundred percent of the time . We left with names .

Justin 21:03

We knew who they were and it would kind of be your , your mark . Not in that targeting way , but you knew for the past . The next five days there's going to be a friendship . You could almost predict it by the last day . These are going to be great friends of ours for that trip . But there would be some encounter with God or there would be some awakening and what we began to realize over the years just how an architect has a special gifting to design a building , or this person who just knows how to construct and build through the wiring , but also through the grueling years of having to learn that stuff , they naturally do it . One of our abilities is when we can hang out with somebody , we can help shift a perspective , a spiritual , a mental architect to them . And now , 30 years later , here we are doing a podcast where we're kind of doing the same thing .

Justin 21:55

We're creating an opportunity for those who want to hear through the medium of a podcast , just maybe on your ride to work or your workout or whatever you do , when you listen to this , maybe it's doing the dishes , but whenever it is that you're actually hearing a fresh spark of oh wow , I've never thought about it that way the hot tub thing that we keep referring to .

Rhett 22:18

Justin and I grew up with dads who loved going to the beach , and when Justin would go to the beach I'd go with him . They'd invite me , and it's just more fun to take a friend , and so we would have a blast . But we didn't have any intention really in our hearts to sit around and just try to win people to Jesus .

Rhett 22:33

I think it was just our natural everything you said of just being able to communicate and connect and to show genuine interest in other people . All the teenagers . They'd hang around the pool and hang around the hot tub , and so we're all just gathering and , truth be told , like these are people that would hang out with bottles of alcohol and just be wasted because you got to realize this was spring break , this was summer . People are trying to escape their worries , their cares , and the most of these people in the teenagers at that time , it was alcohol . At that point there were probably other things that were happening that we weren't aware of , but at the end of the day , you know , alcohol is what you would see right there at the pool , in the hot tub . But what's interesting is you and I , when we would , when we connect with these people , they'd be like where's your , where's your beer , man , or whatever it is , and we're like , oh man , you know , like we don't drink and we were proud of the people . All of a sudden , now we're having real conversations and they're genuinely interested and they're having a blast with us without the alcohol , right ? And then it then , all of a sudden , it turns into moments where we're really hearing their story and they begin to share like , yeah , there hurts , whatever , but there's a lot of laughter in it too , we're having a good time , we're not taking things too serious .

Rhett 23:50

And there was just this natural draw and it just reminded me of exactly what Jesus did when he drew people to him . He was just something about his life . Of course , he was the son of God , we know that , but there was something about his life that was just so relational , authentic , real , vulnerable , bold , different , light , salt that led people to him . And it all came through the way he connected with people . And so those moments for me , looking back , is , wow , god was teaching us so much and there was a power in two .

Rhett 24:21

I don't know if I would have been there by myself , that I would have been able to have that connect , but there was something between the power of two , I agree , you know , for us to be together . That just that made a huge impact , and not only in that environment , but everywhere we went and go , because we're just who we are and we're not preaching by preaching , we're preaching by living . Yeah , and the fruit that comes from our mouth , the fruit that comes from the way we carry ourself , how we handle things , how we respond . I love that .

Justin 24:48

The , the power of two you know we've talked about

Power of Humility and Serving Others

Justin 24:52

. A byproduct of this podcast is maybe you listen to this and realize I'm lacking some relational depth with another person and I might be isolated . And hopefully you're encouraged , listening to this , to realize Rhett and I are just having conversation and it gets to turn into a podcast form . But you're right , the way we would go into those situations I wouldn't have done it without having that partner with me . I know me too well . I may have been nervous . I'm emboldened when I have a brother with me . You know , for the ladies out there , if you have that sister with you , yeah . Or the married couples , you know you got your spouse with you . Whatever it is , there's power when you have your people with you .

Justin 25:33

I for sure was encouraged by that when we would go have those conversations with people and I've noticed for me you said something a while ago it's putting the other interest , thinking about others . There's such power in that because anytime I look back , the moments that I have put my focus on others and not myself , I make more progress for myself than if I would have had the agenda , and in those moments I said it earlier I can be so self-ambitioned where I got to go , accomplish this and you need that . You know the ambition . You need to be able to do that , to pull off stuff . But when you ever sense that you're in a moment that you're trying to find out when's the right time to bring this up , or almost to manipulate a situation to get something out of it , you're in a self-centered ambition .

Justin 26:19

And what I found I don't make the progress . And what I mean by progress . I've made plenty of progress , like I mean back in our band days . I mean I used to be the manager too . I booked hundreds of shows and I remember the ones that felt natural .

Rhett 26:34

Yeah .

Justin 26:35

And I can remember the ones where I'm being Mr Salesman on somebody and it was about the booking , it wasn't about the person . And there's just something powerful when you operate in that way of how can I look at the interest of others ? And when you're sharing that Red . It makes me think of Philippians , chapter 2 . And I like the message paraphrase of Eugene Peterson . But I just want to read this because our whole mindset it's to be followers of Christ . Hopefully we get closer and get to know Him more . Yes , that's the goal , but our goal is to follow after Jesus and to grow as his disciples .

Justin 27:14

Philippians 2 really marks what Jesus did and if our goal whoever's listening our goal , your goal , if you're a Christ follower , is to imitate Christ , and I love how Eugene will write these paraphrases of scripture and really creates that story form . But he says if you've got anything at all out of following Christ , if his love has made any difference in your life , if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you , if you have a heart , if you care , then do me a favor . Agree with each other , love each other , be deep-spirited friends . Don't push your way to the front , don't sweet-talk your way to the top . Put yourself aside and help others get ahead . Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage . It ahead . Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage . Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand . And those are great principles . But then he goes on to show this isn't just rules we have to follow .

Rhett 28:21

He's saying .

Justin 28:22

The person that we're following set the example first , not to just give us something unrealistic . He actually did this and he goes on to say think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself . He had equal status with God , but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantage of that status , no matter what , not at all . When the time came , he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave , became human . Having become human , he stayed human . It was an incredibly humbling process . He didn't claim special privileges . Instead , he lived a selfless , obedient life and then died a selfless , obedient death , and the worst kind of death at that a crucifixion . And so when we hear these words of Jesus , he lived a life of denying himself . I hope that another purpose of our podcast , as you're identifying so that you can fulfill the God assignments in your life , is to recognize it can only truly be done by hitting the ultimate status of humility , which is being like Christ and being able to walk in some of these places and to turn down the noise that will tell you you've got to get ahead , you've got to make a name for yourself , you've got to brand yourself . Oh , when that person walks in the room you better say these right things . We've talked about it before . David and Saul right , go , put on that armor to look the right way .

Justin 30:07

But Jesus came and set the tone that threw everybody off , because he did not come as a soldier ready to conquer the world . He didn't come as that warrior , he came as a baby . He didn't enter into the palace , he came in a manger in straw and you can imagine how stinky it was right and the whole time . The disciples have this agenda of he's going to now do this . I mean , judas may have had the best intent of all . He was like I'm going to help further Jesus standing his ground , and Jesus ends up getting led to be crucified and it backfires and Judas is like what . I didn't see it playing out this way . I heard one of our pastors , lane Shrands , at Highlands . He made a great point on one of his messages . I'd never really thought of it , but when Jesus is ascending after he rose from the dead , and he's ascending 40 days later , I can imagine the disciples are still like what now ?

Justin 31:05

Once the epic light show ends in the cloud , I'm sure the disciples are thinking , okay , what do we do now ? And obviously we know later the Holy Spirit revealed to them and that's how the church was born . But nothing has changed . It's this mindset of the church has been built because it was a focus on who Jesus was . But it was also a focus on do not consider yourselves better than you should , but in everything you're setting people before you , helping them get to that next level , and not just keeping your eyes on yourself .

Rhett 31:42

Yeah , One thing that stuck out to me is the reminder that Jesus came not to be served but to serve and , in that , to reveal the love of the Father . Everything he did was to reveal the love of the Father , and he revealed the love of the Father through not being served but to serve . And there's so much to be said about serving other people .

Rhett 32:05

The power that comes from that , and not just the fulfillment but the elevation , Humble yourself before the Lord and in due time , not your time , not your season , but in God's perfect timing , when you just humble yourself before the Lord , he will Not , maybe not might , we'll see no . But if you'll just live a life of humility and putting others first , it doesn't mean to be a doormat , it's not what we're saying but to have healthy boundaries , have a healthy soul , healthy family , those things right , but to truly have a genuine interest and empathy toward others , their story , their life , and love people the way that God loves us . Ultimate assignment Loving God , loving people . You don't even know what it is really to love God until you've been loved by God and then you realize , oh okay , and you truly can't love people until you've been loved by God . That's why he says hey , I want you to love others the way that I've loved you .

Rhett 33:01

The ultimate assignment is coming into relationship with God through his son Jesus . Ultimate assignment in our life , hands down . If there's only one decision that we're called to make in our life , it's that Because God never wanted us to be separated from him . He always longed for a relationship and he provided the access , through the perfect sacrifice of his son Christ , in that pure sacrifice of paying for our sin , to restore us , to reconcile us into relationship with God . Thank you , jesus , for that . Hands down greatest assignment . From there then we begin to pick up the other assignments and as we are growing in our relationship with God , all of a sudden now we're walking in these assignments that we're talking about in wherever we are and we're learning how to humble ourself , to die to self , like Christ died in that verse selfless , selfless , selfless life , selfless death . And we're called to do that and when we do and we operate in that , it's amazing the elevation that comes from that .

Justin 34:00

It really is .

Rhett 34:01

And the opportunities that come from that . Because it says you mentioned in a couple of episodes before it was like man , when's the last time you've really just sat down to hear somebody else's story and to listen , and not to try to fix it or try to have an answer , but just to listen and go , wow , that's awesome . Or wow , you know , I'm sorry , that must be hard and , by the way , that's what God did with us .

Justin 34:20

That's what he does with us .

Rhett 34:22

He is available to listen and for us to have a safe place to be heard . And there's something that , for me , draws me to him even more , knowing that that I'm not called to be perfect but I'm called just to grow and to come to my father and to learn . And that's so beautiful and there's so much depth that we could go into there . But just the whole idea of loving God and loving others being the ultimate assignment , coming into a relationship with God , because you can't love him and love others until then , and when you do and you live that life of humility , there's just so much wonderful joy , peace , hope . Obviously , from our stories , pain's still going to happen because of the world we still live in .

Justin 35:00

What I'll add to that , too ,

The Process of Redemptive Ambition

Justin 35:02

is the foundation of Christ and the proper perspective of realizing your assignments are to worship the Father through Christ and to help others . Now you've activated what would really be the God assignments .

Rhett 35:18

So true yeah .

Justin 35:19

So it's like you've grown up in a certain way . There's a reason you do the things that you do . It's just not redeemed assignments . Yet we were writing songs and singing long before we surrendered our life to Christ . We just had a different ambition , direction . It was a self-ambition , you know , to date us , we could watch a new kids on the block and think that's going to be us one day , hanging tough , hanging tough man .

Justin 35:49

But then you get it redeemed . And when you realize and you've got to work through it because even once you're redeemed you've got to get the junk out Because for years I still lived with you know I'm the special , you have kids and Lego movies and you understand what that means . I'm the special person here you have to go through this process where humility will kill that specialness in you , where you think it's about you , and he will redeem it to let you realize , yes , you are actually special , but it's not because you're going to know it , it's just you're walking in it and it's going to now exist in few others . And it's the same way with like , when we're talking about the ambition , just because you did something and then you get redeemed by following Christ , it doesn't mean it stops that other thing . It means you should look for the redemptive qualities of how you can continue in that , because God put that in you for a specific reason and now he wants to take these assignments , where it shifts from selfish ambition to worthy ambition .

Justin 36:55

And I define worthy ambition as someone who is expressing their self with the act of bringing glory to God and the act of lifting up others and helping them achieve their God assignments and if you put it through that simple filter , it really will help you save time on having to analyze should I do this , should I not ? Is this God's will ? Is it not Like ? A lot of this is made plain and it does not have to be as epic as we make it because

You Can't Have Extraordinary Without Ordinary

Justin 37:23

of the epic world we live in , and we've said it before , but the most extraordinary things come dressed up in an ordinary packaging .

Rhett 37:31

You can't have extraordinary without ordinary , Because if you break that word apart , like we were talking about the other day , extra ordinary , you have to be ordinary in order to be extra extraordinary . Ordinary and that's the part that Instagram and TikTok and Facebook and the highlight reels and the ESPN SportsCenter like look at this and that and the other , or whatever . We don't see that . We don't see the process of development as the sexy part of life that really helps us grow into the person that you know we're ultimately called to be . It's , you know , oh , you've got to be hit , you got to , you got to be at this level . You know , hitting these highlight reels of this level of success or whatever platform it might be in business or , uh , artistry or creativity , or , uh , church ministry or whatever it might be like that's where your ultimate , but like , how do we get there ?

Justin 38:35

Well , it comes from being ordinary , yeah , and , and it comes from doing the ordinary things a little extra . We want crockpot results using a microwave minute . We won't quit , quit , quit , yeah . It's that why we have the term flash in a pan . You might get what you think is what you always dreamed of , but it will leave you wanting , yeah .

Rhett 38:48

I love that . We want the microwave results , but we serve a crockpot , god . So true , it's all about seasoning and salt and time and process and development to get us to a place .

U2's Bono and The Edge Find Purpose In Artistry

Rhett 39:01

I think , when you were saying that about the artistry , I think it's so important that God wants to use your gifts . You were saying that the gifts before a relationship with the Lord . They're gifts , those are assignments that God has given you for real , but they just haven't been redeemed for a higher purpose that truly bring fulfillment . That's why , when you're doing those things , you're like I love it , but there's just something still missing . Still missing . The part that's missing is the redemption , calling to that gift which ties people to ultimately , something bigger than you , which is God . And so my biggest scare , I think , from ever really wanting to come into a relationship with God was that . Well , I mean , if I do that , well then I've got to just deny myself and all these gifts and passions and things that God's given me , to go and just live under a rock somewhere , and it's like no man some of the greatest artists and gifts and people , um , like God wants you to use that in the world , but not for you , but for him . In other words , he , god , wants to give you a platform .

Rhett 40:03

I think too many times we think that God , like this performance gift , is a bad thing and it's a great thing in the right hands of someone that can be trusted . Because when you make it about yourself , then comes , you know , all the pain , all the hurt , all the shame , all the guilt because you make it about you . But when you make it about others , the fulfillment , the peace , the hope , the joy , the love , all of that comes because God wants to give you a platform , but not to platform you . You become a conduit . Yeah , he wants to give you a platform so that you'll platform him , because when he can trust you with that platform to platform him , I mean , look , I think a great example is I went to a U2 concert in Dallas , texas , yeah , texas , yeah man , it's one of their last concert tours and I will never forget the moment where he's leading Amazing Grace and we've got like close to I don't know how many seats 80,000 people .

Rhett 41:01

This was the new Texas stadium , cherry world , and there are people with their hands lifted high singing Amazing Grace . It was a beautiful moment and what I saw in that moment and , of course , you can tell from Bono's life , his story and all the things he's done . He's not a perfect person , never claimed to be , but talk about somebody who's used their gift to truly platform a purpose that's higher than him to truly platform you know a purpose that's higher than him and he's very confident in the fact that he's got a relationship with God and he doesn't shy away from it .

Rhett 41:34

It's beautiful because here , at the highest level of success you know if you can on this side of heaven , in the world of artistry and musicianship , you've got a team Bono and the Edge right up there just playing before the Lord , worship and leading a crowd that you know I would say a good portion of them probably don't really have a relationship with God , but something spiritual happened in their soul , which was God showed up in that moment and reminded people how much he loved them and what he did for them , and Bono used that gift and that's why his platform is one of the greatest platforms , believe you know in in artistry you know I'm biased , they're .

Justin 42:13

They're my favorite band in history . I mean they're , I think , the most popular band in the history of I love it , rock stardom yeah , and I mean you know all the .

Rhett 42:24

I don't know man , I don't know all the history to all their songs , but just the , the theme throughout is just , it's just beautiful and and to even go .

Justin 42:32

What you're saying about performance using that analogy , they started out in ireland , yeah , in a very christian environment which wasn't just the norm from where they're at , and and I mean Protestants in a very heavy Catholic society and their belief system , I think would probably fit more what we're around . All of it's great , right , but they were going out and doing their performing stuff , that wiring that's inside of them . Obviously they're young and mature , probably doing a lot of things wrong too , but aren't we all ? Yeah . And they came to a moment where their leader , their spiritual leader at that church , kind of gave them the decision of , hey , I feel didn't really tell it's not an ultimatum , but it was . The performance is not of God . If you want to really make a difference , come to the inside of these walls . And they were conflicted . I think Bono was very much stronger-willed , maybe a bit of the rebel , where he was more set on the call , but the edge , the edge struggled with it . He almost bounced out of .

Justin 43:45

U2 and stuck inside the church because he was very convicted of what was said by a man . It didn't mean that what the man said was true and I think there's a touch that we understand on that . We had many a time as young guys who were experiencing some of this young success and we had the spiritual leaders almost try to beeline to us and say you're not a performer and I won't make a big deal of that right now , but at least I can empathize or sympathize when I read a story like that , that the edge struggled . He went to Bono and actually made a , almost made the decision to back out and I think , if I recall right , my U2 experts can straighten this out . But when they actually wrote I think the song was Sunday , bloody Sunday .

Rhett 44:32

Yeah , that's exactly the song .

Justin 44:33

And it awoke something in Edge letting him realize no , no , no For our assignment , there's something we can do out here . Yeah , and they did , and I don't want to spend the time now qualifying on well , look , they went through this and they went through that and they've done this . Yes , absolutely , we all make mistakes , but let me also remind you , this person went over here to the church and did this , this , this , and there's a wake of people who've made mistakes there too Wounded hurt people .

Justin 45:04

So I'm not going to get on the topic of which way is which way , but I'm going to tell you this

Most Assignments Are Outside The Church Walls

Justin 45:09

God does not put a blessing just on assignments and say now you've got to take that inside the walls of the church .

Justin 45:17

I think the local church exists to bring hope to the world and it's , as our pastor says , mobilized . And what I think mobilization is . It is those who have a wiring to be within who can impact and equip those who are outside , and they come and worship on the Sundays and the Wednesdays or whatever , but they're living at 24 seven and they are out wherever that assignment takes them and almost anyone's wanna say secular venue , because it all belongs to God . Our goal is to bring the presence of God into whatever domain that he opens the door for us to step in ?

Rhett 46:01

Yeah , absolutely . I mean , we're called to be the body of Christ , not the four walls of Christ . Every part of the body has a part to play and none are more important than the others , and a performance gift is a part of the body and that is an outreach . That is an evangelistic outreach . That is a gift that reaches masses in different ways . And when you use that gift in the appropriate way , not for self or self-gain or self-righteousness , but when you use that gift to platform God , he'll platform you . Why ? Because you're putting him in a position to get people connected to the body and the whole goal . When you go out and you're doing things in , the , ones that do it right are the best , they're doing it on a whole level and they'll point people . Hey , man , what I'm pointing you to is a relationship with God and a relationship with his church , and it doesn't mean that our lives are lived within the four walls of the church every single day , because some of us aren't called to do that . Some of us are called to be out and in that . But when we're called to be out in the world doing those things , it's always to bring people back in , and so it's the community we're called to have a relationship with God , and relationship with community and the local church provides the community aspect .

Artist Granger Smith Finds Purpose In Artistry

Rhett 47:09

Gr relationship with community and the local church provides the community aspect .

Rhett 47:11

Granger Smith you and I were talking about him off air a day ago . Granger Smith is a country music artist and he loves God and he has used his platform in a way to pastor people through country music , in fact , so much so now that he's got this heart and he created a podcast and it's an amazing podcast and I highly recommend it . But he's using his gift in a way to platform God and God's platforming him and it's just , it's amazing , the difference he's making . So people are connecting to his music and then from there he's pointing people to Jesus . Yeah , and he's helping people , and not in a religious way , but in a relational way , and he's listening to , he's creating environments to hear what people are saying and to say well , let me , you know , let me share my story , kind of like what we're trying to do , and to show how the body connects .

Justin 47:57

You know what he needs when he's out there . What he needs more than anything is an encourager , a mentor . He needs to come into the church , his local church community , to sit in an office like mine , where I'm not saying that's not where God is man , he needs me to say , man , number one , you're making a difference . But he also needs me to say , man , what can I do for you , what can I do to help you get what you need , to get the sustenance to keep going ? Where

The Church Should Be A Journey Affirmation Station

Justin 48:34

there's almost that refuge , like we need it , we expend ourself , we come back . That's what the local church the local church , by the way , it's the body of Christ and it's not the four walls .

Rhett 48:47

but I'm so thankful we have the organizational structure of a four wall to come in and worship .

Justin 48:53

But the reason we have greeters is because we recognize there's a need to greet .

Justin 48:59

The reason we have ushers , we've recognized there's a need to ush or get people seated .

Justin 49:05

If you would have told somebody that your service to the church was serving coffee 20 years ago , they would have judged the mess out of you saying what in the world ? Well now , because there all of a sudden has been a need to have coffee in a church , there's people who serve in that area and they do it with joy . So it's a role . So what we see as a need and what we embrace , it almost helps produce what's in people to do things . And so , in the same way , if we're embracing the local musician who is having to hit it hard on the road traveling in a van , but they truly see it not as a way to build their name , but they see it as this is an assignment I feel for this season , yeah , and if they could be encouraged , you might have more beginning to come to us as the people who happen to be in the organizational structure of a church , to say what do I do when this desire is beginning to hit me because it is dark ?

Rhett 50:04

out there .

Justin 50:05

Oh my goodness , it is a dark world out there . How do I , how do I operate ? They need to have the body connect .

Rhett 50:13

Yeah .

Justin 50:13

If they're the face , if they need a neck to conjoin to be able to get to the chest , to the arms , that it operates the right way .

Rhett 50:22

Yeah , but Jesus told parables in in they were modern day stories and a lot of people think that he just made these stories up , that don't understand the culture in the time . But he was taking modern day stories that were popular , that were told around a campfire or whatever it might've been , and stories that were in their culture at the time . And artists have a gift to be able to tell stories and a part of those stories I think when I think about that . God's never asking an artist to go out and just hey , I want you to write every your country artists . You have the ability to write incredible poems and stories and I want every single one of them to be about me . I don't think God's doing that Now . He might for some , but I think use your story , use your craft and do it in a way that is so excellent that draws people to that story , that opens a door for you to share the platform of what God's given you and what it's all about . One thing I do just say I close the chapter on Granger , but I thought it was really cool is that every city he goes to and when he's there on the weekend he's in a local church . That's Sunday support and a local pastor and I know that because of the connection I have through a local pastor , which Pastor Clay in Twin Falls . When Granger came through Twin , he connected with Clay came to church on Sunday and he wasn't and nobody knew who he was in that environment there , you know . But it's just so cool because he's using his gift but he's also tied into the local church . He's being fed on the road in those areas and just staying connected , which I think is so cool .

Rate, Review, Reach Out

Rhett 51:52

Hey guys , thanks so much for joining us for another episode of Armchair Authentic , a podcast with Rhett and Justin man . It's been a lot of fun . Looking forward to next episode , but before that , I want to take a moment and say thank you to every single person who has taken the time to rate and review the podcast . Not only is it a blessing to us , but it really is the best way to serve those who aren't a part of this journey yet . So thank you and , as always , you can follow us on Twitter at Armchair Auth Pod that's Armchair Auth Pod or Facebook or Instagram at Armchair Authentic , and , as always , we would love to hear from you . Please take the time to email us at info at armchairauthentic and , as always , we would love to hear from you . Please take the time to email us at info at armchairauthenticcom . Thank you .