Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is Naim, and you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there, and there's more opportunities for you. Get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content. If this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you. Enjoy.
[00:00:56] Good morning.
[00:00:59] How are these?
[00:01:01] How you guys doing? Okay. Okay. You're good? You're good. In my hand is my. Is my. One of my favorite snacks. Favorite snacks, you guys. Anybody know what this is? Anybody knows? Anybody knows? Yes. It's addictive. It's addictive stuff, people. It is the popcorners. It's the white cheddar. It is deflavored. Get the blue one. Not the other ones. Not the other ones. That. This is it. This is it. The first service. I was telling them about the fact that I love pistachios. I just love. Any of you. Love pistachios? Yeah. Okay. Okay. We got pistachios, people in the house. The ones you. It's already cracked open.
[00:01:35] Oh, no. The whole joy is in the kraken. You know what I'm saying? That's it. That's it. But I was feeling generous today, so I was like, you know what? Is anybody here who has not experienced this amazingness? Anybody here who wants this? I'm gonna. I'm about to throw this. Okay. I'm about to throw this. And you guys, hands are down. Hands are down now. Okay, Megan. All right, all right. You've never had this, okay? You're gonna enjoy it now. Don't. Oh, okay. The only thing you cannot do is eat it right now, because that is a bad thing. Everybody will hear it and will smell, you know, all that stuff. So why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? If you're a guest here, you're going, okay. What's happening here? Why do you have name tags? Is this kind of church you. Do you have name tags on? No. We're doing a series called Creating Home in which we're trying to foster get better at relationships. Because the truth is, some of us are just not. We're not good at relationships. And it's not good to assume that we are gonna be good at relationships. In fact, the truth is, so many of us in this culture, even we have a lot of friendships and we've got a lot of people we do things with. But deep relationships, man, those are situations. We just don't have those. In fact, statistically, we seem to be moving towards major isolation, especially in terms with people not having deep relationships. So what we're doing is, is we're diving into this, figuring out, what does it mean to create home? Did Jesus create home? Are we called to create home? And so last week, I talked about the fact that we're gonna talk about a couple of things. Four weeks. The first week was this idea. The question that was that I proposed to you was, are you and I a soft place to land when people fall? That Jesus is a soft place to land when you fall. Religion is a very hard place to land when you fall. And so Jesus created a soft place. But now you realize is that creating home requires not just us getting better at being a soft place to land, but also. Also the big idea is being a safe place to place. To what?
[00:03:42] Safe place to grow. A safe place to grow. Are you and I a safe place to grow? You know what's interesting about therapy? Okay, Number one, it's expensive. Okay, Number two. Number two, have you noticed that every time you go to therapy or you've been to therapy, or you've heard about this thing called therapy, okay, they always want to talk about the.
[00:04:06] Come on, now, come on. They want to talk about the past. You're like, why do I need to talk about the past? They're like, no, no, no, let's talk about the past. I'm like, no, no, no. I want a better future. So let's talk about that. They're like, no, we gotta go back to the past and talk about some things. And I don't know if you'll notice what they're wanting to do is they want to identify the soul, the soil. Sorry, the soil in which you were planted. Because the soil that you were planted in the house you were planted in, the experience that you've had early on your life, they wanna figure out if it was a healthy soil. Because if you don't have a healthy soil, if you're not in a safe place to grow, you don't really grow. You're not developed Enough. And some of us find ourselves underdeveloped spiritually. Some of you know people who are underdeveloped emotionally. Hello? Your mom. No, no, she's joking, actually. It's true. It's true. Okay, maybe my mom. We're underdeveloped psychologically. And I think it's connected to not just, hey. Who we are, but it's connected to where we were allowed to grow up in. And some of us, our houses, our friendships, these are so. This is. It's a space. And I don't know if it's safe enough, secure enough to grow. I don't know if it's sanctuary. I don't know if it's a refuge. In fact, some of us, we find in church communities. Maybe you've hopped around a little bit trying to figure this out. You thought, hey, this might be a good church. This might be a good church. But then you realize it's not really a safe place to grow because some of us have grown out of our church. You're like, this church is not growing, and their theology is not evolving, and they're not really pursuing the more of God or the more of the possibility. And what we know and we love here at Mosaic is that God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. So God is so much more. And so you and I are growing. So I just want you to know if you find yourself discouraged spiritually, even now, you, my friend, are growing. And God loves to watch us grow. That's why he didn't make us perfect. He loved watching Jesus just grow up as a human. He loves to watch us grow. The question is, are you and I in a safe place to grow? Are we doing that? So this past week, I was in D.C. shout out to D.C. okay. All right. So I was in D.C. and I was going to this conference. It was called the Global Faith Summit, I believe. Yeah, Global Faith Summit. The. The idea behind it is that they were going to get or gather Christian leaders, Muslim leaders, and Jewish leaders together in a big conference. Some of them are world leaders. So they've got pastors, they got rabbis, and they've got imams. Imams. Can you say imam? Imam are the Muslim pastors. So we're there, and there's some Baha'I leaders there. There's lds, which, if you might know them as Mormons, but they're there. I mean, there's a whole group of religious people who are so diverse and so different. And, you know, and everybody in some ways thinks that the other person's going to hell. You know, I'm saying, that's the only thing we have in common. We got some Baptists in the house. They were like, oh, yo, everybody's going to hell. You know, like, everybody's like, they. We. We. We are going to heaven. You're not.
[00:07:28] So I'm walking. I'm. I'm going into this environment. But I also know the. The work that this organization. Organization has done is really good work. In fact, we're starting a chapter here in Charlotte, and I'm going to help lead it now. So here's the deal. What's funny, though, is I was. I was walking in there and I was a little. I was a little uneasy about it. Cause I'm not quite sure it was safe. Here's why. Here's why. If you know anything about me and the Muslim culture. So I grew up Muslim, Pakistani Muslim, grew up Muslim, raised Muslim. All the jazz, all the things. Well, in the Muslim religion, it is forbidden. In fact, it's a. You break a law and you're punishable by death if you convert.
[00:08:06] So that's why I got a religious asylum from the US So it's like, is that just a thing? No, it's a thing. Thing. It's a thing. And I got religious asylum for a couple of years and then eventually got my citizenship. But that's a real thing when people are persecuted. So I'm going into this place, and I know there are rabbis. Okay. I'm not. I got no beef with them. Okay. I got pastors little beef with them. But then. But then I've got imams there. And I don't know about you, but if you've seen me, I don't look Jew, I don't look rabbi, I don't look pastor. I look. I look imam. I look imam. Modern imam, but imam. Okay, so I walk in and. Exactly. That's what happens. I'm introducing myself. I speak their language. Salaamu alaikum. We're talking. We're talking. And then the question is, so what is the name of your mosque? And I was like, mosaic. That is the name. They're like, mosaic. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm a Christian pastor. Yeah, I'm on the other team. I'm like. I'm like. And they were so fascinated with this one particular imam, a Saudi guy. So, so cool. He was like, so, so, so, so you're so. You're so. You're what? So what? And I said, yeah. He said, you didn't Change your name? I'm like, no, I didn't change my name. He's like, so what do you. So, you. You're. You're. You're. You're. You're your pastor. Okay, what. What happened?
[00:09:37] What happened? And I'm like.
[00:09:39] And then he was like, did you have a bad imam? I was like, no, man, I did not have a bad imam. And so I told him. I said, well, I had an encounter with Jesus, and that night, I just knew I was supposed to be a pastor. And he was like, wow, that is fascinating. He said, you know what's interesting? I have a mosque. And he was telling me about his mosque, and he was like, there's a family there, and they've been part of the mosque for a long time. And, yeah, one of his kids decided that he wanted to be a Christian. And I was like, oh, did he have a bad imam?
[00:10:10] And he was like, you're funny. You're funny. What was amazing about that, though, is I spent the day just having conversations, and I realized, leaving that I was walking in, like, feeling not safe, but, man, walking out going, I'm so safe. Because there was a value there that said, hey, we don't have to believe like each other to be with each other.
[00:10:33] And see, at Mosaic, we've been saying that for a good while. We're like, hey, you don't have to, you know, believe like us to be with us. That's not. That's not the deal. The thing is, we can. We can. We can be. We are growing in our faith, and we can believe certain things, and we are deciding to be with each other. And so those world leaders, those leaders were decided, hey, we're going to unite in one thing. And the one thing is, we love God, and we want to. We want to learn to love God more, and we want to love people more. And that was it. Everything else, we can disagree with. And I was like, that is a safe sanctuary of a place because it allows people to grow. And I'll tell you what, man, this world needs. Humanity needs a safe world to grow.
[00:11:14] And it starts with religious leaders. It really, truly does. And so for us, what if you and I decided, hey, regardless of our diversity in our families, in our friends group, is there a way that we could create a safe space for the people around us? I believe it is possible. I believe it's our call, even here at Mosaic. So what does it mean to be a safe place? To what? Safe place to grow. Okay, so I'm gonna take you to a passage Scripture. I'm gonna set this up for you. If you have an app. The scriptures, the points, all them, they're in the app. But this particular, you know there are books in the Bible, right? So there's a guy named Paul. Anybody know Paul? He was Paul the.
[00:11:59] Okay, Apostle. Some of you guys. Paul the Baptist. No, that's John. That's John the Baptist.
[00:12:06] Okay, so Paul is this guy who writes this particular book. But I don't know if you know this, but like when they wrote the scriptures, they were not called books, they were letters. Because Paul wrote 13 letters. We call them books now because the scriptures moved from being taught in synagogues to actually being taught in universities. So they changed everything to books. That's why we call them books. They're not books, they're actually letters. The good thing is we're gonna talk about this book, which is a one page letter. And the book is called. The letter is called Philemon. Can you say Philemon? Philemon. Okay, so Paul wrote this. Now what's interesting about why Paul wrote this and why it's interesting that he wrote this is because he at one point was the most dangerous guy, the most unsafe person for the early church. If you know anything about the history of the early church, there was one dude, there was one guy that all the disciples feared because it was Paul. Paul. Because his name was not Paul at that point. His name was. Anybody for extra credit? Okay, Saul. He was Saul. And he was persecuting, in fact, executing Christians.
[00:13:12] He was the most dangerous man. He was unsafe.
[00:13:16] And then he had an encounter with Jesus and he became the opposite. He was the safest person. He went out and he devoted his life to create safe spaces for people who did not believe, who were not like the Jews. He went out to purposely to the Gentiles and remained safe and safe and safe. He lived his life doing that. Went from being such an unsafe person to a very safe person and got in trouble with that. So he writes this letter. And this letter is fascinating because it's a one page letter and it's so.
[00:13:52] It's so strange because we don't know why this letter found its way to this library we call the Bible. Like, why is this one page letter in there? Because it's so significant. This letter is not to a church, he writes to churches, but this letter is written to one person.
[00:14:13] And the title of that letter is Dear Philemon. He's writing to a guy. And this guy is a slave owner. He's a slave owner. He's writing to him and the slave owner had had an experience with Jesus. So this. Paul knew him, and he's writing to him, and he writes him. Not like he writes other churches. When he writes churches, he's like, oh, you know, this is the Apostle Paul, blah, blah, blah. He's not doing that. This is like, yo, bro, you know me.
[00:14:40] Hey, let's talk. And it's a friend letter. It's a, hey, I want to talk to you about this. I want to talk to you about this. This is not about the church. This is about you. I want to talk to you about this. I want to talk to you about this guy that you used to own.
[00:14:53] You used to own that you. That you had slaves. Because back in the day, they had slaves. In fact, the Roman Empire at one point had 60 million enslaved people.
[00:15:04] 60 million. You know what's sad, though? You know, the amount of enslaved people caught up in human trafficking right now, you know what the number is? 50 million.
[00:15:15] There's something about humanity that wants to enslave other people.
[00:15:19] And it's a dark thing within all of us.
[00:15:24] All of us. We're the most unsafe and the most dangerous thing to humanity.
[00:15:31] So he's writing to him and he's asking him to do something. What happens is that there's a guy who was enslaved, a runaway slave, and he runs away. He runs from Ephesus, which would be like modern day Turkey, and he runs all the way, and he hides up in Rome, which is Italy. He shows up there and he meets Paul and they befriend each other. And then this guy, this slave, comes to, comes to Christ, and now he's helping Paul, who. Paul is in prison, but it's like, not in prison, in jail. But it's like. Like he is like, you know, it's like he's confined to his home kind of thing. So he. He is there for two years because the Romans are, like, against all the preaching of Paul, because Paul is trying to create a safe place for people to come in and hear about Jesus, that they don't like it. So it's in that context. He sends this letter and he starts off, and I'll read sections to you. Here's the first section. I'll read to you. The first section is he says, basically, hey, you're my buddy, and all that. And he says, that is why. That is why I boldly. I'm boldly asking you for a. What? I'm asking you for a favor. I'm asking you for a favor. I could demand it in the name Of Christ, I could demand it. But we're boys. And besides, it is the what, the right thing for you to do. Let me just tell you. This is the right thing for you to do. But because. Because of our love, I simply. I prefer simply to just ask you. I want to ask you. Consider this a request from me, Paul. What? He says, I'm an old man. I'm an old man now. And also, by the way, I'm a prisoner. I'm going to talk to you about a guy you've imprisoned. In a sense, you enslaved. I'm just telling you I'm a prisoner, but not in that sense. I'm enslaved. I've made myself, in one sense, a servant for the sake of Christ Jesus. And then he says, I appeal to you to show what? Kindness. Kindness to my child. To my child. He has now shifted the language. He's, like, not calling him a slave. He's calling him a what? A child.
[00:17:44] Child is ownership. He's not calling him. Oh, immature. No, no. He's calling him. He is my child. And then Onesimus is the guy. Onesimus is the guy. He's talking. They're talking about. And he says, I became his father in the faith. He says, I want you to know that something's happened here while they're in prison. Onesimus, he says, continues, he says, hasn't been. He hasn't been, you know, much to use to you in the past. As in, I know that he's no longer there and he's no use to you because he ran away. He's gone. He's no use to you. But he's using. Just want you to know he's using the word use intentionally. Then he goes on and says, but now he is very. What use again, useful to both of us. And I'm sending him back to you. But when he comes, he's coming with what is with my own heart like he's coming with. He's not coming with any gifts. He's coming with a part of me. Why does Paul says, hey, he's useful. He's not been useful. Here's why. Because an isthmus literally means useful.
[00:18:49] It was not a real name. It was a slave name.
[00:18:53] The word means profitable, beneficial, useful.
[00:18:57] He's like, he used to be this guy who was profitable. You could market him. You could use him to make money.
[00:19:05] But now, I just want you to know, because of Christ, he is a child.
[00:19:10] He is one of us. We cannot treat him this way. See? Basically saying, hey, I know it's your Right. Because he ran away. I know it's your right to punish him because back in those days, when someone who was enslaved would run away if they found them. They would be crucified or branded.
[00:19:29] They would be branded.
[00:19:32] And he's saying, I want you to treat him as a human.
[00:19:37] Okay? He is my child in the faith. I'm telling you, he comes without bearing a gift. He comes with my heart. Basically, he's saying, listen, listen. Listen to me. Your faith, Phil. Phil, is this. You have a call. We have a call to create a safe space for humanity. And we have to do this because they need. He is growing in the faith. There is a call to us to understand that people are not a transaction. They're not a transaction. See, some of us, when you have lived in a particular house or you've worked in a particular organization, you just feel like you are another clog in the. What?
[00:20:19] Yeah. You're just one of those people. You're just one of those people. Here's why. Because it is a very transactional relationship. They don't care. All they want is you to be profitable. All they care is that you are useful. If you are not useful, you're out. You're out. He says, I just want you to know. I just want you to know. We cannot start thinking like this.
[00:20:45] This is not how we're supposed to live. This is not how we're supposed to be in our relationships. Even though the culture tells you you could own a slave, the world tells you that you could do this. It is your right. But, man, I'm just telling you. I know it is your right to do this, and I know the government allows it, but I just want you to let you know it is not right.
[00:21:06] It is not right. It's just. It's not right. It is not right.
[00:21:12] Not right. You gotta have a call. He keeps on going and he says this. It seems. It seems you lost Inismus for a little. You lost him for a while, and you could have him back forever. He is no longer though. He's no longer this. He's no longer what?
[00:21:28] Like a slave to you? I just want you to know you can have him back, but you're gonna have him back with his dignity. You're gonna have him back with a. Not as a product, but as a human. You can't have him back. I just want you to know that this is the deal. And then he goes on, he says he is more than a. What, like you, my friends, You. I just want you to know you are More than what you can do, you are more than what you are useful for in your family. You're supposed to be. If you live in an environment that goes, you are only useful, you're only special if you can actually do something, then, my friends, we are no longer human beings. We are human doings.
[00:22:09] Like, we're not that. He says this for he is my what? Beloved brother. He's like, he's a child in the faith because I raised him up. He's also my brother, especially to me. Now. He will mean much more to you both as a man who. As a man and as a brother in the Lord. I just want you to know this is language that slave owners would not use. They are not human, these people that I own, they are property.
[00:22:37] And he's like, no, he is a man. He is a brother. He's a child. He is beloved.
[00:22:43] He's a human.
[00:22:45] And then he says this, so.
[00:22:47] So if you consider me your partner in this faith, welcome him as you would. What?
[00:22:54] Yeah, treat him as you would. Treat me. Do that. Do that.
[00:23:03] This is. This is. I mean, Philemon, he's got to think about this letter. He's like, oh, wow, why? Because if he changes that, if he starts treating his one enslaved person the. This way, then the whole thing is like, well, hold up, I have. This is my property. I gotta treat him as family.
[00:23:22] Like what he's asking him to do is counter to what the culture is telling them. It's counter to the law of the land. It's counter to that. And friends, I think we gotta remember that we cannot take, like, our morality and what is right. And it doesn't come from the government, doesn't come from culture, doesn't come from social media. It comes from this person of Jesus. And he's saying, I want you to create a space.
[00:23:47] People are treated as people.
[00:23:50] They're people. They don't look like you, but they're people.
[00:23:55] So what happens? What happens is what Paul addresses. He addresses this idea that if you believe this call, if you're going to do this, it comes with the cost. That there is a cost. Because again, he was a slave and he was profitable, right? He made money off of this guy.
[00:24:13] I don't know about you, but oh, man, there's a. There, there. There's a cost to making a space, a place safe.
[00:24:23] Huge cost, Huge cost. He goes on, and in the letter, he says this, he says, if, if he has wronged you. Let me just tell you, if he has wronged you in any way or Owes you anything. Charge it to me. To charge it to me. And then. This is so funny. Paul has never done this before. He does this. He puts in all caps. It's not just a typo. It is in literally in the scriptures, in all caps. And he says this, number one, I just told you, put it on my tab. And then he says, I what, Paul? What is this? What are you saying? Write this with my own what hand. I will repay it. And I won't mention that, by the way, btw, FYI, you owe me, what, Your very soul. So, yeah, I'll pay you back, but you owe me your soul, bro.
[00:25:18] Why is he saying that? Number one? He's saying that to make sure that Phil doesn't think that Nismus wrote this letter.
[00:25:27] He's like, no, this is me.
[00:25:29] This is me. This is me. Because I know it's gonna cost you. It's gonna cost you your reputation, and it's gonna cost you money. It's gonna cost you all this. And Paul is linking. He's like, I know it affects your. You know, your net worth, but I also know that it's gonna affect your networks. Like, it's gonna affect who you are in the social status because you're that guy who now's treating enslaved people as human, which is a no no, because that's how empires build empires. By enslaving a group of people.
[00:26:08] They might not say it, but that's how you do it. That's how you do it. And he's like, I just want to let you know there's going to be a cost. And I want you to know you can. I can repay you back. But by the way, there's. There's a deeper cost to this. You know what's interesting about this is, like, I think, like, there have been environments where I've been in, like, parties or gatherings or conferences and all that. And I've had this thought, I will never tell people where I am. There is no way I can put this on social media because of the cancel culture. I will be canceled like this. Because I'm like, if I post something. Hanging out with imams, yo, My boys, they're like, name's gone back. He's now Muslim again. I mean, the amount of people have like, hey, you're hanging out there. You're doing this. I mean, it's so strange, because when you create an environment, when you create a culture where you have friends in so many different arenas, people looking on one side like, I have friends in different arenas that if some of us were, they're like, how and why in the world would you ever hang out with this group of people?
[00:27:15] And I'm like, because I want to be a safe place for people to grow.
[00:27:23] I don't want a safe place. So I can hunker down.
[00:27:27] This is not what God's calling us to create. You know what's interesting these days, like, how culture and even government will tell you what you should and should not do, because the government there in the Roman Empire was telling people how to live their lives. This is how you. This is how you treat people. And you know what's interesting is recently, just in recent days, we were talking about all these things that the new administration's bringing down the pipe. You know that all these things are happening. And some of the concerns that I know that my friends have who are immigrants, you know, my friends who are just not. They don't fit the norm are like, you know what's happening? And this whole conversation about DEI programs have come up. Are they canceling yet? They're gonna fund them? Is it okay to do? Is it not okay to do? Some of us are like, maybe it's bad, maybe it's good. I don't know if they work. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And if you stop and consider what the terms, the letters mean, it stands for diversity. Help me out. Diversity, equity, and what? Inclusion. And I thought, wow, this is very interesting.
[00:28:28] Could it be possible that God is saying, hey, hey, I just want you to know this. I just want you to know that these are not supposed to be a program. I mean, I know they're programs, but there's more of that. There's more than that. Let me read this verse to you. Okay? This is Paul again, clarifying this to another church. And he says this. He says this. He says, for you are all children of God through faith in Christ. You're all. He's talking to a group of diverse people. He's like, you're all. Yeah, you too. You sure? Yeah, you too. And you, too, and you, too, and you too. And then he says this. And there's. Honestly, there's no longer. What? Jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female? You are what, all one in Christ. So he's saying, you are all diverse, but you all are all equal.
[00:29:26] You are one. You have the same favor, the same privilege. And then he ends it by saying this. He says this. And if you man, I'll tell you if you belong to Christ.
[00:29:37] Then you are what, Abraham's seed and the heirs according to the promise. He literally says, I know this person was enslaved. I know this person is not Jewish. I know this person's whatever. Let me just tell you, in Christ there's always diversity, there's always equity, and there's always inclusion. So, my friends, the DEI is not a program. It is a practice, a daily practice to be followers of Jesus.
[00:30:12] And so, yeah, yeah, next week they could be like, hey, programs are good, Okay? I don't care. We don't care. We're not taking cues from them. We're not taking cues. We're taking cues from Jesus.
[00:30:26] And there's a cost. I get it. I said there's a cost to it. But there's also. Lastly, he says, there's a power to it. There's a power to it. Let me read you this last passage of Scripture.
[00:30:37] He ends the letter. He says, hey, yes, yes, my brother, please, please, please, please, please do me this favor, for the Lord Jesus sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ. I'm confident. I'm confident as I write this letter that you will what? Do it. Do what I ask. And even more, he said, I believe it. I believe that you will do the right thing. So the question is, did Phil do the right thing?
[00:31:04] Did he do the right thing? Right? So what? So after this, we don't know. We don't know in the scriptures, in the letters, you know, Paul didn't write a follow up and go, hey, great job, bro. He didn't write that. Okay?
[00:31:19] But you know what history tells us?
[00:31:22] So this, this, this Phil is in, is in Ephesus. Ephesus. It's like I said, it's, it's, it's, it's Turkey. This, the, the. So Anissimus ran away to Rome. He meets Paul and Paul says, look, I'm sending you back. So he sends, he sends Onesimus back to Turkey, Ephesus.
[00:31:53] And what happens? Right? What happens?
[00:31:57] History tells us that in the year 1110 A.D.
[00:32:03] there was a new bishop that was appointed after Paul because Paul at that time was the bishop. Guess who his name, what? His name was Onesimus.
[00:32:17] Phil did the right thing.
[00:32:19] Onesimus became the bishop.
[00:32:22] The bishop of the region. He ran away from.
[00:32:29] Hey, there is power in creating a transformational space. There's power in creating a safe place that people can grow into who they were meant to be.
[00:32:43] And so, yes, yes. We don't know what this will ever do. You have no idea the kind of amazing soil you are creating. You don't know the kind of growth that will happen to your kids, your friends, you don't know. But all you and I have to commit to do is to create that space and say, okay, I'm just going to leave the growth to God. I'm going to do that. So how do we do. How do we practically do that? I'm going to give you three practical words. It's three words. Proximity, empathy, and what. What's the last one? Advocacy.
[00:33:23] Proximity. We just got to get close to people.
[00:33:26] You got to be. We got to be close to you. Got to get close to people who are not like us. Don't look like us, don't smell like us, don't eat like us, don't believe like us. They're not us.
[00:33:39] You know, everybody's got your people. Yeah, proximity means go to who are not your people, who are not your people.
[00:33:48] You gotta move towards not your people. You know, when I first came to ministry and started doing ministry work, being charismatic, like, really, really cool churches, fun churches, and people look at me and they go. They would prophesy and all that, and I kept on getting so much encouragement, you know, from people, and they. They found out that I was going to do ministry and all that and do church work, and they're like, oh, my gosh, yes, God's going to choose you. You have to go back and reach your own people. And I'm like, my people will kill me. But I am not.
[00:34:16] They're like. And I kept on hearing this, I kept on hearing, go back and reach your people. And I'm like, why can't you be my people?
[00:34:26] Like, why can't you be my people?
[00:34:29] I'm. I'm every. Almost every week, I'm the only Pakistani.
[00:34:37] Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't get close.
[00:34:41] That doesn't mean we can't get close. Proximity matters.
[00:34:46] Matters, because it leads to empathy. You're not like me. I didn't go through the same thing, but I see you.
[00:34:54] I hear you. I don't even. I might even emotionally disagree with you. You.
[00:35:01] Because I just don't even see what you see and feel what you feel. But I'm just. I'm just going to sit here. I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to let you be you.
[00:35:12] And when you do, when you do that, then you become an advocate. Then you take up the fight for someone else. It's not your fight, but it's your fight because of who you love.
[00:35:27] It becomes your fight because you've gotten close to them.
[00:35:32] You're not like them. You've gotten close to them. You've had the same experience. No. No. You didn't grow up where they grew up. No, not at all. But you are not advocate for them, which, by the way, is the Jesus gospel story. God comes down, nothing like us becomes Emmanuel, comes so close to humanity, begins to have empathy for us. He's not. He doesn't have the same experience, empathy. He starts healing, forgiving. Jesus didn't need forgiveness, but he forgave, he healed, he provided, and then he became an advocate for us. In fact, when he left, he said, I'm sending you God's spirit, who was the advocate for you taking up the cause.
[00:36:22] So what if we did this for our kids? What would it look like? What would it look like for you to get closer to your kids, even now when they're in this weird phase?
[00:36:33] What would it look like for you to get closer to your friends?
[00:36:37] What if it would look like for you to just stop and go, I don't get it, I don't get it. And stop saying, I don't get it. You don't get it. And it's okay. You don't have to get it. You don't have to figure out why they do what they do. It doesn't matter. They do it.
[00:36:50] They do it. Can you make space for them? Are they safe?
[00:36:56] Can you create a safe space?
[00:36:58] And then can you be an advocate for them? Can you be a person that not discourages them? You are the person that literally takes courage and puts it in them. You call that encouragement meant?
[00:37:13] You are a person that decides in this moment. I'm going to take my courage or whatever I have and I'm going to put it inside of you because you need it today.
[00:37:24] I'm going to do that. That is being an advocate for them.
[00:37:30] For them. Could you imagine if we did this, if we lived like that, if our spaces look like that? Because church did that?
[00:37:40] What?
[00:37:42] Yeah, that's why we are doing that. That's why we are reclaiming the message and movement of Jesus.
[00:37:50] Why? Because the message and movement of Jesus is about creating a safe place where people can grow, get to know God.
[00:38:00] So I want to pray that over us. Can I do that? Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for your love for us, for your grace for us. But God, I thank you that you love to watch us grow. You know we're not perfect, but you just love to see us even try to stand up and walk on our own. You love to see us crawl. Spiritually, you love to see us wobble around. Spiritually, you love to see us take our first step. Spiritually, you love to see us begin to eat solid food. Spiritually, you began to. You love celebrating birthdays of us, God, knowing you spiritually. God, you love to see us grow.
[00:38:41] God, I pray that we would be a safe place for others to grow.
[00:38:48] So, God, I pray that if we have created an unsafe space, not good soil for people in our homes, if we've done that and if we're doing that right now, I pray you, you show us where and how we could stop.
[00:39:11] God, show us where we need to stop.
[00:39:15] What do we need to change?
[00:39:18] What do we need to do?
[00:39:23] God, I thank you for that.
[00:39:26] I thank you for the person who's thinking right now. I don't know if I've ever been in a safe place to grow, God, today, today, God, I just pray that they would say, jesus, I'm gonna give you my life.
[00:39:51] I'm gonna give you my life. I've been planted in places.
[00:39:57] I grew up in a space that wasn't ideal. Today I'm. Today I'm turning. Today I'm saying, God, I want to be planted in you.
[00:40:12] I want to be one in you.
[00:40:16] So, God, thank you for that.
[00:40:20] Thank you for that.
[00:40:22] God, I pray as we respond and when we sing, you would speak to us when we light a candle, when we receive communion, maybe even if you just sit there. God, would you respond to us as we respond to you?
[00:40:41] In Jesus name, amen.
[00:40:46] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
