Answering Some Tough Questions With My Daughter

I run something by you? And we just answer, yeah, I.

I'm a Southern Baptist. I'm very much an introvert. I would be completely okay with living in a mountain or on a ranch in Texas and never see a single soul other than my family. I know this is not what God wants from us, and I struggle with it. What advice can you give me to break free from the crippling anxiety and step out of my comfort zone and doing the works that God wants me to do. Okay, thanks Daniel. It's a great question and I'd love to dive into this, and I think a lot of people.

I'm going to use this to answer in two ways, one to the introvert and two to the extra because we could speak to the person that loves crowds and we could speak to the person that doesn't. First of all, we need to know this. God doesn't want you and inherently with that character trait, He doesn't want you to be some somebody other than the character trait that He made you to be. So he made you to be an introvert. That's that's that's how he made you. That's

that's something that's that's not like a sin. A sin would be you you're you're addicted to something or you love this sinful lifestyle and to that we would want to break away from it and turn away from it

and turn to God. That's repentance. But something that's a character character trait, caricature character trait, character trait, like like you are and you're you're inherently an happy person, or you're a melancholy person, or you're a you're a pretty serious person, or you're an introvert like this, these are traits that you're just born with. And so there's nothing, there's nothing that that would say God is telling you

to not be an introvert. Okay, let's get that straight, and we would say the same thing for an extrovert. God is not telling you to not be an extrovert. So what I think you're getting at is that is it God. God wants you to to be able to do things in community. In fact, it's not just a wanting that the New Testament's going to speak in a way that you have to. You're not going to make

it alone. You need community for prayer, for counsel, for for encouragement, you need you need community so that you could live out your spiritual gifts, like your spiritual gifts are are only acted on in the church. If you live in a mountain cave, you can't serve, you can't encourage, you can't rebuke, you can't teach, you can't do all the spiritual gifts you can't do in a mountain cave or isolated on a ranch. So that's what the New testament means when it's saying you need to do this

in community in a church. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian who London knows I read all the time Bonheffer. I saw him read. I saw him write one time in this book called Life Together. It's fantastic. He said, attentional introverts, you need to make sure that you are actively breaking the mold and going out and being with people. You need to make sure that although your normal setting is to chill out by yourself, you need to fight that

and have times that you schedule. You go into the people and you go, Okay, I'm gonna go I'm gonna sit with I'm gonna eat lunch with seven or eight people. That's something I would never do right. Your thinking, well, well, Bonnheffer's making a point for Christians that are introverts to schedule times where you get uncomfortable. And then he says the same thing for extroverts. And this is you, London,

You're an extrovert. He's saying, people that are extroverts, you need to be scheduling time where you're intentionally going into seclusion by yourself and you're going away from people you're going away from media and screens and any influence, any kind of input. You need to make sure you're retreating into the wilderness just you and God. An introvert here's that and goes, oh, yes, I love it. I love retreating into the wilderness just me and God. And Bonheffer's saying, yes,

I know that. So be careful because you need you need both. You need to balance both. You don't need to be the other one, but you need to balance both. So introverts, when you hear about seclusion and you get excited, remember you need to be in community. For all you extroverts, When you hear about community and you get excited, you need to be in seclusion. It works both ways. Okay, so you're probably somebody, Daniel that likes a smaller church.

We could start there. You're not gonna like a huge church. You're gonna like a smaller setting, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think that's the beauty of different kinds of churches. But this is not a sin for you to be an introvert. Remember that, it's not a sin for you. But but the Bible is going to encourage you to be in community. So you might once a

week you might have to schedule something. You go and you go and do something a little uncomfortable and then go right back to your house and close the door with your family. Do you have anything on that one London?

thank you, Annah. The Lord did that, but thank you, She says, I was wondering if and when you're going to do a podcast tour. I know this has been on your radar, but I think it would benefit so many and help them grow closer to the Lord. If you do, please come to Nebraska. Thanks again, Anna, Well, I would love to do a podcast tour and go and go to several different cities. The Midwest would be definitely on the radar. I've been doing in my speaking events.

I don't know if y'all have seen me maybe leting you've seen me post I think I've only posted one, but I'm going to post more. I've been doing these on my speaking events, a Q and A afterwards, just answering questions from people, and that's kind of like what I do here. Do you would you go on the podcast tour if I did it, probably okay? Yeah, and if it didn't interfere with school, maybe oh yeah, I forgot, We'll do it. We'll get you out there. Let's hit

another one next one comes from anonymous. The early days of the podcast, I used to actually accidentally say their name, but now people have just learned if you're anonymous, don't put your name in here. Because I used to say things like, hey Granger, my name is Brian and I wish to be anonymous. And I would read it like that, all right, Brian says, hey Granger, my name is Brian and I would like to be anonymous. I'd be like, oh, sorry, Brian, I.

She gets upset with me because I'm willing to talk to my family about what's going on in our relationship. She thinks that our relationship needs to be more private. I was recently listening to one of your podcasts, and you said that as we Christians are not called to be private, but to be open. I know that in that not context you're speaking specifically about divorce, but it seemed like it could be taken even further. So my question is, could you expand more on how Christians aren't

supposed to be private? We're in the Bible? Where in the Bible does it talk about so I could look it up for myself? And finally, should I be more willing to keep our arguments to us? Thanks for all that you do. I love your podcast. Remember I remember when episode one was a big deal.

And that's where you're saying, Hey, can you show me the Bible where it says that we shouldn't be private, and really it goes back to that first question about we should be in community. The New Testament speaks in terms of us. We need counsel from each other, we need encouragement, we need to be able to act on those spiritual gifts, like I said in the first question, and that would include something like divorce. When you're walking through divorce, a Christian to never walk through that alone.

You should never just close the door and say I'm going to decide something so impactful in our lives, and I'm going to decide it by myself. Instead, it should be done in the fellowship of a local church with a meaningful membership in the church. That means not just a church that you walk into and you attend sometimes, but a church you're actually a members of a meaningful membership.

And I hope that your church when you're listening, I hope that your church has a meaningful membership process, and that means that you're fellowshipping in the community of the church in a way that you're serving them and they're serving you. And as a family, they know you and you know them. You know the pastor you're bat or you want to you know the pastor. The pastor knows you. Some people think it's strange that you would be on

a text basis with your pastor, do you know. People think that's crazy, and I think that should be very normal. You should know your pastor and he should know you, and you don't just decide divorce behind closed doors. Your pastor should be walking through it with you and others through at least just a lot of prayer. I don't think this is your deal. I don't think this is I don't think this applies to this. First of all, you're not married, and so you shouldn't act like you are.

You're twenty two and she's twenty and you're dealing with like these fights.

So those are the two sides of the coin. And furthermore, it's it's hurting. It's hurting your relationship with her when you tell your parents these things, because one day, if you go, I'm gonna marry her, and they go, we already know all this dirty laundry. All you do is talk about all their problems, so we don't want you to get married. So I think she sees that too. So I just think there's a lot of like unhealthy

stuff in this mix. And I would say I don't like this relationship as much as I know about it. I'm not saying that two people should never fight. That's weird to say, but I am saying this sounds like a lot of drama for a dating relationship. If you were married, we could work through this. But dating, you say you fight a lot. You say I've had a series of arguments fights lately. Then you go tell your parents and then she gets mad. That sounds like you're

playing house. I would run from that. I would run to the Lord. I would seek the Lord with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength, and learn who he is and don't ask. Don't ask. You don't have to ask me where it says in the Bible something you are actively reading through it, and you just know I would do that and then date to Mary.

But if she wants it, if it's about your girlfriend wanting it to be more private, he's gonna know that this is his question, this is your question, and so she's probably gonna find out too, and then that's gonnaly to another fight.

to get someone a gift that might seem to have everything. Hey, get them a gift at cameo dot com slash granger Smith. Is this the first podcast you've ever done?

I would love to hear what you think and what you believe. I'm gonna throw this to you.

saying what you just said. If you don't trust and if you don't have faith in Jesus, that's the only reason that you would be kept out of heaven when you meet our Lord at the at the gates of heaven, you could say you will have You'll have one argument to make when they say why do you deserve to come in here? Can you answer that for me? If if the gatekeeper of heaven will say it that way, we'll simplify it. The gatekeeper of heaven says, why should you come in here? Wait?

we just debunked that idea completely. You can't say you won't go to heaven if anything outside of faith in Christ. Will I go to heaven? If I get a tattoo? Will I get to heaven? If I have done a horrible sin? Will I go to heaven? If I have murdered? Will I go to heaven if I have I don't know. Fill in the blank with whatever you want to say. The question at hand is if you're cremated, So that is absolutely false. People think cremation is wrong and you

won't go to heaven if cremated. Absolutely false. But but traditionally Christians have highly valued traditional burials. As we look back on history, it was it was a pagan ritual Tomate, and so we would encourage his Christians burial for one reason, for really for a respect for the body the vessel God gave. God gives us a vessel two to live on this earth to carry out the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk in and to preach the gospel in. And so God gave you your body London.

And and you're suppose you're supposed to treat your body with respect because it is a temple, because it literally, when you're a Christian, it literally is embodied by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes into you and your fleshly body, which will be destroyed as you when you die, and it will decay and will be it will be, we'll go back to dust, and you will be resurrected. If you're a Christian, if you have faith in Jesus,

you will be resurrected with a new body. But the current body you have, that doesn't mean because you'll be resurrected in a new body, doesn't mean that body is not important. It is important. God wove it together in your mama's womb, and I was there to watch it on the little screen as we would go and get checkups. And I saw your little bitty body inside mama's womb, and it grew and grew and grew. And your body

is very special. It's very special to me, and it's even more special to you, and it's even more special to God because he gave it to you for a purpose. That is what Paul calls our our tent. We live in these tents, and so we should we should try to respect our bodies. We should we should be healthy with them, We should eat healthy things, and we should exercise to be responsible stewards of the vessel that God gave us to carry out the good works that He

prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them right. And that all goes with if you, at the very end of it you just burn it. There is a there's an idea that there's a slight disrespect in that. And so Christians have always thought that if you go back in Church history, they thought you should bury the body

in respect. And in fact Christians were really one of the first people groups to really value a funeral, and in many ways one of to understand our own mortality and to understand where we are going.

When when he was cremated. I remember the day that it happened. They sent him, They sent his body to Waco to a cremation place, and they said they were going to do it about nude. And I remember that day checking my watch and thinking, is he in there? Is he in there right now? Is the dad that I knew? That body? Is that turning into ashes right now?

It was a weird, weird feeling. And I kept watching the time and as it got to be one o'clock and two o'clock, and then I started feeling relief, like in the afternoon, like, well, surely he's ashes by now, surely it's done, it's over with. But and then you know, a few days later, they sent the little box with all this thing and all his ashes, and inside the ashes were his little screws that he had in his knees, because he had really bad knees that had screws in him.

So I was like, there's his screws that were in his knees and one that was in his ankle. That's so weird. Like a metal plate that was at his ankle, that's so weird. I wasn't where I am today. Theologically, I would have talked Dad out of it, and I think he would have believed me. And this discussion here for this podcast is not for anyone that hears it and goes, oh, no, my mom was cremated. That's not

what I'm saying. I do think if you're listening to this and you have your mom in an urn on your fireplace, you should bury it and have a proper funeral. I do believe that. But if it's already done, it's done. For future ideas, I want to answer kindre and say I would discourage cremation and in courage a traditional Christian burial. Is that long? Is that a long answer? Sometimes I have a tendency of going long. That's why it's called

The Grangers Fifth Podcast. Okay, next question comes from anonymous. Hey, Grandeur, I'm curious on your thoughts about washing the feet. Washing of the feet as an ordinance or a sacrament in your church? Why or why not. The reason for asking is in John thirteen eight. It says Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet, and Jesus answered, if I wash thee not, you have no part in me. Thank you and Aman for your time. Do you know

what he's talking about here, anonymous? You know that Jesus washed his disciples feet, and you know that Peter was like, whoa, I wash your feet. You're you're the master, I'm the servant. And Jesus said, no, I do this. So do you know what a sacrament is like?

I don't think you'll know this. But that's okay. But let me ask you, do you know why we at church in a in a traditional service and an an orthodox meaning an authentic Christian church. You know why we do baptism and the Lord's Supper those two things just an easy answer, not deep, but just kind of a lighthearted Do you know why?

apostles taught it. So when when Jesus gives the essentially the keys to the church at Peter's confession, he gives he says, Peter, you have the keys to the church. Essentially, what he's doing is he's giving the authority to the apostles, to the disciples who then became apostles. In the Book of Acts, we see them go out and the early church starts, and these apostles. These disciples did judics yn y the first guest to yawn at me. Okay, So the apostles got in the Book of Acts and they

start the church, the church that we know today. And we have plenty of writings from this early church and from the centuries after that. So we know how to do church. We know how to do church because of the apostles, and we know from the apostles because most of them either walked with Jesus and heard him and had conversations with him, or they were the apostle was with a disciple who is actually walking with Jesus. For instance, we would consider Mark an apostle, but he was never

with Jesus. But Mark was walked with Peter, and Peter was right. Paul is an apostle, and he had a moment with Jesus on the road to Damascus. You remember that moment he had. The Lord Jesus appeared to him on the road, and Paul was taken up and saw visions and saw glory and saw heaven, and so he was given the apostleship because of that. Anyway, the apostles have have the authority, and they have they they founded

the Church as we know it now. Jesus is Church, and the apostles then in the early Church taught us about baptism and the Lord's Supper. They did not teach us to wash feet. So that's where we get that from. If the apostles had said we're gonna do three things. We're gonna baptize, we're gonna take the Lord's Supper, and we're gonna wash feet, we would do that today. And

so there must be something. There must have been something ceremonial about Jesus washing the feet that was not something that was needed to be done on a Sunday morning in twenty twenty four. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't do it as a really nice remembrance of what Jesus did that day with his disciples. It's a symbolic act of I serve. It's I'm serving you in a way that is almost repulsive. The feet is almost a repulsive thing. But I'm serving you by washing your feet. That is

a loving, giving, selfless act. And I think it's really neat. You and your brother have done this before. You probably didn't love it when you did it, but it's part of the it's part of serving and with a selfless attitude. It's also we should also bring up as I'm thinking more about this, and the problem with this podcast with no notes is I might think of things later and

wish I had said it. But another thing is that in the first century, during this time, washing your feet was much different than it would be now, because back then they're wearing sandals, and they're hitting rocks and dirt and mud and calluses and probably blood and scrapes and cuts, and so the washing of the feet was very it was very tender, and it now would be like you take off your tennis shoes and take off your socks, and your feet have been lotioned, you know, since last night.

And so it's just not the same symbolic act as what it would have meant. But I think what we should take away is that Jesus was showing that as master, he served, and we should do the same if we want to lead, if we want to teach, if we want to show example, we serve, which is the opposite

of what the world always says. The world says you need to dominate and manipulate and put people under you and use force, and Jesus said, you serve, and the God of the universe comes in the form of man, and he comes to serve man in a way to lead them. It's the opposite of everything we have ever thought as humans. That's what he meant. That was the symbolic act of washing the feet. But since the apostles didn't push that and didn't say this is what we do,

they don't ever talk about it. After Jesus did this. It was no apostle ever says you shall wash feet on the on the Lord's Day morning with your church. Jesus didn't tell John in Revelation that I have one rebuke against your churches. They're not washing feet like so Jesus looks back in the Book of Revelation and does

not rebuke that. He doesn't say that. And there is nowhere in any of the letters that Peter or John and his letters, or James or any of Paul's letters or Jude, no one says I see that, Hey, hello, brethren, I have noticed you're not washing feet. You need to get on that. And you know, no one says that. So because of that, that tells us that we shouldn't look back on John thirteen to eight and go did we miss something. The answer is no, you didn't miss something.

You didn't miss it, and neither did you church another long answer. You got anything else to say?