How to Change Your Perspective on Life & How to Represent Christ in Today's Culture

John Fuller: Welcome to Focus on the Family's weekend broadcast. We hope the following program will challenge you and encourage you in your faith journey.
J. John: You see, most of us are constantly being shaken. We're being stressed. We're being pulled. But when I look to the Lord, I'm not going to be shaken. I'm not going to let anything shake me. I'm not going to let anything make me feel downcast.
John Fuller: Today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, British evangelist J. John has words of encouragement for each one of us. Thanks for tuning in; I'm John Fuller.
Jim Daly: Over the past few years, J. John has become a favorite among you, the listeners. And so we wanted to share another great message from him. Today he'll be talking about perspective, and if you've ever gone through a tough time, you know how important it is to have an accurate perspective on your situation. So I think this presentation will be invaluable to you.
John Fuller: Here's J. John speaking at River of Life Church in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England.
J. John: Killy and I went to speak at this conference, and they put us up in a hotel on the 37th floor—pretty high. We were about to go to bed when we started to hear some fireworks. The curtains were already closed, so we opened the curtains and we couldn't believe it. The fireworks were just outside our window—literally outside our window. We were like one floor above the fireworks. So we drew two chairs, pulled them by the window, sat by the window, and we had a 30-minute firework display. We were able to view them from above. The perspective was completely different to any other experience that we had had in our lives viewing fireworks. What do we need in life? We need insight, foresight, and oversight. Insight is like looking at something in detail, so it's like looking at something through a microscope. Foresight is looking at a distance, but it's like looking through a telescope. Oversight is a bit like being in a helicopter looking down at where you live; the perspective is very different. Only the Lord has insight, foresight, and oversight. That's why in worship, we are tuning into the melody of heaven. We're tuning into God because we want to have His insight, His foresight, and His oversight. And of course, we want to have some hindsight. It would be very good to have a bit of hindsight, but sometimes we've got so many blind spots. If a human doesn't reveal those blind spots, it would be great if God will—and God will. I want to encourage you to look in five different directions. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. What was God's first question to Adam? "Where are you?" What was Jesus's first question? "What are you looking for?" I want to remind you this morning to look in five directions. Number one: look up. The psalmist in Psalm 121 wrote, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Look up. Are you feeling down and heavy and burdened? Don't look down; look up. Have you noticed today, people with their little mobile phones walk in the street like this? I can't believe how they do it. I do people watching. I actually like going to coffee shops for a little coffee and an almond croissant, but I like watching people. I've noticed this: when you remove the phone, notice their body posture. They all need to see a chiropractor! They're hunched up. Stand up. Look up. This lady went to see her GP because she was feeling very down and downcast. The doctor said, "When you walk to the station to go to work, for four weeks I want you to look at the chimneys of the houses. Just do that. That's my prescription for you. Four weeks, come back and see me." She went back to see the doctor and said, "I'm amazed. Because I stopped looking down and started looking up, I could breathe better and feel better." Just the physical posture of looking up! For us, of course, we're looking up to the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. If He made the whole earth and all the heavens, He's pretty capable. It's a reminder that when I start looking up rather than focusing on my little problems, I gain insight, foresight, and oversight, and it changes the way I see things. Psalm 105:4 says, "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." Look to the Lord. Look to His strength because our strength is weak. Those who look to Him are radiant. They're always looking to the Lord, spending time with the Lord, and drawing from the Lord. Psalm 16:8: "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Most of us are constantly being shaken and stressed, but when I look to the Lord, I'm not going to be shaken. I'm not going to let anything shake me or make me feel downcast. There's quite a lot of pressure in our society not to do that, but I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God. Number two: look in. 1 Samuel 16:7: "The Lord doesn't see things the way you see things. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Psalm 139: "Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me; see if there is any offensive way in me." We were staying at this hotel, and I'm like a little kid when I get into the room. I want to have a look at the view and the room. Then I go into the bathroom. This particular hotel had two sinks and a big mirror—five times the size of our mirror. I thought, "Wow." But sometimes the big mirror is a bit too big because you don't want to see everything. But then there was this little magnifying mirror. The light came on and I looked at myself. Killy thought I'd slipped in the bathroom. She came running in and asked what was the matter. I said, "I've got blackheads! I've got blackheads!" I hadn't seen the blackheads even in the big mirror. I pulled this little mirror out and I thought my nose was one big blackhead. Where did I get this from? What would it be like if you and I looked into God's mirror? At the airport, you've got to put your stuff through an X-ray machine. What if we went through God's X-ray machine? What would God pick up in my mind? What would God pick up in my heart? Jesus made eight statements known as the Beatitudes. One of them says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The Greek word for pure, *katharos*, literally means no mixed motives. Who are the people that are going to see God? They're the people who have no mixed motives and no other agenda. No underlying hidden little thing going on. I'm looking to the Lord, but I know as I look into my heart, I need some cleansing. Number three: look back. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." We've got three sons. When our firstborn son was about four, he and I went to buy his mom a Mother's Day present. As we walked into the store, there was this massive sign: "Do not touch. All breakages must be purchased." Why didn't I just walk out? Because it said "Do not touch," there's this pull. You just want to prove the point that you can if you wanted to. Michael was only four, and I saw it from the corner of my eye: he knocked it. It was like slow motion as this thing just fell to the ground. Smash. The manager came out of nowhere. It was like "Beam me up, Scotty." The manager just stood there, didn't say a word, and pointed to the sign: "Do not touch. All breakages must be purchased." There is no way that four-year-old Michael could pay for the damages; only his daddy could pay. There is no way that you and I can pay for the damages; only our Heavenly Father could pay for the damages, and He did.
John Fuller: One inspiring presentation today from British evangelist J. John on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.
Jim Daly: That was such a great message, and I think I'm going to have both my boys listen to it. It seems like young adults are especially susceptible to having tunnel vision, and J. John's message was such a great reminder to always be looking for the bigger picture.
John Fuller: That's true for all of us, but especially for this generation of 20s and 30s. There's something there that they need.
Jim Daly: Yeah, and J. John just has so much wisdom. We finally got him to come to Colorado last fall, and it was really a joy to meet him and Killy. They're very genuine, and over the few days they were here with us, they spent a lot of time just praying for the people they met in the halls. It was awesome. One of the things that most impressed J. John and Killy during their time here was our team of counselors who spend all day on the phone giving great advice and listening to people who need the help. That's a free service we've been honored to provide for almost 50 years now. If today's program brought up an issue that you'd like to talk about—perhaps you're worried about someone who seems to have lost perspective in life, maybe it's you—just give us a call. Our nation is only as strong as the families in it, and we are working hard every day to provide resources for your marriage and for your parenting journey. As a non-profit ministry, we do rely on your partnership to give those resources to everyone who needs them. Now, a one-time gift is great; it helps us today. But a monthly gift essentially helps us every day to provide resources for every family that God sends our way. Here in July, we're looking for 1,200 monthly donors to join us. It only takes 90 seconds to set it up, and you can adjust the amount or cancel at any time. When you make that monthly pledge of any amount, we'd like to send you a great book from J. John called *Jesus Christ: The Truth*. It provides logical support for Jesus's time on earth and the resulting growth of Christianity. It would be a good book to read and then pass along to a new believer. If you can't make a monthly pledge right now, we understand; we'll send you the book if you can make a one-time gift of any amount.
John Fuller: Look for the J. John collection at focusonthefamily.com/weekend. And while you're online with us, donate please and request your copy of *Jesus Christ: The Truth*. Or call 800-A-FAMILY to connect with a counselor or to order resources.
J. John: Number four: look around. Matthew 5:14: "You are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." When we leave, we leave as His witnesses, as His ambassadors. People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care. Some people create happiness wherever they go, and some people create happiness whenever they go. Be one of those people that creates happiness wherever you go. In other words, you and I can make the difference in someone's life. So leave the church today and say, "Lord, I'm a channel of your goodness and grace. Help me to make a difference this week." Whether it's to a neighbor, an acquaintance, or a random person, how can I be a channel of grace to touch the lives of others? Do you ever occasionally get a prompting and remember someone you haven't seen for years? Where did that thought come from? Was it just a random thought or was it a God thought? Was it God bringing that person to your attention? I remember once I said to Killy, "I really feel God wants me to go and pray for this woman." Killy says, "Well, you better go." I said, "It's an hour there, and then I'll end up spending an hour with her, and then an hour back—that's like three hours. Where am I going to find three hours to go and do that?" Time passes and I say to Killy again, "I really feel I should go and pray for this woman." Killy says, "Well, you better go." I said, "I've got to find like a whole morning or a whole afternoon." I didn't go. A few weeks after that, we listened to the news. The news headline was that the woman died. Her name's Amy Winehouse. You're thinking, "How could you have gone to see her?" Because she rented my cousin's house. My cousin said to me, "John, whenever you want to go and meet Amy Winehouse, tell me and I'll take you." And I didn't go because it's going to take me three hours. I was so remorseful and repentant. I said to the Lord, "I will never do that again." I can honestly say since that day, any kind of prompting, any kind of quiver in my liver, I'm doing it. I don't care if I look like a fool for Christ. I think of somebody, I'll contact them, I'll phone them, I'll email them, or I'll text them. I feel a prompting, and I'll go and do it. I have and I will continue to do it until I'm promoted to glory. So I'm encouraging you: don't be like me. 2 Corinthians 4:18: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Number five: look forward. The Bible says that the length of a good life is threescore years and ten—70 years. Even if you've got 100 years, do you realize that 100 years is just a blip on the eternal screen? That's all it is. Look ahead and live your life in the light of eternity, and prepare yourself for eternity. Not many people today have that hope. A lot of people's hope today is a bit like a hospital gown; you're usually not as well covered as you think you are. You can hear it in people's voices: "I hope so." What do you mean, you hope so? This is a done deal. Life without Christ is a hopeless end, but life with Christ is an endless hope. I like what Job wrote: "You will feel secure because there is hope." I want to encourage you to keep looking up, looking in to remain clean, and looking back because it's only the cross that redeems, saves, and heals me. I'm going to look around and be a channel of this to others, but I'm going to look forward. Go as far as you can see and see how far you can go. Press on. Move on. Become bigger and better for the Lord. Look up, look in, look back, look around, look forward.
John Fuller: British evangelist J. John on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Let's resume now with the balance of today's programming.
J.D. Greear: A quiet life is a setup for a loud testament. It's a way of living in a way that serves your neighbor, blesses them, and makes their lives better in a way that they say, "Hey, I need to know what's motivating you. I need to know the hope that you have," and that sets up an opportunity for a loud testimony.
John Fuller: That's Pastor J.D. Greear, and he's our guest today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, talking about how you can make an impact on the culture around you for Christ. I'm John Fuller.
Jim Daly: John, Focus is here for you. We've got marriage and parenting content, assessments, and even marriage intensives—actual counseling at four locations. But also how to live in this culture is a key theme for us here at Focus on the Family. I think some of us do that well and some of us do that not so well. Today we're going to talk with our guest about how to engage a culture with one purpose: to introduce people to Christ, which is the glorious goal. I'm looking forward to it. This is an area for me that I get energized about. I think it's just great to think about how we reach people for Christ because that is the goal. Truth and love—those are things that we need to embrace as we engage those around us. Pastor J.D. Greear is pastor at the Summit Church, and he's written a book that addresses how we can do this more effectively. It's called *Everyday Revolutionary: How to Transcend the Culture War and Transform the World*. J.D., welcome to Focus on the Family.
J.D. Greear: Thank you so much, Jim, for having me. I was telling John earlier that it's an honor for me because I grew up being discipled in the backseat of my parents' car listening to Focus on the Family. They just always had it on, and we drove around Winston-Salem, North Carolina being discipled.
Jim Daly: That had to be extremely boring for a young boy! Maybe it should have been, but you were fascinated. Well, that's good. Did you hook into *Adventures in Odyssey*?
J.D. Greear: Of course!
Jim Daly: J.D., let me open with this. I was just at a conference speaking to young people—all 30-something, 40-something young professionals, Ivy League grads, not all Christians but many Christians. One of the themes they were talking about was, "This isn't a culture war; this is spiritual warfare." I thought, wow, what an interesting way to reframe that, because "culture war" sets us up as one human being against another. Spiritual warfare is about God and His kingdom versus Satan and his tribe. Speak to that.
J.D. Greear: Terms end up having a life of their own. A lot of times when you think culture war, people think yard signs and Facebook posts and angry diatribes. But sometimes what people mean is clarity about truth in the public square, and that's something Christians are very supportive of. One of the things that I try to present in *Everyday Revolutionary* is that faithfulness to Jesus in our generation is not less than clarity about controversial issues; it's just a lot more. I really try to build it off of the example of Daniel in the Old Testament. Daniel is so courageous and bold in his truth declarations that he gets thrown in the lions' den because of it. And yet he is so beloved by the king, King Darius, whose wicked decree put him there, that that king stays outside the lions' den all night long weeping, hoping against hope that Daniel will make it through the night. I don't think he was doing that just because he missed Daniel's prophetic diatribes; I think he was doing that because he knew Daniel was genuinely his friend. He loved him. He couldn't imagine Babylon without Daniel. So my question is, how do we as believers become like that in our society? I always tell the church that I pastor, "Our goal is we want our community to say, 'We may not believe what those crazy people over at Summit Church believe, but thank God they're here because if not, we'd have to raise our taxes.'"
Jim Daly: I'll attribute this—I haven't publicly—but Dr. Al Mohler and I were at a board meeting and we were talking about a situation. He made such a great comment. He called me later that night and said, "Christians should never go out of their way to be hated. That's not the badge you're looking for. Let the gospel be the offense, not your personality." That's a great instruction for us. What are the three relationship types that you write about in the book? I think it's tourist, immigrant, and exile. Give us the quick definition and then what it says about us spiritually.
J.D. Greear: Daniel was an exile in Babylon, and Peter and Paul in the New Testament pick up on that language and say that's what we're supposed to be in our Babylons. If you think about the three possible options if you're not from a place, you can be a tourist. A tourist never puts roots down; they hardly unpack their bags. They're there for the weekend. If there's a problem in the community, that's not your problem; you're there to see the sights. A lot of Christians are like that when it comes to the world: they're just passing through waiting for the Rapture. They never really think of this world's problems as our problems. Jeremiah the prophet said, "Don't do that. I put you into Babylon so that you could seek the prosperity of the city." Pray for its prosperity; make its problems your problems. The other option is an immigrant. That's when you're not from a place but you really want to make it your home. You want to switch your citizenship there. A lot of Christians have that problem because we're like, "Well, this world really is my home. I want to pile up all my treasure here," and I become more of a citizen of the United States than I do the kingdom of heaven, and I reflect its values even more than heaven's values. The right posture is an exile. An exile is there, you plan to live there, you plan to care about the place and get integrated into it and take on its problems as your own, but the whole time you are reminded that this is not really my home. My home ultimately is in a different kingdom. We are citizens of heaven that are living in exile right now in the kingdom of man.
Jim Daly: And it's such a beautiful thing. I've had that experience in the gay community with people that I know there where they've moved closer to Christ, and that's the goal: to help them. Here's the thing though—and this is maybe for listeners and viewers—I think when we're in a good place, that pride in us can rise up and it makes us something of a Pharisee or a Sadducee, and we begin to look down on the sinner. That's a really dangerous place to be with the Lord. How do we keep that perspective? We say it: we're all sinners saved by grace. But "have you seen *those* sinners?" We kind of have that attitude like we're bad but we're not as bad as *them*.
J.D. Greear: Our world says when it comes to something like homosexuality, there's really only two options: alienation or affirmation. What Jesus presented was a completely different option. Again, He was clear on truth—I don't think He ever pulled punches on that—but what people sensed when they were around Him is they sensed Him drawing them close. They sensed a love. When John describes Jesus, he puts grace before truth because Jesus led with grace; it's what people remembered about Him. Jesus's crucifixion was a joint project between the so-called secular left and the religious right. I'm not saying they're morally equal or morally equivalent; I'm not saying they're equally bad. I'm just saying when it came down to it, it was both sides that hated Him. The left hated Him for what He said about truth. The right hated Him for how He brought sinners close. And what I believe is that if you and I are representing Jesus, we'll probably take flak from both sides.
John Fuller: No matter what you're going through, you are not alone. Focus on the Family is here with you every step of the way. Our caring Christian counselors will listen, share biblical advice, connect you with resources, and pray with you. You can start your path toward healing today by requesting your free, confidential consultation. Call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY or visit us at focusonthefamily.com/gethelp.
Jim Daly: I don't want to lose this, so let me dig a little deeper, J.D. The difference between leading with the gospel or leading with political messaging. This is one of the great grapples that I have at Focus on the Family because so much of what conservatives do—pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-family—we find a natural home there politically because that's what they're standing up for. And I talk with the Democrats and I'll say, "If you were more pro-life, more pro-family, more pro-marriage in the context of the Bible, you'd have a lot more people in your party." But I'm always a little offended that we get labeled that we're only political. It's where the values are lining up. Am I seeing that correctly?
J.D. Greear: I think so, Jim, because there are certain issues that when you talk about them, you're going to sound partisan even if you don't mean to. When we're talking about the sanctity of life, sanity on gender and marriage, and religious freedom, yes, you sound partisan. But I'm not trying to sound partisan; I'm just sounding biblical, and we've just got to be okay with that. I got a letter one day at our church from a young lady that I'd never met before. It was a picture of her at our church being baptized. She said, "I want to tell you a story about how I came to the church. I was invited by some friends of mine and I quickly discerned that you made me quite angry." Just when I talked about the sanctity of life and some of these hot-button issues. She said, "One day, you said something in support of a pro-life position on Twitter. And I sniped back at you." Jim, I never respond on Twitter to critiques. I don't know what came over me, but I did. For whatever reason, I responded, and we went back and forth four or five times, and I forgot about it. I remember her handle for Twitter was something like "Left Linda." She said, "I kept coming to the church. I heard the gospel and I got saved. And now I'm in the process of rethinking everything." But what she said next is the reason I'm telling this story. She said, "I want to thank you, though, that even though you were clear about controversial truths, you didn't make this the Republican church. Because if you had made it the Republican church," she said, "I never could have stepped foot inside it." Political realignment often happens when somebody comes to Christ, but political realignment is downstream; it's the result of discipleship, not the gateway to it.
Jim Daly: It's very difficult to use politics to convert somebody because your angst goes up. You're there to defend your position, no matter who you are—the Democrat or the Republican—and I don't really see that model expressed in Jesus's parables. As we do that, J.D., you made reference in the book to living a quiet life. There's a passage in one of the Epistles about being quiet in our lives. That's so hard to do! Especially for those who are on social media or buying into all the back-and-forth. How do we live a quiet life representing Christ well?
J.D. Greear: Keep in mind that the guy who used that phrase in 1 Thessalonians 4:11—"live quietly"—is the apostle Paul, who I would also not describe as a guy who lived a sheepish life. This is the guy that stood in the Ephesian amphitheater and told the entire crowd they were worshipping gods that are not gods at all. How was he telling us to live quietly? He doesn't mean that you are muting your testimony. What he is saying is that the bedrock for your testimony is a life, like Daniel's, that was so involved in blessing the community around you that they would—using the apostle Peter's words—"ask a reason for the hope that is within you." A quiet life is a setup for a loud testament. It's a way of living that serves your neighbor, blesses them, and makes their lives better in a way that they say, "Hey, I need to know what's motivating you. I need to know the hope that you have," and that sets up an opportunity for a loud testimony.
Jim Daly: J.D., I can remember before coming to Focus in 1989—back in the 1900s—I worked for International Paper. I'd be at lunch with business people. When the lunch would come, I'd say, "Hey, you guys mind if I pray over lunch?" They'd put their cigarette out and set their martini down; it was so funny. But it leads into this question: faithful work outside of the church. I remember someone I consulted, a business guy: "I want to discourage that because we need Christians in the public sector and in the private sector to be able to be a witness. If all the Christians just go work in churches and Christian ministry, we're not going to have..." So I thought about that; it really did slow the decision down. Speak to the importance of waking up every day if you're not working at a church or a Christian ministry. How do you go about getting amped up to be the plumber, the electrician, the engineer, the doctor? Do we connect that directly to our faith?
J.D. Greear: Billy Graham very famously said before he died that the next Great Awakening he believed would not happen in the stadiums; it would happen in the workplace. We have ample biblical support for that because if you just read the book of Acts, I know the apostles loved the local church—the local church was the center of their ministry program—and yet most of the preaching that they do is outside of the local church context, at least in Acts. There are 40 miracles in the book of Acts; 39 of them happen outside of the church. That means as a pastor who works inside the church, I've got access to about one-fortieth of the power of God. Most of what Jesus wants to do in our communities is not going to happen from the pastor in the pulpit; it's from people in the workplace. And the workplace gives people a chance to put the values of the kingdom of God in contrast with the values of Babylon.
Jim Daly: You write in the book about the local church investing in community. What does that look like for the church to invest in community?
J.D. Greear: I was preaching through the book of Acts and I came to Acts 8, where it says that Philip, as a result of the ministry that he had in Samaria, that there was much joy in the city because of the word that he preached and the works that he did. I asked our congregation, "Do you feel like there's much joy in our city as a result of our presence here?" The next chapter, Acts 9, talks about a disciple by the name of Tabitha who makes coats for people in her community, and when she died, people gathered at her bedside and they wept because of all the good things she'd done for them. And I asked our congregation, "Do you feel like our community would weep if we were gone?" We felt like the answer to both those questions was no, so I scheduled a meeting with the mayor. This mayor was not on our team; he's kind of to the left of Mao Zedong, is how I thought of this guy. I said, "Mr. Mayor, will you tell me the most needy parts of our city?" And without batting an eye, he said the homeless, the orphan, the prisoner, the unwed mother, and the high school dropout. I went back to our congregation and just said, "I feel like the mayor of our city has given us a blueprint for how we should bring the joy of Jesus into these areas." Not all the ministries that we've started in those areas came from my head or inside the offices of the church. But now for 20 years we've seen ministry after ministry develop. We have an example: the number of foster kids that are now taken care of by families at the Summit Church. I told the mayor just this past Sunday, "Our goal is we are not going to stop this until there are more families at the Summit Church that are ready to receive foster kids than there are foster kids in the program."
Jim Daly: You've got my heart! You know, one thing I've said—there's about 360,000 churches in the U.S. and there's about 350,000 foster kids in the foster program. That's one kid per church. And it is tough; it's not for the faint of heart to take a child in. But I would love to see that New York Times headline that says "Christian Church Wipes Out Waiting Foster Kid List." Wouldn't that so inspire everybody outside of the church too? Because now you're walking the talk. In the book, you get down to three reference points that you give Christians to be courageous witnesses for Christ. It talks about courageous Christians like detransitioner Chloe Cole, Jack Phillips the baker, and many others who had that Daniel moment and stood and said, "You know what? This is not right." What are those reference points?
J.D. Greear: The first thing is that we have to participate in what some Christian theologians have called "the commons." That's a concept that goes all the way back to St. Augustine, and it means that we do our work in secular places, and a lot of times the people who benefit from our work do not share our convictions. The home builder that builds a neighborhood and there's a gay couple that buys one of his houses, he's not become complicit in their sin because he provided the home. That's just participating in the commons. But then there's a second principle you have to hold in tension: we can never fellowship with the works of darkness, which means that I cannot participate with you in your sin. A good example is I would have a real problem—I could not be a part of a ceremony of celebration for a gay wedding, even if the two people were my friends that I was trying to reach for Jesus. I couldn't do that because I would be participating in and affirming something that was wrong. The wedding itself is a public testimony that you support this. That's what being at the wedding's about. If the minister says, "If anybody has any reason why these two should not be wed, speak now," I'm in the audience thinking I've got a reason. But as we engage in those first two, even when we're clear that I can't be a part of this and I can't affirm this—maybe it has to do with how you're being asked to use pronouns or refer to gender—even there, I can still lead with grace. I want to be filled with truth. I never want it to be said of our generation that we did not teach the whole counsel of God with clarity. But if we're going to reach this generation, we're going to be like Jesus in that we lead with grace and that we're characterized by grace. We're not just filled with truth; we're filled with that holy, beautiful love that doesn't just push people away but draws them close.
Jim Daly: I agree. I think the spirit right now, with everything going on in the culture, there's an opening to show that boldness and to do it well. Not doing it nasty, don't attack people verbally, but be bold and show your convictions. I think the moment is now. I think God has really created that platform. I hope those of you listening have been inspired to make an impact on the culture.
John Fuller: If you want to learn more about being a witness for Christ in your community, get a copy of Pastor J.D.'s book, *Everyday Revolutionary*. We have copies for you here at Focus on the Family. A great way to purchase that resource is to make a monthly pledge of any amount, and we'll send it as our way of saying thanks for joining us in ministry. Focus on the Family does depend on monthly donations to create and offer resources. Last year alone, we had 173,000 decisions for Christ. Be a part of that in God's economy. Donate today when you call 800-A-FAMILY or you'll find details at focusonthefamily.com/weekend.
Jim Daly: You can hear more conversations about representing Christ in the culture on my podcast, *Refocus with Jim Daly*. Hear discussions about LGBT issues, navigating politics as a Christian, and getting involved in your community. You can find the link on our website.
John Fuller: It's a great show. And thank you for listening to this episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller, inviting you back next time as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.
Jim Daly: Hey, Jim Daly here. If you like the Focus on the Family broadcast, you'll love my *Refocus* podcast. On *Refocus*, I take a deeper dive with a respected thinker on different aspects of culture. I ask those hard questions that maybe they don't get that often, and I don't shy away from challenging topics to help you share God's grace, truth, and love with others. So listen to *Refocus with Jim Daly* on your favorite streaming app today.
John Fuller: Thanks for listening to Focus on the Family Weekend. For more shows and encouragement for your entire family, stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.