Season: 10 Episode: 163
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Summary:
It’s a new year and people are fired up to make a change for the better. While there’s nothing wrong with that, there is a reason why most everyone quits before the end of January. In this episode, Shanda tells you why motivational speakers get you fired up for the moment but why the energy dies down once the dopamine wears off. We also examine some Christian self-help authors and influencers and what you need to remember as one who allows others to pour into your life. Let’s get ready to kick-off 2023 and talk about how to be a student who creates lasting spiritual disciplines.
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Hey guys! Happy new year and welcome back to another episode of Her Fatih Inspires podcast where we take cultural issues and tackle them with biblical truth. I have a great episode for you today and really exciting news: this is my first podcast to video and it will be uploaded to YT, so if you want to see what I look like as I record, well … now’s your chance.
You can find my YT channel by searching my name on YT.
And all of the show notes are posted on shandafulbright.com which is my website.
So I thought it might be beneficial to start off with self-help books, slogans and mantras for 2023 because I’ve recently received some messages from people asking what I think about some posts that other Christians share. And I’ll be honest, I think some Christians put a lot of stock into the “encouragement” or motivational speaking tactic of online influencers. And I think we have to ask ourselves why the words of those people bear so much weight. Now am I saying that you can’t read a self-help book or follow a motivational speaker? No. I’m not saying that at all. But I am saying that we must be more discerning about who we follow and how much we hang on the words of outside sources because it does affect our worldview and outlook on life. It can even become a replacement for the word of God if we allow it.
So the point of this episode is going to be to help us all evaluate:
- Who we’re listening to and who we’re following. You can even add who we’re reading.
- To discern what they’re saying by looking at what it truly means to discern per the biblical definition.
3. The importance of God’s word and the momentary rush of adrenaline we get from these slogans and mantras – which often times just boils down to motivational speaking, but do they actually benefit us and are they effective?
I know that’s a lot, but I think these things are important issues.
So, who are we listening to and who are we following?
It’s not wrong to follow people who are setting a good example. In fact, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” If you don’t follow those who teach you and help you grow in spiritual disciplines, then you’re not being discipled. So I think it’s important to lay this groundwork now so that everyone understands I am not saying you can’t follow people. In fact, for those of you who have listened to this podcast and follow me on the socials, I hope you are growing and being discipled in the very small way I can do that since I am not actually with you in your community. So yes, we can follow people.But notice Paul set standard for himself – it was Christ. The people we follow should have Christ as their stands and we’re going to get into how Christ taught and the style He used to see if who we follow emulates Him.
The point is, who are we listening to and why?
Is it because they make you feel good or is it because they push you toward growth in Christ? Are they biblically sound? In order to know if someone is biblically sound, you have to know the Bible so you can fact check according to Scripture.
For example, there are many, many false teachers who call themselves Christians. This shouldn’t be a surprise to us. The Bible tells us there will be many in the last days who come into the church to divide it and lead others astray. So the first thing we must remember is just because someone says they’re a Christian, don’t just follow. Watch their lives and listen to their words.
I think we have to evaluate who we follow by how we are responding. What do I mean by that?
First, do they make us feel good about ourselves without challenging our sin nature, our attitudes or are growth in spiritual disciplines?
For example, Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “That the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
Notice here that there is a responsibility on the part of the listener as well as on the teacher.
We can accumulate for ourselves teachers that suit our passions and turn away from listening to the truth. Why would someone do that? Because when you have sound teaching and instruction, there is a level of endurance needed in order to grasp the teaching. Endurance is pushing through difficulty. Have you ever thought about acquiring knowledge and sound teaching as being difficult? It can be. Why do you think not as many people like to read books? And if they read, do they read for entertainment or information?
We have to evaluate our motives and why we follow people.
Now, I haven’t read any of Bob Goffs books, but I’ve heard about him and he is very popular on social media. If you go through and look at Goff’s posts, you will see mostly encouragement and love and per an article I read about him, he doesn’t like to put Bible verses into his books because he wants everyone to read them. Okay, so what does that mean though? What he’s saying is if he uses scripture it will deter those who don’t like it. He wants to attract everyone – even the non-christians. But what does he do with them once he gets them in? What’s the motivation? Dr. Frank Turek says, “Whatever you win them with, you win them to.’ Now, what’s going to happen if he starts to quote Scripture? He might lose people, so he can’t change the message now. Unfortunately, people like Goff think they’re still sharing the gospel if it has good news undertones to it.
But is that true?
Because without the truth of the gospel, there is no opportunity for salvation, which means he is not discipling people to Jesus. You can only disciple them once they’ve given their lives to Jesus.
Bobb Goff allegedly knows his Enneagram number and has done interviews with Jen Hatmaker who wrote Girl, Wash Your Face, which was also all the rave among a lot of Christian women a few years ago. Association is very important so we need to also look at that when we are following others and heeding their instruction. She’s one that you shouldn’t follow.
Goff has said, “I don’t think Christians are to lead people to Jesus. Jesus leads people to Jesus. Our job is we are just supposed to love people.”
Is this Scriptural? No.
The Great Commission alone tells us we are to make disciples, not that we are to love people to Jesus. Jesus already showed His love so much so that He died to save the world. We are to point others to Him. That is love. The problem is that these quotes and slogans sound good. They tickle the ears and the stories he writes are inspiring. They are feel good stories. But the discernment comes in when we examine Goff’s entire message and his life.
There are other Christian influencers on social media, and I’ve mentioned this before, who all have the same messages. They are very “me” focused and what I call meology. It’s all about how you have what it takes for God to use you, God wants you to fulfill your purpose, God has something big for you, you just need to step into your calling. All of these have become cliche and ear tingling because it’s not about God. It’s about you. I used to like these messages too. But they’re generic. Our purpose is to know God and make Him known. It’s not about doing great things for God, it’s about making God great in the eyes of others. I don’t see that motivational speech coming out of the mouths of these influencers.
So the questions is, why are we following them?
What do they offer us that has depth and substance or when we evaluate their messages, are they just feel good messages only? Think about those who challenge you. Who push you to dip deep and get into the word of God or make you think.
If not, why are we listening? If they don’t meet a standard of truth, conviction, and holding to God’s word, why do we follow them and allow them to pour into our lives? A teacher can only take you to the depths of knowledge they have gone. A student is not greater than His teacher. Jesus said this in the word of God. We should be careful whom we allow to teach and pour into our lives. I want the best teachers. I want people who influence me to challenge me to go the distance and create spiritual disciplines and remind me that it’s not about me.
That can be difficult at times, but even God does this.
He prunes us by the Holy Spirit so we grow. Are the people we follow there to make us feel comfortable, important and special? Those things don’t help you grow.
So what do we need in order to discern these influencers and authors?
First, what does it mean to discern? Discernment per the NT definition is “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Now just stop for a minute and think about that definition. Ask yourself, do I distinguish and diligently search out the people I follow and the words they speak? Do I examine them? Social media has changed the way we view people and their opinions. Often times we think a large following or letters behind someone’s name means they know what they’re talking about because they have a large platform or are an “expert’ on the subject, but none of that means anything. Do they speak the truth and how do you know? Do you examine what they say?
Discernment is related to wisdom.
It proceeds with caution. Got Questions says it this way. “A discerning mind demonstrates wisdom and insight that go beyond what is seen and heard.” The word of God is our measurement to discern what people say. If you are a Christian, the word of God should be the final authority on everything and the Bible tells us the word of God discerns the thoughts and intent of the heart. (Heb 4:12)
Discernment, in its most basic explanation, helps us distinguish between right and wrong. But it’s not right and wrong determined by culture, or the individual. It’s right and wrong determined by God, which we get from His word. That means we must study and know the word of God in order to discern the words and actions of others. In this case, we’re still talking about influencers of some sort – social media, podcasters, authors. And I’m not exempt. Examine my words and make sure they align to the word of God. All of us must be held to the standard of God’s word.
The Holy Spirit is the one who also helps us discern by convicting us.
When we see something we’re not exactly sure of, we should take it to the Lord in prayer.
So here are a few practical ways to check on those you follow, examining their words, and checking to see if they are legit or not. And this is besides just watching for biblical truth, but as you’ll see, I am looking for biblical truth as I check up on them.
I go and look at who else follows other influencers as A WAY to help me know what kind of truth they speak. Now, this isn’t a test I would bank my discernment on. It’s just one of the things I do to see who else might follow these people and I can get an idea for whose ears they’re tickling.
I look at their follow list. Do they follow others who talk about all fluff? That’s a red flag for me.
I scroll through past posts to see what they’re consistent with and what they talk about often. If it’s all fluff and they shy away from the hard topics, I know they only want the followers and they tip-toe around the things that can cause them to lose followers.
I go to their website and sometimes look at past events they were apart of.
What kind of event was it, who else was involved, etc.
Again, discernment is examining the content and life of those we allow to speak into our lives and this is some ways that will help you do that.
The importance of God’s word and the momentary rush of adrenaline we get from these slogans and mantras, but do they actually benefit us long term and are they effective?
So, I am going to discuss the adrenaline rush from motivational speakers and influencers today and then I am going to do a different episode on mantras, slogans, and affirmations because I feel like those things require a little more time. You’ll hear more about that in episode 165.
So, I read an article about what makes a good motivational speaker and I want to contrast this with the way Jesus spoke in the gospels. Now, you might think this is a bad comparison because Jesus was teaching about God, and motivational speakers aren’t. However, if that motivational speaker is a christian and they’re job is to know God and make Him known and he or she does that by selling books and claiming truths about God, don’t you think he or she should not mimic a motivational speaker but Jesus? I mean, Jesus was the expert on teaching and logic so if we are going to teach, we should be like Him, right?
A motivational speaker has to be passionate about what they speak about.
Ok, that’s understandable. But what they mean by passionate is emotional. They have to use language that gets others to feel and get emotional too. This is the way they get you to walk out hyped and feeling as though the event was a success. It will bring you back again later.
Per an article by The Motivational Speakers Agency, they say, ‘motivation can be directly linked to a positive release of dopamine. Neurotransmitters carry chemical messages between your brain and the rest of your body, producing a response to external stimuli.
Though it is linked to many different emotions, dopamine is most commonly considered the “feel good hormone”, as it’s responsible for feelings of euphoria, bliss, motivation, and concentration.
This is why we feel good when we see a post, hear an influencer speak – when we are motivated and encouraged, we are experiencing the rush of dopamine.
We become addicted to it or want more, so the cycle of seeking out these types of messages continues. But in a post-modern culture where emotions rule the day and guide truth, christians are getting sucked into following other christians like this. And many Christian influencers see that they gain followers for their feel good message, so they keep posting feel good messages. No one grows. It’s a viscious meologyl, emotional cycle and it creates emotion junkies.
I’m reading the book of Mark this month and what I noticed is that Jesus has a way of teaching.
He shares the truth but He does it through stories. Sometimes it’s hard truths, like eat my flesh and drink my blood in John 6. But Jesus described those who would not understand His words as being spiritually blind and deaf. So I wondered how someone gets spiritually blind and deaf. But as I keep reading and re-reading this, Jesus asked His disciples a question in Mark 8:17-18, “How do you not understand? Is your heart hard?” Now, I encourage you to go back and read the chapter for full context, but there is an obvious correlation between the heart and the mind – and in this case it is the reception of the word of God and the understanding of it.
Jesus mentions the responsibility of the student when He teaches.
It’s to always be careful how you hear and pay attention. Why? Because it affects how we receive His word. If we are constantly following those who provide no substance, we can grow hard to the word of God itself because we cannot endure it. It will be too difficult to pay attention and be careful how we hear because it will challenge us at times, encourage us at others, and discipline us when we need it.
Let me end on this note: the word of God is the only thing that can challenge us and cause growth. If you are not reading it, studying it, and listening to those who teach it, you are not growing spiritually.
How do I know?
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is Good-breathed (let me stop her and explain what this mean. It means it is inspired by God, without err in the truth it shares, and therefore is the authoritative words of God) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” It doesn’t say worship songs are useful for this purpose of training, rebuking or correcting, not feel good sayings, not books, nothing else. Only the word of God. If those you are following are not teaching from it, you are not being challenged to grow in your walk with the Lord. And in order to discern, we must first examine ourselves and why we follow these influeners, and then examine everyone we follow and allow to pour into us.
If you have any questions for me, you can email me at hello@shandafulbright.com. My next episode will feature David Wolcott and we have a fantastic conversation about deconstruction. Then in episode 165, I will talk to you about words of affirmation, slogans and nice sounding sayings that might not be so nice. Thanks for listening and I’ll catch you on the next one!
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