2.1.2026 Christian Witness In Chaotic Times

``We have to take the time to understand people who disagree with us. Jumping to attack usually closes doors. But whenever you are willing to listen to someone, I find that you are opening doors, maybe even building a bridge for the gospel. Because our goal in living honorably isn't to win political battles. We are to be witnesses to the only person who can save. Jesus. [00:35:24] (29 seconds)  #ListenToUnderstand

And the sad thing is, Satan is using that same thing to distract Christians and the church. Satan is causing identity confusion. Leading Christians away from remembering their one true identity. Because then you begin to align your identity most to a particular political position, the news channel you watch, ideologies, personalities. And we need to remember who you actually belong to. Friends, in chaotic times, remember who you are. [00:15:12] (29 seconds)  #SatanDistractsIdentity

So when some people, some people who profess Jesus start to dehumanize the other people on the other side, this happens from every position. There's a kind of division that is growing, a demonization of other people that is the war in ourselves. And if you just keep looking at an external enemy, we miss the fact that we have now dehumanized people who don't agree with us. That is very much Satan distracting us and causing us to lose the very primary war of looking out on what's going on in us. [00:18:49] (32 seconds)  #StopDemonizingOthers

Friends, if we don't abstain from dehumanizing people who bear the image of God, we have lost the very primary war that is raging inside of us. And we will have no way to say anything to this world. If we lose the war internally, we will have no witness to this world. Because how can we say this Jesus loves if all the hearing from us is we hate the other side, whatever side it is that you come from. [00:19:55] (31 seconds)  #LoseTheHateWinTheHeart

Listen to someone who disagrees with us. Sit down from someone, your family member, your neighbor, your coworker, and just ask them the question. Can you tell me more about why you think that? And not just wait for your, just like, you know, as they're talking, not listening to them and just being willing to respond. But actually try and understand. Why do they believe that? That begins, that will begin to actually live honorably because people stop listening. We're just in our own echo chambers. [00:33:31] (27 seconds)  #AskToUnderstand

A third truth from this letter that Peter writes is we should live honorably in the world. We need to remember who we are. We need to remember the primary war is the one inside us. As we engage in chaotic, violent times, we should live honorably in the public sphere. We should live honorably. That's the key word, honorably in the world. Look at verse 12. [00:20:45] (25 seconds)  #LiveHonorablyInPublic

You may change laws for a season. Someone else will change it later. But what matters most? Hearts of people who need Jesus. Why is force ineffective? Whether it's political force, physical force, any kind of force. You can't. We cannot change hearts through force. [00:30:38] (29 seconds)  #HeartsNotForce

Friends, if we begin to do that, maybe, just maybe, the world, which will always call us evildoers, may actually begin to wonder that Christians are here. And they're actually making things better, even though they disagree with us. And by doing that, there may be people who turn to the Lord Jesus more and not just turn to our political parties and positions. [00:37:55] (28 seconds)  #ShowUnexpectedGoodness

Because I believe Peter is writing in a context and giving principles on how Christians can live as witnesses to Jesus during times of violence, evil, confusion, and chaos. This is not a sermon that's going to give political analysis. It's not, as I already mentioned, debating immigration policy, First and Second Amendment rights, or anything else in that particular specificity. Because actually, Christians can disagree, and we should have a space to discuss those matters. [00:05:11] (30 seconds)  #PrinciplesOverPolitics

During chaotic times, what happens to Christians is we often forget who we are. You are not defined by your sin. Neither are you defined by your nation. You are not defined by any particular identity that everyone is clinging to, any tribe here. You were called out of darkness to belong to the king of kings. [00:14:25] (24 seconds)  #RememberYourIdentityNow

But do you realize when you try and use force, what do you win? Do we win anybody? Have we won hearts? No. I think that is very much a strategy of Satan to distract us. Thinking that we won when we won nothing in this world that lasts for eternity. Because we lost people. [00:30:17] (20 seconds)  #ForceWinsNothing

One of the reasons we don't stop to speak to every particular flashpoint in culture is because we are not experts. I am not an expert on every single particular matter. Even though the strange expectation is that pastors should know how to speak to everything, I want to just humbly admit, I can't. I don't know how, and as much as I read and understand, it is still very kind of surfacy. It's not really deep. And so to speak too quickly to that may actually be unwise. [00:01:42] (26 seconds)  #HumbleOnEveryIssue

Second thing from this short couple verses that helps us navigate our moment. Is our primary concern should be our internal war. Our primary concern, the primary concern of the church, of the Christian, is the war that rages within us and within our church, our family. [00:15:45] (23 seconds)  #PrioritizeInnerBattle

You may change laws for a season. Someone else will change it later. But what matters most? Hearts of people who need Jesus. Why is force ineffective? Whether it's political force, physical force, any kind of force. You can't. We cannot change hearts through force. [00:30:38] (29 seconds)  #LawsChangeHeartsDont

So our desire, and our church, if you've been with our church for some time, maybe you've heard our vision, we want to glorify God by making gospel-transformed disciples of all peoples. And being gospel-transformed means that we have to understand how the word of God speaks to our particular moment. [00:00:45] (19 seconds)  #GlorifyGodByServing

Second thing from this short couple verses that helps us navigate our moment. Is our primary concern should be our internal war. Our primary concern, the primary concern of the church, of the Christian, is the war that rages within us and within our church, our family. [00:15:45] (23 seconds)  #FocusOnInternalStruggles

Friends, we live in chaotic times, but that's always been the case. We don't find ourselves uniquely different than the time that Peter spoke to in terms of chaos and violence and evil and concern. Because on this side of heaven, we are in the end times. And so as we find ourselves living in the end times, we ought to remember who we are. We ought to remember the primary war we ought to pay attention to. The one that causes so much damage is the one inside of us, inside our churches. And we ought to live like Christ in such a way that even though they call us evildoers, they will glorify the Lord. They can't help but wonder that Jesus might actually be the kind of king we say he is. [00:38:22] (49 seconds)  #EndTimesLiveLikeChrist

The first truth is, remember who you are. If you are a Christian living in chaotic, difficult times, one of the first important things to do is to remember our identity. He tells us 1 Peter 2, verse 11. [00:06:36] (19 seconds)  #SojournerMindset

A sojourner is someone who's living without a home. An exile is a resident alien living in a foreign land. Now, maybe you don't think of yourself as a sojourner in exile. But we need to remember that we are people who are not quite home. [00:07:13] (17 seconds)  #ExileAndHope

It's actually a movie fundamentally about identity. Simba runs away because he can't go over the guilt of his, you know, dad dying as trying to save his life, Mufasa. And in a moment of crisis, as he's run away and now Scar, his uncle, who's evil, taking over, he has this crisis moment. And Rafiki is kind of like getting him to look at the water. And if you remember the movie or remember Broadway or seen it before, right? That Mufasa's spirit appears to him. And he says from the clouds, Remember who you are. You are my son. Simba isn't defined by being a runaway. He needs to remember who he is, the rightful leader, because he is Mufasa's son. [00:13:37] (48 seconds)  #IdentityOverLabels