The importance of being correctable • Beyond The Sermon

Well, hello and welcome to beyond the Sermon of Bethany podcast, where we have the privilege of digging deeper into our Sunday messages. I am Tammy Delau, and today I am joined with Pastor David Baxley. And I just forgot your name. Carlos. Carlos Montingu.

Hola. Hola. I am such a good creature of habit. I'm like Steve Musto. Steve.

No, he's not Steve Musto. Yeah, that's a compliment to me. I'm going to tell Steve that. He's going to feel so offended. I mean, I think I should just interview, introduce you right now.

And this should be our actual intro. Why not? This is Chase Vitort, and we are so glad to have you here. Clearly, no one else is being missed at all in this situation. They went through the entire church office looking for anybody with a pulse and eventually got to my office.

Fifth try, but. Okay. Okay. I think with what's happening now, we just need to start this thing. Yeah.

Love it.

All right, so we are starting a new series, guys, and we are in the Book of Proverbs. And I know Steve said last week that these proverbs are wise sayings, but they are not a promise, and I think that's really important. That was a big, huge takeaway last week. Also, I know we do not read Proverbs the way we read other books of the Bible because there's a lot of standalone sentences, and we really don't have that anywhere else. If we're reading a historical narrative, there's a pattern going through.

A letter usually seems to flow from one thing to the next. That's my takeaway from last week. Did I miss anything? Is there something else we should touch on? Proverbs.

We talked about that in our grow group this last Sunday about just the challenges of, like, it feels like somebody just started tweeting, and on Monday, they tweeted one thing, and then Tuesday was a day, like, it just feels like a grab bag. And I think a lot of times as Christians, we perceive a lot of the books of the Bible like that. If we just think that we're, like, mining for, like, a particular pearl, we can put on our necklace for that week and try to memorize that one verse. I really like that one verse. Not realizing that in all of Paul's epistles, in all of the Pentateuch, in all of the apocalyptic literature, there's always, like, it's built.

The verses work together somehow to form a cohesive fabric, a message that we're supposed to be interpreting. And Proverbs is different because for all the Reasons that you just said they're not necessarily related, especially when we get to chapters 10 to 30. And so that makes the book kind of fun to study, but also particularly difficult. One of the things though it does that I think it requires a little more intentionality but thought, but I think is really good, is how you can be in one chapter and see a wise saying about an idea, whether it's, you know, our topic today, fear of the Lord, whatever it is, and then three chapters later that another proverb will bring you back to that and say it in a little different way because it has a little different context. Right.

And almost it gives you the ability to. To connect those things I think can be really helpful. Here's what Proverbs is saying about money. Here's what Proverbs is saying. And this is what a lot of our series is going to be doing.

Right? Yeah. We again, in our grow group talked extensively about, like, there are actually some of the problems. What's man, I'm trying to remember what chapter it's in. There's one chapter where there's back to back verses on rebuking a Fool.

Like 25 or 24, do it and don't do it. Exactly. It's like, well, what am I supposed to do with this? It's a lose, lose. And like, I think what we would all say on here is like, well, wisdom doesn't look the same in every single situation.

You can't just apply unilaterally the biblical truths of, you know, pick a random proverb and just say that's the case. Like, wisdom is actually learning how to be situational and having situational awareness and knowing what circumstances to apply various levels of patience and truth and grace and all that. So yes, that's good, but. So some feel situational. But you get one verse this week, Is that correct?

Yeah. And this really isn't situational because if it's about correction, that involves more than one person in one situation. That's right. No, it definitely does. I think we can start to get.

If we start to dig into this, we will find that there are ways in which you can't be unilateral about even the proverbs on correction especially. I don't plan to touch it in the message. So it might be for us to do it here on the podcast. For so many people, when they hear somebody preach to them and say you need to heed correction, their initial response is going to be, well, I've gotten correction and it sucks. Like, the people who are giving Me, correction are really bad at giving good correction.

And so I think the medium in which you get correction, how often you get it, who is giving it to you, all those things are variables that actually can change and are going to directly affect how you interpret various elements of these particular proverbs. Well, and I feel like it's a two way street. It's receiving correction. That's right. Which none of us want to do.

And we could spend a lot of time talking about that, but it's also knowing when we are as a brother and sister to give correction. So it really is a two way street. I listened to a podcast for pastors and preachers pretty regularly, and on this podcast they were just talking about how in there we used to do what we called service development team, where we would gather together and we would evaluate last week's sermon and the whole service altogether. And so they do something like this and they say, hey. And every time that we do these meetings, we are trying to accomplish four practices.

One, we want to model how to give godly encouragement. Good, because like a lot times we give like really cheap surface level. That was a really good message you gave. Okay, can you be more specific? They want to model how to give good encouragement.

They want to model how to give good correction, to your point. And then they also want to model how to receive both of those things. Because again, there's a way that like, especially as Midwesterners, we get a compliment, we're just like, oh, that, thank you. But that, you know, that's, that's too kind. It's like, no, God actually wants you to, like, that's a gift to you.

And similarly, of course, what we're talking about today, how do we receive correction as a Christian? Well, let's go ahead and read that verse. It's a really short verse, right? So Proverbs 12:15 says, A fool's way is right in his own eyes. Right?

That's, that's has a second part. The second part of it says, but whoever listens to counsel is wise. Okay. Which of course, you know, if we were to go back, Pastor Steve just preached Proverbs 1:1 to 7 for the most part, last week. And verse 7 you might highlight is like the, the thesis of the book of Proverbs, which says the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge.

In the back half of it, fools despise wisdom and discipline, which of course correction is going to be a subset of that. And so I think it actually, we didn't plan for it. To work out this way. But having correction as the second sermon in this series, I think makes a lot of sense with how it relates to acquiring, Obtaining, pursuing wisdom more generally. So here's just a icebreaker question for us.

What is the best piece of rebuke or criticism that you've received? Oh, Jesus. And were you grateful for it at the time? I know I'm going deep, guys. Okay, I'll start it.

Great. And I kind of shared it earlier. For those who know the Denison sisters, those who have been around Bethany for a long time, Sweet Eleanor. Because I move fast. All of you know that about me.

And sometimes when I move fast, I make mistakes. And she would always tell me to slow down. And so that was hard to receive. And I remember the first time she told me, because I was doing things, and she said very kindly, but asked me to slow down. Eyes welled with tears, because I just don't want to disappoint anyone, especially Evie and Eleanor.

And it's hard for me to receive that, but I am seeing over and over again the wisdom in those words to me to slow down. So that would be a piece of criticism. That was hard, but I needed. And I still need to heed it. I'm not always good at that.

So, anyway, just curious. I think you actually bring something up. I'm curious as you give that example. I think when we often think about correction, we almost think more of, like, rebuke. Here's the thing you did wrong.

Here's the problem that you have. Here's your. Your ma. Your major sin potentially, and versus, you know, what you just described is godly counsel. You know, and like, hey, here's something I'm seeing, like, you may be good to consider this as something wise.

And I think that's what makes it such a hard topic to explore as well, is what's godly counsel? That's like just giving me some redirection. And what is like correction and rebuke? Because both are needed. We need both.

Yeah. So they're not the same. They're. I don't know if they. I think for many people, emotionally, they feel very different.

So as I. As I've been processing this, I. I distinguished these two categories. I think what you're saying here, Pastor David, into what I would call the broader category of teachability and the subset of correctability. So we talk a lot of times. Yeah, we talk a lot of times in discipleship ministries about the importance having fat people as disciples.

And what I mean by that is, as an Acronym Faithful people, Available people, Teachable people. This is what we're looking for in Disciples. We want people who are faithful, available, teachable, and teachable. That can be a hard thing, but I think most of us like to think of ourselves as teachable persons. We're willing to be trained up, willing to be edified, willing to be taught how to do something new.

If I were to go and try to learn how to play the saxophone, obviously I have to be open to my instructor teaching me that correctability, though you're right, Pastor David. There's an extra step to that, and it assumes that I've done something wrong, whether it's something morally wrong or it's just something technically wrong or something like that. And so I think Proverbs does speak extensively to the broader nature of being teachable. But especially this week, we want to dive more deeply into what about when you actually are in the wrong or you're doing it in the wrong way? So, yeah, I do think those are different.

I did think of a story for. Is that okay? Yeah, you know, Tamtok, we're doing it. Yeah, Tamtok, let's go. Apologies if I've shared this before and you've heard it, so I'm a camp guy.

I love, love camp ministry. We're going up to ski camp in, like, two weeks with our water ski team, which is great. My first summer on staff at Arrowhead Bible Camp, I was. I headed up the male side of the summer staff, and I had a female counterpart who led the females. And we did a campfire separately every night, and we would get together.

I think our meeting was scheduled for like, 10:45pm this was a different era. This was before Chase had toddlers in bed at 9:30. So we had this 10:45 meeting, and for weeks I was not showing up on time. And the reason for that was I often, like, would speak at the campfire to these kids. And what we found was it would be really, really fruitful.

Like, during that time of night, especially late in the week, kids have started to make some, like, decisions and considerations. And so I would get to, like, preach the gospel. And I loved it. Like, the amount of fruit that we got to see in those conversations, unbelievable. It was a huge blessing.

And so her name was Daniella. Whenever Daniella would come to me and say, hey, Chase, like, I've been waiting for 15 minutes. Where you been? I would let her know, like, hey, I'm sorry. Like, I want to be here, but I've got really important work.

Like, I came on Summer staff to tell kids about Jesus. And so I'm going to prioritize that. And my, my supervisor came to me a few weeks later after he found out what had been going on, and he was like, chase, you idiot, what kind. Like, how foolish are you to think that you are so essential to these kids salvation that if Chase Vitor can't be there at 10:45pm that God couldn't possibly find a way to redeem these kids? I was like, oh my gosh, I'm a dingus.

Like, I was so disrespectful of Daniela and her time and like, and I wouldn't have seen that had it not been for the loving rebu of a supervisor and a friend who is willing to call me out on that and call me to be more responsible and more Christlike. So I, I remember one years ago, my previous church. I, I was actually corrected for how I corrected, which is what makes me kind of think about this is I have a son that I say that you're right, but your delivery was bad. Well, you have a friend you say that to. I was going to say I have, I have said it to you also.

Yeah, and, and well, and, and I hope, like, when you often say that, I hope I've said, yep, you're right. But I remember that, like, there was what I saw and the, the damage it caused and the pain it was causing. The situation to somebody was all real. I saw something and, but I, I felt the pain of the person that was going through a hard time and didn't see the pain of the person I was correcting. And so I just kind of blatantly said something and I didn't ask questions.

I didn't investigate. I didn't. And, and later on, I had a superv pastor come up to me and he's like, he's like, you, you didn't edify them. Yeah. You didn't.

Your correction wasn't helping them grow. Your correction was just telling them what's frustrating. Yeah. And that's, I think that's hard. Like, like, I recognize that that is.

And I would just, but I, I, I remember that story. I still remember the person. I remember going back to them and trying to, trying to, you know, repair that and go through that. But that was a correction about correction that I've never forgotten. And to edify.

To edify is my heart. To edify is my heart. And I think that's a good part of this discussion is do, am I speaking this because I'm frustrated. I'M hurt, I'm angry, or I want to lift them up. But here's a question for you then.

I mean, if it's wise to receive correction, if that's what Proverbs is telling us and someone does it wrong, we still need to receive it because there's a truth in there for us. So how do you dance that dance if we only receive requests correction, that's been done well with mathematical precision. Right. Oftentimes there may. Because we're tainted with self.

There may be a tone. Absolutely. So how, how do we do that if receiving correction is so important? It is. I, I think we need to be careful to qualify because I don't think Proverbs says you need to take every person's correction the same exact way.

Right. And act on it immediately. Like, the reality is, if the three of us took every person's suggested solution to a problem, Bethany Church would look very, very different, maybe for the better. Places start stopping. It would be wild.

It would be insane. So I don't think Proverbs is saying every single person who ever brings you feed. You know, it's what's, what's the movie with the girl who has to say yes to everything. Ella Enchanted or it's one of those ones. Is it Yesterday?

Like there's a movie called I don't know, yes Man. Anyways. All right, yeah, that's right. No, I think a mark of Christian maturity is understanding that just because like this happens all the time in youth ministry, a leader, a parent, a student will bring something to, to me or to an assistant and say, hey, this is how we think things should be done. And, and I have to suppress internally why I know I'm not going to do the solution that you're proposing.

No, we're not going to do three lock ins consecutively. And I have all the rationale for why it's not feasible. But the reality, the maturity is being able to see underneath their proposed solution. What is the actual symptom they are identifying. Because more than likely, if this person is bringing me something, there's something that I should be aware of and a fool is going to hear that said in the wrong way.

They're going to look for an excuse to discount that reprimand, that correction and just say, okay, well, I don't obey any of it. Versus a growing mark of wisdom is looking for what is the truth there that I can't abide by, even if I'm not taking them on their suggestion for how to solve the problem. Does that make Sense. Yeah. And I think even deeper what you're hitting.

Tammy, I appreciate it. Josh reminded me of this because we've talked about it over the years. Years ago, a mentor said something to me. I appreciate it. He said, even if everything they're saying is technically wrong, what is a truth that God wants you to hear and what they're doing.

That's right. And that's good. Yeah. Now that's hard. Like, I say that right now, that is so hard, especially when it's something you're defensive about or.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And. And my ego is involved, and I. I have not followed that as well as I want to, but I. I think that's a good. And what I. What I think comes with that is a couple different approaches that I think complement this verse we.

We read. One is. Is I'm listening. Like, I'm not considering. I'm not.

I'm not starting with what I see. I'm listening to what someone else says they see. But I think the other thing is that even with correction. Chase, you're alluding to this. Sometimes it's very wise to take the corrections you received and bounce it off someone else.

Absolutely. And say, all right, I. What do you see? What do you see? Like, give me what.

What is the truth I need to glean from this? And what is the thing I need to understand? I have given correction that. I was probably 100 convinced what I said was correct. 50 was correct.

25 was correct. You know, my flesh is in there. I don't always know the right. The flesh. That's that flesh part.

And that's the Christian community dance. That I think is both complicated, but if we're okay with. All right, Chase said this. David. And David's gonna bounce this off of Tammy and then come back and say, here's what I hear you saying, and here's what I'm gonna do on this.

I appreciate this. And you know that where we can keep having those conversations where it's less about rightness and about support, you know, I think it creates a safer place for correction. Yeah, no, I totally agree. That's as. It's like I've been studying and thinking through correction.

There are two things we had to talk about in the sermon regarding the broader theme of correction. That is one, the need for Christian community. Like, how do you perceive the reason that God has put other people in your life? Is it primarily because God wants you to lead them? Is it primarily because they're supposed to meet your needs in X, Y, and Z ways?

So that's a big one that I think we have to talk, which you're alluding to right now. The other one is, what do we think of sin? Like, when we consider sin, is it this like predictable surface level thing that like we're going to be able to identify and fight, or like the Bible says, is it more subtle, more devious, more deceitful, more blinding than we are aware of in such a way that even my perception of correction from other people is actually tainted by my heart might use the term flesh, my flesh's desire for seeing myself in the best possible light and them not getting the benefit of the doubt. Which is where, again, Christian community is so helpful to be able to take. Hey, buddy.

Josh. David gave me this piece of correction that I just don't know. Like, for me, my heart butts up against it and I think that I'm on solid ground to say I think he's wrong. But do you see any truth in this? What is the truth?

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And that's where that echoes again, not right next to this, but in other proverbs. Proverbs reminds us, it mentions counsel in verse 12.

Well, Proverbs reminds us wisdom comes in the council of many. And it's the multitude of voices that all speak into these dynamics that can help with that. That which is to have counsel of many, you need to have relationships. You need to. You can't.

That's where I think really know you. Yes. Like. Like not just floating. That's right.

I can't just go, you know, randomly ask, you know, some person that I, I happened across a Bible study three years ago, say, hey, you're in that Bible study with me. Let me know if you think about this aspect of my character I was called out on recently. Yeah. Well, I mean, this, this happens all the time. When people ask for a referral from someone that doesn't really know them, it makes it really challenging.

Like how, how can I speak to this referral for you if I don't actually know you personally? It just, it makes it very difficult, which again, I think is a great apologetic for the necessity of commit to a specific group of people, whether that's at Bethany Church or at some other one in the local community. The importance of people knowing you by name. The importance of people being able to recognize what you love and what you're tempted by and whether or not you're being consistent in walking the walk like you're talking the talk. Yeah.

You know, I think when it comes to both receiving and giving, Correction, too. Something that I know is hard for me, that is often when I give, if I'm giving and I have to do the same thing, receiving. But I give and then I release to the Lord. I think that's. That's something.

A lesson I had to learn. And I think I still, you know, like. Because you're like, I want you to see. I want you to see. Right.

Yeah. And then when you're proved right, when they don't take your advice and then you're vindicated later, how hard is it not to. I told you so? Or at least have that linger in the back of your head if you're not going to say it out loud. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then. Yeah. To give it. And really. Because that's the one thing as believers, as we look to these proverbs, that the center of all of this is the spirit of God that is active in this.

So we know it's hard to receive correction, and we've talked about that. But giving it what you're talking about, I think many people are afraid to do it because they're afraid to damage a friendship. That's got to be exacerbated, too, by a Midwest culture. Like, I, I think it would be easier in other cultures. And maybe, honestly, you would say the same thing about the south where, like, people are just sweethearts.

And this is like the classic, like, bless your. Bless your heart. Like sht. Where I think that the challenge you're talking about, Tammy, are only exacerbated by, like, the politeness that pervades Midwest culture. Minnesota.

Nice. And even more like, it's not in my business. Yeah, right. That's a, That's a big thing that, that we run into is either it's none of my business, two extremes, or everything's my business. Right.

Like, these are kind of the two extremes. And, and, and knowing that a lot of correction is contextual to relationships and experience and, you know, that come in together with that. Yeah. So how do you personally navigate that tension? Like, you, you guys are Midwestern Western guys now, and you feel like God is asking you to go to a brother or sister.

We're letting David get the Midwest label. We're giving that to him now today. It's probably more there than any of us want to, actually. I mean, let's just talk about it. How long have you actually lived here?

Yeah. All right. Yes, I've. Yes, I have been here 30 years. Stop with the Texas stuff.

I reject that correction. I will be seeking counsel on that. Join us after the break. But how do you navigate that tension like that? That's really hard.

I know. For me, I ask you guys hard questions. I'll go first. I know for me, the Lord just. I hate conflict.

You both know that about me. I feel like often he is placing me in situations where I have to say the hard things. I hate it. Like, it makes me sick to my stomach. But for me, the Lord is just relentless.

I can't help myself because I am being so disobedient. And so I drag my feet a little bit, but the conviction is like, no, you love this person. You're seeing this. Speak the truth. But I feel the tension, and I hate it.

I hate having to do it. How do you guys navigate that tension? I mean, I pray about it. I'm like, you know, I will do things like, really, God, If I'm supposed to say this, to have him say. And I'm like, dang it, he said it.

Now I have to obey. You know, So I. So years ago, I received good counsel on doing something like this, which is never correct immediately after the situation. That's good, Daniel. Wait three days, four days, five days, because our own.

That's good, David. Now, have I followed that every time? No, I just want to be really clear about that. But I think that has been really good counsel. That.

Write an email, but don't send it and sit on that for three or four days. And because the truth is, whatever the spirit might be doing with us, our flesh is in there. And when I have failed people, even if I was seeing something right, is when I let my flesh dictate how and when. And I have failed people. I failed what God was asking me to do because I. I did that.

And because. Because we first have to discern. Is this a biblical conviction or do I just think I'm right in this situation? Yeah, I mean. I mean, absolutely.

And what is. What is David's interpretation versus just the piece of the Spirit would say, go address this thing. So I think that's. The first one is time. And then the second one, I think is often entering in with.

With questions. I'm feeling this. Can I talk to you about this? You asked me a lot of questions. I think I'm starting to realize, come join us after the break.

I mean, but.

But I mean, I think that's like, am I even as I bring correction, am I seeking to understand and even let God bring clarity in that moment? And asking those questions, can a lot of times save us from conversations? Like 10? Like, sometimes I do get it wrong. When I'm gonna offer correction, I'll ask somebody something and they'll say, oh, know what?

Actually I was trying to do this other thing and here's how it had to be done. And like, that saves us from a disruptive conversation where I'm making assumptions about their motives or about, you know, their decision making stuff. I think it's wise proverbial advice to wait three days. Generally, my knee jerk instinct, the concern there is sometimes I feel like we could turn that into, well, I'm going to wait even longer and let it marinate longer and allow that to be a device for us that lets us suppress the responsibility that we hold as Christians. You are right.

Yes. Which I think to answer your question, Tammy, for me, a big part of like offering correction or feeling more comfortable being willing to do that is becoming more convinced and convicted that my responsibility as a believer and as a member of our church is to be used by the Holy Spirit to help sanctify people like that. And if I don't do it, then they're missing out on something like that God has put me in their life for that purpose. And so. So you're being disobedient.

Yeah, I, I would make that argument. And you are harming brother or sister with both kinds of feedback with, like, because we can do that the same. I, I feel like I give this counsel to so many people. Like when you get encouragement like, oh my gosh, did you not. Cooper's sound was last week.

A lot of times what I'll say is that's awesome. You notice that that blesses you, but you know what you can do is carry that blessing to Cooper and let him experience, like, tell him, like, it's great that God's given you that, but now you have the opportunity to go and bring that to him. And so, and if we were good at that, yeah, receiving the correction would be your book. I was literally just going to say this amazing great plug. I have been, I've been looking for an opportunity to plug.

This is the break we've been talking about. That's right. This podcast sponsored by. No, I'm just kidd. I referenced this the last time I was on with you guys, actually in our Revelation series and one of our members actually showed me she bought a copy.

But this is CJ Mahaney's humility. I read this back in 2017 or 18 and it was life changing. And he's got a couple chapters in this book, actually, if you read his chapter on inviting and pursuing correction, you'll see a lot of parallel in terms of tone between what I'm trying to strike and what Mahaney did years ago. He, in that chapter, talks about the importance of being a person who is notorious for bringing encouragement, for identifying evidences of grace in God's people's lives before. Or you're the kind of person that's constantly bringing them corrective feedback.

Because the reality is, if all. Every time I go. Actually, I'll tell an anecdote here. My wife and I, early on in marriage, realized that whenever Elise had failed to do something that I wanted her to do, I would use this exact tone. Hey, Elise.

And I used it so consistently that she became. She literally, her response had become to, hey, Elise. Yeah, every time. And eventually we noticed that. And so now I jokingly use that phrase for, like, good news oftentimes.

Hey, Elise. What? We are going on that vacation in November now. Are you serious? It's great.

But if that's the whole relationship that I have with my wife or with David or with Tammy, then every time that you get an email from me, you're gonna just, oh, crap, here we go again. This guy versus. If. If the dominant tone that I strike with my Pastor David is my appreciation for him and my ability to identify the graces God has put in his life. The way that God's holy Spirit has been building up David, then he's gonna be a lot more reticent to.

When I finally do feel it necessary in those hard situations to be like, hey, man, I. I think. I think I need to offer some corrective insight. Yes, that's good. And. Well, one, let me first affirm.

You're very good at that, Chase. I've seen evidence of that over and over again. Of affirming people. Yeah, yeah. Of our relationship, but also I'd say with your leaders and.

And just. Yeah, I think you. You. You practice that. You practice that really well.

And I think what keeps us from that is all conversations take energy and time. Time. And so to enter into encouragement in the busyness of life doesn't feel a necessity. It feels like icing on the cake. Right.

But then to enter into correction if we see something's wrong feels like a necessity. And I think what you're saying is that we need to see both as a necessity, as for the sake of necessity, command by God that neither is icing. Both have to be in the cake. Both have to be with the mix that builds that baked in, that builds that relationship. And if anything, your encouragement needs to always be outweighed your correction for.

And, and you know, they really are two sides of the same coin, aren't they? Yes, they are. And I wonder if, if God models that for us too. You know, I think of how, how God encourages us. God knows every flaw, every sin, every area we need corrected.

He never corrects us on all of them all at once. He walks us to that sanctification. You're talking about that in your message. I know. And that's a process of sanctification.

And yet through each piece, he's encouraged purging. He wants to live like, he really wants his church to be edified, you know, to be like, like that, that correction I received. How are you trying to edify? How are you trying to lift them up to put them in the place where they're doing well, you know, with God and, and what's next? Whatever, you know, whatever that thing is.

And I, I think seeing both those together, so important, like you're saying. Totally. I, one, one thing I want to add to that really quick because I totally agree. I have not given encouragement in the past because of the cost. I perceive it to be to me because of like the time, because I'm, I'm a crazy bus would for anybody listening who's ever felt convicted.

But I don't feel like I give enough encouragement or something. The amount of meaningful substance that a short email has, or even a short. Like your daughter. You're in a tough situation with your teenage daughter because she keeps on making decisions that you don't love. The value of just sending a text that tells her how much you love her and what you specifically have seen God doing in her life.

Oh my gosh. Same with like. All of us have gotten emails on our work email from congregants at Bethany Church who've said, hey, Pastor David, I really appreciate how you shepherded this thing. Like, like, whether or not David has the ability to respond to that in kind, it is always something that, like, is going to highlight you, press you to move forward and encourage you for when you do need to weather the storm of being corrected. No, I think that's.

I got one of those this week. It just randomly out of the blue, never even talked regularly. And so I was praying for you and felt like God wanted to encourage you with this. And, and it was so, and it was so sweet. And it sent in my email, unregistered read to remind me that I got it this week.

Praise the Lord. And for those reasons, because, you know, a lot of them probably aren't that. Yeah. And we need those sticky notes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly right.

This is amazing. We have been Talking for over 30 minutes about one verse, which is. I mean, like, isn't that. That's just. So is there anything.

Because I know so often you guys prepare your sermons and there are things that literally hit the cutting room floor. Cause there's not enough time. Is there any other aspect of this that you just really want to touch on? The biggest thing that I wanted to touch on was just what we do when the feedback that we're getting is unhelpful. Because, again, I don't think I'm going to be able to touch that on Sunday morning.

And I feel like we've addressed that pretty extensively. I will say a verse that I plan to read out loud on Sunday. You can't often say the S word in church. It's just. It's frowned upon.

But if it's in the Bible, you can say it. So I'm planning to read Proverbs 12:1, which says, Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but one who hates correction is stupid. I get to say this, the S word that I was like, what S word? Go. Csb.

Josh, can we. Can we have the camera zoom in on both their faces? When I said I'm going to say the S word, Jace, I know you well enough. I wasn't too worried. Yeah, that's fair.

That's fair. This is fun. And so we need to be better at not only receiving correction, but being willing to give it. And we also need to be better with encouraging people that we get to walk alongside. And genuinely, I mean, we don't want fake encouragement either.

So there needs to be sincerity in both situations. If for no other reason than, like, certainly for ourselves. But, like, more often than not, the reason that we stink at receiving correction and giving it is because it wasn't modeled well for us. And so if for no other reason than for the next generation of Christians that we're raising up, how in the world can we expect them to be persons who walk well in godly correction, receiving it and giving it, if we don't exemplify that for them in the power of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Jesus Christ? No, that's good.

I think we all have a lot of post traumatic stress disorder. If someone says, tam, we need to talk, I'm sick immediately. I mean, like, what's gonna happen? Yeah, we all do. Yeah.

So as much as I love this, guys, we're all going on vacation. And so there's not going to be people sitting on in these chairs. I wish they were all gonna be gone. I don't think he's going on vacation. Well, and I'm going on a vacation that if I'm on honest, is a lot of work because we're doing Delau Family Cabinet.

Oh, come on. Yeah, so that's. That's super fun. So because of that, we will not have a podcast for the next. The next two weeks.

So we want you to know when you're going to look for one. And there's not there. We didn't make a mistake. It's really not happening. Well, this has been really fun, guys.

Yeah. So I'm glad you're here. Chase Viator. She remembers. That's who he is.

At least she remembers my name. I was doing thing, you know, just. All right, well, thank you guys for. For joining me and thank you for joining us. Have a great week.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.