Main Thing Podcast
This podcast encourages others to love God and people by leading them to know and follow Jesus’ truth.
Main Thing Podcast
Things Jesus Never Said: "Follow Your Heart"
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We kick off our “Things Jesus Never Said” series by challenging the popular advice to “follow your heart” and measuring it against Scripture. We walk through Jeremiah 17, Proverbs 3, and Matthew 16 to show why feelings can mislead and why real discipleship means submitting our desires to Jesus.
• Jeremiah 17 contrast between trusting people and trusting the Lord
• The heart as desires and personal definitions of right and wrong
• Feelings treated like truth in a postmodern culture
• Comfort Christianity compared with costly obedience worldwide
• A practical filter for guidance: is it biblical and is it best
• Following Jesus as whole-life obedience not weekend religion
Covenant Church Houma
Welcome And Theme Introduction
SPEAKER_01Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve, equipping you to respond and thrive in the world we live in today. Keep the main thing the main thing has been a saying that Pastor Steve has told for decades. It means no matter what is happening around us, Jesus is what we need to have free sin in our lives. There couldn't be a more powerful reminder for us to recall in today's divisive and dark culture. From foundational truths and scripture to the hot topics of today's culture, allow this podcast to inspire and motivate you on your faith journey. Alright, well, hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us for another episode. We are on episode 53 today, and we're starting the theme for this series is things Jesus Never Said. And so there's some cultural things that maybe perhaps people in the church believe, but it's not actually scriptural. So we're gonna kind of we're gonna talk about that. The first one is follow your heart. So we're gonna see through scripture if that's something Jesus has actually said, and if not, what does the scripture say? So we have three main uh scriptures today: Jeremiah 17, Proverbs 3, and Matthew 16.
Jeremiah 17: Heart Versus Trust
SPEAKER_01So, Pastor Steve, we're gonna start in Jeremiah 17. I'm gonna read verses five through nine, and then we'll go. I have a couple questions for you. This is what the Lord says Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind. He makes human flesh his strength, and his heart turns from the Lord. He will be like a juniper in the Arabah, he cannot see when June when good comes, but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land where no one lives. The person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is in the Lord, is blessed. He would be like a tree planted by water, it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn't fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit. The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable who can understand it. So, Pastor Steve, what does it mean to make human flesh your strength?
SPEAKER_00Well, it means we're trying to live in our own power, our own understanding of life, rather than take the teachings of Scripture, the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Uh, we've decided that um humanity knows better than God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, that's right. And this this idea of confidence, we know biblical biblical faith is confidence in or trust in someone or something. And so in this scripture, we see that we should have confidence in the Lord and not ourselves. And the reason that is because our heart is wicked. So can you talk to us a little bit about how we see that manifestation of the wicked heart today and why we should have confidence in the Lord rather than ourselves?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, when you're talking about the heart being wicked, it's wicked because the heart is the seat of our desires. It's who we really are, it's what we really want. Uh the heart's a metaphor for our own personal aspirations. And so uh so when we say we shouldn't follow our own heart, uh it's really talking about following our own ideals, our own way of thinking for what ought to be right and wrong, our own way of thinking for what provides fulfillment for me or not. Right.
Humanistic Psychology And Self-Reliance
SPEAKER_00Um and so we have a society that has bought in to humanistic psychology. Sigmund Freud, one of the fathers of humanistic psychology, believed that faith and religion in particular was actually detrimental to the human being, that it caused conflict in them that should not be caused. They shouldn't have to deal with this conflict of right and wrong or a moral compass, if you will. And it is amazing to me today the large number of people in our society that have just bought into humanistic psychology, which basically is the premise that we're the best answer to our own problems. Right. And what the word of God teaches is that the word of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, is the best answer to our problems. The word of God gives us direction for living. Uh, I never met a person yet that said, you know, I followed what scripture teaches, and it's been a disaster. I'll never do that again. Yeah. Uh, but what we do in our society is we follow our own inclinations. Um and uh we have come to believe these statements like just follow your heart. In other words, do what it is you want to do. Um and it's you can look around, it's very detrimental to our society.
SPEAKER_01Right.
When Feelings Pretend To Be Truth
SPEAKER_01I when I I think of that, it reminds me of the postmodern era, and which believes that truth is the solid foundation of what's right. You what you feel, sorry, feelings are the solid foundation. Truth is something that uh is objective, it's it comes from God, an outside source, but feelings are subjective, and we've almost placed our feelings on a pedestal where if I feel a certain way, then that must be right, must be true.
SPEAKER_00Oh, absolutely. Um it's an epidemic. Truth can always be tested. Truth can always be tested. That's how you know it's truth.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00It's consistent, it stands the test of time. Uh feelings come and go like clouds in the sky.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, and we have elevated our feelings to the level of truth, and that's an erroneous starting point. Uh, we're fooling ourselves uh when we think, you know, uh last year during football season, we beat a very large uh high school in football. Covenant Christian Academy did their fora high school and a very proud football heritage. And uh they beat us by one point, and we missed a field goal, we would have won the game at the end. So they're all posting how they they beat us, you know. So I went on and I said, hey, congratulations to you guys. Um, you know, celebrate with you. But just for the record, we did have two key starters out. And I feel like if they'd been there, it would have would have been a different outcome. But congratulations. Man, I got attacked on social media, and this was their prevailing statement. You're supposed to be a pastor. So I guess pastors can't have opinions on football games. Um, but that's what we've done with feelings. Whatever we feel about a person or a situation, we trumpet it like it's some kind of fact, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So yeah.
Marriage As Covenant Commitment
SPEAKER_01I I think to that point and to that end, too, I that's a lot of reasons why marriages are strained as well, because spouses, some spouses feel like because they feel a certain way, that the other spouse should also feel that way. Instead of a marriage being based in the covenant of scripture and the truth of scripture and what scripture actually says a marriage should be.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That would solve a lot of our issues today, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Well, and look, uh again, uh the world of academia has created some real problems in the world of marriage. Jan and I will be married 48 years in November.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_0048 years. And we dated five years before we got married, okay? We have zero in common. Zero. Now, all you hear from the secular establishment is what do you have in common? What are the things you can find mutual ground on? All these kind of bogus statements. Biblical marriage is about a covenant commitment and about me treating that person I chose to marry in a godly, respectful, decent way, doing what's best for that person, because that's what it means to be in biblical covenant. It's got nothing to do with do we both like art. Right. You know, we've got these these ideas. Uh, you know, if if you really love me, you'll eat you'll eat broccoli too, you know. And yeah, we we we we're so shallow.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00And that that's so much of our problem.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, amen. Amen.
Proverbs 3: Acknowledge God First
SPEAKER_01So let's look at pro well, Proverbs 3, 5 through 6. Uh, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. So, Steve, what does it look like to acknowledge the Lord in our life?
SPEAKER_00Well, it's first of all, believing he's who he says he is. Okay, uh, that's the first step that so many people miss today. Uh, you have these questions do you believe in a God? Do you believe in the Bible? Do you believe in church? Do you believe Okay, no, stop. Question one. Do you believe Jesus Christ is really Messiah, the Savior of the world? You have to start with that question. Right. Because all the other questions are affected by it. Now, assuming that I believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the savior of the world, and my personal savior, I now can proceed with the other questions of life. And the word of God answers practically every question. And if I then seek the teaching of Scripture, I'm getting a roadmap of how to move forward, how to treat people, how to do business, how to interact in the real world. And I I I said it earlier. I've never met somebody who told me I've been following scriptural teaching and my life has been destroyed by it. I've never met that person. Um so the word of God is our roadmap, it's our handbook, uh, it's it's a spotlight to our path. Um, you know, scripture says it's a um a lamp unto my feet and a light into my path. Um so I can see, I can understand, I can make good decisions. Right. And so the average person who does not make scripture their guide post uh is making a serious mistake.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
No Contradiction: Submit Your Desires
SPEAKER_01There seems someone may be listening and think that there's a discrepancy between Jeremiah 17 and Proverbs 3, because Jeremiah 17 um says that we should not trust our heart because it's deceiving. But then in Proverbs 3, 5 through 6, it says, Trust in the Lord with all of our heart. So can you explain and maybe clarify that a little bit?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's not a conflict at all. Um, what what did we establish? Your heart is really your passion, your inclination, your thinking, your whatever, and so your desires. And so to trust in the Lord with all your heart is to submit all of those feelings, those um temptations, those pressures uh to the Lord. So give everything in my life to the Lord, and and I'll be fine. Yeah, so it's not a contradiction at all.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Amen.
Matthew 16: Deny Self Take Cross
SPEAKER_01All right, so Matthew 16, 24, Jesus says to his disciples, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. So, what does it mean in our day and age to deny? Obviously, this had a much not a different meaning, but just in a different context, then how do we today deny ourselves and take up the cross?
SPEAKER_00Well, in reality, nothing's changed from the time Jesus walked planet Earth. Leonard Ravenhill famously said that we're a million miles away from New Testament Christianity. Um when we say that we'll deny ourselves, uh, what does that mean? Uh I'm seeking God's guidance for my life, um, for the way I would live, the choices I'll make, the person I'm gonna spend my life with, the work I'm gonna do, how I'm gonna do all those things. I'm submitting 100% of me to the Lord. Okay. Uh, and we know that a cross is an instrument of death. So I'm willing to submit myself to the Lord in such a way that if it should require my life physically, I'll willingly submit that. Now, that is not a modern day understanding in Christianity of the cross. It's not. Uh modern day Christianity understands the cross as jewelry.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Uh, you know, uh, we we are symbol. We we don't we don't understand the power uh that I believe is unleashed in the cross and what Christ did there for us. And so, yeah, I'm I we we've done a great job in America of making Christianity comfortable. It's not hard to be a Christian here. Nobody's persecuted here, right? Nothing's hard here. Uh, but if you talk to the average Christian, their life is terrible. The world is so against them. And I'm like, really?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00They burned your house down this weekend, right? Anyone drug you out in the street and beat you in front of people because you went to church today? Because that's happening all over the globe.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But it's not happening here, you know. So I don't think we really understand. I remember when uh Mel Gibson came out with his movie, The Passion. Uh, they interviewed several pastors in town. Of course, none of us knew what the others were saying. So the article came out in the newspaper, and all the other pastors were like, Oh, this was gory. This was horrible. They're talking about the crucifixion scene. This, I don't know that you need to show that publicly to people. I I it was and then came my part of the interview, which was, this was great. I think it was very realistic. I think people need to see this. Yeah, they need to understand the pain and anguish of their sin that was submitted by Christ on the cross, you know. And so I'm like, well, we definitely went two different ways on that. Um, but we just want to be comfortable. We've been trained to be comfortable. And uh the idea that I would be uncomfortable for Jesus is, I think, a foreign understanding to the average modern day Christian.
Comfort Christianity Versus Real Suffering
SPEAKER_01Right. When when you said that, I think about all the conveniences today. I mean, you don't even have to leave your house to get your groceries anymore. You don't have to leave your house to get food, deliveries, items from your house, anything, everything. You can sit in the comfort of your own home, purchase a digital movie, you don't even have to go to the movie theater, and everything can be brought to you.
unknownThat's right.
SPEAKER_00Well, I always say pain is relative. Um, I grew up very hard, very backwards. Um, my sons grew up compared to the way I grew up. My sons grew up um with a very posh life. They never wanted for anything, they never missed a meal, you know, they always had clothes on their back, a roof over their head. They always had um whatever they needed. Now, sometimes it was a sacrifice uh for me and Jan, but they always have whatever they needed. But if you talk to my three sons, they'll tell you they grew up hard.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's relative.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh they grew up what they believe to be hard, but if you compare it to 90% plus of the rest of the globe, they grew up extremely rich and easy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, that's that's good. I uh per you there's a saying, perspective is everything.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01And it truly is. It truly is. Because your perspective will change your drive in life, your direction in life, everything.
SPEAKER_00I'm reminded of a true story in history. Uh, Bishop Polycarp um was um arrested for preaching the gospel and uh tied to the stake, and the firewood piled around his feet, and they told him to recant or he would die. And his response was light the fire.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Light the fire. You know. Um, none of us have been tied to a stake that I've seen anywhere lately, you know.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Uh in fact, in America, we've done right the opposite. We we worship religious figures. Um, we've taken them out of their servant role and placed them in celebrity roles.
SPEAKER_01And look what that has done to them.
SPEAKER_00Oh, exactly. That's why you've got so many failures in the church. People forget that that pastors are human.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00So the congregation puts them on a pedestal, they treat them like a celebrity, and then they have a moral failure and they can't figure out why. Uh, well, you aided in that by the way you were treating them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Discerning God’s Leading With Scripture
SPEAKER_01How do if if we can teach the viewers and listeners something, how can we teach them and help them learn how to distinguish between their feelings and their personal desires versus God's leading?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it can be tricky because we want to be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God. And so I think you got to test everything by the word of God. Uh, the way I've always tried to lead as a pastor in making decisions is number one, is this biblical? And number two, is it what's best for the church? Now you can solve most quandaries with those two questions. Right. You really can. Uh so if a person's dealing with a decision and they're feeling like they need to do this or that, okay, well, ask yourself, first of all, is it biblical? Does it line up with the word of God? If it doesn't, you have your answer. And secondly, is it the best decision if you're making it for your family, or are you making it for yourself? Is it the best decision for me to have a healthy lifestyle? Is it the best decision for my family's health and well-being? Um, you know, you get these people, um I've seen them, they'll go out and buy a toy, go buy a new side-by-side, go buy a new boat, you know, whatever. And uh they they just they felt like they had to have that. They needed that, they wanted that. Um, but they never ask important questions before they made the purchase, you know. Right. Um, and and so uh if you'll ask those two questions, is it biblical? What does the word of God say about this? And is it the best decision for for those involved? Um I I firmly believe that's has worked for me pretty well. Yeah, there may be other formulas people use, um, but I find that almost every decision I have to make that's pretty simple.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Amen.
What Following Jesus Really Costs
SPEAKER_01So uh last question. What does Jesus mean? Because it's this this has a lot of different meanings for different for different people, but biblically, what does it mean when Jesus says To follow me. What are the implications of that in everyday life for each person?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, first of all, uh, to follow him is to willingly reject your former life and to take up the life he has for you, uh, your di desires, your feelings, your motivations. And you allow him to form those things in you. Um, but to follow him is to take on the life of Christ. It's it's not to be uh segregated like we are in the modern church, where I'm gonna follow Jesus for an hour, hour and a half on Sunday, then I'm gonna live however I want the rest of the week. Right. Because that's the real world, that's different, right? Um, so to follow me is literally to die to your former life, to yourself. That's what um Diedrich Bonhoeffer said in his book, Cost of Discipleship, um, that we should uh take up our cross and follow him. And what that means, it means that he he says to us, come and die. Come and die, so that he gives us new life and it's formed in him, not in our feelings or our opinions, or those kind of things. And I'm afraid that's been lost on the modern day church. We're we're we live in a world today where if you're ministering in a church, you're fighting this battle all the time of real Christianity, genuine Christianity, versus what you know they respond to. Yeah. Which is entertainment and make me happy. Yeah. You know, so to follow him is to be obedient to him in its simplest term. Whatever he calls me to do.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah. It's a sobering thought for the next time we worship, the next time the American church worships, and only the people who truly follow Jesus show up. To think about what that number would be.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I can tell you, and I love our church, but our numbers would be real thin compared to what they are if only those really following Jesus chose to show up. I remember we had a young lady on our staff here for a lot of years, went to the mission field, and and I was so taken back by the large number of seasoned adult believers who came to me and go, you got to talk her out of this. Because she went to a Muslim country. You got to talk her out of this. She don't know what she's doing. She's crazy. She's lost her mind. Well, all she was doing was following Jesus. What we teach in Bible study, what they all learned in Sunday school their whole lives, what we preach in church, and we all nod our heads, yes, but not really.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Right.
Closing Summary And Sendoff
SPEAKER_01So the bottom line, Pastor Steve, is that our feelings can be deceptive. Usually are. Usually are. And the truth of Scripture is the better guide.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely always.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Always. Well, I appreciate you being with us today, brother. My pleasure. We'll see you guys on the next one.