Part 2 of the “Towel-Bearers: Redefining Leadership” Series
Not everyone with a Bible and a microphone should be leading people. Yeah, there are counterfeit leaders in the Church. And they’re not always easy to spot. They sound holy. They know the lingo. They wear the “right” clothes. They inspire crowds, cast vision, and quote Scripture on demand. But behind the scenes, it’s not about Jesus—it’s about their own control, ego, and power.
Jesus warned us: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”(Matthew 7:15, ESV)
We should’ve been listening.
4 Signs of a Counterfeit Leader
1. People Are Used, Not Shepherded
Counterfeit leaders don’t build people up—they use them to build their platform. If you’re only celebrated when you’re useful, and ghosted when you’re not, you’re not being pastored. You’re being leveraged.
Servant-hearted leaders walk with you—especially when you can’t offer anything in return.
2. Disagreement Is Punished, Not Processed
Try questioning their decision. Watch what happens.
If the response is silence, guilt-tripping, or spiritual intimidation (“Touch not the Lord’s anointed!”), that’s not leadership. That’s dictatorship in a title or position.
Jesus welcomed correction, modeled vulnerability, and still stooped to wash His disciples’ feet.
3. Fear Replaces Freedom
If you constantly feel anxious around your leader—like any wrong move will cost you your place—you’re not under godly authority. You’re under human control.
Jesus sets people free. Leadership that leads with fear doesn’t come from Him.
4. Their Private Life Doesn’t Match Their Platform
This is the hardest one. You don’t always see it right away. But true leadership shows up in the home, in the staff culture, in the way they treat the least powerful around them.
If their public presence is polished but the people closest to them are walking on eggshells—pay attention.
There’s Grace for This
Maybe this stings because you’ve followed a counterfeit leader. Maybe it stings more because you’ve been (or are) one.
There’s grace. There’s always grace. But grace doesn’t mean silence. And it doesn’t mean ignoring the pain of those who’ve been hurt in the name of “leadership.”
You’re not crazy. You’re not bitter. You’re just waking up.
The Call: Watch for Fruit, Not Flash
We need leaders who bleed love, not demand loyalty. Who show up in silence, not just in the spotlight. Who carry towels, not just sit on their personal thrones.
Don’t settle for stage lights. Look for the ones who stay when the lights go out.
Want more? Stay tuned for Part 3 of our Towel-Bearers series: “The Weight of the Towel: When Serving Hurts” — how to lead with a servant’s heart when your soul is tired.
Let’s stop pretending. Not all leaders are actually leading. Some are just collecting titles, hoarding influence, and stepping on people to build their brand.
That’s not leadership. That’s ego dressed in a suit and given a fancy title.
True leadership is bleeding for people, not basking in applause. It’s wiping the tears of the hurting, not curating a platform for personal glory. It’s making late-night phone calls, sitting in hospital rooms, helping someone move, delivering meals in silence, showing up again when nobody else does. Leaders aren’t called to be adored—they’re called to serve.
Let’s call it what it is: the world is packed with self-aggrandizing leaders. They love the microphone, the likes, the platform, the “vision casting,” and the endless meetings where they get to hear themselves talk. They talk at people, not with them. They think being “up front” is proof of anointing. They say phrases like, “If I don’t lead, who will?” as if God’s church would fall apart without them.
Newsflash friend: if your “leadership” ends when the camera turns off or the praise team stops playing your favorite walk-up song, you’re not leading—you’re performing.
The servant-hearted leader lives differently.
They lead from the back of the line, not the front of the stage. They’re not chasing attention—they’re chasing people who are slipping through the cracks. Their heart beats for the broken, the ignored, the exhausted. They don’t keep score. They don’t manipulate with spiritual language. They don’t delegate compassion. They do the work themselves.
When someone’s world falls apart, servant leaders are the ones who cancel their plans to be there. When someone’s marriage is struggling, they listen without judgment. When a church member can’t pay a bill, they quietly cover it without a word. No social media posts. No public applause. Just a heart that says, “I’m here because you matter.”
Jesus didn’t build a brand—He washed feet.
He didn’t hold strategy meetings to decide whether the disciples were “aligned with the mission statement.” He knelt on the floor, grabbed a towel, and scrubbed the dirt off their feet like a lowly house slave. And then He said, “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15, ESV).
He meant it. Leadership in the kingdom is not power—it’s posture. A towel, not a throne. A cross, not a crown.
So here’s the gut check: Are you the kind of leader who lays down your life—or just one who talks about sacrifice while protecting your own comfort? When your people are in need, are you reaching down, or are you too busy reaching for a microphone?
Servant-hearted leadership is not glamorous. It’s not always visible. But it’s real. It looks like someone who shows up with groceries when the fridge is empty. Someone who stays after the meeting to listen to the one who didn’t speak up. Someone who prays with others, not just over them.
It’s raw. It’s inconvenient. It’s beautiful.
We need more of it.
Let’s stop chasing titles and start chasing towels. Let’s be the leaders who go out of our way—who go the extra mile without anyone watching. Let’s bleed love. Let’s live low. Let’s lead like Jesus.
That’s the kind of leadership the church needs. It’s the kind of leader the world needs.
I tend to say out loud what many people are smart enough to only think quietly: Something is deeply wrong in this country.
Our country feels angry, anxious, divided, and hollow. We’ve got more outrage than ever, more opinions than ever, and yet—less peace, less unity, and less truth.
We are witnessing the slow erosion of something deeper than policies and headlines. And we’ve been watching from the sidelines for decades, so don’t think this is about one person or one party. It’s a process that’s been unfolding for the past 60 years or more. We are watching a nation lose its soul.
And here’s the scary part: Most people are too distracted, too entertained, or too tribal to even notice.
Politics Can’t Save Us
Let’s be honest: Both sides are playing the same game and we’re falling for it – hook, line, and sinker. Leaders scream, “They’re the problem!” while feeding division to their base like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Mainstream culture doesn’t care about unity. It cares about clicks, controversy, and control.
Our feeds are curated for outrage. Our kids are being discipled by TikTok trends. And our churches are often too quiet—afraid of offending the very culture Jesus came to challenge.
No political party has a monopoly on righteousness. No movement owns the truth. Jesus is not running for office.
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” — Mark 3:24 (ESV)
Sound familiar?
The Soul of a Nation Isn’t in the Laws. It’s in the People.
You can’t legislate morality into a broken heart. You can’t vote your way out of spiritual decay.
The real crisis isn’t in Washington. It’s in the human heart.
We’ve traded humility for pride. Conviction for comfort. Truth for opinion. God for government.
And now we wonder why our foundations are cracking. We think throwing a graphic on social media fixes the problem. Newsflash – it generally only feeds the algorithm of hate.
“They did what was right in their own eyes.” — Judges 21:25 (ESV)
History repeats when truth is ignored.
So, What Do We Do?
If you’re reading this and feeling the weight of all this—you’re not alone. But you’re also not powerless.
You don’t have to be a politician to make a difference. You just need to care more about people’s hearts than winning arguments.
Here are 5 practical, soul-restoring things you can do right now:
1. Turn Down the Noise
You weren’t built to carry the weight of 24/7 news cycles and algorithm-fueled rage. If you don’t take the time to research the whole story before forming an opinion, then you probably should just zip it! Before forming your opinion and changing your profile pic in support of your side of the story, you probably should make sure you know the other side as well.
Unfollow the accounts that fuel anxiety. Take a Sabbath from headlines. Spend more time in Scripture than on social media, unless you like being a hate monger.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” — Colossians 3:2 (ESV)
2. Build Bridges, Not Echo Chambers
Sit down with someone who doesn’t vote like you, worship like you, or live like you. Listen without correcting. It’s time we did a lot more bridge building and a lot less ditch digging!
Real unity isn’t uniformity—it’s understanding.
Jesus sat with Pharisees and prostitutes. Maybe we can sit with someone across the aisle.
3. Raise the Next Generation with Backbone
Teach your kids truth. Not watered-down, fear-of-offending, culture-approved truth—but biblical truth, soaked in grace and courage.
They are growing up in a world that is at war for their souls. Give them armor that lasts not just opinions from your favorite pundits!
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)
4. Be the Church Again
Not a political rally. Not a spiritual country club. Not a content machine.
Be a place of truth, repentance, restoration, and mission. The local church is still God’s Plan A for healing this world. But only if we stop playing it safe. The Church needs to step onto the battle field and stop believing the politicians are going to do it for us.
5. Pray Like It Matters—Because It Does
This isn’t just a cultural moment. It’s a spiritual battle. Policies change. Presidents come and go. But prayer moves the hand of God.
We don’t need more talking heads. We need knees on the ground and eyes lifted up.
Is America losing its soul?
Maybe. But the Church doesn’t have to. Your home doesn’t have to. You don’t have to.
The world is loud. And division is real. But revival starts in small places—with bold people who refuse to bow to culture.
If you’re ready to do more than complain, if you’re ready to live with conviction, if you want to help restore what’s broken—the time is now.
Warning – unpopular topic: A lot of church is boring.
Not just “I didn’t like the music” boring. Not just “the sermon went too long” boring. I’m talking soul-numbing, mind-wandering, when-is-lunch boring.
And people—young and old—are done pretending otherwise. But here’s the kicker: It’s not Jesus’ fault.
Jesus is anything but boring. I mean check this out.
He turned water into wine at a party (John 2:1–11). He walked on water (Mark 6:48–50). He told off the religious elite and made friends with the people they hated (Luke 7:34). He rose from the dead (Matthew 28:6). Jesus lived the most electric, revolutionary life in history.
So why does following Him sometimes feel like sitting through a committee meeting?
Here’s the truth most churches don’t want to admit: Church is boring when it stops looking like Jesus.
The Early Church Was Anything But Dull
Read the book of Acts. The early church wasn’t a weekly religious event—it was a movement. People sold their stuff to take care of each other. Healings broke out. Prison doors swung open. Thousands came to faith in a day. They gathered daily and couldn’t get enough.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers… And awe came upon every soul.” — Acts 2:42–43 (ESV)
Did you see that? It’s about Awe. Not apathy.
Something has gone terribly wrong.
So What’s Making Church Boring?
Predictable routines. Same songs. Same words or phrases sung ad nauseam Same format. Same surface-level sermons. We do the same thing the same way and often forget why we’re even doing it.
Performance over participation. People watch, but don’t engage. When you look at it honestly, worship is mostly people observing what one dude does from an elevated platform for about an hour. That’s a performance even if we call it Divine Service.
Safe topics. We avoid hard questions, real pain, and messy issues. So much of what is taught in churches today is vanilla at best. We tend to tow the party line or blend in with culture. That’s not the way of Jesus by the way.
Disconnected community. You can attend for months and never be known. When all we do is sit and watch then leave for lunch, we’ve missed the whole point of what God designed worship to look like.
And while churches argue about traditions, people are walking away—because they’re starving for something real. And they’re finding it anywhere but the church!
What Do We Do About It?
It’s time to be done playing church. We need to be the church. That means making some changes:
1. Authentic Worship
No more karaoke-style singing. We want worship that invites the heart, not just the voice. So let’s choose songs with depth, passion, and space for people to connect with God—not just perform for Him.
2. Sermons That Punch
If Jesus confronted culture, challenged religious systems, and offered hope to the hopeless, our preaching should too. We don’t preach to fill 25 minutes—we preach to spark life change.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” — Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
3. Participation Over Performance
NO more spectators. We want soldiers. We’re building teams, creating space for stories, and asking people to serve, speak, and show up.
4. Messy Conversations
Life’s not clean, so church shouldn’t pretend to be. It’s ok to talk about addiction, anxiety, doubt, divorce, and purpose—because God meets us in the middle of our mess.
5. Relentless Mission
Church shouldn’t just be a holy huddle. It’s time to get out in the community serving, giving, inviting, and loving people toward Jesus.
Your Move
If church has bored you, I get it. But don’t give up on Jesus because His people got boring. Don’t settle for stale religion when there’s a wildfire kind of faith available.
Here’s what you can do:
Re-engage. Don’t just attend—join a team, ask questions, show up early, stay late. Try something we call worship + 2. In addition to sitting in worship, join 1 group that allows you to grow in your faith. Then jump onto 1 team to serve and live it out in real time.
Be honest. Talk to a leader or a pastor. Tell someone what’s missing for you. What about worship feels dull? Maybe there’s a way to meet that need. Maybe there’s a ministry that can be started to move the needle a little.
Pray dangerous prayers. Ask God to shake things up. He will. If your prayers are things you can make happen, then they’re not prayers! It’s vocalizing your wish list. Pray bold prayers. Experience bold moves of God.
Invite someone. It’s amazing how church changes when you’re on mission, not just maintenance mode. When you invite someone to join you, you take ownership not just of the church to which you belong but the faith you say you have.
Jesus didn’t die to make church safe. He died to make people alive.
So let’s build churches that reflect Him—bold, real, powerful, alive.
Jesus isn’t safe. And the longer we keep trying to make Him safe, the further we get from who He really is.
We’ve created a sanitized version of Jesus—a gentle motivational speaker who sprinkles feel-good wisdom into our week, stays politically neutral, avoids conflict, and mostly wants us to be nice people. That’s Tinker Bell. It’s NOT Jesus!
That Jesus doesn’t exist. And frankly, if he did He’s not worth following.
The real Jesus flips tables (Matthew 21:12–13). He calls religious leaders snakes and hypocrites (Matthew 23:33). He casts demons into pigs (Mark 5:1–13). He tells rich, successful people to give it all up (Mark 10:21). He demands total allegiance—even over your own family (Luke 14:26).
The real Jesus is dangerous. Not because He harms, but because He disrupts. He shakes kingdoms, flips power structures, and demands your entire life. He doesn’t ask for your Sunday morning. He wants you.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” — Luke 9:23 (ESV)
That’s not a self-help plan. That’s a call to die. To your pride. To your control. To your idols.
The Jesus of Scripture walks into storms, not away from them. He embraces outcasts, welcomes prostitutes, eats with corrupt tax collectors, and calls cowards to become courageous.
When people saw Him coming, they either ran toward Him or plotted to kill Him. No one stayed neutral. That’s how you know you’re meeting the real Jesus—not the sanitized one.
The Safe Jesus Keeps You Comfortable.
The Real Jesus Sets You Free.
The sanitized Jesus is a reflection of us. He never offends. Never challenges. Never transforms. He fits neatly into our political parties, lifestyle choices, and Instagram aesthetic.
But the real Jesus? He doesn’t fit anywhere but the throne.
He’s not your homeboy. He’s not your mascot. He’s not even the man upstairs. He’s the King of Kings who walked out of a tomb and claimed authority over your story.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” — Matthew 28:18 (ESV)
We keep asking Jesus to bless our plans. He keeps asking us to drop everything and follow Him.
So What Do We Do With a Jesus Like This?
You’ve only got two options.
Keep following the sanitized version. He’ll let you stay the same. He’ll even keep you safe for a while. But ultimately, he’ll fail you—because he’s just a mirror of your comfort zone.
Or follow the real Jesus. He’ll stretch you. Challenge you. Lead you into places you never thought you’d go. But you’ll never be alone. And you’ll never be the same.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10 (ESV)
Ready for the Bold Life?
If you’re tired of safe religion… If you want more than churchy routines and feel-good platitudes… If you’re ready to go all-in on the dangerous, beautiful, real Jesus—then now’s the time.
Here’s your move: Get a Bible. Read the Gospels (I start with John—it’s fast and raw and shows exactly who Jesus is). Ask Jesus, “What are you calling me to leave behind?” Then leave it…right there…right then.
Don’t settle for a safe Jesus. Follow the One who walks on water, calms storms, and calls dead men out of graves. That Jesus is worth everything.
Want more of this bold journey with Jesus? Shoot me a message or come visit us this Sunday. We don’t do sanitized religion—we follow a Savior who changes lives.
Time for some hard truth and real self assessment. The Church has gotten comfortable. For too long, we’ve relied on cultural Christianity to do the heavy lifting for us. We built impressive buildings, filled pews with people who knew how to play the church game, and assumed that because our communities had churches on every corner, Jesus was winning the culture war.
But that era is gone. And maybe—even probably—that’s a good thing.
We live in a post-Christian world. Christianity no longer holds the cultural dominance it once did. People aren’t coming to church out of obligation or habit anymore. And let’s be real—many of them don’t see the Church as a beacon of hope but as an outdated institution, riddled with hypocrisy and filled with irrelevance.
So, what now? Do we keep tweaking our programs, hoping that if we make church just a little more attractive, people will magically show up? Do we throw in some coffee bars, trendier worship music, and another round of shallow small groups to keep people entertained? Or do we actually do what Jesus called us to do—make disciples?
Moving Beyond Consumer Christianity
For decades, churches have operated like spiritual vending machines: show up, get your inspirational message, grab a cup of coffee, and get on with your life. We’ve trained people to be religious consumers rather than transformed disciples of Jesus. And now, as culture shifts, those consumers are checking out.
But the mission of the Church was never about drawing crowds; it was about making disciples. It was about sending capacity not seating capacity. Discipleship isn’t about attracting people to a weekly service—it’s about equipping people to live out their faith in a world that no longer assumes Christianity as the default. That means:
Getting back to relational evangelism. Jesus didn’t build a marketing strategy—He built relationships. We can’t just preach at people; we have to walk with them. And “we” isn’t the pastors – it’s the men and women and children who make up the church.
Shifting from programs to presence. We don’t need more events; we need more people willing to invest in the messy, real lives of their neighbors. It’s not about calling people out of daily life but embedding ourselves into their everyday routines.
Making faith an all-week thing. Sunday morning Christianity is dead. The future Church will thrive when believers see themselves as missionaries in their workplaces, schools, and communities every single day. This is what we call the places where they live, work and play.
The Church as a Movement, Not an Institution
When Jesus launched His ministry, He didn’t build a brand. He didn’t craft a strategic plan. He invited people to follow Him, to surrender their lives, and to join a movement that would change the world. The early Church spread like wildfire not because they had great programming but because they had people on fire for Jesus. None of these things are wrong, but if they replace our fire for Christ, then they have to go.
Somewhere along the way, we traded that movement for maintenance. We became more obsessed with keeping people in the seats than sending them out into the world. But the post-Christian era is forcing us to reckon with a truth we should have never forgotten: the Church isn’t a building or a brand—it’s a people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, sent into the world to love, serve, and proclaim the Gospel.
The Future is Missional
The good news? Christianity thrives when it’s in the margins. Historically, the Church has always been at its strongest when it wasn’t the dominant power but the disruptive force of love, truth, and grace in a broken world.
So, let’s stop wringing our hands over declining attendance numbers. Let’s stop measuring success by how many people sit in our pews and start measuring it by how many people are sent into the world, living as bold witnesses for Jesus. Let’s be the kind of Church that doesn’t just ask, “How can we get people in the doors?” but instead asks, “How can we send them out as disciples?”
The world doesn’t need another comfortable, consumer-driven church. It needs a movement of Jesus-followers who refuse to settle, who live out radical love, and who bring the light of Christ into a dark world.
If you’re ready for this kind of life transformation, then welcome to the church. If you want soft, then maybe you should find a day spa.
Somewhere along the way, the message of the Church has changed. Not the message of the gospel – the message of the church. The image the church portrays to her members and the community. At some point we exchanged the rugged faith of warriors, prophets, and apostles and it became something tame—soft, sentimental, and, frankly, uninspiring to many men. And the result? A mass exodus of men from leadership in the church.
Jesus Wasn’t a Nice Guy—He Was a King and a Warrior
In case you’re unaware, Jesus wasn’t some passive, mild-mannered guru preaching niceties. He was bold, confrontational, and fearless. He flipped tables (John 2:15, ESV). He rebuked hypocrites with fire in His words (Matthew 23:33, ESV). He faced torture and even death without flinching (Luke 22:42, ESV). The biblical picture of Jesus is of a leader who called men to die to themselves and take up their cross (Luke 9:23, ESV)—not to sit quietly and be passive.
Yet, in many churches today, the message has been neutered. Sermons focus on being “safe,” “kind,” and “inclusive,” while avoiding the reality of spiritual warfare, sacrifice, and the fight for holiness. Church has become more about feelings than faithfulness, about comfort rather than conviction. Men, wired for challenge and purpose, are checking out.
The Church Has Softened the Call to Masculine Leadership
The Bible is unapologetic in calling men to lead. Not to dominate, but to lead with courage, strength, and responsibility. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13, ESV). That’s not a call to passivity. That’s a call to battle. And this isn’t some anti-feminist message. It’s a message of men stepping up and leading – it’s not about women at all!
But modern church culture often paints leadership as something to be avoided—almost as if strong, decisive, biblically grounded men are a threat. The result? Men either become spiritually passive, letting their families drift, or they leave the Church entirely, looking for purpose elsewhere. Meanwhile, women are left carrying the spiritual burden in the home, a weight they were never meant to bear alone.
It’s Time for the Church to Call Men Back
Men don’t need a watered-down, sentimental version of Christianity. They need the full gospel—the one that calls them to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12, ESV), to become the protectors and providers God designed them to be(Ephesians 5:25, ESV), and to build a legacy of faith (Joshua 24:15, ESV).
The Church has to stop apologizing for biblical masculinity. It has to stop catering exclusively to emotional appeals while ignoring the deep, primal call in a man’s soul to stand, fight, and lead. Men need challenge, mission, and a brotherhood that sharpens them like iron (Proverbs 27:17, ESV). Even the wording we use needs to change. Men’s retreat? The biblical picture of a man is one that does not retreat! Not sure I have a good answer for an alternative but men’s retreats should not be a thing!
It’s time to reclaim a dangerous Christianity—one that calls men to risk, sacrifice, and live for something bigger than themselves. Because that’s the gospel. And if we get this right, we won’t just keep men in the Church—we’ll raise up a generation of warriors for Christ. And a side benefit, we’ll have a surplus of leaders willing to storm the gates of hell with the only message that can change the world.
We live in an age where busyness is worn like a badge of honor. If you’re not busy, you’re lazy. If you’re not hustling, you’re falling behind. But somewhere between the endless notifications, the back-to-back meetings, and the scroll-induced insomnia, many followers of Jesus have lost something far more important than productivity—we’ve lost depth.
The Tyranny of the Urgent
Jesus warned about this exact problem. In the parable of the sower, He describes a group of people who hear the Word, but then “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19, ESV). Sound familiar? We claim to want intimacy with God, yet we schedule everything else first and then toss Him our leftovers.
We blame our schedules, our kids’ activities, or our jobs, but let’s be honest: we make time for what we value. If we can binge-watch Netflix or check social media for hours each week, we have time for prayer. If we can wake up early for a flight or a workout, we can wake up early to be in the Word.
The Cost of Shallow Christianity
The result of all this distraction? A generation of believers who know church but don’t know Christ deeply. We attend services, maybe even serve, but when the storms come, our roots are shallow. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their outward religiosity but lack of true relationship with God, quoting Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8, ESV). Ouch.
If we don’t fight for spiritual depth, the world will gladly keep us busy with everything else. The enemy doesn’t need to destroy you; he just needs to distract you.
Reclaiming Spiritual Depth in a Fast-Paced World
So how do we push back against the busyness that suffocates our faith? Here are three non-negotiables:
1. Prioritize the Secret Place
Jesus Himself—God in the flesh—regularly withdrew to be alone with the Father (Luke 5:16). If He needed that, how much more do we? The early church was devoted to “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV). Spiritual depth doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by devotion.
Set an appointment with God and keep it. If your boss called a meeting, you’d show up. If your phone dings, you check it. Give God more priority than your notifications.
2. Sabbath Like You Mean It
Sabbath isn’t a suggestion—it’s a command. God Himself rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, ESV). Yet many of us treat rest like a luxury instead of a biblical necessity.
Turn off the noise. Stop idolizing productivity. Make space for worship, reflection, and simply being with God.
3. Say No to Lesser Things
Not everything that demands your attention deserves it. Paul warns, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV). That means learning to say no.
No to unnecessary meetings. No to mindless scrolling. No to overcommitment. Every “yes” you give to distractions is a “no” to your spiritual growth.
The Call to Depth
Jesus never said, “Come, be busy for Me.” He said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4, ESV).
Spiritual depth isn’t about adding more to your schedule. It’s about removing what doesn’t matter so you can abide in what does. The question isn’t, “Do you have time for God?” The question is, “Is He truly your priority?”
Let’s be honest—being a biblically faithful Christian today feels like trying to stand still on a surfboard in the ocean. Culture is shifting rapidly, and with every new wave of societal expectation, believers face a decision: adapt or fight. But the question is, how do we engage a world that’s constantly redefining truth while remaining unwavering in our faith?
The Tension
To be accepted by culture the demand is that Christians “evolve.” If you don’t, you’re labeled intolerant, irrelevant, or worse. The pressure is real. The temptation to compromise can be strong. Some churches have adjusted their theology to stay palatable, watering down biblical truth to fit societal norms. Others have doubled down, becoming so combative that they drive people away rather than invite them to Jesus.
Neither extreme is the answer. Jesus never compromised truth, but He also never used truth as a weapon to bludgeon people. He engaged culture with love, but He never let culture redefine righteousness. That’s the tension we must navigate.
The Call
Paul’s words to the Romans couldn’t be more relevant:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ESV)
We are called to be transformed—not to conform. That means we don’t bend biblical truth to fit cultural trends. But it also means we don’t isolate ourselves in a Christian bubble, screaming judgment at the world with our fists flailing about from behind the safety of our church walls. Jesus sent His disciples into the world, not away from it (John 17:18). Our mission isn’t to withdraw—it’s to engage with wisdom and courage and humility.
The Challenge
So how do we actually do this? How do we live as faithful Christians in a culture that increasingly rejects biblical truth? Here are three essential principles:
Know the Word Better Than the World Too many Christians crumble under cultural pressure because they don’t actually know what the Bible teaches. They follow feelings rather than Scripture. But Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31, ESV). If you don’t know God’s truth, how can you stand firm in it? A biblically illiterate Christian is a culture-driven Christian. Know the Word. Live the Word.
Love People Without Affirming Sin Culture tells us that to love someone, we must affirm every choice they make. But that’s a lie. Jesus loved sinners deeply, but He never left them in their sin. He called them to repentance (Mark 1:15). Real love tells the truth. Real love cares about someone’s eternity more than their temporary approval. Can we have hard conversations yet maintain grace? Can we show compassion without compromising truth? That’s the challenge with which we must wrestle.
Expect Rejection—and Rejoice in the Midst of It Let’s not be surprised when standing for biblical truth makes us unpopular. Jesus promised it would: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18, ESV). The early church didn’t win the world by being liked—they won the world by being faithful. Christianity was countercultural then, and it still is today. If you’re standing firm and facing pushback, take heart—you’re in good company.
The Mission
The world is going to keep shifting. Morality will keep evolving. But God’s truth does not change. Our job isn’t to keep up with culture—it’s to stand firm in Christ while loving people fiercely. That means embracing the tension, speaking truth boldly, and showing the world that real freedom isn’t found in following every new cultural wave—it’s found in following Jesus.
So, friend, are you ready? The culture is moving. Will you move with it, or will you stand firm on unchanging truth?
“Prayer flows naturally from a heart of humility and faith—it’s the honest recognition that we can’t do it on our own and the confident trust that God is ready and willing to help.”
Let’s talk about something we don’t often admit out loud in church: A lot of us struggle to pray.
We say things like, “I know I should pray more,” or “Life’s been so busy I just haven’t had time even to pray.” But underneath the excuses is a deeper issue. A spiritual one. One we don’t always see or name:
Prayerlessness isn’t just a discipline problem—it’s a gospel problem.
In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples came to Him with a request: “Lord, teach us to pray.” That request tells us something about prayer – it isn’t automatic. Even for people who followed Jesus every day, they had to learn how to do it.
And so do we.
Let’s be real with ourselves for a moment. Most of us don’t stop praying because we don’t care. We stop praying because we forget who God really is. And we forget who we really are.
The Real Reason We Don’t Pray
Let’s be honest: If we truly believed we were helpless without God—and if we really trusted that God was eager to help—we wouldn’t hesitate to pray.
We’d run to Him. All the time. But we don’t.
We try to carry it all ourselves. We worry. We stress. We plot and plan and problem-solve… and somewhere along the way, we forget to pray.
Here’s the truth:
Prayerlessness is not about God being distant. It’s about us misunderstanding the gospel.
The gospel tells us two things:
We are desperately in need. (John 15:5 – “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”)
God is more willing to help than we are willing to ask. (Romans 8:32)
If you’ve drifted from prayer, it’s not because God has changed—it’s because something in your heart has. But the good news? Jesus gives us a way back.
Let’s walk through the prayer He taught His disciples—not as a script to recite, but as a framework for a deep, honest, vibrant prayer life.
“Father, hallowed be your name.”
In Luke 11, Jesus starts where we should start: with relationship.
We don’t pray to a distant force or man behind a curtain. We’re not sending words into the void. We’re coming to our Father—a perfect, holy, personal God who wants to be known.
You are not a stranger in the throne room. You’re a child coming home.
Romans 8:15 says we’ve received the Spirit of adoption, and we cry out, “Abba, Father.” That’s intimate. That’s the language of love.
But He’s not just Father. He’s holy. Set apart. Worthy of worship. And before we ask for anything, Jesus teaches us to remember who God is and why His name matters.
Try this: Before you bring your needs to God, stop and worship Him. Speak His names: Provider. Shepherd. Healer. Savior. King. Worship shifts the focus from your problems to His power.
“Your kingdom come.”
This is a dangerous prayer. It means surrender.
It means laying down our agendas and picking up His.
“Your kingdom come” is not asking God to bless what we’re already doing. It’s asking Him to interrupt our plans with His greater purpose.
This is about living under God’s reign, not just believing in His existence.
Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God…” Not second. Not when it’s convenient. First.
Try this: Ask God where His kingdom needs to come more fully in your life—in your family, in your decisions, in your heart. And then… be ready to obey.
“Give us each day our daily bread.”
This might sound like the least spiritual part of the prayer, but it’s deeply holy. Because it’s about dependence.
We live in a culture that idolizes self-sufficiency. We’re told to hustle, grind, plan, and build a life where we don’t need anyone.
And then Jesus teaches us to pray:
“Father, I need You today.”
This echoes back to the wilderness, when God gave Israel manna—just enough for each day. If they tried to hoard it, it went bad. Why? Because God was teaching them to trust. And this prayer is all about us trusting God with even the smallest piece of our day, something like a cracker!
Try this: Each morning, ask God:
“What do I need today?”
“Where am I weak?”
“What am I trying to carry alone?”
And then release it to Him. Trust Him to provide enough grace for today.
“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
Prayer isn’t just about changing our circumstances—it’s about healing our relationships.
This part of the prayer reminds us that we’re still in need of grace. And that God’s grace isn’t meant to stop with us—it’s meant to flow through us.
Did you see what Jesus said there? For we also forgive everyone who sins against us. But do we? Do we really forgive everyone? That’s what this part of the prayer is saying. Forgive us just like we have forgiven others.
The more we understand how deeply we’ve been forgiven, the more we become willing to forgive others.
1 John 1:9 promises that when we confess, God is faithful to forgive. But Jesus ties that forgiveness to our willingness to let go of bitterness toward others. That’s bold. That’s hard. But it’s necessary.
Try this: Ask God to search your heart.
Where do you need to confess?
Who are you holding a grudge against? Forgiveness isn’t forgetting. But it is releasing. And it will set your soul free.
“And lead us not into temptation.”
We all have weak spots. We all have patterns we fall into. And left on our own, we’ll keep walking straight into the same mess again and again.
This final petition is a cry for guidance and strength.
“God, I know I’m prone to wander. I know where I’m vulnerable. Please lead me away from the edge of my own struggles.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 promises that God always provides a way out of temptation. But we have to want it. We have to ask for it. He doesn’t prevent the temptation from happening. He doesn’t just zap us out of those moments. He provides a way out and then we have to use it to escape. If we find ourselves trapped in a temptation, it’s likely because we refused to follow God’s escape plan.
Try this: Be honest with God about your temptations. Name them. Ask for help before you fall. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead you toward holiness, not just rescue you from regret.
The Real Reward of Prayer
After teaching this prayer, Jesus tells a story about persistence. He says to ask, seek, knock—because your Father is listening.
And then He ends with this promise:
“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13)
Did you catch that?
The greatest gift God gives in prayer… is Himself. Not just provision. Not just protection. His presence.
So What Now?
If prayerlessness has crept into your life, don’t just promise to try harder. Let the gospel reshape your view of God.
You are more in need than you realize.
God is more ready to help than you imagine.
Prayer is not a burden. It’s a lifeline.
So start small. Start where Jesus started. Let the Lord’s Prayer be more than words—let it be the heartbeat of your spiritual life.
Want to take this deeper?
Try one of these:
Pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly every morning this week. Pause after each line. Let it guide your conversation with God.
Write the Lord’s Prayer in your words. What would it sound like if you said it from your life?
Pair up with someone to pray together once a week. Prayer doesn’t grow well in isolation. It flourishes in community.
Let’s not settle for a life where we say we believe in God but live like we don’t need Him. Let’s become people of prayer—not out of guilt, but because we’ve rediscovered how good our Father really is.
