How do parents guide their kids in the lifelong balancing act of loving other people, while avoiding excessive negative influence? Pastor Paul joins Critical Thought as we navigate how Christians love non-Christians.

1. Leading your children in loving others

1.1. Key Points

• Christian parents (and our children) are called to love sinners.

• Christian parents (and our children) are called not to sin.

• We are called to guide our children and help them choose wisely.

1.2. Discussion Questions:

• Any time you interact with someone, influence goes both ways. How should parents help encourage their children to engage in relationships that show love to everyone, but protect them from excessive negative influence?

• What weight do you give the potential positive influence your kids can have on another child who might not get that anywhere else?

• How can you protect your children while teaching them to positively influence others?

1.3. References:

Ephesians 6:4:

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Proverbs 13:24:

He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Romans 12:20-21:

Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Mark 12:30-31:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

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Special Guest: Pastor Paul Knight.

This week Paul joins us and we talk about what role the Church plays supporting couples who want to live a Biblical marriage.

1. Supporting Marriage

1.1. Key Points

• People are marrying later in life due to college, careers, etc.

• Religious people who marry younger, without co-habitating, have lower divorce rates

• Study shows single Christians have premarital sex at almost the same rate as non-christians

1.2. Discussion Questions:

• What are the "requirements" for a sucessful Biblical marriage?

• Do you see a corelation between people who put God first and have successful marriages?

• Does age (within reason) matter?

• Do you think later marriages and higher trends for premarital sex are related?

• How can The Church better support and encourage young people who want to get married?

• Talk to me about forgiveness.

1.3. References:

Genesis 2:18

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Genesis 2:24

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:4-6

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

1 Corinthians 7:2

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

1 Corinthians 7:9

but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Matthew 5:28

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

1 Corinthians 6:16

Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”

Hebrews 13:4

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

• https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-religious-marriage-paradox-younger-marriage-less-divorce

• https://www.christianpost.com/news/are-most-single-christians-in-america-having-sex.html

• https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2020/what-do-falling-marriage-rates-mean-for-the-church

2. Church Influence on Marriage

2.1. Key Points

• Churches have certain biblical limits on what they can condone and accomodate when marrying people

• Rates of marriages done at churches has fallen from 41% in 2009 to 22% in 2017

• Some churches have requirements such as marriage counceling or lack of co-habitation

2.2. Discussion Questions:

• When churches do fewer weddings, they have fewer opportunities to participate in people's lives. While there are some biblical limits on marriage, is it harmful or advantageous for churches to add requirements beyond the bare minimum?

• In the old testament, when people had sex, they were married (Exodus 22:16). Why do churches shy away from marrying co-habitating couples, or couples having sex. Shouldn't they encourage them to marry right away?

2.3. References:

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

Romans 1:26-27

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Exodus 22:16

If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.

• https://research.lifeway.com/2018/05/31/why-no-one-may-be-getting-married-at-your-church-this-summer/

• https://blog.bctconference.org/article/should-you-require-pre-marital-counseling

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Special Guest: Pastor Paul Knight.

This week Paul Knight joins the program and we talk about the role of woman in ministry

1. Role of Women in Marriage

1.1. Key Points

• The new testament has a number of verses that tell wives to submit to their husbands

• Men are told to love their wives

1.2. Discussion Questions:

• Biblically, are men and women different?

• How do you view Galatians 3:28 in light of other verses about gender in the bible?

• If men and women have different biblical roles, is that isolated to marriage, or is that true in other areas?

1.3. References:

Ephesians 5:21 - 25

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Collossians 3:18 - 19

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Galations 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 3:1

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives

1 Corinthians 11:3

But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

2. Women in the Church

2.1. Key Points

• Women have been put in important roles by God throughout the bible as prophetesses, active and gifted members of the church who worked to spread the gospel.

• No women in the bible ever served as priests

• 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks about the church being a royal priesthood, but doesn't specify the role of women in the church

• Historically, women as pastors over a church is a relatively new idea.

2.2. Discussion Questions:

• Has the church been influenced by culture regarding the role of women, or did they have it wrong for 2000 years?

• 1 Timothy 2:11-14 points to creation as the reason women can't teach over men. In that context, how can this verse be dismissed as cultural?

• When taken together, creation, the examples of women in important roles in the bible (but not priests), and specific verses adressing how women and men should relate to eachother seem to create a narrative that men should lead both in a household and in a church. Do you believe that view is missing something?

2.3. References:

1 Timothy 2:11-14

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

1 Corinthians 14: 34-35

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.

If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Genesis 2:8

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.

Exodus 15:20

Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.

Judges 4:4

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

Luke 2:36 - 38

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Acts 1:14

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Acts 18:24-26

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Acts 21:8-9

Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

Phillippians 4:2-3

I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

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Special Guest: Pastor Paul Knight.

This week Paul Knight joins the program and we talk about the role of the Church in their communities, and wondering what God wants to do through His people.

1. Does the Church have an Image Problem

1.1. Key Points

• Summit Church in North Carolina is suing Chatham County Board for refusing to re-zone land for their new campus

• Preliminary meetings were supportive and Summit was told their plans were consistent with the county's future use map

• Various reasons were given for the eventual rejection: the church is too big, would bring in too many non-residents, the church is a "business masquerading as a house of worship," and it doesn't fit Chatham County’s “progressive, LGBTQ-friendly, and openminded atmosphere.

1.2. Discussion Questions:

• When the Church's goals are to love God and other people, why is that unattractive to people - something they don't want in their community?

• Have you come across the complaint that Church today is too much like a business?

• Does the church do a good job loving people who are progressive and LGBTQ?

1.3. References:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/jd-greear-s-megachurch-sues-nc-county-for-religious-discrimination-as-it-seeks-to-expand/ar-AA1A0QvD

2. Christianity and Charities

2.1. Key Points

• 34% of charities in the United States are religious, an additional 12% are affiliated with religion, 40% of international charities are faith-based

• 62% of people who attend church regularly vs 42% of people who do not, regularly give to both religious and secular charities

• Churches are often community centers for people, providing services like food pantries, medical clinics, and substance abuse programs. 87% of people who attend these programs are not members of the congregation

2.2. Discussion Questions:

• Are people aware of the ways Churches benefit their communities?

• What types of Church run charities do you believe are most beneficial to the community?

• What charities have you had the most fun being involved in, and how would someone volunteer, if they wanted to?

2.3. References:

https://www.philanthropy.com/article/what-philanthropy-and-nonprofits-lose-as-religion-fades

3. Biblical Values and Political Offices

3.1. Key Points

• A pastor in Houston criticized a local superintendent finalist for her sexuality during a sermon

• He stated his words were not meant to "destroy" her but to encourage her to repent, and that he worried her lifestyle indicated that her views would be pushed in their district

• There's currently a community petition with 1,350 signatures requesting he apologize and that the church issues a statement disavowing hate speech

3.2. Discussion Questions:

• Would you call this situation an example of hate speech?

• Is it ever appropriate to publically speak about an individual's sin?

• Can the Church advocate for biblical values without alienating people who hold opposing views?

3.3. References:

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2025/03/25/516870/deer-park-church-pastor-faces-backlash-after-attacking-sexuality-of-dpisd-superintendent-finalist/

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Special Guest: Pastor Paul Knight.