Transcript

Shelby Abbott [00:01:07] Okay. Welcome to The Connecting Podcast with Paul Tripp. My name is Shelby Abbott and our podcast exists to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life right here, right now; and I'm thrilled to be here with you. It's going to be kind of a new format, right, Paul?

Paul Tripp [00:01:26] Yes, you know, we've always done these long discussions, two hours, sometimes one topic would be four sets of two hours and this year, we're doing 20-minute podcasts.

SA [00:01:41] Quite the difference.

PT [00:01:42] And that will allow us to roll these out weekly instead of monthly and we're excited about it. And every 20-minute episode will focus on one point that we want to drive home and this year, our topic for the year is how to live a vibrant, confident, hopeful, courageous Christian life in a world that's just gone insane.

[00:02:20] I think it's really important to recognize that it's hard to be a believer in the world we live in. I mean, think about this. There's nowhere outside of the church or your Christian friends and family where your faith is going to be reinforced.

[00:02:44] You can barely pick up your phone, on Twitter or any social media or go to a streaming service, without having your morals assaulted and then, we live in a world that Romans 8 says is groaning, itself waiting for redemption, so the unexpected, unwanted, the hard, the difficult will enter your door and how do you suffer well through those kinds of things?

[00:03:28] I was able to meet and have spent some time with a man who was living this normal everyday life, pretty much a good life until his wife was shot in one of the school shootings and all of a sudden, his world just crumbles.

SA [00:03:52] Yes, everything changed now.

PT [00:03:54] And you just think, "Why now? Why me? What is going on," and we do know you, you know and I know people who, in the midst of that have lost their way and...

SA [00:04:13] Walked away from the Lord.

PT [00:04:14] Yes, said, "There can't be a God. If there is, He's a liar or He's weak, uncaring and distant, and although I would endorse that choice, I do understand the struggle. You've had [an] experience of physical suffering. I've had an experience of physical suffering.

[00:04:44] And then, you know, if you're outspoken about your faith, you have to be willing to face a misunderstanding, rejection, sometimes, mockery. I talk to pastors who have experience of congregants who are losing their jobs because of their moral stands.

[00:05:15] We've seen sports players who've been ostracized because of moral stands and so, that is unsettling, that God, for His glory and somehow, our good has decided that between the "already" of our conversion and the "not yet" of our homegoing, we're going to live in this messed up world.

[00:05:50] I like that phrase "groaning" because it's so provocative. You groan when you're in pain. You groan when you're discouraged. You groan when things aren't working right and that's the world we live in; and so, it will not operate the way God originally intended. Your marriage doesn't operate the way God intended.

SA [00:06:25] Looks like that was flashing over there.

SA [00:06:27] You could just say...

PT [00:06:30] Your marriage doesn't operate the way God intended. Your kids don't respond the way God intended them to respond.

SA [00:06:41] Surely.

PT [00:06:42] The workplace is a bit of a mess and so, this whole year we're going to talk about how do you live there without losing your way, without getting mad at God, without compromising your moral convictions in order to make life easier and so, as I was thinking about that, I was thinking, okay, where do I go in scripture to really find help for this "right here, right now" thing that we're now talking about. I mean, you have children. You know their struggles of life in a fallen world.

SA [00:07:35] Oh, yes, and there's little things from being called a name or something like that and how a young one can get so upset by that kind of thing. And then, there's flat out disobedience that the kids refuse to be compliant with what you're asking them to do and then, there's, you know, they fall and they break a bone, and you're like, "Why did this happen right now? That kind of thing.

SA [00:08:07] Car breaks down on the way to a trip across the states and you wonder, "Why is this happening," and they're complaining in the back about stuff that you can't change at all and so, there's time delays and frustrations and arguments and physical pain.

PT [00:08:27] And you've also worked on the university campus and you know the struggle of being a Christian in the modern university.

SA [00:08:36] Yes, it's an interesting time right now on campuses. It seems to be like a little bit of a resurgence of a desire to give God the credit that He's deserved but in general, there's plenty of hostile conversations that happen as a result of mentioning that Jesus is the only way. Or you know, just sharing the gospel with someone and helping them to understand the truths of what it means to be rescued by God.

[00:09:11] University students, you know, they don't like to be told what to do sometimes and Jesus really draws the line for people, especially, when it comes to the ramifications of what the gospel calls us to do, particularly for college students in the area of sex.

[00:09:28] They want to be able to do what they want to be able to do, and if Jesus comes in and draws these boundary lines that says, "This is not healthy, but this is," they're like, "Yes, yes, I'm good." It's offensive to me.

PT [00:09:41] Yes, so again I was asking myself this question. Where do we go to root our conversation about the difficulties of life in this broken, groaning, fallen world that just doesn't operate the way God originally intended and my mind immediately went to The Sermon on the Mount. It's Matthew 5–7.

[00:10:15] It's a very interesting passage of scripture. It's the lengthiest teaching that we have recorded of Jesus. We know there's other teaching He did that's not recorded. John tells us that, but it's 5, 6, 7—three chapters long of Christ's instruction.

[00:10:37] And what's interesting is He's being pursued by a multitude, but He withdraws from the multitude, goes up the mountain to instruct His closest band of followers, His disciples, and you could almost say like these are his marching orders for them. "This is what it looks like to follow Me." Now, that sounds a little bit austere. Really, what it is is, "I want to introduce you to the good life. This is the good life and...

SA [00:11:16] Yes, that's great way to frame it.

PT [00:11:20] Don't be snookered away by people saying, "Well, the good life's over here. The good life's over there, a good life," because that's always been the battle. That battle started in Genesis because, essentially, what the serpent was saying to Adam and Eve [was], "You think you have the good life? Have I got a good life for you," and we're still living with the disaster of that choice.

[00:11:47] I think of The Sermon on the Mount as being two things. It's a map to give us lighted guidance in this darkened world. It's the divine GPS for us because we need it. I need a map and I can lose my way, and it's like what Psalm 119 says. The word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Spurgeon says if the word was only a light to your head, both your head and your feet would fall into a ditch. It lights your feet. It guides you.

SA [00:12:31] Yes, because it's dark out there.

PT [00:12:34] Yes, yes, but The Sermon on the Mount is something else. It's guardrails and you know, if you're driving through Southern California where we are six months of the year, we go through over canyons and sometimes, the twists and turns are terrifying. And occasionally, Luella will say to me, "Why isn't there a guardrail here? There should be a guardrail here."

[00:13:07] Well, God understands more than we will ever the twists and turns of life, and the cliffs that we could possibly fall into; and so, He erects guardrails for us and He just sweetly says to us, "Just stay inside my guard rails."

SA [00:13:30] Yes, and it's not about the liberation of no boundaries. A lot of times people think, "I don't want to be limited to being told what to do," or, "I don't want the guard rails." But life's never about no limitations. It's about finding the right limitations and scripture gives us a perfect picture of what the right limitations are.

PT [00:13:54] Oh, absolutely. I mean, I read The Sermon on the Mount and I don't read, "Here are a list of commands that I've got to follow if I'm going to be a good Christian and it won't be a real happy experience, but it's what Jesus wants for me, so I'm going to do it."

SA [00:14:24] How does that sound appealing to anyone?

PT [00:14:26] Yes, and you just think, "Oh man." I just think of how sweet and loving it is for Jesus to sit down to His disciples and basically, He's saying, "I know how confusing life can be and I know how tempting it can be and I know how misshapen the values around you are, and I want you to know there is blessed life to be found, not just in the future, but right here, right now and I want to lay out for you a pathway of blessing." I mean, that's just to me, so, so beautiful.

SA [00:15:16] It's like you sitting down the couch next to one of your daughters who's struggling, and you put your arm around her and you say, "I know you're having a hard time and I know you're struggling with what to do. Well, I love you and I want to give you some help. Just listen to your dad." That's just beautiful and that's what The Sermon on the Mount is. It's not a God who doesn't really care about you and just doesn't want you to embarrass Him, so He says, "Just do it, would you?"

SA [00:16:02] "Just do what I say."

PT [00:16:03] That's just not the spirit of this and we're going to see that from the very get-go as we begin to look at this wonderful part of God's word. So, I just want to welcome people to take this ride with us. I'm really excited about this year.

SA [00:16:26] Yes, me, too, and everything that we're going to break apart in The Sermon on the Mount is 100% relevant to wherever you might be right now. If you're walking with God and things are going really great, if you're really struggling right now and you're wrestling with doubts and you're kind of ready to walk away, and everybody in between, Jesus's words are going to be something that will be a balm to you, regardless of where you might be. And so, I loved this idea when you pitched it to me and I said, "Yes, this is definitely the avenue that we need to pursue in the next season of The Connecting Podcast.

PT [00:17:04] And I want to say that this is a passage that I return to again and again because there's nothing in Christ's sweet instruction that I've outgrown. I need all of these reminders again. I have moments where I briefly hop over the guardrails or I don't want to follow the map. And I'm looking forward to our conversation, unpacking this amazing passage of scripture, not just for the audience, but for me.

SA [00:17:49] Yes, yes, I need it, too.

PT [00:17:49] And walking over here today to the studio, I was feeling blessed that this is what I get to do, that God has chosen me to do this and I sort of know why. He knows I'm such a mess that I'd be harmful to myself and to others, so He's just sticking my face in this stuff again and again and again...

SA [00:18:16] It's His grace.

PT [00:18:16] Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year because...

SA [00:18:21] Rub your nose in it.

PT [00:18:22] I can't be by myself.

SA [00:18:25] Yes, and we're so forgetful. We think that we know. Even if we had a great memory and we know a lot of theology, we're just forgetful. We need to be reminded of what the truth is and Jesus kindly and tenderly reminds us of the truth in ways that are really powerful because The Sermon on the Mount has been called the greatest sermon ever preached and basically, the first teaching out of Jesus's lips is the Sermon on the Mount. So it's like, let's pay attention to what He has to say here because this is going to be super impactful.

PT [00:18:59] Yes, I had a friend tell me just the other day that he had a cascading set of difficulties and he found himself in his house shaking his fist at God.

SA [00:19:12] Really, wow.

PT [00:19:13] And then, the recognition came. "In all of this stuff that I hate that's in my life, I've lived this life of such blessing and the One I'm shaking my fist at, I need." And so, wherever you are, we want to draw you back, want to walk you through one of the most beautiful parts of Jesus' teaching.

[00:19:45] It is incredibly comprehensive. It's not exhaustive, but it's comprehensive. It'll touch the major places where you live and give you a sense of the life that He's called you to. Well, Connecting Podcast 2026.

SA [00:20:06] Here we go.

PT [00:20:06] Pretty cool.

SA [00:20:07] Yes, I'm excited.

PT [00:20:08] Yes, I'm very excited, too, and feeling already blessed that we get to do that. Thank you, Shelby.

SA [00:20:15] Yes, me, too. Thanks for having me.

PT [00:20:17] I'm looking forward to it.

SA [00:20:18] Love it.