What Christians Don't Tell Other Christians

Kevin discusses the often overlooked realities of Christian life, including the necessity of ongoing repentance, the reality of spiritual targeting by the enemy, and the importance of growth and resilience in faith.

Transcript

Kevin Toomer (00:02.424)
Just about everyone, if you've ever bought anything of any significance or even something small, you have had something called buyer's remorse in which you've paid a purchase of something and afterwards you realize you shouldn't have bought it. It was a bad decision. It was a bad purchase. Not normally just because the actual product is bad, but sometimes.

Product is something that may be bad, but you have buyers remorse because you didn't realize what it entailed as far as the purchase. That there may have been upkeep or maintenance or things that are required for whatever it is you bought, whether it's something you have to assemble, whether it's a car, whether it's a house or something. And then once you got it, you realize, wait a minute, I thought I was just going to get this thing that I realized here are all these expectations, so things that are required.

to either have or to keep whatever it is you purchase. So again, there's that remorse like, my gosh, maybe I shouldn't have bought this thing after all. Well.

Kevin Toomer (01:07.374)
I believe that there are times unfortunately in Christian circles we have believers remorse. Now of course anytime anyone becomes a Christian, that's not a bad decision. I don't think they regret it, but I think what happens is...

They don't know, again, the full story of what's required. It's like buying a purchase of something you need to assemble, and then you get the directions, and they're 15 pages long. Like, wait a minute. I thought, you know, the box didn't even say, the box may have just said some assembly required, but you didn't realize how much assembly's required.

And also on top of that, you have a lot of people, and this is not going to be the Crux of the episode, but I'm saying this to make the point, there's a lot of people who have deconstructed, meaning they used to be Christian, but then they veered away or they've denounced the faith. And that could be for a myriad of reasons. But one of reasons, which is kind of what we're going to talk about today is sometimes because again, when they realize what it really meant to be a Christian, they realize they were not up to it.

that it was like, OK, this is too much for me or I just didn't want to invest to this degree. And this is the part that makes it worse. Usually the Christian, if that person was led to Christ or guided to Christ by another Christian, they kind of dropped the ball. I say we dropped the ball.

and letting people know what to expect. We just tell people, and we were very celebratory when they joined the church, everyone was clapping and cheering, yes, you're a Christian, yes, you said the prayer, and you believe in Christ, so now your life is going to change forever. And all that is true. But that's where it stops.

Kevin Toomer (02:51.488)
And we don't tell Christians the entire story of not just what it means to be a Christian, but what's expected or what you should, what's expected of you and what you should expect as a Christian. So I want to end this episode. I want to talk about some things. What are things, the things rather, that Christians don't tell other Christians?

More specifically, new and those who have become Christians for a while. It's something where negligence holds. So I want to talk about that. And I have six things that want to talk about. Six things that Christians don't tell other Christians. The first thing that Christians don't tell other Christians is that repentance is required and repetitive. So.

say that for two reasons. One, again, when a person joins the church, everyone's celebrating because this person may have, you know, admitted that they are a sinner. They may have admitted that Jesus is Lord and all those things are required for us to become Christian. But then there is no talk of turning away from sin. There is no talk of changing your mind and changing habits and changing your view of sin and habits. And it is not just required, but even after

you get saved, we're going to dig into this a little bit more, it's also repetitive, meaning that you're going to continue to repent. Because you don't repent just one time when you get saved. You continue to repent. Now, why is that? Because as you grow as a Christian, you realize all the sinning you've done.

and maybe still do, we're going to talk about that a little bit later, as a Christian. So guess what you got to do? Your mind is continually changing. Repent means to change mind or change direction because now you realize all this time, all these areas, all these off ramps of sin and debauchery and greed and being greedy and lust and all those things. Now I realize those are worlds I can no longer travel.

Kevin Toomer (04:49.09)
So I have to now change my mind. So the more you walk with Christ, the more off ramps you are leaving to continue to walk with Christ. So repentance is required, meaning that you're going to have to continue to see things differently and change your mind and change your point of view. Because remember who Jesus came for in the first place. Jesus didn't come to people who didn't need to repent. John the Baptist himself said his message was repent for the kingdom of God is ahead.

So we know we have to understand as Christians that repentance is not just something we do one time when we say the prayer in front of the church, but as we grow, as we develop, as we learn and read scripture, we realize, wait a minute, I have some views that maybe before I thought we're harmless. Well, I didn't think we're big of a deal.

now I see these things are really in the front to God and their detriment to my growth as a Christian that I'm not living holy if I still believe this way or think this way or act this way or speak this way. So repentance again is required but it's also repetitive. You and I will continue to repent as we continue to grow. I have a scripture of course this is Luke chapter 5 verses 31 and 32. It says

Jesus answered them, healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they're righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent. So look at that right there, scripture. Jesus knows he came for people who need to repent, to change their minds. And that's one of the bigger arguments, or dare I say, obstacles for people who.

who won't become a Christian because they don't realize that they need to repent and turn away. And then once they do, again, sometimes we don't always do this in a mean way, but we don't do this in a way to just be damaging. But we do this in a way because we're so, okay, we do this in a way that's so celebratory. We get so caught up in the people joining the church that we forget to tell them, okay, now this is the beginning.

Kevin Toomer (07:03.47)
of your road to repentance. It's not just a one time deal. So we have to make sure we understand as Christians and tell other Christians that this road is just that a road. It's not a destination. You don't arrive when you get saved. You start the journey when you get saved. And part of the journey is realizing you're going to have a lot of pit stops on the way pit stops of repentance and keeping yourself.

on the right track. So again, the first thing, repentance is required and repetitive. The second thing that we, what Christians don't tell other Christians is that you and I have been targeted. Again, the celebration, the cheers, the pass on the back and all these things. I'm so happy you're part of the body of Christ. So happy you joined the church. But then we fail to tell people.

that now they are on the enemy's hit list. That now the enemy has made them public enemy number one, literally his eyes. Because remember what happens, the Bible talks of us as being taken out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. So to him, to the enemy, he thinks God took something that was his.

Because remember also, everyone is a creation of God. Everyone is a child of God. The Bible talks about, especially if you are a Gentile, which most of us are, we are adopted into the family. So here it is again, we were, as far as the enemy is concerned, his property. And now here comes the enemy, I here comes God taking him, taking us out of darkness into light. So the enemy is going to feel some kind of way about that because God is taking something he thought was his, not granted. This is part that's interesting.

He kind of did have a right to it, but he also did because granted we are God's creation, but our behavior made us children of the devil. So in a way he had a right because when we sin, we earn death, which means we earn the same penalty that a devil gets. So in his right, he feels justified because he says, OK, but Kevin.

Kevin Toomer (09:18.422)
Yeah, he believe in you now, but what about all that crap he did? All that stuff he did? All that stuff he used to think? What about all that stuff that Betty and Susie and Barbara used to do? I was there. Matter of fact, I told him to do it. I know how bad they were. I know how greedy they were. I know how selfish they were. I know how vindictive they were. And now you're telling me they're your children? No, no, no. See, no.

I gotta do something about this because there's no way you're gonna give them another chance at all they've done. See, that's how the enemy's thinking. So that means you've been targeted. And we don't tell Christians that, again, I say this on multiple episodes, when you sign up for Christ, you sign up for war. You are now a soldier. And there is no middle ground. You cannot straddle the fence. Because the whole time you were on the enemy side, you just didn't know it.

So now God has rescued you, brought you on this side, and now you're targeted by the enemy. Just think about this. And I'm sure a lot of people say, cliche when it comes to Christianity. And I know I can attest to this. The biggest struggles of my life have happened since I've taken my walk with Christ seriously. When I was either not a Christian or just

making a verbal assent but not trying to live for Christ, I didn't have nearly half the stress, half the problems, half the difficulty, half the things that I go through now that I used to. And most people, if you ask those who are not Christians, they're under the viewpoint that they're free. They think they're free. They think their lives are great. Now, why is that? Because the enemy is not messing with them. Why would you attack something that you own?

So he's not attacking them. But now if he believes you and I are stolen goods, he's going to attack. Think about something that you own. If somebody came and just took something that was yours, wouldn't you have some animosity towards the person who took it? So that's how the enemy's looking at us. Because to him, we're not worthy to be in God's camp now, which he's right. But God loves us in spite of us and still says we're worthy to be called his children. So the enemy.

Kevin Toomer (11:38.752)
is definitely angry and he is going to do whatever he can to make sure that we know.

that we're not good enough to be on God's army. That's one of the many things he's going to do. So we need to let Christians know that yes, you made a great decision, but now you have a great battle on your hands. And this battle is going to take place for the rest of your life. As long as you're on their side of heaven, you and the devil are going to be literal mortal enemies. And he is so much bigger, stronger, faster than you. And guess what? Because you've been targeted, you all

Also it means that you need help. So you gotta think about it. If you've been targeted by an enemy, so much bigger, stronger, faster than you, and you don't even know they're targeting you, how do you stand a chance? If you don't stand a chance when you know they're targeting you, how much more do you not stand a chance when you don't even know they're targeting

And that's what us as Christians need to be more upfront and transparent and telling other believers that yes, this is going to be great. This is also going to be extremely challenging. And that's why we as Christians need to tell them about the attacks and being targeted. And we need to rally around them as they're being targeted, because just as they're being targeted, you're being targeted too. So you're going to have to rally around that person and that person will have to rally around you.

Let's dive into the scripture about us being targeted. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, very famous scripture that says, alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking for someone to devour. And look at that, seeking for someone to devour. I said, you're on his list. He's targeted. He's looking for the ones who he feels, OK, that person's on God's list.

Kevin Toomer (13:40.162)
That person is reading their Bible. That person is fasting. That person is praying. That person is trying to grow in their faith. I'm targeting that person. The person is living a life that's contrary to the enemy. The person is living a life contrary to God. He's not going to attack that person. He's not targeting that person. If anything, he's going to try to push that person more in that lifestyle so they can possibly convince others to follow suit.

So you see the difference? If you are Team Jesus, you are also anti-Team Devil. And that also means he's an enemy and he will be targeting you. But the good news is the Bible is replete with scriptures to remind us that in spite of the enemy's attacks, we have the victory not because of ourselves, because we serve a God who has already defeated the enemy. But that doesn't mean the attacks will come. That just means the attacks, as the scriptures say, no weapon form will prosper.

We have to be real with Christians and let them know that they are targeted by the enemy and they have a huge fight on their hands. That's the second thing. Number three, of things that Christians don't tell other Christians that isn't gonna get interested in. We have to tell the Christians that sin is still attractive. Because again, now,

Let's go through it, right? We're repenting. We're changing our minds about things, right? And we're understanding that the enemy is attacking us. So how does he do this? He attacks us through our desires. One of the ways, rather, is through our desires. So what does he do? He still attacks us with things that we know we like to do. And let me say it like this. Just because you love Jesus don't mean you don't still like some things you shouldn't like.

Just because you love the Lord, mean you You stop loving those sinful habits and proclivities. Every person on this planet, whether they know Christ or not, has issues or problems when you battle with sin. Period. We wouldn't be God's enemy if we weren't sinners. The Bible is clear. All of us have sinned. We fall short of the glory of God. But what we need to understand is sin would not be sin if sin was not pleasurable.

Kevin Toomer (16:01.282)
No one would sin if sin hurt. We all sin because sin does something to us in the flesh. It makes us feel good, it gives us comfort, it soothes your mind, it calms you down. It's something about sin that makes it attractive because it still caters to our flesh. And we have to understand and have people understand the reality that yes, you love the Lord now, but you still are gonna have sinful thoughts.

and you're still going to fall short. Now that does not mean that you're disqualified from being a Christian, but it goes into why, again, you are targeted and why you need to repent. Because it is the word for the day. Sanctification. That's the process of God making us more like him. Now God could have just snapped his fingers and made us completely whole.

but for his own reason, his infinite wisdom. He says, no, there's a process of making you holy. And in that process, I'm tearing things off slowly but surely. And I'm doing that in a way so I can grow in my relationship with you while I'm refining you. You see that? Because if God just, again, snapped his fingers and made us holy, would it be great? Absolutely. But where's the lesson?

If anything, we will take his grace for granted as if we already like we already do. But if he just again, snap his fingers, we're not growing. We're just receiving and God says, no, I want you to know my character. I want you to know my power. I want you to know my love.

grace, my mercy. So I'm going to let some of these sins have it's fester a little bit and slowly take them off of you so you can see who I am and the depths of our own depravity. Because again, sin is still attractive. And we have to have a real listening experience for people because this is what happens. When people who now become Christians inevitably fall into sin.

Kevin Toomer (18:10.612)
Now they feel they're unworthy and they are prompted to leave the church or leave Christianity because now here comes the enemy, the same enemy that targeted them, that pushed them to sin. Now, of course it was their own choice, but the enemy influenced them. But now the enemy hits them with an avalanche of guilt, an avalanche of condemnation. I thought you joined the church a couple of weeks ago.

Are you still doing that? You still struggling? You ain't nothing but old fake Christians. You ain't nothing but, you ain't mean it. I don't even know why you were joined to church. God ain't gonna forgive you for this. You're supposed to be better than this. We're gonna talk about that in a minute.

So in our falls, God already knows that he has mercy and grace already ready to fill that void. But we have to let people understand that falls are inevitable. That doesn't mean they're excused all the time. It doesn't mean you just fall repeatedly forever. But we have to, again, set the expectation, tell Christians that whatever you struggle with, you may continue to struggle with when you become a Christian.

And hopefully you will grow to the point that you would develop and then you would leave that sin altogether. But it may not happen in the two weeks after you got saved. It may take years. It may take decades. But give God, be patient enough to say, God, I know this is something that I'm struggling with, but I'm struggling. And that's the key. But we have to be real and say that this is something that I struggle with because I want to do it.

It's still attractive to some degree. I always say this. You and I are only tempted by the things we want. So that means when we fall into temptation, we fall to the things we want. So we can't blame the enemy for that. All he does is dangles the bait in front of us. And it's up to us to either say yay or nay. Here's a scripture, very famous one, James chapter one.

Kevin Toomer (20:18.69)
Verse 14, and it says, comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. You see that? Temptation is our own desires, tempting us to do what we want to do. And all that does is we decide to say, yes, I'll do it, or no. Every time we see the enemy merely suggests, we either say yes or no. So it's never a case where the enemy makes us do it.

Because again, he can make us do something we don't want to do. But we always do what we want to do. So that's the key. We got to be real with people. And realize that sin is still pleasurable and still desirable, even though you're a Christian. Right? That's 13, right? Number four. This is what's going to get a little tougher, too. We're getting tougher as we go. Stick with me. What if we don't tell what Christians?

don't tell other Christians, is that a Christian, you need thick skin. Now, why is that? First of all, when you become a Christian, yes, you're gonna have a, hopefully you have a kind of a of people who are excited and they love the fact that yes, you are a Christian, yes, you are part of the church, and we are happy that you're part of the fold. But that's only gonna be a small segment of people.

There's going to be a lot of people who are not happy that you're a Christian. They're not going to celebrate the fact that now that Katie is new, that Katie doesn't hang out and go to the same places anymore. Barbara and Susie and Natasha, we used to always hang out every Saturday and do these things. And now Katie don't want to do that.

You know what? I remember the crew, man, man, Bobby, man, Bobby used to be the main one going to place X or doing thing Y. Now he done got saved. Now he done got religion. Now he done got, he's a Jesus freak. So now people look at you sideways. Now why is that? For a bunch of reasons. One, people who don't know the truth can't see why you believe.

Kevin Toomer (22:33.966)
But then secondly, they knew how you were before the truth. And it looked at them like, okay, you was the main one. Ain't no way you changed that fast. They went, nah, you was the main one. Used to be in the club. was the main one. Used to be doing this. And there was no way it dare skeptical. So you're gonna get it from people you know. But then also remember, we just went through the line. First of all, you're gonna be targeted by the enemy.

You're going to have struggles with repentance. And then you also want to have struggles with sin. So all those things, the enemy is going to be attacking you. So how do you have thick enough skin to withstand and hold on tight to Christ when all that stuff is going on? So you're going to catch it from people who know you. You're going to catch from people who don't know you. You're going to catch it from the enemy. You're going to have your own doubts because you're going to be, if you're like me, perfectious.

And when you mess up, you don't always chalk it up to my bad. I'm just talking about me. Maybe you on my street with this. Maybe I'm preaching to you right now. When you mess up, you feel like the worst thing ever because for some reason, which is wrong of us, but we feel like we can't make mistakes. How dare I make a mistake because I shouldn't make mistakes, especially, and let's go here, based on the previous points.

especially if it's an area that you're still struggling with and you thought because you're saved now you shouldn't struggle. But a Christian is not supposed to do this but I'm still doing it. So you're gonna need thick skin because you're gonna catch flak from everywhere and on top of all of that God is going to challenge you.

He's gonna put you positions where you're gonna be asked and tasked to do things that you don't think you can do. He's gonna put you in places that are uncomfortable. But growth only happens in places that are uncomfortable. Because God loves us, I can't let Kevin's growth as a Christian be stagnant. So I'm gonna put him in position where he's going to be confronted.

Kevin Toomer (24:43.724)
by himself and by others. He's going to be conflicted. He's going to be attacked. He's going to be feeling stressed from every side. So God is saying, I'm not just doing this because I'm some kind of masochist who wants to see you get hurt. No, I want you to grow. But the only way you're going to grow is if you go through these things. So he says, I got to make sure your skin is thick. And it's also because

You need to scan to get through these things in preparation for where God ultimately is going to take you. Because again, we're going to talk about it a little bit later, you're not saved just to receive salvation, you're saved to share salvation. And sometimes you're going to have to go to places with people who aren't going to want to hear it. So you're going to need to scan because God's going to call you to go to places and tell people about Him that don't want to hear it.

And can you have thick enough skin to where you don't start getting feeling some kind of way because someone else doesn't believe like you believe because it's a Christian. You're going to have people want to tell you they think you're straight. You're crazy. They think something's wrong with you because you have the audacity to believe in who God is and because they don't share your belief. They're going to attack you. And so you got to have thick enough skin not just to withstand the attacks, but to be faithful to where God is going to call you.

Here's a scripture, very famous one, Jeremiah 12, verse five.

Kevin Toomer (26:23.192)
Here's scripture, Jeremiah 12, verse five. And it says, here's the scripture, Jeremiah 12, verse five. It says, if racing against mere men makes you tired, how you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on an open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? So this is Jeremiah.

because he was called to be a prophet. And he had moments that Jeremiah is a great book talking about having thick skin. When they learned about somebody having to develop thick skin, Jeremiah's that dude. Because he was like a lot of us, and I can sympathize with Jeremiah a lot. Case where God has called him to go out.

and prophesied to Israel and he told him from the beginning, they're not going to listen to you, but I'm going to make sure that you are able to withstand it. And he said, you have no right, you have to do this, you cannot turn back. But throughout all of his ministry, Jeremiah wanted to quit so many times. And I love the fact that he was real. He went to God, like, God, the scripture, there's a scripture in Jeremiah, he literally said, God, you tricked me.

You tricked me into doing this knowing that if I'd known the whole story, like we don't tell Christians, I would not have signed up for this. And this is God's response. How you gonna run with horses? Meaning how you gonna do the big job I have for you when I set you apart in the first place if you are struggling with the small stuff? And think about this. What did he not tell Jeremiah? He did not tell Jeremiah.

You feel like quit? All right, you can quit. All right, I'll just find somebody else. You know what? My bad. I should have told you more. So that's on me, bro. All right, you sit down, Jeremiah. I'm going go ahead and get Isaiah. I'm going go ahead and get Ezekiel. I'm going go ahead and get somebody else because this is too much for you. God doesn't tell us that either. He doesn't say, this is too much for you. You ain't got to do it. I'll let you slide. No.

Kevin Toomer (28:31.168)
If we've been called by him, created by him, saved by him, sanctified by him, and set apart by him, we have to do what he called us to do in a world that does not want him. This is not optional. So we have to have thick skin because the attacks, again, let's go through it again. The enemy's attacking us. We're called to repent.

We're struggling with sin. All these things are going on with us. You gotta have thick skin as a Christian. You have to learn that there are gonna be times that people are gonna say things, do things, and acts in ways around you that you don't like, that you are gonna find horribly offensive. You're gonna find things that are disrespectful to God. You're gonna find things that are disrespectful to you.

but you gotta have thick enough skin and do exactly like Jesus says. If anyone knows about having thick skin, it's Jesus. And if he's the person we should be emulating, remember from the cross, what did he tell God? Father forgive them for they know not what they do. The same people who were spitting on him, saying crucify him, wanted to kill him. He interceded for them. And he's our...

So if he had to have thick enough skin to deal with people who killing him, literally you and I have to have thick enough skin to deal with people who may try to kill us spiritually or figuratively. So again, we got to them thick skin before we become Christian. four. Five. One thing that Christians don't tell other Christians is that you and I

Do not have Miranda rights. Now, if you've ever seen television or a TV show of Iran policemen, Miranda rights are you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. We don't have that right when it comes to God. If you're a Christian, you are required to open your mouth and tell people about God.

Kevin Toomer (30:41.494)
You are required to tell people about your faith, about your salvation, about your story. I literally a couple of weeks ago preached a sermon on this and my sermon title was about how to share without being weird.

And we have to sometimes be willing to be looked at as weird and looked at as strange. And people thinking again, the repentance piece and the piece about having thick skin and all that stuff. Sometimes we got to be willing for people to look at us and be like, Kevin dude, don't know, something wrong with him. Because first of all, if we're Christians, we're new creations, right? So that means we are not supposed to fit in.

So we should be looked at as differently. But in a good sense, they should see something, they should see God in us, which is different from the world. But because God has done so much for us, because Christ died for us, let's be honest, family. He shouldn't really have to ask us. If you think about it, just basic manners and appreciation, we should want to tell somebody of our own volition.

what God has done. Because let's be honest, none of us would hesitate if somebody did something really, really great for us. They'd tell somebody what they did. Man, I was short on my rent and brother John blessed me. You know what, man, I was really having a hard time and my sister Susie, she took me out to lunch and lifted my spirits. And these are things that are great, but they're transient.

small and fleeting. We're talking about eternal salvation from a God who gave it to us when we were guilty and we think we have a right to just get this gift and not say anything to anybody. No, we don't have the right to remain silent.

Kevin Toomer (32:37.824)
One of the first scriptures I remember, memorized Matthew 28, 19 and 20. You therefore all authority on heaven and earth be given to me. Therefore go out and spread the good news to all creation. Jesus gave the disciples, which includes us, the great commission. And this is the key. You and I are called to tell people about Christ as not just a preacher's child.

That's not just the pastor's God job, the deacon's job. Well, you know what, Kevin, I'm an introvert and I don't like public speaking. I didn't say you had to get into a public square to share. You can get in your own circle and share. And God will make you, put you in a place where you are called to share. He knows your limitations. He knows your strengths because he gave you the gifts. So if he knows, okay, he knows that

Michelle has a hard time speaking in front of crowds, bet. But she has a great way of speaking one-on-one. So guess what he's going to do? Put you in places where you're speaking one-on-one. But let me say this to you. We can't guarantee that either, because sometimes you have strengths that you are just running from because they're uncomfortable. I know this firsthand. Because believe it or not,

even with this podcast and me teaching and preaching, in a general sense, I am very introverted. But when it comes to the things of God, that's the boldness that comes out of me. People who know me, who have known me for a long time, they will tell you Kevin has always been the quiet guy. Still am. But when it comes to teaching, when it comes to preaching, when I podcast, things of the nature, it comes to the things of God, the boldness of God comes out of me.

Now why is that? Because that's something God put in me all the time. So even though you don't think you can do something, it doesn't mean God may not have you slated to do it anyway. Because sometimes the gift that he's giving you, we're suppressing it, he's trying to release it. But in the end of it all, none of us who are Christians are going to get a pass for what we have for not speaking up.

Kevin Toomer (34:52.908)
We have to open our mouths. Scripture is clear. How will people hear the gospel if nobody shares it? And let's be honest, too, this is not part of this episode, just personally for me, we got to share the gospel because there's so many people out there sharing a false gospel. The Christians aren't getting a bad rap because there's so many false Christians representing us or misrepresenting us. So we need to counteract that.

You will not need to show in our lives, but also in our speech what Christianity really is. And this again is an expectation God expects from us. None of us are exempt. Here's the scripture, very famous one. 2nd Timothy chapter 4, verse 2. It says, preach the word of God.

Be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. Now this is the key. That scripture is not just written to preachers. It's written to all believers. You may not be a Passover church. You may not ever give a sermon from a pulpit, but you are still a preacher. You are still in the context of being a Christian in the world.

You are a preacher in essence. All of us are called to prophesy, which means to spread forth the word of God. So in that case, all of us are prophets. All of us are called to go out and prophesy and share God's word. And you don't have to have gone to seminary. don't have to have somebody lay hands on you. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you became in essence a preacher.

And that means every person who's a Christian is supposed to be sharing God's word. So again, if you're a Christian, we don't tell the Christians, you do not have Miranda rights. You cannot remain solid. You gotta tell people about your salvation. And the last one for this episode, the last thing that we Christians don't tell Christians is that sometimes we gotta tell some Christians. It's gonna sound funny when I say it, but I wanna explain.

Kevin Toomer (37:11.348)
Sometimes you got to tell the Christians you're too old for that. Now, what do I mean? Now, I'm not saying you're too old to be doing certain things. That doesn't mean, OK, if you're trying to start a business and you're trying to go back to school or you're trying to you're thinking about getting married or becoming a parent, you're too old. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is we need to tell other Christians.

that there comes a point where you're too old to be where you are in your walk. You're too old to only know what you know. You're too old to only have just read a few chapters of the Bible. You're too old to be a Christian for a certain amount of time and there's certain things you still don't know or can't do. If you've been a Christian,

for a certain amount of time, there's certain things you should be able to explain to a non-Christian. There are certain things you should be, if someone come and asks you about your faith, you should be able to explain it without having to stutter or stumble or wait till Sunday school to ask the pastor. I just said in the last point, you're basically preachers, right? So a preacher, coming from a preacher, has to read the word to prepare to preach.

We have to read the Word to prepare to preach and to live because our lives are revolving around preaching to the world. But here comes a point as Christians. We have to be able to talk to our fellow Christians and tell them that, if you're new Christian, that's great. But there's an expectation that you're going to grow. There's an expectation if you join the church in January. By the time December of that senior comes around,

Unless there's something significant stopping this from happening, I should be able to chart some growth in you in some area in terms of scripture knowledge, in terms of understanding the scripture, in terms of your prayer life, in terms of your boldness. There should be something where there's a growth that you can see being charted. And again, if you're new, of course, it takes time to grow. But we don't tell the Christians, first of all, from the beginning.

Kevin Toomer (39:31.34)
that growth is an expectation and continue growth. No Christian has it all figured out all the time. No Christian gets to the point where I've been a Christian for 10 years. I got this thing on lock. No, you can be a Christian for 70 years and it's stuff you're growing in. The problem becomes we don't set the expectation that if I'm a Christian, I should be growing. I should be developing. I should be studying, you know.

And it's something that for me is a personal thing that's close to my heart because as a teacher, I want people to grow. And for me too, I see it because more times than not, it's not about opportunity, it's about effort. Because you don't have to wait until someone teaches you, you just have to be a student. That means taking it upon yourself, you looking at someone, have not gone to seminary and never will.

God has made that clear for me. He does not want me to go sinning. This is just Kevin. But my knowledge of the Word, Scripture, the Bible, all that stuff happened because of two things. One, I pray all the time and I ask God. And two, I actually sit down and read the Bible. That's it. And God has no respect for persons. Now, you and I may not have similar giftings, but we have the same capabilities.

to read the word and God the Holy Spirit can bring it to you so you can understand it. But how can you understand something you don't read or even try to read? And again, imagine any other job or vocation that you can do something for an extended amount of time and there's no growth. Chances are you wouldn't have that job for long. You would not have that job for long if you've been in the same position for 30 years and you've never learned anything.

You've never progressed. You've never grown. Your skill set remains the same. And even if you don't grow in anything in that area, at some point, your position might become obsolete. Well, I don't need you because I get people who can grow because things change. Times change. So if you're used to doing, for example, this came up in my thing on Spirit. If here's somebody who works at a company, and when you started there in the 80s, they had fax machines.

Kevin Toomer (41:58.35)
And now in 2026, you never learn anything about a computer. You gonna still have that job? No. And if you did, guess what's gonna happen? Two things gonna happen. One, if you did have that job still, you won't get paid and compensated well for your lack of growth. And two, it's gonna come to a point where it's gonna always be a necessity to get rid of you because you're gonna be obsolete.

God can't use you effectively if you don't grow. And I don't know about you, but I want to make sure that whatever I do in this life, God is pleased. And he can say, I can use Kevin in this area. That when I look at Kevin's progress, yeah, that dude failed a million times. He took a lot of off ramps to sin. He failed so many times, I can't even count. But he kept getting back up. And he kept progressing. Sometimes he was crawling there on his feet, hands and knees, but he was crawling.

That's what I want God to say. But at some point as Christians, we got to be aware what people tell them. You are too old to be where you are in context of how long you've known the Lord. And again, the expectation should be for growth, not for stagnation. One last scripture, 10. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12. It says, you have been believers so long that now you ought to be teaching others.

Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's Word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. Wow. The Hebrew writer was harsh, but he's telling the truth. So that's it for this episode. It was a little bit longer than I anticipated, but it's been a while since I've done a long one. And I hope that this was something that...

bless you and that you can share with others and maybe just not just for you but for someone else that you know they may be a new Christian and hopefully you have someone in your life that maybe you're disciple and maybe you're the big brother or the big sister to someone in your walk and let them see the real expectations for what it means to be a Christian. Let them see the truth about what God expects and what they should expect.

Kevin Toomer (44:15.054)
from being a Christian. So the things we gotta remember, as a bit of reiteration, that repentance is required but also repeated. So we gotta make sure we continue to repent for our sins.

that we have to understand that we have been targeted by the enemy. We've got to be ready and willing to handle the attacks that are coming. They're to come from multiple sides. That sin is still attractive. That even though we're Christians, we're still going to struggle with sin. That you're going to need thick skin. That you're going to have attacks from all over. So you've got to be able to handle it. You've to be able to run with the horses as opposed to just running with man like we learned about Jeremiah.

Fifthly, that you don't have a random right. do not have the right to remain silent. Everything you don't say or do say can't be held against you, and God's the court of law. And then lastly, you are too old for that, meaning you are too old to be stagnant and not growing as a Christian. So hopefully again, this is something that encouraged you, blessed you, maybe convicted you.

But whatever it is, I pray that this episode is something that you can use and maybe even pass on to someone else. If you have someone who's a new Christian in your life and maybe you're trying to figure out how to explain this Christianity stuff, send them this episode. Maybe this would give them a little bit of a spark or a little bit of an idea of what the truth of being a Christian is all about. Thank you for watching and listening. I pray this episode bless you. Got other episodes coming. I think I got a little bit of a...

streak in me so I'll be hit back with some of the other episodes. But as always, make sure your light shines brightest for the Lord Jesus Christ beyond the benediction. Until next time, be blessed.