No Sanity Required
No Sanity Required is a weekly podcast hosted by Brody Holloway and Snowbird Outfitters. Each week, we engage culture and personal stories with a Gospel-driven perspective. Our mission is to equip the Church to pierce the darkness with the light of Christ by sharing the vision, ideas, and passions God has used to carry us through 26 years of student ministry. Find more content at swoutfitters.com.
No Sanity Required
Is Denominational Division Worth It? | Tailgate Theology
How do we navigate the Bible’s teachings in today's world?
In this bonus episode, Brody explores the complexities of personal convictions and denominational differences by addressing things like dress code, dietary choices, music preferences, and alcohol consumption. Brody walks through Colossians 2 and explains how to focus on what truly matters while avoiding unnecessary religious rules. It is crucial for believers to balance living in submission to the Holy Spirit and personal convictions.
Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on how to honor what Scripture says.
- Colossians 2:6-8
- Colossians 2:16-23
- Romans 14
- What Does The Bible Say About Alcohol & Marijuana
- Red Oak Church
Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help improve No Sanity Required and help others grow in their faith.
Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
I want to consider this a bonus episode and I think I told you we're going to after summer we're going to try to put out a few of these. So this is not part of the regular weekly rotation, but I just wanted to drop some extra content. Hopefully it'll be helpful and an encouragement. This is, I would say this is a beyond the flannel graph, or maybe tailgate theology, for those of you that are new.
Speaker 1:We sort of subcategorize our episodes into several different categories. One is no sanity stories, where we tell stories from different people that are making gospel and kingdom impact in different walks of life. And then we do tailgate theology, which is sort of a deep dive into theology and doctrine, but from the perspective of a lay person, not someone maybe who's got a PhD or even a master's degree from a seminary, but someone who's just studied and wants to be a student of the word and maybe that study methodology looks a little different because you haven't been trained in a seminary but you're committed to doctrine and faithful study of scripture. And then beyond the flannel graph is where we look at familiar Bible stories and passages and we do a deeper dive as adults most of us, or as a person who's been a believer that might've known the story for a while, but you, you, you want to go. We want to go a little deeper and peel back some layers to that story. We call that that series beyond the flannel graph. We've covered things like David, daniel, um, ruth you know different stories from scripture, some of Jesus's ministry healings, um, but.
Speaker 1:But I think this might be something I would include in tailgate theology. I want to look at the problem with majoring on things that don't matter, things that don't matter when it comes to the Christian faith, denominational division and personal belief. So I hope it's something that's insightful for you. Welcome to. No Sanity Required.
Speaker 2:Welcome to no Sanity Required from the Ministry of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. A podcast about the Bible, culture and stories from around the globe.
Speaker 1:All right, there's a passage in Colossians. I want to read it to you. I'm reading from the New Living Translation I'm going to follow that up and read it to you from the CSB, the Christian Standard Bible. So this is in Colossians. This is Colossians, chapter 2. Colossians, chapter 2. We read it from actually start with the Christian Standard Bible. It's beginning in verse 16.
Speaker 1:Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come. The substance is Christ. Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind. He doesn't hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
Speaker 1:Now let me read it to you in the new living translation. So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths, for these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come, and Christ himself is that reality. Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they've had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body, for he holds the whole body, together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. And the New Living Translation I'll keep going here, if you read on it says you have died with Christ and he set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.
Speaker 1:So why would you keep on following the rules of the world such as don't handle, don't taste, don't touch? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise, but they require strong devotion, pious self-denial and severe bodily discipline, but they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires. So I want to just this is probably gonna be a shorter episode, a little bit of a bonus episode here and I want to drill into something that comes up often in my mind. I think about this a lot and it has to do with what are man-made rules, or what are things that are maybe cultural, not to the church, but to a society? I'll give you an example. Why is it that we take our hats off when the national anthem is played, and so then we're expected to take our hats off when we pray to the Lord. Where does that come from? Is it scriptural? There is a reference in I think 2.
Speaker 1:Corinthians, one of the Corinthian letters, there's a reference to men aren't to worship or pray with their heads covered, but then it also says that women aren't to worship or pray with their heads uncovered. So why is it that there's this expectation for men to take their hats off in church or during prayer, but women don't have to have head coverings? Now, another exceptions to this. There is a denominational exception. A lot of brethren churches and some more traditional denominations. The women do wear head coverings. They might wear a scarf, uh, you know, a bandana type scarf or a doily looking. I remember when I was a kid, my mom and and grandparents were connected to a church I believe it was a brethren church. The ladies would wear what to me looked like doilies on top of their heads. I mean, it's not, I don't have a problem with that at all?
Speaker 1:Not in the least. But just like what? What? What's the difference? Like? Why is it that? Uh, what's right, what's wrong? Is there a right or wrong?
Speaker 1:Are you supposed to wear a head covering in church? If you're a woman, are you not supposed to wear one? If you're a man, does it matter? Some people say, well, it has to do with hair. Men aren't supposed to have long hair, women are supposed to have long hair. I don't know, man.
Speaker 1:It's that we have to be careful when we start to try to drill into the context of scripture. I want to be. I don't want to say, well, in Corinth you weren't allowed to wear a head covering, but that was only in Corinth, cause, that's also those. Those are the letters where Paul talks about speaking in tongues and people will say, well, there's a certain cultural aspect to that that mattered in Corinth. It doesn't matter now. So how much of the Bible in terms of behavior, behavior modification rules, how do we know what to follow? What translates to today?
Speaker 1:We did an episode a couple of years ago that was wildly popular, downloaded thousands and thousands of times, listened to tens of thousands of times, I think, if not more. I think it was called something like tattoos and beer. I don't remember now Something like that we talked about. Why is it that some people have a conviction against tattoos, against drinking alcohol of any kind? Why is it that some people don't have that conviction? I'm not right here saying here's what's right, here's what's wrong. It's just something to talk through and think through.
Speaker 1:Why are there certain expectations in some churches and denominations to dress a certain way for church on sunday? What you know? We're living in a day and age where most modern churches are are totally cool, with folks showing up in shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops and jeans. But when I was growing up, most more conservative churches, you dressed really nice to go to church and some churches still do that. Some pastors would never think of showing up not in a suit. Pastors that I respect, guys like MacArthur, piper, lawson, begg they wear a suit on Sunday morning when they preach. So what's right, what's wrong? Does it matter, et cetera.
Speaker 1:I remember years ago, little and I were only married for a year maybe, maybe two. It was in the first couple years of our marriage and there was a guy, we were visiting a church and we went to Sunday school. It was a rural country Baptist church Guy says Sunday school teacher, the conversation comes up about what is appropriate to wear to church and he said well, the reason, I think you should dress in your best. He didn't say dress up or dress not, he said. He said dress in your best and his reason for that is reason. And he said the reason. I think that is because when you go to church, you're going to meet with the King, you're going to see the King, and I remember sitting there and thinking, oh, that don't sit well with me, cause I pray in the mornings and read my Bible. I think of that as my time alone with the Lord. Am I supposed to dress up for that? Because I'm going to see the King. I'm coming into the throne room of the King when I pray, so it doesn't make sense. So is it then? Well, it's when you come into a specific building to meet with your king with specific group of people. And what about people that don't? That don't have nice clothing, but you want them in church?
Speaker 1:I'll tell you this that I made a commitment when we started Red Oak church that I would predominantly wear T-shirts, wear a ball cap, dress in the everyday attire, that if you see me at church on Sunday. I'm not going to look at Red Oak. This is not when I travel and speak in a church. I'm always mindful of what's sort of accepted and expected in those churches, but at my home church, red Oak, where I preach once a month, typically it's the first Sunday of the month, but I'm there every week. If you see me at church on Sunday, what I'm wearing, if you see me Tuesday in town, thursday at a volleyball game, friday night at a football game, saturday at the grocery store, I'm going to be wearing the same stuff Boots, jeans or Carhartt type pants, boots of some sort, more than likely and a t-shirt and nine times out of 10, a ball cap.
Speaker 1:So why do I do that at church on Sunday? Because the people that I'm targeting to try to get to church already have this expectation or this idea. That's cultural. They think, well, I can't come to church because I don't have the right clothing and I oftentimes. This happened.
Speaker 1:Yesterday I'm leaning into a guy's truck door, got my hands on his door, talking into his window in the parking lot of Dollar General and I said man, when are you going to come visit red Oak? He's sitting there smoking a cigarette. He's rough as a cob. He's a mountain guy and I said don't give me that I ain't got the clothes for it, cause I know this guy's pretty rough and doesn't have a lot and lives almost off the grid. I said what I'm wearing right here is what I'll be wearing at church Sunday. And I'm you know, I'm in their work clothes Basically. He said I know it, I know it, I just got to get over there. So many people that come to our church that that do like to dress up. Nothing wrong with that. Ain't nothing wrong with that. You want to come to church in a and you have a personal conviction about a sport coat or a tie or a dress skirt or wearing your best, then you should do that. If that's a personal conviction you have.
Speaker 1:The point that Paul will repeatedly make on these issues in Scripture is don't let culture shape you. Let the conviction that you carry shape you. You can also read about this in Romans 14. He talks about what you eat, dietary practices. I love it because he uses the word pious in the NLT. I just wanted to read it. That's why I wanted to read it. In verse 18, he says don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial.
Speaker 1:It might be well you should be a vegetarian Seventh-day Adventist. I don't know if that's a denomination or a cult, I don't know. I think some of their early stuff was very cultish, but I know some Seventh-day Adventists that I believe are Christ followers or truly believers, but a lot of them abstain from meat. Don't worry about Jewish dietary practices. Don't try to be a good Jew and not eat pork because you think it's going to make you more religious or spiritual. Pious, by the way, just means religious practice, religious appearance, and Paul would say in Romans 14, eat whatever meat you want to, I don't care, I eat what I want to. It don't matter if it's been sacrificed to a pagan idol, I'll eat it if I'm hungry. I think sometimes people major on things that don't matter. Someone asked me a couple years ago now, a year or two ago, I think it's probably a couple of years ago and I love this person and respect them a lot, a lot, so I'm not being contrary here. Uh, but he said I, I I don't understand why everybody, so many men at Red Oak, wear hats in church, and I'm not trying to make a defense for this or be argumentative, but I want to say not wearing a hat in a building.
Speaker 1:That is rooted in American military culture. You know, my granddad would get mad if I I mean if I walked in a building and left my hat on my head, he would get mad. Well, it's because he was. He was a veteran who that had been drilled into him, you know, and it went back to even pre military service days for him as a cultural thing. You know, there was a time where people took their hats off when they went inside, y'all. We don't live in that culture now. That's not a cultural thing here.
Speaker 1:When you go in Ingalls, you don't take your hat off. When you go in the, when you go to the movie theater, you don't want to take your hat off, you know. So just doesn't matter. I have I still for matter, I have. I still, for the most part, take my hat off when I'm praying in public.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you this I don't take my hat off when I'm praying in private. Why do I do that? Well, cause in public I don't want to offend someone else or distract. I don't really care if it offends them, but I don't want it to be a distraction, I don't want to just be contrary. So think about things that don't major on, things that don't matter. Now I want to speak to the other side of this, where it's like, don't have an attitude of, hey, this is what I'm going to do and I don't care what anybody else thinks about it, cause the scripture does teach in Romans 14, that we should be mindful of the convictions of other people. Paul says I'll give up eating meat altogether If it's going to help my brother, my sister. You know, I'll give it up. I won't do it anymore. I think that's a good attitude and mindset to have. I'll give something up, I won't hold on to my quote, unquote, right my freedom if it's going to cause someone else to struggle.
Speaker 1:There's also the idea that sometimes we blur lines and we say well, we might apply this to something like the consumption of alcohol, which we've addressed on here before. There's nothing inherently wrong or sinful about drinking alcohol. If someone has a glass of wine. If someone has a nice, a social drink with some friends, a shot of nice bourbon. If somebody has a nice, um, uh, a social drink with some friends, a shot of nice bourbon. If somebody has a beer watching the ball game there, listen to me, there is no biblical prohibition against that. It's just.
Speaker 1:I don't care what anybody says If they try to make it out to be a sinful thing, it's just, they're not. It's wrong and somebody will say, yeah, but it's wrong because people could become drunk Well, people could also manage it well and not become drunk. I know a lot of people that that enjoy alcohol and never crossed the line. Now we'll speak to the other side of this, because I know a lot of people that cannot control their quote unquote freedoms in Christ. I've seen so many people who said, who take the approach of well, I'm a Christian, so I can have a beer. And then the next thing I know they've had more alcohol than they should consume and they've lost total control of their faculties?
Speaker 2:They're not they're not.
Speaker 1:they're filled with wine to the point of drunkenness, and I've been guilty of that I'll just tell you. So I've heard preachers say I've never been drunk or I've never had a sip of alcohol. Y'all since I've been ordained to preach, I've been intoxicated accidentally Right um a couple of times.
Speaker 1:I'm not not proud of that. Just, it got carried away and so had to step away from that at that time years ago. Step away from that, um, and one more recently when I say years, I don't mean more recently like this, you know, last 4th of July, I don't mean like that but more recently. There was a situation where I was sitting with some friends and I'm just being transparent, I know we got students that listen to this and I don't have alcohol in my refrigerator. I don't go. I'm not a person that, like, goes to the restaurant, orders a beer, I don't. But there have been times in my life where, uh, I, I accepted an alcoholic beverage because it seemed like the right thing to do in a certain situation I'm old enough, it's not illegal and then, um, it affected me. I felt, you know, I felt like, oh, that affects me. I don't like the way that made me feel, made me feel like I could feel the effect of the alcohol and I think then it's like, man, this might be a problem.
Speaker 1:Safety says just steer clear of it, so just don't drink you know, so there's a tension that you're wrestling with, where it's like can I do this? Should I not do this? Should I? Should I wear a hat in church? Should I not wear a hat in church? Well, for me, usually I'm not going to wear it, just because I know there are some people in there that it's. It's just offensive for them and to them and they don't like it and I don't. I don't want to just be an antagonist. At the same time, I'm not offended when somebody else is wearing one, and there are times where I'll I'll put one on and wear it. You know it's.
Speaker 1:I don't have a hard and fast rule. The point is, I think the spirit behind this episode and the heart that I'm trying to drive at here is don't create rules that are like live and die rules Live by them, die by them. If it's not laid out clearly in Scripture what you wear to church, what you eat, now there's clear teaching. Don't be a slave to something food, drink. Don't be a slave to exercise and body image, you know. Don't be a slave to health and fitness. That goes across the board, but don't let things that don't matter matter more than they should. What music you listen to. When I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to listen to music that had a drum beat in it. Who in the world came up with that rule? That was the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. You know like now I'm married to a drummer, but at the same time, there there are lines that I need to be careful about when it comes to music, because there's some music that not only does it not bring glory and honor to the Lord, but it might be distracting. It might be Not only does it not bring glory and honor to the Lord, but it might be distracting. It might create sinful thinking or temptation. It might glorify sinful behavior, especially sexual behavior or use of drugs or abuse. There's a lot of that. In country music and hip-hop music. You'll hear a lot of this. So here's the main point of this episode. I need to come to a point where I live with personal conviction, but I don't project that personal conviction on. Other people Live with personal conviction. So there's actually two points here.
Speaker 1:Figure out how do you live in submission to the Holy Spirit and personal conviction, because our passage, what Paul's saying in Colossians, is, if you go back all the way back to verse 6, so we started in verse 16, but if you go back to verse 6, he's basically saying man in Christ, you're free from a bunch of man-made rules, like he says, if your faith is built on Christ and you're a thankful person that loves the Lord and is pursuing him in worship. He says in verse 8, don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies or high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking rather than from Christ. No, you can't wear a hat in church. We take our hat off when we play the national anthem, so you should take it off in church. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no anthem, so you should take it off in church. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:I hold a much higher view of Jesus and his church than I do of my nation. That's just a fact. I'm a patriot too. The freedom of Americans has been blood bought, sacrifice of patriots, those who are willing to lay their lives down, and and I consider myself a patriot and a like a constitutional conservative person I'm thankful for the men and women that have served. I'm so thankful for the men in our church that are veterans. Some of my closest friends are combat veterans, but that my my loyalty as an American, to a flag and a nation does not come higher than and over my loyalty to the cross of Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1:Paul says in Galatians, chapter six may it be far be it for me, may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of Christ Jesus. So, taking my hat off, uh, when the flag is raised and the and the anthem is played, I will always do that because I respect and admire the flag and I remember and that is a cultural act of taking that hat off, it's recognized in our culture. This is what you do when the flag goes up. My boys and girls are to put their hands over their heart, whatever you're doing. If it's at a ball game, you stop what you're doing, you look to the flag and in that moment you listen with your hand over your heart, your hat off your head, and you reflect on what freedom has cost so many for us to be free. But I'm not going to take that rule and apply it to the freedom of worshiping alongside of God's people in church on Sunday. It's a different context for me. It's my thought Now again, I said I'm going to typically take my hat off so that someone else isn't offended, the point being it's just not a big deal.
Speaker 1:Don't make a big deal out of something that's not a big deal. Don't create rules of religious piety so that you can be more religious. This is what the Pharisees did. Don't do that. Don't do it. Don't take rules that were cultural and social in America in the 1950s or 70s or whatever, and apply them to worship in the church in 2024, 2030 or 2040, you know?
Speaker 1:Just some thoughts. Just some thoughts. That's about all I got on that Just wanted to get you thinking. A little bit of bonus content. I hope that it's helpful. Let's just love the Lord, lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be pure in your worship. Live with conviction. I will say this If you feel conviction about something, what is conviction? It's a convinced conscience. If the Lord convinces your conscience that you shouldn't have that alcoholic drink, then you should abstain from alcohol. That's the Holy Spirit protecting you from going down a path that could be destructive. Don't drink, don't do it. That's important. It's very important to listen to the conscience that is under the guidance and submission to the Holy Spirit. Have a convinced conscience. That's called conviction. Live with conviction. If you're convicted that you shouldn't put your hat on in church, then don't do it. Don't wear a hat in church, but at the same time, don't impose your convictions on other people.
Speaker 1:Now if you have a conviction that the scripture teaches that biblical marriage is between one man and one woman and you hold to that conviction, then yes, when you see a friend or loved one or someone you care about living with their girlfriend or abandoning their spouse in an adulterous relationship, now we're in a different. We're in a different sphere and we want to confront that in love, but live. Live as those who hold one another accountable. That's a different category. So things to think about. I don't know what you want to do with this episode. It's a little bonus content. I hope it's at least thought-provoking, gets you thinking Sometimes. That's all we're trying to do here and maybe it'll be helpful. Maybe it'll bring some clarity to somebody, help you get your thinking in the right direction. Y'all have an awesome rest of your day. We'll be back here next time with some no sanity content. World thinks we're crazy. No sanity is required in the world's economy of wisdom when it comes to following Jesus. So let's live on mission this week, see y'all.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to. No Sanity Required. Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a rating. It really helps. To no Sanity Required. Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a rating. It really helps. Visit us at SWOutfitterscom to see all of our programming and resources and we'll see you next week. On no Sanity Required.
