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Nathan shares his thoughts on how misunderstanding "Good Guys vs. Bad Guys" can lead to an inverted gospel of moral superiority, and how it contributes to the problem of "Us Against Them." And, along the way, Nathan realizes that he's not the Jedi he thought, but he was the Sith the whole time. Book Club! - 0:00 * “With” by Skye Jethani (https://amzn.to/3d0fVdd) Intro - 2:52 Good guys vs. Bad guys - 4:30 * The Empire Strikes Back (https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/star-wars-the-empire-strikes-back-episode-v/iqtDTZAewwYl) * Darkwing Duck (https://www.disneyplus.com/series/darkwing-duck/1qumCwZLIQ5y) * Rescuers Down Under (https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/the-rescuers-down-under/2PADbLhnZ6SH) * How to know if someone’s a bad guy * Smokes cigarettes * They’re ugly * Foreign accent (Russian or German, but the worst is British) * OT “heroes” are very flawed people * We’re not necessarily supposed to emulate the heroes at all times * Noah had a dark ending (Genesis 9) * Abraham lying about his wife being his wife (Genesis 20) * David & Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) * Jacob & Esau (Genesis 25) * Judah & Tamar (Genesis 38) * We read ourselves into the best parts of the story * Going to church = I’m a good guy * The G.O.D. Club (sorry Jodie) * We associate being a Christian with moral superiority * The natural response to meeting God is not “I’m so great” The Gospel of Moral Superiority - 4:30 * The need to feel “good enough” to become a Christian * Focusing so much on right vs. wrong that we miss the forest * Fear of morality outside Christianity * We are skeptical of things not written by people we always agree with * We should also be skeptical of those we think we do agree with * Leads us to hide any darkness we find inside ourselves * We then hide the shortcomings of our leaders * Ravi Zacharias scandal (https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/february/ravi-zacharias-rzim-investigation-sexual-abuse-sexting-rape.html) Us Against Them - * We should be the salt of the earth not the starch of the vest (Matthew 5:13) * Today means: authentic, guard down, not worried about perceptions * Book: “Unchristian” by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman (https://amzn.to/31bi1BG) * Rethinking how we measure ourselves * Jesus came to the “in group” and reached out to the “outsider” * Thought experiment: Tell yourself the “Good Samaritan” story and substitute the person you can’t stand as the Samaritan * God leaves no room for someone we’re NOT supposed to love * “Jesus the Pharisee” - Joseph Shulam (https://soundcloud.com/user-723901623/jesus-the-pharasee-north) * There is no outsider! There is no “us vs them” * Love actively