WestGate Church Teaching WestGate Church

You don’t have to be a sociologist to see that selfishness and self-centeredness seem to be the default setting for us humans. Left to ourselves, people (often) use other people for their own gain. Ruth Nazanin BetEivaz stops by to talk about Philippians 2 and Paul’s incredible passage about the staggering humility of Jesus. We chat about how humility shows up in our world, why it’s so attractive to us and why it’s so difficult for us to live out. Ruth also shares how an act of humility by her sister changed her whole life. And as hip-hop heads, Ruth and David are the *only* theologians in the US talking about how Philippians 2 could solve the ongoing battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Also, David shares a particularly humiliating story about that involves him, a skunk and Safeway.

The Silicon Valley is a place of chasing. Chasing success. Chasing more. Chasing upward movement. But this relentless pace can be utterly exhausting. In contrast to this, Paul says that Jesus provides a different model of what it means to be human and find life. And counterintuitively - Jesus shows us that true life is found not by climbing the ladder for your own gain, but by descending in humility to serve other people. And if we follow suit, and live a life of humility, serving God and serving others, we will find not only joy, not only life, but God Himself.

As children of the 80s, things have changed *quite a bit* in the realm of civic politics for David and Jay. We chat about how changes in technology have shifted the way that people engage with politics - and how that’s not always for the better. We talk about what it means to follow Paul’s instructions in Philippians 1 to “live as citizens of the gospel of King Jesus.” And finally, we discuss author Kaitlyn Schiess’s book “A Liturgy of Politics” which says that the modern political/news machine sends a number of messages to us including:
* The Prosperity Gospel (money is what’s really most important)
* The Patriotic Gospel (requires uncritical allegiance to one party - or one country)
* The Security Gospel (candidate so-and-so will keep you safe from harm)
And then we talk about how the Gospel of Jesus confronts each of these and often, upends them.

Speakers: David Tieche + Jay Kim

When Paul was writing the letter to the church at Philippi, a man named Nero was Caesar. Nero’s favorite titles were “Lord” and “Savior” and his demands of allegiance were total. To declare any other emperor (or king) as lord or savior was dangerous. But that’s exactly what Paul goes all around the empire doing. And Paul’s message to the Philippians is clear: living as citizens of God’s kingdom means declaring an alternative Gospel. This is a message with real edges. It means that in the midst of a false empire, Christians are called to declare the true kingdom. And in the midst of a false emperor, Christians are called to follow a true King. And as citizens of a different kingdom in the midst of this world’s kingdoms, Christians are called to live differently.

Hey! It’s a gift from God that no one in their right mind wants! Suffering! Join David Tieche and David Kim as they dive into the Biblical theme of suffering, both in the life of Jesus and in perhaps the most famous Biblical story of suffering: Job. The “Davids” talk about why we run from suffering (and the common ways we do so) and why suffering is such a powerful tool for spiritual development in the hands of God. They also basically just quote author and pastor Tim Keller (and his book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering) for 30 minutes because he’s SO GOOD on this topic.

Speakers: David Tieche + David Kim

If there’s one certainty in life, it’s that disease, death and disappointment will visit you. And yet, nobody wants to hear that. Let alone deal with that reality. Our secular world - whose consumerist culture screams messages that the goal of life is comfort and pleasure - is simply *terrible* at helping us cope with pain and suffering. In the middle of this, the ancient words of the Apostle Paul help us see how suffering is the Way of Jesus. And that not only does Paul say that suffering can have a deeply redemptive role in the story of our lives (and of those around us) - but he shows us the unlikely key to getting through these times of suffering.