Israel & Rachel Campbell "SOUP" Podcast
Join us for an exciting Season 2 of our podcast, which garnered over 7000 downloads last year! Your hosts, Rachel and Israel Campbell, are back to take you on an incredible journey. In this podcast, we invite you into the ongoing dialogues about life, love, parenting, relationships, spirituality, and whatever else sparks our interest!
Our motivation for creating this podcast remains unchanged: we believe that discipleship should encompass more than just a classroom experience; it should be a way of life. Drawing inspiration from Jesus' interactions with his disciples, we see that it was far from a traditional classroom setup. Instead, it was a continuous exchange of teachings and discussions encompassing all facets of life.
Imagine savoring a delicious bowl of soup – that's what our podcast is like. We're here to engage in honest and unfiltered conversations, covering a wide spectrum of topics. And now, we invite you to share this podcast with your friends, family members, or coworkers, just as you'd share a great meal. Just like Jesus and his disciples, we're here to explore the richness of life together!
So, come join us for another season of candid conversations as we dive into a little bit of everything – from the profound to the lighthearted!
Israel & Rachel Campbell "SOUP" Podcast
The Young Church: Contributions, Challenges, and the Call to Action | Campbell Soup Season 2 Episode 25
Embark with us on a journey of discovery as we uncover the rich tapestry of the early church's legacy—a legacy that continues to shape our society in profound ways. From the foundational role in establishing universities and hospitals to the spearheading of social reforms and the abolition of the slave trade, we unravel how Christianity has been a force for good throughout history. We confront the uncomfortable contradictions within the faith, such as self-proclaimed Christian slave owners, while also celebrating the genuine followers of Jesus who have consistently campaigned for human rights and equality. This episode promises to refresh your perspective on the church's contributions, guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Feel the pulse of contemporary Christianity's societal imprint in this candid conversation, where we address the messiness of church communities and the critical need to remain engaged. We shine a light on the church's role in charity, the abolition of slavery, the advancement of women's rights, and education, drawing a stark contrast between the generosity of Christians and atheists. Through the turbulence and imperfections, we advocate for a collective spiritual life that embraces the church's positive impact, highlighting that true discipleship involves engagement rather than retreat from community.
As we wrap up our series, we reflect on the individual and collective responsibilities of the church to serve as beacons of hope and catalysts for change. A personal account of a resilient church in Italy serves as a testament to the enduring influence of the church across the ages. We underscore the importance of cherishing a vibrant, community-reaching, and Spirit-empowered church, while also calling on listeners to consider their unique contributions to God's house. Join us in celebrating the transformative power of the church and share your insights as we continue to foster a community built on love, faith, and action.
hello and welcome to campbell's soup podcast what is? That israel. I'm trying to sound smart. You are amazing. Welcome back everybody. We're not going to be quiet. I tried.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that was awesome. I wasn't ready for it. I was like ready for welcome. I love it when I get you All of that. That was very good, okay, so we're talking about this week the young church acts in the early church, and we're actually doing this as a series at our young church. At our young church, and, of course, it is something that probably Rachel and I are the most passionate about, one of. I don't know if we could say it's the most babe, because that's saying a lot, isn't it, if we're the most passionate about anything.
Speaker 1:They say what are you most passionate about? It's what you give your most time to. I would say behind you, that is the thing I'm most passionate about.
Speaker 2:Okay, I love it, and so we really.
Speaker 2:One of the things of course with Campbell Soup is we're always talking about maybe some discipleship things that we can't fully say on a Sunday or don't have time to, we don't have time to, and then just through our walk and so many different things, and so really it is this series that we're doing on Sundays is kind of an overview, a lot about the church, and but we wanted to just talk a little bit about it, just to do some maybe some new things, maybe repeat some other things that we have said, but just kind of jump into it a little bit more.
Speaker 2:And you know, so much right now is against Christianity and against the church, and we did a whole series on, you know, living in Babylon, and we're not here to necessarily try to defend ourselves, but I do think that we have to renew our minds and not let the world initiate what the church is, because one of the phrases that we used on Sunday is the church on its worst day still been the best thing that has ever happened to this planet, and and so we really have to get that inside of us as Christians, because if we don't know that, I think that we won't value the church or maybe we'll have some hesitation putting our roots into the church, or maybe we'd have some hesitation being all in and really it's the only thing we can be all in on here on this planet, because everything else is not going in eternity.
Speaker 2:He's coming back for his church and so we really need to go ahead and do that. And you read something so powerful to me this morning that I really want you to maybe even read to the church this week, so this will be maybe second for them. But I think, just for this discipleship moment whether you're in the car, you're on a walk or you're on the way to school or whatever would you just share just kind of that a little bit and help us get that the right mentality about the church and what Christians have done?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, to be honest, guys, the world is working overtime at really trying to discredit the church and give the wrong history of what the church has been. And the church has had some really ugly days, but the church has also had some, like, more beautiful days. You know, any organization on this earth is going to have some things that we all are not proud of, and the church has that. But I have this real passion right now to make sure that people know what the church has done, because I remember this one time you were talking to Phoebe and Chloe and you were telling them about the historical church, israel and I come from a really good perspective on this, because both of us literally got taken out and hurt so badly by the church's young people. We're both pastors' kids. We've seen the church on its ugly days and we have been more healed by the church than we have ever been hurt. And the only reason that the church hurt us is because a person in the church hurt us, not God's beautiful church that is in his heart and on his mind all of the time and that he died for. And so I just want to read this, because it's a study that I researched that I love so much about the historical church and it says on any one day the church continues to make a difference to millions of lives across the world. Guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ to be a good influence on society, christianity has touched virtually every single part of our life. Over the centuries. The church has founded most major universities and schools. Hospitals and orphanage were started originally from Christians. Christians campaigned for prison reform, better housing and an end to the slave trade. Christians were involved in setting up many of the best-known charities, including Oxfam, the Salvation Army, red Cross, samaritan's Purse, the RSPCA, if you love those doggies. There is a Christian ethos behind the Boys and Girl Scouts of America movements. The church came up with the idea for hospices. Our greatest art, literature and music during the Renaissance were all birthed out of the church. We don't talk about this. We don't hear this history that we hear the world dogging Christians and the Christian way of life. But the church has been more influential. A quarter of all donations and charitable fundraising has happened through the church and is today still happening through the church. That's so beautiful and we need to, as the church, be proud of it. You know we've got a long way to go, but we've done so much and I want to read this. This is so powerful to me.
Speaker 1:Christianity has been the most powerful force in abolishing slavery. Slave auctions were once practiced in the United States and unfortunately, many of the slave owners called themselves Christians, but the true Christians, the Jesus followers, called themselves abolitionists. Eventually, they paved the way for the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that freed all black slaves. In 1957, pastor and doctor Martin Luther King Jr helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which assumed posture of Christian nonviolence to promote its objectives and began civil rights movement. It all started in the church and we don't hear about those things.
Speaker 1:We hear about the negative. There is a negative narrative about the church right now, but the church is not full of racist, bigoted people. The church that loves Jesus Christ is arising like never before and it has since, before our time, been doing more good on this earth than any other organization. I want to say one more thing that I find fascinating and you can do the research for yourself after this, but it's beautiful. Studies show that countries without Christianity have the highest rate of women's oppression. Wow, countries and civilization with Christianity in its fabric always have higher educated women, women who make more money and women who thrive.
Speaker 2:Wow, and I was actually just to add to that just one thing was, when it came to generosity, the difference between a Christian and an atheist is off the charts. Atheists don't give, they don't reach out, and so oftentimes they're only critics and can bring out all of our faults. But if we look at their own life, they have never deposited or made a difference in anybody else's, and so we have to love the church. And, yeah, are we apologetic for those bad leaders and the bad misrepresentation? I think Phoebe has a shirt that says on the back of it sorry that somebody misrepresented Jesus to you, that somebody misrepresented Jesus to you, and so we don't try to whitewash that or in some way not acknowledge it. But it's also pretty humbling to know that Jesus then would use us that are broken, that don't have it all together, and he would still use. He's not waiting for the perfect person or the perfect organization. He actually uses broken to hopefully, like you say, do more well than bad, and he kind of comes up with humanity being involved. There's going to be power struggles, there's going to be sin, there's going to be some wars that should not have been caused, some wars that should not have been caused and but, like you said, let's not throw away everything that the church has done. And then, of course, what the church is going to do and I think that that's a big thing too, that the enemy would love to try to get us to do is then we isolate ourselves. Oh, I'm not going to be a part of the church, because the church has hypocrites, yes, and you and I are one of them. But change comes. Change doesn't come from withdrawing. Change comes from being in the middle and actually being a change agent and actually being that thermostat that can change the environment, not just be a temperature that can say, well, they're not doing this right, they're not doing that at temperature gauge, but actually being in it.
Speaker 2:And I think that that was what you and I fell in love with is we had these stories of the church, stories of the church and my parents' church, your church, people that we knew, and we didn't allow that narrative. We actually said, well, god, I think we said this out loud, god, we really love you, but we don't really like your church. And then God started really healing us and was like, yeah, but I love my church, I gave my son for the church. The church is. If we get rid of the church, then we get rid of two thirds of the New Testament, because the New Testament was all about the church. The epistles are letters to the church.
Speaker 2:Book of Revelations hey, here's some revelations for the church. The book of Acts is the story of the birthing of the church, and so you cannot love Jesus and not love his church. They go hand in hand, and anybody that really really comes against the church, I get fearful of their relationship with Jesus, only because he is coming back for that and they always go together. And the only one, the only one in the entire universe that wants you to not be a part of church is the enemy, because Jesus wants you to be involved with community and church. And it's sticky, it's difficult, it's messy, it's annoying, it's annoying. And here's the thing we're talking about, the early church, and a lot of people will be like well, we just need to get back to the early church. The early church had issues too.
Speaker 1:The early church was more intense and there was probably, you think about, when Paul was talking to the church and saying stop arguing. Those of Chloe's household he was pinpointing and relationship breakdown is always going to be a part of it. There's always going to be somebody wanting to do their own thing. Think of all the people that Paul would rebuke or say goodbye to that wanted to do their own thing and teach their own way. That's been going on forever, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so we don't shy away from that. Community is difficult, but it's really. You don't get better. It's so weird, like the mentality of, oh, the church is bad. So I'm going to do, you know, I'm going to go out into the woods and I'm going to listen to three worship songs on Spotify and I'm going to listen to my favorite preacher that I like on my podcast. It doesn't build your spiritual life at all. Not saying that your favorite podcast person isn't great and that your three songs, but now it's all become what you want. I want to listen to what I want. I want to listen to this person. I resonate with them. I'm going to pick these three songs.
Speaker 2:Community is all going about church going. They didn't even sing the songs I like and I still worshiped. That's what worship is. Community is. I'm not here for the celebrity pastor, I'm here for the word of God and I'm here for the interaction and I felt like that was so powerful on Sundays, looking around at our church and seeing unity from different backgrounds and different things. That was not government mandated, like nobody came in and said okay, we need three Hispanic families and you, we need three Caucasians over here. We need three. You know all of this. This is just the beauty of the church, and it is growing. It's not perfect, but it never can get perfect. With you disengaging, it actually has a chance of getting perfected, all of us as we engage.
Speaker 1:And is there ever? In all humility I say I really humbly say that probably the most arrogant sentence that you could ever say is that I am the church and I don't need anyone else and I can just do this on my own. That's so arrogant because that's not what Jesus says. When Jesus, his heart, was always for the mass, always for the people and to doing it together. When he taught us how to pray, he said our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come, you know, give us this day. And if he wanted you to do church at home alone, with your own opinion and you're just so judgmental of every other Christian doing it wrong he would have taught us how to pray. My Father who art in heaven and he didn't. He did plural because he loves the church.
Speaker 1:You know, the church for me, israel in my life, taught me how to do life well, because there were always things that we had to choose each other over. And just as a young girl, I remember the older women and watching them raise their kids, watching them serve in God's house, watching them get through arguments. Those things are really important because it's not just the worship service, it's the doing life together. It's the connectedness of it. You know family units right now, especially where we live in California, they're broken down, people aren't going home for their holidays, they're going to their friend's house, and so the family of God I believe in this next 20 years is going to be so important to people for connection, on finding out the reasons why we're here on earth, finding community. All of those things are just so powerful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's. There is really number one. Historically, no organization that is can keep up with it. It has a better track record. So you know, bring out the negatives. Still is better and long lasting. I mean, it has outlasted some technologies. The telegraph came and went and it's still going and it has not died with the inventing of Amazon. Amazon did not put the church out of business and there are tons of businesses that have gone out of business because of Amazon and the church just keeps on going. Cs Lewis says that I think the quote was the church will outlive the universe and I love that.
Speaker 2:2,024 years of history of good, bad, dark times. We thought COVID was bad. There was a period of history where COVID, the Black Plague, was 400 years of darkness, the Dark Ages, and the church was able to come through that and pioneer, so that you can have an assurance and a faith of this is the vehicle that God is going to use and I get to be a part of it and so it's not a like, almost an apologetic. I go to church. I should be so ashamed in this world that we live in. No, it's actually. It's the greatest privilege. It's been going along for 2000 years Blockbuster video couldn't even last 18. Come on, we are part of that, and so maybe again it's Israel's moment.
Speaker 2:Some practical things about that. That early church. The Bible says that they devoted themselves. That's a big word that we can say. They devoted themselves to the doctrine of the apostles, they devoted themselves to meals and the Lord's Supper and they devoted themselves to prayer. So, rach, maybe break down some of those things as a listener to a podcast. What does that mean to you to be devoted to those things?
Speaker 1:I think the beauty of the church is that we have a personal and corporate responsibility, and so corporate responsibility is together we are building something that is the hope of the world. And what the church is called to do is be a lighthouse in the middle of people's storms. And we're not called to be this safe club that locks ourselves in and it's us against the world, but we're really called to be changing our cities. We, as churches, we should have non-Christian community relationships, we should be in the school systems, we should be serving in the police departments and things like that. That's something that God's really called us to do. But then we also have that's the corporate responsibility of the church. But the personal responsibility as a Christian who belongs to a church is to devote. I have to personally be the one who guards my heart, who checks the soil of my heart. Am I someone in this church? Am I adding life and beauty and faith, or am I becoming someone who actually is hurting the church because something has caused me to be offended or put off? Am I sowing seeds of disloyalty? Am I questioning things? What's the soil of my heart? Because, as the church, there is a personal responsibility in my life before God to have the right soil of my heart, have that pH balance. To where am I adding to God's house? Am I beautifying? Is it better once I've touched it than before? And I think that sometimes we lose the reverence of that in the community. We can go to church and take so much for granted.
Speaker 1:And when we went to Europe, I was thinking about how we got lost. Israel and I love to get lost on vacation. It might have started by accident, but now it's on purpose. But we love to get lost in cities that are safe to get lost in. And we were in Europe. I think we were somewhere in Italy. It was outside of Rome. I think it was that day we took all those back roads and it was crazy.
Speaker 1:Israel. That day we took all those back roads and it was crazy. Israel was driving in Italy but we found this church and there was a sign that was a historical marker and it was talking about the war that had broken out, that had decimated the city, but that that very church was still standing. And if you go to Europe, you see all of these gorgeous buildings of churches that are the center of the city, everything that went on in the city. The church was the center and it just moves my heart so much because some of them are closed down, some of them are dead, some of them are still going, but the church stands and God's heart is for his house and I just love the history of the church.
Speaker 1:You know, it's not something that every part of it is something we should be proud of, but the church is something we need to be proud of. The church is something we don't apologize for and it's something we should never take for granted. If you are a part of a church that is preaching the word of God with truth and it's reaching its community and there is the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through the ministries of your church and through the ministries that flow out of that church, be thankful for it. Don't take it for granted. Don't be someone that always finds what's wrong, because I promise you, if you come to Flourishing Church, you can make a top 10 list of things that are wrong, probably in the first 30 seconds. That's just the truth. That are wrong, probably in the first 30 seconds. That's just the truth.
Speaker 1:It's never going to be exactly what you need, but the enemy's greatest plan is to get you to think that the church is not powerful, that the church is not important. It's not God's movement on earth, and so I just want to encourage you don't ever take for granted what you have, and maybe even pray about God. Why am I here? Why am I here If I'm seeing things in this church that are frustrating me? How could I add strength to that and not just be someone who's divisive and always sees the negative? But God, how could you anoint my hands to serve your house? How could you anoint my mouth to encourage the leadership of this church? How could you anoint my mouth to encourage the leadership of this church? What could I do to add strength and beauty to what you call strong and beautiful?
Speaker 2:Oh, rach, there's a whole nother podcast on that Kind of gives me some and let's maybe talk about this just for a second. But yeah, because I think that there is. I've heard some people and they're very like they don't honor the church and it's very. You have to be careful in a society today that is such a dishonoring society and we have to be careful that we never carry that when it comes to the church. And so I've heard some preachers say well, if your pastor doesn't say this or this, you should just leave.
Speaker 2:I don't know if that's really the wisest, because you say these blanket statements and you don't really know what's going on, and I think that what you just said would be number one first start with Holy Spirit. Is there something I'm supposed to be involved with? You know what I mean? I don't think it helps the church when somebody attacks the church. And so, as a pastor, I'm thinking not just little C, I'm thinking big C, and so I'm very careful of the blanket statements about big church. You got to be careful. I think you need to honor.
Speaker 2:I think there is some things and the Bible says that there were seven churches in Revelation. There is some things and uh, and the Bible says that there were seven churches in revelation, and so there were seven specific revelations that Jesus had given John for seven specific churches. Be careful that you don't take your specific churches, uh assignment, and then put it on somebody else's that they need to do. Do you know what I'm saying, rach? And so we want to honor that, and so, learning the process of God I love what you said, rach, just learning the process. What can I add to? And that really does come to a real shift in the church, because the church is not a building. Look inside, see all the people, all that it really is. It's this corporate thing, it's all of us, and so that means you're vital. But if you're a consumer or you're just an attendee, then maybe there is some things that you're not fully vested in, so that we can actually become the church.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's a saying and it just says when the church is yeah and I, you know there's a saying and it just says when the church is an option for you, it will. It won't even be something important to your children. Basically, that's what it says. If you treat the church as an option like, yeah, should we go to church this Sunday or not, instead of a. This is who we are as a family and you know we are pastors and so you know people think, well, that's your job to go to church.
Speaker 1:If there have been seasons where we weren't pastoring and we were doing other things, the church is not a job for us and we make sure of that, that we don't treat the church as a job for us, but every family.
Speaker 1:If you treat the church as it's just an option, it won't be a necessity for your kids and that's scary because the world right now is raging and there is so much confusion, there is so much evil being taught as truth and as wisdom, that the house of God is more important than ever, and you were talking about that on Sunday morning just how the house of God is really a place where you can find your true north, where you can hear the word of God, where you can have witness to that, and you can also have other people that are. You know they believe what you're believing. They're standing with you, they're fighting the fight of faith with you, they're praying when you're going through stuff. All of those things I believe in the next 20 years. If we don't have that, if we don't have that community and we're not part of churches, it's going to be very difficult to stay strong in our faith.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so many different things that we are bound by. We're sometimes bound by our political party or our education level or where we went to college, university, or maybe just our economic status or things like that, and all those things fade and the church continues. We've got to remember that we are actually closer to brothers and sisters in Christ than we are of anything else and so really recognizing that. So I am nervous to do blanket statements about maybe even other denominations or you know other Christian groups and try to just well, they're wrong because they don't. You know they don't do this and they don't do that.
Speaker 2:I want to respect the body of Christ and there are elbows, there are knees, there are so many different things and I think the awareness that we have and the love for God's house, this generation can get that, like you were saying, if we can be devoted to that. That's what continues the next 2000 years or till Jesus comes. Sure doesn't feel like it's going to be 2000 years when people are outside looking at eclipses freaking out, but I do think there is some. We'll withstand. The gates of hell will not prevail when we have a true honor and love for God's house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, speaking of eclipse, I do think that the church is about to see its greatest days, because I think that how people responded to the eclipse, the false prophets that were saying all kinds of things in the Christian world, and the way people were clinging to those words, and also how the world was asking questions about end times and things, we're at a really interesting place in history where people are desperately searching for answers, something that will save them. That is exciting. It's kind of weird. It's weird to hear Christians do weird stuff. Sometimes you're like what are you talking about? But at the same time, there is this real spiritual hunger and desperation.
Speaker 1:I'm excited about what God is going to do through his church and through his people, through the bride. I believe that you know we talk about this all the time, but we're going to see a lot of souls saved, we're going to see a revival of salvations and so, as a church member, what can you do? You can get ready. You can be ready to help those little infants change their diapers when they get saved, helping the church being the one. You know, Israel and I are in a season right now where we're not young anymore. We are turning into those spiritual parents and it's a funny role to be in because it's this real transition. But we're up for it. We are ready to help people do life well. We're thankful that we have gone through enough tests where we can give wisdom that we've learned through the hard yard, so maybe they don't have to. And you know what can you do when you're listening to this podcast. What is it that God's requiring of you? To build his beautiful church?
Speaker 2:Amen. So put your shoulders back, put your head up and look to where your hope come from and have a strong backbone of the church has been the most vital organization on the planet and have a backbone of and I'm going to be a part of it, and the fixing that needs to be happening will happen, because I'm involved and I'm going to be devoted, I'm going to pray, I'm going to serve and we'll get better. And uh, and there has been a uh, a pruning. There has been all of that because God loves his house and he wants it to be better, and so we will definitely get better. The future is bright. Love his bride and watch it change your life.
Speaker 2:I've never known anybody that has loved God's house, that, then, their house isn't a place full of love and transformation too. So we'll see you guys. Give us some comments about that. Maybe something jumped up inside of you Love you guys. Or maybe a cool fact about the church? Give us a comment about that, because we would love to share it. So, love you guys. See you soon. Thank you for watching.
