Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch. In today's episode, we're throwing it back, which means we're taking a look at other episodes we've done in the past, some of our most popular or controversial episodes, and revisiting them, especially in light of comments that we've received from you, our listeners. And today's episode, we're throwing it back to an episode we did on Jordan Peterson.

Now little refresher here because Dr. Peterson has been a regular guest, if you will, on Wake Up, Look Up. Someone we talk about pretty often. He's an ideological thinker from Canada who made his start as part of the manosphere, so far so called Internet space where young men receive guidance on how to make something of themselves. And in that space, doctor Peterson was kind of a clarion call for responsibility and and work ethic for getting married, having children, working hard, and making something of yourself, including writing a book on the 12 kind of steps to becoming a responsible adult, particularly aimed at young men. But like a lot of thinkers, doctor Peterson built a following, and then from that following launched in to other areas.

He's become a prominent voice in conservative politics on conservative issues. He's also take talked a lot about God. He's become a thinker and speaker on religion, including going on a tour, a speaking tour, where he was talking about what it means to wrestle with God. And frequently on wake up look up, we have come back to this question, should we as Christians listen to Jordan Peterson? In fact, that was the name of the original episode that we did.

And anytime we ask this question, we get a lot of feedback from you, and most of it is you arguing, yes. Christian should listen to Jordan Peterson. So this is a good opportunity for me, I think, to stop for a second and articulate, maybe in a better way, why I think we should be cautious, but cautiously listening to people like doctor Peterson. I'm actually gonna borrow from a YouTube commenter who referenced an incredible quote from British pastor Charles Spurgeon who said this, discernment isn't telling the difference between right and wrong because, parenthetically, that difference is usually pretty obvious. It's the it's the ability to tell the difference between right and almost right.

Thank you, YouTube commenter, because you're right. That is the problem. The thing is, doctor Peterson, a lot of what he says is true and right and actually, and he'll actually acknowledge this deriving from biblical wisdom. A lot of times you read his writing or listen to his talk and it just sounds like the book of Proverbs. Things like work hard, take responsibility, admit when you're wrong.

Those kinds of things are things that God has been telling us to do for centuries. So in so much as doctor Peterson echoes those things, he's 100% right, and that means he's worth listening to. But, of course, the danger becomes we kind of get lulled to sleep as listeners and thinkers. Let let me let me give you this example. My wife's, maternal grandfather was an awesome guy.

I mean, he fought in World War two, raised a family. I loved him. And he would do this thing every time I would visit where he would really get on a roll talking, and he would say things like, we just need to pray more and read our bibles and love our neighbors, and he would just go on and on and on and on. And if I'm honest, even though I loved him, I would go into autopilot and just go, yep. Yep.

Yep. Yep. Until eventually, he would say something like, and not wear our hats backwards. And I would say, yep. And I go, wait.

Hold on. No. I I I think it's fine to wear your hat backwards. My point is he would give me so many things that I agreed with that I stopped listening for anything that I might not agree with, and I ended up wanting my affirmation back. That's my concern with doctor Peterson.

It isn't that he doesn't have good things to say. He has many good things to say. That's often why he gets brought up on this podcast. Instead, it is this, that as Christians, the only person we ever listen to without any cynicism is Jesus Christ through the scriptures. It's it's the bible.

That's it. It's just listening to God in the bible, anybody else. We always have one eye watching them and one eye watching their content. Even the apostle Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Jesus. Meaning, if at any point I stop imitating Jesus, then you should stop listening to me.

And there are times that doctor Peterson, like any man, like any woman, like any human, deviates from the word of God. When he talks about the Judeo Christian worldview, he's not talking about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the exclusive means of human salvation. He's not talking about obedience and surrender to the person and work of Jesus. But, of course, these are the things that lead a person to heaven and away from hell and into relationship with God. So it isn't a question of just yes or no.

Should we listen to Jordan Peterson or not? The the answer to the question is this, we should listen to him only if we are able, to borrow from another YouTube commenter, to chew the meat and spit out the bones. Only as we become more and more acquainted with god's word will we know when people like doctor Peter Peterson step outside that. And when they do, we should turn them off. Avoid tribalism.

This person is always right. This person is always wrong. That only applies to Jesus. He is always right. Everybody else, we might listen, but we listen with a little cynicism, and we should.

Hey. Thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!