Discussion Questions

The speaker defines submission as “getting behind a greater mission” rather than merely complying with authority; how does that definition reshape what it means to submit to Christ and “His body” in everyday church life? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If submission means “getting behind a greater mission” instead of just obeying rules, how does that change what it looks like to follow Jesus and relate to the church in daily life?

In reflecting on 2020, the speaker asks whether trials became “stepping stones or stumbling blocks”; what specific experiences in your own life have revealed whether you tend toward expanded love for Jesus and His church or toward “fear and distrust… isolation,” and why? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Looking back on 2020 or other hard seasons, what situations showed whether you move toward deeper love for Jesus and the church or toward fear, distrust, and isolation—and why?

The speaker says hard experiences that “don’t seem like they could come from a good Father” really can be from a good Father; what does that claim reveal about God’s purposes in discomfort, and where do modern Christian instincts resist that view? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If even painful things can come from a good Father, what might God be trying to do through discomfort, and why do many Christians push back on that idea today?

James 3 is used to argue there are “only two kinds of wisdom,” and that envy/self-seeking produces “confusion and every evil thing”; when you see strife or confusion in a church setting, what indicators help you discern which “wisdom” is operating—including in your own heart? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When there is conflict or confusion in church, what signs help you tell whether it’s coming from godly wisdom or selfish wisdom—especially in your own heart?

The speaker connects “willing to yield / open to reason” with wisdom from above; what would it look like, concretely, for your speech patterns, online interactions, and conflict style to become more “open to reason” without sliding into fear-of-man or passivity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would it look like for the way you talk, post online, and handle conflict to be more “open to reason” while not becoming people-pleasing or just giving up?

He confesses that as a young person he treated parental and church counsel as “negotiable” and “conditional” based on how respected he felt; where do you notice yourself doing a similar “conditional submission,” and how does that expose pride or self-protection? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where do you only listen to parents or church leaders when you feel respected or agree with them, and what does that show about pride or trying to protect yourself?

The teaching presses Proverbs’ idea that a wise person can “love” reproof and become “wiser” through correction; what internal reactions (thoughts, emotions, rebuttals) reveal that you are reacting rather than receiving, and what practices could retrain those instincts? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What thoughts or feelings show you are getting defensive instead of learning from correction, and what could help you respond more wisely next time?

The speaker elevates “the counsel of saints” and pushes beyond one-on-one advice to a circle setting like the monthly brothers meeting; what keeps people from bringing real problems, decisions, or ideas into a group for counsel, and what would have to change for vulnerability to become normal? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Why do people avoid sharing real struggles or big decisions with a group for counsel, and what would need to change for honest openness to feel normal?

He argues “those for whom there is no leadership fall like leaves,” applying it to people who “don’t want leadership”; how would early Christians—who assumed elders and communal accountability—hear that warning, and what modern evangelical assumptions about independence does it confront? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you think the early Christians, who expected elders and accountability, would respond to the warning that people fall apart without leadership, and what modern beliefs about being independent does that challenge?

The speaker asks, “How willing am I to submit to the majority” when multiple people give the same counsel, and he links this to Philippians 2 and Jesus’ obedience; how do you discern the line between humble teachability and merely following the crowd, and what would “submission to a greater mission” require in a decision you’re currently facing? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you tell the difference between humble teachability and just following the crowd when many people give the same advice, and what would “submission to a greater mission” look like in a decision you’re facing now?