Using Gospel Fluency To Transform Your Marriage
Discipleship as a lifestyle starts in our homes. And if you’re married, how we speak the Good News of the Gospel to each other in our marriages will begin to trickle down into all of our relationships in community.
In this episode, Caesar has a great talk with Austin and Sarah Johnson, a young married couple who are leading missional communities and making disciples in everyday life. They’ll share how a growing sense of their gospel identity and using Gospel Fluency in their life has a transformational effect on everything!
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- The importance of having our identity grounded in the gospel.
- Why the 4Gs are the foundation of Gospel Fluency.
- How to identify “the thing behind the thing” and address it with the Gospel.
- How Gospel Fluency can transform your scripture reading too!
From this episode:
“There’s a difference between meeting to discuss the Bible and meeting around the gospel. I could’ve quoted scripture to my son and it might fall like science facts on him or something, or like a history lesson. He didn’t need some verse, some proverb quoted to him. He needed the gospel. He needed to be reminded of what’s true of God and therefore true of him.”
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Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.
Bigger Gospel book by Caesar Kalinowski
Bigger Gospel Master Class in Gospel Fluency video course with worksheets
Discipleship and Missional Resources
Transcript
You've talked about this before.
Austin Johnson:In community, it's the shift from doing life around the Bible to doing life around the gospel.
Austin Johnson:And those are two different things.
Austin Johnson:We can talk a lot about it, but it's being intentional enough to actually move into what's the good news of the gospel.
Austin Johnson:And that brings so much freedom.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we fear that because we don't believe God is glorious.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so I would never bring that up because they might not be happy that I did.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know, who's most glorious in my life, me.?
Caesar Kalinowski:And that's the thing behind the thing that we start to learn is that in a lot of those situations, it's really not what the other person thinks of me.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's the heavy thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's that I think so highly of myself that if everybody doesn't like me or what I'm doing or my house or my cooking or my opinion or my hair today or whatever, at all times I can't handle
Announcer:it.,
Announcer:Welcome to the Everyday Disciple Podcast, where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.
Announcer:In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle.
Announcer:This is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.
Announcer:And now, here's your host, Caesar Kalinowski.
Caesar Kalinowski:Good to be with you.
Caesar Kalinowski:Great to be here.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's a little lonely around here this week for me.
Caesar Kalinowski:I gotta say, I'm kind of bach-in it, you know, being a bachelor this week, uh, doesn't happen that often, but that's kind of a good news, bad news thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:The bad news is I'm an extrovert, so spending this much time alone, not my favorite thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, I mean, I'm doing stuff, there's, uh, you know, people around the community, but yeah, pretty quiet.
Caesar Kalinowski:Good news is it's only for a week.
Caesar Kalinowski:Tina's doing a little vacation with some family and friends, getting a little, uh, sun and beach time and yeah, just to get in a break.
Caesar Kalinowski:So that's cool.
Caesar Kalinowski:I get to kind of dig deep into some projects, but it's a little quiet.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's a little lonely.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I'm glad to be here with you today.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hey, would you join me and thousands of other people over on Facebook and the Everyday Disciple Podcast group that we have over there?
Caesar Kalinowski:You can search that up.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or you can easily find it by going to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash Facebook.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'd love to have you join us there.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's where we can touch base real easily.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can ask questions, give me ideas for upcoming episodes.
Caesar Kalinowski:I love that.
Caesar Kalinowski:And also let us know what you're doing and how you're living on mission.
Caesar Kalinowski:We are all smarter together.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I love hearing from you.
Caesar Kalinowski:And if you've been listening to our podcast for a while now, and maybe even begun to consider joining us in the Everyday Disciple Makers coaching experience.
Caesar Kalinowski:where you'll learn to live and multiply a lifestyle of discipleship.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'd love to set up a short Zoom call to get to know you better and answer any questions you have and tell you all about it and hopefully get you started with Tina and me soon.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can set that call up.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's no obligation.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'd just love to talk to you, see what's going on with Disciplemaking, see if we'd be able to help you.
Caesar Kalinowski:Go to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash discovery.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash discovery.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm really excited for you to meet my guests today.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're two really good friends, some folks that we do coaching with, but who've also become very close with us and our family and us with them and their community there.
Caesar Kalinowski:Really love them and they truly love and live making disciples in everyday life.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's their passion.
Caesar Kalinowski:It flows out of their identity.
Caesar Kalinowski:You'll hear this in their demeanor.
Caesar Kalinowski:It comes through clearly.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're having a blast with discipleship as a lifestyle.
Caesar Kalinowski:And they're becoming very fluent in the gospel and able to articulate the good news into more and more of life using something called the 4 G's.
Caesar Kalinowski:You've heard us talk about that on previous episodes.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can go back and Google those episodes.
Caesar Kalinowski:Maybe I can even dig up the exact episode titles for you.
Caesar Kalinowski:Give you those after our discussion today.
Caesar Kalinowski:The four G's originally came from author Tim Chester, and they're the four eternal truths about God.
Caesar Kalinowski:Then when they're not believed, they lead to every human sin and stress and relational strife.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're a seriously powerful part of beginning to grow in gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:Real quickly, they are, God is great, so I don't have to be in control.
Caesar Kalinowski:Second one is, God is glorious, so I don't have to fear others.
Caesar Kalinowski:The third one is, God is good, And so I don't have to look elsewhere for my satisfaction and the fourth G is God is gracious.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I don't have to prove myself or earn anything from God.
Caesar Kalinowski:So we're going to get deep into that.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what I want to talk to them about.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I'm going to go ahead and bring them on.
Caesar Kalinowski:They're going to introduce themselves in a little bit here.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hey guys, how's it going?
Caesar Kalinowski:Hello, hello.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hello.
Caesar Kalinowski:Thanks for being here with me and a bunch of our friends and just helping us dig out today a little more of how the 4Gs speak into our life and mostly really how it's affected you guys and all.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let's start with introducing yourselves.
Caesar Kalinowski:Go ahead, just introduce yourselves and then tell me a little bit about who you are.
Caesar Kalinowski:Give us a little context so folks know what you're doing, what you're up to.
Caesar Kalinowski:All right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:My name
Austin Johnson:is Austin Johnson.
Austin Johnson:This is my wife, Sarah.
Austin Johnson:Uh, we're in San Antonio, Texas, where it's hot and sunny all the time.
Austin Johnson:Uh, but we're, yeah, I'm on staff at a church here in San Antonio.
Sarah Johnson:I work at a fertility clinic.
Sarah Johnson:in the lab.
Sarah Johnson:So I help patients that are struggling to have babies, have babies.
Austin Johnson:Yeah.
Austin Johnson:And so we've just been on this journey of even with, with Caesar and learning about, Hey, what is our gospel identity?
Austin Johnson:How do we get to live out of that?
Austin Johnson:We've been, uh, yeah, making disciples and living life in community for a long time, but really even out of.
Austin Johnson:With this gospel identity have just been seeing God doing some really sweet things and bringing, bringing freedom in ways that we've never seen before.
Austin Johnson:Uh, people that have been walking with Jesus, but also people that don't yet
Caesar Kalinowski:know Jesus, praying for Him still, but still seem freedom beginning to take up.
Caesar Kalinowski:You guys have definitely been in a planting watering, trimming and harvesting phase.
Caesar Kalinowski:It seems like you've you've been having a lot of, Fruit, uh, collecting lately and just some really fun stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:We've been, we're really grateful to God for.
Caesar Kalinowski:So today, primarily what I want to talk about is the four Gs.
Caesar Kalinowski:We were talking about that in this module with folks.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, um, just real quick, the four g I should quiz you guys, but I know you know them in, in fact, for the astute, observant, uh, person watching today, let me, let me go to this screen view right over here.
Caesar Kalinowski:There is the four Gs in my office.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that was actually sent to me as a gift, that design and all, from these two, who have a copy somewhere in their own house of that, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, and I've had various copies of the 4Gs on little things posted up all over for years and years, but now a framed, a nice framed one, so thanks guys.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, but, so here, quickly, the 4Gs, and really it doesn't matter the order, but this is sort of the order that we've learned it in and we teach it in.
Caesar Kalinowski:And God is great.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I don't have to be in control.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's the corresponding statement.
Caesar Kalinowski:God is glorious.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I don't have to fear others.
Caesar Kalinowski:God is good.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oops.
Caesar Kalinowski:God is good, so I don't have to look elsewhere for my satisfaction.
Caesar Kalinowski:And God is gracious, so I don't have to prove myself.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or earn His love, or earn anything in life.
Caesar Kalinowski:So, there's those four G's.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, uh, boy, they have been powerful, as I've said in my life.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's been kind of transformational.
Caesar Kalinowski:Tina and I rarely go a day.
Caesar Kalinowski:I would say, without it somehow entering into our, you know, just our conversation as we sort out our own heart, what's going on with someone else's, what's behind maybe what they're feeling or thinking right there, and it's been super helpful.
Caesar Kalinowski:How have the 4Gs changed?
Caesar Kalinowski:Let's start here.
Caesar Kalinowski:How, how is the learning the four G's changed your understanding of sin and where sin come from actually?
Sarah Johnson:Um, so when we started walking with the four G's, um, it, it revealed to me that, every area of sin in my life and every area where I'm maybe questioning a circumstance, it all kind of comes back to these four G's and ultimately these reveal, um, an unbelief that we have about who God is and what his character is.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Austin Johnson:Seeing sin isn't just what you do, uh, there's actually a thing behind the thing, uh, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and so the four G's, I think, really
Austin Johnson:helps you see that
Austin Johnson:sin isn't primarily the action, but it's the heart behind the actions, the unbelief about not believing what is true about
Austin Johnson:God, that
Austin Johnson:leading to all these unhealthy patterns
Caesar Kalinowski:of, of living, and that is such a freeing concept, and yet I find it sometimes Uh, especially for those who've been Christians a long time, they're so focused on the action, and therefore Christianity is about behavioral man-, you know, modification and sin management, that to say, wait a minute, it's really not the action.
Caesar Kalinowski:The action is just sort of the response, the fruit of your own belief of your sin, which is always connected to something we're not believing about God.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's hard.
Caesar Kalinowski:I was sharing with you before we started recording that I was, uh, recently on, uh, Uh, atheist and Christian panel discussion online.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that was one thing I kept coming back to because they were all, all the atheists were focused on, well, listen, how come?
Caesar Kalinowski:'cause they wanted to talk about original sin and how come it, you know, if I'm born with this stain and now God's gonna, you know, he's gonna curse me to a, an eternity burning in a lake of fire, you know, if I don't believe in 'em somehow or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, and they just kept coming back to that sort of sin, sort of real.
Caesar Kalinowski:Not accurate understanding according to scripture and I kept trying to explain to them that well see that's because you know You're still viewing sin as the actions and or something you did or didn't do or you're supposed to do or whatever But the whole thing changes if we reframe it is God's most concerned with his glory What he's really like and filling the world with that and when we don't believe that's true That's what, that's what, that's the actual sin, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:And so we look at Adam and Eve, and we go, well, what was their sin?
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, God just got super ticked off because they ate a fruit.
Caesar Kalinowski:No, it's because they didn't trust Him.
Caesar Kalinowski:They didn't believe He was trustworthy, that He was great, and that He was good.
Caesar Kalinowski:They thought, oh, He's holding something back.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so, yeah, that is a complete reframing of what sin is, but it also shows us the way out.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's not just trying to stop that, you know, stop trying, you know, do that less or say that, don't say that anymore.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, how have the, uh, how have you helped yourselves remember the four Gs and soak it into your everyday life?
Caesar Kalinowski:Obviously one of the ways is keeping it posted.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, I
Austin Johnson:think we've learned.
Austin Johnson:Keeping a post of you having in places that you can see, like I put it on my, it still is my iPad background.
Austin Johnson:Uh, so every time I open it up for work, especially cause my tendency is to believe my boss is most glorious.
Austin Johnson:And so I just put in a place where I'd be reminded of that as I step into the place.
Austin Johnson:I'm most prone to believe that that's not true.
Austin Johnson:And then I think for us, it was.
Austin Johnson:almost say it vocally, but committing to sharing that with people.
Austin Johnson:And as soon as we learn them, like pretty much almost every conversation, we're
Caesar Kalinowski:looking for opportunities to share that, the good news, because it
Austin Johnson:really is good news to 4G.
Austin Johnson:It's such good news.
Austin Johnson:It's such freedom.
Austin Johnson:Uh, and so I think looking for opportunities to put it in places that we can see it, and then also share it with people.
Austin Johnson:It just soaks deeper and deeper into.
Sarah Johnson:Yeah, I think it's been helpful.
Sarah Johnson:Um, just for even our marriage, that being something we come back to, like, let's say I go to work and I come home with a hard conversation I had, or just complaining about my boss.
Sarah Johnson:Austin's always very quick to ask me, Okay, well, what are you not
Sarah Johnson:believing?
Sarah Johnson:about God?
Sarah Johnson:Or what are you making your boss or God more glorious in your life right now?
Sarah Johnson:And it's even crazy to see just in our marriage and the conversations we've had about work, how that shifted so much a year ago to now, because it's no longer we come home and we just complain about all these things.
Sarah Johnson:But God's like completely we rewired our brains to To recognize those that when we are, like I said, putting our boss on a pedestal, we're ultimately making him more glorious than God.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, and, and you, you're, you're kind of speaking to something here that's really important in understanding and using the four G's as part of our growing gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's not necessarily just connected to, hey, that sin issue, but it's a negative feeling, it's a hard heart about something, or my feelings got hurt, or I'm upset, I'm angry, or whatever, and that might, that's starting to lead us down that road.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Towards sinning, trying to take control, act like we're God in the world.
Caesar Kalinowski:And the 4Gs refocus us immediately.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's one of the, to me, the most powerful thing about the 4Gs is it takes the situation off of me, which law says it's about you and you need to modify that.
Caesar Kalinowski:The gospel says, no, it's, it's always about God.
Caesar Kalinowski:He's the hero of the story.
Caesar Kalinowski:So let's start there.
Caesar Kalinowski:But God is glorious.
Caesar Kalinowski:He's the most glorious one.
Caesar Kalinowski:And He loves us.
Caesar Kalinowski:And he proved it ultimately at the cross.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, then what other people think of my idea at work or my, you know, how that turned out or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, I mean, we still care because we want to do a good job and we respect that person or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:But it's so small in comparison to God and His glory, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, and so, yeah, it applies to lots and lots of situations, not just as we're trying to like fix sin or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that'd be a caution I would give people too is don't use the four G's.
Caesar Kalinowski:or any of your growing gospel fluency to sort of just try to fix people.
Caesar Kalinowski:But the goal is to see God glorified.
Caesar Kalinowski:In other words, we want to live in light of who He is, and what He says is true of us now because of Christ, and we want to live out of that truth.
Caesar Kalinowski:Oh, that's powerful, isn't it?
Austin Johnson:Yeah, even maybe to build what you just said, sometimes I think one of your podcasts was about, uh, no one actually wants to hear your advice and you jump to even, even with the four G's, like you said, if you're not careful, jumping
Caesar Kalinowski:into trying to fix it, maybe it's actually
Austin Johnson:revealing you believe yourself to the most glorious and not actually seeing that God's
Caesar Kalinowski:most glorious and you're there to gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:Gospel of the person.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, for sure.
Caesar Kalinowski:So how do you guys use this in your own relationship?
Caesar Kalinowski:Like you kind of guess, Sarah, we're giving us an example, like maybe coming home from work or something.
Caesar Kalinowski:How else do you see the 4Gs showing up in your normal conversation?
Caesar Kalinowski:So it's not weird or you're hammering each other with this, you know, but just if you can think of any examples of how the 4Gs come up in conversation.
Austin Johnson:Yeah, I think Uh, it's one of going back to the starts with you guys to be aware and fluent even in the language, uh, and it's something that took us by a couple of weeks to kind of trying it on of where, where is it appropriate?
Austin Johnson:How does it fit?
Austin Johnson:Where is it not appropriate?
Austin Johnson:I think the biggest ones is.
Austin Johnson:noticing what your feelings are and you learn to follow your feelings.
Austin Johnson:Your feelings are teaching you something about what you're believing or not believing.
Austin Johnson:I think typically, you know, in the morning, uh, that we come home from work and then as we're doing life and community with other people, it's, it's taking an awareness of where, what are people's emotions, what are their feelings, what, what's coming out.
Austin Johnson:And then in light of that, how, how asking the spirit, is this.
Austin Johnson:a good time to step into the conversation.
Austin Johnson:You kind of feel out and be asking some probing questions.
Austin Johnson:Um, so I think based on, you know, people's emotions, people's feelings, um, kind of leads us into the 4G.
Austin Johnson:So I don't think anyone reading scripture sometimes is probably set it up for the day.
Austin Johnson:Hey, does this passage, what does it teach me about God?
Austin Johnson:Is this, is this pressing in His goodness or His graciousness or His greatness?
Austin Johnson:Uh, and then even going like, God, Would you help me to see how I can share that with someone today?
Austin Johnson:Or see how that's at work in someone's life.
Austin Johnson:Who needs to be reminded of this truth?
Austin Johnson:Uh, so I think as we've done that, it's been, you know, easier to, to navigate and help to enter into conversation with people.
Sarah Johnson:And one more thing with that, um, just in, uh, kind of going more off what I said about our marriage and how it's affected our marriage.
Sarah Johnson:Um, sometimes, so I'm thinking of some situations where maybe my...
Sarah Johnson:reaction, like my anger or flustered feelings doesn't always match the actual situation.
Sarah Johnson:And so a lot of times Austin won't actually ask, okay, what are you not believing about God?
Sarah Johnson:But he'll first ask, okay, what is the thing behind the thing?
Sarah Johnson:Like what feeling is this triggering?
Sarah Johnson:And then we work our way backwards.
Sarah Johnson:Okay, this is what I'm feeling.
Sarah Johnson:And then we work our way to, okay, this is what's true about God and
Caesar Kalinowski:his character.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you're, you're bringing up something really important and I want people to catch is that our emotions, which reflect who God is and are God given, are huge indicators of what's going on in our heart.
Caesar Kalinowski:or what we want to be going on.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, like I want to control a situation and, you know, that person or my child or my spouse isn't going along with it right now.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so my frustration, my anger, my angst, my, you know, anxiety or whatever, it's saying something.
Caesar Kalinowski:Something's going on.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so when we hear people in life who are constantly stressed, You know, I start to realize it's like, well, tell them like, Hey, quit stressing out, you know, or the old school, let go, let God, you know, like, Hmm, here's what's going on.
Caesar Kalinowski:The thing behind the thing, like you said, is if you're stressed all the time, it's because you're trying to control everything.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're not believing God is great and therefore I got to control everything and that would mean everything.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, what are we really in control of in life?
Caesar Kalinowski:Think about it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Is it our health?
Caesar Kalinowski:No, uh, job never been fired or downsized or let go.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uh, yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uh, COVID, uh, you know, finances, the market, uh, you know, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Nothing.
Caesar Kalinowski:Truth of the matter is only God is great and he's in control.
Caesar Kalinowski:So living in this.
Caesar Kalinowski:Fantasy World.
Caesar Kalinowski:Do we actually control, control anything?
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what produces all this anxiety and why it's a billion dollar industry in pharmaceuticals.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:So, yeah, I want to underline that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Pay attention to your emotions.
Caesar Kalinowski:Another thing too is, I love how you're applying this to, to even as you read scripture.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like, hey, what do we seem to be true about God?
Caesar Kalinowski:Are we seeing any of the four G's show up in this passage?
Caesar Kalinowski:That's going to root that.
Caesar Kalinowski:aspect of who God is in scripture, I think, and tuck it away in our heart forever.
Caesar Kalinowski:Another thing I've probably shared with you, uh, before, a friend of mine taught me this use of the four G's.
Caesar Kalinowski:Before he would even hit, his feet would hit the floor in the morning, he would pray, Holy Spirit, you know what, every bit of what my day is going to hold.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know it and you know every conversation I'll have and you know where my unbelief might crop up.
Caesar Kalinowski:Would you just remind me right now of what's true of you in advance?
Caesar Kalinowski:And so when it comes up, I'll have already had that soaking in my heart all day, you know?
Caesar Kalinowski:And I started doing that too and sure enough the Holy Spirit will remind you.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm gracious, you know, God's, I'm gracious, you don't have to prove yourself today.
Caesar Kalinowski:And when that situation comes up and the spirit goes, remember, and you're like, I'm ready to start proving I'm right, you know, or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's like, no, I can receive God's unmerited favor and I can just, I can, I'm in a whole different spot.
Caesar Kalinowski:And there again, the focus comes off of me or that person or trying to win or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:And it goes back to God.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's never a bad thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's always a good thing.
Sarah Johnson:And I have tried that and I need to do, continue to get in that practice because when you first told us that story, I tried to start the mornings that way and it was crazy.
Sarah Johnson:It was almost every time it was spot on.
Sarah Johnson:Some situation would happen at work or later in the day and it tied directly to whatever he was reminding me of
Caesar Kalinowski:that day.
Caesar Kalinowski:As if the Spirit actually knows what's going on and God is, you know, great, right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, it's, and it's so simple and it's right there and I believe with all my heart that our loving Father desires that kind of conversation with us.
Caesar Kalinowski:Not just coming to it with our to do list, but hey, you know what my day holds?
Caesar Kalinowski:Remind me of the truth right now of who you are, your glory, you know, your graciousness.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, it's powerful.
Caesar Kalinowski:What does some of this sound like in community?
Caesar Kalinowski:I know you live in community.
Caesar Kalinowski:You have lots of people in your life and in your home and you're busy a lot.
Caesar Kalinowski:And even though you work at a church, your life doesn't look like Uh, just a series of meetings.
Caesar Kalinowski:I know you were in community building it out, multiplying community, and even, uh, looking towards planting a church this way.
Caesar Kalinowski:How does the 4Gs, how are you either passing that on or how are you using it with others in community that, uh, so it doesn't feel like a hammer or you're trying to fix them, but you're trying to help gospel their hearts and, and remind them of the truth.
Caesar Kalinowski:Any, any thoughts or examples of how that shows up in community?
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, I think for us, it's
Austin Johnson:probably twofold.
Austin Johnson:One, at a large scale, like when our community comes together, maybe for like a family dinner, or where there's more people in the room, uh, it's using the language, it's being reminded of it, even making sure the 4Gs are where other people can see them, so even by osmosis, it's just kind of this I think it really presses in, in discipleship, uh, cause we've just learned, like, we've
Caesar Kalinowski:been talking about a lot of things on a
Austin Johnson:big scale, but it's not unless you're actually with people actually hearing like, Hey, what are you afraid of this week?
Austin Johnson:What's the frustration you're facing?
Austin Johnson:Those are the spaces you're able to actually gospel each other's hearts.
Austin Johnson:Uh, so I think seeing a community, the best place it's in those discipleship relationships, it's, um, I mean, pretty
Caesar Kalinowski:simply then.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just asking them,
Austin Johnson:Hey, what's a fear, failure, or something, your frustration this week.
Austin Johnson:And then as you know, we're learning the four G's, they're kind of just starting to now, Oh, you know what?
Austin Johnson:I think I'm not actually believing God is great.
Austin Johnson:I did one guy in our community in particular, like he's really pressing in the realizing, I don't believe that God is good and he's gracious because my physical dad.
Austin Johnson:never approved of me.
Austin Johnson:And so I'm trying to find satisfaction.
Austin Johnson:And it's been a series of conversations.
Austin Johnson:4Gs isn't just a, we had one conversation and life changed, but it's a lifestyle.
Austin Johnson:And it's really learning to see everything that we do with the moment of the gospel.
Austin Johnson:So in community, it's Primarily been in discipleship relationships that we're talking about it.
Austin Johnson:We're sharing simply what they are and then we're trying to attach everything back to, to that as, as we can.
Sarah Johnson:Yeah.
Sarah Johnson:And, um, in addition to kind of our house church community, I've been able to take this into the, my work culture, um, because I've got an opportunity to disciple some girls there.
Sarah Johnson:And so I, there was one girl in particular that I felt was, um, able to kind of, Hear the full lesson of the four Gs and be taught all four.
Sarah Johnson:But now that's become more part of our just everyday, um, conversation.
Sarah Johnson:And it's, it shows up all the time.
Sarah Johnson:Like if one of us gets, I've already mentioned this, but let's say we get upset with our boss and then we talk about, okay, ultimately, Who are we making most glory here?
Sarah Johnson:Or a lot of, um, people at my job feel underappreciated and overworked.
Sarah Johnson:And so we go back to, okay, God is gracious.
Sarah Johnson:Like you don't have to prove yourself to anybody and you don't have to fear man.
Sarah Johnson:Um, or I guess that's.
Sarah Johnson:Yeah, it's under glorious too.
Sarah Johnson:So it's been cool to even take that into a space where there's non believers or people that are learning to walk with Jesus for the first.
Sarah Johnson:So
Austin Johnson:you've talked about this before in community, it's the shift from doing life around the Bible to doing life around the gospel.
Austin Johnson:And those are two different things.
Austin Johnson:We can talk a lot about it, but it's being intentional enough to actually move into what's the good news of the gospel, and that brings
Caesar Kalinowski:so much freedom.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we fear that because we don't believe God is glorious.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so I would never bring that up because they might not be happy that I did.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know who's most glorious in my life?
Caesar Kalinowski:Me, and that's the thing behind the thing that we start to learn is that in a lot of those situations It's really not what the other person thinks of me.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's the heavy thing It's that I think so highly of myself that if everybody doesn't like me or what I'm doing or my house or my cooking or my opinion or my hair today or Whatever at all times I can't handle it and that's that's a both a God is glorious So I don't have to fear them issue and God is glorious He's way more glorious than me.
Caesar Kalinowski:He is the original.
Caesar Kalinowski:He is the glory.
Caesar Kalinowski:He is the source.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, I was, uh, just reminded last weekend.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right about now we were, uh, just getting ready to marry our youngest daughter off.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, uh, she was, I was beautiful ceremony, but the week leading up to it.
Caesar Kalinowski:As can be, brides can be, she was quite stressed out about details and freaking out about a lot of stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, uh, my, my wife Tina just walked her through the four G's and, you know, took her time with it and applied it specifically to a couple of things.
Caesar Kalinowski:So it wasn't just this platitude, but, you know, and a lot of it was control.
Caesar Kalinowski:She was, you know, very stressed out, so she wasn't believing God was great.
Caesar Kalinowski:And there was and that he was good, and that even if things went differently, if he was in charge and she believed his love and his goodness, then it's going to be good.
Caesar Kalinowski:It might be different, but you know, and so then for the next, she was like, oh, that's so helpful.
Caesar Kalinowski:I need that so much.
Caesar Kalinowski:I need this much.
Caesar Kalinowski:Then for the next several days, my wife was just texting her early in the mornings, a different one of the G's, you know, with the corresponding statement and just kind of letting that wash over her heart.
Caesar Kalinowski:My son called me last week and he's, he's An attorney and he's had a great firm and all and there was some things going on that he was hoping were gonna happen and they didn't.
Caesar Kalinowski:And he was a little disappointed and he called to talk about that.
Caesar Kalinowski:And really what he called to do was just rehearse the truth of the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:'cause in a very short conversation, we kinda walked, he kinda walked himself through.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, I know God's great.
Caesar Kalinowski:I, I, you know, I don't get to control these things and there must be something really good coming 'cause this didn't work out.
Caesar Kalinowski:So, you know, and it's just, uh, it was so good to be able to.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just reflect, basically, back at him, his own gospelling of his heart, and that's what he needed.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's part of what we do in community for each other.
Caesar Kalinowski:And a little bit, that speaks to, like, what you're saying.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's a difference of meeting around the Bible versus meeting around the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:I could quote scripture to my son, and it would have fallen like science facts or something, you know, history lesson.
Caesar Kalinowski:But getting to, or with our daughter, you know, like, she didn't need some verse for it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Some proverb quoted to her.
Caesar Kalinowski:She needed the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:She needed to be reminded of what's true of God and therefore true of her.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, uh, I'm, I'm happy to report that she received that stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:And so did my son and the wedding went off great and she was very chill and was beautiful.
Caesar Kalinowski:So, but it is, it is, uh, it's real time.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's opportunity for this all the time.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uh, and you know, another way that I practice this, we probably talked about this in coaching quite a bit is when I'm watching TV shows.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's, you know, they're all built on conflict because everything follows the same arc, you know, Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I'm always looking for the thing behind the thing in the character's struggle and their strife.
Caesar Kalinowski:What do they not believe in right here?
Caesar Kalinowski:What do they not believe to be true about God or what he says then is, you know, correspondingly true of us or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:So that's another way and I'm blessed that Tina goes along with that stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:She doesn't get like, just be quiet.
Caesar Kalinowski:We're listening.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, sometimes I'll pause it and I will have a big four G's discussion based on what's going on.
Caesar Kalinowski:And, you know, law and order or something like that.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's kind of funny.
Caesar Kalinowski:So any other thoughts?
Caesar Kalinowski:How would, uh, what encouragement would you give to people who are just listening?
Caesar Kalinowski:Being exposed to the four G's and again, I got to just say thanks to Tim Chester, who these were his ideas.
Caesar Kalinowski:They come from his amazing book.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can change.
Caesar Kalinowski:Um, but I just wanted, didn't want to forget to give credit where credit's due.
Caesar Kalinowski:What, what encouragement would you have to folks who are just starting to get exposed to these four G's?
Austin Johnson:Yeah, it really does have the potential, uh, to change how you view yourself, how you view sin.
Austin Johnson:It brings a lot of freedom, um, into practice.
Austin Johnson:Like, it's not just something that, it's not just a concept or a lesson where, oh, like, that's really cool.
Austin Johnson:It's as you begin to actually live into it, that life begins to just.
Austin Johnson:Open up and you experience freedom, the freedom that Jesus intended all of us to do.
Austin Johnson:It's, it's kind of, it's activating our identity.
Austin Johnson:It's activating us into being, uh, who we're designed to be.
Austin Johnson:And so practice, take advantage of it, share it.
Austin Johnson:It's worth sharing with other people.
Austin Johnson:Uh, because this is.
Austin Johnson:This is the Kingdom Life.
Austin Johnson:And this is kind of, yeah,
Sarah Johnson:I would also say to be patient and give yourself grace as you're learning how to walk in these, um, concepts, because it really is like learning a new language and rewiring the way we think and the way that our brains want to jump to X, Y, and Z.
Sarah Johnson:And even for myself.
Sarah Johnson:Austin learns this before I did.
Sarah Johnson:So when he would try and talk to me about it, I would give him pushback.
Sarah Johnson:I didn't want to get to the heart issue.
Sarah Johnson:I didn't want to be gospel.
Sarah Johnson:I just wanted to be able to vent and complain.
Sarah Johnson:Um, so it took me a little bit of time to, to actually die to myself a little bit, because as you're learning, these this
Sarah Johnson:in this unbelief for a really long time.
Sarah Johnson:Um, and ultimately I did want to be in control.
Sarah Johnson:So I didn't want you to tell me, Hey, you're not believing this about God.
Sarah Johnson:So yeah, just give yourself some grace.
Sarah Johnson:That's
Caesar Kalinowski:that starts tapping into our idols.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right?
Caesar Kalinowski:And different things that we put as something good in our life as, as great.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that without that we wouldn't be, or we wouldn't be complete or, or whatever that thing.
Caesar Kalinowski:And often there again, the thing behind the thing is, um, the greatest idol is self.
Caesar Kalinowski:Right?
Caesar Kalinowski:Always.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, thank you so much for doing this.
Caesar Kalinowski:with, with me today and just sharing a little bit of your hearts.
Caesar Kalinowski:I hope this, I know it will, I hope it stirs up others hearts to really want to learn this, take time with it, like you were saying, learn, you know, post it so you can remember.
Caesar Kalinowski:I know people sometimes tell me like, oh, I can never remember one of the four, you know, it's like, it's okay.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's like learning another language.
Caesar Kalinowski:And there's, it's only a part of our growing gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's a lot more to come.
Caesar Kalinowski:Take your time with this.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's great.
Caesar Kalinowski:So thank you again for being with us today.
Caesar Kalinowski:All right.
Caesar Kalinowski:Appreciate it.
Caesar Kalinowski:I hope that you're encouraged by this.
Caesar Kalinowski:This can be you too.
Caesar Kalinowski:And for many of you, I know it is.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm going to include that little 4Gs poster that we talked about in today's Big Three download for you.
Caesar Kalinowski:You want to tuck a copy of that inside your Bible or keep it with you, post it up.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what we do.
Caesar Kalinowski:We posted them all over the place.
Caesar Kalinowski:I have one in my office.
Caesar Kalinowski:If you ever talk to me, you'll see it hanging right there behind me.
Caesar Kalinowski:Start to rehearse this and talk about it, use the 4 G's more and more, and pray and ask the Spirit to show you which of the 4 G's, which area of unbelief is maybe going on in your life right now, or might be coming up in your day today, and then watch for that.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then remind yourself of the truth.
Caesar Kalinowski:Which of the four G's do you need to be reminded of?
Caesar Kalinowski:And I did find those episodes for you.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can go back and hear a couple episodes where we get pretty deep into the four G's.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uh, one was episode 422.
Caesar Kalinowski:The episode's called, What Causes Sin and How to Stop It.
Caesar Kalinowski:Really unpacked the four G's there.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then the next episode, 423, the four truths about God that will impact your parenting.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we look at how these four eternal truths about God, these four G's speak into our parenting where unbelief enters in and wow, super powerful.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'd love to hear your thoughts on any, any and all of that and any questions that you have about how to use the four G's or anything else.
Caesar Kalinowski:Again, just hop into our Facebook group, the Everyday Disciple Facebook group there.
Caesar Kalinowski:And let's really stir this up and encourage one another forward in the truths that these 4Gs represent for all of us.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I want to suggest that if you want an easy way to go deeper with this and get started learning this for yourselves and with others in the community right away, Grab my book, Bigger Gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's kind of a little workbook on gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:Get you started.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can get that at missiopublishing.
Caesar Kalinowski:com, missiopublishing.
Caesar Kalinowski:com.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can also find it on Amazon or pretty much anywhere.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, as we always do, I want to leave you with the big three takeaways from today's discussion.
Caesar Kalinowski:You don't want to miss these and you can get the printable PDF of these big three.
Caesar Kalinowski:as a free download by going to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash big three big three.
Caesar Kalinowski:And like I said, this week, I'm also going to put a copy of that four G's mini poster right there in the four G's when you download it, that you can print off and put up around the house or inside your Bible and all that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay?
Caesar Kalinowski:So here's our big three for this week.
Caesar Kalinowski:Number one, learning to identify the thing behind the thing, quote unquote, and address it with the gospel is key.
Caesar Kalinowski:If we continue to attempt to just try and address the words and actions of others or ourselves without addressing the heart motives and beliefs behind those things, we're only reinforcing do to be.
Caesar Kalinowski:What we do equals who we are.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's backwards.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's from the pit.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's a lie.
Caesar Kalinowski:Our beliefs and false beliefs fuel our actions So we got to get to the thing behind the thing and address it with the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:Number two, grow in the importance of having your Identity grounded in the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:That is so key.
Caesar Kalinowski:All of this, this whole life of discipleship and disciple making and living in the kingdom grows out of our gospel identity.
Caesar Kalinowski:Understanding the truth that who God is and what he is like is a part of your own identity as an image bearer.
Caesar Kalinowski:That'll change the way you see and treat yourself and others in every situation.
Caesar Kalinowski:It is baseline.
Caesar Kalinowski:Loving God for who He is and really knowing Him leads to loving yourself and others for who they are, not for what they do.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or put another way, loving yourself and others apart from their performance.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's so huge.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's such a part of the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:And number three is you won't accidentally grow in gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just like any other language, it takes time and intentionality to learn to speak, live, and enjoy the gospel in every area of life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, ways to get started in this could be Like I mentioned, picking up a copy of my book, Bigger Gospel, or you might want to even dive a little deeper and get the Bigger Gospel Masterclass.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's a whole series of lessons and worksheets and like the whole package.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can get that too.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or if you're ready to really go for it, join Tina and I and Everyday Disciplemakers, our coaching experience, and learn our full framework for discipleship and mission.
Caesar Kalinowski:and get started immediately growing in your gospel fluency in everyday life with us and others and we'll do this together.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'm gonna give you a copy of that 4G's mini poster like I mentioned.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'll also put links to the book, Bigger Gospel, and the Bigger Gospel Masterclass in the Big 3 download.
Caesar Kalinowski:Grab that now at everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash big three.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay, that was a blast.
Caesar Kalinowski:Thanks again for joining us.
Caesar Kalinowski:I hope you'll be here next week.
Caesar Kalinowski:My wife, Tina, and I will be having a discussion about the next steps of growing in gospel fluency.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we really break down the core of learning this powerful new language together.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's really cool.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're going to love it.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'll talk to you soon.
Announcer:Thanks for joining us today.
Announcer:For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit EverydayDisciple.
Announcer:com.
Announcer:And remember, you really can live with the spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day.
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