249: Counterfeit Christianity — Counterfeit Repentance

Adam Cook (0:00): Welcome to the Messy Walk podcast with pastor Adam Cook, where our goal is to have a genuine and authentic conversation about the Christian faith journey and what a messy walk with Jesus really looks like. Make sure to follow us for future episodes that will be posted regularly each Wednesday. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Steph (0:19): Hey. Welcome to the Messy Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Steph. You're pastor Adam. Hey.

Steph (0:23): Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. So we've been in this series called counterfeit Christianity.

Steph (0:28): We've had four episodes of it so far, and today, we'll be on episode five, episode two forty nine.

Adam Cook (0:34): Yep. And we've done so far counterfeit grace, counterfeit worship, counterfeit humility, and counterfeit community. I really like the community one from last episode. And so we've got two more of these only, and then we gotta figure out what we're doing next, of which we do not know. So

Unknown Speaker (0:52): Are y'all surprised?

Adam Cook (0:55): So today, I wanted to talk about, counterfeit repentance. This is something that I have talked about, alluded to in lots of messages over the last several years when they really had something dedicated to it. So I'm kinda excited about this to be able to talk about what real repentance looks like and what I think counterfeit repentance actually looks like. And of course, the goal is is for Christians not to walk in the counterfeit. Like when we talked about community, it's about what real biblical community looks like.

Adam Cook (1:25): So what we're trying to do is we're trying to sort of juxtapose biblical repentance with how repentance sort of gets played out in a counterfeit way. So, most people think that repentance is feeling bad. You know, you feel bad about something that you've done or feeling guilt and that's not what repentance is at all. Many people think that it's crying or it's regretting or apologizing or even promising to do better. Whether you're promising yourself or you're promising god or you're promising somebody else, that's what people kinda think that repentance really is and those things can accompany repentance.

Adam Cook (2:06): They can come along with repentance. Like, I do think that real repentance will have you wanting to apologize and regretting things that you've done but they are not repentance in and of themselves and I think that repentance is it is not a is not specifically just a church word but in the best way to understand what repentance really is is through Jesus' church and through our faith and so, I I would like for all of us to be able to kind of understand what repentance is a lot better so that we can utilize it more. We can walk in it more because repentance is not just simply feeling differently. Repentance is actually changing direction. Right?

Adam Cook (2:50): It's repentance is actually not really tied to a feeling at all And yet, I think that's where the counterfeit version of it comes in. It's just always tied to, like, a, you know, feeling bad, feeling guilt, feeling shame, whatever. It's not really a feeling. It's actually changing direction. And I think one of the greatest deceptions in modern Christianity is that we've confused emotional responses with spiritual transformation.

Adam Cook (3:11): And we talked about this a lot in our counterfeit worship one. Right? Mhmm. That, you know, you can say something is worshipful where really all you're doing is going, it's emotional. And I think one of the issues with the modern church movement, and I have to make sure that I call myself out on this because we're a part of the modern church movement.

Adam Cook (3:28): Right? I mean, I remember I remember very bluntly going when we plant this church, we're gonna plant it in a modern way. And I really like the modern church movement, but I think that that's one of the biggest issues is that we are kinda helping people confuse emotional responses with actual, transformation. Right? That the two are not the same is what I'm trying to say.

Adam Cook (3:52): Just because something is emotional, we'll get into that a little bit more, does not mean that actual transformation has happened. We Totally. We've confused conviction with repentance. Right? They're not the same thing.

Adam Cook (4:03): Being convicted of something is not the same thing as repenting of something. And and we've we've also confused regret with repentance. We've confused guilt with repentance. These are two completely different things. And especially when you talk about conviction, right?

Adam Cook (4:20): The the holy spirit has three primary jobs and I don't mean to sound real like that can sound ugly that I'm saying that the promise holy. I'm telling the holy spirit what his jobs is. Right? I'm not really doing it that way. I'm just saying, like, if you look through scripture and you look at the role of the holy spirit plays, you can see three key jobs in in play.

Adam Cook (4:39): Conviction, we call it convicting, convincing, and empowering. Right? That the holy spirit convince it, convicts us of ways in which we are not in the will of god, not lining up with who Jesus is and who we're intended to be, convicts us of those and then the holy spirit convinces us to actually do something about it. Right? And the what he's convincing us to do about it is repentance, right?

Adam Cook (5:03): So, repentance is not a job of the Holy Spirit. Conviction is and we've sort of we've sort of confused regretting something or feeling shame about something or you know, wishing it didn't happen. We confuse conviction with actual repentance. The third one so I don't get too far off so I don't leave it leave it hanging. The third job, primary role of the holy spirit is convicting, convincing, and empowering, right?

Adam Cook (5:29): So, we're convicted in the ways that we're not lining up to who Jesus is. We're convinced the fact that through the power of Jesus, we can do that and so all we gotta do is repent and turn back to him, right? And then he empowers us to walk in the fact that we are new create, new creatures made of that. So, in other words, to to not just repent but to actually continually walk in that repentance, right? Those are the primary jobs of the holy spirit and and repentance is not a job of the holy spirit.

Adam Cook (5:57): It is it is what you and I do as an action, not a feeling based on the Holy Spirit convicting and convincing and empowering us. And so many people feel spiritually moved without ever actually changing. And that's the issue. Right? That you can you can feel moved in a way emotionally, even spiritually about things and yet it doesn't lead to any real change.

Adam Cook (6:23): The Greek word for repentance is metanoia and that means a change of mind that actually results in a change of direction. So it's it's not just, oh, I feel bad about something. It is a mind shift change of, oh, this is not who I wanna be. This is not the way I wanna go. This is not how I wanna do things.

Adam Cook (6:45): This is not who I am. But it doesn't just stay there. It actually leads to a change of direction. So repentance is rooted in action, not in feeling.

Unknown Speaker (6:55): Yeah.

Adam Cook (6:56): And one of the ways we've had so much counterfeit in this is it's become the opposite. It's become rooted in feelings versus, actually changing direction and pattern. Right?

Steph (7:08): Can it be like making a New Year's resolution and then you feel the that you wanna make a change and then you don't?

Adam Cook (7:14): Very similar. Right? Like, like a Everybody walks into it's funny how life gives you I'm glad you brought that up. Life gives you seasons. Right?

Adam Cook (7:22): Life is a seasonal thing. It's a beautiful thing. I think God has created it this way intentionally. And so we walk in and out of seasons. Right?

Adam Cook (7:28): You know, like, when the when the actual seasons of the weather change. Right? It's like a new thing. Something old's going away, something new's coming. The season of a day.

Adam Cook (7:36): An old day passes away. The sun comes up. It's a new day. New week, new month, new year. Anytime there's a new time frame like that, new job, new birthday, new decade you're walking into, like I'm turning 30, it forces us to go, alright, let me look at the past real quick.

Adam Cook (7:53): I don't know if I like that or I did like that. I'm gonna miss that or I don't wanna be that anymore. And then it forces us to something new. Right? There's a newness on the horizon, which means everybody wants to do something different and new.

Adam Cook (8:04): That's why New Year's resolutions are so crucial, is you you pause and you go, 2025 just ended. And you think about all the good and you think about all the bad, and then you got this hope of, I wanna do something different this year. I don't wanna get to the end of 2026 and be the same that I was at the end of twenty twenty five. So you have this emotional pull to do something different or new, but the actual act that would actually do something about it would be you doing something about it. Right?

Adam Cook (8:32): That would be your so your mindset changes, but then that also leads to a change of action. Right? So if you decided at the first of this year, you wanted to lose weight, I wanna lose weight. I don't wanna be the same fat person I was in 2025. You know what mean?

Adam Cook (8:45): Like Mhmm. And then you said, you I want to. I want to. I want to, but then you didn't do nothing about it. Well, that's just you just had an emotional response Yeah.

Adam Cook (8:53): To something, right, to the time, to the season changing. You had an emotional response to the New Year, but it didn't really lead to any real change.

Unknown Speaker (9:01): And the workout gear's over here. It's a corner.

Adam Cook (9:04): So it actually requires you to do something. That's the whole point. And everybody knows nothing changes unless you do something just because you have this mindset shift. Unfortunately, though, in the church, I think that we have sort of, I don't know, like, sold this as have an emotional response. This was the entirety of what we were talking about with the worship stuff.

Adam Cook (9:24): Right? You you desire this emotional response more than you desire god. Mhmm. You desire this you know, you have this emotional connection, but it doesn't lead to really anything, and there's no real transformation happening. And then god's not about our emotional response.

Adam Cook (9:40): Right? That that he's about our heart shift and change towards him, which which the holy spirit empowers us, convicts, convinces, empowers us to do that, but we still have to actually make a change. And so when you look at the actual root of the word, it means you're changing a mindset is changing, but then that mindset has changed so much that it is pushing you to actually do something with it, change some sort of action. So it's not just simply feeling sorry, it's transformation, right? It's a movement.

Adam Cook (10:12): The I'll give you a picture of this. So, the best way to think about repentance is to actually think about what it is and so how does that word play out in a actual scenario? Well, repentance is the picture of turning away from something and moving in the opposite direction. So, you know, you like one of the best biblical examples of what repentance looks like is the prodigal son, Right? So the prodigal son runs towards, give me my money, daddy.

Adam Cook (10:40): I wanna live my life, you know, and runs away from the father and does what he wants. Right? And finds himself doing all kinds of things that he thought he would enjoy and then, of course, finds himself eating the the pig stuff. Right? You know what I mean?

Adam Cook (10:54): And he has this change of mind. Like, I don't have to live like this. I don't wanna live like this. I don't wanna be this person. Oh my gosh.

Adam Cook (11:01): I've made a mistake. Right? And then where the repentance happens is when he decides to turn around and walk away from that and walk back towards his father. Right? That is the best picture of repentance.

Adam Cook (11:15): And what's awesome about it is is you get an even better picture of what god does in that repentance. So it's not like god waited for him to turn around, come all the way back, and, apologize and make amends and fix everything. What it talks about is it talks about the father. The parable talks about the father running to meet his son when he sees him. Like, always looking for man, running to meet him.

Adam Cook (11:38): By the way, with that that whole idea of him running to meet him, everybody that would have heard Jesus tell that parable would have guessed because a a stately godly man, a Jewish man would not have ran anywhere. Right? It like it look it made him look bad. Because they were too good for that. Like, I don't mean good.

Adam Cook (11:56): I mean, like, they were they were too important for that. And you see the father though picking up his tunic. Would've basically had to pick his tunic up, wrap it around his waist, right, and and gird his loins and take off running to his son, which never would've happened. So it gives you this picture of repentance is when you turn away from what you're not supposed to be going to, and you actually not just in your mind, not just emotionally. Right?

Adam Cook (12:20): Like, he's sitting there emotionally in the in the pigpen going, this is crap. I shouldn't be like this, and regretting all his decisions. That's not that's that's not repentance. That's that's conviction, right? That's regret.

Adam Cook (12:33): That's, you know, all those things but when he when he picks himself up and he's like, I'm going back home. Right? I'm turn, I'm turning my back on this and I'm actually turning away from it and walking towards god. The the father is meeting him there. So, it's not like so when you and I repent, it's not just this emotional response.

Adam Cook (12:50): It's this idea of I'm turning my back on. This is the whole thought. I'm turning my back on those things and I am walking away from them towards what is right, what is holy, what is good. I'm turning away from those things and walking back towards Jesus, back towards the lord. Right?

Adam Cook (13:07): And god is meeting us at the moment that we turn around. So, he's not waiting for you to come all the way back and make it back from where you came from and start all over again. He's meeting you right there. It's an awesome picture that we need to remind ourselves of because that's what real repentance looks like. Real repentance is not some emotional response to a message.

Adam Cook (13:27): Right? Real real repentance is my mind has been changed and therefore, my actions are going to fit my the change of my mindset, the change of my heart, the change of my spirit and I'm going to turn around and walk away from that and walk back towards god. It it's a beautiful thing. You you know what's scary? What's scary is that we can become addicted to feeling convicted while never actually repenting.

Adam Cook (13:52): Like, we can become addicted to this emotional response of conviction from the spirit, but not ever actually actually repent. It not actually lead to actual repentance. You know, think about that. You can listen to a sermon. You can feel convicted.

Adam Cook (14:09): You can cry. You can pray. You can feel very emotional and then go right back to the same old patterns. Right? That's because there's not real there's not real repentance there.

Adam Cook (14:21): There's just emotion. And that's a scary thing for me because that's what I think sometimes we do in church and we don't mean to, but that's the tone that we're setting. We're trying to get people to an emotional space just like we talked about with the worship episode, but it doesn't really lead them anywhere but emotion. Right? It doesn't really lead them to repentance and so we can kinda become addicted to, I wanna go to church.

Adam Cook (14:47): I wanna hear this sermon. I'm gonna listen to this song. Mhmm. That makes me feel this certain way. But if those feelings don't translate into us walking in repentance, then it's kinda pointless.

Adam Cook (14:58): And it's actually it does it does more harm than good then. You know what I mean? Like, I I don't know. Conviction is not the destination. That's not where we're trying to get.

Adam Cook (15:08): Conviction is an invitation and repentance is the actual response to us saying yes to the invitation, right? To can the holy spirit is not trying to get you to live at conviction. Living at conviction will do you no good for your soul, right? The Holy Spirit is given conviction as an invitation and response is how we say, yes, I will take this invitation to something better. That's the the conviction that the Holy Spirit has given you always is there's something better.

Adam Cook (15:35): There's a better way. God has a better plan than this. God has something better for you. God loves you more than this. Like that's and then when we walk in repentance, we're actually turning our back on whatever it was that we were picking that wasn't good for us.

Adam Cook (15:48): And we're taking the invitation to what the Holy Spirit is presenting to us as a better option, a better way, right? And that is that is repentance and so, you don't want to live in conviction because the Holy Spirit, you're not list, you're not doing what the Holy Spirit says. If you live in conviction and emotional response, you're not doing what the holy spirit is telling you to do. When you walk into him convincing you of it, now you're stepping into, repentance and you're actually taking that invitation. One of the clearest examples of this, and we don't have time to talk about it in detail.

Adam Cook (16:17): I didn't think I was gonna talk about the parable, is if you look at the life of Judas and the life of Peter, and you kind of juxtapose those together. Both of them followed Christ. Right? Both of them failed Jesus. Both of them experienced sorrow.

Adam Cook (16:37): Both of them felt extreme grief. Like, they're both crying over their choices, to basically disown, fail Jesus. Both of them do it. Right? Judas sells him out, for the 30 pieces of silver, but Peter also says, I'll never deny you.

Adam Cook (16:55): And he goes, you will be three times before the new day. And he does repeatedly over and over and over again, deny him just like Jesus said he would. All both of them did all that but one of them actually repented and the other one just felt sorry for what happened, right? So, one was stuck in emotion of just feeling sorry, but stuck at conviction is our word. Right?

Adam Cook (17:16): And then the other one actually got convinced of, no. No. No. I I I repent for this. And their lives took dramatically different tracks.

Adam Cook (17:24): Right? Being stuck in an emotional response is actually doing nothing for your soul. Repentance is what is changing and healing things because you are turning towards the lord and walking towards him in that. True biblical repentance. This is the part that I've been preaching for, like, I don't know.

Adam Cook (17:45): I've I've probably been saying this a lot for the last five years. True biblical repentance is the best tool we have in our toolbox as Christians. What's funny is is that it's not limited to Christians. Repentance is actually how you become a Christian to begin with and so it is this it is this beautiful tool that god has given us that is the best tool that you and I have at all moments at our disposal to be able to walk more firmly and in a better way in a different way with Jesus. It's the best tool that you and I have.

Adam Cook (18:21): Christians should be walking in continual repentance over and over and over again. Right? And that's the sign that you're actually a Christ follower. So see the sign that you're a Christ follower is not you show up to church and you're moved by the sermon and you take notes and stuff like that and you're like, oh, it was such a good sermon today. Like, yeah.

Adam Cook (18:40): Like, I like when people tell me, oh, pastor, that was a good sermon, but I also worry. Right? Because the same people will tell me it was a good sermon over and over again. And I will think to myself sometimes about some of them, you didn't heard the same thing hundreds of times. And yet I know these five, six things that you still doing.

Adam Cook (18:57): Right? And so, you know, us just feeling that emotional response over and over again is is not using that tool. This is what I'm trying to say. The main sign that you are a Christ follower, that you are a Christian. If you wanna know, am I going to heaven?

Adam Cook (19:14): Well, here here you go. Here you go. It is not whether or not you repented one time a long time ago, right? When you walk down an old fashioned aisle to an altar, right? And you said, I want Jesus to be my lord and savior.

Adam Cook (19:27): That's not the real sign that you're a Christ follower and you're going to heaven. The real sign is not that you repented one time a long time ago, it's that you are still daily, consistently, all the time walking in repentance now. Right? Yeah. That's the biggest sign that you're a Christ follower.

Adam Cook (19:40): Because because you are listening to the holy spirit convict you and convince you and you are walking in repentance. It's lord. The lord is showing, opening your eyes to things that are not holy in your life. Things that don't that aren't honoring him a better way and you're going, you're right and I am going to walk away from that and walk towards you. It doesn't mean you're not gonna mess up and fail.

Adam Cook (20:00): Right? But that's the sign that you're saved. Not that you prayed a prayer one time a long time ago. Right? It's that you're continually walking in repentance now.

Adam Cook (20:09): It's the best tool that you and I have in our toolbox. It's a gift. Repentance is one of the greatest expressions of god's mercy. He allows us holy, perfect, righteous god allows us to turn away from things we walk to that aren't him and walk towards him instead. He allows us to do that because what he could do and what he ought to do and what he should do is just smite us where we stand.

Adam Cook (20:35): Right?

Unknown Speaker (20:35): True.

Adam Cook (20:36): Because here we are walking especially people who call themselves Christ followers. Mhmm. Who have who have who have said with their heart and their mouth that Jesus Christ is lord and savior. And we turn around and walk the stuff we ain't supposed to walk to, which is which is all of us, which is me too. Yep.

Adam Cook (20:50): Like, the the the the most beautiful part of god's mercy is that he allows us to repent at any time, at any moment in time. He allows us to repent. He allows us to figure out that we are in the pigpen and that there's a better way and to turn around and walk out of it and then he meets us on the road back. You know what I mean? Like, it's it's the best, it's it's one of the greatest expressions of god's mercy is the fact that you and I can repent.

Adam Cook (21:17): And many people and maybe maybe you listen to this, you've become experts at apologizing without actually repenting. You know you know what I mean? Like, you say you're sorry, but the sorry is not sorry enough that makes you change what you're doing. And so we become experts at apologizing and not just repenting. You you do that over and over and over again, but the pattern never changes.

Adam Cook (21:40): Like you say, you're sorry constantly. Maybe that sorry is to a person. Maybe that sorry is to yourself. Maybe that sorry is to god. Constantly, god, I'm sorry for this.

Adam Cook (21:47): God, I'm sorry for this. God, I'm sorry for this. But the pattern never changes because apology and repentance are not the same thing.

Unknown Speaker (21:55): True.

Adam Cook (21:55): Right? Counterfeit repentance in this world is apologies and emotions acting like they're the main thing when they're really not. Right? Once again, the act of actually apologizing, if it doesn't include a change of behavior, the apology is worthless. Right?

Adam Cook (22:17): Like, I look at my wife and say, I'm sorry I did that, and I don't have any change of mind that makes me not wanna do that again, right, and then try not to do it again, well, the apology was pointless because you go end up having to do the same apology over and over and over again. Right? And it's the same thing with god. Apology acknowledges failure. Repentance is actually changing direction.

Adam Cook (22:40): Right? Which one do we really need? I mean, we need to acknowledge the failure which is what apology does but to actually have the failure not continue to happen, we got to change some sort of direction. And that's what repentance really is. That's what biblical repentance looks like.

Adam Cook (22:53): It's not just I'm sorry. It's I'm sorry. Therefore, I'm not doing this again, and here's the changes I'm gonna make not to do this again. Right? Doesn't mean you're not gonna fail at it.

Adam Cook (23:05): It just means you're turning your back on it and walking towards something else. The counterfeit repentance in the church today is just rooted in feelings and apologies and emotions, and that's what's dangerous. That's that might be why this is a cool scripture. That might be why John the Baptist told people this in Matthew chapter three verse eight. Look what he says here.

Adam Cook (23:27): This is a really cool little and this is a this is a verse we fly by, by the way. Nobody ever pays attention to this Matthew three eight.

Steph (23:34): Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Adam Cook (23:37): Short and simple. Produce fruit. Now think about this verse. It's really cool. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Adam Cook (23:45): In other words, he's saying if repentance is real, eventually it becomes visible. Right? If repentance is a real thing, you can actually see it, not just hear it.

Steph (23:55): Nice.

Adam Cook (23:55): Right? So biblical repentance is actually something that produces fruit. You can see it, not just hear it. An apology is something you just hear. Right?

Adam Cook (24:05): Repentance is something that you see. You know what I mean? Like, I read this book one time. Every time Valerie Cook gives me a book, I now know that it is the holy spirit speaking, and I need to read it immediately.

Unknown Speaker (24:18): That's fun.

Adam Cook (24:18): I used to not think that. Like, so the so Valerie gave me the circle maker by Mark Patterson. Big, big book for our church. Right? Yeah.

Adam Cook (24:26): We've been doing prayer walks around where god's placed us since the moment we read this book. Anyway, she gives me that. She hands it to me. She says, you should read it. I said, okay.

Adam Cook (24:34): Yeah. I'll read it, and I'll throw it behind me on the shelf for, two years. I finally read it, and I'm like, crap. I should have read this two years ago. So now Valerie Cook buys me a book, which does not happen very often.

Adam Cook (24:44): But she buys me one. Now I know that god wants to speak to me, and so I am going to read it immediately. So she gave me this book years ago that I have now it was on our it was on our list. We did a podcast. I don't know when it was.

Adam Cook (24:56): We did a podcast of, like, my favorite books. Oh, yeah. And I think we gave this one away too in our big giveaway to it was a guy in Michigan?

Unknown Speaker (25:06): Kalamazoo.

Unknown Speaker (25:07): Kirsch Kirsch. Brian. Right. Brian Kirsch.

Unknown Speaker (25:10): Yeah. Yeah.

Adam Cook (25:10): Anyway, he's the one who won the books. I'm pretty sure this one was in there because it's a transformative book. I have given this book out to tons of people, and it don't even really apply to them the way it's written, but it's just perfect. It's this book by Jimmy Dodd, and it's called Survive or Thrive, The Six Relationships Every Pastor Needs to Have. And I've given that book to tons of people, even though they're not pastors because it's just so good.

Adam Cook (25:37): In that book, what he what they do is they go into churches that have had a moral failure on a part of the pastor, and they help the church and the pastor figure out what to do next, heal, you know, break up, whatever. Right? And the whole point of the book is it's a bunch of case studies on all these churches and stuff that they've watched and seen happen with all these moral failures. And what they determined is is the things that keep these moral failures from happening is what keeps them from happening is is when you're when you're front stage, the person you are on stage matches the person you are off stage. And so the bigger gap between who you are on the stage versus who you are off the stage is going to give you the the the room for moral failure to happen.

Adam Cook (26:23): Right? And so these six relationships that he suggests and they're really easy relationships. So, like, every pastor needs or I say every person needs a boss, a counselor, a coach, a friend, right? All those things, the six relationships. Anyway, in that book, he said something about repentance that I'll never forget and it goes along with exactly what John the Baptist just said about it producing fruit.

Adam Cook (26:45): He says, when when the pastor says, I'm sorry, right? And I repent. He knows in that moment. So, we'll just say for you and I. When you say, you know, I'm repenting to you or I'm repenting to god from this moment.

Adam Cook (26:59): You know whether you're repenting or not but nobody else knows until at least six months. Right? Because you can actually see repentance being worked out. Right? So if the person is actually repentant and not just sorry they got caught or not just sorry that they hurt your feelings or not just sorry that their life is now ruined.

Adam Cook (27:18): Right? If they're actually repentant, then over the course of months and years, you will see them take different actions to keep from being that person again. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Right?

Adam Cook (27:27): Like, I've talked about this on a podcast, and I preached about it a lot. But, you know, years and years ago, I broke Valerie's trust by lying to her about money. And it it you can go out we've talked about this on our podcast before. Like, it it was wasn't I doing anything I wasn't supposed to. I just wasn't paying attention.

Adam Cook (27:46): And I didn't pay our bills like I was supposed to. And then when she asked me about it, I lied. Right? And I thought I could fix it. And the lies just kept building on lies and lies and lies and lies.

Adam Cook (27:54): And, eventually, she's pregnant with our first child. She's pregnant with Olivia, and she figures it out. Right? And I thought she was gonna leave me. Of course, she doesn't and she shows me what real grace looks like.

Adam Cook (28:04): Right? But in that moment, when all that went down, I repented to her. She did not know whether I was really repentant or if I was just apologetic, right? Until time went by. And then over the course of time, what she saw was is that I was repented because I made changes intentionally that would keep that from happening again, right?

Adam Cook (28:27): I made changes to how how things were visible to her and what I did and how I talked about things and, you know, just so there wouldn't be any lies anymore. I made some significant changes. Like, for example, this is a small stupid one. But to this day, and that was that was nineteen years ago. Right?

Adam Cook (28:47): Almost twenty years ago, because Olivia wasn't born, Olivia just turned 19. So it was almost twenty years ago. I started writing in my wallet with Sharpie the word truth. And to this day, every wallet I've ever had, even the one right now, on my desk says the word truth in it in Sharpie. I write it every single time because I don't wanna be that person anymore.

Adam Cook (29:14): So I actually was repentant and started doing things that walked away from it. Like like that that verse from John the Baptist is so powerful. He's saying that, you know, you produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So, as you are repentant and walking towards the lord, it produces fruit. In other words, it produces things that are very visible.

Adam Cook (29:33): Repentance is a visible thing that other people can see over time. That's why repentance and repentance walked out is transformation. The person is being transformed. Right? They're being changed.

Adam Cook (29:48): And you can actually see it. You can palpate it like it has a pulse. You can be like that person when they got when they got busted with that DUI. Right? And they didn't wanna be that person anymore.

Adam Cook (29:58): They apologize to everybody. Now a year later or two years later, we can see because they don't go to the same gas station that they used to go to cause they used to always buy beer there. And they don't go to the bars anymore, they don't do you know what I mean? Like, they don't do these things anymore, and they haven't done them for a long time. That's where you can actually see repentance walked out.

Adam Cook (30:14): Right? It's something that's very, very visible. Love that little verse. It's just a little nugget of a verse from John the Baptist. I heard it say like this one time and it really stuck.

Adam Cook (30:24): Real repentance always leaves fingerprints. Always. You can see it. It's not just some emotional response that somebody feels, but it doesn't it lead to action. Right?

Adam Cook (30:36): Real repentance is action. Counterfeit repentance is we assume that because we feel something deeply, something changed deeply, but that's a false assumption. Just because we feel something deeply, that means something changes. That's not always true. You can cry and never change.

Adam Cook (30:54): You can feel guilty and never actually change. Tears are not transformation. Emotion is not obedience. Repentance is surrendering your life to the truth that god has actually revealed to you. And when you surrender your life to the truth of it, whether you're crying or not, it shows in your actions.

Adam Cook (31:12): It leads to some sort of transformative action. The most dangerous place a Christian can live is to be continually convicted but never change. And I think that this is the, I've said this before too, but we'll say it again. I think that this is the picture of a ton of people who are in church, who actually don't follow Jesus. They're continually convicted in Christian settings by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, right?

Adam Cook (31:40): But yet they never actually changed their heart posture towards the lord in that. And like, when when we get when we get in front of when we get in front of Jesus, right, judgment, let's talk judgment day for a minute. The people that are gonna be the most shocked that they not getting in is not going to be the people who adamantly opposed Jesus on this earth. Right? Like, the atheists are not gonna be the most shocked.

Adam Cook (32:09): What do you mean? There's a god and I'm not getting in. They ain't gonna be the most shocked. The people are gonna be the most shocked that they don't get in are people that have been sitting on church pews their whole stinking life, singing songs to Jesus, being emotionally moved all the time. Right, being convicted constantly, and never actually repenting and walking towards Jesus.

Adam Cook (32:30): Those are gonna be the people that are gonna be shocked. That's why that's the most dangerous place Yeah. To That's why it's the most dangerous place to be is to be continually convicted, but never actually be changed. You hear truth. You feel truth.

Adam Cook (32:43): You even agree with truth, but you never really respond to it. That's the scary part. Like, that for me is the part that I'm constantly aware of when I'm preaching and teaching and worried about. Like, I'm always worried about people hearing the word, agreeing with the word, right? Like, feeling the holy spirit's conviction and never actually stepping into repentance and I can't control that.

Adam Cook (33:09): You know what I mean? But I. Yeah. I I feel like I can model it, right? And and I can teach it and I can lead people to it but I can't I can't force that to happen, right?

Adam Cook (33:20): That's why counterfeit repentance is such a dangerous thing. It leaves people feeling spiritual but they actually are unchanged. Real repentance actually changes everything because remember, the whole point is is that you would be turning away from that and turning towards the lord and the holy spirit is empowering you to actually do that and the lord is meeting you when you turn. And that's why it's so dangerous. Like, it's dangerous because so many people can feel very spiritual and take the name of Christian But the real mark of a Christian is someone who is walking in continual repentance.

Adam Cook (34:02): Right? Not perfection. Right. Continual repentance. If it was perfection, you wouldn't need continual repentance.

Adam Cook (34:09): Right? You know what I'm saying? So that's the real mark of whether you're a Christ follower. So if you're listening to this right now, that that's how you that's how you answer that question. Do I follow Jesus?

Adam Cook (34:19): Not because you said you do. Not because you go to church, not because you read your bible, none of those things. Not because you prayed some prayer one time. Not because you repented one time. Like, do we follow Jesus is you're continually feeling the conviction of the holy spirit and you're continually being convinced to repent and repenting.

Adam Cook (34:37): Right? Doesn't mean you get it right. It's just that, like, the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I am aware of how much repentance I need on all levels all the time. Yeah. Right?

Unknown Speaker (34:50): You know what mean?

Unknown Speaker (34:51): I agree.

Adam Cook (34:51): Like, early on walking with Jesus, I thought, oh, I just need to repent for being a sinner. You know what I mean? Like, I'm a sinner for sure. And I I need to follow Jesus. But now the closer I follow Jesus, the more I realize how, you know, dirty I am, right, on all different levels, and then I need to be consistently walking in repentance.

Adam Cook (35:10): Consistently. But the also, though, the more I do that, the more I realize that the holy spirit empowers us to be able to walk in that repentance. Repentance. It's this beautiful thing that God allows me to be in relationship with him, but then also allows me to consistently repair and fix these broken things, become a new creation through the power of repentance. It's the best tool we got in our toolbox.

Adam Cook (35:33): Matter of fact, it's the only tool we really need. We just have to use it consistently all the time. Right? If you feel conviction from the Holy Spirit, the answer is always lean into it. Say, okay, whatever it is you want, Lord, and let me now reorient my life, my emotions, my thoughts, my whatever towards that.

Adam Cook (35:54): And it's simple. You know? It's like, I talked to a guy. This might be too personal, but let's just go with it. I talked to a guy the other day, young fella, in our student ministry who came up to me crying after a message.

Adam Cook (36:07): And when he came to me crying after the message, he asked to talk to me privately. So I talked to him, and he's he told me that he was struggling with pornography, and he didn't wanna do that no more. He wanna be that person. He's obviously having a very emotional response. Like, he is feeling the guilt and the shame, but he's also feeling the conviction.

Adam Cook (36:23): And so I had to tell him, I was like, well, this is perfect. You're in a perfect spot, right? Because you're feeling the conviction. Yeah. Now, do something about it.

Adam Cook (36:32): Right? Like, let's take steps of repentance. So, a step of repentance, one of the first things is, is I told him, I said, go tell your parents. And then let's figure out how to how to like, think about these small steps of repentance. They're showing that you've turned.

Adam Cook (36:46): Now, it's just changed parts of your life so that stuff don't happen again. Right? Like, that is the fruit of repentance. Now, it's no. I have a I have a block on my phone, right, that, you know, keeps me from seeing these things and somebody else has got the passcode.

Adam Cook (37:00): Right? That's an act of repentance. You can actually see it. Right? Fingerprints is visible.

Adam Cook (37:06): That's what repentance looks like. It's not you doing it perfectly. It's you taking these action steps that now go with the fact that your mind has been changed towards the things of the lord. I don't wanna do this anymore. I don't wanna be this.

Adam Cook (37:17): I wanna be this person. So then when you actually repent, you're taking these small little steps that keep that crap from happening again. Know what I mean?

Unknown Speaker (37:25): Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (37:26): That makes sense?

Unknown Speaker (37:26): It does make sense.

Adam Cook (37:27): And that's so repentance is not this magical difficult thing. Right? It's actually extremely simple. It's turn your back on that, turn towards it. And how do you do that?

Adam Cook (37:38): Well, you do that with every little step that you take away from it, and little actions you put in place. Like, it may sound stupid that I write truth in my wallet, but to me, that is a visible sign of a repentant heart. I am making sure that I am looking at every time I look in my wallet, I see I'm a truthful person. Right? I walked away from that person that wasn't truthful.

Adam Cook (37:58): I'm a truthful person. You know what I mean? And it's just a small little step, but it shows repentance. It's the best tool we got. And we do not want to take this bastardized version of it that the world creates.

Unknown Speaker (38:12): Right?

Unknown Speaker (38:12): Yeah. I agree.

Adam Cook (38:13): Right. And as church leaders, we do not want to lead this as family leaders, as husbands, as wives, as people leading children, whatever we are, we do not want to mimic this counterfeit repentance of, oh, let me have an emotional response. Let me say I'm sorry, but let me not do anything about it. Right? That's fake.

Adam Cook (38:30): Real biblical repentance is a change of mind that leads to actual change of action and then you can see it. Right? It it produces fruit. Right? Produce fruit in keeping up with repentance is what John the Baptist says.

Adam Cook (38:46): Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Anyway, I really like this episode.

Steph (38:50): Yeah. I did too. I didn't expect it to be that great.

Adam Cook (38:52): Yeah. I felt really good about this one. So Yeah. I liked it on paper. It's something I really like to talk about, and I think it helps take the stigma away from this spiritual aura

Unknown Speaker (39:05): Mhmm.

Adam Cook (39:05): Of god changing my life. Right? You know what I mean? And it puts it into a real practical way. The the holy spirit is saying there's a better way in Jesus.

Unknown Speaker (39:14): Mhmm.

Adam Cook (39:15): Turn away from it. And the way we say okay is we repent. That's all it is. That leads to, repentance leads to a changed life. Transformed life.

Adam Cook (39:26): When you see somebody who has sincerely transformed, you can watch it. You can see all these signs in their life. And I'm telling you, the only place that comes from is real repentance. Real repentance.

Unknown Speaker (39:38): So Agreed.

Adam Cook (39:39): Anyway, cool up. So we got one more in the series, and it ain't even got a name. So I didn't know how to name it. So it's just gonna be like counterfeit Christianity.

Unknown Speaker (39:50): I noticed that. Whole series. Alright.

Unknown Speaker (39:55): I have no clue.

Unknown Speaker (39:56): That's alright.

Unknown Speaker (39:57): Anyway, pretty good episode.

Unknown Speaker (39:59): Yes. Alright, y'all. We don't know how to end this. Nah. It's

Unknown Speaker (40:02): weird sometimes.

Unknown Speaker (40:05): Alright. Well, y'all take care. See next time. Later.

Adam Cook (40:09): Thank you for joining us on the Messy Walk podcast with pastor Adam Cook. Make sure to follow us for future episodes that will be posted regularly each Wednesday. Have a good day.