If You Could Go Back In Time…
Imagine traveling to the past in a time machine and having a conversation with yourself. We asked many of you men and women the question, “What is one piece of advice you would tell the younger version of yourself today?” and here are your answers.
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If you could climb into the DeLorean and give your twenty-year-old self one piece of advice, what would you say? Mike and Chris crowdsourced that question from listeners — men and women, believers and skeptics — and the answers form a striking picture: calm down, it’s going to pass; find real friends; settle your identity in Christ; guard your eyes; take care of your one body; and stop expecting the five-year plan to survive contact with God’s better one. Below: the biggest themes from your answers, the scriptures discussed, and the full episode transcript.
The Most Common Answer: Calm Down — It’s Going To Be Okay
Across dozens of responses, one theme dominated: things are not as big a deal as they feel at twenty. Keep going, one step at a time; whatever you’re in will pass. Notably, not a single person answered “I’d say nothing — it all went perfectly.” Every answer carried a tinge of hard-won hindsight — the calm patience of age looking back at the hungry, hurried younger self like a loving parent. Which raised the episode’s funniest honest question: would twenty-year-old you even listen? Mike suspects his younger self would size up “this 40-year-old jack wagon” and keep right on hustling.
What’s Actually Happening at Twenty
The guys pause to ask why so much advice targets that age. It’s the formative collision: college ending, first real jobs, dating and marriage decisions, friend groups in flux, a brain that isn’t finished developing — everything arriving at ninety miles an hour, with constant movement and no map. Chris remembers running headlong from one thing to the next; Mike remembers chasing multiple dreams at once with no idea what God had for his life. Into exactly that chaos, the listener answers speak: seek wisdom, ask questions (it’s not weakness), don’t look down on counseling, be teachable, stay grounded.
Settle Your Identity — and Find Real Friends
Two answers kept resurfacing, and they interlock. First: “My identity, worth, and value are in Christ alone — He’s the only one who can fill that void.” Second: “Relationships are not optional — you can’t do life alone.” Imagine, they reflect, moving through your twenties with your identity settled (everyone else’s opinion is just opinion) and one or two real friends unafraid to tell you the truth. Mike gets personal here: he spent those years as a chameleon — an actor by trade and by habit — adapting to whatever group he was in until he genuinely didn’t know who he was. Untethered identity plus no truth-telling community is the trap; Christ-anchored identity plus real friendship is the escape.
The Honest Ones: Lust, Health, and the Plans That Won’t Survive
Some listeners went vulnerable: “I’d tell my twenty-year-old self that lust and porn are going to cause problems” — honesty the guys honor and promise a full future episode on, because getting that right at twenty changes everything after. Others: you only get one body, so learn real health and nutrition early — with Chris passing along the best fitness advice he ever received: whatever you invest in your body this decade largely determines what the next one or two feel like. And for the planners: it’s not going to turn out the way you mapped it — and that’s okay, and often better, because God stays in control of the story you couldn’t have written. (Also submitted: “buy Bitcoin” and “leave your eyebrows alone.” The community contains multitudes.)
The Test for Every Answer: More Like Christ
Chris lands the episode’s center of gravity: if the advice we’d give our younger selves isn’t some derivative of becoming more like Christ, we’re missing the mark. That convicts Mike in real time — his own top answer (“calm down”) hadn’t started with Jesus — which becomes its own takeaway: is Christ actually the driver, or just a passenger? For the Christian, the regret in every answer is really one regret: knowing Christ now and wishing they’d known Him then. Philippians 3:13–14 gives the resolution — “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Don’t Live in the DeLorean
The exercise is worth doing — and worth leaving. Don’t take too many trips to the past alone: God isn’t pulling up your record and applying it to you; it’s nailed to the cross, forgiven past, present, and future. Looking back, both hosts can see the Lord redeeming the very mistakes they’d undo — making them who they are today. So reflect, learn, tell your story — then get the DeLorean back to the present, take today’s step, and trust that twenty years from now you’ll have new wisdom to hand back. And if you don’t follow Jesus: pull up a chair anyway. This is a conversation over coffee, and — shocking news — you can disagree on big things and still be friends.
Scriptures From This Episode
Philippians 3:13–14 · identity and worth in Christ alone · God numbering our days and establishing plans beyond our own (Proverbs 16:9, carried over from the series).
Go deeper: Scripture on Identity · Spiritual Identity Theft · Scripture on Control · What Is Wisdom?
Full Transcript — Not Quite There, Episode 9: If You Could Go Back In Time…
Chris: So welcome back everybody. Uh here we are. I’m not quite there. Mike Mobley, Chris Howard, and uh In the house. In the house.
Mike: In the house.
Chris: Well, not actually in the house. In the studio.
Mike: In the studio, live here.
Chris: Yeah, we’re in the studio. We’re uh we’re actually doing this uh We’re trying to be as professional as possible. Very professional. For the people, right? Yes. N QT Studios. And you uh uh I can’t even see A-A-R-P, big baby head
Mike: Uh yeah. It’s a good follow-up from last okay, here’s honest time. We haven’t discussed this in detail, to be honest, so How did you do eating over the last week?
Chris: I did better, but I will say it’s because I thought that I might be getting a kidney stone. So first bout with what a potential
Mike: Isn’t that supposed to be most of the
Chris: Pretty bad.
Mike: Can we say what we’ve heard from other men without offending women? I’ve had guys tell me it’s equivalent to having a child, like childbirth, which I’m like, dude How do you know that? But I d I but I’m this is what other people have told me. I’m never gonna say that. Yeah. I’ve never had a baby. There’s a reason God doesn’t let us have babies
Chris: Yeah. My wife knows that I have a very low pain sickness threshold and so yeah. So uh Kidney stone for you would be it would be excruciating.
Mike: No, I’m not sure.
Chris: I did eat better. Yes. Kind of forced to eat better, especially after that travesty of a burger that uh
Mike: I have I have a confession. I have something to say.
Chris: Okay, should we cue the music here? Should we have something? Okay, slow.
Soundboard: I declare Bankruptcy! What did you do?
Mike: I ate work Okay, something must have happened since we recorded. I don’t understand. I have eaten really good for about three months straight. And I had the worst week. The worst week in months. Tell us more. Like my face is swollen. I mean, I’m I’m feeling terrible. And we went to a Ranger game last night. I had a I had a hot dog that’s called a pizza dog. Pizza Dog.
Chris: Can you tell us more about this pizza dog? What’s the pizza part? What’s the pizza?
Mike: So basically it’s a hot dog with some marinara and cheese and Uh pepperoni. Oh god. Here’s the deal. It was delicious. But terrible for me. I had some nachos, some leftover nachos. We had ice cream and a baseball helmet. And some cotton candy. So you are feeling it. Or you I’m feeling terrible right now.
Chris: Okay.
Mike: All right. Like terrible. Terrible. I’m probably gonna throw it a little bit. Let’s see, had that, had some chips I wasn’t supposed to have. I think I had another piece of cake. Uh had a burger from In N Out This was the worst week. This was the worst week. What what happened? I don’t know. I blame you for the peanut butter burger in our episode, I think. I’m sorry. This is terri this is uh But you know what? You know what? It’s time to get back.
Soundboard: How can we get back on the right track track?
Mike: Let’s do it. So for those of you who maybe have put this together by now, so on this fancy soundboard that we have, there’s some sound effect uh little pads. So we only have uh I think eight of them, but you may have heard some elf Sound effects. I feel like we’re a big fan of the five, right?
Chris: Yes.
Mike: Uh so every now and then I may get a little trigger happy on the Sound effects.
Chris: Keep it up.
Mike: Keep it up. I’m hoping that’s a that’s a crowd pleaser.
Chris: Well hopefully the crowd can tell us maybe a sound effect they’d like to hear and we can do that. Ooh, I like that. Crowdsourcing, right?
Mike: That’s what we’re talking about. What a segue. What a segue indeed. So crowdsourcing, what do you mean by crowdsourcing?
Chris: Gathering other people’s uh ideas on things, uh you know, answers to questions that we might post out there.
Mike: Yep. Yeah. Well guess what? We did that. What a surprise. Were you surprised by that? Did you know that was coming?
Chris: Uh I can’t, you know, I I heard some things.
Mike: Yeah, you did. So we crowdsource Many of you we asked the question, what would you tell well for some of us we said what would you tell your twenty-year-old self? Some people we had to go a little younger. What would you tell your fifteen year old self? The point is if you got to go back in time To give yourself one piece of advice, which some people give us much more than one. Thank you very much for your participation. If you had to go back in past uh in your past and say one piece of advice to yourself What would that be?
Chris: Okay, so you’re firing up the DeLorean. You are getting ready. Does everyone know what the DeLorean is? Um we We can make sure that we share that, I guess. Okay. Yeah. Future one. Yeah. Back to the future two. Which one’s your favorite back to the future? One because you know.
Mike: It’s a classic. It’s a classic. Two is not bad. Two is not three is like, okay, guys. Yeah. Like let’s wrap it up. One and two. I I like two. I like them going to the future like that was cool.
Chris: Yeah. Let’s go back to the present.
Mike: The first one’s classic. Classic. Classic. The third ones. I don’t know what that was. Okay, so uh let’s do it. Let’s read out what we got and let’s talk about it. And also we gotta share our own Answers. Are you prepared for this? I I will prepare myself.
Chris: Have you prepared your twenty year old twenty year old Chris?
Mike: And spiritually, the DeLorean has made the trip for the peanut butter burger and it wouldn’t even phase
Chris: No. That’s right.
Mike: 20-year-old Mike could have gone to the Ranger game and pizza burger. Ate the boomstick and would have had no reaction at all. But that’s that’s not there anymore. Okay, so here we go. Uh let’s see. We got some, I’m just gonna read some various answers here. So when thinking going back in your past, talking to your past self, kind of reminding yourself, hey, things are not as big of a deal. as you think they are, right? Just kind of keep going and whatever it is you’re going through, that’s gonna pass. Another one, um So seek more wisdom. You know, be okay with asking asking questions. You know, don’t don’t stress out as much. Kinda take a breather. You know, don’t don’t be so don’t be so hard on yourself. What do you think about that?
Chris: Yeah, so we’re seeing that there’s uh you know there’s always a little bit of a tinge of regret there, right? I don’t think we have one answer that says, I would say nothing. Oh, it’s gone wonderful and I would do it all over again just the same way. Not a single answer uh that way. So um obviously you’re seeing things from a different vantage point. You’re seeing things from uh maybe, you know, hopefully more of a mature uh maturity.
Mike: Yeah.
Chris: And you are wanting to advise, if you could, your younger self, you know, this is how you avoid some pain. This is how you avoid um maybe some disappointment that has occurred in then Um, also giving yourself some tools there of what you would do differently.
Mike: It’s crazy because there’s always this tension of if I went back and told my 20 year old self, like for example, to kind of slow like calm down, basically. This is this is uh what I would say for me. I’m not gonna go tell everyone else to calm down. But for me, it’s like, hey, it’s gonna be okay. Like, keep going one step at a time. But here’s the rub, like would I listen to myself? When I was twenty, you know what I mean? Like if I went back and t I feel like I might look at myself and be like, what does this 40-year-old, you know, jack wagon know about my life? Like I’m I don’t want to Am I gonna even listen if I’m not gonna be able to do it. Does my hair look like that from the back? Yes.
Chris: I d I d I don’t know. Like would you listen would do you think you’d listen Uh if I knew it was me and trust I might. I would say my personality would be like, what does older me have to say? But I think because as you know, I shared my story, just a lack of uh uh a male figure there that’s guiding me. So I’d be like, what does older me have to say? Yeah. Um. But yeah. I can see why people would say W who are you?
Mike: Yeah. Older me. I guess you’d brush it off. I guess it’s a good point. If you did see your future self, you might be like, maybe I should pay attention. Literally, my future self is standing in front of me. Uh let’s see, a couple other ones. Uh uh counseling, you know, never never look down on going to a counselor. That’s okay, even if you’re younger. Um, got some good responses here. So God really never fails. He really does always come through with his plans and how you can you can trust him.
Chris: Yeah, that can help people through a lot of uh hard situations, difficulties, just knowing Um, you know, they can rely on God through that and it’s gonna be okay.
Mike: We did get a couple similar ones on just kind of, you know, be where you’re you’re at. Like don’t get so Um don’t get so lost on chasing a dream, so much so that you’re not present where you currently are. You know? Like kind of one step at a time. I think that’s a good one. Um, focus on the things that you can actually work on and stop worrying about the things you can’t control.
Chris: Yeah.
Mike: Definitely stop worrying. That that’s a big I did just stop worrying. Take take it easy. Take it slow. There’s something to be said, you know, I do remember when I was younger, I still think this now on guys who are older than me or or women who are older. There’s something to be said. There’s a calm patience. I think that comes with wisdom. on looking at the younger, maybe hungrier person, not physically hungry, of course, you know, leadership hungry. And encouraging them, hey, it’s it’s going to be okay. Almost like a loving father or mother sometimes to a child. Like it’s gonna it’s gonna be okay.
Chris: I could think of several uh in my life. Now.
Mike: Yeah.
Chris: Thankfully. Fortunately. Um, thank you God. Uh that exude that calm sense of being. And the, you know, as a I describe something to them or a situation, uh, it doesn’t Put them back at all. They’re like, oh yeah, sure. So you know, maybe look at it this way. And so yeah. Yep.
Mike: Uh one uh uh relationships are just not optional. Like you can’t do life alone. Like really specific. That that’s that’s a great that’s a great one. I don’t think I valued community as much as I do now. Uh not at all. A couple other ones, you know, don’t let the world define you. You know, look at what the Bible has to say about that. Um stay stay grounded. Kind of stay stay tethered. Eve even if you want to drift or go to the left or the right. Just kinda Be teachable, you know, be humble. Uh, you know, definitely we got from various people ask, ask questions. Like ask, it’s not only ask questions, it’s a good thing to ask for questions, ask for help. Um I I guess kind of speaking to when we’re younger, we just think we we have to have it all put together, right? Or if we ask questions it seems weak.
Chris: Yeah, uh that’s a good exercise here if we pause. here and just ask what’s going on at 20? What what what’s happening at 20 in people’s lives to where uh you know we’re having uh to get another morning and go back and say, hey, you know, pause, uh, be calm. Uh that things aren’t as bad as they could seem. You can trust in God. What what’s happening during those years?
Mike: I don’t know. I I guess you I mean formidable years, right? You’re getting through college, you’re getting out to first maybe first real job or you’re um Maybe, you know, uh uh dating, getting married. I mean, there’s a lot there’s definitely some new experiences. I mean you’re you’re you’re young. I mean, what do they say? The brain’s not fully developed till mid-twenties. I mean we’re not scientists. I mean you’re a scientist. I mean you know that probably but Mr. Scientists. Uh I I don’t I don’t know. I it’s I know, I mean, I know when I was there, I was all the things you just said. You know, and I’m gone a million miles an hour. I’m chasing definitely multiple dreams. I don’t know what uh God had for my life and I still don’t have all that figured out now, but just trying a bunch of other stuff. But I don’t know. I mean what would you say? I feel like there’s a common I’m going 90 miles an hour I’m not really asking questions. I I’m I’m going, like I’m hustling. Ah, you know, kind of a perspective.
Chris: I just remember constant movement in my life and then with others as well. Yeah. So everybody seems to be uh running headlong into the next thing, right? And things are kind of put together pretty closely. So you go to college, you know, most people, you know, they go to college and then they uh are off to that first job and, you know, in their twenties they’re still figuring out, okay, well what what’s it gonna be for me? And Uh, what classes do I need to take? Who do I need to uh spend my time with? Um a lot of people have uh boyfriends, girlfriends in their college years and Um, so you’re doing relationships at that point and you know, whether healthy or unhealthy. Um so there’s a lot going on that’s coming from all different directions. So there’s no no doubt about that.
Mike: So a couple other ones. I would say my identity, worth, and value, they’re in Christ alone. And he’s the only person who can fill that void. You know, no one else or no one else can can fill that. Um, finding, you know, an accountability partner. You know, I s some of the themes here is having having real friends. That definitely is what stood out in lots of answers is a real whether it’s one or multiple real relationships around you who are not afraid to tell you the truth if you want real feedback, maybe And then definitely, and this is for, I mean, this is for all of us today still, where do we truly find our value?
Chris: Yeah. Imagine the having that um I d that identity settled in twenty to where you know you know that God loves you, you know that um anybody else’s opinion is just opinion and that um you Then couple that with having friends that do really care for you, that do want to see the best for you.
Mike: That’s huge. I would have gotten through so many. I didn’t have that, you know, and and and not blaming anyone. Sure. But that would have made a massive difference because you move through for all the things you just spoke to earlier, all those other things are coming at you. This life is being formed. You move through that. with I don’t know a level of confidence or clarity that you just don’t have otherwise. Like you have those friends to help you move forward and I guess you kind of have your north star of where your value is found in Jesus to to keep is your compass to keep going. Where and I guess you you also don’t fall into the trap of, I don’t know, like people pleasing as an example or fear man, just this ping-pong going back and forth all over the place. That’s good.
Chris: Right. And that that hits home for me too is just going back from or going uh in between group to group, uh, trying to find that uh that that tether, you know? Yeah. Just to to be grounded. And um yeah, it it just it makes your twenties just uh So we’re seeing that. We’re seeing that in a lot of these answers here.
Mike: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There’s some other there’s some other similar themes here. So Uh a couple other people. I mean, yeah, don’t rush to get into the milestones. Let’s say it’s marriage or buying a house or children, you know, just like these moments we think about our life. Try try to be in the moment, right? Like kind of one step at a time. um and and multiple of you know kind of versions of believing in yourself just meaning that you you can really find confidence in the way God’s created you and designed you And you really do have skills and abilities to apply and to to feel that confidence, you know, not cockiness, but but to feel that confidence where you can move forward with W whatever it is you’re aspiring to do, like what whatever you would have been doing in the past, or whatever job is going on, or uh I don’t know, idea you had or whatever you were pioneering or starting, like you actually can believe in yourself because of how God’s design you. That that was those are a lot of common answers.
Chris: Yeah, very common. And then um we’re very fortunate in that we’ve had some, you know, get a little bit more descript and even little bit more real and just talk about things that uh they struggled with at that time that uh you even um you know has made an impact into later years. You know. Mm-hmm. Um I received a a a couple of responses here where they’re saying, you know, uh I would have told my twenty year old self that lust and and porn are going to cause some problems. Mm-hmm. And we appreciate that honesty there. Yeah. And, you know, certainly Um, you know, that we’ll talk about this on I think it deserves more of an episode on its own, but just the impact, especially for guys today, of what Lust and porn can do uh and have done in our lives.
Mike: It’s a huge topic. We’re Multiple up I mean, we got lots of probably content on that to unpack there, yeah.
Chris: But get that right at twenty. Oh man. And uh things just are a lot different.
Mike: Yeah. That was good. Uh as far as the honesty where you’re saying there some other honest answers we can see is, you know, buy Bitcoin. You know, as soon as possible. So you can tell that person was taking things seriously. Uh leave your eyebrows alone. I do think, you know, that’s that’s uh that was something we got. You know, you gotta be careful of those eyebrows. Wait, well so you actually have a question about this. Yeah, please. Yeah, well I figured that’s I’ve come to the right place. Uh do your eyebrows grow back?
Chris: I like to think that mine do, but don’t try to take them out.
Mike: So no, I don’t either. I’m not picking my eyebrows, but like You know, I have hair on my body. There’s hair as my arms. Congratulations. Thank you. I’m a man. There’s hair. Okay. So I feel like I’ve been told before, your eyebrow hair does not grow back. Which is why I think you’re I think that’s why people say leave the eyebrows.
Chris: This is where I prove that I’m not a scientist because I don’t know.
Mike: I really think I’ve heard that. I really I really think I’ve heard like if you pick or whatever it is, pluck or pick them out, whatever. Let’s just say I shave off my eyebrow, like it doesn’t Not a lot of hair is growing back there. Did you know this?
Chris: I did not know this.
Mike: Am I making this up? I don’t think I’m making this up. I I maybe we can get feedback later. I’m believing you. I I seriously think I’m on to something here. Okay, so people, if you want to shave your eyebrows, go for it. But I think
Chris: I think at your own peril.
Mike: Yeah, I don’t think they really grow back as much. Moving on from the eyebrows uh to other things. Um definitely some other themes on You know, things aren’t always gonna turn out the way you’re you’re planning. This is also a helpful one for me, honestly Uh, you know, you try to people when you’re younger, you know, what’s your five-year plan? What’s your 10-year plan? It’s just, it’s not always gonna turn out the way you’re thinking, but that’s okay. Like that, that’s that’s That can be a good thing. In fact, that could even be a better thing and God’s in control no matter what that looks like. I I definitely needed to hear I definitely needed to hear that when I was younger because I I f I’m a planner just naturally. So I always felt I was failing by not having the next 20 years laid out. You know, that was being lazy or having big baby head. Uh I was using your phrase there. Thank you. Um, by not having that figured out, right? But like but you don’t have to have that figured out.
Chris: No, and uh just real quickly, big baby head, if you could just make that uh Just take over the world. That could be the the next big saying, then I’d be like, We said that in the previous episode.
Mike: Right.
Chris: The weight of its own head is just a big thing.
Mike: And we’re we’re saying that someone being lazy. So we’re calling a pizza burger. So we’re calling babies lazy, basically. It just sounds like we hate babies. We love babies. We love babies. We love babies. More babies. We’ve had babies. We’ve had great babies. We’ve had not me and Okay, you don’t call it GIF.
Chris: You’re giving me some trauma here because I’m thinking about peanut butter on my burger. So stop doing that.
Mike: Go look it up on the GIF. If you search probably, you know, baby head, you’re gonna see a baby falling over on the couch. That’s what we’re talking about. That is kind of funny. That is it is funny. It’s a funny thing. You just watch that over and over again. No hate towards the body. Who doesn’t enjoy a baby falling over on the couch safely Safely. Safely. Safely. Safely. Certain parameters. What other what other answers what other answers do you have over there?
Chris: Well, you know, just to keep within a recent theme here, you only do get one body, so make sure you really take care of it through. uh foods and the exercise and yeah um that i it just all balances out there right um mental spiritual physical uh taking care of all that Each one has impact on the other, so uh why not tell your twenty-year-old self, hey, this actually does matter. So you might want to learn uh what true health and nutrition is.
Mike: So I had someone tell me one time, you know, you can They were in their uh 70s and they they said they got good advice, I don’t know, maybe it was 30 years prior about taking care of your body. And like whatever decade you’re in, think about whatever it is you’re working on in your body during that decade. is basically what the next maybe one to two decades will be like. Yeah. Which I thought that was good advice because it makes me go, okay, if I’m in forties now, whatever work I’m putting into it, it’s gonna kinda determine what my fifties and sixties look like. That actually motivates me because I feel like I I’m making an investment. I already know I’m investing in my body, but it’s just something about that that practically connected some dots to me on, okay, this is a really worthwhile investment for my future. And again, I want to glorify God with my body. That’s my struggle and not always being motivated with that. But anyway, I thought that was a good practical takeaway for me on oh, this is like prep You know, for what the You can tell me, you’re far out in the future, you know how that’s been for you.
Chris: Yeah, I’m uh many years ahead of you, right?
Mike: Many years, many, many years ahead.
Chris: I think there’s a lot of validity to that. You know, you um kind of strain toward what’s ahead, right? Yeah. You don’t want to live too far in the past and You don’t want to get hung up there, and I believe Philippians 3:13-14 tells us brothers, um I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And so there again, um Th that that’s what we’re we’re talking about here. We know we’re not there. We knew at 20 we’re not there. Uh we aren’t going to get there on the side of heaven, so we have to take steps and You know, even if you have a setback, even if you have a setback where you get this pizza dog, this monstrosity that’s it lines up well with uh uh uh Peanut butter. Monstrosity is a little harsh. It’s really combining two kinds of foods to make it.
Mike: Your burger was a lot worse than my pizza dog, but whatever.
Chris: Yeah, uh debatable, but decide that so in fact look forward to a poll on uh which is w worse and uh we can talk about it
Mike: You know what’s something interesting you just said is since we’re not quite there and we understand when we’re saying that it’s the same title as a podcast, which we’re not trying to work that in on purpose, but How do you feel how do you feel when someone tells you that? Like I I I feel like sometimes there’s a tension. Like if I tell you if I tell you right now, like, hey, you’re you’re not quite there, you’re actually not going to get there this side of heaven. Once I just say that, like how does that make you feel?
Chris: Yeah, the achiever side of me, the uh the go-getter, the the A type of my personality is saying Uh no. We can get there. Uh yeah, right? Yeah, that’s what we’re here for. I almost don’t like it.
Mike: It actually kind of makes me uh I guess it is m the achiever side of me. I’m like, well who are you like What do you mean I’m not gonna get there? Like it almost demotivates me.
Chris: I think that’s where a lot of us are at twenty. We think we can take on the world and we think we have it all in our pocket, or at least we’re told we’re supposed to.
Mike: Yeah
Chris: And um a lot of this life, as you and I have seen and many others out there, is that you need people, you need community, you need uh to submit your will to God and his will and what he wants for you. So uh I do think that there is some tension there. Um I think it’s a healthy tension because it’s it’s the nature of you know sin that we are still fighting against, you know, Jesus has won the battle, um, or he’s won the war, he’s won the b he’s won the battle, he’s won everything. Yeah. Um, but we still have these sinful thoughts that we can do on our own. And at twenty, that’s uh I I know that’s where I was. I was looking around and seeing what other people were doing and thinking, okay, well, I can do that too, or I can do that better.
Mike: Like that’s There’s there’s some common other answers on just not n like you said, like, don’t be so focused on like who you want to be, more like What is God calling you to do? Which I guess a good a good segue to that on the tension that we’re not going to be there. It doesn’t have to be demotivating. Like the achiever side to me doesn’t like hearing that But I think that’s because that achiever side is I’m not saying that’s my godly side coming out of me. I think that’s my sinful Um, what do you mean? Like, what do you mean I need help or or I’m dependent? Because that’s a whole nother thing we don’t like to hear. But then if you look at Jesus, I mean we we need we have to have him. Like we have to need him. Just because we can’t we can’t do it.
Chris: And I think that’s the point too, that if we’re going back in the time machine and we’re telling our 20-year-old self anything other than um, you know, some derivative of becoming more like Christ, then we’re we’re missing it. Mm. You know. And I know th the the Bitcoin is a a joke. Not not to that guy. Serious.
Mike: Yeah, we’ll talk to him privately On an episode publicly.
Chris: I think so. Yeah. I think it’s a m a public flogging uh of questions. Well not not a physical flogging. Of course, of course. Mental flogging. And spiritual. Yeah, of course. Yeah. But uh Yeah, if we’re if If we’re not aiming toward becoming more like Christ, then we’re missing the mark.
Mike: That’s uh you know it’s interesting. I’m kind of convicted when you say that because you’re missing the mark. Uh well yes. Um thank you for that reminder. Feeling really encouraged right now. No, we see you too. My uh well yeah, I still still feel bad though. I my one of my top answers for me was kind of to calm down and take it one step at a time. I wasn’t thinking Jesus necessarily. You know. Oh. You know what I’m saying? Like it wasn’t it wasn’t my first Did you lose points to Jesus? Well I d I just I just like I right now I didn’t think that. I wasn’t thinking that and I wasn’t a believer when I was twenty Um but I wasn’t necessarily it’s funny, that’s that that’s not where my mind went first. So I mean that’s interesting. It gives me something to pray about and is Jesus my ultimate kind of motivation and driver, you know, day to day, or is it something else?
Chris: Well what I love is that you’re asking that question. Yeah. And that’s the same for me, bud. Yeah. So Yeah. It’s good. Yeah. I would say that my um my conversation would center a lot on uh Burgers. Yes, I would I would say don’t eat as many burgers. I think there would be some health element there too. You know, m take care of your health. Uh nutrition, all that. Learn that early. Uh don’t take your metabolism for for granted. Don’t take uh but I do think mentorship and I think discipleship Um talking about that to a 20-year-old Chris would have made a a big difference. Talking about the value of that and how you’re going to need that and how that’s going to be something that creates a gap for a while between you growing in your Christian maturity. So I think that and then of course, you know, uh at twenty years old, uh, lust Um that would be something that I would have to address too. Sure.
Mike: No, same for me. I mean, not objectify. And I think it uh thinking about it a little bit more here, I Sometimes I was a kind of like a chameleon a l a long time ago. So whatever group I was around, I would just adapt to kind of be like them. Um, I’m sure out of a desire to people please and and make friends, but that also left me with years of doing that eventually, probably around the time I was in my twenties Not knowing who I was. Because I I was kind of a little bit of everyone. Right.
Chris: And then you’re acting as well, too. And so you’re having to be different characters.
Mike: Yeah. I mean it if For real. I in kind of in a world of I do not know who I am. I’m I’m very untethered to kind of that reality And so it was making me kind of back up and go, okay, we got quite a bit of responses on this, you know. If you had to like almost try to surmise, you know, maybe Big picture. You know, to the best of your ability, I know we’re not going to cover everyone, but if you had almost kind of some eyes, okay, maybe a little bit of a culture snapshot of where we’re at or maybe what a takeaway could be. Like w what what what comes to mind for you?
Chris: I would say that um to summarize it there. Summise. Summise.
Mike: Is summise to summarize the same word? Are you thinking surmise? No. Oh no. Am I saying the wrong word? Is surmise not a word? Summise? Summise. I’m gonna look this up
Chris: Let’s take it to the Google, but uh I I don’t think we’re gonna find some eyes.
Mike: Okay. Well you keep talking, I’m gonna look this up. Okay.
Chris: Yeah, so as Mike is looking for the word that doesn’t exist, we’re going to uh What is the word you said?
Mike: I said summarize? No no no what’s the but I said summarize? Oh no, I think you’re right. Surmise, there it is.
Chris: But we’re gonna we’re gonna we’re gonna figure this out.
Mike: Oh what was I saying?
Chris: Better today.
Mike: People are gonna find out I have so I’m forty and I just found out that’s not a word. I have lots of words in my vocabulary that I’ve learned over the last ten years that I’ve been saying You know another one is that’s a hot topic. Let’s go off on this tangent for a second. Okay. Tubware.
Chris: Tubberware.
Mike: Tubberware. So every okay, I’m gonna get corrected. I understand there’s a brand out there called Tupperware with a P Okay, I understand. I know the brand. Let’s just get it out there. But I’ve called it tub aware, and I wasn’t really corrected probably until I was about 30. And that just stuck. Here’s the deal. Tub aware is the more fitting of a word. What are you putting in this container? What is it? It’s a plastic tub, right? It’s a tub of food. It’s a plastic container. It’s tuboware, people. I know it’s tub err with a P, but it’s a tub. It’s a plastic tub. There’s a definition of the word tub aware on the internet. It’s possible I submitted the word to the dictionary and it got approved, but that doesn’t matter. It got approved. So tuboware with a B is technically okay to say. I’m going to disagree with it. Tub uh, so I can put that food in there. Right? It’s like water burger. If you live in Texas, you say water burger. You don’t say water. Whataburger.
Chris: Yeah, it’s it’s not a water burger.
Mike: So It’s not what a burger. Yeah.
Chris: I’m not gonna disagree with you on that. It is a tub. What is a tup? What is a tup?
Mike: You don’t put food in tup? You don’t say ham in that tub? Yeah. That’s weird. I think you’re making it ridiculous. You say can you ham in that tub so I can put the food in the tub? It’s a plastic tub.
Chris: But it’s still called Tupperware, and that’s what it should be.
Mike: So don’t you go back to the surmise or something I gotta summarize and say that
Chris: Uh people just they want m more of uh Jesus in their life. They they do when you look at these answers. They want to have known Christ. like they do now, I would say.
Mike: Um the are you talking to the the Christian?
Chris: I’m talking to the current Christian. Of the current Christian, yes. Thank you, because uh you may not be a Christian listening to that and that’s okay. Uhhuh. You’re here and you’re invited and again, we’d We talk about not being quite there and that includes us all. And so thank you for for listening. For the Christian, the regret, I believe, comes from knowing what they know now and wishing they could have applied it to those years to save them some headache, some headache. That’s a good word. Any kind of ache. Um
Mike: So if you’re ministering to someone and and sorry I’m putting you on the spot And that’s what I just told you. And I’m kind of feeling that guilt or conviction. Like, well, like what’s an encouragement you would give me?
Chris: I’d say you’re where you’re at now.
Mike: Yeah.
Chris: And move ahead. Yeah. Don’t spend time. Don’t get in the DeLorean too much and take trips by yourself.
Mike: No, and God isn’t pulling up your past record and applying it to you. He is pulling up your past record and it’s nailed to the cross. So it’s it’s forgiven. Like for all eternity, past, present, and future. So I think it’s okay to reflect on this question. I think it’s a good exercise. And thank you, thank you all for participating for real. I think it’s a great thing to reflect. Wow, what has happened in my life? And While it would be great, of course, to go back and avoid some mistakes, we can also see how the Lord’s redeemed those mistakes and trials to make us who we are today. I think about that for me and I’m I’m thankful for where I am. And so I I think I I I would I would love if everyone’s encouraged from here, like you said, like here we are today. then and you know where your life has led up to, of course in 20 more years you’re gonna have some other wisdom to share. But you can trust, you can m move ahead, go one day at a time. the Lord will still redeem and you’ve been forgiven. And if you don’t follow Jesus, it and this the same goes for you and there’s lots of good conversations there on who Jesus uh really is, like who he who he was when he was here and and what the Bible has to say about all that. And we’re hoping you just feel comfortable. This is just a conversation. It’s just like we’re all sitting down having a cup of coffee and we don’t have to agree on every single thing. And in fact, g guess what? You know, you can actually disagree. And you can still be friends. Did you know that was possible this day? Like these days That’s great news. It’s a shocker. You can actually disagree on topics. Even big topics, and you can have another cup of coffee and still be friends.
Chris: Cut somebody out of your life.
Mike: Yeah, you don’t have to punch them in the face the second they disagree with you. It’s uh you can actually still be friends. So it’s refreshing. Yeah.
Chris: Yeah. So while this has been a fun exercise and thank you for participating in it. Um Let’s let’s not live in the past. Yeah. Let’s get that DeLorean headed back to uh the the present or even back to the future. You love that DeLorean reference. One point twenty one gigawatts let’s uh yeah, hey, one twenty-one gigawatts. Let’s stay here. And use it where you can. Um you know, there there’s certainly things to learn from our past and it can be very useful in telling your story, but uh yeah, don’t beat yourself up over it.
Mike: Just like I shouldn’t beat myself up over the pizza dog.
Chris: No, you beat yourself up enough, I would say there. I don’t know. Beat up your intestines, I’m sure. Kind of probably feels like a kidney stone. Yay!
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