#83 - Kyle Thompson // Disruptive Honesty

Summary

Summary of The Daily Blade Episode #83: Kyle Thompson on "Disruptive Honesty"

Released on April 25, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode #83 of The Daily Blade, co-hosts Pastor Joby Martin of the Church of Eleven22 and Kyle Thompson of Undaunted.Life delve into the profound theme of "Disruptive Honesty." Drawing insights from John Eldridge's book, Beautiful Outlaw, they explore how honest confrontation shapes Christian faith and personal growth.

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Recap of the Week's Theme: Understanding Jesus' Personality

The episode begins with a reflection on the week's focus: understanding the multifaceted personality of Jesus Christ. Drawing from Eldridge's Beautiful Outlaw, specifically chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, the hosts emphasize the importance of recognizing Jesus as both fully God and fully man. This duality ensures that Jesus possessed a relatable, human personality alongside divine attributes.

Kyle Thompson highlights, “...we have to realize that and internalize that he was indeed fully God and fully man. And as a man, he had to have a real life personality” (00:20).

By acknowledging that Jesus was not a distant, impersonal figure, listeners are encouraged to engage with His teachings and personality more meaningfully.

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Introduction to Disruptive Honesty

Transitioning to the day's focus, Thompson introduces the concept of "Disruptive Honesty," a pivotal chapter in Eldridge's work. He explains that while many appreciate honesty directed at others, they often resist when the same bluntness is directed toward themselves.

“This is chapter seven of the book Disruptive Honesty. A lot of us, we really don't like this. We don't like disruptive honesty... but we don't really like when brutal honesty is pointed towards us” (00:20).

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Biblical Examples of Honest Confrontation

To illustrate disruptive honesty, Thompson references the interaction between Jesus and a Pharisee from Luke 11:37-39. He reads the passage where Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for their outward displays of piety while being inwardly corrupt:

“Now, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness” (00:20).

This confrontation exemplifies Jesus' willingness to speak uncomfortable truths, challenging superficial religiosity and hypocrisy.

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Jesus' Brutal Honesty and Its Impact

Thompson further elaborates on Jesus' uncompromising honesty, quoting Matthew 23:15:

“He goes gunning for the Pharisees. Hypocrites. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert. And when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” (00:20).

He underscores that Jesus' brutal honesty, though off-putting to some, serves to strip away religious pretense and lead individuals toward genuine faith. Without this honesty, Thompson argues, Christians might remain entangled in "crushing religious nonsense," unable to truly respect or follow Jesus.

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The Exclusivity of Jesus and the Gospel's Reality

Delving deeper, the hosts discuss the exclusive claims of Jesus as the sole path to God. They reference key scriptures:

• Matthew 7:13-14: Emphasizing the narrow path leading to life versus the broad road to destruction.

• Matthew 7:21-23: Highlighting that not everyone who professes faith will enter the kingdom of heaven without doing the Father’s will.

• John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (00:20).

Thompson confronts the provocative nature of these statements, acknowledging that they can be perceived as arrogant. However, he asserts their truthfulness, urging listeners to grapple with the reality of the gospel.

“Either it is arrogant or it is true. And here's the reality, guys. We have to reckon with the reality of the gospel” (00:20).

He emphasizes the gravity of humanity's sin debt and God's provision through Jesus, calling for genuine repentance and faith.

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Call to Faith and Action

Concluding the episode, Thompson passionately urges listeners to respond to the gospel's demands:

“We have a debt that we owe that we also cannot pay... we have to put our faith in that reality and we have to repent of our sins and turn away from our lives of sin” (00:20).

He invites those who haven't yet embraced this path to do so and encourages believers to actively share the good news, moving beyond complacency.

“Guys, if you have not done that up to this point, I compel you to do so. And if you have done that, I compel you to stop sitting on your laurels and tell someone about the good news that you know” (00:20).

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Conclusion

Episode #83 of The Daily Blade offers a compelling exploration of "Disruptive Honesty," challenging listeners to embrace uncomfortable truths in their spiritual journeys. Through biblical examples and thoughtful discussion, Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson encourage a deeper, more authentic engagement with faith, rooted in the honest teachings of Jesus Christ.

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Notable Quotes:

• “Either it is arrogant or it is true.” – Kyle Thompson (00:20)

• “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (00:20)

• “Guys, if you have not done that up to this point, I compel you to do so.” – Kyle Thompson (00:20)

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Join the Conversation:

Stay tuned for more insightful episodes of The Daily Blade, where Pastor Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson equip men to apply the Word of God to their everyday lives. Don’t miss the opportunity to engage in person at the 2025 Men's Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Reserve your seat at http://mensconference.com.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

[B]

All right. We made it to the end of the week. I appreciate you all being here. This week we have been using John Eldridge's book Beautiful Outlaw to help us get to know the personality of Jesus better. And before preparing the episodes, I asked John which chapters of the book really encapsulate what he was going for. That's chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. And we discuss that in order to truly understand Jesus, we have to realize that and internalize that he was indeed fully God and fully man. And as a man, he had to have a real life personality. And we also can't get caught reading the Bible as if Jesus was some sort of, you know, deistic floating automaton or something like that. Within his personality, it is a virtual certainty that Jesus was playful and also fiercely intent. As we've covered this week, and today, we're going to be looking at chapter seven of the book Disruptive Honesty. And I'll just tell you, a lot of us, we really don't like this. We don't really like disruptive honesty. We like honesty whenever it's, you know, pointed at other people. But we don't really like when brutal honesty is pointed towards us. You know, we. We really like it the other way around because we don't want it to make us uncomfortable, but we're okay with it making other people uncomfortable. Right? And Eldridge begins this chapter by reminding us of an interaction between Jesus and a Pharisee that we see recorded in Luke 11, verses 37 through 39. So I'll read that here. When Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at a table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, now, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. And so for a lot of us, we'll read, you know, a line like that. We'll be like, yeah, you tell them, Jesus, go get them. But again, as I said earlier, we don't really like it when the brutal honesty is coming our direction. So let's go back to Beautiful Outlaw here. We love it when he Goes gunning for the Pharisees. Hypocrites. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert. And when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. That's Matthew 23:15. Holy cow. Did you know Jesus uses expressions like son of Hell. That gets you kicked out of most churches. But if it weren't for his brutal honesty, we would still be laboring under the weight of all the crushing religious nonsense. If Jesus didn't choose straight with them, we would be disappointed. It would be hard to respect him. It's when he turns his sights on us that we begin to squirm. And well we should. Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14 enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But large is the gate, and narrow is the road that leads to life. And only a few find it. Matthew 7:21 23 not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away from me, you evildoers, then. John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This is without question the great offense of Jesus Christ, his exclusivity to make sure we understand this. What he is saying is that he alone is the means to heaven. No one comes to the one true God except through him. Offensive as the claim may be, we still have to deal with it. Either it is arrogant or it is true. I want to just say that last part again from Eldridge. Either it is arrogant or it is true. And here's the reality, guys. We have to reckon with the reality of the gospel. We have to reckon with our sin debt that we owe to, to a holy and just God. Because I've heard every form of this, you know, God doesn't exist and all that. It's like, okay, well, one day you will be disabused of that notion. But I've also heard from a lot of people, like, hey, you know what? I believe in God and I've been baptized when I was a kid, so that's good enough. So you can leave all this Jesus stuff out there. But even the demons believe in God, but they tremble, right? And so the reality is, is we have a debt that we owe that we also cannot pay. So God sent His only son here to this planet to die in our place to provide a propitiation of our sin debt, to pay in full the debt that we owe to a holy and just Father that pays for our past sins, our current sins, and the sins that we haven't even thought up yet. And what we have to do is we have to put our faith in that reality and we have to repent of our sins and turn away from our lives of sin. Guys, if you have not done that up to this point, I compel you to do so. And if you have done that, I compel you to stop sitting on your laurels and tell someone about the good news that you know. Thanks for being here this week.

[A]

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.