What does Tribe teach about damaged goods?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on damaged goods starts with two Gospel scenes where the person the room has labeled and written off turns out to be the one with the clearest understanding of who Jesus is. In both Mark 14 and Luke 7, a woman who carries a public reputation walks past social judgment to get close to Jesus, and Jesus responds not by distancing himself from her but by honoring what she did. The Pharisees in both rooms saw a problem. Jesus saw a person.
Brian drew attention to what those women had that the religious people in the room did not: intimacy built on vulnerability and transparency. They did not wait for a safer setting or a more acceptable version of themselves. That closeness, not reputation or title, was what gave them clarity. The teaching holds that proximity to Jesus and intimacy with Jesus are not the same thing, and that the people who feel most disqualified are sometimes the ones who understand him best. Brian puts it plainly: "If he already knows and he still wants to hang out with you, what does that say about him?"
The series this teaching sits inside makes a steady claim that hard seasons come paired with something from God, not just difficulty. "There will never ever ever ever be a problem that comes your way that God doesn't attach one of his beautiful transformative promises." For someone who feels like damaged goods, the teaching at Tribe points back to those two women: what looked like a liability in the room was, in Jesus' reading of the moment, an act of faith that deserved to be publicly honored.
Taught from Mark 14:1-9 · Luke 7:36-50 · James 4:8 · John 14:15
“Proximity does not necessarily equal intimacy.”
From Clarity Comes Through Intimacy
The passage taught · James 4:8
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- February 12, 2024 Clarity Comes Through Intimacy Brian Hunter explores how intimacy with Jesus brings clarity through vulnerability and transparency, drawing from two Gospel accounts of a woman anointing Jesus.
- February 11, 2024 Clarity Comes Through Intimacy A pastor and congregation in Jackson Hole explore how intimacy with Jesus, built on vulnerability and transparency, brings clarity in an increasingly complex world.