What does Tribe teach about obedience?
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 obedience starts with a clear distinction: obedience is not how a person earns salvation, but it is how a saved person builds something that lasts. Brian Hunter has pressed on this across multiple series, arguing that every believer's work will one day be tested, and that what survives is only what was done in genuine surrender to God rather than in self-directed effort. As Brian puts it, "obedience is how you trade what you cannot keep for what you cannot lose." The stakes are not abstract. The teaching draws on 1 Corinthians 3 and 2 John 1:8 to make the case that a full reward is possible, which means a partial reward and no reward are also possible, and that gap is closed or widened by how faithfully a person walks in the specific calling God has written for them.
The teaching also holds that obedience rarely comes with the full plan attached. Lissa Hunter worked through Philip's story in Acts 8 to show that God told Philip to go south on a desert road and nothing more. Philip went. He did not know who he would meet, how he would be provided for, or what the outcome would be. Lissa kept returning to that detail, asking how often people want steps three through ten before they will agree to take step one. She noted that character usually comes before calling, and that God prepares people for larger obedience through smaller, ordinary faithfulness first. Philip was chosen not because he was famous but because he was known for good character and wisdom, and that groundwork came before any of the dramatic moments.
Running through all of it is the conviction that partial obedience does not register as partial credit. Brian has pointed to Saul making the sacrifice without waiting for Samuel, and sparing the best animals against direct instruction, as a picture of good intentions done outside of God's direction, which the teaching names as dead works. He also pressed on the idea that opposition and obedience often arrive together, and that the Amalekite attacks in life tend to come exactly when things are finally going well. Even so, Brian says, "your obedience in one area unlocks victory in another area," and that pattern, visible in Moses holding the staff above his head while Joshua fought in the valley, is one the teaching treats as a reliable feature of how God works, not an exception.
Taught from 2 John 1:8 · 1 Corinthians 3:10-14 · Acts 8:26-40 · Luke 16:10 · Exodus 17:8-16
“Character often comes before calling.”
From Character Before Calling
The passage taught · Acts 6:1-7
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.
2 The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- June 15, 2026 Character Before Calling Lissa Hunter walks through Acts 8 and Philip's obedience to show why taking one faithful step matters more than knowing the whole plan God has for your life.
- June 14, 2026 God's Calling A look at Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, and what simple, step-by-step obedience to God's voice looks like in everyday life.
- May 11, 2026 “Here I Am” – Samuel's Obedience Amanda Lack teaches on 1 Samuel 3, tracing Samuel's call from a young boy sleeping near the ark to a prophet whose every word came to pass through private obedience.
- October 26, 2025 Annihilating the Amalekites A Wyoming pastor uses a desert battle in Exodus 17 to talk honestly about the unexpected setbacks that knock us sideways right when life is finally going well.
- September 8, 2025 Partial Obedience Is Disobedience A Wyoming pastor walks through what Scripture says about heavenly reward, obedience, and what it means to build a life with gold rather than wood, hay, and straw.
- September 7, 2025 The Gold of Jesus A Jackson Hole pastor teaches that Christians are rewarded not for good intentions but for obedience to their specific calling, and that every moment of faithful surrender matters for eternity.
- August 25, 2025 Saved. Now What？ A Wyoming church explores what it means to build a life that lasts, asking what kind of work survives when everything temporary is burned away.
- August 24, 2025 Wood, Hay, and Straw A Wyoming pastor and congregation explore what it means to build a life of lasting purpose, asking what God will make of the work we did with the time we had.
Mentioned along the way
- May 10, 2026 "Here I Am" A preteen boy, a sleeping prophet, and a God who kept calling. This Mother's Day sermon from 1 Samuel 3 explores what it means to say "Here I am, Lord, your servant is listening."
- November 9, 2025 Meal on the Mountain A sermon from Tribe Church in Jackson Hole exploring Exodus 24, where 70 elders dined with God on Sinai, and what it means to find God in life's disruptions.
- October 27, 2025 The Lord Is My Banner Brian Hunter walks through Exodus 17 to show why life comes with unexpected attacks, and what it looks like to stand firm when they hit.
- May 19, 2025 Victors Not Victims A Wyoming pastor hosts speaker Dr. Laura Sanger, who calls believers from spiritual infancy to mature sonship, and from a victim mindset to victors in Christ.
- September 30, 2024 Choosing Endurance Over Escape Brian Hunter looks at two cups in the crucifixion story and asks which one we keep reaching for when life gets hard, and why it matters.
- September 29, 2024 Drinking Deep: The Cup of Endurance Brian Hunter walks through two cups Jesus faced at the cross and asks which one we keep reaching for when life gets hard.
- September 23, 2024 Drinking Deep: Choosing Endurance Over Escape A Wyoming pastor walks through Matthew 26 and Mark 15 to explore why choosing the cup of suffering over escape is the path to spiritual maturity.
- September 22, 2024 Drinking Deep: Choosing Endurance over Escape A Wyoming pastor explores what it means to choose suffering over escape, drawing from Jesus in Gethsemane to show how endurance shapes spiritual maturity.
- May 6, 2024 Worship Is a Sacrifice Tribe's worship team leads a congregation-wide conversation on what it really means to worship, from singing and Scripture to giving and daily obedience.
- May 5, 2024 The Ways We Worship A Jackson Hole congregation talks honestly about what worship really means, covering singing, sitting under Scripture, and giving as three connected acts of devotion.
- April 14, 2024 Devoted to Destruction A guest speaker at a Wyoming church walks through Scripture on why followers of Jesus must fully destroy sinful patterns rather than make room for them.
- February 5, 2024 Listen Before You Obey Joy Abad teaches Tribe church that true biblical obedience begins with listening, exploring the Hebrew word "shema" and how to quiet yourself to hear God's voice.
- February 4, 2024 The Simplicity of Listening A teaching on the Hebrew word "shema," showing why real obedience to God begins with listening, and how to create the quiet needed to hear His voice.
- January 29, 2024 Clarity Comes With Simple Obedience When life feels impossibly complex, clarity comes through simple obedience. Pastor Brian Hunter walks through Exodus to show how faith releases God's grace.
- July 24, 2023 They Recognize His Voice and Come to Him A Wyoming pastor and his congregation explore how to recognize God's voice, using John 10 as their guide in the final week of a six-week series.
- April 17, 2023 TTCA WEEK 7 Wrap Up Brian Hunter walks through Jesus' letters to seven churches in Revelation, asking what it looks like when a congregation finally turns and faces the right direction.
- January 23, 2023 Travel Steady Along His Path Week 3 Psalm 37 study on waiting for God, growing in obedience, and what it means in Hebrew to be honored and lifted up by him.