Hosea 05: Pride Will Trip You Up

Pride blinds us to ourselves while revealing others' flaws with painful clarity. In this thought-provoking dive into Hosea chapter 5, Pastor Brandon examines God's stern warning against spiritual leaders who've betrayed their calling by leading people away from authentic faith.

The heart of this episode addresses a question many believers struggle with: why do so many spiritual leaders fall from grace? While acknowledging there's no simple answer, Pastor Brandon offers uncommon perspective through Hosea's ancient words. God's message to corrupt religious authorities thousands of years ago provides striking parallels to our modern context. Leaders who claim closeness to God while privately pursuing other priorities eventually face divine reckoning.

What makes this exploration particularly powerful is Pastor Brandon's transparent vulnerability about leadership's weight. "Can I tell you that is one of the things I dislike about leadership the most as a pastor?" he confesses, "because when I look around at people, I realize I'm going to be judged more harshly than them." This raw honesty transforms biblical teaching from distant theology into lived reality.

The episode culminates in a profound realization: everyone ministers, regardless of title. Whether at work or home, Christians represent Christ to others. This universal calling demands authenticity, as God sees beyond our public personas to our hearts. As Hosea 6:6 reminds us, God desires "love, not sacrifices" and relationship over religious performance.

Ready to examine your own influence and spiritual authenticity? Listen now, then join our thriving community in the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook where fellow believers are digging deeper together. Your five-star review helps others discover these transformative insights!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today.
Hosea, chapter 5, and today'stitle is Pride Will Trip you Up
Pride will trip you up.
It is amazing how easily we cansee pride in everybody else,
but not us, right?
And that is so very true.

(00:21):
The very person that says I'mnot prideful, it's like well,
are you proud of that?
So you have to be so verycareful when it comes to pride.
We're going to jump into thatand, of course, god's got more
to say for some of these jokerswho have turned his people away
from him.
So, if you've got your Biblesand your popcorn ready, I want
to go ahead and get opened up toH and the podcast.

(00:43):
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
it really does help and makesure you're going to the Bible
Breakdown Discussion on Facebook.
It's an amazing group of peopledoing a wonderful job and, as
always, the more we dig, themore we find.
Well, once again, while you'regetting your Bibles open and
everything ready, don't forgetthat the overall goal of Hosea

(01:04):
is God's reckless love, andthere's this illustration of
Hosea and Gomer, and theirdifficult relationship is the
same way that God is saying hey,listen, this is kind of the
relationship that I have with mypeople.
They can't seem to keep fromrunning around and running in
the streets.
I keep going back and gettingthem, and so while I'm dealing
with them, I'm also dealing withthe people that keep alluring
them, keep luring them away fromme.

(01:25):
And then yesterday he wastalking about some of the
priests and some of the leaders,and he's going to double down
on that again, and I can reallysee kind of a parallel here,
because it's barely a week goesby in my world where I don't
hear people ask me the questionPastor, why does it seem like
there's so many spiritualleaders that are falling right

(01:47):
now?
And, to be honest with you, Idon't have the answers for that.
I don't know if anyone has theanswers for that.
We have plenty of guesses.
But if you have someone whosays they've got it all figured
out, I wouldn't believe themabout anything else either,
because you know everybody'sdifferent right.
But one thing that kind ofgives me a little bit of hope is
to realize this is not thefirst generation to deal with

(02:07):
leaders who claim to be close toGod but really seem to have
something going on in their liferight, because that's what's
happening right here.
And so let's read this togetherand let's see what God has to
say about leaders who saythey're close to God but they're
not.
You ready.
Hosea, chapter five, verse one,says this Hear this, you,
priests, pay attention, you,leaders of Israel, listen, you,

(02:30):
members of the royal family.
So Paul.
So he's saying priests, leaders, members of the royal family,
here we go.
Judgment has been handed downagainst you, for you have led
the people into a snare.
By worshiping the idols ofMishpah and Tabor.
You have dug a deep pit to trapthem in Achaia Grove.
But I will settle with you forwhat you have done.

(02:53):
I know what you are like, oEphraim.
You cannot hide yourself fromme.
O Israel, you have left me as aprostitute leaves her husband,
for you are utterly defiled.
Your deeds won't let you returnto your God.
You are a prostitute throughand through, and you do not know
the Lord.
The arrogance of Israeltestifies against her.

(03:14):
Israel and Ephraim will stumbleunder their load of guilt.
Judah too will fall with them.
When they have come with theirflocks and herds to offer
sacrifices to the Lord, theywill not find him because he has
withdrawn from them when theyhave come with their flocks and
herds to offer sacrifices to theLord, they will not find him
because he has withdrawn fromthem.
They have betrayed the honor ofthe Lord, bearing children that
are not his.
Now their false religion willdevour them, along with their

(03:36):
wealth.
Sound the alarm in Gebeah.
Blow the trumpet in Ramah.
Raise the battle cry inBethhaven.
Lead into battle, lead on intobattle.
Oh warriors of Benjamin, onething is certain, israel on the
day of your punishment, you willbecome a heap of rubble.
The leaders of Judah willbecome like thieves, and so I

(03:57):
will pour out my anger on all ofthem Like a waterfall.
The people of Israel will becrushed and broken by my
judgment because they aredetermined to worship idols.
I will destroy Israel as a mothconsumes wool.
I will make Judah as weak asrotten wood.
When Israel and Judah saw howsick they were, israel turned to

(04:18):
Assyria, to the great kingthere, but he could not help
them nor cure them.
I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to
Judah.
Verse 1.
Me, wow.

(04:45):
So what he's saying is is he'ssaying listen, all you leaders
who went through a season whereyou, acting like you, were
leading my people.
You were actually leading themfurther away from me and don't
think I didn't notice.
So now I'm coming, I'm comingafter you and I'm not going to
stop until you are destroyed.
And then my people are going toreach out for me and I think

(05:09):
that probably in everygeneration there are people who
for a season they get attentionfor one reason or another.
But then there comes a time ofreckoning.
There comes a time when Godsays enough's enough.
I had someone ask me one timebecause they went to a church
where they had there was thisleader that in front of them was

(05:30):
great, but behind the sceneswas a different story and that's
not unique.
There's a lot of those things.
There's a lot of reasons forthat.
Not all of them are bad reasonseither, but definitely the
situation.
And they asked me you know,pastor, why, why, why does it
seem like that God lets peoplestay in leadership as long as he

(05:51):
does?
And I told him something thathad been told to me one time,
and it was because, first of all, I don't know why God does the
thing he does.
That's why he's God and I'm not, but remember that that's his
child too, and God sees behindthe bad attitudes.
Behind the this, behind thethat, there is a broken soul

(06:12):
that he's trying to show mercyon, and I'm not saying that that
is an excuse, but it does helpus understand why God is
sometimes patient, because God'slove is reckless, because God
is willing to give people time.
Now there is a line there, ofcourse, and I'm not justifying
anything a bad person does.
Don't take that to too far andextreme, where it becomes an

(06:34):
unhealthy thing, please, pleaseunderstand where I'm going, but
to realize that the same mercythat God shows us is the same
mercy that God shows leaders.
But there comes a time when theywill be judged more harshly,
because God told them, andthat's why, in the New Testament
, paul says don't everybody rushto be in leadership now,
because you will be judged moreharshly.

(06:54):
Can I tell you that is one ofthe things I dislike about
leadership the most as a pastoris because when I look around at
people, I realize I'm going tobe judged more harshly than them
, because I'm the one supposedto be leading them closer to
Jesus.
And so I've even told youngpeople before who want to get
into ministry.
I've even told them.
I said listen, give me fiveminutes, let me see if I can
talk you out of it, because I'vetold them, I've said listen,

(07:19):
this is a calling, not a job.
It's a calling Because you gotto look at people and you got to
realize that they trust you,whether they should or not, and
therefore you're going to bejudged according to that.
So let me see if I can talk youout of it.
If I can't talk you out of it,then we'll at least see.
You know, and that's just inministry.
But at the same time, what wouldit look like in all of our

(07:40):
lives if we realize the awesomeopportunity we have to be an
example for Jesus to people allaround us?
Because everyone's in ministry?
It's just, some of us have atitle in front of our name, but
we're all in ministry.
What do you think you're doingwhen you go to work?
And everybody knows you're aChristian?
You're living your life, yourChrist life, in front of them.

(08:02):
That is a form of ministry.
Anytime you do something forsomeone else as an act of
worship to God, it's ministry,it's serving.
What would it look like for allof us if we learned the lesson
from chapter 5 and said God, Idon't ever want to get in your
crosshairs.
I want to live my life in a waythat is honoring to you, so it
can bring you honor in front ofothers.

(08:24):
Let's pray together right now.
God, thank you so much that youlove us enough to put us in
positions where we can make adifference, but then you love
others enough where you'rewilling to call us out if we
don't do it right.
And I pray, lord, that we willalways serve you with everything
that we have and won't letanything get in the way of our
relationship with you.
I celebrate that today, inJesus' name.

(08:45):
We pray Amen, amen.
What God's word says in Hosea,chapter six, verse six.
Jesus' name.
We pray Amen, amen.
What God's word says in Hosea,chapter six, verse six.
I want you to show love, notoffer sacrifices.
I want you to know me more thanI want burnt offerings.
Jesus said this in the book ofMatthew and he would say I want
a relationship with you, notjust a form of godliness.
I pray that you will experiencethe reckless love of God in

(09:07):
your life today.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow.