The Faithful Fox Podcast
'The Faithful Fox' delivers spiritual wisdom with a side of unfiltered humor as the Jooseman tackles faith, life, and everything in between – because being holy doesn't mean you can't be hilarious
The Faithful Fox Podcast
Episode 10: Family Drama and Faith
Ever felt like your faith journey suddenly made you the black sheep of the family? That moment when conversations with relatives became awkward, text threads went silent, or you became the convenient explanation for everything going wrong at family gatherings?
Matthew 10:36-37 contains one of Jesus' most challenging teachings: "A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." These words aren't just ancient wisdom—they're a reality check for believers navigating family relationships that have shifted since prioritizing faith. From experiencing the silent treatment specialist family member to becoming the designated scapegoat for problems that have nothing to do with your spiritual journey, these tensions feel deeply personal and painful.
When relationships devolve into what could only be described as "breadcrumb communication"—just enough contact to maintain the appearance of connection without any meaningful depth—it's easy to question whether you're doing something wrong. The truth? Sometimes family conflicts aren't about what you're doing wrong, but about the uncomfortable contrast your faith journey creates. When Jesus becomes your North Star, your priorities shift, your boundaries change, and your definition of loyalty gets rewritten. Not everyone will understand or welcome these changes.
The beautiful paradox in all this family complexity is that loving Jesus first doesn't mean loving family less—it means loving them more authentically through His perspective rather than through obligation or enabling patterns. Following Christ provides the strength to maintain consistent love even when relationships feel strained or different. So if you're dealing with family tension because of your faith, remember: you're not alone, you're not crazy, and you're probably not doing it wrong.
Ready to navigate family relationships with newfound confidence and grace? Subscribe to the Faithful Fox for more biblical insights that meet you right where real life happens. Your faith journey matters—even when it's complicated.
What's good? Faithful fam, welcome back to the Faithful Fox. I'm your host, the one and only Juice man, and today we're diving into one of those Bible verses that makes you go wait. Jesus said what. Now we're talking Matthew, chapter 10, verses 36 through 37, where Jesus drops some serious truth about family drama that hits way too close to home. And, trust me, if you've ever had that one family member who thinks your faith journey is the reason for literally every problem since the invention of gluten, this one's for you. So grab your coffee, buckle up and let's get into it.
Speaker 2:The faithful fox. I'm so happy you made it. I'm just in your host and I'm so glad we're acquainted. We're praising your name and the way that he's taken away our sin. Yeah, your words give me grace, and you're here in this place. I've blinded by your holy light. Give me blessings from above when I broadcast Welcome to the Faithful Fox Podcast.
Speaker 1:All right, family, let's jump straight into God's Word. So Matthew, chapter 10, verse 36 through 37 in the NIV says this a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Yikes, right, like Jesus really said hey, disciples following me might turn your own family into your biggest critics. That's not exactly what you'd want to put on the church welcome brochure. But here's the thing Jesus wasn't trying to be dramatic for the gram. He was being brutally honest about what happens when the light of truth meets the darkness of well, family dysfunction. And if you're sitting there thinking man, that sounds familiar, then welcome to the club nobody wanted to join. Today we're going to unpack why Jesus said this and what it means for us, and how to navigate those awkward family situations without losing your mind or your faith. Because spoiler alert, it's not always your fault. This is the silent treatment specialist. Okay, can we talk about family members who have PhDs in the silent treatment Like these people could teach a master class in creative avoidance.
Speaker 1:Picture this You're living your life following Jesus. Maybe you've changed some habits, started prioritizing differently and suddenly Uncle Bob, who used to text you memes about cats, is now acting like you don't exist. Your phone notifications went from constant family group chat chaos to crickets. And here's the kicker Sometimes your faith gets blamed for everything. Ever since you got all religious becomes the explanation for why conversations got weird. But let's be real. Was Uncle Bob really texting you deep, meaningful conversations before, or was it just easier when everyone was operating on the same shallow level? Jesus knew this would happen. He literally warned us that following him might create tension in our own households, not because we're being jerks about it, but because light has this annoying habit of making people squirm when they're comfortable in the dark. Look, I get it. It's hard when someone you love starts treating you like you joined a cult because you, what start reading your Bible, began making decisions based on something bigger than your feelings. The silent treatment hurts, especially when you're not even sure what you did wrong. But here's what I've learned Sometimes people's silence says more about their own discomfort with God than it does about your relationship with them. And that's not your cross to carry, friend. Jesus didn't promise family harmony. He promised his presence through the mess and honestly, that's better than Uncle Bob's cat memes anyway.
Speaker 1:This next one's called when Everything's your Fault. You're blaming me for something that you did to yourself. So raise your hand. If you've ever been personally victimized by being the family's scapegoat, you know what I'm talking about. Suddenly, your faith journey becomes the explanation for everything. The dishwasher breaks. Well, ever since you got all churchy, the weather's bad for the family barbecue. You know this never happened before. You started with all that Bible stuff. Your brother stubs his toe. Obviously it's because you're holier than thou attitude. But here's the real talk.
Speaker 1:Sometimes family conflicts that have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus get blamed on Jesus because it's easier than dealing with the actual issues. Blamed on Jesus because it's easier than dealing with the actual issues. Maybe the tension was already there. Maybe there were unresolved hurts, poor communication patterns or just plain old personality clashes that everyone was ignoring. But the moment you start following Christ, boom.
Speaker 1:Your faith becomes the convenient villain in everyone else's story. It's like when you clean your room and suddenly everyone notices how messy the rest of the house is. You didn't make the house messier, you just provided contrast, and sometimes that contrast makes people uncomfortable. Jesus said our enemies might be members of our own household, but he didn't say we made them our enemies. Sometimes people choose to be offended by your growth because it highlights their stagnation, and that's not on you, that's on them. Look, I'm not saying we're perfect. We all mess up and sometimes we do get a little preachy or judgmental when we're figuring out this faith thing. But if you're genuinely trying to love God and love people and someone's still finding fault with everything you do, that's not a you problem, that's a them problem. The beautiful thing about Jesus is he knew this would happen and he still chose to walk with us through it. He doesn't expect us to fix everyone else's discomfort with his light.
Speaker 1:This next one's called breadcrumbs and phone calls. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Let's talk about all those family relationships that exist on life support. You know the ones Surface level check-ins that feel like you're both reading from a script hey, how's work? Good? How's work for you Good? How's the weather? Can't complain you. It's like conversational ping pong, where nobody's actually trying to win, you're just keeping the ball from dropping completely.
Speaker 1:These are the breadcrumb relationships Just enough contact to say you're still close but not enough substance to actually, you know, be close. It's like emotional fast food Technically nourishment but nobody's getting full. And here's the thing about breadcrumb communication it's often safer than risking real connection, because real connection means vulnerability and vulnerability means someone might have to acknowledge that things changed. And if things changed, someone's got to be responsible, right. Sometimes these surface level interactions are all someone can handle. Maybe they're protecting themselves, maybe they're protecting you, maybe they just don't know how to bridge the gap that formed when your priority shifted. Picture this You've got a family member who used to call you for everything Advice, drama, random thoughts at 2 am but now that you're walking with Jesus, those calls feel different.
Speaker 1:You're not as available for the gossip sessions. You don't enable the drama quite the same way. So the calls become shorter, less frequent, more polite. It's not that you love them less, it's that you love differently now. But different can feel like rejection to someone who's not ready for different. Jesus knew that loving him supremely would change how we love others. Not less love, but love filtered through his truth and grace. Sometimes that feels like loss to people who are comfortable with the old version of love. And you know what? Sometimes breadcrumbs are all we can do right now. Sometimes keeping that surface connection alive is actually an act of faith, believing that God can work even through shallow waters until someone's ready to go deeper. The goal isn't to force depth where someone's not ready. The goal is to love consistently, even when it's complicated.
Speaker 1:This last segment is called the Cost of Following. So let's get real for a minute about what Jesus was actually saying in Matthew 10.37. When he said anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, he wasn't being harsh, he was being honest. See, jesus knew something we sometimes forget Following him costs something, and sometimes what it costs is the version of family relationships we used to have. That doesn't mean we stop loving our families. It means we love them through the lens of Christ's love instead of just our natural affection. And honestly, that's actually better love, even when it feels more complicated. When Jesus becomes your North Star, your priorities shift, your boundaries change, your definition of loyalty gets rewritten, and not everyone's going to be cool with that, even if especially if they're family. But here's what I want you to hear If following Jesus has created tension in your family relationships, that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong.
Speaker 1:Jesus literally predicted this would happen. He said it right there in black and white your enemies might be members of your own household. That doesn't mean we go looking for conflict or that we become difficult on purpose, but it does mean we stop carrying guilt for tensions that were inevitable the moment we decided to follow Christ wholeheartedly. Sometimes, loving your family members more than Jesus looks like enabling their dysfunction to keep the peace. Sometimes it looks like avoiding hard conversations to maintain artificial harmony. Sometimes it looks like compromising your values to make everyone comfortable. But Jesus calls us to a higher love, one that's willing to risk temporary discomfort for eternal good. One that's willing to be misunderstood if it means staying faithful to him. And here's the beautiful part when we love Jesus first, we actually become better at loving everyone else. We love from overflow instead of obligation. We love with his strength instead of our own limited capacity.
Speaker 1:So if your family relationships look different now, some people have pulled back. The dynamics have shifted since you started following Jesus. That's not necessarily a bug in the system. Sometimes it's a feature. You know, family stuff is complicated. Faith stuff is complicated. Put them together and sometimes it feels like you're trying to solve a Rubik's Cube, blindfolded while riding a unicycle. But here's what I keep coming back to Jesus didn't promise this would be easy. He promised it would be worth it and he promised he'd walk through it with us.
Speaker 1:If you're dealing with family tension because of your faith, if relationships feel strained or different or just hard right now, I want you to know something You're not alone and you're not crazy, and you're probably not doing it wrong. Sometimes following Jesus means accepting that not everyone's going to understand your journey, and that's okay, because the one who matters most gets it completely. As we close today, I want to leave you with this thought Jesus knew that following him would sometimes create division in our most precious relationships, but he also knew that his love for us and our love for him would be worth whatever it cost. If you're navigating difficult family dynamics right now, remember that your worth isn't determined by everyone else's comfort level. With your faith, your identity isn't found in family approval but in Christ's acceptance. Love your family well, set healthy boundaries, extend grace when you can, but never apologize for loving Jesus most. He's worth it, you're worth it, and his love for you never changes, even when other relationships feel uncertain. Keep following hard after Jesus, faithful fam. He's got you, he's got your relationships and he's got a plan that's bigger and better than you can imagine.
Speaker 1:This has been the Faithful Fox. I'm your host, justin. I'll catch you next time. Peace out, fam.
