And I think Pastor Trevor’s response was exactly consistent with Jude 22–23.

The young man walked into church carrying some of the language and habits of the world he came from. And instead of saying, “Clean yourself up so you can belong here,” your pastor essentially said:

“Thank God he came. Let Jesus work on the rest.”

That is such a good picture of what Jude is saying.

⚓ Jude 22–23

“Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

Notice the balance.

Love the person.
Hate what is destroying the person.

Jude doesn't tell believers to become comfortable with sin. But he doesn't tell us to recoil from sinners either.

And that fits your sermon notes beautifully:

“We can hate what's dragging them away. We must love them to pull them out.”

That's the distinction.

Jesus didn't wait for Zacchaeus to straighten himself out before coming to his house.

Luke 19:5–10

Jesus says:

“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” — Luke 19:5

And only after Zacchaeus encounters Jesus do we see the transformation begin. By Luke 19:8, Zacchaeus is talking about restitution.

Presence came before cleanup.

And then Jesus explains why:

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” — Luke 19:10

That's exactly what happened with that young man.

He apparently had never gone to church because, in his words, “No one ever asked me to go.”

Pastor invited him.

And he showed up.

Then after the service, he's so excited that he runs across the courtyard yelling that the service was [expletive] amazing. 😂

Is the language ideal? Nope.

But which is the bigger story?

A lost kid walked into church, heard the Word of God, loved what he heard, and wanted Pastor to know it.

THAT'S the story.

The church members who were startled by the language weren't necessarily wrong to recognize that Christians shouldn't speak that way. Scripture absolutely teaches that our speech changes as Christ changes us (Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 3:8).

But Pastor understood something important:

Sanctification follows salvation.

You don't stand at the edge of the fire yelling,

"Get cleaned up and then I'll pull you out."

You pull them out.

Then you help them heal.

And I really like the progression I see across your notes from these four weeks:

Jude warns us about the fire → tells us how to remain faithful → and then sends us toward the people standing dangerously close to it.

And look at your handwritten line:

“Rescued people → rescue people.”

There it is. ❤️

Then Jude immediately takes the pressure off us being the Savior:

Jude 24–25

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord…”

We reach.

Jesus saves.

We speak truth.

Jesus changes hearts.

We invite.

Jesus transforms.

And…you wrote your daughter's name (#1) right underneath verse 24 and the challenge to write down someone far from God.

I noticed that. ❤️

That makes this final installment of Smells Like Smoke feel especially personal. Your assignment isn't to somehow produce faith in her. It's to pray, love, speak truth when the opportunity comes, and keep pointing toward Jesus.

Because Jude 24 says He is the One who is able.