Bryce Crawford Warns Christians Not to Trade Christ for the World: 'Don't Eat the Stew'
Evangelist and apologist Bryce Crawford urged students at Liberty University last week to stand boldly for Christ in a culture that increasingly rejects biblical truth, comparing the temptation to trade Christ for short-term satisfaction to Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Crawford, a 22-year-old evangelist who has built a large social media following through street evangelism and gospel-centered videos, delivered Liberty’s convocation before thousands of students, using the Genesis 25 account and the story of Jacob and Esau as a warning against sacrificing eternal rewards for immediate desires.
Esau, exhausted and hungry, traded his valuable birthright to Jacob for a single meal —a decision Crawford called “the worst business deal in all of human history.”
“He gave all that up for some soup, and we're all sitting in here laughing [at him] right now —but this is happening today,” Crawford said. “It's happening in America, and frankly, it could be happening in your life. You, right now, could be compromising for things in your life because you don't want to give it up, and you are not focused on the inheritance that you receive with Christ.”
Crawford offered several examples of how Christians can make that same mistake in their own lives.
“God has all this stuff in store for me … but I'm not going to give this up because I just don't want to stop having sex outside of marriage, and I don't want to stop getting drunk, and I don't want to stop doing this stuff,” Crawford said, describing the mindset of someone unwilling to surrender worldly desires.
Modern technology, Crawford said, has made those temptations more accessible than ever.
“Right now, the iPhone is the biggest gateway drug in all of society,” he said. “We can get large amounts of sin in a short amount of time, and yet we're the most anxious, depressed generation in all of human history. So what does that say? Obviously, what we think is best for our life ain't working out.
“So really, I just came here to tell you not to eat the stew. Don't take the bait. Don't take the bait, because it's not worth it.”
Crawford said Esau’s mistake was allowing his immediate circumstances to overshadow the value of what he already possessed.
“What Esau did wrong was he was focused on the short term, the short-term satisfaction for this long-term inheritance that he was losing.
“Every time we sin, we block out what God has for us, and we just focus on what's right in front of us.”
Meanwhile, the evangelist said he has seen many of his own friends walk away from Christ.
“I have gotten the honor of being involved in ministry for less than six years, and over half of the Christian friends I met when we first started aren't Christian anymore,” he said. “I met over 100 Christian friends — over half of them aren't believers anymore. That should put the fear of God in your life, in my life, to think that you could be that guy.”
Christians must remain alert to the ways worldly desires can gradually pull them away from Christ, Crawford said.
“I want to see the country know Jesus. I want to see Virginia know Jesus. I want to see the city know Jesus. And just because your university has the label Christian on it doesn't mean you're in right standing with God, and doesn't mean that you're doing what God has called you to do.
“The nastiest thing about deception is you don't know you're being deceived when you're being deceived. And there are people in this country and in this world that are actively being led by the lusts of their flesh, by the temptations of the world, by the desires of their heart that they think are pure, that they think are going to work but aren't going to work. They're being led by bad role models online in their friend groups and their spheres of influence.”
The only hope for the world, Crawford said, is Jesus.
“We need boldness,” he said, “to stand up and do things for the glory of God.”
Photo Credit: ©Youtube.com/LibertyUniversity
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published October 02, 2026.
