Key Life Network

Steve Brown: How do you teach a young person to care? The answer to that another questions on Key Life.

Matthew: Key Life exists to communicate that the deepest message of Jesus and the Bible is the radical grace of God to sinners and sufferers. Life's hard for everyone, so grace is for all of us. But there's a lot of confusion about how grace applies to real life. So here Seminary professor and author Steve Brown and Pete Alwinson from Forge Truth to answer your questions.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. Hi, Peter.

Pete Alwinson: Hey, man. How you doing? Happy Friday.

Steve Brown: Happy Friday to you, too. Hey guys, don't forget to go to forgetruth.com. Uh I would like to tell you Well, I'll tell you about the first book Peter wrote. Uh Like Father, Like Son. If you haven't read it, consider yourself uneducated. And he has another book coming out, or at least he says he does.

Pete Alwinson: You're going to get a copy of it to review this week.

Steve Brown: You're kidding.

Pete Alwinson: No, serious.

Steve Brown: Okay. Well, I'll tell you about it as soon as it comes out and you can get that. But meanwhile, go to forgetruth.com. Great podcast, great teaching video and uh um and audio and you'll be glad you did. Pete, as you know, comes in and we answer questions on Friday. Uh you can ask your question anytime you want by picking up the phone and calling 1-800-539-5433. That's 1-800-KeyLife. Or you can send your question to Key Life Network, Post Office Box 5000, Maitland, Florida 32794. If you're in Canada, it's Key Life Canada, Post Office Box 28060, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8.

Or you can send your question to Steve at keylife.org. And And listen, if you can help us, that would be good addresses and good website where you could do that. And we would take your gift and apply it to your brothers and sisters in Christ who can't afford to give a gift. And that makes you a champion of the body of Christ. That's a little manipulative, I think, but but it's true. So if you help us, we'll help others. And I promise we won't spend it in ways that some of you think we do. We'll use every dime for the glory of God.

Pete, and if you can't, we understand. Pete, lead us in prayer and we'll get to these questions.

Pete Alwinson: You got it. Our great Father, what a joy it is really to stop and to be in the presence of the living God who is the sovereign God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit over all creation. And we honor you today. Lord, we lift up We lift up your power and your might. We lift up your your full knowledge of us. We thank you for your mercy, your kindness, oh your patience, and how you have walked with us through every step of every day. And so we we praise you and we Lord, we have needs many many needs.

You know the relationships we need restored, you know the encouragement we need in our own heart, the perspective, the wisdom that we need. Lord, would you meet us and guide us and lead us into your truth for everyday life. And then this weekend we pray for our leaders that you would build them up, use them in a powerful way to bring us into your presence and as your body to worship and serve you and extend your kingdom. So we commit this time now of Q and A to you a longing for you to give us wisdom for our everyday life, we pray, in Jesus name.

Amen.

Steve Brown: Pete, this question is an email. It's interesting. How do you teach a young person not to give a rip? Uh you say that as you have gotten older, you don't care more and more. And there's some truth to that. But I care about some things more and more than I did before. Just wanted to make that clear. Continuing, but as a young person, how can I learn not to give a rip, especially as a pastor? It sounds very freeing. My guess is it would take time to learn with age. Is that a good question?

Pete Alwinson: It's a great question. And you know, it it does dial us back to those early days of ministry as pastors where everything seems to be monumental.

Steve Brown: Oh, it really does.

Pete Alwinson: That every comment that every person says or every criticism or critique or suggestion is like it rocks your world.

Steve Brown: It really does.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah. And And so I think

Steve Brown: And a bad sermon will make you suicidal.

Pete Alwinson: Oh my goodness. So I think what is he he's referring to one of your comments to say you've learned not to worry about certain things anymore.

Steve Brown: Yeah, that they're not important. You know, when you start preparing for the finals, you you you begin to say, you know, this isn't this doesn't matter.

Pete Alwinson: Mm.

Steve Brown: It really doesn't matter. And I do that as a communicating technique and often say I'm a cynical preacher and I don't give a rip.

Pete Alwinson: Mm.

Steve Brown: So listen to me. I'm going to tell you the truth.

Pete Alwinson: Mm hm.

Steve Brown: Uh and that's a people that does cause people to listen. But it doesn't mean I just don't care about anything.

Pete Alwinson: Right. Right.

Steve Brown: But and especially cause this guy is a pastor.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah.

Steve Brown: Boy, do Pete and I understand.

Pete Alwinson: Oh yeah. I would say some of these in answering for for for our pastors that listen, I would say one of the things you taught me was to say, well, you may be right when you get some criticism.

Steve Brown: That's right.

Pete Alwinson: And And I'm going to think about that. I'm going to And so if somebody criticizes you, they may be right, but they may be wrong, too. And so you don't have to always say that to them unless they're particularly hostile.

Steve Brown: Yeah, that's true.

Pete Alwinson: If they're really hostile, you could say, well, you know, you may be right and you may be wrong, but I will think about that. And And you take it to the Lord and you pray it through. And that's a good step.

Steve Brown: And And Yeah, it really is. It's a beginning, but it's not going to fix it.

Pete Alwinson: Forward. It's not going to fix it. No.

Steve Brown: You know, age will help. I promise you. It helps a lot.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Brown: I don't like being old, but there's some things I very much like about being old.

Pete Alwinson: So what is it with age that that helps us not give a rip about certain things?

Steve Brown: I think it's wisdom. I think God gives wisdom and I think the sanctification to I think it And I think you you you need to say, God, let me know what's important

Pete Alwinson: Right.

Steve Brown: and what's not important and help me to deal with it accordingly. And if you're a young pastor,

Pete Alwinson: Right.

Steve Brown: you're going to get some help, but not a lot.

Pete Alwinson: Right.

Steve Brown: It's not an entire sanctification that takes place and it's But as you get older, you really do begin to see that, you know, I kid I have We have a lot of We have over 4,000 pastors on our mailing list.

Pete Alwinson: Mm hm.

Steve Brown: And uh I talk to pastors a lot. And sometimes In fact, you've talked to me about it when somebody left the church.

Pete Alwinson: Mm hm.

Steve Brown: And it was somebody you really liked and you didn't understand it. And I probably said to you and I've said to them, listen, when they died, I took it personally. They think that's a joke. That's not true. I mean, I really was that sensitive.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah.

Steve Brown: And so And it was neurotic. But as time passed, uh it gets better.

Pete Alwinson: It does. And And it gets better when you teach grace and preach it to yourself because the more you do that as a young pastor, the more you realize your identity is as the deeply beloved redeemed son of the most high God. That's your identity. And And so you you begin you begin to realize what your base of support really is. It's who you are in Christ, not that you uh have somebody that is critical of you or that you may have not have been as clear on something. Uh Keep continue to preach grace to yourself

Steve Brown: That's right.

Pete Alwinson: as well as your people.

Steve Brown: Unless we become discouraged.

Pete Alwinson: Oh man. Yeah.

Steve Brown: As Luther said. Uh this has You know, this is another good question. In fact, they're all good. We don't think there's stupid questions except the ones that

Pete Alwinson: Yeah. We have great listeners, though.

Steve Brown: We do great listeners. All through the Bible, God tells us to be still. But what does that mean? What does it look like? My doubts and fears overcome me all the time. I feel like I am driving myself mad because I'm seeking God and getting only dead silence in response. That's an honest person.

Pete Alwinson: It is an honest person and all of us have felt that way. And the Psalms You read through the Psalms and a lot of times the psalmist felt that way.

Steve Brown: Oh yeah. And said so.

Pete Alwinson: You're not listening to me and you're not listening to your people. So it's it's is a common experience. Um I think beans I I think this does take discipline and learning to read the word and sit still and listen for the Holy Spirit to help to make sense of a passage in the Bible and apply it to you. And um it gets better writing in your journal. Lord, I don't feel like you're listening. We both do that. And over time you do begin to hear God's voice. It's It's not audible for me. But it's You begin to hear him saying, think this way or think about this.

Steve Brown: You do and you find scripture speaking to you in ways it never did before.

Pete Alwinson: That's right.

Steve Brown: Now that is the contemplatives of the church have a lot to say it. There's there's the great cloud of unknowing uh which means that when you step into it, it's the initial experience, as you said, of dead It just God's not speaking to me. What you do is you persevere, as you said.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Brown: And out of that cloud of unknowing comes unknowing. And then check some on centering prayer. I found that I'm not doing it much today and uh but I have a lot in the past. And there's kind of a technique I used of sitting by a river.

Pete Alwinson: Mm hm.

Steve Brown: And there are all kinds of limbs that are floating in the river. But I know they're there, but I let them stay and I have a prayer word like Father that brings me back. And in the quietness, when my mind drifts, it's like the river ignore it. Father bring And that sounds silly. But there things like that you would be surprised are very helpful.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Brown: And keep at it. Don't give up.

Pete Alwinson: Don't give up. Don't give up. And sometimes in the middle of the night when you wake up,

Steve Brown: Yep.

Pete Alwinson: get up. And sometimes he likes to talk when you're undistracted. Go to your desk, open up the Bible, read a little bit and maybe your journal and just listen. Maybe he woke you up for a reason.

Steve Brown: And sometimes in the morning, that's true with me. Other times I play solitaire.

Pete Alwinson: Sometimes we just need to relax and get some rest.

Steve Brown: Yeah, I know. That's true. You can become obsessive about that if you're not careful. So don't let it happen.

Pete Alwinson: Oh man.

Steve Brown: But occasionally be still.

Pete Alwinson: That's right.

Steve Brown: And And let God worry about uh And know that he is God because that's his business. Ours is just say, I'm going to sit here and just sit. Got to go. We can't just sit. But first it's important that I say to you that Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.