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Steve Brown: God is not who you think he is. Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew: That was Steve Brown. He's an author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life, a program all about God's radical grace. We're committed to bringing you Bible teaching that's honest, straightforward, and street smart. Keep listening to hear truth that'll make you free.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. If you were listening yesterday, I introduced a new lie: "I’m not good enough and I don’t know enough to serve Jesus in this world." That’s a lie. It’s from the pit of hell and it smells like smoke.

I gave you a verse and it wouldn’t be bad if you memorized it. It’s 2 Corinthians 4:7: "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

I suggested yesterday that scripture was not written for academics, for theologians, or for really, really bright people. Scripture was written for people like you and people like me who hurt, who put on our pants the way normal people do, people who work hard for a living, people who have all kinds of problems, and people who are normal and lost and fallen.

When we make scripture only for those in the know, we make a horrible mistake. If you were listening yesterday, and I know your name if you weren't, I told you about being a seminary professor teaching communications and preaching. I would say to students, "You’re not preaching to professors. Preach to real people."

There’s a wonderful article in First Things magazine. That’s one of my favorite magazines. It’s mostly Roman Catholic, but it has some good stuff. They’re on the right side of almost every issue, and every time it comes out each month, I read every word of it.

The article is in a recent issue called "The Mystery of Israel." Sohrab Ahmari is the author, and he quotes a Jewish friend. Let me give you that quote. His Jewish friend said, "I love Catholics, but you guys are trying to impose your lofty, rational, Hellenistic God on our desert God, our hilltop God, our angry bush God. It doesn’t work for me."

The author later references the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks as saying, "The God of the Hebrew Bible was never the God of the academy. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is neither the unmoved mover nor the ground of being, but an historical God who has put himself in dialogue and relationship with one people, the Jews."

In other words, the God of the Bible reveals himself to normal people in normal ways more than he reveals to academics or ordained or trained leaders. Let me show you what happened. You’ve got to listen up because, frankly, this is almost profound.

There’s a difference between institutions and institutionalism. Institutions are necessary for almost every human endeavor of any note. Institutionalism is the hardening of institutional arteries.

If you and I had a significant and powerful encounter with God, we might bring others into a similar experience. We might even start a new denomination. We could call it the Sons and Daughters of Heavenly Hope.

Eventually, that movement would write hymns, build buildings, create schools, and write prayers and liturgies to reflect the original experience that we had. Our children might experience something similar to what we did, albeit somewhat less powerfully.

Our grandchildren would, of course, become a part of our new, now not-so-new denomination. But they and their children would start asking uncomfortable questions like, "Why do we sing these hymns? Why in the world do we worship this way? Why do we believe what we say we believe? What is this all really about?"

The answers received would, of course, be less than helpful, like, "Just because," or, "We’ve always done it this way." Those asking the questions would quite possibly leave the religious institutions we created because they had not experienced what you and I originally experienced.

They only observed the institutional manifestation of the original experience. It seems to me that this is at least a partial explanation for the large number of Nones, those who are none of the above on surveys about religious affiliation.

This actually happened when I was a young pastor and was a part of the Jesus Revolution. It swept the country. I think I told you I went to that movie about the Jesus Revolution and whoever did that movie got it right. It was exactly right.

I sat there and I was glad it was dark because nobody could see my tears. We all know that real men don’t cry, but it was an exciting and wonderful and amazing time. In fact, it was a great awakening, probably as big or maybe bigger than the historical Great Awakening.

The young people who came to faith in our church during that movement, a whole lot of them often skipped a generation in their relationship with the church. I remember thinking this is weird. They identified with and befriended old people.

They shared a common truth and experience with older members that they did not have with their own parents. That’s kind of sad. Their parents had not had a strong experience and couldn't pass it on.

The actual and factual observation, a microcosm if you will, has illustrated a much larger reality, a macrocosm where the original simple and powerful call and experience of Christ have become obscured in the church’s institutionalism.

The call and work of Christ have somehow become so defined by qualifications and rules and procedures that to participate fully, we need to meet very high requirements. I’ve got some good news for you if you haven’t already left. It’s news that can change your guilt and shame and fear and regret into creative action.

Someone once said they didn’t want to be a member of a club that would accept them as a member. I sometimes feel that way about the church. The church is the only club with one single qualification for membership, and it’s this: you must not be qualified.

We’ve somehow lost that reality. I often preach in a church where the pastor is a close friend. The interesting thing about that church is that my friend had sinned big and publicly.

He was disciplined by the denomination but left it when it became apparent to him that he was never going to be forgiven and restored. So he started a church designed, he said, for people like him.

That church has flourished, and I like preaching there because when I go there, I don’t have to wear a mask. I say to them, "I love you guys because you are as messed up as I am." Once you get that, you’re good to go. You think about that. I mean it.

Matthew: Thank you, Steve. Some profound thoughts there about how institutions can devolve into institutionalism, knowing about God but not knowing him personally. If you're enjoying this series, you might also enjoy the book it's based on. It's called *God's Not Mad at You*, and you can get your copy right now at keylife.org/notmadbook or on Amazon.

The avatar of all things evil doesn’t mind you saying you’d move mountains for those you’d love, as long as you don’t adjust your schedule to attend an important event or talk about your feelings. The red-suited one yawns when you say you’d die for a partner if you’re not considering their needs and wants as much or more than your own.

That excerpt is from a great article by Chad West, and you can find it in our digital magazine. You’ll also enjoy articles from Steve, Jerry Parries, and Justin Holcomb. Get all of it on demand for free right now at keylife.org/digitalmagazine.

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