Key Life Network

Guest (Male): Kickers and why we use them on this edition of Key Life.

Guest (Male): That was author and seminary professor Steve Brown, and this is Key Life. We're all about radical grace. Because of what Jesus has done, God's not mad at you. Keep listening, and that message will set you free to live a life of joy and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. If you were listening yesterday, we're talking about kickers, the additions to the good news of the gospel that a lot of teachers, and I include myself, I'm not throwing rocks at other people. I've been there, done that, and still on occasions, I do that. You know, God loves you, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.

I mean, He is big and scary, and His wrath is a horrible thing. And all of a sudden, the good God is not good anymore. He becomes a child abuser. And that's what kickers do, and I was asking yesterday, why in the world do we do kickers like that?

Sometimes Christians, and I do this, put a kicker in because we want the Christian message to be biblical, yet end up with a kicker that makes it less clear and good news than it really is.

One of the interesting things I noticed about the ministry God has given me is how I've had to edit what I have said in the past. If you haven't heard about it, we have, and it wasn't my decision, and I think it's kind of silly, but we're doing a vault. We're calling the vault, which has everything that I've taught for a whole lot of years in that vault.

And we're fixing it so you can access that material digitally. You can access it on. In fact, the producer of this broadcast is doing a lot of work on that. And it's extremely. I can't imagine sitting down having to listen to me as much as he does. It's a hard place to. But anyway, we have this thing called the vault.

And one of the things that bothers me about that is that I was not. I mean, grace was always there. God's mercy was always there, but but there were times when I look at those notes, and I, for all the world, sound like a Pharisee.

What was that about? Let me tell you, because I was young and because I I didn't want to mess people up, and I wanted to make sure that they walked it and they lived it, and they were faithful. I just went about it the wrong way.

Christians do that, and that's why we add kickers. And then, I mentioned yesterday that sometimes we use kickers out of fear. It's a kind of just-in-case effort. It's one of those things that says, you know, I'm going to do everything I can because you can't trust God to be who he says he was.

And I said, if you've never stood before God and been loved and know that you didn't deserve it, then you may have been worshipping an idol.

Our daughter Jennifer, she's the younger of our two daughters, and we have three granddaughters, no men in the bunch. All women, because God only sends boys to guys that need help. But anyway, our daughter Jennifer was healed of some very scary health issues when she was born.

Back then, I didn't know how to pray, and I asked some charismatic Pentecostal friends. And by the way, if you really are sick, are you going to ask a Calvinist or a charismatic to pray for you? I'm I'm I'm going to go to the charismatic every time.

I don't know if I agree with all the theology, but they do know how to pray. At any rate, I asked these Anglican charismatics to pray for her.

Jennifer was miraculously healed, and that healing was a significant part of what God used to change my life. I often tell people about that time in my life and will say, so I don't make fun of charismatics and Pentecostal believers and certainly not in a thunderstorm.

People laugh when I say that. My comment is rather humorous, but it has a serious side to it. God is dangerous, and if you displease him, he'll send a lightning bolt your way, and you're going to be in trouble. That's not true.

And I'll show you why and what follows throughout this whole teaching on the lies we believe. Nevertheless, there are Christians who are scared spitless by big God, and their kickers are a way to keep the lightning bolts away.

As an aside, during that time after our daughter, and you have to remember, I was a whacko liberal theologically. Didn't believe much. Things like the virgin birth and miracles. I mean, I was not the kind of pastor that God would bless, to be perfectly honest. And then he healed my daughter.

Absolutely blew me away, and I didn't draw from that the implications until much later. And one of the implications is God is a lot kinder and more merciful than I thought he was.

And so all of those reasons that I've been giving you for having kickers are relatively benign. They include mistakes, sincere efforts to be faithful, or simple misunderstandings of what the Bible teaches. But there are other reasons for kickers that are not so benign.

Some people use kickers, listen up, to get power over others. This use of kickers has a secular manifestation to it, too. Yes, of course. I believe in free speech. And then the kicker, but there are some people whose speech is so evil and so filled with disinformation that they should never be given a platform to speak.

The problem is that those who already have power are acquiring more power. I'm not making a political statement here. There are people on the left and the right, religious and non-religious, orthodox and heretics who use kickers to silence and intimidate others, and thereby acquire power for themselves over others.

Power, as you know, can be quite heady, and we're all attracted to it in one form or another. The question is, who gets to decide what's evil and disinformation? Should that person be a part of the self-chosen elite, or should it include those who aren't, nor want to be a part of the elite?

Do the cool kids get to decide? What about education? Should only the highly educated be the ones to decide what is good and evil about speech and ideas? Maybe maybe money should be the criterion for who gets to decide? After all, the wealthy got that way because they're really smart. Maybe maybe a prominent family should decide, or a king or a queen. Who gets to decide what is proper and what isn't proper about speech and ideas?

Actually, universal free speech is in itself the way truth is separated from the lie, information from disinformation, and evil from good. Dangerous? Of course, it's dangerous, but the alternative is far more dangerous.

But more important is the way religious authority figures, and I've done this, sometimes acquire power over others. Christians have our anti-free speech movement, too. In some ways, I'm a kind of religious authority figure and have a glib tongue.

I use my authority sometimes in debates, and I won. In institutions where I served as leader, casual conversations with other Christians. And listen, I repent.

But having been there and done that, I know how to see and name and define the demon when I see it. And I'm going to do that tomorrow, but the bottom line right now is that sometimes kickers are not benign. They're used by leaders to get power, to build empires, to get others to think how wonderful they are. That's dangerous. You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): God is a lot kinder and more merciful than I thought he was. Thank you, Steve. That was Steve Brown continuing to shine a light on the concept of kickers. That's when God says, "I love you and forgive you," and then people feel compelled to put a bunch of asterisks on that statement. Some well-meaning, and some less so. And we'll talk more about those latter folks tomorrow. Make sure you join us.

Guest (Male): If you're tired, come to him. If you're guilty, hear his forgiveness. If you're afraid, receive his peace. If you feel forgotten, ask him to remember, and know that he already has.

Guest (Male): That excerpt is from an article by Justin Holcomb, and you can find it in the latest edition of Key Life Magazine, along with pieces from Steve, Matt Herd, and Barry Smith, plus a whole slew of new and exciting features and products. It's yours when you call us at 1-800 Key Life. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to ask for the magazine, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Just ask for your free copy. Key Life Magazine.

Guest (Male): Finally, would you partner in the work of Key Life by giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or you can give safely and securely by text. Just take out your phone and text Key Life to 28950. And remember, no matter how you give, big or small, one-time or ongoing, every gift matters, and every gift really does help. Thanks.

Guest (Male): Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and 4C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.