Key Life Network

Announcer: Manipulation is a sin. Motivation is a gift. Let's talk on Key Life.

Announcer: This is Key Life with our host, author and seminary professor Steve Brown. He's nobody's guru. He's just one beggar telling other beggars where he found bread. If you're hungry for God, the real God behind all the lies, you've come to the right place.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We're talking about the lies of motivation as we're looking at some of the lies that all of us have believed at one time or another.

And I talked yesterday about virtue signaling and how that can become manipulating from Christians to other Christians. But there's a difference between manipulation and motivation.

In our Born Free seminar, that was a seminar we taught all over the country a number of years ago. We had a section on assertiveness training for Christians. That's not an oxymoron. It's a form of boldness that should be a part of every Christian's character.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he talked about the glory that Christ had and will be given to us. And then he said in Second Corinthians 3:12, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

Jesus didn't die to make us nice, He died to make us loving but strong. And that sometimes calls for boldness. One of the exercises in that section of the seminar was a suggestion that people on occasion just say no without giving an explanation.

You and I both know how we feel when we've been asked to serve on another committee, when we're already serving on three others or to participate in a church program when we've already involved in other programs and spending four out of seven nights a week at the church.

When we're asked, we almost, or at least I do, start ticking off the reasons why we must say no. I'm sorry, but I can't do that for you. I've been out every night this week and I just can't do it.

Well, in the Born Free seminar, I suggested that we forget the defense and the explanations and just say no. I said, when you do that, the one who asked you will expect an explanation and will wait for it. Instead, don't give one. Say, is there something about the word no that you don't understand?

The next day after one lady had performed that exercise, she told me she tried it and that her tongue bled from biting it. So as not to explain why she said no.

Some of you may remember the just say no advertising campaign promoted by Nancy Reagan during the Reagan administration. I think that may have been partially successful.

In the areas of those who manipulate us, that's a great idea when we recognize that it's a sin to manipulate, but also a sin to allow ourselves to be manipulated.

When you feel burdened by guilt produced by anybody but your mother, and you even have to be careful there. Shame because you're unworthy, fear that God is ticked at you or regretful over all you have done and left undone.

And those feelings are used to enlist you in some kind of campaign, what should you do? Walk away. Just say no. That will be pleasing to God who doesn't do that to you ever.

I attended a small college when I was young and was the student government president. That's no big deal. There were only three of us and one of us had to be president.

I'll spare you the details, but one of the professors hated the academic Dean and manipulated me into joining a crusade to get rid of him. I wrote letters to the Board of Trustees. I led, I was a campus radical in those days.

And nobody knew what a campus radical was. I led demonstrations. I talked to anybody who would listen. And the college president was out of town for the demonstrations. And when he returned, he asked me to come to his office. And I knew I was in trouble.

To my surprise, he didn't yell at me. He only said, Steve, why didn't you come to me? When you've been manipulated, and we all have, Jesus asked exactly the same question.

Hey, child, why didn't you come to me first? Manipulators create guilt, while Jesus erases it. Manipulators create hatred, while Jesus creates love.

Manipulators work at using your past to condemn your present, while Jesus uses your past to bring praise on himself. Manipulators make you afraid, while Jesus gives you courage. Manipulators count your sins, and Jesus counts your forgiveness.

Manipulators cancel you. Jesus accepts you. The love of manipulators is conditional, while Jesus' love is unconditional. Manipulators push, while Jesus leads.

Manipulators look for followers for their causes, while Jesus creates them. Manipulators use power. And Jesus uses weakness. It's always wise to go to Jesus first.

So what do you do? When somebody uses guilt to manipulate you for their own purposes, just don't let them. Okay? All right. Let's go to another lie. The lie that another lie, lie that neutralizes us.

Second Corinthians 4:7 says this, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." What's the lie? You're not good enough and you don't know enough to be a witness for Jesus. That's a lie and it's from the pit of hell and it smells like smoke.

Did you hear about the woodpecker pecking on a tree when lightning struck it? He survived and called all of his friends to come and see the result of his pecking prowess. That woodpecker's arrogance was arrogance on steroids.

Many Christians face the opposite. It's called humility on steroids. They don't even peck. In a God Boats magazine article of a number of years ago by Bill Courtney, who was a coach with a podcast, an army of normal folks, he lists the addresses, the barriers of accomplishment, to wit, the problem is too big.

What can someone like me do? And I don't know how. The barriers addressed in scripture for believers are similar, but slightly different. When we learn to deal with those barriers, something amazing happens.

Pastors and religious leaders often quote that 20% of the Christians do 100% of the work. I don't know where that statistic comes from, but it's probably close to the truth.

The reason for the 80% lack of involvement are probably multitudinous. But at the heart of this is the belief that to be an effective Christian, an effective witness, one must meet certain requirements, which so many Christians don't think they have.

So many of us believe we aren't good enough. So many of us believe that we don't know enough and aren't skilled enough to do what Jesus needs. If Christians get over that particular feeling, we will be dangerous.

We'll talk more about this tomorrow, but right now it's a good thing for you to remember that it is your weakness that God uses when He uses you as His witness. Paul said, "God's power is made perfect in weakness." How about that? You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Steve. If you're just joining us, we're currently in a special teaching series exploring the biblical basis of Steve's new book called, "God's Not Mad at You." You can pick up your copy at keylife.org/notmadbook or find it on Amazon. And if you did buy your copy, would you mind dropping us a review? Thank you.

And do join us again tomorrow when Steve will explain why you're qualified because you're not good enough or don't know enough. So, clearly, we've been celebrating the launch of Steve's new book, but I have something else cool to tell you about.

We've just released a brand new booklet based on Steve's new book. It has excerpts from the book and it'll give you a deeper understanding of the sanctification process and why it takes so long. We're ready to send it to you for free, so call us right now at 1-800-KEY LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433.

You can also email Steve at keylife.org to order that booklet or go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Once again, just ask for the free booklet called "God's Not Mad at You."

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