Key Life Network

Steve Brown: You can take the mustache off, and I will explain on Key Life.

This is Key Life, here to let Christians know that God isn't mad at them. Keep listening and you'll hear that because of what Jesus has done, you're welcomed home into the family of God, because of his radical grace, free from the penalties of sin and never alone in your suffering.

Thank you, Matthew. If you were listening yesterday, and you never listen to me. If you were listening yesterday, I told you about a story that really happened. When I was a young pastor, I tried to be everything that everybody expected of me, and nobody can be what everybody expects from their pastor, because nobody's that good.

Well, I tried. And a part of that, I looked so young that I thought I'd grow a mustache. And if you've heard this, I'm just summing it up real quickly. I'd grow a mustache and I'd look a little bit older. And all it did was make me look silly and I would have shaved it off right away, except everybody, I have this authority problem, and so many people told me to shave it off, and they went to my wife and said, "Can't you get him to do something about that mustache?"

And Nana, in her sweet way, said, "If you don't stop saying things about it, he's going to have it until Jesus returns." Well, eventually I shaved it off and the congregation applauded. As a result of that incident and others like it, I wrote a book. It was the first book I ever wrote. It was called Where the Action Is, in which I talked about my inability to be who people thought I should be.

I can still remember the relief I felt when I decided to take off the mask and to take off the mustache and stop playing games. It's hard to play a role one is unqualified for. And in so far as we're willing to risk walking away from it, there is a great and refreshing freedom. The truth is that nobody is qualified to play the role of super Christian.

Nobody. If we could, God would have sent us a book. He wouldn't have sent us his son. One can tell how big a problem is by what it takes to fix it. In our case, it took the blood of God's own Son. And that means our problem was huge.

Now, there's more. When we face who we are, both the good and the bad, there's a surprising manifestation of God's presence in our lives. Jesus said he was the truth. That's in John 14:6. And that means wherever truth is spoken, believed and lived, Jesus is there. And he said in John 8:32, "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God, Romans 8:31 through 39. But I suspect it's hard for God to have a meaningful relationship with a person who doesn't exist, to wit, the persona we create to get others to praise us. If we pretend to be a super Christian, it often feels like Jesus has left the room.

Years ago, there was a news report about several Christian ministries that had invested and lost a significant amount of funds in a Ponzi scheme. I was basking in my self-righteousness, and telling people, "I didn't, I didn't do that. I didn't invest in that." And then I realized that the only reason I had not invested Key Life funds was because was not because of my lack of greed, but my lack of opportunity. Nobody asked me to do it.

My late mentor, Fred Smith, once said that until a Christian realizes that there is no sin that he or she isn't capable of, they don't understand the Christian faith. Fred's observation was true and the Bible affirms it. Listen, this is Proverbs 16:18 through 19: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud."

After I realized what I was capable of, and that God, because he likes me a lot, had prevented me from losing Key Life funds in that Ponzi scheme, my devotional time the following day was different. I felt his presence, and his pleasure, because not because I was good, because I had accepted the fact that I wasn't.

Self-righteousness is a gift that keeps on giving. Once you start down that road, it's really hard to turn around and go back. What would people say? Remember when Peter changed his mind in Acts 10? Well, he didn't change it exactly, but rather, he had it changed by a vision God gave him. Peter was hungry. While Peter was in a trance, God spread out a feast of unclean foods before Peter. A voice said, "Eat it," and Peter's reaction was, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common."

The voice said that it wasn't a good idea for Peter to call something common or unclean when God called it clean. So, reality is a pathway to freedom and joy. You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Steve. You know, if you ever struggled with self-righteousness, you are going to love Steve's new book, God's Not Mad at You. And if you think, "I've never been self-righteous," then you need Steve's new book, God's Not Mad at You. As a reminder, it's now available for pre-order at keylife.org/notmadbook.

So, if you were to picture the person who would write a book called Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, is he wearing a lampshade on his head, maybe handing out high fives and adult bevvies? You probably aren't picturing Ray Ortlund, but Ray did write that book based on a surprising lesson from Ecclesiastes. Take a listen to part of that conversation, then I'll be back to tell you about a special free offer.

Steve Brown: A Gospel call to enjoyment. You've got my attention. What does that mean?

Guest (Male): Well, first of all, Steve, thanks for letting me onto your program, and on behalf of all your listeners and friends, we love you. Here's why, here's why we love you, Steve. If I could sum it up in one word, your ministry brings hope.

You know, Bob Dylan was right, everything is broken, including us. And here you are, you're a voice for Christ bringing hope into a world where everything is broken.

Steve Brown: Now, what got into you about this book?

Guest (Male): Here's, here's why I wrote this. The title's crazy, Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, but it's crazy in a wonderfully provocative way, obviously. And I mean it. I don't, you know, take back with my left hand what I give with my right hand. We are not having nearly enough fun, Steve. We're, we're living in this train wreck world, in these dark days, everything is crazy. Feels like the world's falling apart. How are we going to get through this?

Well, one way to respond to the madness of our times is just to get angry. And that's, that's a powerful drug. But it's unsustainable, and the book of James puts a warning label on our anger. It's a dangerous substance. Another way to respond to our dark days is just the opposite. And that is what I call cheerful defiance. Enjoying the enjoyable.

We put our foot down and and and say no to the darkness of our times by looking around, opening our eyes, looking around, "What has God given to us today that we can truly, with a whole heart, just relish and savor and praise God for and sink our teeth into and enjoy?" For example, I'm looking around in my study right now, and I've got these deer mounts behind me, and each one represents an incredibly fun memory out in the woods. I'm looking at these books I have.

Steve Brown: Not for the deer.

Guest (Male): And you seem like such a nice person. You're dangerous with a gun.

Guest (Male): Hey, I'm just obeying the Bible because it says in the book of Acts, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat."

Steve Brown: (Laughter)

Guest (Male): You know, just being out in the woods and fields. I come back feeling like a new man. I have learned to notice, for example, the sky and trees and grass and the breeze in my face. I didn't cause all of that. I don't deserve all of that. I go outside away from my phone, and I notice this simple, glorious reality that God has I've parachuted into by God's grace. I look around, I just, wow. I, if I wait, Steve, until I finally have my ideal designer life, if I wait till then to to allow myself to enjoy life, I'll wait forever. The question is not, "What hasn't God given me yet?" The question is, "What has God given me right now today?" So, like, right now, I get to be with friends new and old, with thousands of people listening into the conversation, and stopping long enough to ponder the goodness of God in our simple ordinary everyday lives, and how he has immersed us in enjoyments galore, and his wisdom to us in the book of Ecclesiastes is, "Go for it."

Guest (Male): Guys, you are going to love this conversation with Ray Ortlund. So let us send it to you on CD for free. Just 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 CD or go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for the CD featuring Ray Ortlund. And before you go, would you give generously today to help continue the ministry of Key Life? Giving is easy, just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or you can now give safely and securely by text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950. That's Key Life, one word or two, doesn't matter, text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the states and Force in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.