In his book A Scandalous Freedom, Steve Brown provocatively writes:

They lied to you about being a Christian. When you first “joined the club,” they promised you’d be set free. But let’s get honest, you’re not free. In fact, you’re religious, afraid, guilty, and bound. What’s worse, now that you’ve been in the club awhile, you’re stuck pretending you’re better than you are. And worse than that, you prefer the security and rules of your self-imposed boundaries. It’s time for a change. You need Scandalous Freedom.

There is no question in my mind that Steve Brown is correct.

So many Christians are imprisioned by their own consciences.  What I think is startling about this is that most don’t even seem to be aware of their spiritual and emotional bondage.  In fact, since most people they know are in the same condition, they assume this is the norm, and that THIS is the freedom for which Christ came to set us free!  And even more perplexing is that, when faced with the radical nature of the gospel, many seem to prefer this state of existence to the freedom offered and secured by the gospel!

I see it all the time. I do it all the time.

But Steve Brown winsomely, humorously, and profoundly, calls it like it is.  And he offers us a path to freedom. It is not a path Steve has blazed. He is one, of many, who has simply labored to uncover the path for us that Jesus laid out. Sadly much of what Jesus paved seems to have been covered over by the garbage of religious tradition and fundamentalism.

Listen Steve Brown’s related podcast series: Scandalous Freedom.