I recently bought my daughter a small sun tent that she could use on the beach. When I got it home and unpacked the contents of the box I picked up the instructions. These instructions were 32 pages long – with illustrations! The tent looked simple enough, it consisted of two poles and the tent nylon. The box advertised that it could be set up in five minutes, but it would take days just to get through the instructions! As I read, I got more and more confused. The instructions were so detailed I could not make heads or tails of them. They had made a simple tent assembly the work of an MIT graduate. I finally got frustrated and figured it out myself.
I don’t know if you can relate to this experience, it can be very frustrating. Sometimes, as followers of Christ, we make our relationship with God much more complicated than it needs to be. This was the situation of the religious leaders of Christ’s time.
The Jewish faith was one filled with thousands of rituals, purity laws and rules. If you don’t believe me, read Leviticus sometime. Anyway, in order to be a good Jew, one that had a good relationship with God, one must live up to the law. In order to police and explain the laws several religious orders were created. Three of the most prominent were the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes.
Matthew’s Gospel tells of an encounter when these groups approached Christ in order to test and possibly trip Him up in His understanding of a good relationship with God. They asked about paying taxes to Caesar, how marriage would work in heaven and what laws are most important to keep. All these issues were confusing enough to make one’s head spin, how could anyone ever make sense of it? Jesus did, let’s look at what He said:
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus had taken what they had made so complicated and simply explained what it meant live a right life before God as His child. He did not give any new command or add anything; rather He showed how simple our relationship with God can be.
Many times, followers of Christ make a relationship with God more complicated than it needs to be. It becomes filled with a long list of do’s and don’ts. Getting the most of our Christian life should not be a complicated list of instructions, but a simple relationship with a loving God. We can find maximum fulfillment in our spiritual lives by simplifying our lives in three areas:
Have a simple faith
Jesus spoke a lot about faith. He spoke of a simple, childlike faith. He said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those with this childlike, simple faith. So often we think we need to have a certain kind of faith or it must look like this or that or that it has to be at this super level. Really a childlike, simple faith is one that rests in Christ in all areas. It is unconditional and unwavering. This simple faith is just hanging on to God in all things.
See from a simple perspective
Followers of Christ are renown for complicating what life is all about. Some say that life is all about being perfect in our actions. Others say it is about telling others about Christ. Others say it is about understanding God on an intellectual or experiential level. While these are important, our perspective is much more simple than that. Colossians 1:18, says that in all things Christ may have preeminence (first place). This should be our simple perspective. We should seek to glorify God so that Christ can be lifted up and not us. It means living our life for His benefit and not for ours.
Commit to a simple task
This means that we should live life based on simple faith and that simple perspective. Again, we can complicate our task as Followers of Christ making a long list of approved or unapproved activities and instructions for finding what God wants us to do. It does not need to be that complicated. We can commit to the simple task of glorifying God in all we do. This means that a way we glorify God may be to tell others or live holy lives or seek wisdom and instruction. It can also mean asking ourselves each and everyday, “God how can I glorify you today?”
Another great way to commit to a simple task is in everything we do, asking ourselves if this glorifies God or not. This has a way of simplifying what we do and also weighing what we do against that simple perspective and living out those tasks with that simple faith.
Next time you feel your head spinning because the Christian life seems so complicated. Keep It Simple Silly.
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