Simplicity

We live in a world that is increasingly complex and diverse with a seemingly endless flow of opinions, beliefs and theologies. So much so that the weight of them has begun to tear the very fabric of our society. The myriad of messages that are communicated everyday have filled our minds with a mixture that has brought confusion and despair. Today we see more depression, discouragement and despair then we have ever seen in modern history, yet all in a time when there is more technology and books and self help programs then every before. Self-improvement is a multi-billion dollar industry. They, whoever “they” may be, have put labels on every emotional issue known to man. There are more disorders than ever before, there is a pill for everything that may ail you and yet thousands die from suicide, crime and aids every year. The world says that it is ok to live out your sexuality as you see fit and then wonders why there is an aids epidemic. It seams that the media and entertainment industry in a feeble attempt to justify their existence has created these problems by producing mixed messages that send our society into confusion so that they can make new TV shows, write new books and create more magazines to solve the problems that they have helped to created.

Bono recently launched an awesome program called RED. Basically he is getting huge retail corporations to donate a portion of the profits from the “RED” brand. The purpose is to provide medicine to third world peoples that need help. Now I think what Bono is trying to accomplish is great but there rings an arrogance that the very companies that are participating have their products made in sweat shops in these same countries and don’t pay enough that the workers can afford medicine. Interesting that all the celebrities that are jumping on are the same ones that promote a permissive lifestyle that has contributed to the aids epidemic but are giving their names to this project to provide aids medicine. This is the paradox of mixed messages I am talking about. We have heard it said that life moves faster today but we have the same 24 hours that have been around since the clock was invented. We have the new technology to do more in the 24 hours but it seems at times that we are moving backwards.

So where does the church fit into all this? What message do we have that can stop the madness and why are we not speaking it out? I think personally we have fallen into the same trap and it has weakened our message. We have become irrelevant and disconnected to the truth we preach. We have more preachers, more ministries, more Christian media, more Christian education then ever before but it seems like we have more dysfunction, more division and more personal agendas as well. The fact is that Christendom is also a multi-billion dollar business and we continue to argue over who has the right doctrine, who has the best ministry, which preacher is the best and so on. There is more teaching on leadership in both the world and the church yet there is a leadership crisis in both places. In George Barna’s book “Revolution” he surmises after much research that the church has become so irrelevant that unless something dramatically changes there may not be a next generation. Thankfully God has always provided a radical remnant to lead the charge. So what is the answer? Is it a complex dissertation on the meaning of life or a world gathering of scholars to give us a clear path to a bright future? Maybe more books and seminars and conferences or we could add more church services to the week. Get everyone even busier then they are now, that will bring revival. No it is just the opposite! The solution is so simple that we call it cliché.

It is found in Matthew 11:28-30 “come to me, ALL who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle, and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and burden is light.”

We must return to our first love - to the place of peace and rest that God designed us for. We must return to a life of simplicity.

Love God! Love our neighbors! Love ourselves!

“Love God” is foundational because He is the one who created us, He knows us best He knows what we can handle and what we cannot. I think we have complicated faith in God to the point we have lost the simplicity of the love of God. He made us from an outflow of His love. So it is only His love that can give us life. It is His love that brings perspective and value to our lives. We have allowed the clutter of information and opinions to cloud the simple truth of God’s love. We have value because He created us to be an expression of His love and creativity. Think about the fact that each person that has ever lived or who will live has a unique DNA that no one else will have. We each have unique personalities and appearances. The thing that is so great about God is that with all the complexities and millions of unique little things in His creation, He was able to bring all that into a simple point of expression through Jesus Christ. All He is, His very nature and Life can be simplified by looking at the life and times of His Son Jesus. It doesn’t get any simpler then that. He loved us so much that He gave His only Begotten Son, so all we have to do is believe in Him and we will have eternal ABUNDANT life!

“Love our neighbor” Just as we are an outflow of God’s Love so we must see the flow of love continue outward. He did not create us to be containers but to be conduit. For us to have perpetual peace in life His Life must continue on through us. We are the portholes for heaven to touch earth. The world with all its messages and ideologies is really all summed up in one thing. They are looking for love and meaning. We know the one who can give them both and it is we who through allowing Him to flow through us to others will bring them the answer. If we are so busy and cluttered with information then what is flowing from us? We will add to the confusion and rather then being a place of rest and refuge for the world we join the rat race. We get caught up on the hamster wheel and it weakens our message because we look the same. The power of the love of God is that it gives rest. The more we fill ourselves with knowledge and busyness the less room there is for His Life. “Come all who are weary and I will give you rest”

“Love yourself” the world’s message is to be “lovers of self” but God’s love compels us to love who He loves - including ourselves. The type of loving self that the world is offering is the basis of all the confusion. The opposite of love is not hate - it is selfishness. If you look at every war or every tear in our society’s fabric it is rooted in selfishness. The very message the world is giving is self-gratification. And before we think it’s just out there, in the church we call it self-righteousness and whole theologies and organizations have been built on it. God’s Love calls us to love ourselves in such a way that it is rooted in humility and a giving heart. It is simply accepting who He made you to be. Accepting the gifts and abilities He has given you by using them to Love Him and others. It is our act of worship and worship always comes out of a place of intimacy and rest or it is not truly worship. By being grateful for the life he has given you, good or bad, knowing He will use it all for the good of those who love Him including YOU!

So the conclusion…lets get rid of the clutter and come back to the basics. Love God with ALL your heart and let that Love flow to others knowing that God’s purpose for you is to live in simplicity because His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

Mark is an author, counsellor and proud family man. He is currently working on a book about how discovering the value in your life changes the way you respond to the world.