Simplicity
I'd like to talk about the idea of simplicity. In the world of human reasoning, we often have to come up with very complex explanations for things. For example, if you look at the origin of the universe, people have come up with elaborate theories on how things happened over extremely long periods of time in a complex sequence. To explain how matter came from nothing, they have to bring in some odd space time theories which need more constantly changing theories to explain them. God simply said he did it in about a week. You can have faith in this or not. It's simple.
Paul talks about the
Simplicity of God's message.
1 Cor 1
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19For it is written:
"I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise;
the
intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs
[When Jesus would talk to the Jews, they'd ask for some miracle to prove himself as the son of God. And he did perform miracles but many still wouldn't believe him or they'd be so occupied with some technicality like him healing on the sabbath that they would ignore the meanings of the miracles.]
and Greeks look for wisdom,
[Acts 17 talks about how the Athenians and some others in their area spent much of their time just telling each other new things. Hearing about new religions and philosophies was almost a hobby for them. They had statues for all the new gods they'd heard of. Paul came to Athens with a much simpler message. There is only one God. There is only one way to him. People still have problems with this today.]
23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
[It's interesting that things that are simple for God are beyond our understanding. He can do things that we think are impossible in the universe because he created it. Someone is blind from birth? They're probably not going to see again...and yet Christ does it so simply.]
26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
[This is encouraging. Because the word of God can be accepted by anyone whether they are wise by human standards or not, all can come to Christ. Your reputation for wisdom in the world doesn't matter. In fact, it works against you in God's eyes when you boast about your own wisdom. Instead, we had better let Christ represent us before God. His righteousness, holiness and redemption are much better than ours anyway.]
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
[This may remind you of Moses who wasn't particularly good at speaking. When God told him he was to be his spokesman to the Pharaoh, Moses kept saying things like, “but what if he doesn't believe me?” and “Please send someone else.” God finally ended up sending with him his brother Aaron, who was a better speaker. But God was happy enough to sending a humble man to bring a simple message to the Pharaoh. “Let the Israelites go.” I'm also reminded of David, a simple shepherd boy who was the only one brave enough to face Goliath who defied Israel. This was another case where the person God sent was very straightforward with a simple message. David didn't cower before Goliath. He didn't cave in when he faced him. “I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty,” David said. Simple. Their fight wasn't long and complicated. David got the first strike and it was over. Simple. Anyway, it was often the case that God had a simple message when we might have expected a more complex one.]
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among
the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this
age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom,
a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory
before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for
if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9However, as it is written:
"No eye has
seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what
God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has
revealed it to us by his Spirit.
[This is what struck me as interesting while listening to this the other day. We don't know exactly what heaven will be like, but the holy spirit gives us hope for something wonderful there. One thing I've imagined about heaven is that it will finally be an end to the “grass is always greener” syndrome we have down here. You won't always be looking ahead for something that's about to happen in your life. I can't wait until I finish school. I can't wait until I'm old enough to get out on my own. I can't wait until I find someone to get married to. I can't wait until I have children. I can't wait until I have grandchildren and so on. But in heaven, you won't worry about what's coming next. You'll be content. Finally, completely content. As we talk about simplicity, it'll be much simpler than this life.]
The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the
thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way
no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have
not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God,
that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what
we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught
by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The
man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The
spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not
subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who
has known the mind of the Lord
that
he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
This is interesting. Paul talks about how God's word is foolishness to the world, but a great treasure to those who have the Spirit of God.
Simple Needs
Have simple needs? "with food and raiment be content"
1 Tim 6
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
[Even if we were to become rich in this world, what good does it really do us? You can find poor people who are content and happy and you can find rich people who are worried and continually unhappy and discontent. The simpler you make your needs, the more content you will be, no matter what the circumstances.]
Simple Rules for Marriage
simple rules for marriage...but we make it more complicated, often because people don't remain faithful to their spouses
1 Cor 7
10To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
God meant from the beginning for marriage to be for life. People still have the same problems today that they had with marriage back then. Men leave their wives for someone else and vice versa and marital faithfulness is seen as being almost crazy. Love is so important to a marriage and people forget it.
Simple Rules for Dealings With Others
simple rules for how you treat others...love one another
Jesus said, in
John 15
12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
There are a lot of good things that can come out of love...like encouragement, joy, and sharing of burdens.
Simple Speech
talk about how simpler and clearer is better in language
Mat 5
36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Sometimes you hear someone saying that they swear on their mother's grave or something like that. Why do they have to go to such lengths? Do they not tell the truth often enough to trust unless they say something extreme?
Paul talked to Timothy in a letter about the importance of reputation.
Titus 2
7In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Likewise, it's important for us today to have good reputations amongst those in the world. Do people have to second guess everything we say? Do we not do the things we say we'll do? Do we do things we said we wouldn't? As Christians, we want to avoid bringing shame on the name of Christ.
Deception
People seem to have a bent for deception...especially when money is involved. Take movie advertising for example. Movie blurbs are often deceiving. They want you to see the movie in question. They might pull a reviewer's quote out of context to sell a DVD or in a TV commercial for it.
For example, there was one blurb that said:
"...Travolta is as smooth as ever..."
What the
reviewer originally said was, "[John Travolta's character] is
back, and although Travolta is as smooth as ever, the picture is a
bust, a grimly unfunny comedy with no connection to reality, and
worst of all, running on and on for two dismal hours."
In this example, they could just advertise the movie and leave out any review blurbs. That would at least be more honest. But they couldn't resist trying this deception. They want you to see the movie so they resort to misquoting this fellow.
1 Peter 3 (quote from Psalms)
10For,
"Whoever would love life
and
see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful
speech.
11He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue
it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous
and his ears are
attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the
Lord is against those who do evil."
If you're deceitful, not only will it bring about bad consequences here on earth, trouble between you and others, but it also interferes with your relationship to God. It's much simpler to let your yes be yes and your no be no.
In general, God's ways are good and simple. He is the one who defines good. He has told us what is good. He's given us some pretty simple instructions to live by. Treat others as you'd want to be treated. Spread the word and example of Christ. Love and obey God. Through him, we can have the simplicity in our lives, in our desires, in our marriages, in dealing with others, and in our speech that we've read about. Living as a Christian is simpler than trying to make it without God. His words are wisdom that can save us a lot of pain if we'll listen to the simple message.