CWW Week 27 - Day 1 - Keeping Church Simple
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Scripture.
Matthew 5:37 – “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;
anything more than this comes from evil.”
Jesus teaches the importance of honesty and simplicity in
our speech, urging us not to complicate matters with
excessive words or half-truths.
Since becoming a Christian in 2006 I was an agnostic at best and
an atheist at worst. My walk started when I was fifty three years of
age. My foray into church was with my wife Michelle. She always
wanted to go back to her denominational church and be baptised.
We managed to find one in our area and started attending services
there. I was not enamoured with the idea of going to church but
wanted to be with her and make her feel safe.
After years of sexual abuse as a child in the church she needed to
feel safe and I went with her as her body guard. Can you believe
you need a body guard to go to church?
I have to say that from the moment I stepped into the church with
her I started to like what I was feeling and my journey began.
But the one thing I noticed was that it was hard to comprehend the
rituals and the speak of a church filled with life long church goers
who had heads filled with knowledge. I felt like I was in another
country as I tried to comprehend what they were all talking about .
I felt dumb and somewhat like a fish out of water.
I have seen that a lot of Christians, whilst filled with the knowledge
of God and the Bible still struggle to convert that to healthy
relationships. We need to learn how to read the room when it
comes to spreading the Gospel message.
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22 (NIV) – “To the weak I became
weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so
that by all possible means I might save some.”
The great commission to all believers is to spread the Gospel
message to as many who will hear it. But how do we get the
inquiring mind to hear the message.
We have to keep it simple. At our monthly CWW get togethers here
at the farm we have amazing conversations that uplift and
enlighten everyone in the room. But every now and then the
conversations become scriptural wrestling matches between the
saints who try and outdo one another with their Bible knowledge as
the simplicity of the Gospel is lost in the background noise of years
of indoctrination.
The plain truth is this. There is a train coming and we must be
ready to board that train. As many of us as are ready will
understand it’s the job of Gospel believing Christians to use the
time they have left to bring the message home.
I recall the thief on the cross next to Jesus. He had no time to
prepare for his ultimate judgement. He accepted Jesus at the very
last minute and received the promise of eternal life on the spot.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.
As time runs out and the great commission of spreading the
Gospel becomes more urgent it is up to every Christian to plant the
seeds of faith and pray for the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no relates to authenticity.
This authenticity gives power to our words. It relates to courage
and conviction and the establishing of trust. That trust propels the
Gospel message because it hi lights the integrity of your life living
with Gods’ principles demonstrating how the relationship through
Jesus has made you a more meaningful person, and it encourages
others to embark on the journey because they want what you’ve
got.
Simplicity in our speech is about less is more. The more we
embellish what we are trying to impart, the more we run the risk of
losing our audience.
My car is loaded with a plethora of features that I will never use,
just like my computer. I know the basics and it drives just fine and
gets me where I want to go. I know so many life long Christians
who have a head exploding with knowledge but for what purpose?
Many don’t take the confidence of knowledge out to the world as
we are meant to do; rather they keep going back to school to keep
feeding themselves and to show how their knowledge has made
them look righteous to others just like them.
It has been said that all the knowledge in the world is of no use to
fools.
So what is our job as Christians? To take the gospel message to a
world starving for the hearing and seeing of it. It’s a simple
message. Christ lives. He died to give us eternal life that we may
know Him and He’s coming soon. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit
and those who want to take it further.
If ever there was a time to keep it simple surely this is it. After all,
it’s not about what you know but who you know.
Questions.
1. Are you afraid that you don’t know enough to be saved?
2. Do you have doubts about your own salvation even though you
have spent a life time of study?
3. Is it time to get out there with what you have to fulfil the work
that God has set for you?
Prayer.
Dear Lord, Papa God.
So many stories in scripture about keeping it simple. The parable
of the eleventh hour workers and the thief on the cross to mention
just a couple. Why do we over complicate a simple truth? Papa
please guide me that I may understand for myself and thus impart
to others the simple truth of trusting in You alone that I may live a
life of blissful obedience. Help me to keep it simple and effective is
my prayer in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Have a great day today with Jesus.
Graham Hood.
