Simple Christianity
It is my opinion, (along with the opinions of thousands or even tens of thousands and perhaps millions) of others, that Christianity has both become too complicated and has veered off the course set by Jesus.
The introduction to Christianity that most preachers use is simple enough, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense and it is not Biblical. “That” being the infamous ‘sinner’s prayer’.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, a movement emerged to make the Gospel message and the meaning of salvation more relatable. It was an admixture of long held Biblical doctrines with human philosophies, i.e., a syncretism. Words were redefined to fit contemporary social norms, hymns were updated and revised to move people emotionally, and many doctrines and confessions were modified or neglected all together. A wide divergence developed promoting differing political views, social views and musical factions.
This movement further splintered from traditional Biblical Christianity into various new age brands of Christianity, a new and improved kinds of positive thinking religion, all sorts of self-help gospels, a not-so-new name-it-and-claim-it gospel, a brand of communal christianity or the social gospel, (i.e., a twisted Socialist and Communist theology).
Most significantly, a new One World Religion, combining Catholicism, Islam and Judaism named The Abrahamic Family House, a collaboration of Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, and His Eminence Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, issue and sign the Document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity is jointly bestowed on His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence Ahmed Al-Taye
From this chaos, has emerged polished kinetic, entertainment-based style of “church program” and it is becoming the face of “church” transcending denominational lines and religious philosophies.
This strange transformation of the “church experience” has the uncanny ability to excite one’s emotions, producing adrenaline, dopamine and endorphins. It’s almost like going to a religious rock concert or play. It seems to be an attractive and fun alternative to the traditional church service, especially for the under forty crowd. but is discernably lacking the power to transform a person by the renewing of their mind into what is good, acceptable and perfect according to the Bible.
The result of this exploration of alternative methods of presenting the Gospel, seems to have created a drift from actually knowing the God of the Bible and the Bible itself. Many theologians and Bible organizations are sounding the alarm regarding the rise of Biblical illiteracy, especially among professing Christians. According to the “State of the Bible 2020 report” released by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society, U.S. adults who say they read the Bible daily dropped from 14% to 9% between early 2019 and 2020.
The study found that the proportion of Americans who read the Bible daily also fell to fewer than one in 10 (9%), the lowest number on record during the 10 years of the State of the Bible research study.
Unapplied knowledge is just idle information.
There are a multitude of churches which have remained theologically faithful and doctrinally sound, but often they will present the Gospel Message and the Bible in ways that are theologically complex and hard to understand for daily living. Many of these remining faithful churches and preachers and pastors who tend to be “educationally academic” in their approach to preaching and teaching the Bible, may be good at disseminating information and even for indoctrination. But when presented this way it can have limited effectiveness to inculcate the power of the Gospel which for salvation to everyone who believes.
“From Keeping It Simple Stupid” to “Simple Is As Simple Does”
“Simple is as simple does” can mean that a person’s approach to matters in life and spirituality can be judged by their actions; if someone behaves in complex and unintelligible ways, it reflects their inability to find simple solutions to problems and the inability to relate to most people. This phrase emphasizes that actions are more telling than appearances or claims of the ability to reason or to think critically.
The Bible was written for every man, woman, boy and girl to read and understand. It has not remained that way and for some very good reasons, many would say. But, God intended His Word to be intelligible and useful for everyone who would believe.
Maybe We Should Make It A Little More Simple?
The Gospel Message literally means “good news” and occurs 93 times in the Bible, exclusively in the New Testament. The gospel is, broadly speaking, the whole of Scripture; more narrowly, the gospel is the good news concerning Christ and the way of salvation.
The Old Testament Law was given to Israel during the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 5:1). The Law can be thought of as a measuring stick, and sin is anything that falls short of “perfect” according to that standard. Despite our “goodness” or “badness” relative to each other, we are all in the same spiritual boat, i.e., we have sinned, and the punishment for sin is death, i.e. separation from God, the source of life (Romans 3:23), and in order for us to go to heaven.
The Jewish Law which was the forerunner of Christianity, established the fact that being made spiritually clean from sin or “perfect” can only happen through a blood-letting sacrifice of an innocent life (Hebrews 9:22). (Although this makes little sense to the contemporary mind, it was well known and was a legalistic and burdensome thing to the ancient Jew.)
The Gospel involves Jesus’ death on the cross as the sin offering to fulfill the Law’s righteous requirement (Romans 8:3–4; Hebrews 10:5–10). (Just for your information, under the Jewish Law, animal sacrifices were offered year after year as a reminder of sin and a symbol of the coming sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:3–4). When Christ offered Himself at Calvary, that symbol became a reality for all who would believe (Hebrews 10:11–18). The work of “atonement”, being made “at one with God”, is finished now, and that’s good news. No more burden of guilt, shame or fear from one’s lack of perfection or sinlessness, for anyone who believes in Jesus, what He has done and what He promised to His followers.
The gospel also involves Jesus’ resurrection on the third day. “He was killed for our sins and was raised to life for our “justification”, or our being declared “not guilty”, justified and in good standing with God (Romans 4:25). The fact that Jesus negated the penalty of sin, (our faults, failures and imperfections), and death (sin’s penalty) is good news, indeed. The fact that He offers to share that victory with us is the greatest news of all (John 14:19).
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
The gospel is a bold message, and we are not ashamed of proclaiming it.
It is a powerful message, because it is God’s good news.
It is a saving message, the only thing that can truly reform the human heart.
It is a universal message, for Jews and Gentiles both.
And the gospel is received by faith; salvation is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8–9).
The gospel is the good news that God loves the world enough to give His only Son to die for our sin (John 3:16). (This statement is only useful to those who choose to believe it).
The gospel is good news because our salvation and eternal life and home in heaven are guaranteed through Christ (John 14:1–4). “He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
The gospel is good news when we understand that we do not (and cannot) earn our salvation but God offers this “Gift” without cost.
The gospel is the good news that we, who were once enemies of God, in His sight, have been “reconciled” or brought into agreement with God and with His standard of perfection, by the blood-sacrifice of Christ, reestablishing unified relationship with God.
The gospel is the good news that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Simpler Yet
Even if you don’t know it or can’t recognized it or won’t accept it, in so many ways, you and I are messed up – in fact, you can truly say that you were born that way! And it is because of that innate condition, even though it is no fault of your own, your life will always be a struggle. No matter how intelligent, no matter how rich or connected you become, your “messed-up condition” will always present new obstacles. And, you will die frustrated and unfulfilled unless you change your core-self and your core-beliefs. Additionally, unless you succeed in changing the “Inner Person”, you will die and your soul, your spirit, will descend into what is described as an outer darkness, where there is misery, wailing, endless terror and intolerable pain for eternity. But it need not be this way. You must be born again, in your spirit.
God loves you and has given you a choice. Follow Him. Believe in His Son, Jesus and follow Him and His accept and adopt His Mindset and His ways – or perish.
The Benefits of Christianity Without Christ
Unconditional Love Only conditional love
Satisfying, lasting Joy An insatiable search of happiness
Peace that transcends understanding Peace only from gain
Inexplicable Patience Results oriented patience
Undue Kindness Requite kindness
Unearned Goodness And eye for an eye goodness
Dependable Faithfulness Faithful to laws or dogma
Comfort Giving Gentleness Occasional gentleness
The Power of Self-Control Control over or by others
IF YOU WILL ACCEPT IT, GOD GIVES
- Mental, emotional and spiritual relief through forgiveness of your sins, faults, and bad deeds – past, present and future – if you surrender your life, your mind, will and emotions to Jesus and conform thinking to His Gospel Truth.
- Ongoing forgiveness and cleansing from sins through confession to Jesus and a new turning away from wrong doing, with continual forgiveness and peace by forgiving others of their misdeeds and sins.
- God’s abundant provisions for your life according to your true needs and more than you can even think to ask.
I WOULD, BUT I AM NOT READY TO GIVE UP SOME THINGS…
If you are thinking that you would like to have all that knowing and following Jesus has to offer, then it this is all far away from you. The correct question to ask is, “What do I have to give in trade?” And the answer is, “Just You”.
If you are thinking I have to give up this or that to be a Christian well think again. God really does not want your this or that bad habits. In fact, God cannot tolerate those things anyway, so you keep them – or not. But like I said, it is those things that are causing your problems in the first place. So think it over. Shed the things that are causing your misery, loneliness, poverty, ill health, worries, low self-esteem, etc., and find peace and true personal and spiritual fulfillment or stay the way you are, being uncertain of your future and miserable. It really is your choice.
IF I WANTED TO BE “BORN AGAIN”, HOW WOULD I GET THERE?
Just go! Go to God and talk to God. Tell Him your situation. God knows that most people cannot just unload a lifetime of thinking a certain way and shed each and every practice or habit they have accumulated over a lifetime. He will speak into your heart and mind and begin to unburden you of your this and that, one thing at a time. Later on, you might want to find a Bible church to meet people who are on a similar journey and learn some things from them. Maybe you’ll want to get a Bible and see what else God has to say to you.
And believe it or not, you really can hear from God through prayer, through the Bible, through His Church, and circumstances, IF you trade in your natural mind for a Spiritual mind by being born again in your spirit. Just tell God that is what you want and them pursue Him. It’s simple. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
Or, hey, drop me a note and let’s talk.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
whitestonefellowship1@gmail.com
NEXT: SIMPLE CHRISTIANITY – PART 2
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