Simplicity

In a world of ever increasing complexity, perhaps the church should stand out and offer a return to simplicity. As we look at the world around us, it becomes clear that our world is complicated and places many demands on our resources. Cell phones and e-mail, both wonderful tools I enjoy using, have made us available to others nearly 24 hours a day. The pressure to be active in community events, extra-curricular activities, job responsibilities and our own interest have us stretched in so many directions that sometimes are deepest desire is to have some time to just do nothing. Add to this the adding complexity of children’s schedules and ever having a moment to just “be still” becomes nearly impossible. If you watch and listen to commercials, many advertising agencies are trying to capitalize on this reality. Ads today are filled with phrases like, “simplify you life” and the word “relax”. Apple Co., in particular, has based the entire iPhone campaign around the idea of simplifying your life. The next time one of these commercials is on, watch and listen for phrases about simplifying life. Based on the success of the iPhone thus far, perhaps they have found a way to connect their product with people on a deeper level. There is of course some irony in the fact that the iPhone makes one available via all forms of communication (phone, e-mail, instant messenger and even through the internet). Interesting that as with so many things in life, the iPhone seems to promise one thing but actually delivers the entire opposite. Regardless, there is a desire in our society to try and find some simple things in life.

What if a church was able to offer something simple? What if the church were to stand up and cry out, “God wants you to rest!” Perhaps God was not just calling His people to rest, but also to simplicity when He established the Sabbath day. Yes, the life of faith is filled with mystery and intrigue, but in many cases the chains of legalism and the bonds of complexity have stolen away the simple truth of God’s message of hope for our lives. In contrast, the church should be a stronghold of simplicity. Simple worship. Simple doctrine. Simple teaching. Simple ministry. Everything a church does should convey simplicity. For many churches, I wonder if we’ve poured so much time and energy into making everything look right, feel warm and inviting and making sure everything we say is worded just right, that we create an organism that is overly complicated and ultimately uninviting.

Martin Luther as an advocate of the people desired simplicity in the church. One of the major objections he had with the Catholic Church (as it existed in Europe at the time) was that the church’s doctrine suggested that only clergy could really understand the deep truths of God. Consequently, he felt the church discourage personal reading of the Bible and generally conducted mass in Latin, a language few commoners understood. To Luther, this seemed to be the opposite of what God’s invitation implied; that all people, from all nations, would gather together to become the church. He also seemed to advocate that the Bible, and the pursuit of God, is not a complicated thing. Certainly it is not an easy endeavor, but the challenge of a walk of faith should not stem from someone being stymied by confusing and complicated church doctrine. This called to simply would seem to be one that ought to be sounded again in the modern church.

Perhaps one of the reasons the church is seemingly struggling to reach new people is because we have made the church so complex and complicated. Have all of our efforts to become “seeker friendly” really just turned into a scheme to make ourselves feel better about the color of the walls in our building? Has our doctrinal stance on social issues served merely to pat ourselves on the back and reminds ourselves that we have always been right? Could it be that we have become such legalists in our pursuit of being right, that we have neglected the true purpose(s) of the church?

I for one am ready for something different. I am ready to be part of a church that seeks and brings simplicity to a walk of faith. I am ready to join with other believers in the pursuit of hope. I am ready to become part of faith community that seeks to truly make a difference in the world we live in. I am ready to move beyond talking about “us” and instead start carrying a simple message of hope to those who feel wounded, broken and alone. This is the church Christ died for. This is the church God is raising up.

Spiritual Growth

I was sitting in a leadership meeting recently discussing congregational concerns. This meeting was no different than any other leadership meeting you may have attended. This was somewhat unique for me in two ways. First, after getting to attend these meeting for years every month when I was the youth minister, I had not attended an elders and deacons meeting in almost 18 months. Second, I have never been a deacon before, which is to say that I have never been in one of these meeting where I also have a job outside of the church. While that discussion is for another blog topic, I will simply say this: the view from this side of the fence is very different. I think every minister should be required to work in a non-church job while trying to support their family; it would change some perspectives I think.

Anyway, on the agenda to discuss was this recently raised concern: “Need for congregational emphasis on spiritual growth.” When I read this statement, the first thought that popped into my head was, “What does that mean?” As I began to mull this over in my head I became increasingly concerned with how I have understood what spiritual growth is for most of my life. I have been in many meetings and discussion with different groups of people who have often discussed the need for spiritual growth. As I began to think through these conversations I made some disappointing observations.

Perhaps the most disappointing is the realization that most, if not all, of the times I have discussed spiritual growth it has been in the context of something others need to do. The conversation was laced with phrases like “Why don’t they think this is important?” and “How can we help them be more spiritual?” How embarrassing!! How arrogant!! I wonder if this is a major turn off to people who are either outside of the church or have just begun their walk of faith. I can only imagine how this attitude has come across to others over the years. I guess I wonder if there is still at least a hint of this attitude in our theology. Perhaps we understand spiritual growth more as a series of checklist items we can “complete”. It concerns me that so often the conversations about spiritual growth are almost always tied to how many people we are (or aren’t) baptizing. It’s almost as if we assume that if our church is not baptizing many people; then we must not be growing spiritually. Of course if we are asked if that’s how we measure “growth”, we are quick to say “it’s not about numbers,” but let’s be honest, it is about the numbers. I am often concerned that when we talk publicly about spiritual growth, our conversation is about needing to pray a little more or read our Bibles a little more. Perhaps we even have an occasional talk about fasting or some other spiritual discipline, but the reality seems to be that we don’t really expect anyone to adopt these practices. I wonder if all of this stems from our over emphasis on the beginning stages of the faith walk: coming to church and getting dunked.

Spiritual growth is about the pursuit of holy living. It’s about becoming increasingly holy; being set apart. It’s about choosing to give up the things that make us comfortable in the attempt to become more like the image of Christ. It’s about changing the way we think and refining the way we see. It’s about confronting evil. Standing out as light in the darkness. Holy living brings abuse and persecution. When Jesus taught about holy living, he made people sad and uncomfortable because they knew it was not something they had arrived at. Think of the rich young ruler, told to go and sell everything and give it away. He had completed the checklist (following the ten commandments) but still needed to grow spiritually. Note to that the scriptures say that Jesus “had compassion” for the man – and he still went away sad!! Look at Job. This man had everything taken from him except those who were discouraging to him. For Job, his call to holy living was simply to not curse God when everything around him was screaming at him to do it! Esther was called to confront evil, face to face, and risk her own life. Look around today. There are people living out this pursuit of holiness all around us. People who are moving up the ladder of success, but rather than spend their additional resources on themselves, they are moving into smaller houses and driving older cars so that they can find ways to give more to others. Around us are those who when they say the spent last night praying for us, we know it wasn’t a passing statement in a prayer over a meal, but rather that they were literally on their knees all night crying out to God on our behalf. People who giving up there own comfort to serve others, often to serve the outcasts of society. They seldom talk about themselves or what they are doing; rather, they quietly go about their lives advancing the Kingdom of God into new places. What always strikes me is how I feel both drawn to these people, yet also struggle to be around them. For me, when I am around them I see my own failures. It’s like the light shining from them exposes the darkness in my life. And seeing my own needs, I am faced with a choice…to be like them, empty myself and pursue holiness; or return to the safe group who talks about a new program to help people experience spiritual growth…

It’s time for the church, the body of Christ, to be about holy living.