I spoke with someone recently and was talking about the early days of our church. I told this person that we have been teaching out of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) for the past six months. The Gospels contain the teaching and revelation of Christ. And I have so enjoyed sharing the life, message and ministry of Jesus with our church family.
This person looked at me and said, “Oh, that’s good. The simple stuff.” The only problem with this statement was that it was said in a condescending tone. As if our new church was only capable of handling the appetizer, not the main course. I shrugged it off as a common statement that is made in reference to the Gospels. The only thing is that I wholeheartedly disagree with the intent of that statement. It just so happens I wasn’t in the mood to enter into a theological scuffle over my latte on this particular day.
I am convinced that “the simple stuff” is exactly the “stuff” that we should be mastering. And I am also convinced that most of us are far from mastering the things found in the Gospels. Ideas such as generosity. Humility. Serving others before ourselves. Faith. Trust. The list goes on.
Simplicity is one of the most beautiful things about the Gospels. Jesus taught life changing and powerful principles in simple ways. To be completely candid, when I read the Scriptures the ones that tried to show their incredible knowledge went by this name: the Pharisees. They were the religious leaders of the day that were filled with pride and entitlement.
I will continue to teach and preach the life changing power of the Gospels. We are halfway through our series on the Gospel of Luke. And right after that we will begin another eight week series on the Gospel of John.
I guess you can call this eight months of the life changing, life altering, life fulfilling simple stuff. And I pray that I can master the simple stuff before moving on to anything else.
