Life can be such a confusing and fragile animal.
There are so many variables in life that are at play at one given time. Our decisions have such weight. They determine who we marry and create life with, they determine how we spend our time in our careers, they impact our thoughts and so on. Then when you begin to follow Jesus things don’t necessarily get clearer, but the call from
Jesus is to die to yourself, to give up your value of earthly decisions and begin to listen to what Jesus values in this life. So, the temptation when following Jesus is to complicate, over-analyse and internalise everything to the point that you more confused and stuck than ever before.
What if I told you, Jesus is not afraid when you get to this point? Why, because at this edge, you are the most equipped to start ‘following’, taking direction from Jesus, learning to lean in and become more aware of his voice. Dallas Willard says, ‘The first and most basic thing we must do is to keep God before our minds’. If you
want to experience the life of Jesus, then you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. Jesus says in John 15:5 – ‘Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing’. The most fundamental action Jesus requires from us is before anything else we need to learn to just BE with Him!
But this poses another challenge, now in the process and pursuit of trying to just ‘be’ with Jesus and keep things ‘simple’, we can unintentionally begin to actually start ‘reducing’ the gospel to one or another aspect. This is not new; we have seen this through out history and Scripture. The Pharisees tried to reduce serving God to just
rules and laws. Some charismatic and Pentecostal movements have emphasised the Spirit over the Word. Other movements have tried to ‘protect’ the Word at the cost of giving up the reality that the Spirit is alive an active. In other areas, people try to ‘reduce’ following Jesus down to the amount of faith or an acceptance purely on
grace but not both. It is like if you were blindfolded and only held an elephant’s trunk, then that is what you would think an elephant was. When we make our opinions or convictions a non-negotiable, we fall in the trap of reducing the truth to only one part. What’s the danger? We miss Jesus. We miss what he is saying and doing because
we are looking at the wrong thing. Have you ever wondered why Jesus would so often say, ‘those who have ears/eyes to hear/see let them hear/see? It’s because he was trying to tell them that there is always more than what you think.
The solution? How do we keep simplifying to make sense of this journey without reducing the truth?
Firstly: WORD – Psalm 119:105 – ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’. Make the word your firm foundation. Simplify your life to what the word says. Take this never-changing gospel and let it root deep in an ever-changing life.
Secondly: SPIRIT – Luke 1:35 – ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you’. Be bold and courageous to live knowing the Spirit empowers you. Keep the Word and Spirit in tension and you will always find Jesus right in the middle. The simplest form of following Jesus is ‘Word and Spirit’.
Thirdly, don’t stop. Simplifying is knowing that things will get clearer as we follow, the goal is to allow Jesus to find us. Sit still when your stomach and mind is becoming uncomfortable, as you begin to realise how fragile this life is but the knowledge that Jesus knows that as well.
Fourthly, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. 2 Corinthians 5 is a beautiful explanation of Paul trying to simplify things. He is hopeful but burdened at the same time. Learn to become comfortable with living in the tension of suffering and freedom, pain and joy.
Fifthly, keep things light. Jesus builds the church. Jesus will build you. Jesus wants to find you; your job is to allow yourself to be found in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.
Keep simplifying. Be blessed
David Skevington