Simplicity

 



“God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising.” (Ecclesiastes 7:30)  The Christian discipline of simplicity begins as an inward process that leads to outward changes in our lives.  Again and again the Bible cautions us against materialism.  “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).  Repeatedly Jesus calls us to seek the kingdom of God, and to be willing to sell everything we have to get it.  In fact, Jesus speaks more to the issue of economics than any other social issue.  If Jesus had to exhort so strongly in a time of relative simplicity, imagine what his preaching would be like today in our society of affluence and technology!  Jesus’ point though was that his followers need to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first, or they will not seek it at all.  Putting anything else first makes it an idol. 

Jesus instead calls us to trust in the Father in all that we have.  He calls us to receive all that we have as a gift from God, to leave it to God to care for these things, and to share them with others without hesitation.  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air:  they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add one more cubit to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)   God calls us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, and the marketing of goods in this world is a critical place for us to exercise such wisdom.  If I imbue every day with the reality that today is an incredible gift to be present in God’s creation, both to enjoy all of His doing and to be His light shining forth, then suddenly I approach buying goods through new eyes. 

“May God give you and me the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the #1 priority of our lives.  To do so is to live in simplicity.” (Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)

Amanda Leicht

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