20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:20-21)
Jack Kerouac once said: “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
Life and the Gospel are much clearer before the absurdity of men muddy it up in theory and posturing. The most beautiful things in this world are simple and this might be a gift from a loving God. After study and debate, the student of faith is shocked at how simple it all is – resting solely on a relational God’s shoulders. In this life, our biggest struggle is to work through the immense fog to get to the true, unadulterated reality of grace. Our sin doesn’t make things deep as much as they do unclear. Humanity has to go back to the foundations of life, something we lost along the way. We need to look past politics, egos, and the sport of distraction to find the sovereign Lord who came into this world in the simplest of measures. The meaning of the cross was incredibly deep, but able to grasp by the simplest of us. We understand laying down of life for friends, we understand great forgiveness and the relational destruction of sin. Yet, though we understand, we can spend all our days in the application. Simple but deep. Perhaps this Christian walk is anything but practical.
How simple are our lives? Have we taken calculated measures to trim the fat created by the smoke and mirrors of our busyness? The greatest trick of evil in this life is distraction – being burdened with detail and the superficial. May we live with the courage of a simple life. The backbone founded in humility and service to others is never a waste, but rarely “productive”. Never be afraid to be a failure in this life.
Matt simon blog 