OUTCRY: God’s Heart For Your ChurchSample

Simple

The Church is larger than the box you and I may try to put it into. There are certain theological ideas that are hot-button issues today—you can probably think of three right now!—that are ultimately more cultural and political than foundational elements of the Church. 

According to the book of Romans, it is in the believing of your heart in the redeeming actions of Jesus that brings the justification of God. It is the profession of Jesus that brings the saving nature of the gospel. 

So ultimately we are left with some crucial questions: Are you defined by the redemption found through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? Do you believe He is Lord? If the answer is yes, then welcome to the family!

We love to make this more complicated than it is. In fact, what we often see in the Church is a law of thermodynamics called entropy. Entropy is the force of nature that pulls us from order to chaos. From simple to complicated. It is the force that causes ants to create more and more intricate tunnels the longer they are at it. Or that causes more and more laws and complications to be established in a government structure. It is also the force that causes us to add more and more theological complication to a simple gospel. And it doesn’t take long to walk away from the simplicity of Jesus’s love and redemption. 

The church in Ephesus was dealing with it within a generation of Jesus. They have forgotten the basis of their faith. The first love of God. The first love of the gospel. We can do and believe a lot of different things, but we should never forsake the common bond we all have in the gospel.

Prayer: Forgive us for making it so complicated! Help me find love for other people in the Church through the bond of your simple gospel. Amen.