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Mystery #6: Simplicity

    There’s no question that our modern world runs at a pace never seen before. With an explosion of mobile devices and other screens demanding our attention, we are bombarded with data. With so many opportunities at our fingertips to gain knowledge, wealth, success—why does contentment feel further and further away? 

    One of the things the world constantly whispers in our ear is, “You need that.” The average American household now has almost $16,000 in credit-card debt. Comedian Will Rogers said it well: “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.”

    But Jesus had a better way. 

    Uh-oh, you may be thinking, You guys are setting me up. Here comes the totally unrealistic ideal that Jesus wants me to sell all my possessions. That’s not going to happen.

    Relax. Not true.

    We often assume that the ancient world Jesus lived in has no relevance to our modern world. But Jesus had plenty of rich and upwardly mobile friends just like we do. As we discover in Luke 8, traveling in His close circle of followers were some wealthy women who funded Jesus and His disciples’ itinerant ministry. (Somebody had to pay the bill for thirteen guys to go without steady jobs for three years!) But while Jesus often spoke of the dangerous allure of money and possessions, He wasn’t calling for their total elimination from our lives. Rather, He was challenging us to pursue something much more revolutionary. He was calling us to simplicity.

    Simplicity demands that nothing get in the way of our relationship to God.

    As Jesus’s followers, by choosing less in every area of our lives, we gain more. When allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts to streamline our desires, we slowly acquire proper perspective—His perspective. With it, our urgent desire to relentlessly consume fades.  The book of Acts gives an extraordinary account of the early Christians:

      “All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were                      selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44–47)

    We gain a few key insights in this passage. First, these believers still had homes. While they were selling some possessions and distributing the proceeds, they didn’t sell everything. So what were they doing? They were simplifying! Second, simplicity led to unity, generosity, and joy. Finally, simplicity was infectious. Not only did they find “favor with all the people,” but their example inspired others to join their ranks.

    Imagine in our stressful, consumption-fueled society a community of tens of millions of people who never thirst and seem to possess what money and power can’t buy—peace and contentment. What a beacon we would be!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you’re well aware of our desire for more, more, more. I’m guilty of that in an endless number of ways. Help me start to develop habits of simplicity, of being content with less. I now understand that choosing a life of simplicity is a gift from You, and I ask for eyes to see the ways to incorporate it into my every day. Amen.