WHILE SITTING AMONGST A GROUP OF 425 PASTORS, discussing the proposed revision of the Statement of Faith for the Evangelical Free Church of America (and by default our Statement of Faith as well) I was struck by the desire to live a much more simple life. Allow me to explain.
First, I know the having a right orthodoxy (belief) is a critical thing. Too many have fallen away from Christ and His design by not having a correct understanding of His Word. Thus, knowing what and why we believe is of vital importance. The problem arises when we must continually add more and more to what these vital beliefs are. My desire for the simple life creates in me a longing to return to a much more simpler and actually Biblical statement of faith, such as, “if you confess with your mouth ’Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Second, there is a need to return to right praxis (action). That is we do what Jesus, in His Word tells us to do. Not an easy thing to be sure, but in some regards rather simple. Right orthodoxy and right praxis leads, I believe, to right living, which leads to a the “simple life.”
Lastly, this past week our church family lost another saint, Dorothy Mack. I believe Dorothy, in many ways, lived the simple life. She knew what the Bible said, she believed it, and she put that belief into action, pure and simple. I don’t think I ever heard her complain, she wasn’t the up-front personality, she was just simply one who loved the Lord and desired to share that love with as many people as possible, both inside and outside the walls of the church.
To this end I want to say, “Thank you, Dorothy for living the simple life of the Gospel. I hope to follow your lead.”
WHEN WAL-MART CAME TO CRESCENT CITY the whole county turned out. People somehow believed that Wal-Mart was the answer to all our shopping problems. To be honest, I thought it was pretty cool, too. I once remember exclaiming to Linda, “If Wal-Mart doesn’t have it, then you don’t need it!” Yes, Wal-Mart seemed to have it all.
Sadly, for many, this new shopping attraction became almost a reli-gious experience. People were making weekly pilgrimages to this temple of consumerism, looking for the latest in low-price specials. They came to lay forth their sacrifice and received in return the latest goods that would make their lives better; only to return again and again to have “spiritual” needs met.
Now, I am not seeking to lambaste Wal-mart, for they are only provid-ing that which we demand, but I am seeking to drive home a point. I be-lieve the Apostle Paul could say to us what is recorded in Acts 17, “Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar to an unknown god.” If Paul were to walk around today what altars would he discover? I believe they would be many, and he would discover most of them in places other than in our churches.
As those created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) we are inher-ently spiritual beings. We were created with a need, a desire, to worship. Tragically, because of sin, the focus of our worship is greatly misplaced. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, we have become worshippers of the created thing rather than the Creator. (Romans 1:25) This is not what we were created to do.
Now that the holiday to the god of consumerism and consumption as past, I call us all to return to the One God who can fulfill our deepest long-ings and needs, the God who created us, and is deserving of our com-plete worship. Let us rise to the reason for which we have been created which is to “worship God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism)
Let us be what God created us to be, and worship Him!
