Had I been transported to an alternate universe? I was surrounded by people I knew, but had their brains been replaced with alien brains? Or had mine? It sure seemed like somebody’s had.
It was a few years ago and I was leading a small group of women from my church in one of a series of meetings we’d planned to allow us to informally talk about topics ranging from spiritual growth to household chores.
On this particular evening, the ladies were supposed to share their very best make-life-easier household tips. I’d come away from a similar gathering years before with a gold mine of useful information, but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t going to happen this time.
One by one, the ladies started sharing and little by little, my sense of utter alienation and bewilderment grew as they enthusiastically discussed their favorite “recipes” for homemade cleaning products and toiletries. Homemade bathroom cleaner, dish detergent, shampoo, and even deodorant.
“I hate to be a buzzkill, but you all do know you can buy this stuff already made, right?” I quipped.
They smiled the smile one gives the pitifully unenlightened and uninformed and went on talking about the hippy-dippy stores where they buy their organic ingredients.
“Why are we even talking about this?” I asked. “This feels like complication to me. It’s totally stressing me out.”
By the end of that evening, I realized I’m pretty much a toxic old dinosaur, quite out of step with this trendy new return to old, laborious ways. But at least this dinosaur’s life is a bit simpler.
I figure if the chemicals in my store-bought deodorant take a few months off my life, at least I will have smelled good and will probably have some friends at my funeral. And I won’t have wasted hours slaving over a pot of homemade Right Guard.
I freely confess I’m always looking for ways to simplify my life, not make it more complicated. And that goes for my spiritual life, too.
The Apostle Paul was apparently on that same page when he wrote this to the believers in Corinth: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)
I think Paul wrote that because he understood the propensity to make Christianity much more complicated, murky and exhausting than God intends for it to be.
In fact, I often wonder if, upon observing some of our religious gatherings and activities, Jesus would love to shout, “Hey—what on earth are you all doing? I don’t even feel at home in the midst of this!”
It seems to me that the way of Jesus is a simple way. Not easy, but simple. After all, He is the One who blew the Pharisee’s minds by basically boiling down their complicated 600-plus laws into just two: love God and love others.
And He’s the One who condemned those Pharisees for laying overly heavy religious burdens on men’s shoulders. (Matthew 23:4)
And He’s the One who said His “yoke is easy” His “burden is light.”
Over-complicating what it means to walk faithfully with Christ tends to produce bad fruit: pride in the hearts of those who think they do it very well, and burnout in those who feel they can never do it well enough.
Either response takes us further from the simple point of it all: obeying God because we love Him for all He is and has done to save us, and saying yes to His invitation to live in intimate relationship with Him, now and for eternity.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)