A CHILD-LIKE SPIRIT

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent.  As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision.  It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect. Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities -- perhaps the fundamental quality -- of the child-like spirit without which no one can enter the Kingdom of God. 

-- Anonymous, attributed to Charles Wesley, from “Christian Quotation of the Day” 

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CHILD-LIKE, TRUSTING FAITH

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them.”  (Mark 10:13-16 NIV)

Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent.  As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision.  It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect.  Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities -- perhaps the fundamental quality -- of the child-like spirit without which no one can enter the Kingdom of God. 

-- Author Unknown

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EMBRACING SIMPLICITY IN A COMPLEX WORLD

“Speaking to the people, Jesus went on, ‘Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.’”  (Luke 12:15 MSG)

The path of spiritual growth often requires us to walk through valleys of discomfort, but it is there we find clarity and deeper connection with Christ. The discipline of simplicity calls us to evaluate the layers of our lives, peeling away the excesses that cloud our spiritual vision.

In a world driven by materialism and social pressures, it is easy to lose sight of what truly matters. Our possessions, status, and the expectations of others can form barriers between us and our Savior. The call to discipleship is an invitation to shed these barriers and realign our focus on Christ.

Simplicity is not about deprivation; rather, it is about intentionality. It means regularly assessing our lives and making conscious choices to remove the clutter, both physical and spiritual. This could mean donating items we no longer need, limiting time spent on social media, or even simplifying our schedules to create more space for prayer and reflection.

As we practice the discipline of simplicity during Lent and beyond, we may find that our lives become lighter and our spiritual vision clearer. The process may not always be pleasant, but the reward is a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ. Let us embrace simplicity, allowing it to guide us toward a life centered on our faith and purpose in Him. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry, compiled from a variety of sources

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GOD-SHAPED QUALITIES

“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words… The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 2:13,15,16 NIV)

Humility, hospitality, and loving-kindness; simplicity and deliberation -- all are God-shaped qualities of life. To have all the mind that was in Christ, however, means that these qualities flow from Christ’s holiness and righteousness in us through loving actions toward others. 

-- Paul Wesley Chilcote in “A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit”

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SIMPLICITY AND COMPLEXITY

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Oliver Wendell Holmes, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, once made a perceptive distinction between two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near side of complexity and simplicity on the far side of complexity.  He said, “I would not give a fig for simplicity on the near side of complexity.”

Many Christians settle for simplicity on the near side of complexity.  Their faith is only mind deep.  They know what they believe, but they don’t know why they believe what they believe.  Their faith is fragile because it has never been tested intellectually or experientially.  Near-side Christians have never been in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, so when they encounter questions they cannot answer or experiences they cannot explain, it causes a crisis of faith.  For far-side Christians, those who have done their time in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, unanswerable questions and unexplainable experiences actually result in heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of a God who does not fit within the logical constraints of the left brain.  Near-side Christians, on the other hand, lose their faith before they’ve really found it. 

-- Mark Batterson in “PRIMAL: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”

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A PATH OF SIMPLICITY

Lent is the perfect season of the year for solitude and self-reflection. As we spiritually journey into the desert, Lent is a time to re-examine our boundary lines and get realigned, set in right relationship with God and the world around us. I would like to suggest a Lenten path to travel as the days grow longer and Easter approaches, the path of simplicity.


Simplicity is not about poverty, or a renunciation of possessions, or a set of "dos" or "don'ts."  Rather, simplicity is a spiritual discipline that re-orients one's life by deliberately organizing it around a central purpose. Adhering to a focused center reduces the fractured nature of our lives. Our priorities become aligned to the focus of our lives, and the way we live out our simplicity in terms of our time, energy, and money becomes a reflection of our inner beliefs. On the most basic level, simplicity means being honest and sincere with ourselves about our faith and what really matters most to us.


To walk the path of simplicity we must believe that God calls us to it. Lent invites us to journey in the way of Jesus by learning more about His way and applying it in our lives.


In the coming days of Lent, allow Christ's light to shine more brightly in your life and lead you into a path of simplicity that helps you re-orient your life toward God in Christ.


-- Ann Hagmann in Alive Now Magazine, March/April 2002, published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN.   Used with permission.




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THE DISCIPLINE OF SIMPLICITY

The discipline of simplicity is not the most pleasant of spiritual disciplines, but it remains one of the most important. We so easily allow our lives to be defined by possessions, status, and all manner of social expectations. Being a disciple means shedding ourselves of anything that blurs our vision of Christ... Periodically we must shed ourselves of some "stuff" so we can focus our lives on Christ again.

-- Mark Galli, editor of Christian History magazine


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A SPIRITUALITY OF SIMPLICITY

When we begin to live a spirituality of simplicity, our primary concern ceases to be success and becomes faithfulness. We are called to live with integrity, to express the truth as we perceive it, and to trust in God's ability to use what we offer.

-- Elizabeth J. Canham in Heart Whispers


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