Simpler is not always better

I have been preaching on discipleship in our Sunday morning services at Lynwood Baptist Church.  These sermons have been part of a larger series I am doing on the purposes of the church.  These sermons have been insightful and challenging (not my words) as they have confronted us with the demands of the gospel.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated from his German prison cell during World War II, when Christ calls us to follow him he bids us to come and die.  Eventually he did die for his faithfulness to the cause of Christ as he stood up against Nazi Germany.

However, most of us here in America will not be asked to give up our lives for the cause of Christ.  We might be ridiculed or mocked, but placed in prison and sentenced to death for being a disciple of Christ is probably not going to happen.  Yet, very few of us really take a stand and commit ourselves to being genuine followers of Jesus Christ. 

Instead we choose the easy way.  We choose something that is much simpler.  Instead of doing the hard work necessary to be a disciple of Christ we skate around the edges.  We blend in so as not to be noticed.  We might attend a church, but we certainly do not want anyone outside the church to know that we attend.  Reading our Bible is something we do on Sunday when the preacher preaches a sermon, but taking time out to study it is not something we want to do.  We might have made a confession that Jesus is Lord, but it is not our profession.  In other words we say we are a Christian, but our life may not actually reveal it.  For us it is the simple way that does not require much effort on our part. 

I saw a cartoon a while back about an individual who was asked to find X in the Math problem.  Below is his answer.

This cartoon reveals how many of us approach our Christian faith.  Simpler is not always better.  We must decide today if we are truly going to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  If so we must decide to put forth the effort to be the kind of disciple that Jesus demands.  Jesus said if we would be His disciple we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, even if it means we might have to die. 

Think about it!  Are you on the simple plan or the disciple plan?  The disciple plan might be harder, but it is the only one that pays eternal dividends.  Look forward to hearing from you as we travel this road together.