Simplicity

Simplicity is singleness of heart toward God. Remember, simplicity is not the goal; deeper relationship with Christ is the goal. Simplicity helps us remove distractions and focus on him. On the removing of distractions, the writer of Hebrews urges us, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Jesus also spoke of things that distract from focus on him. In the parable of the sower he warned, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22)

In 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB), Paul expresses his concern for his readers, “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.” Satan’s schemes coupled with our tendency to complicate our relationship with God and others can distract us from the simplicity of our love for Christ and his love for us.

It stands to reason that a relational grace called simplicity should be simple. Therefore, in practicing simplicity we remove distractions and direct our focus on God. The truly exciting thing is that in becoming more and more enthralled with God, we become less and less distracted by whatever would lure us from him.

In pondering simplicity our minds naturally turn to shedding excess material things. But living a life of asceticism does not equate with simplicity and does not guarantee deeper relationship with God. In fact, when we focus on externals and attempt to quantify simplicity, we immediately begin to spiral downward into legalism and pride—enemies of our relationship with God and contrary to simplicity.

Instead, contentment and satisfaction in God better describes true simplicity. Paul expressed this when he said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13) Satisfaction in Christ and his provision is the essence of simplicity.

Both from Paul’s statement in Philippians and from our own experience, we realize that the amount of stuff we have may have little to do with our focus on God. Jesus explained in Matthew 6:25-34 that worry over (i.e., preoccupation with and service to) money and material things is what derails our singleness of heart toward God. “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:32-33)

For this reason, we must apply simplicity in a highly personalized manner, so that we attain our goal of drawing closer to Christ. Let me give you an example of this. I happen to know two couples—both passionate followers of Christ. One couple bought a sailboat and began sailing as a way to withdraw from things that were distracting them from Christ. They spend time relaxing and recharging while enjoying God, his creation and each other on their sailboat. Their sailboat serves as a tool to help them simplify their lives and focus on God.

But I know another couple who recently sold their sailboat. Their reason for selling it—the sailboat had become a huge distraction in their lives from focusing on God. They had been fraught with worry over it: maintaining it, getting out on it often enough and concern for its security in a harbor a couple hours away. They saw it as a financial, emotional and spiritual drain on their lives. Selling their sailboat set them free!

Owning a sailboat (or some other item) or not owning it has little to do with simplicity. Instead, we need to answer questions like, “What distracts me from focusing on the Lord?” and, “What will help me focus on God?” Those questions should prompt responses that address other areas of our lives as well as our possessions. For example, consider simplicity in our thoughts and how distracting, destructive and complicated the following thoughts work in our lives:

• Thoughts of anxiety or conflict
• Worrying or fear of the unknown
• Entertaining thoughts and conclusions about what might happen
• Letting our imaginations take us to dark, troubled places
• Rehearsing conflict, negative interactions and division in relationships
• Thoughts of envy, bitterness, jealousy and strife

In contrast to the above thoughts that distract us away from God, consider what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” These qualities stimulate and flow from simplicity leading us to focus on Christ.

Simplicity is an inward relational grace that will express itself in our lifestyle. Have you ever gone fishing and had your reel jam, spinning your monofilament fishing line into a huge, impossible-to-untangle knot? You don’t even know which strand to begin pulling to untangle it. Many people find their lives in a tangled mess resulting from patterns of poor choices. The complexity of a person’s tangled life affects every facet, every relationship and every decision. In the middle of such chaos, it’s often very difficult to see God or even discern his presence.
 
Jesus Christ can and does untangle some extremely complicated knots in our lives. But a better strategy is to avoid those knots. Simplicity can help us do just that. I regret to say that my wife and I have known first-hand the tangled knot that debt can spin. And getting out of debt brought us tremendous freedom and simplicity of lifestyle, enabling us to center on Christ.

We have also taken vacations intended to refresh us, but in which we chose a harried schedule with too many details, too many goals and too many variables. The result brought stress, anxiety, disharmony in relationships, etc. But what a difference a vacation can make in which one simplifies rather than complicates.

Years ago, my brother and his family came to visit us while we were living in Texas. Neither Mark nor I hold much affection for amusement parks, so when our wives suggested they take the seven kids to Six Flags over Texas without us, we were more than happy to let them go. Early that summer morning, the nine of them piled into our minivan to spend the day at the park. Meanwhile, Mark and I decided to hop on my motorcycle and take an hour-and-a-half ride down to Dinosaur Park in Glenrose.

Mark and I had a leisurely ride through the curvy, two-lane roads in the cool of the morning and were the only visitors at the park when we arrived. There were deer grazing in the picnic area and the park was tranquil—void of any manmade noise. We decided to go for a short hike while it was still cool and then came back to the bike and changed into our swim suits. We each grabbed a hat, sunscreen, a bag lunch and a water bottle and headed down to the river.

By now it was getting warm, so the cool water felt refreshing. We found a natural spillway in the river where we could lie down and there was just enough water to flow over us yet keep our heads above water. The result produced an amazingly calming, full-body water massage. We dosed in the river for an hour with our hats pulled down over our eyes and exchanged pleasant conversation. We sat up in the river to eat lunch then continued our enjoyable respite for another couple hours. The experience was heavenly! As it began to cool off, we rode back home on the motorcycle refreshed.

Mark and I had just pulled in and were putting our gear away when our wives and children pulled into the driveway. They were all sunburned, sweaty, exhausted and very cranky. With a great deal of passion they described how they had endured 10 hours on the hot tarmac in unbelievably long lines and had only been able to go on three rides! Mark and I exchanged guilty but thankful looks and tried to comfort our valiant wives.

In defense of our wives and children, they didn’t know what they were going to encounter at Six Flags. This is one of those hind-sight-is-better-than-foresight experiences. But the incident has prompted us to think through how we intend to relax on a day off!

There’s another kind of simplicity in serving our Lord. Again, let me refer to the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42:

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

It’s so ironic that in our passion to serve the Lord we often find our service actually distracting us from him (like Martha did). Martha had undeniably done a noble thing in opening her home to Jesus and his disciples. But somewhere in her preparations, she had allowed herself to become distracted. Suddenly, these preparations (which were intended for Jesus) took precedence over Jesus. She was angry that her sister was not helping her and even accused Jesus of not caring that her sister had left her to do all the work.

Martha had inadvertently departed from simplicity and singleness of heart toward Jesus and was heading down the tangled path of self-centeredness and relational conflict. Service by definition is selfless giving to others. But when our serving becomes about us it ceases to be service.

We don’t know the full context of what was happening in Martha’s home and heart, but it appears that Jesus is not scolding her for serving, but for her self-centeredness, worry and frustration. Jesus explains to Martha, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42) The tension here is not between sitting and serving but with motivations. The “better” that Mary had chosen was to be preoccupied with, in love with and enthralled with Jesus. Had Martha been able to serve with Mary’s motivations, this conversation would never have occurred. Martha too could have chosen the better part—that one thing—in her service.

Simplicity of life and service keeps us from being distracted from the Lord and helps us focus on him. Paul challenges us, “I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.” (1 Corinthians 7:35 NLT) Eugene Peterson in the Message frames this verse as follows, “All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.” This statement expresses the goal and spirit of simplicity.

© Rob Fischer 2008