Becky came home with a new insulated travel mug.
It’s a mug. Pour the coffee, pop on the lid, drink. It’s not complicated.
So we laughed when the box included several paragraphs of instructions. Single spaced, double sided. In an impossible-to-read font.
Those *instructions* give the impression that using a travel mug is an intricate, complicated process.
I’ve been accused of being a bit simplistic when I describe the FREEDOM TOUR. Ride bikes, follow Jesus, serve each other. Do that, and everything will work out.
A bike tour is surely complex, lots of people and moving parts. But complex is different than complicated. Sometimes it feels like we over-complicate things, until people see the equivalent of several paragraphs of single-spaced-tiny-font instructions. And perhaps we give the impression that doing a tour is is an intricate, complicated process.
Ride bikes. Follow Jesus. Serve each other. Hard, but not complicated.
We do the same thing with Jesus. He is of course complex, but His core message is simple. He asked us to love God and love our neighbor, but we want to add stuff until following Jesus looks like those travel mug instructions. Even worse, we act like the small print is the important stuff, and if you don’t understand it you’re not really on the team.
Following Jesus is a lifelong endeavor. The deeper we go, the more depths we discover. It’s the mystery of the Universe, as much complexity as we wish to explore.
Love God. Love your neighbor. It’s hard, but it’s not complicated.