Jesus Had a Simple Message

Jesus had a pretty simple message.

"There is only One God. He will be glorified. He loves you."

"He made you, loves you, has a purpose for you which involves worshipping Him and glorifying Him in what you were made to do."

"You can't experience any of that because of the sin problem in your being."

"Only I can free you from that sin problem.  I am that One true God."

"You need to make a personal response to this offer that involves repentance."

While Jesus was out proclaiming His Word, there were at least three hurdles that always seemed to come against His simple message.

The first hurdle is the Enemy's attempts to distract and control the conversation.  We see that a lot these days.  Opponents or resistors of the Gospel want to distract from the simple message by changing the focus with distracting and misleading questions.  It happened to Jesus too.  The solution:  Steal back the focus. Direct the conversation back to basic human needs. Keep the focus on the underlying hurts and deficiencies that these distractions are designed to mask. We can always do this with respect and recognition that our fight is not against flesh and blood.

The second hurdle is the immaturity of believers who want to focus on the works over the message.  There will always be those who get excited about how God does what He does situationally and will try to highlight the way God's works over His message.  In 2 Kings chapter 5, the gentile general Naaman almost misses out on his own healing because he was more focused on show and assumptions of demonstration than on the message that the God of Israel can and would heal even him!

Often times we are lead to expect some type of standardized or subjective process that is presented as a mandatory experience that must accompany the message we hear.  

It happened to Jesus too.  

The Solution:  Let the Bible speak for itself. If it doesn't prescribe an experience or process as necessary for proof of God's work every single time, then don't be alarmed if it doesn't happen every single time.  Salvation doesn't have to feel a certain way. Forgiveness doesn't have to come with tingles. Healing doesn't have to be immediate.

Experiences are real, obviously!  But sometimes, we can interpret those experiences the wrong way or make them more important than the message itself - which leads to a distortion or manipulation of Jesus's original message.  Keep it simple.  Listen to the message first and foremost. If an experience comes with it cool! If not - cool! You heard a message from Jesus, that's the cool part.

The third hurdle is simply the work of "elite" Christians who suggest that Jesus's messages are only clearly dispensed through their methods or their disciplined traditions.  Jesus encountered this almost every step of His journey.  Religious leaders had fallen for the lie that their stewardship methods and law-keeping constructs were the real power behind a relationship with God. Jesus's solution WAS His message.  His mode of delivery was one of unprecedented authority wrapped in a package of unprecedented humility. It was available to anyone who hungered and thirsted after true righteousness, freedom, and relationship. He removed the need for gatekeepers and special privilege.

I wonder what kind of hurdles He would experience if He came into my local Church fellowship today?   I wonder what hurdles He would experience if He came to yours.

Jesus had a pretty simple message.  Question is, do we simply want Jesus and His message?

With you for His glory,