Songs For The Bride
The Simple
Life
Jim Moerman
The human element of Jesus’ entry and 33-year-long occupation of
this fallen world is a story of remarkable and often unnoticed
simplicity. Born outdoors in a rugged wooden manger under the
watchful eye of a few sheep and a ruminating cow, He arrived, the
son of "just a carpenter" (but we know better!) and a peasant woman.
Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying there—just lying there—He
grew up "Over Here" and "Over There," basically a small-town boy
from places of no repute, learning the simple trade of his father.
The simple life.
And even when He grew up, the simple life continued. Even the
birds of the air and rodents of the field had more of a home than
He, claimed this Son of Man. He ate whatever was handy. He walked
everywhere he went. He enjoyed His friends (most of them members of
the lower social strata). All of His possessions heaped together
could be carried in a small bag. His communication was purely
verbal: no phone, no fax, no e-mail, no satellite dish. But it was
very real, very honest … and simple.
CHRISTMAS COMPLEX
And so Christmas ’98 is upon us. Like other years, we are
attempting to celebrate the Birth of Christ by battling the crowds
for superior trinkets at bargain prices. We are (again) losing the
battle of the bulge caused by several Christmas dinners and socials.
We are (again) battling that swelling calendar of Christmas-related
events, obligatory engagements with relatives near and far, and all
those extra choir and drama practices to "get it just right." We’re
exhausted, and Christmas is still two weeks away.
Somehow it just doesn’t square with the simple life exemplified
by our Lord. Do we need to simplify our Christmas Complex by
choosing to live the important things in life, not just by
being propelled by the urgent things?
WALK OR GALLOP?
Whenever I enter a well-stocked Christian bookstore, it takes me
about 30 seconds to get over-whelmed and intimidated by the
multitude of incredible book titles. There are books on every
subject under God’s Heaven, few of which I’ve read and none of which
I’ve mastered. I feel puny and ignorant. I also feel the pressure to
slam a stack of books on my Visa and begin to "radically improve" my
skills as a husband, father, shepherd, leader, preacher,
admin-istrator, prophet, worship leader, small group leader, church
planter catalyst, counselor, evangelist—and so on.
Our families are also being increasingly overwhelmed by the
hectic frenzy of the world. Families today can resemble a Petro
Canada filling station in which cars gas ‘n go in three
minutes flat, squealing their tires on their way out. Blessed are
those simple families in which young ones (and big ones) are
nurtured and trained in a safe place to live out their walk with
Christ in the world, resisting the pressure to rush along with the
rats in the rat race.
Our Christian walk can turn into a frenzied gallop as we become
victims of the high pressure, information-overload age we live in.
Whatever happened to the simplicity of "Faith, Hope, and Love,
these three abide—but the greatest of these is Love"? Whatever
happened to the simplicity of "The Bible Says" or "Love
the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength"?
Isn’t it true that if we live out these important things in our
heart and in our family, we won’t have to buy 50 books to become
"successful" and "pros-perous" in the urgent things? I think so.
Like a hockey player who loses the puck because he gets too fancy,
we need to return to a simpler way of being.
A SIMPLE CHOICE
Well, the end of this simple article is in sight. When you put
this magazine down, why not reflect for a few minutes on simplifying
something in your life during this Christmas season and beyond?
Identify one way to glorify Jesus by saying "no" to something else.
Carefully sift through the urgent and the important, and choose the
important. Identify one way to get your family to exit the rat race,
and park in the Safe Place of community. Stop striving and competing
with others. Love the Lord; love your neighbor, and speak truthfully
to others with love.
Let’s live a simpler, fuller life around the important things.
Starting this Christmas.
