Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

II Corinthians 11:3, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

This morning, things become more convoluted every day. Good sources of information are getting harder to come by, and many wonder what to believe about the truth of different states of affairs. As always, the written word of God is the source to find good information for us as God's children to lead honourable, righteous lives regardless of the turmoil that embroils the world in which we live. While we should be conscientious citizens of our natural country, it is far more important to maintain conscientiousness about our heavenly citizenship and how we are keeping ourselves unspotted from the world in which we live. One of the correlations of life is that the more complex a situation becomes, generally the more dishonesty is to be found. While there are complex situations that are so by requirement (such as technological processes and plants), the realm of social interaction rarely sees a complex situation where honesty abounds. Rather, the lies
that are spun in secret need a complex structure to hide the dishonesty, while the truthful principles need no heavy arches over them as they stand soundly of their own accord.

Paul states in our verse a concern for the people of God being deceived into error, much like Eve was deceived by the snake. One of things that we must understand, based on the correlation above, is that subtilty thrives on complex situations. Truth is many times perceived as blunt, but error is not perceived, many times, due to subtilty or deception. So, for us to avoid the devices of Satan, how do we keep ourselves, more pertinently our minds, from being corrupted away from the simplicity in Christ? What exactly is the simplicity in Christ?

The word simplicity in our verse means, at its core, honest, without pretense, and not self seeking. It can also be found in other places in Holy Writ as liberality and bountifulness. So, the simplicity in Christ is first and foremost honest, open, and above board. When someone seeks to hide something (for whatever reason), they are drawing away from the simplicity, which is in Christ. Christ told His accusers that He had lived openly and done nothing in secret. (John 18:20-21) If someone wanted to know what kind or manner of life He had lived, His own statement about His conduct indicates that they could ask anyone that knew Him, walked with Him, and talked with Him to find a thorough answer to their inquiry. Our lives should be open and above board to the point that if someone desires to know of our sincerity and integrity, they could feasibly ask associates of ours and draw a reasonable conclusion about our character and conduct.

As with the correlation above, our lives also need to be simple in the sense that while honest and above board, they are not complex and hard to understand. If someone asked us about our life and people's response was, "Well, I really don't know as he is such a complex and hard to understand fellow," we are, again, drawing away from the simplicity in Christ. If someone has a difficult time understanding what we are believing and walking after, we have left the simple principles of Godly living that Christ established while here in this earth. His teachings on the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 are not hard principles to understand, but the difficulty arises in mortifying the deeds of the flesh to follow after them. But, no one had difficulty with Christ's words, but they, as we today, had great difficulty with their application in our own personal conduct.

Now, for a few moments, let us transition from a personal perspective on this verse to a church perspective. As Paul was addressing a church here, let us see what we can gather about the simplicity in Christ that we should be seeking as a church. One of the "insults" that gets hurled at the household of faith in the church of Jesus Christ our Lord is, "It is too simple with not enough going on." Normally, these insulters are stunned when I reply, "Thanks for the compliment." We should have simple worship services that are easily understood and observed. Our simple services (in a non-complex sense) correlate to a simplicity of honesty and integrity. If one desired to teach or implement some new thing that is not authorized by Scripture, one of the easiest methods as a means to this end is to get the flock so distracted with complex programs and functions they do not perceive the poison when it is fed to them. Their minds are turned in so many
places and directions that the signal of the subtilty is missed in all the noise.

Our sermons need to be simply put for the lambs and sheep to feed together in the pasture of the Lord. The terminology and wording needs to be in such a fashion that people are not constantly "misunderstanding what we are really trying to say." Paul declared that the hope he has required great plainness of speech. (II Corinthians 3:12) May our hope today yield like actions in preaching. Our song service does not have a lot of fanfare by worldly standards, as it draws from the only suitable instruments to offer suitable praise to God (changed heart and voice of praise). Our prayers need to be without prating about of vain, repetitious words, but they are simply heart-felt yearnings that basically stem from the thought, "Lord be merciful to me a sinner, and go with me through all the changes of life." Our thanksgiving and giving should be done simply and honestly, and certainly of a liberal and bountiful fashion.

When we as churches engage in simple services that are not complex, what correlation do we find? As there is no fanfare and noise, we draw simply from the honest, self less fountains that true sustenance comes from. When someone engages in a discussion about salvation, the works-based and works-maintained ideologies are complex and very complicated. There must be certain ways of salvation for these that have never heard the gospel, for those that have never seen the light of day, for those that are mentally retarded, and any other number of circumstances that we could list. By the time that methodology of salvation is finally manifested, the complexity shows that man is building upon an unsure foundation to hide the dishonest desire that he desires to be in charge of this himself. All false teachings (at their core) do one of two things (and generally both): 1. They elevate man beyond where he should be, 2. They lower God from the all-powerful
throne that He occupies. Each of these, at their root, show that man thinks too highly of himself, and really and truly thinks of himself as god.

The complexity is necessary to hide the hideous reality that man is deifying himself by his thoughts on salvation. What does simplicity bring? It brings the honest and open (and simple) thought: the way that one is saved is the way that all are saved. The first was saved by the grace of a sovereign, merciful God, and the last is saved the very same way, including all in between. How simple, and yet how Biblically honest! God shines forth in this honest teaching as the only One deserving of honour, glory, and majesty, for He is the only One that could or did bring salvation to His chosen.

In speaking with people about "church practice" or "church functions," the conversation generally degenerates into "Me, me, me." They are full of talk telling about what they are doing to help the church and how much they are helping God by their activities and works. Again, at the heart, we see the dishonesty of sinful pride seeking honour where he deserves none. What does a simple worship service dictate that we talk about? The conversation generally elevates into "God, God, God." He uplifted the singing, the praying was Spirit-filled, and the preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and power. While not fully describable (beyond the invitation to "Come and see"), we can with full honesty and integrity say that the Lord uplifted us beyond ourselves and took us to great heights to show a portion of His glory unto us.

This correlation of honesty and simplicity is, I believe, at the heart of Paul's concern for Corinth. They needed to maintain honest and correctly motivated theology and practice, and by implication, it necessitated that they stand upon the simple structure of the apostolic pattern. May our concern for Zion today be that we stand firmly and boldly in the old paths for the right and self less reason: to glorify Him and His Name. May our conduct in life be open and upright in our dealings, and pivotally, may our conversation stem from what He has done for us in our lives and in the world to come. In so doing, we will more easily detect the deceptions that are hurled our way, for we can easily say, "That is neither honest or simple."

In Hope,

Bro Philip