The Gospel is Simple
19 one-syllable words carry the essence of the Gospel.
Simply stated in 1 John 5:12:
“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
Simple foundations grow strong structures.
Trailers become movies 🍿 .
Stories expand beyond the intro.
There are moments of ultimate clarity.
For example, the invitation to salvation is pithy.
Jesus said to the woman at the well, simply, “… believe Me” John 4:21a.
Simple, yet expandable. This post will not be short, but it will encircle the core concept of clarity. (It’s okay to explain a little longer … IF the content is worthy of attention.)
A school teacher fills flowery language in-between the outline provided on paper to the class. You probably read the outline in one minute, but then the class just keeps going on. :-)
Since the Gospel claims to be the most important class we ever take, how long should that class be?
Simple is not always short.
We are human. We do not instantly understand. Even simple things, we like hearing from a couple angles. Full surround-sound appreciated.
All we like sheep 🐑 … don’t get it the first time.
God is simple.
“God is Light” 1 John 1:5b.
What? Is that it?
Long pause … what else?
Fine, we’ll continue:
“God is Light, and in Him is no Darkness at all” 1 John 1:5b.
That’s nice. Yet our nature craves more. We’d like that little introduction to expand poetically, to sound like this:
“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no Darkness at all” 1 John 1:5. That’s the whole verse.
Same message. Just spirit-friendly formatted.
Children are simple. And yet we crave learning. The basics of life are learned early-on. Then layers of fuller understanding are gradually added. That’s called school. We got the gist of education in elementary. But somehow we had to continue attending, … or so our parents persuaded us. :)
God could have shortened His whole communication down to a few sentences … or a few pages. But He kept talking. There must be a good reason.
Sermons in Scripture range in scope and size from a few sentences to the sermon on the mount, which fills three chapters. There are times when Jesus said the multitudes followed Him for three days, and were so fascinated they forgot to make time for snacks. The common folk just couldn’t get enough of His content, even through He spoke plainly.
Paul preached past midnight. Plenty of overflow. Maybe there were only three points to the sermon, but he kept pointing them out, again. :)
Why is a day 24 hours instead of just 2.4 hours? Why is the sporting event spread over 4 quarters instead of just 4 minutes?
Extracting all the awesomeness out of simplicity … is one great enjoyment of life. Chew cheesecake slowly.
The gospel is basic, … plus bonus material!
Over-simplicity is under-clear.
“What? I didn’t quite catch that.”
Further explanation is helpful, occasionally.
“What is the purpose of life?” Figure out who God is and do what He wants. That takes a while though.
If simplicity is only defined as shortness … did we leave something out?
Does simplicity ONLY mean … fewer words? That seems incomplete.
Possibly, simplicity is clarity. Awe!
Simplicity is reception.
Convey the concept creatively until you’re totally confident the other person “owns it”.
We must assume a measure of brilliance in our audience.
Even a child can understand fairly complex concepts.
Simple should not be ambiguous.
Simple should be solid.
Simple should be repeatable.
Simple is not absolutely always easy.
Simple can take time.
We intake math concepts for how many years of schooling? Of course there are simpler concepts in math. But essentially it’s balancing numbers. Yet layers of complexity get added upon a foundation of simplicity. Then gaps in our understanding get filled-in before attaining a strong grasp of higher levels.
Simple is pure.
Simple is straight.
Simple is blunt.
Simple is power-packed.
Simple is not ashamed to be repetitive.
If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time with a tremendous whack. ~ Winston Churchill
Simplicity requires a measure of humility. One has to be willing to look like an absolute idiot, … by repeating what is obvious from a variety of angles, with stories and illustrations, until absolutely everyone in the crowd can teach the core material. Because they got it. Simple.
Long-format is acceptable. Time, with better explanation can make some things simpler.
Humanity craves authenticity. We’re often curious to know the motives of the author before we buy-in to their content presented. “Is this guy just trying to make noise? What’s his deal? At what point am I gonna be asked to contribute five dollars to continue reading?” Right? Rarely do people do things from pure motives. I mean occasionally, and for a short time, sure. But normally we like to watch someone’s track record for a long time before we decide where their heart is at. Trust takes time.
Simple structures are super strong.
Simple concepts are deep.
The gospel is simple.
The essence of the gospel is gloriously simple:
God. The gospel begins by clearly identifying who God says God is.
Sin. The gospel then proceeds to define sin, which is basically our condition when compared with God.
Separation. The gospel moves to the consequences for sin, which is ultimately eternal separation from God.
Saviour. Now the solution is our Substitute paying the ultimate price in our place, demonstrating His love for us.
Receive. And then we get to accept or reject the facts listed above.
That’s about it. Most kindergartners can comprehend the basic gospel. And that’s where most people stop.
The gospel is, of course:
Simple yet supremely valuable.
Simple and endlessly fascinating.
Simple yet rehearse-able daily.
Simple plus must share again.
“You’re saying the Gospel is simple, … but then you just keep talking about it.”
Yeup 👍🏽 :-)
Since the most important knowledge on earth is understanding the identity of God and from that understanding, receive instructions for action, we cannot miss it by being “too simple”. Oversimplification deletes key parts. Many things in life have a process.
“Wait, what? Miss something by being too simple? I thought simplicity was the way to ensure people DIDN’T miss anything.”
Whaaale … the Gospel can be illustrated several ways, to just make triple-sure we didn’t miss the Main Thing. Illustrations help words reverberate deeper into our being.
The original Designer of the plan of salvation made super-sure that we could not miss the main decision in this lifetime; that one selection with resounding rewards or painful consequences for untold eons of time. So He laid it out several ways. Unmistakeable.
Jesus, the master storyteller and giver of parables, gave the analogy of entering a door into eternal life. Then Jesus clarified, “I am the Door.”
The gospel should be pure; meaning, unmingled; uncombined with any thing non-gospel.
The gospel is un-reducible. There can be no subtraction from its core elements.
The Gospel is not cardboard-boring or artless.
The Gospel is also not weak of intellect.
So what do we mean by “Simple Gospel” …
Simple and Divine!
Simple and eternal!
Simple and shareable.
Simple and boundless!
Simple and simultaneously resplendent!
Simple and the source of endless thoughts and songs and praise!