Let's KISS!

SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NRSV)

Beyond human wisdom

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

DEVOTION

Today’s scripture reading can rightly be seen as an invitation for Christians to KISS (Keep It Simple Saints)!

All too often we make the good news so complex that our non-Christian friends simply cannot understand it! We get caught up in all sorts of theological reflection upon the deepest meanings of the smallest passages and lose sight of what is most important for our non-Christian friends to understand.

In the letter to Corinth, Paul said something I love. He said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

WOW! Whilst it is fully appropriate for us as Christians to reflect and ruminate and seek the wisdom, understanding, and discernment of God about deep, theological and metaphysical experiences, our non-Christian friends are not spiritually mature enough to join us in these types of quests.

Rather, than seeking to impress our non-Christian friends with our “knowledge,” God invites us to keep our words simple and our attitudes humble, as we share Jesus Christ and him crucified, risen, and coming again!

The simple message that GOD LOVES us so much that GOD GAVE Jesus to die on the cross to SAVE us from our sin and gift us with eternal life is more than enough to introduce our non-Christian friends to Jesus and to compel them by Spirit to put their hope in Him.

My friends, when we make our message the “foolishness of the cross,” GOD will draw our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and enemies to a place of salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Aren’t you glad that we don’t have to “save” anyone with our flowery words? Aren’t you relieved that we don’t have to “deliver” anyone with our high falutant and impressive vocabularies? Aren’t you joyous that we don’t have to redeem anyone with our theological studies?

I am so blessed by the fact that salvation is not an act of my will or of the brilliance of my mind. Instead, it is entirely a gift of God’s will, Spirit and power! It is GOD who loves and GOD who gives and GOD who saves!

Hallelujah!

As Christians, I truly believe that we need to amend our evangelism strategies such that we get out of God’s way. We can do this by using simple and easy to understand words that underscore the important of God’s love which has been revealed to us in Christ Jesus!

Let us make up our minds to KISS on a daily basis! Keep It Simple Saints!

Won’t you pray with me?

Holy God, please forgive me for making things so complex, when the gospel is so simple. Please help me to share the good news that YOU love, gave, and save with all of my non-Christian friends. This message is foolishness to the world, but it is eternal life to those of us who are saved by it! Please fill me up with your Holy Spirit and give me the wisdom to share the simple words that will lead my friends to Christ. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.