“Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Luke 15:1-2

The ones who were “the religious leaders” and should have been listening to the greatest teacher who ever walked the earth were too busy to hear what He had to say.  They were too busy muttering about those who were listening, to ever stop to think that maybe He had something to say to THEM!

They had it all figured out:  They were better than Jesus!  They were better than the sinners that sat at his feet.  They weren’t gathered to listen, they had come to judge.  Little did they know, THEY were the ones to come under God’s judgment!

Read it at Matthew 23

As I’m reading Christian blogs I find it fascinating how so many people seem to enjoy making God so complicated!  Jesus didn’t say go and get a masters degree in theology, he said “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!”  (Mark 16:15)  I’m sorry, but it’s NOT that complicated!

Where did we ever get the idea that knowing Jesus requires us to be scholars; or that telling people about Him meant we would need special training?  Doesn’t it remind you a lot of the “teachers of the law” that Jesus talked about?  Their theological highbrow would make the ordinary man’s head spin.  They had so many rules and excelled at making simple things complicated!  This made them seem very elite (which they of course reveled in!).  Is this why Jesus chose ordinary unschooled men for the most part to begin His church?  Paul being a notable exception having had the best of education.  But notice how Paul considers his best attainments “rubbish” that he may “gain Christ and be found in Him”. (Philippians 3)  He points out quite clearly in his letter to the Corinthians that his goal was not to come with “eloquence or superior wisdom”, but rather “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power”. (Begin reading at Corinthians 1:17)  Paul tells us that all we really do by adding our eloquence and human words of wisdom is rob the cross of it’s power!  We make it weaker, not stronger.  Simple is better!

We don’t need more “teachers of the law” online to muck things up!  The simplest, clearest, presentation of the gospel is what I seek.  As far as I’m concerned our goal should be to make God knowable; hiding Him in a cloud of theological terminology does NOT do that!  This isn’t about how smart we are or how much we know… it’s about HIM.  He said “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!”  Let’s do it!