Don't Make It Difficult

I'm one who is drawn towards challenges, but I don't like to deal with things that are difficult. I love the challenge of marriage, but I don't what a difficult marriage. Parenting is challenging, but it doesn't need to be difficult and complex. Pastoring is a challenge, people are challenging, but they don't have to be complicated and difficult.

We can make simple things difficult or more complexed and entangled than they really need to be. For some people, church can be difficult: they feel they have to be perfect or look a certain way. Often church people, the insiders, make church difficult for those who are non-church goers. Expectations to behave in certain ways, do this but not that, you shouldn't say that but you should say this. The natural gravitational pull for all churches is to taylor the church for church people. 
This tention has been around since the very beginning of the church. Acts 15 is a written account of how the early church delt with this. The churched people said that you can't be a true follower of Jesus unless you were circumsized and followed the law of Moses. (This may explain why more woman go to church).

James, the brother of Jesus, didn't believe that Jesus was who He said He was until after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He was there at this council and gave a power statement, one that all churches should keep in mind.

"It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles (the unchurched) who are turning to God." Acts 15:19

What James was saying was that none of us are able to meet the full requirements of the law of Moses, it's impossible! We aren't able to turn people to God. We can't make people change by putting rules and regulations on them that we ourselves can't even keep. Rather let God work on turning and changing their heart. The bottom line is that we must make the message easy for them to understand: Jesus Christ is who He said He was; the Son of God. This message is a challenge for them to embrace, but we don't need to make it more difficult by adding other things.

I want our church to challenge the hearts of people with the message of Jesus Christ, and not make it difficult by putting expectations on them.

• To be fully devoted followers of Jesus is a challenge.
• Loving your enemies and blessing them is a challenge.
• Forgiving ourselves just as God has forgiven us is a challenge.
• Controlling my tongue is a challenge.
• Being patient is a challenge.
• Denying my will and submitting to God's will and His word is a challenge.
• Trusting in the Lord with all my heart is a challenge.
• Not sinning in the midst of my anger is a challenge.
• Serving others rather than myself is a challenge.
• To worship God when I don't understand what He is doing in my life is a challenge.
• To love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength is a challenge.

Religon is adding man's requirements and demands to what God has established. The church isn't an organization... the church is people. We the people, the church, can make a relationship with God more difficult than it needs to be.

It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for those who are turning to God!