Don’t Make It Difficult
I remember the day that I came to know Jesus. I was only eight years old. The pastor spoke about how our sin kept us from God but that Jesus had already paid the price for me. All I needed to do was trust in him. It was a simple message. So simple that even a child could understand. It’s the same message that we preach today and that the early church taught as well.
As we continue in our journey through Acts, we come once again to a topic that we’ve already covered. Back in Acts 10 & 11 we read about Peter and the Gentile Pentecost. It seems things have come full circle. While Paul and Barnabas were teaching in Antioch, those of the “circumcision party,” came preaching that Gentiles must be circumcised before they could receive salvation. The debate became so heated that they took it to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-2).
In the proceedings that followed, Paul explains everything that has been happening, among the Gentiles. He’s not telling the story of what he and Barnabas have been doing. He and Barnabas could circle the globe and tell every Gentile about Jesus and they could receive it, but this debate isn’t about whether Gentiles can believe in Jesus. This debate is about whether the Gentiles need to be circumcised, whether they need to convert to Judaism, before they become a Christian, so Paul tells the council not what he and Barnabas have been doing and about their ministry but about how God has been working and the miraculous signs and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:3-4).
Following Paul’s testimony, a spokesperson for the circumcision party stands up and testifies the basis of their position (Acts 15:5). You can almost picture a courtroom scene where each side is presenting their case before a jury of apostles and elders.
Then, Peter, the spokesperson for the apostles, stands up and gives his opinion on the topic (Acts 15:6-12). He recounts the events discussed in Acts 10 & 11 and closes with the comment, “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of or Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
We then have James, the brother of Jesus and the spokesperson for the elders, stand up and give his opinion on the matter (Acts 15:13-21). He relates the same message as Peter and even refers back to Old Testament scripture to support his view before rendering his final judgement in Acts 15:19-21. I love the way that James phrases this, “we should not make it difficult.” It’s almost as if he’s saying, “We’ve lived our lives under the rule of the law, just as Peter said. We’ve seen that it cannot be done. Why then, having experienced the grace of Jesus that set us free from the law, should we make it difficult for others by requiring that they live up to the law that even we couldn’t live up to?”
At this point we might look at those in the circumcision party and wonder why this topic is still being debated. We start to think, “What is with these people? Why can they not just accept this? Why do they have to try to make it difficult for people to come to God?” But we forget that these were real people. We often hear one side of a story and, intentional or not, begin to demonize those on the other side. We can’t see how any rational person would even think to act like they are. But again, these are real people.
I highly doubt that they were simply trying to be difficult, to make it harder for people to come to salvation through Jesus. In fact, if we think about it, we find ourselves doing the same thing on occasion. We’ve been Christians for a long time and understand how God wants us to live, so we try to tell others how they need to live in order to please God. We build for ourselves a mental picture of what it looks like to be a Christian. God hates murder, so a Christian must be against abortion. God loves us and wants us to remain pure, so a good Christian stays away from sexual immorality. God has given us these bodies and resides in them as his temple, so a good Christian must not defile their body by doing drugs, smoking, or chewing tobacco. God hates lies, so a Christian must not be a politician (okay, maybe that one was a bit of a stretch).
But we paint this picture of do’s and don’ts, and we live our lives according to this list because we love God and want to please him. The problem comes when we try to push this list upon Christians still in their infancy. We try to make people conform to our list before their own love for God compels them to do so.
Don’t make it difficult. Jesus gave two commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31), yet many times we try to make it more difficult than it needs to be. We need to help guide people as they seek to love God, not lay rules and regulations upon them in order for them to love Him. The gospel that has been given to us is so simple that a child can understand it. Jesus died as payment for our sins so that we can be reunited with God. All we need to do is trust in him. Let’s not make it any more difficult than it needs to be.