Keeping It Simple

Swiss theologian Karl Barth has been called “the most outstanding and consistently evangelical theologian that the world has seen in modern times.” In 1962, Barth visited the USA, lecturing at Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago. According to church lore, during his trip he was asked to summarize the theological meaning of the millions of words in his Church Dogmatics. Barth thought for a moment and said: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” How profound but yet so simple. While this simplicity surprises multitudes, he was not the first or the most foremost to describe theology in such terms. Centuries earlier with pen in hand and the Holy Spirit at the helm the apostle John wrote “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” With my imagination I can vividly see the Trinity conferring on this and the Holy Spirit eventually saying, “I suggest we make it practical, relational, and as simple as possible.” And so we read about God’s gift on elementary terms. Given such simplicity, it amazes me that humans still want to make it difficult. Our approach to eternal life reminds me of a story I read recently. A man from out east had always dreamed of owning a cattle ranch and had finally saved enough money to buy his dream spread in Wyoming. His best friend flew out to visit and asked, “So, what’s the name of your ranch?” His buddy told him that he had a really hard time coming up with a name that he liked. He and his wife couldn’t agree on what to call it so they settled on, “The Double R Lazy L Triple Horseshoe Bar-7 Lucky Diamond Ranch.” His friend was really impressed and then asked, “So where are all the cows?” To which the new rancher replied, “We had quite a few…but none of them survived the branding!” The same holds true for the church at times. We find ourselves loosing good prospects because of the restrictions and labels we attach to them.  However, God is constantly reminding us that people find life by “keeping it simple.” His overwhelming love--plus our limited faith--equals eternal life. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!