“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 11:3
Complexity seems to be a trademark of humanity;
well, of Western Civilization at the very least. Let us leave off the fail safe examples for now,
all the talk of “my smartphone makes me feel stupid” and “why does the
faceplate of my microwave resemble the inside of a NASA space craft?” True, we live in a busy, complicated, clutter
filled world; and certainly the “cares of
this world and deceitfulness of riches will choke the Word and become
unfruitful.” This is a danger indeed
that every Christian must vigilantly guard against; however as the scripture
notes, the guard against this comes not from without, but from within. The corruption, complication, confusion will
first take place in the mind.
When reading through Paul’s letters to the
Corinthians one can begin to deduce that Paul had some theological
opposition. In short, there were some
that were coming in and preaching what he was not. In my opinion, the problem must have been
fairly serious or Paul would not have bothered to address it. In doing so, he wisely (and thankfully for my
understanding) brings in the example of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had but one commandment in the
garden: “do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Satan corrupted that commandment in Eve’s
mind; he convinced her that the implications of disobedience were not what God
said they would be. Furthermore, he
applied to her humanity in promising that they will be “as gods.” Until their fall, Adam and Eve lived a simple
and pleasant life; walking and communing with God the Father. The maintaining of their fellowship was a
simple task; requiring only love and obedience.
Satan complicated that task in their minds, and once they sinned; the
complication and confusion only increase in their lives. It was no different in Paul’s day, and the
same is true for us. Only now, and in
the day of Paul writing, the corruption was facilitated by an instrument of
Satan, but Satan none the less. Someone,
somewhere, attempt to convince and persuade those who are/were serving God,
according to the gospel of Jesus, to renounce their ways. This could be done “by any means.”
The world (and the devices in it) today is no
different than the false prophets and teachers of old. Their sermon to the masses is preached in
many a different forum and fashion, but the crux of it is essential the
same. That sermon is this; you are the
master of your own life. It appeals to
lust & pride; we find it in: movies, television, music, magazines. We find it in others, and unless Jesus Christ
reigns on the throne of your heart, we find it in ourselves. The church of YOU is organized, aggressive,
evangelistic, and outspoken. They shout
the loudest and the longest, but at its core, it is empty. Choosing to be a disciple of this church may
seem like the easy road, but the contrary is true, it is complicated and
difficult. It is filled with darkness,
depression, despair, and hopelessness; brought about as a result of all kinds
of bad choices. These choices are ones
that you made, because, you thought you could be the master of your own
life. You thought you could own sin, but
sin owned you. The only power that can
banish sin out of the human heart is Jesus Christ.
The simple fact is this; no one of us can
master our own life better than Jesus Christ.
We each one are born in sin.
True, this sin can rule you, define you, and destroy you, but it does
not have to be that way. Jesus
Christ died for you, he loved you, and he wants to take away sin in your
life. You can repent, God will
forgive. You can commit to serve him all
the balance of your days, and Jesus will help you to do so. I cannot, but with
Jesus Christ, I can. Jesus Christ
changes lives. I was once a sinner, but
Christ called me, forgave me, and sanctified me. Jesus Christ changed my life, and he can
change yours too. This simplicity should
never be corrupted.
