In our last article in this series, we turned our  attention to how we should focus on small things in these perilous times of the last days. In particularly, we talked last time about cutting our world down to size. In today’s article, we’re going to talk about the importance of streamlining and simplifying our lives in these last days.

In 2 Corinthians 11:13, the Apostle Paul wrote about his fear for his fellow-Christians. He feared that “the serpent” would deceive them, as he had subtly deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, from a life of simple devotion to Christ. If we have not made complication our god, we have at least made it our goal in these fast moving modern-times. Nothing is simple anymore; everything is complicated.

Many Christians today have been deceived by the devil into the adoption of “world responsibility syndrome.” They feel personally responsible for praying for everyone in the world. They feel personally responsible for ministering to everyone in the world. They feel personally responsible for witnessing to everyone in the world. They feel personally responsible for living up to the expectations of everyone in the world.

When it comes to living up to the expectations of others, many contemporary Christians even feel responsible for living up to the non-Christian’s idea of Christianity. In addition, the contemporary church feels it must live up to the unchurched idea of church if it is to ever reach the unchurched. How could the Christian life become more complicated than by the Christian taking on the responsibility of winning the whole world and living up to the whole world’s expectations?

The only advice you need to live the Christian life is found in the last words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, recorded in Scripture. In John 2:5, Mary says to the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”  All you need to do to live your Christian life is to do what Jesus tells you to do; that is, what the Scripture commands and the Spirit compels and counsels you to do.  

You only need to pray for those Jesus tells you to pray for. You only need to minister to those Jesus tells you to minister to. You only need to witness to those Jesus tells you to witness to. And as far as living up to other people’s expectations, the only expectations you need to live up to are Christ’s expectations, since it is to Christ alone that you will ultimately give an account.

I heard a pastor tell a story about a visit to North Carolina’s outer banks. He drove onto a ferryboat to visit some of the outer islands. When he did, a big tall country boy parked his car on the ferry and returned to him his keys. Afterward, the pastor told how a brand new Cadillac pulled onto the ferry. After a man and woman got out, the big tall country boy parked their car on the ferry as well. However, when he returned the keys to the man, the man went into a public tirade against the boy, unmercifully dressing him down for the way he had driven and parked the Cadillac.

The pastor, feeling sorry for the boy, went up to him and apologized for the Cadillac owner’s unwarranted verbal assault. The boy, much to the surprise of the pastor, assured him that the Cadillac owner had neither embarrassed him nor bothered him. When the pastor enquired how this could possibly be true, the boy pointed up to the ferryboat’s wheelhouse. There, at the helm, stood a man.

The man at the wheel was identified by the boy as the owner of the boat. “I work for him,” the boy said. He then went on to explain to the pastor: “Whenever I park a car on the ferry, I look up to him. If he gives me the okay sign afterward, I know it is good. If not, I know he is unsatisfied and I need to park the car again. When I parked the Cadillac, the man above gave me the okay sign, which was all I needed. It doesn’t matter to me what anybody else thinks or says, because I work for the man up there. He is the only one I have to please, because he is the only one I have answer to.”

As long as Christ above gives us the okay sign, we shouldn’t care what others think or say. After all, as Christians, we’re living our lives for Him. He is the only one we have to please, because He is the only one we have to answer to.