PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY
ture will exist solely for its own support and its mission will
become only the byproduct of its existence.
Religion has always been a fertile field for consolidation
and confederation. It is so easy to get caught in the net of
goals. objectives, policies and procedures that the very
simplicity of the gospel may be lost sight of or considered too
elementary. Even religion can be departmentalized and sec-
ularized to the extent that it loses its sense of mission and
becomes an end in itself.
Paul was concerned about this. **But I fear. lest by any
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. so
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicitythat is in
Christ.” II Cor. 11:3 (Italics supplied). The simplicity of
Jesus Christ is in the principles which he taught as the basis
of His kingdom.
For example, He gave a principle which would guarantee
harmony between individuals in their relationships with
each other. "*Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Matt. 7:12.
But this is too simple. We like to make it complicated — so
we study psychology and sociometry, get degrees and hold
seminars on human relationships. complete with long lists of
“what to do’ and "what not to do.”
But seminars breed seminars and we find ourselves like
the woman who came to Jesus who had spent all her money
seeking medical help — and worse off than before. Evidence
shows that we are no nearer solving the problems of human
relationship than we ever were because we are trying to
follow a set of rules of conduct rather than a principle of
divine origin.
Even as simple a truth as the relationship between the law
and grace is often buried under an avalanche of theological
theory and vocabulary when it is so simple a child can
understand it. Notice the relationship in this simple diagram.
In the beginning God created the world. He made a man
and gave him dominion over the world. Man was a steward
and there was one restriction in his dominion — the Tree of