ROMANS 16:19-20: “For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” NKJV

OBSERVATION: Whatever happened to a good, honest, unaltered cup of coffee? Have you ever had trouble ordering a cup of coffee from a coffee bar? All you want is just a straight cup of Joe but the menu offers everything but that!

Two new coffee drive-thru stands opened up by my house. I was excited to try them. I went online to review the menu and could not find a regular cup of coffee. There were dozens of different drinks. Each combined some form of coffee or tea with a myriad of other ingredients. As I wandered through the menu I wondered –

“Why do they call it a coffee shop?”

I feel the same frustration as I look at the church today. The church is where you should hear the timeless message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Yet, for the most part, this message is lost in the latest trendy sermon series offered from a well-lit stage. Jesus and the cross are not deemed to be enough. The simple message of Christ crucified can’t seem to compete with the coffee bar of sermons that are offered in today’s church.

When I began my ministry there was a very famous preacher who had built a tremendous ministry. It featured a beautiful mega-church, weekly television, and radio broadcasts, and an endless list of books that had been written by the pastor. The pastor was famous for his messages on the power of positive thinking. The only problem was that you could exchange the message given on a Sunday for any variety of self-help books at the local bookstore.

Then something happened toward the end of his ministry. There was a shift in his preaching. It was as if most menu items were being eliminated from the list of popular topics. To use the coffee house analogy – he started focusing more on the quality of the coffee than on all the syrups and additives he could offer. In fact, toward the end of his life, when asked if there was anything he could change about his ministry, he replied –

“I would preach more on Jesus Christ and Him crucified!”

This does not mean we never preach on the many topics we find in the Bible. Yet, in our preaching on various topics, we must remember the main thing is – Jesus Christ and Him crucified! Paul, speaking to the church in Rome, reminds them,

“…But I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.”

In the verses preceding this exhortation, Paul calls them to mark those who cause divisions and have nothing to do with them. How were they dividing the church? They were leading them away from the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ. The two main heresies that the early church faced were legalism and gnosticism. The legalists wanted to add adherence to the Jewish ceremonial laws to the faith. The gnostics wanted to add the mysteries of paganism to the faith.

What was Paul’s counsel concerning both?

“…But I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.”

Everything that leads us away from the centrality of Jesus Christ is evil. It may not be overtly sinful but if it dilutes the message of the cross – it is evil. Paul calls us to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. The word simple in Greek means to be unmixed. It is a call to keep our focus on Jesus and Him alone! There is a wonderful promise to those who keep their focus on Christ alone.

“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

There is only one source of victory over sin, self, and the devil. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is the centrality of Jesus Christ in everything we do and say. It is the simplicity of faith that is unmixed with the trendy syrups of today’s culture. As the wonderful hymn reminds us,

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the church’s spiritual cup of Joe!

Lord, help me to be wise concerning what is good and simple, unmixed, concerning what is evil. Keep my focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In all I do, may my faith be anchored in Christ alone!

I Jesus’ Name!