What We Can Learn from ‘Simon Says’

When was the last time you played the game, “Simon Says”? I’m not referring to the musical reality show judge Simon Cowell, or even the legendary vocalist Paul Simon. I mean the kids’ game when the leader tells us “Simon says” and gives instructions on what the participants need to do.

There are two requirements to succeed at “Simon Says.” If Simon says you need to do something, like standing on one foot, doing jumping jacks, or patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time, you better do it or you’re out of the competition. And if the leader gives a command, but Simon doesn’t say to do it, you better refrain or…you’re out of the competition.

I never figured out who “Simon” was, or why he wasn’t called Clyde, or Hilda for that matter, but we all knew that whenever Simon said something, we better pay close attention. If only we did so well in heeding what God tells us to do.

Francis Chan, a popular preacher and author on the West Coast, addressed this reality in a video. He noted that while the children’s game teaches us to be vigilant in obeying Simon’s instructions, too often we don’t feel obligated to do what the Lord says.

Many of us regularly read the Bible, all the while nodding our affirmation for what Jesus taught. We might pause to meditate on His message for a while, even memorize some verses that particularly resonate. But put it into practice? Not so fast! As Chan observed, “If Jesus says something, you don’t have to do it. You just have to memorize it.”

He quipped, it’s like telling a child to clean his or her room. Hours later, nothing has been picked up or straightened. When challenged, the child responds with a big smile: “I liked what you said. I memorized it – I can even say it in Greek!”

Alas, that’s not what God expects. As we’re told in James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” It’s easy to declare, “I love the Lord,” but is there evidence of that? We’re instructed in 1 John 5:3, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

Yes, He has given us laws and commands to obey, but as the verse above points out, they aren’t burdensome – they’re not intended to make our lives miserable. In fact, their purpose is just the opposite. They enable us to experience the peace, joy and fulfillment God promises, and they also enable us to grow closer to Him in the process.

Eric Liddell, the central figure in the film of years ago, “Chariots of Fire,” was a world-class athlete who stood firm on his convictions about keeping the Sabbath holy, even when it cost him the opportunity to compete in an Olympic event he was favored to win.

Liddell’s motives were not self-righteousness or unbending legalism, but a desire to enjoy an intimate relationship with his Lord. As he wrote in The Disciplines of the Christian Life, “You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.”

Years ago, I came across a verse that underscores this truth. The apostle Paul wrote, “I pray that you will be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ” (Philemon 6). My personal paraphrase is that when we put into practice what God has given us, He will give us more knowledge and understanding; conversely, if we’re not eager to use what we already have, why should He entrust us with more?

The Amplified Translation expresses this even more powerfully: “(And I pray) that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good (thing) that is ours in (our identification with) Christ Jesus – and unto (His glory).”

When God tells us to do something, we can trust it’s for our good – and for His honor and glory. So just as we enthusiastically used to do what Simon said, we should be even more willing to do what Jesus says – because it’s not just a game. It’s real life, the life God intends for us.

Is That All There Is?

Why is it some people that seemingly have it all together suddenly forget where they put it? Why do individuals who appear to “have it made” embark on a path of self-destruction, often taking down friends and family members in the process?

We see it all the time – on TV, the Internet, newspapers and magazines (for those of us that still read them). Business executives and high-ranking politicians, despite their prominence, influence and huge salaries, experiencing colossal ethical and moral failures. Famed celebrities and professional athletes destroying their lives and careers with drug and alcohol abuse, financial recklessness, violence and boorish behavior.

But you don’t have to be among the rich and famous to experience such personal calamity: The “perfect couple” that breaks apart in a bitter, acrimonious divorce. The pillar of the community who one day crashes and burns in the flames of indiscretion. The pastor whose walk proves unequal to his talk.

Years ago, songstress Peggy Lee had a hit tune with the haunting refrain, “Is that all there is?” Perhaps that’s why the rich and famous – along with the not-so-rich and not-so-famous – often seem so miserable. They’ve achieved lofty goals and realized cherished dreams, but it turns out those weren’t what they expected. Unfulfilled and disillusioned, they too start to wonder, “Is that all there is?”

Are we living for just the tip of the rope?

Recently I saw a video of Francis Chan, a popular preacher and best-selling author (Crazy Love, Multiply) illustrating a key factor in this puzzling phenomenon. In the video, Chan showed his audience a rope that stretched the length of a long stage from which he spoke. He held the end piece of the rope, about three inches long, that had been painted red.

The rope’s entirety, he said, represented the timeline of one’s eternal existence. (In actuality, the rope would have had to be unending, but Chan was making a point.) The three-inch painted segment represented a person’s lifetime on earth. The problem, according to Chan, is we’re living for the wrong thing. “Some of you,” he said, “all you think about is this red part. You’re consumed with this.”

What about the rest, Chan asked? “Everyone lives for the red part. No one’s thinking about the millions of years afterward.”

I think he’s right. What if we viewed earthly life as just a warm-up, and death not as the finish line but as the starting line to a glorious, eternal existence for which this life has been mere preparation?

We see this described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed…. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed…. Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

That is a distinctive of the Christian faith, the earnest expectation and hope believers have for life after death. As Titus 2:13 states, “while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Most of the time, however, as in Chan’s example, we concentrate all of our attention and effort on the tip of the rope, ignoring the remainder that extends far beyond view. Is it any wonder that even the most accomplished, most esteemed, most successful among us are prone to one day look around themselves and wonder, “Is that all there is?”