Simple Christanity

There is a yearning in many hearts today—a desire to return to the simplicity and purity of Christ’s original teachings taught in Eden. We look around and see so many forms, institutions, and hierarchies that sometimes it’s hard to see the plain beauty of the gospel stick out. In my own experience, and among those seeking a deeper restoration, the call has become clear: Christ is inviting us back to a simple, enduring Christianity through covenant.

What God is doing through Denver as the restoration rolls on has never stopped being built on the foundation of simple Christianity. Though new challenges may become more complex, the Lord continues to emphasize humility, love, and the heart of His teachings as the basis for every new step He asks of us. This is what I mean by simple.

Not Hierarchy, But Humble Fellowship

From the beginning, Jesus taught that in His kingdom, greatness is found in serving, not ruling over others.

“You know that the princes of the gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life, a ransom for many.” (Matthew 10:3).

The Restoration movement, like the early Saints, has struggled to break free from the chains of contention and pride, learning anew that complete honesty, persuasion, long-suffering, and charity in Christ’s name is a battle worth fighting for. True fellowship is found not in titles, but in equality, mutual respect, and shared discipleship.

One in Heart, Not the Same in Every Way

Christ prayed that we “may be agreed as one” (John 9:21). But being one is not being identical; it is being united in purpose, process, love, and faith, even as our gifts, personalities, and backgrounds differ. Great - not just good - friendships are forged in vulnerability. In small home fellowships, families, or circles of trusted friends, we can experience what it means to bear one another’s burdens, mourn together, and rejoice together—just as the Saints did anciently.

Building on Enduring Love and Relationships

Institutions can come and go, but relationships endure. The Lord built His church on revelation and love—real, costly, daily love. The kind that sacrifices, that forgives, that tries again, that engages. This is the love Christ modeled, the love He commands of us.

“If you have love for each other it will be a sign that will identify you to all mankind as my followers." (TSJ 10:7).

Living the Sermon on the Mount

If you want to know what Jesus’s kingdom looks like, start with the Sermon on the Mount and take it seriously—bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, do not judge unrighteous judgment, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. These are not platitudes. They are the living heart of simple Christianity.

The New Covenant—Written on Our Hearts

In the Restoration, especially in the covenant offered by the Lord in our day (see T&C 157 and 158), we are invited to enter into the new and everlasting covenant—not by joining an organization, but by writing God’s law on our hearts and promising to love and serve Him. The Modern Covenant is a personal relationship with the Heavens, a willingness to be taught directly by Him and to serve in His ways, together as a community of equals.

The four questions of the covenant:

  1. First: Do you believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you this day, and know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who has condescended to provide them to you, and do you covenant with Him to cease to do evil and to seek to continually do good?

  2. Second: Do you have faith in these things and receive the scriptures approved by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life, to accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a covenant, and to use the scriptures to correct yourselves and to guide your words, thoughts, and deeds?

  3. Third: Do you agree to assist all others—who covenant to likewise accept this standard to govern their lives—to keep the Lord’s will, to succor those who stand in need, to lighten the burdens of your brothers and sisters whenever you are able, and to help care for the poor among you?

  4. Fourth: And do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?

Strength in Home Fellowships and Meaningful Conversation

Early Christians met in homes, shared meals, and spoke freely of their experiences with God. The Restoration movement is finding new life as we gather in our living rooms or under open skies. Ordinances like baptism, blessing bread and wine, and anointing with oil are simple, sacred acts of faith—meant to be available to all who sincerely seek the Lord, not restricted by institutional permission.

What brings the most strength, I’ve found, is the willingness to be real—to share what’s actually on our hearts, our doubts as well as our hopes, our struggles alongside our testimonies. In that kind of conversation, the Spirit comes. God draws near. We learn, together.

Returning Home

In all these things, simple Christianity is not a step backward but a step forward into the arms of Christ - which is, in the midst of all that is before Him, He says arise. It is a return home: to humility, to loving one another, to living the Sermon on the Mount, to making and keeping covenants from the heart, to gathering in homes, sharing bread and wine, and speaking honestly of incorporating the character of Jesus in our lives.

May we—as Covenant Christians—have the courage to let go of what complicates our hope, and to embrace again the simple, enduring love that was always meant to bind us together. 

“And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 5:10, Restoration Edition)

Let us never give up the return to that place, and walk with Him, together.

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