Simplexity
“Yes”
By Ed Young
November 8, 2015
Everyone wants life to be simple. Yet, the vast amount of options in life make things more complex than ever before. The question is, “How do we navigate the options and experience a simple life?” The answer often comes down to a single, three letter words: yes.
In this message, Ed Young takes an in-depth look at “yes” from a biblical viewpoint. And as we learn about God’s view of this word, we discover the power and potential “yes” really has. Because when we are willing to say yes to the right things, everything else in life falls into place
Transcripts
I’m sure you’ve seen it at your local grocery store, someone trying to choose a box of cereal. So many choices. Wheaties or Fruit Loops? Cocoa Crispies or Alpen? That’s my favorite cereal, Alpen. Does anyone here remember Alpen? They still make it. I’m the only one? Try it. It’ll change your life. We love to have choices don’t we? As human beings we love decisions. I know I do. Hundreds and hundreds of channels to choose from. It seems like there are millions of web sites, all the apps. Maybe you’re thinking about, OK, I’m going to buy a car. Whether it’s pre-owned or new, so many choices, so many choices. We love choice. Human beings, we’re people of options. But I think that it’s easy to choke on choice. I think it’s easy to drown in the dilemma of making decisions.
So on one hand we like things with options, yet on the other hand it’s really sexy these days to say, well, I want to simplify my life. I want to dial it down. And a lot of people say, I’m just going to retire, check out, move to the mountains or the shore and that’s going to be it. I’m going to make everything basic. I’m just going to check out of life. So we have the simplistic and the complex.
The fulcrum, the tipping point in the middle is how can I have both? That’s where the word and the theory of simplexity comes into play. Google simplexity. On one hand life is complex. I think we would all say yes. I mean, even choosing cereal at a grocery store, that’s a complex decision. So many options. Yet also, life is simple. It’s basic. As you think about it and as you boil it down I want us to come up with a working definition of simplexity because we all need it. I need it. You need it. Simplexity. If you’re a student, you need it.
What is simplexity? It’s the ability to take and make the complex, simple. To make the complex, simple. For example, what do you do for a living? You might be in real estate. What do you do for a living? You could be a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a coach. What do you do for a living? A homemaker. What do you do for a living? A pastor. You must explain and you must be able to articulate what you do in ways that everyone can understand. So you take complex truths, things that are difficult sometimes to break down, and serve them up in ways that everyone can connect with them.
How do we make the complex simple? One word. That’s all I’m going to talk about today. How do we make the complex simple? That’s right, you can answer it for yourself. How do you make the complex simple? Whether it be the things of God, whether it’s your career, whether it’s thinking about your education, whether it’s your emotional makeup, whether it’s how you feel. It might be a certain thing you’re dealing with. How do you make – how do I make – the complex simple? One word: yes. Yes. Let me say it again. Yes. You’re like… and? No, no. Yes! Say it with me.
It’s just a three-letter word. We say it all the time. Yes. We’ve said it already today. Yes. We said it yesterday and last week and last month, yes. Because we’re the accumulation of the yeses in our lives. Yes, yes, yes. I like that. Yes! Some of the announcers when someone scores or something else happens that is really amazing… yes! We say yes!