The Gospel, Pure and Simple

It often amazes me how hard it is to be a Christian and identify yourselves with any particular denomination, church, or particular flavor (i.e. pentecostal, evangelical, emergent, or home-church, just to name a few). I'm thinking about Pentecost. Peter preaches one short sermon and 3,000 people are added! And these guys and gals were serious. They devoted themselves to the apostle's preaching, they broke bread together, they prayed and praised, and they were filled with awe at what they were experiencing. And all of that without church membership, sunday schools, weekly home fellowships, new believer's classes, or coffee hours. Just repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and welcome brother or sister. How unlike what we are used to. I mean, which of our churches would know what to do with 3,000 believers at an altar call? Why for goodness sakes are we praying for revival, we wouldn't know what to do with a large influx of people if they came. Or, we'd do with them what we have always done and little by little they would stop coming. Why do we make Christianity so darn complicated, when pure and simple it is found in these words of Jesus, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and heavily laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me...and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Everytime I read those words I have this feeling that this is not a message Jesus is offering to the unrepentant and lost, but to those that already belong to Him. Why is it so difficult to live as a Christian in the church today? It's at that point I hear another gospel warning, "Woe to you...you shut up the kingdom of heaven from those around you; for you will not go in yourselves nor will you allow those who want to enter to go in." It's time to lay aside all of this denominational and congregational nonsense and get back to the gospel, pure and simple.