““Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” -Matthew 7:13-14
“I
have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They
too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” -John
10:16
Have you been to a
mall recently? They’re practically empty these days. Except for that time when
Build a Bear offered a “pay your age” sale... My wife and I went to a mall
awhile back just before most of the department stores open. We went into Belks
to browse around. I noticed that all of the entrances were closed off by gates
except for the one we entered through. I remember passing by these gated
entrances and seeing people on the other side awkwardly staring at me from
behind the gate wanting to get in.
Almost as though they
couldn’t figure out how we got in. To the customers on the outside looking in,
it appeared as though Belks was closed. Closed to everyone that is, except us
and the few customers that came in through the one gate that was opened. I am
ashamed to admit, instead of informing these puzzled seekers where the open entrance
was, I just kept walking around minding my own business.
We Christians do the
same thing when it comes to the eternal life we have through Jesus Christ. We
are free. We are “in” with God. People on the outside are staring at us,
wondering how we got in, and we avoid them when we know how to get in. If we
are honest with ourselves, sometimes we treat Heaven as though it is closed off
to people except for those who belong to the “in crowd”. That is unacceptable
for a people who have been commanded by Christ to take the Gospel to the ends
of the earth. Revelation chapter seven reveals that one day Heaven will be
populated by multitudes of the redeemed from “every nation, tribe, people, and
language”. That means the exclusion of any group of people from hearing the Gospel
violates Christ’s command.
There are two sides to
this story however. What is not mentioned in my story is, Belks was actually
open for business. Those on the outside looking in just didn’t want to go in
through the right door. Heaven isn’t closed off. The curtain has been torn, the
door has been opened. We just have to enter through the right door; Jesus
Christ. Our society wants Heaven to be like Burger King; “Have it Your Way.”
Eternal Life isn’t have it your way, it’s “Have thine own way.”
There are not many
diverse roads to salvation each catered to the individual “seeker”. There is
one road, one gate, one way to Eternal Life. His name is Jesus Christ. He is
not an alternative, He is the answer. All the blessings of the Kingdom of God
are ours to enjoy, but we must enter through the one door that has been opened
to us. That door was opened by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
When it comes to
Eternal Life, both those on the outside and on the inside are wrong. Those on
the outside should realize that the gates to salvation and eternal life are indeed
open, but they must enter through the right door; Jesus Christ. He is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John
14:6). Those on the “inside” should realize that we should engage those on the
outside and show them the way “in”.
