___________
- “They are wrong, biblically wrong, tragically wrong. But they are not the only ones.”
The welcome may be wide but the gate is narrow!
Here’s the story.
My wife and I were traveling home on Sunday after a weekend away, and as we were going through Crawfordsville, Indiana, I saw this banner on a church located on one of the main streets through town.
“Wide Is God’s Welcome!”
And I have to admit that I was a little incredulous. Didn’t they realize the irony displayed with their catchy slogan? Was their wordplay intentional I wondered? Weren’t they surely aware of Christ’s teaching in Matthew 7?
- (Matthew 7:13–14 NKJV)
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
My thought was that they must be playing on the “whoever believes” (or KJV “whosoever”) passages, and a quick visit to Google confirmed this as I found various groups connected to the “Wide Is God’s Welcome” theme. One such site I found was www.whosoever.org – “Whosoever: An Online Magazine for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Christians.”
I am not here to gay bash or as the editor of the magazine would put it, use the “clobber passages” on these people.
- The editor of Whosoever speaks of the “clobber passages”:
Of the negative or critical e-mails I receive from critics of this magazine and its mission, I’d estimate 90% of them advise me to read my Bible. Specifically, I am urged to read at least one or all of the six passages we as GLBT Christians know as the “clobber passages”. These are verses, we’re told, where God condemns homosexuality in no uncertain terms. (http://whosoever.org/bible/).
We as the evangelical community are in fact shameful in our fear and our antagonistic attitudes toward homosexuals. As we humans do by default, we highlight the other person’s sin and draw attention away from our own. Killing people with our words is an all-too-common and accepted practice in our churches, and yet we think little enough of it to not oppose this “world of evil” among us, much preferring to draw attention to another person’s evil.
- (James 3:6 NIV84)
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Don’t we know that people who walk in the presence of God are much more likely to share received mercy and grace rather than judgment and condemnation, as opposed to the self-righteous religious person who seems to thrive in a context of judgment?
Yes. They are wrong, biblically wrong, tragically wrong.
But that is not my only concern or direction with this post. They miss the significance in Matthew 7 as Jesus speaks in very specific terms of a narrow way as contrasted with a wide way, but so do many who sit in the pew beside us every Sunday.
We must know this.
Whether GLBT or WASP or just an everyday knucklehead who has decided like Adam and Eve that he or she wants an option other than God’s very clear instruction, that although God extends himself to whoever believes, he will not compromise what they must believe to gain entrance to his kingdom.
The issue is …
What God says is right versus what sounds like a good idea to us in which we can provide plenty of rationale for our thinking, even using the Bible to explain our choice. (I plan to follow this with a post dealing with our eisegesis versus exegesis move we sometimes deploy to promote our own course.)
The welcome is wide but the path narrows at the gate.
And we either bow in humility to God’s narrow way or we remain in our pride and start building our rationale for the broad road.
There is one and only one destination accompanying each gate.
Through the narrow gate we pass from darkness to light and ultimately find ourselves with God in heaven. Through the wide gate, we end in destruction although signs line each side of this well-paved road with promises of heaven. Peel back the veneer of human rationalization and the veil of spiritual darkness and the wide gate sign would read: “Hell and destruction. Enter here.”
They won’t say it out loud …
But wide road people think that God is wrong. At least we must be misunderstanding him, which follows in that every group I looked at associated with the theme had a liberal view of Scripture.
Adam and Eve didn’t proclaim, “God you’re wrong” …
But they did go ahead and eat the forbidden fruit, didn’t they. The danger is very real. The broad way appeals to us in the same way the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil appealed to Adam and Eve. We think that we can tweak God’s plan and still come out okay. Deep inside our fallen nature we question God’s goodness and direction. It looks good and tastes good, so it must be good. God must be wrong. Just don’t say it out loud.
“But they are such good people. So nice and kind. Generous.”
Make no mistake as to their credentials …
The wide road crowd often reflects the epitome of human goodness and kindness. They can be immersed in religion and say Lord and prophesy and fight the darkness and still hear from the mouth of Jesus: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
- (Matthew 7:23 (NIV84) Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Jesus here is speaking to people who are completely satisfied in the path they have chosen and are convinced that they will one day be in heaven. We may direct our thoughts toward groups like GLBT professing Christians, but many in our churches today, while possibly not as overt from our sub-cultural perspective, walk the same road having fallen for the same scheme of the enemy.
Also know this …
Choosing the wide gate and the broad road is not an innocent oversight. This is not an “oops!” moment but an act of defiance and rebellion. We cannot expect God to bless our way if we reject his clear teaching, but we have, we do and we will.
And one day …
- (Matthew 7:22–23 NIV84)
Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” 23 Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Just don’t ask me to draw near with my heart, God!
Their protests were ready as they reeled off acts of religious service. They could handle being religious, really religious, dedicated, sacrificial, as long as they had options, but they could not bring themselves to bow and enter through the narrow gate. They could not accept the only Option, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
In the end, they could not believe God.
- (John 14:6 NIV84) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Now is the time to believe and give up our rebellion and bow before God!
Addendum: A person could wonder if I am being too harsh, too confrontational. But here is how I would respond. Who made the decision to broach this subject? Who decided that this was something that needed to be talked about? Was it not Christ himself? Perfect man and God incarnate decided. “This is something we need to cover while I am with you.”
No. The harshness is not in the warning. The harshness comes from not heeding the warning and hearing this from Jesus Christ: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
