Wandering Crusader #263 Come In

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13

This scripture popped into my head a few weeks ago when I was trying rather unsuccessfully to navigate from the front doors of the church into the sanctuary. Now, I can’t speak for Yankees, but in the South, the preferred place to converse in most public buildings is the doorway. If you’ve ever been to Wal-Mart or Kroger in my hometown, you understand church isn’t the only place this happens.

Of course, people will push their way by you into Wal-Mart. The same is not always true of the Kingdom of God or the church. The reason? The store has something they think they must have. The church, not so much. I am being satirical here, but only a little.

It is commonly reported that poor Christian behavior is the reason some people don’t go to church or anywhere else they might hear the Christian scriptures. I’m sure this is true—as far as it goes. The problem is that it doesn’t go far enough. In fact, it doesn’t even make sense. Imagine standing before God and claiming to reject His crucified Son on the grounds that Jack was judgmental. Which do you suppose carries the most weight with God, Jack’s imperfection or Christ’s perfection?

People who choose to reject the message of salvation will seize any opportunity to do so. That is especially true if their reason can be someone else’s fault. If Genesis 3 teaches us that “to err is human”, we must also concede it shows us that the first course of the human remedy for sin is to transfer the blame to someone else.

To people who say, “Why doesn’t God just show Himself?” The scripture says, “He does, every day.”

 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

I shared this little analogy not to lay a charge at the feet of anyone in particular, but the fact is, at times, we are all a hinderance to those entering the Kingdom. Despite our faults, or perhaps because of them, we are God’s choice to share our testimony to His mercy. If nothing else, our faults clearly show that grace, not perfection, is the way inside.

Maranatha