Some Thoughts about Gates and Doors (and Saltshakers)
Most who read this will be familiar with this statement made by our Lord:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18)
There is absolutely no way to “guesstimate” all of the possible interpretations and nuances about the last part of that statement. Wherever one comes down on all of that, though, it is generally agreed that this was the Lord’s way of saying that the church He would build would be (as the saying goes) “built to last.” In other words, nothing could keep Jesus from building His church and nothing could keep it from continuing to exist.
I’ve been wondering lately, though, if doors might be able to accomplish locally what gates cannot accomplish universally. Specifically, I’m wondering if the doors of church buildings could be a hindrance to the cause of Christ in a local community.
Mirriam-Webster.com defines “door” as…
“a usually swinging or sliding barrier by which an entry is closed and opened.”
Did you notice the word barrier in that definition? Is it possible that the doors to church buildings are just that – barriers?
Have you ever wondered if the people in our communities see barriers when they see doors on church buildings? Do they wonder if some sort of “exclusive club” meets beyond those doors? Do they wonder if they would be accepted if they walked through one of those doors? Are our neighbors afraid that there might be a secret password or handshake required? In short, do the doors of our church buildings keep people from entering and finding out about Jesus?
To be honest, though, that is not my greatest concern. My greatest concern has to do with Christians who allow the doors of church buildings to be barriers that keep us from leaving those buildings.
Could it be that Christians have somehow developed the mentality that they/we have very little or no responsibility to people outside those doors? Is “faithfulness” defined by how many times a person is in a building, or is it by how he or she lets his or her light shine outside its walls? Does evangelism involve obeying the Lord’s command to “go” (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15)? How much of our activity is focused on those who are already Christians and how much is focused on those who are still lost?
I will apologize in advance for a major mixing of metaphors, but I’m thinking that it may be time for some people who are supposed to be “…the salt of the earth…” (Matt. 5:13) to get out of the saltshaker.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
