WIDE LOAD

There is a specific issue that has been weighing heavily on my heart of late. It has been brought into focus through recent Bible studies, sermons, and conversations I’ve had. It’s not an easy subject, and I am hoping that my fingers will be guided as I try to type truth into this blog. 

There are many verses that speak directly to this subject. Here are just a few to jump-start your train of thought.

“The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven…” Matthew 7:21

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” John 15:5-6

Are you fixing to stop reading, friends, because you know you’re in for a fire and brimstone sermon you don’t need? Or are you a little uncomfortable? If you answered yes to either of these, you need to keep reading! Shoot, even if you said no, you should! We are to continually exam ourselves to make sure we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Only good things can come from it, for one of two things will happen. You will either pass the test and be affirmed and confidant in your faith, or you will fail and realize your need for change, which is the first step to true salvation!

Do you know what worries me? It isn’t the recent string of earchquakes we’ve seen here in my home state. I don’t lose sleep over the sluggish economy, or the upcoming elections. Global warming doesn’t get to me, and neither does the national debt.

I worry about our full churches, the well watched T.V. sermons, the huge percentages of “Chrisitanity” in our country. You might ask “Why in the world would you worry about that? Aren’t those good things?” But I would answer, “The gate is wide that leads to destruction! The way is narrow that leads to life… there are FEW in it!” It scares me to think of the people to whom the Lord will say, “I never knew you” when we get to Heaven. People I know. People I love. I am afraid that we will be shocked who doesn’t make it.

This is so serious I don’t even know where to start. The American gospel is easy and comfortable. Our comfort-zone expansions, our ministry outreaches, include knocking on friendly neighborhood doors and inviting people to church. Persecution is getting turned down when we actually get out to do it. Our evangelism is short and focused on one simple prayer, after which the convert is told he has received eternal life and is free from his deserved trip to Hell. Some are checked up on and some even make it into the church for a while. There they receive confirmation of their conversion every time the pastor asks for people who have never “accepted” Jesus to come forward. Our nurseries, children’s churches, and youth groups are full of kids we have raised to know the stories, answers, and actions expected of good Christian people. Unfortunately, we are discovering that these, our future, quickly melt away soon after they leave the rule of their Christian parents and enter the world. One has to wonder where real Christianity is in America today.

Now I don’t want to capsulate the entire Christian community under the heading of “Fake”. But when I think of the Pharisees, who were very learned in the Scripture and knew exactly how to “be godly”, thought they had it all figured out and missed the Truth, I have to wonder. We think we have it all figured out. We “know” the Scripture (although that is disputable). We can “be godly” (at least on Sundays). How can we know that we are not modern day Pharisees? What separates us from them? Or are we just like them, doomed to miss the Savior and His salvation as They pass right under our noses?

I am going to try to break this down as best I can and address separate issues within this big, over-all issue of the modern American ‘Christian’s state of being. With the Lord’s help, I pray that it will be eye-opening, thought-provoking, and maybe even life-changing to those who choose to read it, as well as to myself.