Many will say to Me in that day....

For a long time I've felt uneasy about that scripture in Matthew 7 that says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Who are these people who've fooled themselves into believing they had a saving relationship with Christ and how does that reconcile with Romans 10 which states, "9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Which is it?

A recent uproar among some fundy Christians over a photograph displayed inside Abercrombie and Fitch was the subject of yesterday's sermon...one in which we packed up and drove to the mall to see what the fuss was all about. (The photo is on the sidebar.) I'll let my pastor provide his take on the reaction of some Christians to this picture. You can read his blog here once he gets around to it: http://www.jchalmers.blogspot.com/

My dilemma is this: should all Christians be equally upset over what some Christians perceive to be sinful? What about the Christians who aren't offended? Are we counted among those whom God will cast aside because our level of righteousness doesn't measure up to God's standards, or even to the standard of other Christians? Or is this really something that we should be devoting so much attention to when there are more pressing problems we could be addressing?

I grew up in a fundamentalist church. We were taught that anyone can come to Christ as they are and that they can be saved by grace regardless of their past. That's fine so far. But after about 15 minutes of salvation, we spring the bad news on the new convert: Your ticket is punched, but if you want to please God you've got to follow this list: join a church, get involved in a discipleship program, tithe, get rid of the tattoos and nose rings, burn your rock and roll CDs, quit your job at the liquor store, marry the woman you're shacking up with, attend our Addiction Recovery program so we can get you off drugs; and oh yeah - we need you to work in the nursery for the next four Sundays.

Most Sundays we heard messages that contained about 2 minutes worth of grace, love, and trust, and 58 minutes of "Thou shalt nots". So it's not surprising when a Christian father is incensed when he and his family are exposed to A&F's 'art'. He probably feels like he's serving God and that it is his mission and ministry to protect shopper's eyes from this blatantly sinful sexuality that has nothing to do with the pants the store wants to sell their customers. Christians are always looking for causes to prove their righteousness. But what Jesus says in Matthew makes me wonder if we're just fooling ourselves. The truth is, righteousness doesn't produce relationship; relationship produces righteousness. Earlier in Matthew 7 Jesus says, "13 “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[a] narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Can it be that our efforts to please God miss the mark and we're not on the same path to eternal life?

Jesus didn't come to save us from Hell; He came to reveal His Father and to offer us a relationship with our Creator. We were going to Hell anyway, but Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many rooms....come and follow me...I am the Way". So although our goals might be similar, our motivations for being Christian are entirely different. If we do not want a relationship with our Father beyond a get-out-of-Hell-free ticket, and whenever we need His hand because we tried to manage our lives under our own power - then is that a saving relationship or does it get you in the line with other goats? If we're unwilling to surrender our agendas for God's agenda, if we trust ourselves more than we trust Him, do we having saving faith?

Simply obeying some commandments and separating ourselves from the rest of the world is not enough it seems. He isn't interested in slaves, but sons and daughters. If I wake up every day and ask Him to bless my plans for the day, I've missed the relationship. I must wake up and seek His plans for my day. I must trust Him to be there when I don't sense His presence. If He doesn't give me the answer I hoped for, I must know that He has a better way and that He is motivated by love for me. As I surrender my control and learn to trust Him - because He has never failed me and He never will - I find that I've grown to love Him and to really see Him as my Father.

So when I view God as my loving Father, I don't go where He doesn't want me to go, or get involved in behaviors and activities that come between my relationship with my Father. I'm not trying to earn His pleasure; I'm simply enjoying His alternative to my own way. I know that as I trust Him more, that He's going to challenge me and take me to places I'd never have risked going without Him. The gate may be narrow and the road may not always be smooth, but at the end is a seat at the Father's table and a room He's prepared especially for me.