“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you won’t let others enter either.” (Matthew 23:13 NLT)
Jesus was railing against the religious leadership. The teachers and Pharisees loved their positions of prominence and power. They lived far above the little people they served and as a result of their affluence, they laid heavy burdens on the very souls they were meant to rescue. (I think of Pharaoh and his great projects built on the backs of Jewish refugees.) Jesus called the teachers out for their hypocrisy. He accuses them of slamming the door of divine relationship in people’s upturned faces.
I read this today and quick wrote it in the margin: “Let me be a door opener not a door closer!”
A working understanding of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission enables us to hold the door open for the unbeliever. This is why we get saved and stay here on earth: so we can love others toward the One that loves us most, not to slam the door in sinner’s faces.
Ironically, while we pastored up north, we ordered door closers for the sanctuary. We did it because people would step out during service for the restroom or to receive a phone call and the sanctuary door would bounce behind them, creating a thud and a distraction for everyone still trying to listen to the sermon. I know from that experience that door closers cost about $50 a piece. I wonder how much more a door opener would run? Seems to me, it would be a beefier investment.
It’s easier to close a door than to open it, right? This is seventh-grade level science: a closing door has momentum. An opening door requires force. In our flesh, it’s far easier to close the door to others than to hold it open. We have to be intentional and a bit muscular in our door opening. It’s going to take more effort, but it is the right expenditure of our energy.
Our resting state is closing doors. Our assignment is door opening.
“And then He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15 NLT)
Lord, help us to be door openers, not door closers. Empower us by Your Spirit to live authentic and invitational lives. Give us strength to share our testimony. Grow our empathy to identify, pursue and love lost people. We want to be about Your mission. Amen.