The Guy at the Door
Maybe the kingdom of God is like a club. I don’t know much about clubs or the club scene. I’ve only been to a couple. There’s always a line and a guy at the door who decides who gets in and who doesn’t.
What if Jesus is the Guy at the door?
Suppose He’s not looking at I.D.’s. He’s just admitting the people He knows.
If I understand the trinity, Jesus is the Guy at the door. He’s the gate to get in. He’s also (mysteriously) the club Owner. Some folks seem to get that, but not everyone.
And what’s even more mysterious is when you enter the club, there’s this Spirit there. It’s kind of a reflection of the Owner and the Guy at the door. It’s magical. It invisibly leads the d.j. to play the right music at just the right time. The lights, the sound, the smells (no smoking by the way)….all the senses are wired to the max. There’s something supernatural about this club. You’re drawn to the Owner, the Guy at the door, and to everyone in here. You think about your friends and family who’ve never been…never expressed an interest. You care about them and wish they could experience what you’ve experienced….knowing the Owner, the Guy at the door, the people in here (both those you know and those you don’t) and the mystery of how wonderful it all is together.
The Owner is a pretty big dude in the city. He built most of it and the rumor is He owns the whole place. He doesn’t put His name on everything, but He makes stuff so wonderful and beautiful, people who know Him recognize His fingerprint on what He’s created….things that just seem to “be” as well as things He inspired others to create.
The people in the club seem to find each other around town. Those who know each other find themselves together in business, doing sports, eating out, hanging out and raising their kids together. A little conversation and those who don’t know each other suddenly do. They’re instantly connected by that Spirit from the club. The love and respect they have for the Owner and the Guy at the door transfers over. They’re different. They like different things about the club, but there’s kinship from the get-go.
There are some in this city who won’t acknowledge the Owner even exists. They can’t see it. They want proof the Owner is behind all this. They say it just happened or smart people did it. Or maybe aliens.
They don’t want to be in the club because somehow that would make them small, or stupid like so many people they judge that way. To justify themselves, they cut down the club members every chance they get. They’re missing out and have no idea.
Back to the gate.
A lot of people want to get in the club. They show up with a diploma from dance academy. A couple of people were on “Dancing with the Stars.” “I can light up this club” they say! A lot of them remind the Guy at the door of some long-ago encounter they had with him. They so want him to let them in on their pedigree, or their parent’s pedigree, or their performance, or how good they are compared to everyone else, including a lot of people already inside.
No dice.
And the hardest part to deal with is it’s not fair.
Who does the Owner think he is? What gives him the right to set things up so you have to know the Guy at the door to get in?
When you think about it, all those questions are dumb. Every person on earth wields control over what they own, even if it’s nothing but a stolen shopping cart. The Owner can make whatever rules he wants. It’s his club.
Are there other clubs around? Absolutely. Some of them offer the opportunity to kill yourself to get into them. Some ask you to believe crazy stuff and give all your time, talent, treasure, and life-options over to their leaders. There’s even a club made up of people who don’t believe in clubs.
The most painful thing is standing outside the club and watching people come up to the Guy at the gate. They tell him about when they shook his hand, went to his house. A lot of them have been to his house thousands of times. All of them tell him they believe in him or they’ve met him before. Some are downright indignant when he looks in their eyes and says “I never knew you”.
What makes it worse is a moment later, someone the Guy at the door knows shows up. There’s like this connection, the camaraderie, a love that’s real and you can’t fake. They were at the lake together last weekend. They talked to each other this morning. The Guy at the door knows what’s going on in this person’s life. He’s in, and he’s welcomed like he’s the most important person who’s shown up tonight.
Question: Who are you introducing to the Guy at the door? Share with us here.
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