One of the things that I find most challenging about the Gospels is that they drive a coach and horses through easy assumptions about God and those who take God seriously. It’s no wonder that some Christians find Paul easier to handle (he develops arguments) than Jesus (he gives pictures).
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that we should read Paul in the light of the Gospels and not the other way round. Discuss…
Anyway, one of the glaring features of the Gospels is the way the religious leaders (usually for very good reasons) see themselves as the gatekeepers of (a) the truth and (b) access to the community that claims that truth. They end up crucifying Jesus. Clearly, one of the things that rubbed them up was Jesus being a bit unclear about who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’ of what we might call ‘church’ but Jesus called ‘kingdom’ (or, the place where he is ‘present’).
For example, he tells a story that says we should stop worrying so much about our own ecclesiastical purity and let the weeds grow along with the wheat – he’ll sort it all out later. In another story he encourages outrageous waste of seed – the sower is to chuck it everywhere and be surprised by what takes root where. In another image, gifts given by God are not to be preserved in isolated purity, but risked out there in the big bad world where they might even get lost or perverted. I could go on…
This might seem an odd thing to think about when Liverpool have just this very afternoon shown great humility in losing at home to Spurs. (And writing this is not a form of distraction therapy. Honest.) But, it was sparked by an excellent sermon in Bradford Cathedral this morning by the excellent Dean, David Ison. Maybe this is blatantly obvious to everyone else in Christendom, but … a gate is not the same as a gatekeeper.
Jesus described himself in John’s Gospel as ‘the gate’ through which the sheep enter. A gatekeeper usually sees it as his (or her) job to keep people out – discriminating, sifting, excluding those who aren’t fit or won’t fit. A ‘gate’ doesn’t engage in such activity.
Now, I don’t for one minute think this means that anything goes (the charge usually levelled at anyone who is less worried about their own purity than opening the gate to as many people as are willing to go through it). But, it does put a question mark over how we see the church and the role of those of us committed to building, growing, defending or maintaining the church.
For myself, I am less worried about the purity of those who go through the gate and more concerned to open the gate of the Kingdom of God (that is, into the presence of the God we see in Jesus) to as many people as possible. (After all, they let me in…) It seems to me that Jesus said it was his job then to sort out later the mess that might ensue. In other words, we religious professionals need to keep a check on our protective and defensive instincts and make sure we don’t lose sight of what we are here for in the first place: to open the gate to God’s presence where his love, mercy, generosity might be experienced in a community whose experience this is.
A hallmark of the first Pentecost community of Christians was their ‘glad and generous hearts’. It is pretty obvious that this isn’t always the rumour about the church outside the church. But, it would be a good one to develop.
Nick Baines's Blog 
May 15, 2011 at 7:22 pm
What struck me about today’s gospel was that we are not so much sent out as led out, into a world where God already is. The gate is both how we are gathered and how we are ‘distributed’, and the task of listening is ongoing
May 15, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Thanks, Nick, I found this helpful.
I have struggled with passages in scripture that are often interpreted as exclusive. “No one can come to the Father except through me” caused me such heartache, because I just couldn’t reconcile the idea that God is loving with the idea that people who had never even heard of Jesus would be somehow denied access to God. Now I see it more as a description of the inevitability of encountering Christ, that anyone seeking God will find Christ in some form (though we may all use very differing language about it and have different traditions and cultures of response, and the language that I find most helpful might be a barrier to someone of another tradition, so that we must take great care). If Christ is all in all there is no real escape from this except our choice of whether to seek or to turn away.
I think the gate is much larger than any of us can imagine.
May 15, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Love the idea of the open gate for all to enter. Which is exactly what the church should be. I sometimes despair when I read of or hear of someone being condemned or pilloried for this or that behaviour. What always springs to mind is ‘There but for the Grace of God, Go I’.
The church should be inclusive, but these days is actually quite exclusive. Particularly when it comes to matters of sexuality and gender. It even preserves the right to discriminate on grounds of religion. It that is not guarding the gate – what is?
We spend a fair amount of time speaking about our care and compassion for all, but look the other way when someone who is uniquely God’s creation, happens to be Gay. The reception Gay Christians receive in the church, depends upon the view, attitude or opinion of each congregation. Not on the freely given gift of Gods love for us and his direction to love all as he had loved us.
Until we address this issue, we will continue to be seen as gate keepers, prepared to slam it shut to keep undesirables out.
May 15, 2011 at 9:22 pm
As a regular churchgoer in your new diocese, I see inter-faith dialogue and engagement with our Muslim friends and neighbours as a crucial part of the church’s work in Bradford. What a great starting point this post is – thanks Nick!
May 16, 2011 at 5:20 pm
I was much taken with a sign on a Church in Austin Texas.
“Deliberately Diverse – Intentionally Inclusive”
Sounds like the sign over that Gate you are talking about.
May 16, 2011 at 5:46 pm
AMEN! AMEN! My sentiments exactly. I think Eugene Peterson had similar thoughts in the Message.. 1 Corinthians 1-2
” Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. ”
I come across ‘gate keeping’ all over the place as an ordinand, and it makes me wonder what Jesus would say about it. Generosity of heart – we need so much more of that.
May 16, 2011 at 5:54 pm
sometimes I think we’re a bit more like bouncers – big scary guys with shaved heads and leather jackets standing outside of our ‘club’ telling people they’re not getting in ’cause they’re wearing trainers or jeans … and feeling all important and powerful and never realising that we’re only standing at a little corner of the door and past the lights where it’s dark and we can’t see the door goes on and people are coming and going and paying us no heed at all.
May 17, 2011 at 12:01 am
Thanks for this post from a deeply grateful and “currently digesting” heart. Reporting as ordered, sir…..
May 17, 2011 at 7:28 am
[…] Bouncers or welcomers? This is a subject close to my heart, and +Nick has expressed my feelings on it beautifully. One of the things that I find most challenging about the Gospels is that they drive a coach and horses through easy assumptions about God and those who take God seriously. It's no wonder that some Christians find Paul easier to handle (he develops arguments) than Jesus (he gives pictures). I came to the conclusion a long time ago that we should read Paul in the light of the Gospels and not the other way round. Discuss… Anyway, one of the glarin … Read More […]
May 17, 2011 at 7:37 am
Have re-posted this, Nick. Hope that is ok?
May 17, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Paul often began his logic with the important word ‘since”.
The ‘since” upon which all following is based is the generous Jesus of the Gospels and in particular, the parables.
We must never put the cart before the horse.