Pastors lie all the time.
Now, they don’t necessarily mean to, but so many of them are hopelessly trapped; stuck in the unreasonable expectations of pewsitters, pressured by perceived competition with other churches, and mired in just plain bad theology.
It all causes them to do some pretty nasty things to the truth: to bend it for attention, to stretch it to rile up the troops, and sometimes, to outright abandon it.
One of the greatest lies so many pastors sell you, is that they know who’s going to Heaven and who’s not.
It’s many church leader’s go-to game; pounding the pulpit, and declaring with unshakeable certainty, who’s in, and who’s out; who’s bound for puffy, cotton candy clouds, and who’s headed for scalding sulphur pools.
This eternal destination-forecasting by pastors, has become so commonplace in the Church, that most people in the congregation accept it all, without realizing the contrary reality of every one of them: They really have no clue.
Multi-campus megachurches, multimedia empires, and multi-million dollar publishing careers, have been built on religious people appointing themselves as Gatekeepers of the Kingdom; as holy clipboard holders, with Heaven’s exclusive Guest List.
And each one, to a man (or woman), will use the Bible to justify it all. The thing is, the Bible is a lot grayer than they would want you to believe. Oh yes, it’s clear that, as Paul writes, “everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13); that faith in Jesus is at the core of the Heaven ticket, but beyond that, it gets a little dicey.
For example, Jesus gives very strong warnings against all kinds of things in the Gospels; adultery, lusts of the heart, not offering forgiveness, materialism, neglect of the poor, religious hypocrisy, physical violence, and on and on and on; things that all seem to be “Heaven barriers”. In fact, all of us, (each one of you reading this, as well as me writing it), could most certainly find several things right off the bat, that seem to disqualify us from entering the Kingdom.
Yet, every day, thousands and thousands of pastors, stand up in front of their members, or sit in front of their computer screens, and without an ounce of shame or a hint of doubt, claim that they have cracked the code of who’s in, and who’s out. (and strangely, they’re always in, and those they despise are always out).
Jesus, though, would probably warn them not to be quite so sure.
One of my favorite moments in the Scriptures, happens in Matthew’s biography of Jesus. He’s speaking to the chief priests and the elders; Jewish religious folks, who are extremely sure that they’re insiders, quite certain of their spiritual place. They are the self-appointed gatekeepers.
Jesus speaks a parable, and finishes with this declaration:
“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Mt 21:31
Truth bomb, detonated.
Jesus is dumping some frigid water into the laps of the gatekeepers here. He’s telling them that the lowest of the low, those they see as despised and sinful and shameful, are “getting it”. They’re entering the Kingdom, and they’re doing it through simple belief; not through cleaning up their acts, or praying any magic prayers, or answering an altar call, or tithing, or performing any act or refraining from any act, but simply by believing.
In other words, Jesus tells the religious elite: “The scum of the earth are getting wings, and you’re digging your own grave.”
Jesus, it seems, has a much different standard for those He lets in, than many of the high profile pastors in America.
Reading the Gospels, and really experiencing Jesus; I mean truly wrestling with his words, and seeing who he spent so much time with, (the scandalous, the maligned, and the disrespected), and who he had the harshest words for (the religious, the powerful, the spiritual experts), I think we can say with complete certainty, that it’s hard to have complete certainty, just who is Heaven-worthy.
“If you died tonight, do you know where you’ll go?” Pastors love that question. It’s the all-time, fear-of-God-inducing, get ’em on their knees, “Come to Jesus” icebreaker.
They ask it, as if they expect you to have a strong answer. And if you don’t, they’re more than ready to give you one.
There’s only one teeny little problem; they don’t know.
If I’m honest, I don’t either.
I know, that seeing Heaven; that entering the Kingdom of God, has something to do with trusting Jesus; but it’s much more than a prayer or a promise. It’s also far greater than some Get Out Of Hell Free card.
It’s about believing what He lovingly did on the Cross for me, but it also seems to be about a life lived in tangible response to this love; seeking to reflect his character in the world, and lots of things in my life have an impact on that; what I do with my body, what I do with my cash, how I treat the poor, my response to my enemies, and a million other things.
Anyone who tells you that know anything, is claiming more than they ought to, anyway. There’s a reason that it’s called faith.
Knowing isn’t really a part of the bargain.
I’m striving to understand just what Jesus wants from me, (and from those who ask me as their pastor), but I’ll never claim to be a Gatekeeper of the Kingdom.
I refuse to tell that lie.
