Self Pruning
Matt. 7:13-21
Why can’t everyone get into Heaven?
Photo by Andrés Dallimonti on Unsplash
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. - Matt. 7:13-21
There is a battle raging over our vision of divine love within the Christian churches.
Conservative evangelical churches hold to the belief that only those who declare Jesus as their Lord and Savior qualify for inclusion among those who can get into heaven, while liberal churches have a broader interpretation of God’s grace.
Each thinks the other is wrong, which is not surprising. Each also believes the other should adopt its interpretation. So, we have division within the greater church.
Should we be surprised by this?
Jesus has warned us about judging the speck in the eye of the other, while having a log in our own eye. So, how would Jesus sort out the differences among his followers?
We Christians have not been very tolerant of one another. Throughout history, the church has been pitted against itself, beginning with the early battles over doctrine in the years following Jesus’s death.
Today, there are many who have walked away from the church altogether, believing it has strayed too far from what Jesus taught.
We need to remember that Jesus asked us to look inward. See what is in our hearts and change from within. He did not involve himself in establishing a doctrine of faith, but instead wanted us to live a life of love for one another.
It should be no surprise that we are still struggling to figure out how to do that.
We focus on who will get the reward rather than how we can be better bearers of fruit.
We could say that Jesus initiated this whole debate over entrance into heaven, hoping to scare us into wanting to change our ways.
Did it work?
I wonder how we determine that. If it causes division among us, we have to ask if that is what Jesus intended. He did mention the final judgment, separating the sheep from the goats, so maybe we should be a bit afraid.
But in the end, it is a personal matter. Do we simply focus on our own beliefs, or do we take our faith into the streets to try to convince others to do as we do?
Now that both sides in this debate are doing just that, we will get to see how it all plays out. In the meantime, I will focus on self-pruning so that I can bear good fruit.