A thought by
Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith
(Kindle Location 807). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to
Amazon.com to buy the book)
I know we
just looked at this but I still think there is more to say. It seems that we need to really be
reminded of this fact.
Larry goes
on to say, “His goal was to expand the kingdom, to bring salvation to people
who previously were excluded. He came to seek and find the lost, including a
large group of folks no one else wanted to invite to the party. Everything about Jesus’ ministry was designed
to make salvation and the knowledge of God more accessible.” He came to make it more accessible not more
exclusive.
He says, “Even at the point of Jesus’ death, the heavenly Father sent a message
of accessibility. The moment Jesus died, the temple curtain that had isolated
the Holy of Holies from everyone but the high priest (and even he could enter
only once a year, on the Day of Atonement) was ripped open from the top down.
What had once been a symbol of the barrier between God and sinful people
suddenly became a symbol of open access for all.”
He then
says, “The religious elite weren’t opposed to Jesus being a messiah or a king.
They were opposed to the kind of people he included in his kingdom. They fought
with him because he kept ignoring their definitions of committed spirituality.
He refused to let them pick and choose who was going to be invited into the
kingdom — and on what basis they would be allowed to come in. So they wrote him
off and tried to kill him. The same thing still happens today. People who plead
for stricter and stricter standards of discipleship in the name of a purer
church are happy to have a Savior — as long as they can decide whom he saves.”
Let’s do all
we can in this day, all we can to not thin the herd but to grow the herd. That's what Jesus showed he came to do.
Why don’t we do that too. Ok?
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