the door
A church stands on a hill overlooking a city, town or rural centre somewhere in this country or yours. The peaked roof reaches towards the sky and a tasteful, yet compelling cross bursts from the roofline. The symmetrical design is unadorned and yet elegant in its simplicity.
The walls of the building are strong and straight, and you can see that much care has been taken to ensure that it continues to look as good as the day on which it was built. There is a fence around the outside of the building and a gate at the front. A broad and well-manicured path leads up to the large front door of the building.
The door is magnificent. One might almost consider that the whole building has been designed with the door in mind. The door is the centre-piece of the church façade. It is directly below the cross – which just as it points upwards towards the sky also points downwards towards the door, underlining its importance in the life of the church.
The door is perfectly symmetrical and constructed of heavy wood. Some days the door stands wide open, welcoming all that might enter. The observer is left under no illusions – clearly the best and most appropriate way to enter this church is through the door.
However, there are some for whom the door is a barrier. One has had bad experiences with doors in the past and is distrustful of them. One has never had much to do with doors but has the general impression that they are old-fashioned and passe. For one, the door holds no interest at all – he is sure that lots of people like the door but it is just not for him. Some have had the experience of the door being closed to them. Some have seen the ugly side of the door and have vowed never to pass through it again. Some, despite its prominent position, don’t even seem to notice the door at all.
Many people walk proudly over the threshold into the church. They can’t understand how people could have problems with a door. After all, people have been using doors for centuries!! And quite frankly, if people are not willing to do something so simple and basic as walk through the door, then perhaps they would be better off staying outside.
Some who walk through the door are concerned about those that remain outside. There have been discussions of replacing it with a modern automatic sliding door, which might attract more young people into the building. But many feel that a modern automatic sliding door would affect the building’s traditional beauty and majesty. And some of the people outside would think that this was just a cynical ploy to conceal what, when all is said and done, is still a door.
Some have suggested that bright lights and neon signs above the door might encourage more people to enter the door. Some think that holding meetings and sing-a-longs just outside the door might encourage people to walk through. Some people have spoken to the people outside, and taken the time to give them detailed directions to the door. Still, they do not enter.
It is difficult for those who are inside. The only way they have ever entered the church is through the door. They have been using doors their whole lives and never had a single problem with them. Many of them refuse to believe that it is the door that is the problem. How can something which has been perfectly serviceable for generations now be a barrier?! It doesn’t make sense.
If only there were some other way to enter. If only the windows were left open, if an underground tunnel were connected, if a skylight were easily accessible or if there was some other way to get into that building. If only a great ragged and dirty hole were cut in the side of the church for people to crawl through.
Some of the people outside have been searching for another way in. Some have had themselves shot from cannons and dropped from balloons to try to get in, but have missed the building altogether and landed somewhere else that they never intended to go.
For now it seems that things will remain the same. The church is as impressive as ever and plays an important role in the life of the community. And yet there are less and less people who are willing to walk through the door. Those inside have often entered the building since they were children, just as their parents did before them. There are entire families who do not know what the inside of the church looks like.
Everybody feels uneasy about the situation. People agree that things can’t go on this way, but nobody seems to know how things could be changed.
If only there was some other way to enter the church than through the door.
April 7th, 2003 at 12:09 pm
@ 02/11/2003 02:36:
This “parable” is illustrative of a very neo-paganistic desire, both on the part of those who desire to enter the church through a way other than The Door, and those who wish to make it easier for them to do so. The Way, The Truth, The Light - the Door - is Jesus. There are already far too many people who believe they can enter the kingdom of heaven in some way other than through Him. This is what happens when you elevate man above the Word, when every man is a priest, and every man can decide what for himself what is good and what is evil.
April 7th, 2003 at 12:10 pm
@ 02/11/2003 13:39:
Bosco wrote this over at living room as he couldnt get his Mac to work with our comments box - something we are looking into. But I liked and agreed with his comments - so include them here.
“I was moved by the parable, and yet I wondered if the focus was a bit narrow? Seemed to me that the whole idea was about getting people into the church - no matter what. Like the benefits that being in church could only occur once one was in the building? I realise that the church is symbolic of the “Kingdom of God”, but is there something to be noticed in the use of a church building as the main symbol for the “Kingdom”? I wonder what would happen if the door were removed, along with the walls and the base, and the people were led out into the surrounding environment to meet others where they’re at?”
April 7th, 2003 at 12:10 pm
@ 02/11/2003 14:18:
Well, I find that going through The Door Magazine (www.thedoormagazine.com) is one Door I can easily open.
April 7th, 2003 at 12:11 pm
@ 02/12/2003 00:32:
“Getting people into the church” - if that’s the goal, then I see that as a problem. A big problem. In my humble opinion, I think far too many churches and religions change their respective doctrines in order to accommodate and attract the most people. I know far too many people who have wandered from religion to religion to find the message that suits them - they’re looking for that doorway that looks the most inviting. It’s the difference between telling the people what they WANT to hear, and what they NEED to hear. And if altering the door means altering God’s message to suit Man, then that church would be doing a huge disservice to the people.
But then again, to misquote Freud, sometimes a door is just a door…
April 7th, 2003 at 12:11 pm
@ 02/12/2003 08:05:
I think your right when you say we must be careful not to just give people what they want to hear at the cost of the gospel message which always is fringy, counter-culture, and challenging.
What is challenging is to make sure we create opportunities to communicate (word and deed) our message.
I am interested in your comment about doctrines. It made me think because our denomination delibrately was founded not to have doctrines (ofcourse we kinda do anyway) but it is interesting to reflect on how the postmodern environment will bring different challenges to different denominations with their different emphasis.
April 7th, 2003 at 12:12 pm
@ 02/12/2003 09:07:
Surely telling people that they can achieve eternal life by following your doctrine is telling people what they fundamentally want to hear. Conducting your life in accordance with your moral standards merely because it is the correct thing to do without the big carrot of eternal life (or the big stick so effectively utilised by the church over previous generations) takes far greater discipline.
Embrace what you know to be morally and ethically correct and have the courage to live your life accordingly and you can approach death with tranquility regardless or otherwise of an afterlife. In this way an afterlife, if it exists, is a bonus.
April 7th, 2003 at 12:12 pm
@ 02/14/2003 02:18:
What Chris proposes is known as Pascal’s Wager - that is, the “safe bet.” If you bet there is an afterlife and you live a good life, you win. If it turns out that your bet is wrong, well, at least you still lived a good life.
The problem here is that simply “living a good life” is no guarantee that one will pass through the door of heaven. God put us on this earth to love one another AND to love Him. We must look beyond an earthly existence if we expect to get into Heaven.
The problem, Chris, is that far too many “churches” have altered and continue to alter their doctrine (or they have no doctrine, as Phil noted) in order to accommodate Man. Altering doctrine - that’s the broader message of Moses when he came down from the Mount and found his people worshipping a golden calf. God is unchanged. His message is unchanged. Why must we alter doctrine to accommodate US?
Check this out
April 7th, 2003 at 12:19 pm
@ 02/14/2003 11:55:
I not so sure having such rigid doctrine is or will be the saving of the Church. Jesus seems to have some pretty strong words to the pharisees and the sadducees who echoed similar sentiments. My reading of the gospels instead, would suggest that Jesus was more concerned about the people who are excluded by such doctrines.