Some Other Way

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

Jesus Himself is the door into the fold. I am starting to see increasing numbers of implications embedded in this verse.

If one of the meanings for the fold is my own heart, then anyone who seeks to enter into the deep recesses of my heart, including myself, without going through Jesus is going to end up robbing and stealing from me and from God.

If I look at the fold as the church, then anyone who becomes part of the church without first and foremost coming to know Jesus at the heart level is acting the part of a thief or a robber. They will end up misrepresenting religion, damaging God's reputation and will cause untold hurt and damage to others both inside and outside the church without ever realizing what they are doing. They may cultivate a very intense and pious religious aura and may have convinced themselves that they are in the will of God by memorizing all the right answers, believing the right doctrines and living the right lifestyle. But in reality all these things are ways of climbing up by some other way.

This is revealed even more clearly in the words of Jesus found in Matthew.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?' Then I will tell them publicly, 'I've never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.'

(Matthew 7:21-23 GW)

It seems clear to me that when Jesus says that He is the door through which everyone must pass that this is referring to the same thing as knowing Him as He talks about here in Matthew. These people were doing the right things, had worked hard on living out the symptoms of religion that they knew should be seen in the lives of those being saved; but without a personal, submissive, genuine heart-based relationship with Jesus, all their achieved symptoms failed to produce the change of heart needed to prepare them to live in close fellowship with God for eternity.

I too feel under strong conviction in regards to this very thing. I am seeing more and more clearly how much my own heart is still lacking a deep connection with God even though I have spent my whole life seeking to live in harmony with all the rules of religion as I was taught them. I and many around me have learned how to look good, to do and say things in such a way as to convince ourselves and others that we are in right relationship with God. But when I look in my heart I have serious reasons to wonder how much my weak relationship with Jesus would stand if met with severe circumstances.

I am constantly reminded of how weak my own will is, how tentative my own commitment to God is, how flimsy my profession of religion is when it comes to the real world. I don't want to live deceived all the way up to that Day when everything will be exposed only to find that I am one of those who climbed up some other way rather than going through the door by knowing Jesus for real in my own heart.

At the same time I cannot force myself to have that kind of relationship, because force itself is foreign to God's way of doing things. What I really need and crave is to have a much clearer perception of who God really is, to have my heart see and experience more fully the glory of His light, His beauty, His attractiveness so that my own righteousness by contrast becomes repulsive to me. I want to be weaned away from the cultural religion, the intellectual dependence that blinds me to my true heart condition and to have a much deeper encounter with the living God who is a flame of passionate fire. I want that fire of God to burn away all that is evil inside, all that is foreign to Him, all that resists His love and His will for me before it is too late and my heart is permanently hardened in unbelief.

I want Jesus.