| One of the nicest courtesies someone can afford me is to hold open a door. When I approach a door, let’s say at a mall, I adjust my speed to reach it at the same time I see another person approaching. I ask, “Pardon me, mind holding that door open? Thanks.” Frankly, I think the person who helps me feels good to have lent a little assistance.
I have yet to encounter a person who has said, “Forget it.” Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if someone said, “Look, I’m not very good at opening doors. Let me find someone else.”
In the same way, you and I are door openers. Each opportunity we have to share the gospel with an unbeliever is a chance to hold open the door to the kingdom of heaven. But some decline to open doors. Some think they’re not very good at it. They feel that a more experienced, more gifted person ought to do the door opening. Others, through the kind of self-righteousness described in today’s verse, slam the door in another’s face. They make the gospel sound like a twisted labyrinth or a series of difficult hoops one must jump through. They insist that unbelievers must clean up their act and “be like me” before entering. Jesus talks about them in Matthew 23:13.
Jesus likens witnessing to something that ought to be as natural as opening a door for another. You can be a kingdom door opener. You don’t have to be an expert, just available, sensitive, and courteous.
As I face many doors today, help me, Lord, to remember that you’ve asked me to usher people into your kingdom. Enable me to be gracious, courteous, and thoughtful as I offer to do so. |
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