Saturday-Exclusive

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

2 Peter 2:21,22

I love to listen to people. This is a big change for me because I thought that everyone loved to listen to me. After all, I was the smartest person in the room. But more than that, I was also the funniest person in the room too. I had a whole routine of time-tested jokes that were guaranteed to make everyone roll with laughter.

As I now listen about how Jesus and Christianity are thought about, I’m finding something strange. There are a lot of people out there that don’t like Christianity because it’s so exclusive. The idea that the only way to God is through Jesus sounds restrictive.

Why can’t there be other ways to God is the common question. What makes Christians think that they’ve got the inside scoop? That they’re so special. If God is as great and loving as Christians say he is, why wouldn’t he make a lot of ways to him. Just like a mountain has a bunch of trails to get to the top, why can’t there be a bunch or ways to God too?

But the Apostle Peter is clearly saying that the only way to God is through the one-time death of Jesus on the cross. Period. That his payment covers all our sins: past, present, and future. Period.

These false teachers were in the church, and they might have looked and sounded like Christians, but they were only putting on an act. Their hearts had never been broken, admitting that they needed complete and total forgiveness in and through Jesus. They played the part of a Christian, but they never surrendered.

If there had been a school where the truth about Jesus had been taught, they would have gone to all the classes. Taken all the tests and passed them with flying colors. They would have graduated, but the person of Jesus would only have been something in their heads that they could use to make a living. As one writer put it, they were only vaccinated and never had the real disease.

Being in front of people is exciting. There’s lots of excitement and energy when you’re the only one in front and a crowd is hanging on every word. It’s almost as addictive as a drug. Seeing and hearing people respond to your words and actions is a great blessing. But it also carries a great deal of responsibility.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

James 3:1

It’s one thing to be a teacher in a classroom. Even this is a great responsibility because they are influencing and guiding the future of the people they are teaching. I think back at the teachers I had and how they inspired and changed my life. I thank God for many of the teachers I had in school that helped to shape my life.

But teachers withing the church of Jesus Christ have an even greater responsibility. They are handling the words of life[1]. Because it’s so precious, it makes their teaching all that more valuable and important.

We go to a very good doctor that takes care of us physically. They listen to our heart, examine us, ask us questions, and prescribe medications. We thank God for their knowledge and skill. And they have helped us a lot over the years.

Sometimes we need someone to operate on us. To cut into us to remove a cancerous tumor. To remove a cataract and put a new lens in our eyes. To drill and saw through bones and replace them with a new metal joint.

Now, both doctors are important. But I think you would agree that the surgeon has the greater responsibility. When they do their job with skill, we get better. But when they make mistakes, our lives are flooded with pain and disappointment. Their failure hurts us in ways we never imagined. The fact that we assumed that they knew what they were doing brings greater anguish to our souls.

You see, exclusiveness isn’t a bad thing. We only want skilled and experienced people operating on our loved ones. The same is true when it comes to who Jesus is. It makes a great deal of difference who your savior is. Who you’re betting your whole life and eternity on.

When Jesus is in charge of a life, we love our neighbors and enemy the same way that he did. He prayed for and forgave the people who drove the nails into his hands and feet. He did the same for those who mocked him. He did all that and more for everyone. This means that we’re to do the same to the people we meet. Those who are nice to us, and even those who hate us. Yes, being a Jesus follower is exclusive, but it’s the kind of exclusive thinking that we so desperately need. In our schools. In our communities. In our nation. In our personal lives and relationships. We’re the only ones that are stopping us from living that way. Let’s ask forgiveness and for his power to start today.

Noodling Questions

• Explain why people think something exclusive is a bad thing.

• List three teachers that have had a great and positive impact on you.

• Describe two people that have had the greatest influence for God in your life.

[1] Philippians 2:16