Broader and Broader

Some of the theological minds of our generation are clearly out of my league. They offer stunning interpretations of scriptures which I’ve been unable to grasp, no matter how hard I’ve tried.

Consider, for example, Revelation 3:15-22, in which Jesus says to lukewarm believers, “I will spit you out of My mouth.” Now, spitting out of one’s mouth seems to me to indicate some type of rejection – but no! I’ve been told that in fact it only indicates a mild annoyance – meek and mild, in fact, like the Savior Himself. So while being spit out of Jesus’ mouth is slightly undesirable, it is really nothing to be concerned about, and in no way threatens one’s certainty of heaven.

Then consider James 2:14-26, which says that faith without works is “dead,” and “useless.” This has always struck me as an indictment of faith without works, but again I’ve been incorrect. For after all, isn’t a dead and useless faith still faith? Therefore we can remain sure that those who have faith without works will still go to heaven: this is guaranteed by their dead and useless faith.

Now let us look at the Great Commission, in Matthew 28. Jesus charges His followers to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” I’ve thought that this was a complex and challenging commission – but it turns out that Jesus was just being a little long-winded. The point of this command is the making. Make, make, make! And as long as our making makes some reference to Christianity, then we can rest assured that we’ve made souls ready for heaven.

Lastly, we have Luke 18:18-27, where Jesus tells a rich ruler to sell all that he has and give to the poor, and then says that it is hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. I’ve applied this scripture to money before, but I’m always told that it does not actually concern money, but concerns the heart – and furthermore, that it only concerns the heart in ways which do not directly concern money. Therefore, the rich will have no problem entering heaven.

These interpretations have perplexed me for the longest time, but now they’ve finally become clear. Now I see that these creative interpretations make perfect sense – as long as one has a similarly creative interpretation of “heaven.”