Sayings of a Gadfly
by Max Maxwell


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The Parable of the Door

A preacher accosted a Native American who was talking about the Great Spirit.  There was no lack of scorn as the preacher reviled the old man’s religious beliefs.  The preacher told him that his faith in the Great Spirit is evil.  And he sketched at length a vivid picture of the painful torments in hell that awaited those who did not believe the same as he. 

After the preacher was done, he pointed his finger in the old man’s face and said, “Listen friend, in the Bible Jesus said, ‘Very truly, I say to you, I am the door for the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved.’ Repent of your Great Spirit and accept Jesus as your savior.” 

The Gadfly looked up and said, “Preacher, I have something to say to you.  There once was a King who ruled over a kingdom.  Around this kingdom was a wall with no openings except for one door.  No one could get into the kingdom except through that door.  Now it had come to the King’s attention that people living outside the kingdom were perishing.  So he ordered that all should be invited into the kingdom.  And it came to pass that many began to come into the kingdom through the only door.  Because the door reflected the glory of the King, it was very beautiful.  Some who saw it thought, ‘If the door is this wonderful, how good it must be inside the kingdom.’  Those people hurried their pace and entered the kingdom, leaving the door behind them.  Others were so impressed with the door that they stopped on the path to the kingdom, and began to gather before the door.  Eventually, so many had stopped to admire the door that they began to block the way into the kingdom.  I ask you preacher, who was faithful to the call of the King: those who admired the door and blocked the path to the kingdom, or those who entered the kingdom and left the door behind them?” 

As the preacher thought about the parable the Gadfly said,  “Do not loiter at the door.  But enter so that the One who invited you may have the honor of your presence."
 

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© Copyright 2014 Kenneth J Maxwell Jr.