Knock, knock....

We’ve all seen this classic Warner Sallman picture, Christ at Heart’s Door, right? It’s Sallman’s artistic rendering of Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”

Fine.

I’d guess that it’s highly likely that at some point you’ve also heard some preacher, teacher, or corps officer point out some of the features of the painting. Like how the two arches over Jesus’ head combined with the light around Him form the shape of a heart, and how by looking into the small window on the door, you can see that this “heart” is dark on the inside. From there, it’s usually pointed out how this “heart’s door” Jesus is knocking on has no handle, doorknob, or latch on the outside – it can only be opened from the inside. And it’s usually right about here that the preacher, teacher, or corps officer pushes the point of application: “Have you opened your heart and invited Jesus to come in?”

Ken Callahan is an author, consultant, and friend of the Army that I’ve gotten to work with from time to time. Say what you want about Ken, but you can’t deny the man’s passion for the Church to be in mission, on mission, and about mission.

Ken looks at this painting and proposes that there just might be another, somewhat different interpretation of the picture. He suggests that we look at it from the perspective of, well, the church and mission.

In doing this, he starts off by pointing out a couple of the usual observations – the lack of a handle to anyone on the outside, and the dark interior. But when he gets to the “Jesus-at-the-door” part, he takes us off the well-worn path of the usual understanding of the picture. He asks us to imagine Christ knocking on the handle-less door not of some weed-crowded cottage, or symbolic heart, but of the Church.

Hmmm… Now there's something to think about.

I wonder…how hard is it for certain people – or better yet, certain types of people (like those we label as “outsiders” for any one of a long list of reasons) – to find a “handle” that will open the Church to them? Oh, they can easily enter our buildings, if they ever have a reason to, but that’s not the same thing as getting into the church or the corps, is it? Think about your corps or church… Is the “handle” of unconditional welcome, acceptance, and inclusion easily found and used by those “outside” your fellowship, or is it somehow hidden behind unwritten policies and unspoken requirements? To ask it more bluntly, when it comes to those who aren’t “like us,” does your corps or church have to be opened from the inside?

In coming back to Sallman’s painting, Callahan moves into even more provocative territory...

As if it’s not already controversial enough to think of Christ somehow locked outside the Church, having to knock on a no-handled door like some encyclopedia salesman, Ken puts forward the idea that maybe Jesus isn’t knocking on the door of the Church trying to get in. No, he wonders if it’s not more a matter of Jesus knocking on the Church door inviting us to come out! Out of our sanctuaries, out of our citadels, out of our offices, out of our comfort zones, out of our debates over music styles and form, and into the world where the people are because that’s where Jesus is! He moves and walks throughout the world, still concerned over those who are lost, ready to engage them where they live, work, date, search, divorce, hurt, fight, and suffer.

Interesting view, isn’t it?

In John 17:5, Jesus prayed to His Father about His disciples, and said,

I'm not asking that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One… In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. John 17:15,18 (MSG)

If I’m reading this right, Jesus has always intended that our mission would be like His – to the world! To those who don’t necessarily come to us on our terms. To those who may not see things the same way we do. To those who need to be sought out and gone after.

That's hard to accomplish while sitting in a pew that’s bolted to the floor in a temperature controlled room, behind walls and doors – both the literal, physical kind of walls and doors, as well as the figurative kind.

So maybe Callahan’s analysis of Sallman’s picture has a bit of relevance for us to consider. What do you say about it? What’s your opinion?

As for me, I believe I’m going to sit down, turn on some of Chris Tomlin's worship music in the background, and just pray for all those folks on the outside of my corps.

Hang on…there’s Someone at the door…

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis