Most of year I’m looking forward to summer. But summer is more than sandy beaches and sunshine. It’s also the season for late night leisure. As those hot days dissipate, breezy nights fill with bare feet, bon-fires, s’mores, and storytelling. And it’s the only time of year where traipsing around the front lawn at night with screaming kids and glass jars is acceptable. Because those bugs with blinking butts are a natural phenomenon. My kids have coined them “fire bees,” but to the civilized world they’re fireflies. And I’ve happily spent my summer nights snatching fire bees as they gently glow under a starry, Michigan moonlight.
They really are unique insects. And they swarm our lawns by the thousands. And watching their dancing and dotting and pitching and plunging through the warm air is hypnotic. Best of all, fire bees have a way of igniting joy inside little, happy hearts. And for the record, I have no intention of correcting their mistake. The charming misnomer is a brilliant title for those late-night luminaries. You could say it’s narrow-minded to not address false characterizations, but I’ve found that sometimes narrow-mindedness is a blessing. In fact, it’s thinking narrowly that gets you on the path leading to real virtue.
It’s common for Christians to be slandered as being narrow-minded. But I think Christians should be principally narrow-minded in Christ. Because there’s a way of thinking narrowly that’s founded on principle and not on prejudice. Truly prejudice people judge in a manner that’s unrighteous because it is without grace, mercy, love, and compassion. They’re confident charlatans. Contrarily, Jesus judges in purity and principle. And he modeled his narrow-mindedness among a generation of perverse pietists.
Jesus explained the way of true faith through the contrast of two gates. Jesus said,
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14, NASB).
The reality is that every person is on one of two paths. The struggle is that both paths offer similar pleasures and blessings. You may be convinced you’re on the way leading to heaven and soul satisfaction, but actually it’s a pseudo-paradise revealed too late. Today’s false teachers and faith dealers market a knock-off Jesus that’s attractive. And hell doesn’t seem too bad if you’re certain you’re headed somewhere else.
The concept is analogous to airline travel. Imagine a person in route to a voluptuous vacation on the Las Vegas strip. As they board, they’re facing two gates. Both appear identical except one is to Las Vegas and the other is to Liberia. So, they wait with their music loud and awareness low. They assume they’re making progress down the appropriate terminal. Meanwhile, countless commands and careful instructions are announced over the loudspeaker. But keeping confidence in their position, they blot out the blaring voices and turn up the volume. Unguarded, they slowly advance down the wrong gate. Wearied by the waiting, they finally close their eyes for the take-off. But when they open, a grim greeting awaits them: “Welcome to Liberia.”
Jesus said, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 8:22-23). The grim reality is many will hear three terrifying words, “depart from Me.” That’s the moment you realize your faith is too late to fix. It is the point at which everyone is forced to deal with their final and eternal destination.
Here’s the point behind faith and fire bees: summer is the season for leisure, but our life is not. And in considering eternity, our life passes like the flicker of a fire bee. It matters today what route you’re walking. You will take a path that leads to a gate or enter the gate that leads to the path. You get to decide. But you don’t have to die to know that the path you’re on leads to a dead end and locked door. Choose Jesus and you choose life.
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9, NASB)
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