A Word to the Wise
The latest Evangelical promotion is, “Come as you are” or as one local church advertises, “It doesn’t matter.” In an earlier post I responded to this with, “Yes, come as you are, but don’t stay as you were.”
The Parable of the Wedding feast – Matthew 22:1-14:
This parable has a surprising end of the story. After all the guests have assembled, the king spots a man without a wedding garment and orders his servants to, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).
Jesus had told the Jewish leaders, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43). This is again reiterated in this parable. It is the chief priests and Pharisees who lose their place at the royal banquet. The king then sends his servants to invite anyone who will come and Matthew notes that the newly invited guests are a motley crew, made up of “both bad and good” (Matthew 22:10).
And this brings us to the point of the parable. Jesus had said that the kingdom would be taken away from the Jewish leaders and given to a people producing its fruits. The wedding feast is an open invitation, but there is a dress code. Everyone is welcome at the table, but the table changes them. Or, to keep with the imagery of the parable, it changes their clothes. If it doesn’t, then they are not truly guests. “Many are called,” says Jesus, “but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
The gate of the kingdom is open wide, but all must enter through that one gate properly. The kingdom imposes conditions on us. We must bear its fruits. We have a particular kind of clothing to wear to the feast. In the words of Paul, we must put on, “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility,” and the like (Colossians 3:12).
“Come as you are, but YOU CAN’T stay as you were.”
God's Word to the Wise 
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