Friend or Foe?
Read John 10:1-11
In 2nd grade, my son and his friends enjoyed playing spy games. Secret passwords and special handshakes helped them distinguish the good guys from the bad. For spies of all ages, identifying friend and foe is vitally important.
We often act like 2nd-grade spies in our spiritual lives, using our own elaborate criteria to distinguish good from bad, or truth from lies. We measure a church by the size of its sanctuary, or the pep in its praise.
When our own sinful condition clouds our judgment, we need not rely on secret signs to be certain of truth. Jesus gave us a foolproof way to distinguish spiritual friends from spiritual foes. "He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep," He said. “I am the door.”
The Gospel of Christ – that He lived, died and rose again to overcome death for us – is the only standard by which we can judge truth. It is the only standard for measuring a church. It is the “power of God for the salvation of all who believe.” No matter the outward appearances, where Christ’s Gospel is proclaimed, there is salvation.
Lord, teach us to judge truth only by the measure of Your Gospel. Amen.
