Are you a gatekeeper or a host? The way you answer this question will mark your interaction with students, the way they interact with the world, and finally whether your ministry will bring those far from Christ closer to him.
Gatekeeping is about... gates, really. Gates, fences and barriers. The job of a gatekeeper is to make sure the wrong people don't get in. They have the task of checking people's papers--peoples dress, behaviors and beliefs--before allowing entry. A gatekeeper's job is to be suspicious. After all, you don't want the people inside to mingle or associate with the wrong sort.
A host has a different task. A host throws a party and then invites all to attend. A host's job is to make people welcome and make sure the experience, as much as it is in their power, a positive one. When a host is combined with a teacher or an evangelist, then the goal is to create a welcoming environment that brings in all sorts, so that growth and transformation can take place.
It's all about contamination. The Gatekeeper wants to protect weak, vulnerable Christian's from contamination. The host believes that Jesus has unleashed a new kind of love and power (new to us, but eternal with God) and hopes to contaminate the whole world with it. The gatekeeper believes that God's work is fragile, the Holy Spirit easily intimidated, and the world is stronger. The host is confident that God's Spirit within believers is greater than the spirits in the world, that Jesus really meant it when he told us to go out into the world and make disciples, and that the Holy Spirit is strong and active, and that God's people can be a greater influence than the voice of this age--provided that God's people are close enough to the world to be heard, their service felt, and their love experienced.
There is a tragic difference between a gatekeeper and a host. A gatekeeper not only keeps the world out but keeps believers in. The fence, the wall, and the barrier work both ways. This work of keeping the world out and believers in has more to do with Satan's goals than it does with God's. In fact, it flys in the face of God's commands and conflicts with Jesus' work on the cross.
There is a graciousness in Jesus that is not always seen in his people today. Outsiders should know more about what we are for than what we are against. This does not mean we ignore or demean the warnings of Scripture, but it is a matter of focus. We should major in the good news and minor in the bad news. Inspiration is more powerful than fear and dread.
The gatekeeper really calls into question whether Jesus won on the cross. There is much that could be said about fear and self-protection (and I will return to this soon), but what is important here is that fear and self-protection imply weakness and defeat. This is not the stance of the host. The host works from the confidence that Jesus has made us more than conquerers and that his Spirit in us is greater than the spirit in the world. A host is not arrogant because he or she knows that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the servant of all. A host works with God inviting all who will listen to the great banquet that God has laid out for us.
In the end, we disciple through our lives. If we are gatekeepers, then we teach students that God is weak and that we have much to fear. If we are hosts, we teach students to share the gracious gift of God and teach them that perfect love casts out fear. But most of all, we choose to let the greatest host build his character in us.
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