I dedicate this play about the Narrow Gate to a friend of mine who once made the most brilliant reply to a theological question I ever heard. The question was a fairly common one in the conservative Christian circles we belonged to at the time, and had to do with whether a certain requirement was necessary for salvation. I won’t bore you with the exact details of the question, but my friend’s answer was, “Who wants to know?”
I could never come close to detailing all the ways in which that question sliced through the issue in useful ways, but here’s a small sampling:
- It raises the counter-question of why the asker is asking the question. Is it so he can feel smug about being among the few who are saved?
- It redirects the focus to the asker. (“You should worry more about whether you’re saved.”)
- It suggests that merely asking the question in earnest fulfills the requirement. (i.e. if you’re honestly and earnestly asking about your own state, you’re probably fine)
So: Thank you, Tim Lee, for the last line of this play!