I can remember staying at my grandparents’ house by the beach every summer. They hated it when us kids would constantly run in the house and back out of the house, open the door and close the door. After doing that a couple of times in a row, without fail, we would receive the question, “Are you in, or are you out?” And we’d better have chosen one or the other.  One of the greatest downfalls of the Christian message throughout all of history is to reduce the gospel to a simple matter of being in or out of heaven. This message has become central to our existence as “good,” God-fearing Christians verses bad. Yet the gospel is so much more than that. It isn’t about in or out; it is about with: being with Jesus, walking with Jesus, having a relationship with Jesus. In or out isn’t even a question when Jesus is the owner of the house.

Photo by Rebecca Siegel