keithnurse
Active Member
Luke 14:23 says: The master said: "go out to the highways and country lanes and force people to come in, to make sure my house is full". This verse is not a command of Jesus, but, rather is at the end of the parable "A man once gave a feast". In the parable a man gave a feast and invited many guests. At the time for the feast he sent the servants out to tell those he had invited to come because everything was ready. None of those people came, they all had other things to do. The man sent the servants to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. Then the servants came to him and said there is still some room left in the banquet room. The man said go out and find people and force them to come so my house will be full. This verse was used centuries ago by Catholics and Protestants in Europe to support forcing people to go to the one officially approved church in a nation. Today Christians generally don't favor forcing people to go to church, so what do Christians do with this verse now? I can't think of any way to get around it except to ignore it. How do Christians soft pedal this verse today?