Many are Called, Few are Chosen (Tony Evans' Interpretation)

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 There are some verses in the Bible that will always be confusing and cause disagreement.  And the "many are called/invited, few are chosen" verse is one of them.

Matthew 22:1-14: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.... So his servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.  Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 'For many are invited, but few are chosen.'"

Some people think this is about unbelievers or false Christians being sent to hell (but how could unbelievers have even gotten into the "wedding feast"?).  Some think it's about believers losing their salvation, which I don't think is possible.  And I've wondered if being sent to "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" could be about backslidden believers losing their place in the rapture or missing out on eternal rewards/blessings.  [FYI, I think the "fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:42, 13:50) might be different than the "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12, 25:30, and I'd say 24:51).  I lean towards thinking these are two different times/places when people weep and gnash their teeth: the first is when unbelievers are sent to hell, the second is some sort of punishment/loss for believers who didn't live as they should (which is why it's tied to warnings of watching for Jesus to return, of living ready for His coming).  But this is just my idea.] 

But Calvinists think this passage is about God choosing who gets into His Kingdom, into heaven.  They think that "many are called" means God gives a general call of salvation to all people but that only a "few are chosen" by God to be saved.  They think this supports the idea of election, that God chooses who gets saved and causes the chosen ones to respond to the gospel call.

And, of course, I don't agree with them.  [I could agree if it was that God calls all people to be saved (giving them all a genuine, real chance to be saved) but that He only saves those who choose to willingly believe in Jesus, that He chooses those who first choose Him.]

I think it has to be something other than support for Calvinist election.  


And after reading a note on this verse in the Tony Evans' Study Bible, I've now got another possible way of looking at it that does not support Calvinism.  Dr. Evans gives an interpretation I'd never thought of before but that's definitely worth considering, especially since he is my favorite and most trusted pastor/theologian (far surpassing any Calvinist theologian out there!).  Here it is, mingled with my added explanations:

According to Dr. Evans, this parable about being thrown into outer darkness isn't about eternal "heaven or hell" salvation at all or about being kicked out of heaven.  It's about the millennial kingdom, when Jesus comes back again to rule on earth for 1000 years.  The man without the proper clothes is a true believer, but he wasn't living the way true believers should be living when Jesus comes back again.  And because of this (and even though he was raptured with all true believers), he lost the rewards and full blessings he could've received in the millennial kingdom: specifically, the right to rule alongside Jesus.  And it caused him great emotional pain.  (This is close to my idea that true believers could possibly miss out on the rapture - because it's about true believers losing something but not their salvation and it explains the repeated warnings to be ready for Jesus to return.)

Dr. Evans says that "many are called, few are chosen" means that while all believers are called to the millennial kingdom, only a few - the faithful ones - will be chosen to rule alongside Jesus during those 1000.

I'd never thought about this before, that the "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" could be about the millennial kingdom.  It's a whole different way of looking at it, something interesting to chew on, to consider.  And it may just help tie everything together: the truths that God doesn't choose who gets saved, that true believers can't lose their salvation but can lose spiritual rewards/blessings, and that God repeatedly warns believers to be ready for when Jesus comes back again.

This might just be the key to the puzzle.


Of course, you don't have to see things my way or Dr. Evans' way or anyone else's way.  We should all be reading the Word for ourselves, wrestling with its teachings, being teachable, and growing in spiritual knowledge and wisdom as we grow in the faith.

But I will say this: After years of reading/hearing various theologians' and pastors' theological views, I totally, highly, and 100% recommend Dr. Tony Evans.  To me, he is one of the most accurate (and practical) theologian out there.  And even after 37 years of being a Christian, I still learn something new from him all the time.

Seriously, I think everyone should have the Tony Evans Study Bible and his Theology You Can Count On book.  (And he's got a huge, great commentary which I'm going to read through this year as my New Year's Resolution.)  

Get these and read through them.  Read through the Bible while reading his study notes.  The more you do, the more pleasantly surprised you'll be by how easy the Bible is to understand (so much easier than confusing, contradictory Calvinism), how encouraging it is (so much more soul-filling, heart-healing, and faith-strengthening than Calvinism's depressing, fatalistic views of God and salvation and human life, etc.), how trustworthy God is (so much more than the two-faced, deceptive, double-talking Calvi-god), and how practical the lessons of the Bible are (so much more than the lofty, high-and-might, overly intellectual teachings of Calvinism).

Seriously, get these resources from Dr. Evans and you won't be sorry.  And you'll be well on your way to knowing God as He should be known and to understanding God's Word as He meant it to be understood.  And your faith and heart will thank you for it.  

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