John Bunyan’s two books Pilgrim’s Progress have been, since first published in 1678, the most widely distributed (and until the last 50 years or so, read) books in the English language other than the Bible itself. Written mostly, perhaps entirely, from imprisonment because Bunyan refused to conform to the religion ‘industry’ of the day and instead sought to preach the Bible to any who wished to hear it.
In prison, he found a brilliant and creative way to do that by his pen, writing an allegory of a narrator’s dream of a journey undertaken between two cities, a birthplace known as “The City of Destruction” to heaven itself, “The Celestial City.” There were two such journeys, first of the husband and father “Christian” who undertook it though his wife (and children, and neighbors) were unwilling, even mocking, of it. Subsequently the journey is told of his wife “Christiana” (and children) born from her repentance of her prior refusal.
One important event of passage, perhaps the key moment, is Christiana’s encounter with “The Wicket Gate.” (The Wicket Gate represents that passage from one’s physical life as being with no meaning, i.e. the embodiment of “materialism” or “naturalism,” or that there is meaning but only within humanistic space-time framework). At that Gate she is confronted by the “Keeper.” When she knocks at the door, repeatedly and ever more earnestly, after a terrifying barking by a mongrel dog, the Keeper appears, and asks of Christiana three deep questions:
- Who are you?
- Where have you come from?
- What do you seek?
Bunyan’s book is not Scripture, but in this ever brief encounter he expresses through the Keeper three deeply insightful questions that are keys to that journey to the Celestial City, and to us readers 350 years later.
A Self-Discovery
Here in the most-unusual year of 2020, and in the midst of the closing three holidays of customary celebration–Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years–how might you (and I) answer these questions before God Himself, not hiding behind the mask as we would normally do? What would you, could you, respond to the Keeper of the Wicket Gate’s questions that would be true? Writing, however briefly or long, is essential because it instantiates thought in fixed, concrete form. Keep it private so you’re not inclined ‘to pose’ as we all are by nature.
Ernest Hemingway–far from being a Christian influence–did contribute a useful writing tool, namely: “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know,” or in this case three true sentences (at least), the truest you can bear to write as you now sit here. Hemingway’s admonition was about how to get unstuck as a fiction writer; my suggestion is how to become transparently honest as to the greatest possible realities and, so, to become ‘stuck.’
A Lord Jesus Christ-Discovery
‘Stuck’ we all are, if we’re honest, but ‘stuck’ is not all we should be. Again, particularly in this Christmas / year-end context, and the year 2020, I invite you to this challenge: read the four Gospels of Christ’s life (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) asking these same three questions, but of Jesus, while asking God to reveal the deepest reality you are able to grasp.
All together the four Gospels are only about 40,000 words, or one-quarter the size of Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, for which his answer was “it tolls for you” (i.e., announcing your death, as in time it shall for each of us, and now, given the experiences of 2020, perhaps sooner than we expected).
If your reading speed is just 200 words per minute, the Gospels can be completed in 200 minutes, or a little over three hours. This is relevant because you’ll want to read them through multiple times. Wise counsel on reading is that “one cannot read a book once,” meaning the first read of any weighty text cannot be fully grasped because what one reads at the beginning requires in some meaningful way the understanding of what is developed in the body and conclusion. Rereading (at least) four times makes a huge difference, as does having a pencil and pad at hand.
It may be helpful to your reading the Gospels by noting their contexts:
- Matthew: strongly connected to the Old Testament, showing that Christ was indeed the fulfillment of the Promised One. Matthew has the long, well-known (but often misunderstood) “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7).
- Mark: brief, immediate (a frequently used word), miracle-noting, showing Jesus’s power over creation and events.
- Luke: long, literary, rich in exposition, showing Jesus as True Teacher. Luke also has the beloved “Christmas Story.”
- John: beginning in eternity past, parallel to the opening verse of Genesis, focused on the final week in the ministry of Jesus the upper room discourse and Jesus’s arrest, crucifixion, and post-crucifixion events (comprising the final nine chapters of the Gospel), and the intimate unity: of Himself (God the Son, The Lamb of God), with God the Father, and with God the Holy Spirit (“The Comforter”), and with us.
Return to the Self-Discovery Questions (and Answers)
In light of the above study of Christ from His biography as contained in the Gospels, and looking at your original writing of self-discovery to Bunyan’s three questions of the Keeper of The Wicket Gate, how do you answer them now?
We are all Pilgrim’s here…and sometimes we make a little Progress. Answering insightful questions can help make that possible. Jesus asked 300 of them, including, with regard to submission to authority by paying the Roman Denarius Tax: “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” (Matthew 22:20). These two questions were really not about the coin and the payment, but about you, and me (Matthew 22:21).
A Coda: Pilgrim’s Progress
For ‘extra credit,’ read, or re-read Pilgrim’s Progress. It is available on the internet as a free pdf in various forms; try to find a modern English treatment. It is also available in Kindle format, such as below (Amazon).
Pilgrim’s Progress (Illustrated): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations. (Bunyan Updated Classics Book 1) Kindle Edition
by John Bunyan (Author), Donna Sundblad (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,758 ratings