Are everywhere. They exist between you and the movies you watch (or don’t), the music you listen to (or don’t), the foods you eat (or don’t), the books you read (or don’t), the friends you keep (or don’t), the prayers you pray (or don’t).
I say this without judgment. Gatekeepers are simply a part of human culture. They are unavoidable, and possibly in many cases essential. Mediation is necessary because none of us can relate to everyone or everything on our own. We cannot produce or create everything on our own. We cannot connect to or consume everything on our own. Gatekeepers are the bridges that keep us connected.
Sometimes it’s helpful to acknowledge the gatekeepers.
Not that we ought to accept all gatekeepers uncritically. There are certainly times when they might abuse their position for personal gain, or to withhold goods and services from those that need them, or silence information that deserves to be known.
Sometimes it’s necessary to question the gatekeepers.
Jesus says this about gatekeepers:
Question those gatekeepers. Find a sheep pen with different gatekeepers if you must.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for [the Shepherd], and the sheep listen to his voice.
John 10:3
There are, it seems, religious gatekeepers who will actively attempt to keep the sheep separated from the Shepherd, abusing their position in order to claim more power or influence over the sheep than they have actually been given. They often do so out of fear, keeping the sheep penned in rather than being led out to graze under the care of the Shepherd in the wider world.
Give thanks for those gatekeepers who quietly and faithfully make way for the Shepherd to come in so that the sheep might hear his voice and follow him out into wild, green pastures.
