God’s Constitution, Pt 29: Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:13-14 13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:21 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
John 6: 38-40 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
James 2:14, 17-18b 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?... 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead…. 18bShow me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
The other day I was watching an episode of a series on the streaming service I have when one character said to the other, “You know what you do when the world seems to be going down the toilet and there is no integrity anywhere around you? You find it in yourself, and you change the world from right where you stand.” That’s the secular version of what Jesus is saying in these verses. But, as usual, the secular version of a thing is not nearly as encompassing as the Godly version of a thing. That’s the case hear as so much more is included in these two simple verses than in the quote.
When I first became a believer and read these verses for the 1st time, I thought they referred to the kind of life one led. Again, the understanding is much less encompassing than the message. Actually most scholars teach the narrow gate to be the personhood and sacrifice of Christ Jesus and the degree to which the world has accepted Him as Savior. Today (2022) slightly more than 30% of the world’s population accepts some form of belief in Jesus, and that means almost 70% of the world rejects Him as God. If ever there was a spiritual definition of narrow and wide, this is it.
So if ‘narrow gate’ is metaphor for accepting Jesus as Savior, then why is the world not 100% believers? Well, the simple answer is of course that the world is filled with distractions, false teachings, deceptive people, and, well, us. People like to use things like distractions to excuse their failure to accept Jesus, but the real reason is their own pride. We tend to think our own needs, sin, yes, but also just ordinary life, as more important than anyone else’s. That’s in direct opposition to the second of the two greatest commandments: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Let’s look at the things Jesus has been teaching in the Sermon. There was a whole section on how righteous living brings blessing. Another on how this kind of living will bring insult. Another on how we can change the world simply by living as holy as possible. He taught we should not hurt other people but be sensitive to their needs, that we should be careful of what we say, that we should not take revenge, but love our opponents and care for the needy. He showed us where our true worth lies and how unhelpful worry is. In contrast, the world teaches to look out for #1, trample on whoever you have to to get rich, let someone else take care of the problem.
The problem is that the wide way and wide gate is so much more inviting. We see our friends succeeding in worldly acquisition and wonder why we can’t have some of that. We forget though that those people have no future reward. When they die, it is just nothingness; just oblivion.
Choosing the small gate and narrow road means changing the way we approach life. It means leaving the crowd and walking with Jesus. Now that may sound unsettling and even a little intimidating. In the prayer Jesus taught, the Lord’s Prayer, one clause says, ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven’. That’s the key: We must be willing to step out of ourselves and listen to what God’s will is for our lives. God is on a mission to cleanse the earth from sin and evil. True, He could speak and it would be accomplished but that would make us robots, not people. His procedure is to use us to spread His Word, His righteousness, His holiness. That means we have to think outside the box. Where once we might have said, “What am I doing today?”, now we should say, “God, lead me to the people you want me to bless, and take me to places where I can help somebody.” In so doing we are helping God’s will be done on earth.
It also means doing God’s will is not passive. We don’t do good things simply because they are good things. We do them because Jesus said to.
35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:33-41)
There is really no choice in this decision but to follow Jesus. Who wouldn’t want to live the kind of life He gives us? It does take some work though, and the 70% just don’t want to make the effort. In short, each person has to make a decision. Do we want to follow the crowd? Do we want to stay in that slow-moving river, in which it is possible to swim against the current, but not for very long, or do we want to swim to the shore, dry our garments, and look for a different way? Jesus’ ‘river’ has some white water in it. It has some rocks, bumps, and bruises, is sometimes not very much fun, but boy is it interesting.