THE NARROW WAY


Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(Matthew 7: 13-14 – NAS)


“If it were easy, everybody would be doing it!”

How often do we say that about activities, especially activities that we appreciate when they are well done? A deeply moving singer, a fleet-footed runner, a mesmerizing storyteller – we see their achievements and wish that we could do likewise. But we also recognize at the same time that it took more than talent to reach that achievement: it took long hours of work and practice and study.

So why are we really surprised that Jesus tells us the same thing about the challenge of living as the Children of God? Perhaps deep down we feel that if God really loved us, He would not make it so difficult to live the life He designs for us. The closer we get to God, shouldn’t it be easier to live as His people?

But that isn’t the case. Sticking to His design takes a lot of work on our part, every day.

Not long ago, in the trailers for one of the Harry Potter movies, the wizard Dumbledore gives advice to Harry about facing and fighting evil. He tells Harry that the choices he will face are between “what is right and what is easy” (emphasis mine). We had expected the usual phrasing of “right and wrong,” but the storytellers jolted us with the actual choice we face.

Jesus begins by telling us that the gate is wide and the way broad – oh, doesn’t that sound appealing after a long, tiring trip? But then He pulls the comfort rug out from under us by adding that that path is the way to destruction.

Wait, what?

So there we stand, outside the city walls of our destination, within sight of our goals. And now He tells us that that wide, open archway, and the wide, glittering street that seems to run straight into the heart of the city, the easiest way toward our goal ... He tells us that way only leads to destruction. We still have some work to do.

We have to go find the narrow way into the city. We have to go look for a small gate and a narrow way, if we really want to reach the life that God has to give us.

If the broad path leads to destruction, why do so many people go down it? What is the appeal? Don’t they know where it goes?

Probably not.

They go down the broad way because it seems to be the easiest route to the center of the city, to the life that the Lord gives His followers, all those good things that Jesus had been talking about. But think about any stretch of road that is filled with shops and restaurants and theaters and other distractions. Think about the Strip in Las Vegas or the “Crossroads of the World”, Times Square in New York City. Even though they are only “ways” to other places in reality, they have become “destinations” by offering a dazzling array of distractions. What is it that they really offer? Do they offer a real destination? Remember, our goal is to find the source of True Life, the throne of God Almighty and our true home. And that isn’t to be found on the Vegas Strip or in Times Square.

So, Jesus tells us to turn aside and look for a much smaller gate, and the narrow way that lies beyond it. It is that street, He indicates, that will lead us straight to God, without distraction or deviation.

It is so very easy to be swept along on the broad way into the city. So many other people have traveled it that the surface is smoothed out. The flow of traffic keeps everything moving forward, so that we hardly even need to think about where we are going. The current will take us there, right to our destination ... won’t it?

No. It’s likely that broad thoroughfare will dead-end in some square at the backside of the Court of God, where the white walls shine, but have no opening. And getting out of that square, to find the street that leads to the front door of God’s palace will require going back out the way we came in, in order to search for the small gate. Back out, against the flow and press of everyone around us, past all those same distractions that glittered and enticed us as we came in.

G.K. Chesterton once said (and I’m quoting from memory, so I may not have the quotation exact, sorry) that “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and not tried.”

If things come too easily for us, perhaps we should stop and double-check which street we are on. It is wise to be wary. This isn’t to say that God does not ease our pathway when we truly are seeking His face. It’s just that if we are getting lots of bells and whistles and bright lights as we go along, it’s possible that we are on the wrong street. The pathway that leads to God and true life is narrow, straight and uncluttered. It may be a steep climb uphill, but up ahead of us we can see the open front door of the Courts of God and the welcoming light that always pours out of it. And that light is warmer and more welcoming than the flashing displays of the Strip or Times Square.