“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14
The secular world condemns people who are narrow minded. It is because they equate being narrow minded with clinging to values and traditions of the past, being closed to new ways of thinking, and not being willing to go along with those who have more progressive ideas. It’s the belief that new is better, old is outdated, and we must continually evolve as a society to meet the challenges of our times. And while new ideas, products and technologies can improve lives in the future, the reality is that not all of them do.
What we are witnessing today is the jettison of values that have provided a firm foundation for our society for thousands of years and the adoption of new values that are destroying our society right before our eyes. The traditional values of freedom, hard work, family, faith in God, and equality are being replaced by the values of more government control, socialism, LGBTQ rights, atheism, and diversity. And the truly sad part is that many people just don’t see it! They believe we are on the right path. But in reality, they are on the wide path to their own destruction!
Jesus said in his famous sermon on the mount that if we follow the wide path it will lead to our destruction (Matthew 7:13). Instead, He said we must take the narrow path which will lead us to life (Matthew 7:14)! He also said that only a few would find it. Why? Because most people tend to follow the crowd and are influenced to go along with whatever is popular at the time. It is often much harder to go against the tide and to stick to one’s convictions and beliefs when the world is going another way. And that’s why only a few follow the narrow road to true life. It takes conviction and courage to follow the right path!
When I was a senior in high school, I took my first computer programming class. It was taught by one of our math teachers, Mr. Wagner. One of the exercises we did in class was to run a program that simulated landing on the moon (this was 1971 by the way). Our task was to select the speed, pitch and direction to land the lunar module on the moon safely. As hard as I tried, I crashed every time because the speed, pitch and direction inputs had to be exactly right for it to work. In other words, there was only one way to land safely but an unlimited number of ways to crash and burn!
This was also demonstrated dramatically in the movie Apollo 13 when our astronauts had a crippled spaceship due to an explosion and had to return to earth. Their ship had many problems and they had to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere in a very narrow window or they would never return. One of my favorite quotes from that movie was when a reporter asked a NASA Director about all the problems and the possibility of success, he said that “this could be NASA’s worst disaster”. At that moment, the Apollo flight controller stepped in and said, “I believe this will be NASA’s greatest hour!” He knew the odds, but still had faith and trusted that they were on the right path, the narrow path, that was necessary to bring the astronauts home safely!
So, the question we must all ask ourselves is this: Are we on the right path in our life? Is it the wide path that leads to destruction or the narrow path that leads to life?
The wide path is what most people choose because it is easier and appears to offer more flexibility and options in our choices. Following a narrow path is much more difficult because it requires conviction to know that it’s the right path and the courage to trust and believe it is the right path no matter what the world tells us. We must take the narrow path if we want to end up where we truly want to be.
So, what did Jesus mean when He said that only a few find it? I think that many people falsely believe Jesus meant that only a few are chosen to receive eternal life and that the vast majority of people won’t be good enough to get to heaven. They are the people who think that they need to earn their way to heaven. But Jesus clearly indicated that He came to save all people. The only requirement is that they put their faith and trust in Him alone for salvation (John 3:16)!
I believe that Jesus was really saying that many people would rather choose the easy way and the wide path. For them the narrow path is too restricting and confining and requires them to follow certain principles that could result in their suffering, ridicule, or discomfort despite the potential gain. The few are those who follow Christ and who know that only Jesus is the way to true life (John 14:6). We cannot find the solution on our own, just like I could not find the exact inputs to land safely on the moon in my computer class. I needed someone to show me the correct inputs.
To find true life, we must put our trust and faith in Jesus alone, and He will lead us through the narrow gate. Sadly, out of pride, many people think they can get to heaven on their own instead of turning to Jesus. That’s why only a few will find it. Jesus does not exclude anyone from eternal life. People exclude themselves when they fail to put their faith and trust in Jesus to lead them there!
Being narrow minded spiritually means that we put our trust in Jesus alone and do not choose the wide path of the world and its corruption and sinfulness. Jesus is the gate to eternal life and only those who follow Him will pass through it. In John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
I, for one, am happy to be called narrow minded! I believe in God, I follow Jesus, and I put my faith and trust in Him alone! I want to be on the narrow path that leads to life. What about you?