The Commands of Christ, Part Nineteen

On the tail end of Christ talking about judging, reminding us to ask God for our needs, and the Golden Rule, Jesus starts to talk about a set of gates. One gate is wide, one is narrow. In Matthew 7:13-14, we’re instructed to use the narrow one:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

So, before we dive too deep, let’s talk about how ancient, walled cities were constructed. Many of the larger cities would have had two gates and, as you might be thinking, one gate was typically much wider than the other. The wide gates would have been difficult to defend and usually were only open in times of peace and during the day. They were built wider to accommodate trade caravans and folks traveling with a lot of extra baggage. The smaller gates were designed more for foot traffic. They were easier to guard and typically were not completely closed.

The crowd Jesus was speaking to would have likely understood that wide gates are meant to allow for a large influx of people and stuff. No one had to shed any of their belongings to get through the wide gates. No one had to leave anything behind. The narrow gate, well, that’s another story. Some narrow gates were so slim they only allowed a single-file line.

Modern cities don’t typically have big walls and a set of gates, so some of this analogy might be lost on us. I, however, have a Sam’s Club membership. I know that if I’m grocery shopping at Sam’s, I can feed my family of 6 for less than $15 if I go through their cafe. The line is a single file line and it’s often incredibly long. Sometimes, it’s so long that I give up and spend the extra for other fast food. My $15 plan to feed everyone has now become a $60 or more plan. There may not have been a gate, but I took the easier path.

So, why does the wide gate lead to destruction? Well, we know from John 14:6 that Jesus is the only way to make it to the Father. He makes that pretty clear. What Jesus also makes incredibly clear is that following Him is not going to be easy. I’m not just talking about in our core verse for this command where he says “…the way is constricted that leads to life…” Six other places in the new testament (John 16:33, Luke 9:23, Matthew 10:34-36, Luke 14:27, Luke 9:57-58, John 15:20) Jesus points out following Him comes with a cost. For a flesh-driven heart, the wide gate is just easier.

The wide gate doesn’t ask anything of us. It allows us to bring all of who we are and dream to be through it. That’s what makes it tempting. There are things you can do and be going through the wide gate that you can’t do and be going through the narrow one. The primary thing we have to come to grips with giving up is everything that WE dream of being but we give that up to allow room for God to make us everything HE desires us to be. Sometimes, we have to give up friends that are dear to us but draw us away from God rather than closer to Him. Sometimes, we have to give up hobbies. We can’t take everything that we are and want to be through the narrow gate with us. The only thing that fits through is our desire to love and serve God. Sure, we may sneak some worldly stuff in through our pockets and our backpacks, but eventually, that’s going to have to go too.

But why does the wide gate lead to destruction? Historically, the wide gate being open was a good thing. It meant anyone and everyone could enter. It meant times were probably pretty good and there was plenty to be traded. It meant there would be ample distractions. While we don’t aimlessly wander around malls like we used to as a culture, we do aimlessly scroll through our pocket computers that also make phone calls. The wide gate allows for distractions. Distractions capture our attention and draw it away from the things that bring us closer to God. It’s important to remember that the enemy is a subtle creature. He can’t take away our salvation, but he can, and does, try to keep us from being fruitful.

The enemy’s favorite tool to keep the world in darkness is a distracted or lazy Christian who isn’t focused on following God’s will. If the devil can placate us enough that we’re comfortable, our witness is nullified. That’s the danger for Christians making use of the wide gate. For non-believers, it means they’re going to be so flooded with distractions they won’t stop to think about what they need and that is what leads them to destruction.

But wait, don’t both gates go to the same city? If you’re asking from a historical context, yes. The Bible makes it pretty clear that the gates lead to different places spiritually. One important thing to remember, however, is that the wide gate, even when it was closed, was a target for a kingdom’s enemy. Why? Because if they could breach the wide gate, the whole army could get through and do whatever they wanted with those within the city.

Imagine you entered the wide gate with all of your things that you thought were important. Then, the enemy strikes. You hear the battle and now you know not to go through that gate, but what about all your precious stuff? You have more than you can hide. You’ve never had to go through the process of deciding what’s truly important to you. You’re stuck in decision paralysis and you don’t know what to do. Then, a foreign soldier enters your home and decides for you.

Had you entered through the narrow gate, you’d have already had to trim down your belongings to fit through. Maybe you sold some, maybe you gave some away, but you had to make that tough choice of what was precious and what was just stuff. Now that the enemy is breaching the wide gate, you have your backpack, it takes you a few minutes to pack and you’re off to your hiding place. Safe. Protected.

We enter through the narrow gate not only because Jesus told us to, but so we can trim the excess from our lives and focus on what really and truly matters. We trade the time spent on things we can do without to add that time to the things we can’t. We trade the focus we spend on distractions for focus on serving God.

We know that, eventually, the enemy breaches the gates and the world comes to an end. When that happens, we’ll have a different set of gates to deal with. Not ones of historical context, but ones of spiritual consequence. If we’ve spent our time on earth worshiping at the altar of self instead of the altar of God we’re going to stand before judgement with all of our attachments to the things of this world. Those attachments won’t fit through the narrow gate that leads to the Kingdom of God. If, however, we spent our time wisely, looking for and taking advantage of every opportunity to worship, honor, and serve God, we’ll find that what our spirit is most attached to is waiting for us on the other side of the narrow gate.