"Enter through the narrow door" - That's not narrow minded.

Luke 13:22-35 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link  on links page) 

Teaching in the Villages

²² And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; ²⁷ and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. ²⁹ And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

³¹ Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.” ³² And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’ ³³ Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. ³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! ³⁵ Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

There was a question asked in today's text. “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” Jesus response is: “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. In Matthew 7:13-14 it says basically the same thing. ¹³ “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. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Jesus also says in John 14:6:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. In John 10:8-10 He says:"All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.…

This idea of one way to God and heaven becomes quite controversial in the world view. Christians are considered intolerant and closed minded for believing what Jesus said. The truth is, as it says in 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:1-2: First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. ³ This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.    The natural question then is, if God truly wants all men to be saved, why is Jesus the only way? Why not have many paths as other religions and philosophies teach?  

Let me first respond with my own logic and not a deeply theological explanation. Who gets to make the rules about anything? The one who is in charge or the creator, the one who designed it from the begining. To me that is the biggest stumbling block for man, always wanting to question, negotiate or change the rules. God is the one who created man and the world we live in. He is the one who gets to set the rules. The root of atheist and agnostic belief is really an unwillingness to recognize that there is a God who is in authority. By disregarding God, the atheist becomes the one who makes the rules the way they want them. As for me, I'll accept God, the creator of heaven and earth as the one who makes the rules rather than someone who believes we came from monkeys and the whole universe and everything in it was created by some random sequence of events.

On the more theological side a key to God's way of doing things is found in Psalm 89:13-14:  You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted. 14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.    While truth and loving kindness do go before Him, it is on His righteousness and His justice that His authority is based. It is because man is unable, through any other means, religion or philosophy to measure up to the righteousness and holiness of God that He, God had to make a way for us to be restored the relationship He desires us to have with Him.  Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of God's righteousness and justice someone had to die for sin. If there was no penalty for disobedience there would be no justice. In sending Jesus to die for our sins God simply gives everyone a choice. We either pay the penalty for our own sins or we accept the free gift of eternal  life through Jesus Christ. That may be a narrow way. It might not measure up to the all inclusive and tolerant standards of our times. But I'd say it's a pretty good deal.

As for the questions people try to dispute God's way with, by asking what about those who never hear of Jesus or were raised to believe somwthing else? My answer is simply and thankfully, that's not my problem. I don't mean that coldly or arrogantly, it simply is not my problem. It's God's. I believe He is able to figure it out. Whether like the thief on the cross who finally in his last conscious moments recieved the revelation of Christ and was promised eternal life, or through a spiritual experience Jesus reveals Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, the only path to God. I don't know how He does it. There are a lot of things bigger than me, that I can't explain. I do know that God is a big God and no one or no group of people can begin to explain all that He has done in creating the intricasies of the universe. I'll trust Him and His plan.

Thank You Heavenly Father for Your love, Your truthfullness and for Your righteousness and justice. Thank You that You made a way for all people to come to You. Thank You Jesus, that You were willing to come and pay the price, to die for all the sin of all people, so that through You and the cross we have that way. It may be a narrow way, but it is straight and true. Thank You Holy Spirit for working with the Father and Jesus to bring the revelation of the truth about Christ into my life. I pray that You will guide me and direct me to live my Life in obedience to God, that through my life others may see the revelation of the love of God, His truth and His righteous justice.    Amen