Narrow Is Not a Dirty Word
Matthew 7:13–14
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction… narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.” — Matthew 7:13–14
Jesus says something in these two verses that has offended people for two thousand years and continues to offend people today: there is only one way. Not many ways. One.
Our culture has largely decided that anything narrow is bad. An exclusive, non-negotiable position on any issue is seen as bigoted, intolerant, or unenlightened. Broad-mindedness is celebrated as virtue, and anyone who holds something to be absolute, rather than relative, is regarded with suspicion. And yet, interestingly, the loudest voices for tolerance are often the most intolerant people in the room. If you agree with them, you’re accepted. If you don’t, you’re labelled and dismissed. That’s not tolerance. That’s just narrow-mindedness wearing a different coat.
Here’s something worth considering: we actually want narrow-mindedness in many areas of life, and we’d be terrified without it. Would you want a pilot who took a broad-minded approach to where the runway is? A pharmacist who was flexible about dosage? A surgeon who was creative about the location of your appendix? Of course not. In those areas, precision and certainty are what keep you alive.
When it comes to salvation, the single most important matter any of us will ever face, Jesus makes an exclusive claim: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The gate is narrow. But here’s what makes it different from every other exclusive claim: it stands wide open to anyone, anyone at all, who is willing to walk through it by faith.
Narrow doesn’t mean closed. It means certain.
Reflect: Have you ever felt embarrassed or hesitant about the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims? How does the “pilot and surgeon” analogy help you think about why precision in the things that matter most is actually a gift?