The Hard Stuff: Choosing the Narrow Gate

There's a question that echoes through the corridors of faith, one that demands an honest answer from each of us: Are we counted among the many or among the few?

In Matthew 7:13-14, we encounter one of the most sobering truths in Scripture: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Read that again slowly. The way that leads to destruction is described as easy, and many find it. The way that leads to life is described as hard, and few discover it.

This isn't the message we typically want to hear. We live in an age where comfort has become our compass, where personal preference has been elevated above divine purpose, and where feeling good has been substituted for truth. But the kingdom of God operates on an entirely different frequency.

The Crisis of Discipleship

Something shifted in the church during the 1960s and 70s, a subtle but devastating change. Discipleship became optional, left up to the individual rather than being the central framework of Christian life. Church leadership began paying more attention to people's offense than to their purpose, allowing the wrong thing to determine how people would be led.

This wasn't discipleship. This was acceptance of the status quo. This was the wide gate Jesus warned us about.

The result? An undisciplined and undiscipled church that the world easily dismisses and mocks. When there's no transformative power evident in our lives, when we look just like everyone else scrambling for the easy path, why would anyone be drawn to what we claim to believe?

Without true discipleship, without the power and anointing that comes from genuine transformation, the world will never respect the church. And here's the uncomfortable truth: we cannot become who we are called to be in the kingdom of God without discipleship. There is no substitute.

The Deception of Our Age

Liberal deception and progressive lust have dimmed the light of God's pathways and introduced the counterfeit of man's. We've become a generation that mingles the seed of righteousness with unrighteousness, thinking we can somehow improve on God's design or make His truth more palatable to modern sensibilities.

The prophet Elijah confronted this same issue in 1 Kings 18:21 when he asked God's people: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."

How long will we limp between two opinions? How long will we try to serve two masters, to walk two paths simultaneously? God is uncompromising and intolerant of indecisiveness. He has no place for the undecided person outside of the altar of repentance.

Consider the confusion that permeates even the church today. There are believers who can't agree on what racism is, what male or female is, what marriage is, what a husband or wife is, what a parent is, what faith is, what forgiveness is, and what repentance truly means.

Yet within the words and teachings of Christ, there are clear and definitive answers. These answers have been overlooked and ignored because we always want it our way instead of His way.

The Standard That Never Changes

In John 14:6, Jesus made an exclusive claim that leaves no room for negotiation: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

He is THE way, meaning there is not another. He is THE truth, meaning everything else is a lie. He is THE life, meaning anything else leads to death.

Science cannot create an alternative. Liberalism and progressivism cannot redefine these words. Time does not change their meaning. Culture does not get a vote. His teachings are the immovable standard, and we cannot manipulate them simply because time has passed in our world.

The church must make disciples that are grown and matured from the teaching of Jesus Christ. There is not another way. There will not be any new ideas that change His plan. There will never be new discoveries that redefine who we are or how we should live if those discoveries contradict God's revealed truth.

The Work of Regeneration

So what does true discipleship look like? Titus 3:5 gives us insight: "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."

Discipleship involves the washing of regeneration, changing our minds, changing what we have an appetite for, changing our passions, removing the lies we've embraced that have kept us from fully entering into God's purpose.

There are people right now wondering, "Where is God in my life?" Meanwhile, God is asking, "When are you coming back to me?" We plant our roots in things that lead us away from Him and don't even recognize it. But when we position ourselves to be discipled, transformation begins.

Building on the Rock

Jesus taught in Luke 6:47-48 that everyone who comes to Him, hears His words, and puts them into practice is like someone building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built.

This is what happens when we embrace discipleship, when we position ourselves in a place where we embrace even what we don't understand until He makes it clear to us. We become unshakeable, not because we're perfect, but because we're built on the unchanging foundation of His truth.

The Charge

Disciples make disciples. It's that simple and that profound. An undiscipled believer cannot disciple others because there's nothing in them to give. We can only recreate or duplicate whatever we are.

This means doing the hard stuff. Making the hard choices. Pushing through things that want to eat us up and get in our way. Rising above. Knowing who we are, not as a random spot on planet earth, but as a purpose.

The narrow gate requires us to confront the hard stuff. It requires us to make choices that honor God every day, even when, especially when, those choices are difficult. We always have to choose.

The question remains: Will you be counted among the many who choose the wide gate and the easy path? Or will you be numbered among the few who choose the narrow gate and the hard way?

The hard way isn't hard because it's impossible. It's hard because it requires us to die to ourselves, to surrender our preferences, to allow God to remove everything in us that contradicts His purpose. But it's the only way that leads to life.

The whole earth is looking for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. Will you be one of them?

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The Hard Stuff

The Hard Stuff: Choosing the Narrow Gate

There's a question that echoes through the corridors of faith, one that demands an honest answer from each of us: Are we counted among the many or among the few?

In Matthew 7:13-14, we encounter one of the most sobering truths in Scripture: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Read that again slowly. The way that leads to destruction is described as easy, and many find it. The way that leads to life is described as hard, and few discover it.

This isn't the message we typically want to hear. We live in an age where comfort has become our compass, where personal preference has been elevated above divine purpose, and where feeling good has been substituted for truth. But the kingdom of God operates on an entirely different frequency.

The Crisis of Discipleship

Something shifted in the church during the 1960s and 70s, a subtle but devastating change. Discipleship became optional, left up to the individual rather than being the central framework of Christian life. Church leadership began paying more attention to people's offense than to their purpose, allowing the wrong thing to determine how people would be led.

This wasn't discipleship. This was acceptance of the status quo. This was the wide gate Jesus warned us about.

The result? An undisciplined and undiscipled church that the world easily dismisses and mocks. When there's no transformative power evident in our lives, when we look just like everyone else scrambling for the easy path, why would anyone be drawn to what we claim to believe?

Without true discipleship, without the power and anointing that comes from genuine transformation, the world will never respect the church. And here's the uncomfortable truth: we cannot become who we are called to be in the kingdom of God without discipleship. There is no substitute.

The Deception of Our Age

Liberal deception and progressive lust have dimmed the light of God's pathways and introduced the counterfeit of man's. We've become a generation that mingles the seed of righteousness with unrighteousness, thinking we can somehow improve on God's design or make His truth more palatable to modern sensibilities.

The prophet Elijah confronted this same issue in 1 Kings 18:21 when he asked God's people: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."

How long will we limp between two opinions? How long will we try to serve two masters, to walk two paths simultaneously? God is uncompromising and intolerant of indecisiveness. He has no place for the undecided person outside of the altar of repentance.

Consider the confusion that permeates even the church today. There are believers who can't agree on what racism is, what male or female is, what marriage is, what a husband or wife is, what a parent is, what faith is, what forgiveness is, and what repentance truly means.

Yet within the words and teachings of Christ, there are clear and definitive answers. These answers have been overlooked and ignored because we always want it our way instead of His way.

The Standard That Never Changes

In John 14:6, Jesus made an exclusive claim that leaves no room for negotiation: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

He is THE way, meaning there is not another. He is THE truth, meaning everything else is a lie. He is THE life, meaning anything else leads to death.

Science cannot create an alternative. Liberalism and progressivism cannot redefine these words. Time does not change their meaning. Culture does not get a vote. His teachings are the immovable standard, and we cannot manipulate them simply because time has passed in our world.

The church must make disciples that are grown and matured from the teaching of Jesus Christ. There is not another way. There will not be any new ideas that change His plan. There will never be new discoveries that redefine who we are or how we should live if those discoveries contradict God's revealed truth.

The Work of Regeneration

So what does true discipleship look like? Titus 3:5 gives us insight: "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."

Discipleship involves the washing of regeneration, changing our minds, changing what we have an appetite for, changing our passions, removing the lies we've embraced that have kept us from fully entering into God's purpose.

There are people right now wondering, "Where is God in my life?" Meanwhile, God is asking, "When are you coming back to me?" We plant our roots in things that lead us away from Him and don't even recognize it. But when we position ourselves to be discipled, transformation begins.

Building on the Rock

Jesus taught in Luke 6:47-48 that everyone who comes to Him, hears His words, and puts them into practice is like someone building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built.

This is what happens when we embrace discipleship, when we position ourselves in a place where we embrace even what we don't understand until He makes it clear to us. We become unshakeable, not because we're perfect, but because we're built on the unchanging foundation of His truth.

The Charge

Disciples make disciples. It's that simple and that profound. An undiscipled believer cannot disciple others because there's nothing in them to give. We can only recreate or duplicate whatever we are.

This means doing the hard stuff. Making the hard choices. Pushing through things that want to eat us up and get in our way. Rising above. Knowing who we are, not as a random spot on planet earth, but as a purpose.

The narrow gate requires us to confront the hard stuff. It requires us to make choices that honor God every day, even when, especially when, those choices are difficult. We always have to choose.

The question remains: Will you be counted among the many who choose the wide gate and the easy path? Or will you be numbered among the few who choose the narrow gate and the hard way?

The hard way isn't hard because it's impossible. It's hard because it requires us to die to ourselves, to surrender our preferences, to allow God to remove everything in us that contradicts His purpose. But it's the only way that leads to life.

The whole earth is looking for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. Will you be one of them?