JP40: NARROW GATE OR NARROW MINDED?: LIVING THE GOLDEN RULE IN A CULTURE OF OPTIONS

During the Great Blizzard of 1978, some friends and I played Hasbro's The Game of Life board game on repeat between tunneling the deep snowdrifts and late evening sledding. Reflecting on those formative days, one can glimpse how the gameplay echoed social norms from an extinct culture.

Now that shifts in the culture happen faster than a speeding tweet, Jesus anchors us in real life with a timely truth on staying grounded and valuable to our neighbors.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. 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.” (Mt 7:12-14).

Living The Golden Rule In A Culture of Options

Jesus concludes His sweeping message on the Kingdom ethic with a summary statement known as the Golden Rule.  It’s like He’s saying, when in doubt, always remember to treat our neighbors as we would have our neighbors treat us.

Regarding neighbors, consider the related phrase, known as the Great Commandment, found in Matthew 22:37-40. There Jesus explains His command to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. And to love our neighbors as ourselves.  To this, Jesus adds, "all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  

What does Jesus mean by adding “all the Law and the Prophets” language to the Golden Rule and Great Commandment?

Jesus says that the Father’s Kingdom rests on the principle that the quality of our relationship with God finds measure by the tangible quality with which we love our neighbors and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  

This love of neighbors and friends includes all people who don't think, act or choose to live as we do.

In His kindness, Jesus is clear that the choice to live a lifestyle of loving well - when it's complicated - moves from words to action when we self select into the narrow gate of the Jesus way.

Enter Through The Narrow Gate

Entering through a narrow gate is counterintuitive because we usually associate limiting our choices with losing freedom.  

We like to keep all of our options open. But Jesus says that to follow Him, we must choose the narrow gate and adjust our life rhythms in a way that puts God and our neighbor first.

Limiting ourselves in this way opens the door to the practice of life beyond the broad, cultural road that carries us away in a current of indulgent self-love.

Once we enter the narrow gate, Jesus - the Good Shepherd, leads us by His grace to continue and follow the narrow road.  The paradox is that we find ultimate freedom in life on the narrow road when we walk through the narrow gate—freedom from the chains of our lesser nature.

Jesus says those who choose the broad path, apart from the loving grace and ways of the Father, find destruction in the end.  

Follow The Narrow Road

Following the narrow road starts when we enter the narrow gate and moves forward by doing life with others on the same path.  Living out our identity as Jesus followers involves finding an identity group of allies who will encourage and love us unconditionally.  

Hard choices are easier to make when a team of allies is cheering us from the sidelines.  

By contrast, drifting off course comes naturally when a pack with weak or unclear boundaries shapes our identity by association.  Our longing for belonging leads us to think and act in ways that secure our acceptance, regardless of how those actions corrupt our souls.

Is this your day to happily select the narrow gate and follow the Jesus way?  Have you started on the Jesus way in the past, only to find yourself straying in isolation?  What step can you take today to get back onto the Jesus road?  

He is waiting, willing to forgive, and ready to welcome you back no matter how deep the drift.

Prayer: Father, thank you for making your plans for me so clear. I often find myself distracted by an onslaught of options from our prevailing culture.  Help me to see through the storm to the narrow gate where I find your love and my true identity as a new creation in you.  Keep me from drifting as I join with a team of faithful allies to live the abundant, authentic life that you’ve planned for me.

Narrow Path or Narrow Minded?: Living the Golden Rule In A Culture of Options

1. The Golden Rule

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 7:12)

2. Enter Through The Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” (Mt 7:13)

3. Follow The Narrow Road

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Mt 7:14)

Photo by Lance Grandahl on Unsplash

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