Oxymoron Pt 3 - Popular/Easy = Destruction

Thus far in this series, I have discussed the oxymorons of Righteous Sinner and Free Slave.  My last oxymoron:  the popular road is easy and leads to destruction.

“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.”  -Matthew 7:13-14

This passage has been haunting me for weeks.  Somehow our American Christian culture has conveyed this idea that following Jesus is easy.  All you need to do is say a prayer, believe he died and in turn you can go to heaven, your life will be better and you get free passage into heaven.  This is true to a certain extent but as discussed in my last post, it is only half of the truth.  The rest of the truth is that in order to gain this life, we must die the death of self and become slaves of Christ.

C.S. Lewis said,

“He, [mankind] had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself.  In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.  Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor - that is the only way out of our ‘hole’.  This process of surrender - is what Christians call repentance.  Now repentance is not fun at all.  It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie.  It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years.  It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. - Remember, this repentance, this willing submission to humiliation and a kind of death, is not something God demands of you before He will take you back and which He could let you off if He chose: it is simply a description of what going back to Him is like.  If you ask God to take you back without it, you are really asking Him to let you go back without going back.  It cannot happen.”

So life with Jesus means our initial death.  It also means that the way will be hard not easy and that it will not be the popular path.  If you are a Christian and life seems to be mostly comfortable and easy for yourself and your friends or that following Jesus has cost you little and had little impact on your life, it may mean you are on the popular path that leads to destruction.  The reason this passage haunts me so much is that first, few find the path that leads to life.  A few doesn't mean most.  I would guess it means less than 10%.  The other reason I am haunted is that as John MacArthur says, 

“The wide gate is not marked ‘This Way to Hell’; it is labeled ‘heaven,’ the same as the narrow gate.  It just doesn’t go there.”  

I am not saying that all roads lead to Heaven.  What I am saying is that the enemy is crafty in his deceit and has labeled many roads "Heaven" that in reality lead to Hell.  I remember my dad telling me about a dream he once had.  There was a path in the center with stairs that went up and up and up.  On the sides were these downhill trails and he chose the downhill trails because they were easier.  The problem was that every downhill trail led to a dead end and he would have to backtrack to the stair path.  He realized that the only acceptable path was the hard one up all those stairs.  

Yes, the gate that leads to life is a hard way.  It doesn’t mean that we have to walk a hard way to reach life or do a bunch of good first to earn favor.  Entering the narrow gate is our life.  Jesus has already paid for our ticket into the gate but life from that point will be hard and the Holy Spirit will walk with us along that hard path helping to strengthen us and enabling us to finish the long arduous journey. 

I have spent the last month or so learning about a world religion and Eastern culture.  In the East, many people place a higher value on honor than truth.  Many will adhere to a known deception if it means gaining the favor and honor of their families.  They prefer the deception to truth that will be accompanied by shame and being ostracized by their families.  I heard of a man who on his deathbed believed the truths about Jesus but refused to follow because it meant his family would disown him and he would die his last days alone.  The cost was too great for him.  I heard of another man who likewise believed the Bible but has yet to follow Jesus because he will not do so until he is willing to abandon all.  The only remedy for this man and many others in this shame/honor part of the world is that they truly encounter the glory of God.  When a person sees God for who he truly is, lesser affections will melt away in light of greater affections.  Like the parable of the hidden treasure in Matthew 13:44, with joy, a person will abandon all to get the greater treasure of eternal life and abundant life now in Jesus.  

My goal today has been to be a pebble in your shoe, or a slight irritation that you can't ignore.  Do you call yourself a Christian?  Have you died the death to yourself?  Have you abandoned all to follow Jesus?  Is this an ongoing abandonment?  Are you comfortable?  Have you truly encountered the glory of God in such a way that with joy you gladly abandon all to gain Christ even if it were to eventually mean you would die alone in this life?  Will you be one of the few who find the hard and narrow way that leads to life?  

“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” -Phil 2:12

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” -2 Corinthians 13:5

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” -2 Peter 1:10

I do not pretend to think that a person can lose their salvation.  I do think that some people are on the path labeled “Heaven” that is actually leading to Hell and don’t know it.  This whole time they think they’re on their way to Heaven but it’s been the wrong path the whole time.  

As always if you have questions, feel free to comment below or email me at lookingforgreenergrasses@gmail.com