Two Roads.

Many people who say they are traveling the narrow-road  through the narrow-gate believe it is a legit reason for them to be narrow-minded. They even say, "I am proud to be narrow-minded because Jesus was narrow-minded." Many narrow-minded people who think they have entered through the narrow-gate and are traveling the narrow-road leading to life, have entered through the wide-gate and are traveling the broad-road that leads to destruction!

People think that because Jesus said that the narrow gate and the narrow road leads to life, that Jesus Himself was narrow-minded.

But...was Jesus narrow-minded?

The narrow-road to spiritual life is a GRACE road that enables us to enter the kingdom of God on earth and be the Community of the Redeemed through which Christ works through to fill the earth with God's Glory...NOT...the road that gives us entrance into heaven. The broad-road to spiritual destruction is the RELIGIOUS road that prevents us from entering the kingdom of God on earth...NOT the road that leads to hell!

The narrow-minded religious Pharisees of our day who think they are traveling the narrow road of life, may indeed be traveling the broad road of destruction!

Modern day religionists miss the opportunity to develop a focused relationship with God through Jesus because of their focused relationship with religion as a means of developing a relationship with God. Only through a focused relationship with Jesus will we develop maturity to love people like Jesus loves and accept the God of Grace, Love and Compassion as Jesus portrays Him as.

“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 is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13).

This is a call to religious people to move from the broad-road of religious performance whose end is spiritual destruction to the  narrow-road of grace that leads to spiritual life.

I realize that this is not the traditional teaching of religious people traveling the broad-road thinking they are traveling the narrow-road, while thinking the broad-road is filled with "sinning sinners" who are on their way to hell.

This delusion is a result of religious confusion that is planted by the ruler of this world to keep the religious deluded from knowing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Grace embraces our journey on this narrow-road. Should we be narrow minded? No, we are to have focused minds. A focused mind zeros in on truth and eliminates distractions. Our minds are focused on our relationship with Jesus. We desire to learn more about God through Jesus the living Word...than we are through man-oriented interpretation of the written word. 

Traveling the narrow-road with Jesus, requires the end of seeking another way to spiritual life. It requires the whole heart in pursuit after God. We must abandon all selfish religious pursuits to find the gate to Christ’s riches and blessings because they are not found by traveling the religious broad-road. 

Jesus said that the way to spiritual life is narrow.  But while that is true, narrow-mindedness is not part-and-parcel with traveling the narrow-road.  Judgementalism, condemnation, harshness, legalistical, and being sectarian, are characteristics of travelers traveling the broad road. The fruit of people traveling the narrow road is characterized by but it is also a way mercy, compassion, gentleness, kindness, forgiveness and love toward all mankind.

Jesus was broad minded traveling the narrow-road...the religionists are narrow minded traveling the broad-road thinking they are traveling the narrow-road.

This truth is so wonderfully illustrated by the story Jesus tells in Luke chapter 10..

Jesus was a man of absolutes, yet he displayed an unfathomable kindness, love, and generosity toward all men...except toward the religious hypocrites.  Why did he not condemn the Samaritan adulterous woman nor the rich young ruler who refused to sell all?  Jesus still is a man of the narrow way; but from
his narrow way, his nail-scarred hands reach out  in a broad way to the people religion shuns.

How are religious people narrow-minded?

 “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we
forbad him, because he followeth not with us.  And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he
that is not against us is for us”  (Luke 9:49–50).

Here is a story where the disciples saw a certain person casting out devils in Jesus’ name.  John, possibly the most spiritually sensitive disciple, the one who lay on Jesus’ breast, with others, forbade the man who cast out devils because he did not attend Jesus’ meetings, he was not part of that privileged inner circle. 

The characteristic of the religionists to judge and shun people who do not believe as they do, interpret the Bible as they do, attend Sunday-go-meetings as they do, who do not belong to the same denominated corral as they do, who do not believe in hell the way they do, who do not wholly and solely uses the KJV Bible as the supreme authority for living life as they say they do, is a show of their narrow-mindedness on the broad-road to spiritual destruction.

Is there not something within us that says, “Lord forbid them,” because they are not a part of us?  Oh, the danger of people upon the narrow way of becoming narrow-minded, sectarian, and exclusive toward brothers and sisters belonging to different groups or do not belong to any group, who also were born of the same Spirit of God, who were forgiven by the same blood of the Lamb that reconciled all.  If you subscribe to such narrow-mindedness, check the road you are traveling. 

The apostles’ attitude was to forbid the man.  Jesus’ attitude was to forbid him not.  The trait of people traveling the broad way is being ate odds with Jesus in the way we go about treating other people. 

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples
rebuked those that brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13–14).

The disciples of Jesus rebuked the parents who brought their children to Jesus.  Here is another display of a religious, narrow-minded attitude in the disciples that Jesus sought to dispel.  Did not these men make themselves gatekeepers as to who should and should not come to Jesus?  Is there not a gate-keeping attitude is in the minds and heart of religious people?

Jesus not have an exclusion mindset as religious people do. Jesus had no part with the exclusive spirit found in His disciples...but he answered them, “Allow these little children to come unto me, and forbid them not!  Forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.”  Jesus was teaching them to be broad-minded on the narrow-road. We are not to be gatekeepers to the throne of God, determining who and who is not allowed in.

“And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.  And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.  And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.  And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace...” (Luke 18:35–39).

The religious mind-set rebuked this man because they were concerned about the program, than ministering to a poor blind man.  They didn’t want this man to come to Jesus either!  They criticized the man who had cast out devils for not coming into Jesus’ presence; they criticized the parents of little children for wanting to come to Jesus; and now they rebuked a blind man for wanting to come to Jesus.  They said, “Stay out of his way...don’t bother him!  You are not important.”  But Jesus wanted him; Jesus Loves everybody and considers everybody important and worthy!  He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).  Jesus was not a narrow-minded traveler traveling the narrow road!

Let be give you one more example of Jesus' broad mindedness on the narrow road.

“And sent messages before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.  And they did not receive him...And when his disciples
James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them...?” (Luke 9:52-54).

In every case shown above, there has been an inappropriate zeal in the disciples to protect Jesus and His ministry, but Jesus did not sanction or agree with the disciples actions due to their narrow-mindedness. though these examples show a lack of expression of love to Jesus...all of them show a lack of love to their fellow-men. The disciples narrow mindedness prevented them from knowing the worth of a blind beggar, of children, of people of other orientations, and of persons who resented Jesus.  They thought they were good a loving God, but failed miserably at loving people.  Hence, Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (v. 55).  To think we can love God without loving people as Jesus did in our narrow mindedness is an illusion that leave us thinking we are traveling the narrow road, but the truth is we are on the broad road..

Let's not fool ourselves as believers by thinking we are on the narrow road that leads to life because of our narrow-mindedness of exclusion, judgementation and condemnation of people because they do not believe or act the way we do.

The broad road the leads to spiritual destruction is filled with good intentioned narrow-minded people under the illusion that Jesus was narrow-minded...when...Jesus was broad-minded traveling on the narrow road so we could follow Him to spiritual life.