The Narrow Way

 

I recently read some very familiar versus in the Gospel of Matthew. For many people of faith who look to Jesus as a guide and savior, the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew are something they come back to often. These three chapters comprise what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount” and I often hear it said that if we don’t ever read any other scripture, this small portion serves as a road map to a good life. If you haven’t read them lately, I highly recommend it, as it gives an awesome reset when we, as humans, get frustrated, flustered, aggravated, insulted, and downright pissed off at a world that has become so incredibly contentious and divided. At least, these chapters help me, so I do hope they may help you too.

There’s one portion that has caused a lot of trouble in our world and in my own faith community, particularly among those who use it as a weapon to exclude others who don’t live, love, or look like they do. It goes a little something like this:

“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14, NRSVUE

Other translations call this “narrow gate” the “narrow way” and that phrase, “narrow way,” sometimes gets completely taken out of context and used to define a certain religion, group of people, practice of worship, set of standards, rules, and mores, or formula for salvation.

But Jesus was not talking about a pattern of worship when he mentioned the narrow gate / narrow way. He was talking about a spirit—an attitude of treating other people with love, acceptance, dignity, and respect. Let’s look at what precedes those versus…

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12, NRSVUE

What Jesus very clearly said defines the narrow way is the “Golden Rule” that is essentially standard across almost all major faith groups, religions, and belief systems on the planet: treat others with respect, love your neighbor, karma, the Confucian “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself,” the Hadith “None of you truly believes until you love for your sibling what you love for yourself,” and so many more.

Jesus was sharing the Golden Rule because it’s a universal truth of living a spiritual life that is on the up-and-up with The Almighty. So, in the following versus, when Jesus was saying to enter in at the narrow gate / narrow way, he was simply saying that the secret to life, salvation, peace, joy, and all of that is to treat others with dignity and respect. That’s it.

Jesus never said to disparage someone because they believe differently than you do, fly a different flag, vote a different way, or worship a different name for The Almighty—the universal power bigger than ourselves that is called by many things in our world, but in all comes down to acknowledging that we’re not alone and that we’re living for something beyond tomorrow.

What Jesus said instead, over and over and over again, was to not judge. He hammered that concept! It was a core part of his teachings and his example. He ate with, visited with, and loved on people whom society had outcast. When asked what the greatest commandments were, he simply said to love God and love your neighbor. That’s it. It’s simply that simple.

Indeed, friends, we live in completely contentious times. Division is accepted and expected. It’s heartbreaking. It’s indeed prophetic, but it doesn’t have to be permanent…and it doesn’t have to permeate.

One of the reasons I’ve been fairly quiet lately in my writing is because I’m working on a book. I’ve shared the title (and it’s a great title, if I do say so myself) with a few close confidants, however that will be a tight-lipped secret until I’m ready to publish. But I will say that my book is on optimism, silver linings, hope, finding joy, and living in love. I’m writing it not because I’m good at any of it, but because I want to learn more about it and so am digging into it and exploring it. I believe in it. I believe in hope and that joy is essential and that karma is real and that the Golden Rule is important...and indeed, in my opinion, the meaning of life.

I promise you this: in a world that’s on fire, we can still have peace and joy by being stubborn about doing the right thing and treating others well, even if it’s not reciprocated. Things will get better for us as individuals, for us as communities, for us as societies, and for us as a global population if we simply put down our swords for a while; if we look at that person next to us on the train and not only acknowledge but actually celebrate that they may dress, work, worship, believe, or express themselves differently than we do.

We need diversity. God didn’t make a planet of clones, but rather a rich smorgasbord of individuals and religions and ways of being. That’s what God wants: people different in so many ways but living by the Golden Rule—following that narrow way of loving our neighbors that entirely to many people completely miss.

Be a light.

 

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Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Lead at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office (now rebranded simply to Uncle Marty’s) and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty