CHOOSE YOUR GATE/Your Final Destination

[Denise]

CHOOSE YOUR GATE
Your Final Destination

January 2006By Abbot Joseph
From New Oxford Review

Abbot Joseph, a monk for 22 years, has for the past five years been the Abbot of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, a Byzantine-rite monastery in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. This column originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of Gladsome Light (PO Box 217, Redwood Valley CA 95470), the newsletter of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, and is reprinted with permission.

Este artículo: en español

Do you like to quote Scripture passages such as, "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall lack," or "You will receive whatever you ask for in prayer"? Many Christians do, but there are other passages that most people definitely do not like to quote and would just as soon dismiss or explain away. Like this one: "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. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Mt. 7:13-14).

What are we entering by means of these gates? Ultimately, we enter Heaven or Hell. The Lord urges us to choose the narrow gate and not the wide one. The words of Jesus begin with this life and point to eternity, to that which awaits us after crossing the threshold of death. We choose a path, a way of life, that has as its end either salvation or damnation. All must pass through one gate or the other. Evidently, we don't have the option not to enter by either gate. Long before we die, we have to make a choice about the way we're going to live. For some, the choice can be by default: If we don't actually choose the narrow way, we will find ourselves on the wide one. Not to choose is, in effect, a way of choosing. And each path inexorably leads to a final destination.

It is clear that Jesus isn't merely recommending that we embrace certain values or engage in certain behaviors for the sake of a good life on this earth. We see in the parallel passage in Luke that the context is explicitly that of salvation (13:23-30). This whole Lucan passage is eschatological in tone, and the parallel to this extended discourse is picked up a few verses later in Matthew (7:21-23). We will examine this more closely below.

For now, let us note that one gate leads to "destruction" and one to "life." Such terms in the New Testament usually have an ultimate connotation: eternal destruction or eternal life. Jesus' words about life and death usually refer to the Kingdom that is coming, and are not limited to temporal earthly existence.

We might wonder why the way to destruction is so wide and easy, and the way to eternal life so narrow and hard. There are many today who, by their rejection or dishonest reinterpretation of the Scriptures or Christian Tradition, try to make it look like the way to life is much wider and easier than Jesus says it is. Such attempts, however, always end in error and failure, for one misrepresents the words of Christ at one's own peril.

It is a fact of life in our "fallen" world that it is often easier to commit sin than to practice virtue, or at least that self-indulgence is more attractive than self-denial. We are seduced by the spirit of self-gratification because we secretly want to be, so we chafe and bristle at the thought of obedience and self-discipline, and we may think that the very concept of "commandments" belongs only to an ancient, unenlightened mentality. Our inherited concupiscence goes the way of least resistance, but the authentic life of love and service to others is demanding. So if something feels good, we do it; but if it requires some sacrifice, we avoid it. It's easy to take the easy way, and hard to take the hard way.

But we don't seem to be sufficiently aware of what is at stake. Jesus is talking about life and destruction, Heaven and Hell. If we choose the wide gate and easy way, the selfish, pleasure-loving, Gospel-rejecting way, we destroy ourselves -- beginning now, but lasting for all eternity. If we choose the narrow gate and hard way, to which Jesus exhorts us, we embrace true life, now and forever. We simply have to accept certain facts of life, and this is one of them: Because of our inveterate weaknesses and disordered desires, it is hard to be faithful in all things to the will of God. Yet this way is the most rewarding way, even if it doesn't always seem the most pleasurable. (According to the ancient philosophers, it is pleasurable for a virtuous person to practice virtue. So if virtue is difficult for us, we're not yet virtuous!)

The paradox is that if we learn from Christ -- who speaks of narrow gates and hard ways -- and follow Him, we find not narrowness or intolerable hardness, but an easy yoke and a light burden (see Mt. 11:28-30). Lose your life for Christ and you will save it, or rather, He will give it back to you, wholly transformed and shining.

But the choice of gates is not a once-for-all affair. We have to make choices every day that keep us on the right path. We can't rest in the fact that yesterday we made a good choice. Today brings its own challenges and decisions. It is a whole lifetime of choices -- all together forming a brightly colored tapestry emblazoned with the words "Yes, Lord!" -- that secures our entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Some would say that "walking the straight and narrow" makes Christians themselves rather narrow -- that is, narrow-minded and inhibited -- and they see this as an undesirable state of affairs. On the contrary, in order to squeeze through the narrow gate, we need to be sharp and in top shape, having shed the flab of fuzzy thinking and self-indulgence that makes us fit only for waddling through the wide gate. What seems mind-narrowing to some are only the necessary parameters of belief and behavior within which one can effectively do the will of God, and hence find the fullness of life. It is only the difficult (yet invigorating) narrow path that ascends to the clear, pure heights of unfettered understanding. There we are able to perceive the entire breathtaking panorama of God's goodness and wisdom, horizons inaccessible to those on the wide and easy path. The wide path is, as it were, lined with mirrors, so those who travel it see nothing but themselves and their own desires. And that path of faithless narcissism goes in descending spirals to you-know-where.

A question that troubles many is this: Are there really only a few who will find the narrow gate that leads to life? Jesus said about the wide gate that many are already entering it, but that few will even find the gate of life. Whatever Jesus intends us to understand precisely by "few," we must conclude that "few" still means fewer than "many." Yet I think we can say that "few" is not an absolute term as far as numbers go, since the saved can still be numerically many even if, relative to those who go the wide and easy way, they are in the minority. For Jesus also says that "many will come from east and west and sit at the table…in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 8:11).

It's easy to "go with the flow" of contemporary ideas, beliefs, and practices that contradict or minimize the message of the Gospel -- and it's hard to stand one's ground, or to move courageously against the prevailing winds of this age. That puts you in the margins, makes you feel perhaps uncomfortably out of touch with the direction of American social, political, moral, and even religious life in the 21st century. It's hard! There are relatively few who stand for the truth of the word of God. But these are the ones who are finding the narrow gate to life.

In the parallel passage in Luke, some people asked Jesus the direct question: "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" He didn't give a direct answer, but He still said that many would not: "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able" (13:23-24). Now the issue takes a new turn. It is not only the crass hedonists and unbelievers -- who couldn't care less about the narrow gate -- who are unable to enter, it's even some of those who seek to enter! Why is that?

The answer is given in a somewhat obscure form in the verses following Jesus' answer to the question in Luke. A more concise and precise answer is given in Matthew 7:21-23. Here Jesus says that not all those who say to Him, "Lord, Lord!" will be saved, but only those who do the will of the heavenly Father. This is the bottom line. This is the content and meaning of walking the hard way and entering the narrow gate. There are no magic formulas or secret passwords for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. There is only doing the will of the Father.

We can't even presume that doing certain things that are good in themselves means we are doing God's will. For in the aforementioned passage from Matthew, concerning the Day of Judgment ("on that day"), Jesus says: "Many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers!'"

What are we to make of this? If prophets, exorcists, and miracle-workers can be kept out of the Kingdom, who can be saved? I think we have to assume that those who were cast away from Christ's presence must have seriously failed Him in some other way, even though they did certain great things in His name. There are at least two possibilities here. Prophecy, exorcism, and miracle-working (if they are genuine) are quite extraordinary gifts, and can be rather sensational ones at that. Not many are called to exercise these gifts (though if this is clearly the will of the Father, you should do it). But it may be that some people like the attention, the drama, and the personal adulation that can accompany extraordinary works. If one is doing the right things for the wrong reasons, especially if the soul is thereby poisoned by pride, then one is in fact walking the wide, easy way. Also, if one is obsessed with the extraordinary, he runs the risk of neglecting the ordinary. When Jesus speaks to the crowds, He doesn't command them to work miracles, only to believe, to love, to forgive, to hear His word and keep it. If one is focused on doing sensational things but fails to love and to forgive, again, he is not worthy of the Kingdom, for he is not doing the Father's will.

We shouldn't be discouraged because of the difficulty of the way that leads to life. This should only heighten our awareness of how precious is the Kingdom of Heaven: the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, as Jesus said in His parables. It should also motivate us to avoid anything that would turn us toward the wide gate and easy way. Avoid it like the plague! To drive the point home, Jesus gave us a few images -- to be taken seriously, but not literally -- about plucking out eyes or hacking off hands if they cause us to sin. What is literally true is His conclusion: "it would be better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell" (Mt. 5:30). That is, no sacrifice is too great when your eternal salvation is at stake.

Nothing is worth losing Heaven forever: no luxurious lifestyle, no forbidden pleasure, no political or personal agenda, no emotional leverage; not the satisfaction of revenge or of smug self-determination; not power, wealth, sexual "freedom," or even universal admiration -- nothing. All these pass; all that remains in the end is our relationship to God. Measure your anxious attempts to secure shreds of fleeting happiness against the boundless expanse of eternal peace and fulfillment, the joy and beauty at which your finest dreams only hint. Judge for yourself.

We needn't spend any more time speculating on the "few" and the "many" and, frankly, if we want to be among the saved, we just don't have time for it! The will of the Father is not yet fully accomplished, so we've got work to do. We know that God desires the salvation of all, so no one is automatically excluded from the Kingdom. We need to have genuine compassion and to pray for those who are manifestly on the wrong path. Both they and we need to be aware that grace is offered to all with open, loving hands. Let us also keep in mind that the mystery of Divine Mercy is beyond our understanding -- and we will only know the fullness of God's plan of salvation in the pure light of its ultimate revelation.

The Lord knows, however, what we too often do with our precious, terrible gift of freedom: how we can exclude ourselves from His eternal embrace because of the choices we make. But there is no predetermined number of the saved. Everyone has a fair shot at the prize. Grace plus our free choice to do God's will equals entrance into Heaven. You want it? Got for it! Run so as to win, says the Apostle Paul.

So, are you ready now to enter the narrow gate? I warn you, it will be hard. I encourage you, it will be rewarding. And you will never, ever regret it. The gate opens to everlasting joy.