How Then Shall We Strive?

Jesus was asked if only a few people will enter the Kingdom of God. In Luke 13:24, Jesus responds by saying, "strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to." Jesus tells us to strive to enter through the narrow door, which immediately draws upon the narrow path and gate illustration He uses in His closing on the Sermon on the Mount. How do we strive along the narrow path for the narrow door?

The word translated strive here is from the root word agónizomai, which is where we get the word agonize. To agonizingly contend with something requires an adversary, a focus of something to wrestle with. So, Jesus commands us to struggle with an adversary to enter the narrow door which leads to the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells us many people will seek to enter, but only those who seek and strive for the narrow door with enter.

It is not enough to merely seek. If we hold this idea of seeking up against Paul's lesson in Romans 3 where he informs us that no one seeks for God, we may suggest that this is a group of people seeking many things but none of which is God Himself. People seek for spiritual well-being, personal happiness, a purpose to life, perhaps even religion. Many modern churches in America have adjusted the environment of their congregation to be more "seeker-friendly." We must ask ourselves: what, exactly, are they seeking? Certainly not God. Now, perhaps what they are seeking is an opportunity to share the gospel with them. For example, a woman who lost her husband might seek for what the purpose was. She seeks for emotional healing, for assurance that everything will be okay without him. The gospel heals this wound, yes; more importantly, the gospel is the truth, even if she was NOT seeking God. The danger here is to orient a church around seekers rather than biblical truth. A local church is to be a fellowship of sinners changed by the Spirit of God assisting each other in their efforts of striving for the narrow door through the Word of God, not a group of happy people answering questions of seekers based on personal philosophy and opinion.

What is the adversary we are to agonizingly strive against? Proverbs 28:4 reads:
"Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,
but those who keep the law strive against them." (emphasis added)
The word for strive here is יִתְגָּ֥רוּ which is from גָּרָה, meaning to stir up strife, or to provoke. This does not mean that believers walk around looking for a fight with the wicked. However, this is a valuable word. This is not a passive walk with God toward the narrow gate. Our contention is with sin, and with the world that teaches lies. Everything in the world is held into question, and we are to strive against wickedness. This is also not about avoiding sin, simply suggesting that sin is only performed in commission. The sin of omission is also in play. We strive against doing the wrong thing, and likewise strive to do the right thing. We strive against wickedness and strive for the keeping of the law. We avoid wickedness, then we turn and love our neighbors as ourselves (see Luke 10:25-37).

To blend this with the previous article on false prophets, how then shall we strive as followers of Christ to avoid wickedness, to keep the Law of God, and to agonizingly struggle down the narrow path toward the narrow door? Does the advice from your friends, co-workers, family members, or other people in your life reflect this constant striving for the narrow door? Does your church and pastor join in more than friendly fellowship and do the hard work along with you striving toward the narrow door?

Ravenous Wolves and the Easy Path

Toward the end of His Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 7, Jesus tells us to enter the narrow gate via the narrow path. This path is in contrast to the wide and easy path toward the gate of destruction. We each walk a path, and we each will enter a gate. Death is unavoidable, and we will each discover which gate we have been walking toward all our life. Sandwiched in between two very similar lessons on final judgment and the two paths is a section on false prophets. Jesus is asserting an important lesson for His hearers, a lesson that demands a response from all who read this.

A grand mistake in hearing Jesus talk about the wide path toward destruction can be made when we make-believe that Jesus is talking about atheists and egregious sinners. Read carefully and understand that Jesus is talking to a crowd that believes in the coming judgment. Both paths Jesus' describes here promise that the gate at the end is heaven. Both paths have teachers. These teachers both appear to be sheep just like any other believer. Yet one path leads toward hell, and this path has teachers that appear attractive and say attractive things yet are inwardly ravenous wolves. These ravenous wolves might quote Scripture, claiming to preach the Bible and the good news. Jesus extends His teaching telling us that at judgment many will come to Him rightly calling Him Lord, and profess to have preached, healed, and cast out demons in His Name. And yet, Jesus tells them He never knew them. These false prophets point toward a future hope down an easy road toward a gate they assure us is the gate of heaven. They show remarkable signs, are effective public speakers, appear gentle and warm on the outside, and quote Scripture with confidence. How then can we be sure that we are listening to prophets of the truth?

The word prophet here I take as one who speaks the revealed Word of God and is pointing toward an event in the future. True prophets know God has completed His revealed Word in the Bible, and point only toward that future hope that is in Christ Jesus according to the Scriptures. The true prophets of old never dared to venture away from stating what God had told them, and only pointed to a future God had revealed to them. We are no different today. This might require a different post at a different time, knowing that this is a point of controversy for many. This is not to take away from the point of this passage in Matthew; namely, discerning true prophets and false prophets.

Jesus tells us we will be able to judge our leaders based on their results. Unregenerate false prophets cannot restrain sin; the power of sin is only restrained by the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer. This has everything to do with the path and gate illustration Jesus introduced this passage with. False prophets place their adherents down an easy and wide path filled with lots of people. They speak empty words of comfort during trials rather than biblical truths. They preach and write books regarding personal happiness (with an exorbitant focus on personal wealth), all with a catchy phraseology and a knack for good illustrations and stories to bolster their sermons which are always human-centered. This path is easy, but the burden is too great to bare.

Which books do you read? What do your friends have to say about things? What does your preacher and Sunday School teacher tell you? What daytime talk show host sounds most wise? What advice do they give? Does what they say glorify God and compliment His Word? Beware of false prophets, and question the information and advice you receive. The choicest wisdom in all the universe is the wisdom of folly (I Corinthians 1:18) that baffles the most wise of humans (I Corinthians 1:25). Listen to the Word of God, and to teachers and advice-givers that are immersed in the Bible.