Paved, Widened, and Fenced - The Erosion of the Narrow Path

One of the hallmarks of the Emergent Church movement is making the Gospel message easy to digest…palatable…non-confrontational.  The idea is to make the conversation easy for both the believer and the unbeliever, and to reduce feelings of being judged or convicted, which are uncomfortable and tend to repel many unbelievers. This effort to pave the narrow path (Matt. 7:13-14)  to make traveling along it smoother serves only to put new believers at grave risk of becoming like the seeds on the road in Jesus’ parable – eaten by the birds and not able to take root. (Matt. 13:4, 13:19)

Some emergent leaders have gone so far as to attempt to rewrite the Gospel to widen the road to salvation, making it less about a personal choice and spiritual discipline and more about an existential good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell debate that goes on without our participation. In their view, hell itself becomes eradicated in the light of their unbalanced and improper understanding of the nature of God. (eg. Love Wins, by Rob Bell)

This wide and paved approach to witnessing might seem apropos in our politically correct era, but it is contrary to Jesus’ model of teaching, and yields dangerously false results. As we read the Gospels, we are faced time and again with Jesus’ cryptic and often abrupt way of speaking. He explained more than once that the reason He told parables was to purposely disguise the truth so that only those who are meant to understand will grasp it. (Matt. 13:10-17) On one occasion at least, he was so grotesquely candid that many people left not only disheartened, but disgusted! (John 6:47-66) Jesus wasn’t interested in making His message easy to digest. He was interested in sifting out those who would be dedicated disciples. He was fully aware that only God can give people ears to hear, and remove the blinders so someone can come to faith. Jesus is still sifting the Church, separating those who are dedicated followers (sheep) from those who are not (goats). (Ezekiel 34:17, Matthew 25:32-33)

We can’t smooth talk a person into faith. If they are going to come to repentance, they will come to repentance even if we blunder and stutter our way through the message. Even if we offend them and even if our own testimony is tarnished. If God is ready to reveal Himself to them, if He’s ready to soften their heart, He will. (John 6:44, Romans 9:18)

It’s a mystery why some people choose Jesus, and others reject Him. You may ask, “If God doesn’t want anyone to perish, why not soften everyone’s heart and call them all?” Who’s to say that He doesn’t? Even once a person is at the point of salvation…the moment of decision…even if God has allowed them to hear and understand the Truth…they still have Free Will. They can still CHOOSE to reject Him. And many do. Arguably most do.  (Matthew 13:14-15)

On the flip side, many conservative churches have lost sight of the truth that Free Will is not sealed or frozen at the moment a person chooses to accept Jesus as savior. The Bible is filled with cautions to remain close to Jesus, to be obedient, to love others, to guard our doctrine, to stand firm to the end, and to resist the devil. Jesus’ parable about the vine and the branches being cut off for bearing bad fruit is one powerful example of what is possible even after a person becomes a believer. (Matthew 7:16-20, Romans 11:19-23) Even more poignant is the parable of the fig tree that doesn’t produce fruit. (Luke 13:6-9) Churches that preach a guarantee of salvation or “once saved, always saved” doctrine are effectively erecting fences along the narrow path that Jesus asks us to walk with Him. 

We must stay close to Jesus, study the Word of God, and test ourselves that we remain in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5) We must constantly monitor our own personal fruit for ripeness and quality. God will call us, He will relentlessly pursue us, but we must respond, and we must participate in the relationship. 

Jesus made it as difficult as possible for people to follow Him. Simple, but difficult. His path is narrow. For churches to strive to pave that path, to widen it, or to put fences along it is outside their jurisdiction. Watch out for such churches, because any wide path, any easy path, and any guaranteed path to salvation is a deception of the enemy, not the Truth we read in the Bible. (Galatians 1:6-9)

***I'm sorry I didn't link to all the Scripture references above - I hope you'll break out your own Word and look them up. If you don't have a Bible or don't know where to find things...visit www.biblegateway.com and type in each reference.***

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