The Narrow Gate Opens To A Much Wider World

And Other Thoughts On Discipleship

It’s the start of a new week, and I have some encouragement for you on these wild concepts Jesus calls “The Narrow Way / The Narrow Gate.”

I often tell my students: the narrow way seems restrictive… but it leads to the narrow gate. Here’s the thing about gates: they’re not the destination… they’re the threshold. The beginning. The entry point to something far better than the illusion you just left behind.

The narrow way is Jesus’ way. It’s not restrictive because God has control issues. It’s restrictive like a trail on the side of a mountain is restrictive. If you stray too far off it, you fall. Not because God hates you (far from it!)

But because gravity doesn’t negotiate.

Keep walking.

Walk past your own resistance, your cravings for applause, your late-night scrolls and early-morning regret. Walk through your doubts, your hunger, your heartbreak. Walk when you’re misunderstood. Walk when it feels like everyone else is living on the broad road, laughing and dancing with iced lattes… and you’re in the woods with blisters.

Because that narrow gate… while it FEELS at times like your world is shrinking… It opens to a world wider than you can POSSIBLY imagine!

A kingdom without shame. Where you can finally stop pretending. Where you’re free to love people without calculating what it will cost you. Where joy isn’t a weekend escape… it’s the oxygen in the air!

Where grace runs faster than your failure.

Where your soul finally can breathe.

This is the upside-down, inside-out reality Jesus called “the Kingdom of God.” And the only way in… is through the narrow.

For those on the narrow path, do not despise your limitations.

Open your eyes to the reality that allowing King Jesus to limit your sin, selfishness, and flesh opens you up to wider and more beautiful possibilities for love, joy, and pleasure.

Keep seeking the kingdom. Further up, and further in!

Now, let’s get practical.

Some Thoughts On How to Walk the Narrow Path Without Breaking Your Spiritual Ankle

1. Jesus wasn’t kidding. The path is narrow.

You can’t bring your ego. You can’t carry a suitcase full of coping mechanisms. It’s single-file, friends.

One heart. One cross. One King.

2. The narrow gate is not a photo op. It’s a portal.

A portal into a Kingdom where everything you thought you needed dies, and everything you didn’t know you were made for comes alive.

But too many of us stand in the doorway like awkward teens at a middle school dance, waiting for a cue that’s already been given.

3. Let me say this plainly: you have to go in.

You can’t just admire the architecture. You can’t just memorize the Sermon on the Mount and then go home and binge whatever numbs you next.

The Kingdom is not a museum. It’s a movement!
It’s not where you pose. It’s where you live.

I’m not saying this as a spiritual overachiever. I’m saying this as someone who has spent seasons of my life camped out at the doorway.

Enjoying Salvation from a future Hell, yet MISSING the present Kingdom.

A saved soul with a wasted life.

Reading the signs.

Studying the gate.

Admiring the craftsmanship.

All while Jesus is inside, at the table, holding out a seat for me, patiently waiting for me to join the feast!

So… here’s how you walk the narrow path. Not just theologically. Practically.

Rule 1: Take off the mask.

You can’t squeeze your curated self through the gate.

The path is allergic to pretense.

Confess your real sins. Not the Instagrammable ones.

The ugly ones. The ones that scare you.

The ones that make you think maybe you’re too far gone.

You’re not.

But your pretending will keep you out longer than your rebellion will.

Rule 2: Don’t walk alone.

Discipleship is not a solo hike with a podcast.

It’s not a TED Talk in your AirPods.

It’s a family trudging up a hill together with bleeding feet and shared bread.

You need friends who will remind you that the path is good when your legs are cramping and the sky is falling.

You need people who will hand you encouragement when you forget to pack your joy.

And they need you to remind them, too!

Rule 3: Obedience is the map.

Not vibes.

Not intuition.

Not your Enneagram.

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

This is not oppressive… would you consider it oppressive if I handed you a map before you set off on a journey into the dark woods?

It’s GOOD!

It’s the trailhead that keeps you from falling off cliffs labeled “freedom.”

Rule 4: Grace is the ground you walk on.

This is not about earning.

This is about breathing.

You’ll fall. You’ll wander.

You’ll nap on the side of the road and pretend it’s still progress.

And Jesus will come find you.

Again. And again. And again... And again!

His love for you is infinite.

Start walking like you actually BELIEVE it.

Rule 5: Keep your eyes on the King.

This is the secret. This is the fuel.

You don’t keep going because you’re strong.

You keep going because He is beautiful. Because He is kind.

Because you’ve seen His eyes…. and they burned away your shame.

And you want more.

As Lewis wrote, in one of the most devastating sentences ever aimed at the human soul::

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

This is what the gate opens into.

Not just a cleaner version of your old life.

But infinite joy.

A Kingdom. A King.

A life that burns bright with meaning.

So don’t stand in the doorway. Don’t turn the narrow path into a waiting room. Walk in.

Even if you limp. Even if you doubt.

Even if all you can manage is one small, trembling step.

Just take it.

We don’t need more people who admire Jesus.

We need more people who follow Him.

He’s not at the gate anymore.

He’s farther in, waiting.

And the table is set.