The narrow road

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Christians are often accused of being narrow-minded and intolerant when it comes to describing who goes to heaven and who doesn’t. But we have good reason to be: Jesus Himself said so. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He tells us here that the road to eternal life is narrow, and you get there by a small gate (the gate, of course, being Jesus – see John 10:7). “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The road to hell, on the other hand, is broad and with a wide gate. It welcomes people of all lifestyles and worldviews. It does not exclude anyone. Its motto is tolerance of all.
So if you find yourself on a road of life with lots of other people, it might be time to check how big the gate was that you went through!
If this is hard for you to stomach, think about the flip side: we should be thankful that God provided a way at all, for us to be saved. If a doctor told you that you had a life-threatening condition, would you prefer for him or her to prescribe the one form of treatment that would cure you, or to tell you that it didn’t matter what you did, that you could try eating more spinach or taking up knitting and see what happened? The answer should be obvious. Here’s the thing: we all do have an (eternal) life-threatening condition: it’s called sin. Ignoring it, or trying to placate God by engaging in religious activities, will not help you at all. There is only one form of treatment that will cure it: faith in Jesus Christ.