The Two Ways
Jesus Christ often taught through antithesis—good and evil, right and wrong, true and false. This, of course, is something quite unpopular in an age of relativism, where everyone does whatever is right in one’s own eyes, in a spirit of all inclusive embrace. Yet, Jesus would have not stood for all ways being equal, nor the notion that the only absolute is there are no absolutes. He wanted His followers to know and discern truth. The stakes were high from His perspective, since one’s beliefs and practices had eternal consequence.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ utilizes earthy images to convey the importance of hearing and living His message. The Lord spoke about two gates, one wide and one narrow, the small gate being the one leading to eternal life (Matt 7:13-14). He warns of wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the only way one could tell them apart was by their fruits. So there are two trees, one being good fruit and the other bad (Matt 7:15-21). He also speaks of spiritual counterfeits with all the right appeal—they say, “Lord, Lord,” they prophesy, exorcise demons, perform miracles, in the name of the Lord—yet, because they fail to do the will of God but continue in their lawless ways, they cannot be considered the genuine article, and suffer a terrible end (Matt 7:21-23). Ultimately, those who embrace the Lord’s message are like the people who build homes on solid foundations, and survive the harsh elements that come upon them; however, those who reject the Lord’s message are like people who build homes on shaky foundations, and perish when the storm hits.
Christ’s stood for things that were in many ways out of sync with what the rest of first century society stood for. Yet, even over two millennia late, in spite of the influence His church has had upon the world, His message still does not fit well with stream of society. When it came to issues of marriage and divorce, He recognized that divorce came as the result of life in a sinful and fallen world; yet, he affirmed “from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH, so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” In this Christ recognized that from the beginning marriage an institution established by God between a man and a woman who were joined together in a covenant relationship. (Of course, many good folks in New York might not see it this way, but it is between a man and a woman.)
Even what was once relegated to pagan centers of worship is seeping into the Christian church. Hindu spirituality like yoga and Transcendental Meditation are passed off as mere relaxation techniques, and even some professing Christians enter into them without concern that Gurus spent many years perfecting them as of indoctrination. Yet, expressed concerns about these things are often dismissed, or even vehemently opposed as intolerant, or perhaps some form of ignorant bigotry.
So Christ would have us follow a narrow path. In the story The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis nails the principle with the lines: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ ” [1]
1. C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1946), 73
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ utilizes earthy images to convey the importance of hearing and living His message. The Lord spoke about two gates, one wide and one narrow, the small gate being the one leading to eternal life (Matt 7:13-14). He warns of wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the only way one could tell them apart was by their fruits. So there are two trees, one being good fruit and the other bad (Matt 7:15-21). He also speaks of spiritual counterfeits with all the right appeal—they say, “Lord, Lord,” they prophesy, exorcise demons, perform miracles, in the name of the Lord—yet, because they fail to do the will of God but continue in their lawless ways, they cannot be considered the genuine article, and suffer a terrible end (Matt 7:21-23). Ultimately, those who embrace the Lord’s message are like the people who build homes on solid foundations, and survive the harsh elements that come upon them; however, those who reject the Lord’s message are like people who build homes on shaky foundations, and perish when the storm hits.
Christ’s stood for things that were in many ways out of sync with what the rest of first century society stood for. Yet, even over two millennia late, in spite of the influence His church has had upon the world, His message still does not fit well with stream of society. When it came to issues of marriage and divorce, He recognized that divorce came as the result of life in a sinful and fallen world; yet, he affirmed “from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH, so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” In this Christ recognized that from the beginning marriage an institution established by God between a man and a woman who were joined together in a covenant relationship. (Of course, many good folks in New York might not see it this way, but it is between a man and a woman.)
Even what was once relegated to pagan centers of worship is seeping into the Christian church. Hindu spirituality like yoga and Transcendental Meditation are passed off as mere relaxation techniques, and even some professing Christians enter into them without concern that Gurus spent many years perfecting them as of indoctrination. Yet, expressed concerns about these things are often dismissed, or even vehemently opposed as intolerant, or perhaps some form of ignorant bigotry.
So Christ would have us follow a narrow path. In the story The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis nails the principle with the lines: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ ” [1]
1. C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1946), 73
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