S121P15 – The Savior’s many faces: the honest teacher
Mt. 7:13-14
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
It was a dramatic scene. The teacher turned principal had the seemingly impossible job of taking the worst high school in the state and somehow making it better. The problems for those students were not merely academic. Poverty, crime, and drug addiction had infiltrated what should have been peaceful and safe classrooms. Just as he started to turn things around, one of his favorite students approached him to say that he was dropping out to “do business.” After begging him to stay, he looked that young man square in the face and told him the hard truth. His way would likely lead to an early death.
The words of Jesus here no doubt elicited a reaction from those who heard them. I wonder whether any of them reacted by looking at the others in the crowd and realizing that the chance of many of them missing the narrow gate was pretty good. Jesus was a teacher of difficult truths, but that was the point. The people had been led into a false faith molded by man, and He needed to break that mold. Even the teaching of salvation by faith, which might seem to have eased them because it released them from the bond of legalism, was difficult in its requirements of self-sacrifice and humility. He understood that a sugar coating helps no one. The people needed to understand the urgency of his message.
We must be just as honest as Jesus in our teachings. Whether we are addressing a congregation, a small group, or an individual we do not even know, the truth is the only thing that will set someone free. Of course, we cannot teach the difficult truths unless we have learned and accepted them ourselves. It starts with saying yes and amen to the words of Christ that pierce the heart and make us pause because we know the narrow road can be rough. Accept his difficult truths in faith, and teach others to do the same. Father, thank You for the honest gospel spoken through Christ, and give us the conviction to always share the gospel candidly.