Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Division (07/13/23)
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TITLE: The Narrow or The Broad Way. | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
07/19/23 -
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So, young man, young woman, which way will you go?
“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}.
“Will you take the narrow restricted Biblical way or the broad liberal fun loving drug-addicted way that only leads to final destruction?” Only a few find it?
Yes, according to Jesus, there are so few people going through that narrow gate, it's small and the only Way to get in, is through Him; Jesus Christ. He came to earth to open The Way for his lost children to return home to the Kingdom of God. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.{John 14:6}.
Making this choice created division. Following Christ means saying yes to some things and no to others. Families, cultures, churches, countries and in fact, the whole world is divided along those lines.
Yes, when a member of a family chooses to walk the narrow way in opposition to the rest of the family, there is division. In some cultures, when some of its people hear the Gospel and decide to follow Christ, they face severe opposition. In some countries, they are martyred or ostracised for their choice. A recent report about 50 countries where it is hard to follow Christ verifies this fact.
“More than 124,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith, and almost 15,000 became refugees”.
{https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/january/christian-persecution-2023-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html}
Today, there is division in belief systems of some churches about gender transition and same sex relationships.
"For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church," Archbishops Welby and Cottrell said. The article also reports that, "The Church continues to have deep differences on these questions which go to the heart of our human identity," [https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155695894/church-of-england-same-sex}
We cannot be surprised about the divisions that we see, sad though it may be. If loved ones choose the broad way, we have to pray for them; as we should for our nation, our families, our churches, our persecuted brothers and sisters and all the nations of the world. Jesus himself spoke profoundly on division when he said, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
{Luke 12:51 -53}.
So, here is the challenge. How do we live without division in our personal lives?
‘If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. A house divided against itself will not stand.’{Mark 3:24- 25}.
God’s Kingdom is not divided, but He cannot tolerate evil so He showed us the Way to live lives that are not, but we have to make the choice to live His narrow Way through Christ, and not the broad way that leads to destruction.
Thankfully, Paul strongly advocated unity between brothers and sisters in Christ when he wrote; “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”{1 Corinthians 1:10}
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May His Word and His Spirit lead us.
I can not fathom how religious leaders can announce what you say. Then again the leaders in Jesus’ days on Earth completely ignored Scripture too. Heartbreaking.