Matthew 7:14 NIV
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
I live in a place where one learns to understand the value of carefully navigating the road you are on and the peril of seemingly small deviations in speed or direction from that path. If you are fortunate you may only end up in a ditch and temporarily inconvenienced. Much more likely is the reality of finding oneself over an embankment or cliff’s edge with only a chance of preserving your life. Not only do roads twist and turn but there may be potholes or rock slides. Part of the road may have eroded away or have standing or running water in a depression, much less ice sliding you toward the edge. Fog, wind, rain, slow, or sleet may make it difficult to see. One learns to prepare for the journey and keep their eyes fixed on the way, slow down, and arrive alive.
When applying this metaphor to scripture, much could be said but indulge me a just a handful of considerations for this writing. Let’s illustrate some extreme views we can take regarding scripture, extreme starting from the vantage point of this being a narrow road and one where wrecks are not only possible but likely.
staying around the house
One quite extreme way to treat scripture is to not engage it at all. This is akin to never leaving the house. I feel self sufficient or I don’t trust that the roads to lead me anywhere good or I am satisfied with whatever word comes to me by passersby.
While your deer hide pants and your home made banjo stringed with rabbit intestines feel clever, you are not going to survive down in the holler on your own. Making up your own mind as you feel well informed by what the mailman brings, the television says, or the modern ‘miracle’ of the Internet gives leaves you with a head full of noise and a long winter of the soul that you just hope will thaw somehow.
Sticking to the neighborhood
Perhaps one step away from staying around the house would be only driving around in my neighborhood. I have some familiar scriptures I like and perhaps can quote. They might be up on my wall. It is like having Bible jingles or catchphrases that make me feel knowledgable even if they are few and far between.
You might like your neighborhood. It may feel safe. But doing all your shopping at the local convenience store will not only drain your finances but leave you living on junk food diet.
Taking the bus
I don’t put in much time in the scriptures personally, but do like to hear others talk about them. I might read along, but I am definitely am not the doing any driving. I just have to trust that they are taking me where I need to go.
No doubt teachers and preachers can add to scriptural understanding, but buses only take you so far and often can’t take you all the places you need to go. Putting your feet underneath yourself to not only check the bus route but walk, bike, or drive those additional miles is essential.
Plotting my own course
Roads have signs, lines, and other indicators to help one navigate. Further, maps can provide an overall sense of how to get from here to there. I don’t need all that stuff. I am equipped for off-roading. So yeah, where it is convenient I can hop on a road and use it where I like but where things are unclear or I just don’t like the look of it, I’ll turn whatever way I wish and plow through. I’ll get there eventually.
Adding to or omitting portions of scripture, ignoring word meaning and context, or blithely interpreting things in a way that seems convenient will wreck your faith.
Fast car
Yes, somebody put up speed limit signs, warnings about construction, tight turns, and other cautionary things like ‘yield’ or ‘stop’. Those are for lesser people who need more time. I’ve got places to be and things to do. Full speed ahead, no slowing down.
Rushing through scripture readings results in a lot more loss than some scenery along the way.
Slavish Sign Reader
I’m on the road in my car. I am a law abiding citizen. Words are words. Truth is truth. When the sign says stop, I stop. When the sign says yield, I yield. I wish there was an go sign. I’ve been here a long time. (Or perhaps a slightly less naive example) We know the solid yellow lines are not to be crossed. There is something in the road up here. I can’t get around it in the lane and I can’t leave the lane because of the solid yellow line. I guess I’m stuck here until the road gets cleared.
There is huge danger in ignoring or missing warning signs and flaunting rules of the road in driving and in scripture. There is a danger on the other side of that metaphorical coin as well. Consider…
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24 NIV
There is something being said it. It should not be dismissed as something not for today nor some flowery language to add to the enjoyment of the reader. There is a real challenge here to be considered and internalized. On the other hand, we are not being given a rule here that says we had better all carry around a literal cross (nor even wear a jewelry one). We also know we cannot literally follow Jesus around in the most fundamental sense of walking behind a person who is not to be found on this early in bodily form at this time. Neither do we dismiss this nor do we make it something it is not, but prayerfully consider it. Take time with it. Turn it over in your mind. Submit the understanding of the passage to the Spirit of God in you. Consider what else scripture has to say that relates to these ideas.
At this point, I have probably exceeded my mental capacity and your attention span. I would love to have your insights on handling scripture.
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