Matthew 7:1–14

In preparing this week’s sermon on Matthew 7, I found myself wrestling with one phrase that has unsettled readers for centuries:

“Enter through the narrow gate… for the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life.”

What does Jesus mean by narrow?

Is it narrow to keep people out?
Is it a call to narrow-mindedness?
Is it about rigid guardrails or spiritual elitism?

Or is it something else entirely?

Perhaps it is about focus.

Narrow as Concentration

Across every dimension of life, narrowing is not about shrinking — it is about strengthening.

When we work on a great project, we narrow our attention. We call it laser focus. We eliminate distraction and enter a creative and productive zone.

When we communicate a great truth, we narrow our words around a central idea. Clarity requires discipline.

When we pursue a meaningful goal, we cannot chase every option. We cannot be led astray by every allure. We narrow in order to progress.

Why would the spiritual life be any different?

What if the narrow way is not about exclusion — but about concentration?

What Jesus Narrows

In the same passage, Jesus gives a sequence of instructions that all point toward focus.

• Examine yourself before judging others.
• Ask, seek, knock.
• Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Notice what he is doing.

He narrows our attention inward before turning it outward.

Instead of obsessing over someone else’s faults, we examine our own hearts.

Instead of presuming we know what to do, we ask, seek, and knock with expectation.

Instead of striving for position or recognition, we practice the Golden Rule.

This is not narrow-mindedness.

It is disciplined alignment.

The Wider Road

The wide road is attractive because it requires very little concentration.

It allows:

• Criticism without self-examination.
• Reaction without prayer.
• Ambition without service.
• Noise without reflection.

The narrow way resists all of that.

It asks us to slow down.

To focus.

To let truth squeeze and shape us.

The narrowing is not about limiting compassion. It is about concentrating character.

A Universal Principle

Depth requires limits.
Clarity requires boundaries.
Growth requires focus.

Athletes narrow their training.
Artists narrow their craft.
Leaders narrow their priorities.
Writers narrow their message.

In the same way, spiritual formation requires narrowing.

We set our minds and hearts toward seeking, knocking, and asking with serious focus and expectation.

We act with grace toward others along the way.

We press on.

Breadcrumbs for Deeper Formation

This week’s sermon explored how the narrow way reshapes:

• Our posture toward others (self-examination before judgment)
• Our dependence on God (ask, seek, knock)
• Our style of living (servant-hearted governance)

I’ve developed a guided formation path with reflection prompts, exercises, and a printable worksheet for those who want to practice this narrowing intentionally.

You can explore that deeper formation guide here:

👉 The Narrow Way on Substack

The narrow way is not small-hearted.

It is large-souled.

It is not constricted living.

It is concentrated living.

And the path that feels narrow at first
may be the only one wide enough
to form a life governed by something greater than ego.