How Narrow is the Narrow Door?

 

When I was writing my book, Heaven's Doors, I asked a random sample of people in front of the New York City Public Library to take a six-question survey about their thoughts on heaven and hell. I wanted to get an idea of what real people really thought about the afterlife, since what people are supposed to think and what they actually think are often completely different.

I was especially interested in their answers to the last two questions:

Do you believe misery in hell is never-ending?

__ Yes __ No __ Not Sure

At the end of time, what percentage of the total population of the earth most closely represents the number of those you believe will be in heaven?

__ 0% __ 10% __ 25% __ 50% __ 75% __ 100%

I was encouraged to find a broad sample of willing participants - male and female of various ages, White, Black, Asian, Latin, Atheist, Buddhist, Christian and Jewish.

Interestingly, about 65% of those taking my survey who professed to be Christians either did not believe, or were not sure they believed hell was never-ending. And almost 75% of the Christians taking the survey thought that more than half of the total population of the world would eventually be in heaven. 

What Did Jesus Think?

In Luke 13:23, Jesus was asked a similar question.

“Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He answered with a parable to encourage His listeners to make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Once the door is closed, many will try to enter but will be unable. They will knock and plead, but won’t be let in. The result will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” when they see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets sitting at a feast in the kingdom of God, but they themselves are thrown out.

Doesn’t Jesus’ response clearly indicate that only a few will ultimately go to heaven?

Unfortunately, the question phrased in most English versions of the Bible gives a completely different sense from the question that was actually asked. The wording in the original Greek is,

“Lord, are they few in number, those who are being saved?”

It’s a question about the number of people at that time who were accepting the message that Jesus brought. It wasn’t a question about how many people would ultimately be saved, but how many people were then being saved.

Similarly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encouraged those in His audience to

“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.”

As with many places where Jesus talks about life, He was not addressing the issue of the afterlife in this passage. Jesus was telling His followers that the way to find the truly meaningful life that God desires us to have is actually found by comparatively few people. By contrast, there are many unproductive avenues in life that are broad, easy to follow and well traveled.

You simply need to look around at all the trivial things people pursue – the biggest house, newest car, whitest teeth, most Facebook friends, latest iPhone – to see the truth of that statement.

The kingdom of God is not only a future reality. It’s a kingdom that Jesus was beginning to establish while He was here on earth, and will continue to establish in the ages to come until it encompases all those created in God's image.

Adapted from Heaven's Doors . . . Wider Than You Ever Believed!

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