“Choosing the Way of the Gospel of Grace”: 10.08.06

My wife Amy tells a story about a time her father took a wrong path. Apparently they were driving in St. Louis and were trying to get over the Mississippi River. They were in a bad part of town and he was in a bit of a hurry, and he quickly turned and began driving on a bridge. As soon as they drove onto it, however, they all realized they were driving on a rickety railroad bridge. It was narrow and clearly not built for cars, so they all got really nervous. Her brother opened his car door and prepared to jump. Her mom was freaking out. Amy was laughing. Her dad, of course, acted like nothing was wrong and made his way across the bridge.

Now taking that path could have led to destruction. Her dad chose that road and they could have all paid the price for it. Not too far from the car, Amy and her family could see the right bridge, where cars were safely crossing the river. In today’s passage, Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus gives us a choice of two paths. We can choose one path that leads to life. We can choose another one that leads to death. The choice is ours.

As I noted last week, the body of the Sermon on the Mount runs from Matthew 5:17 to Matthew 7:12. This morning, we begin looking at Christ’s conclusion. In this conclusion, Christ gives four warnings. In these four passages of warning are found two alternatives. Verses 13-14 present us with two ways. Verses 15-20 present us with two trees. Verses 21-23 give us two claims. Verses 24-27 show us two builders (Carson, 188).

Jesus gives us in the body of his Sermon on the Mount a description of the true, kingdom righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisee and pagan, and here, in the conclusion, he commands us to choose that righteousness. He gives us two choices, and only two. We live in a world of choices. I was amazed a couple of weeks ago, when I had lunch with Ira over at Plaza 900 on campus. This was a dormitory cafeteria, and you had about 900 choices of things to eat. It’s a far cry from Schurz cafeteria back in my day. We also live in a world of gray. People don’t like to hear talk of right and wrong. Absolutes of any kind are not in fashion, for sure. But Jesus gives us something very cut and dried. He gives us once choice and it’s very black and white. Choose Him or die. Choose His kingdom or else. Let’s read this morning’s passage and begin with prayer.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.


As we look at the two paths Jesus offers this morning, let me prepare you for our path together. Jesus speaks here of two gates, two paths, two groups, and two destinations. First, we will look at the meaning of Jesus’s statements. Second, we will apply those teachings in four realms: culture, church, gospel, and you.

First, let us consider Jesus’s words. He gives us two ways from which we must choose. This, we know, is not uncommon in the Bible. Turn with me to Psalm 1.

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

We know that the Psalms, like all the books of the Old Testament, are all about Jesus. He, as it says in Matthew 5:17-20, fulfilled the law. It all pointed to Him. Jesus stands in front of a bunch of Jews who would have known the beginning of their beloved music book, and He seems to say, “That choice David mentioned. That pointed forward to me, the Son of David, the true King. What will you do with my teaching? Which way will you choose?” He gives us two choices, but He mentions four aspects of those two choices. Let us look at those in turn.

He says, first, enter through the narrow, not wide gate. We see two gates. One gate, He says, is “narrow.” The other is “wide.” For those of you that have flown on a plane recently, getting on the plane is a chore. You must go through all these checkpoints and ID verifications. And, once you’re on, you can only take certain things with you. Jesus, in speaking of two gates, I think says something about how you get in to the kingdom and what you can bring along.

One may only enter this way through Christ. You may be familiar with John 14:6 that reads, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The early church carried on this teaching of their Lord. In Acts 4:12, Peter says, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Elsewhere in John, in 10:9, Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” There is only one gate, and it’s Jesus. That, my friends, is pretty narrow.

One must also leave much behind when entering this door. The Beatitudes present a number of things that must be pursued and refused. It begins, of course, with “blessed are the poor in spirit.” This, as we mentioned before, is just “blessed are you poor” in Luke 6.
There is certainly a sense in which our possessions can keep us from our Lord. But this in Matthew primarily speaks of our perceived spiritual resources. We can’t enter the kingdom of heaven due to any good deeds we’ve done. And, conversely, we can’t enter through the gate with a bunch of bad deeds, either. No, we don’t have to be perfect before walking through, but we do have to repent of our sins. We have to change directions and turn away from sin and to the Lord. We can’t take any baggage through this gate.

As Jesus says, in Matthew 19:24, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” This speaks of material riches, yes, but nobody can enter based on perceived spiritual riches, either. I’ll never forget debating this guy who said that Jesus spoke of some long-lost gate in the temple wall of Jerusalem called “the eye of the needle.” Therefore, he argued, you can take riches in! But Jesus says the exact opposite. The gate is narrow. We must enter through Christ alone. We must come empty handed. Choose your gate.

He says, second, take the hard, not easy, path. Jesus says, “The way is easy that leads to destruction.” He teaches, “The way is hard that leads to life.” This, of course, reminds us that the way of Christ is not comfortable. The word translated “easy” is often seen in other versions as “broad.” It has the idea of being spacious and roomy. It’s like sitting in first-class on that plane. You can spread your legs out and relax. It’s easy street.

That, however, is no accurate picture of the Christian life. Following Christ’s way brings much persecution and opposition, even from friends and family. Our Lord was persecuted. So were the apostles. And, as we saw in Matthew 5:10-12, this shows God’s favor upon our lives. It shows that we are “blessed.” It puts us in the company of the prophets. It shows we will be in the “kingdom of heaven.”

We must remember this, because the way will be hard. And it will be, as the text says, often quite “easy” for unbelievers. This is something that we will undoubtedly wrestle with as Christians. In Psalm 73, the psalmist Asaph speaks of his struggles with this. He says, in verse 1, “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” But hear verse 2: “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.” He then spends some time speaking of how the wicked prosper, while the righteous struggle. He then concludes with his change of heart.

Psalm 73:13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of your children. 16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

Yes, the way of Christ is “hard.” And it will often be “easy” for the wicked.

This contrast, however, doesn’t just apply to persecution we experience or life struggles we face, but the Christian life itself. It’s not easy to “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” It’s not easy to be “merciful.” It’s hard being a “peacemaker.” It’s difficult to not hate and to not lust and to be faithful to your spouse and to keep your word and to turn the other cheek and to love your enemies. It’s difficult. In fact, it’s impossible apart from God’s grace. Once we receive His grace, when we’re right with God, the struggle really begins, as we allow God to work His grace in us, bit by bit. It’s difficult.

But, I’m sounding morbid. The Christian life also has great joy. In Mark 10, Jesus says:

Mark 10:29 Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Yes, there will be much difficulty on the way of Christ, but there will be much joy. As we live in the presence of God, and among the people of God, we will experience much delight. But it is but a foretaste. Now it will be sweet, yet imperfect. One day it will be perfectly amazing. The path of Jesus is hard, not easy. We must choose our path.

Christ says, third, that we must join the small, not large, group. He says that “those that find it”—His way—“are few.” And “those who enter by it”—the easy way—“are many.” This reminds us, of course, that God’s way is not found by looking at public opinion. I get this e-newsletter from Christianity Today “At The Movies.” They gave a bad review to Facing the Giants, a sports movie on the big screens that was produced by Christians. Basically, they liked the message, but said it wasn’t great filmmaking. Well, people freaked out that persecution was coming from Christians to Christians. Somebody wrote and pointed out how well it did at the box-office. Editor Mark Moring responded with this:

But box office numbers don't prove anything about a film's quality either—look no further than Jackass 2, which actually debuted at No. 1 the previous week, for evidence of that.

See, majority support doesn’t often mean much. No, our course that we follow is marked by signposts of revelation, not public opinion.

This also reminds us that God’s way is not found by looking to the approval of others. In Matthew 6, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for giving, fasting, and praying in ways to impress men instead of God. If we look to please the majority, and we follow them, we’re doing it at our own peril. We are to join the small group, not the large one.

This, I don’t think necessarily means that only a few of us will be with Christ in glory. Revelation 7:9 speaks of a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” We need to keep these two passages in tension. Likely we could conclude that, as Stott puts it, we will always be a “despised, minority movement.” But, the saints from all the ages combined will comprise an amazing group of worshippers of Christ on the last day. If we want to be there, on that day, we must choose the minority, not the majority.

The reason Jesus gives is that those who follow the crowd end up in judgment. This reminds me of a video game I played as a youngster called Lemmings. Lemmings are small rodents that live near the arctic. A myth was popularized by an old Walt Disney movie that these little mammals follow each other mindlessly, plunging off of cliffs, following the lemmings in front of them. The video game played off of this and was all about digging holes to make sure the animals fell to safety instead of their death. Sadly, like lemmings, most human beings mindlessly follow the majority, plunging into their own destruction.

Jesus, then, says, fourth, choose life, not death, as a destination. He talks about the easy way “that leads to destruction,” as well as the hard way “that leads to life.” An American film classic is, of course, Dumb and Dumber. In that movie, a witty scene is when one of the dumb guys loses it while driving to Aspen, Colorado, and takes the long route and ends up in Wyoming or Montana or something. That was problematic for them. They ran out of gas and almost killed each other. But neither one truly died.

Jesus says here that choosing the wrong path has eternal consequences. One heads a person over the cliff, like a lemming, into hell. One heads a person right into life. The one who chooses Jesus experiences life, in its inceptive form, here on earth, but experiences it perfectly forever. Heaven and hell, life and death, hinge on this important decision. Those who enter the “narrow gate” wind up in life. Those who take the “hard” way spend an eternity with Jesus. Those who make up the “few” that choose the right path rule with Him on a new heavens and new earth. We must choose life, and not death, as a destination.


I have shown you four aspects of this passage: two gates, two ways, two groups, and two destinations. I’ve touched on the application, but let me take it further. We have talked much here at Grace Church about culture, church, and gospel, largely thanks to our study of The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll. What I want to do now is take a look at how these four teachings of Jesus impact our understanding of those three things—culture, church, and gospel—as well as how they affect how we view ourselves. Many of these points will be obvious to you, but hopefully they’re good reminders as we seek to bring God’s grace to “The District” here in Columbia.

First, let’s take culture. Consider the two gates. Recently an article in USA Today called Oprah “The Divine Miss Winfrey” and said she has emerged as the “spiritual leader for the new millennium.” Reed College Professor Kathryn Lofton said, “She’s a really hip and materialistic Mother Theresa. Oprah has emerged as a symbolic figurehead of spirituality.”

This, of course, is sadly true. What type of spirituality, you might ask? It’s pluralism. It’s the idea that there are plural, or many ways to God. Oprah both reflects and has shaped the culture. The idea of one narrow gate is intolerable today. Oprah is quoted on one broadcast as saying, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way.” A lady in the audience then said, “What about Jesus?” Oprah responded, “What about Jesus? Does God care about your heart or does God care about if you call his son Jesus?” Of course, the audience erupted in cheers (Driscoll Blog, 2006).

But, as I said, Jesus did say that He was the way. The apostles said, “There is salvation in no one else.” Jesus said the gate is narrow. It’s Him. Bob the Tomato was recently censored and no longer says, “God made you special and loves you,” when NBC bought the rights to Veggie Tales. The executives of NBC didn’t want to favor any religion. But, the Muslim that says Jesus was not god, and we that say Jesus is God can’t both be right. We must point out the goofiness of pluralism. As we minister here in the District, we must present clearly what Jesus has said. He, and He alone, is the gate.

Consider the two ways. We live in a world that revolves around comfort. We are encouraged to take the path of least resistance. Our goal is to play at our work and work at our play, and retire in an RV playing golf and laying on the beach. John Piper likes to speak specifically of a couple of elderly people, living in Florida, who are interviewed in a magazine and speak about their desire to collect sea shells in their retirement. This is the mentality of our culture. Sea shells! Sadly, the path of least resistance is also the path without lasting joy! In Psalm 16:11, David says, “In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Full joy. Forever joy. That’s what we’re promised. Sea shells don’t really fulfill. They don’t last an eternity. Jesus said to choose the hard way. We must faithfully proclaim that as we minister here in “The District.” But, we must also share with them of the joy that goes alongside the difficulty, that blesses us now and will be showered upon us for eternity.

Consider the two groups. We live in a country that is beginning to think that, just because the polls say something, it must be right. Politicians watch those polls and do whatever it takes to make those people happy and get themselves reelected.

As we live here in Columbia, we must expect the majority of people to oppose our gospel. We must come to grips with the doctrine of sin, understanding that the world is held in the grip of the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The majority is deceived. Truth does not depend on us. Nazi Germany was pretty much in agreement, but they were wrong. If 75% of Americans think there are many roads to God, it doesn’t nullify what God has told us through divine revelation. We must encourage those around us to spurn the majority and listen to Jesus.

This in turn should lead us to expect opposition. If we are in the minority, we will be ridiculed. As our society shifts from Christendom, where the church rules, to a post-Christian society, where the church doesn’t, we will lose power and respect and privilege. We will be treated like the minority. We should expect this. But we must fight for the advancement of the gospel and not cling to influence of days gone by. We must live as a minority group, sharing an unpopular message with love to the citizens of our city. And we must let people know the dangers of believing that “might equals right.”

Remember the two destinations. I read this article this weekend on MSNBC.com that spoke of the high costs of life-prolonging drugs, particularly in cancer patients. One man is quoted as saying, “It’s better to pay the money than sleep with the worms” (msnbc.com, 10/2/06). That, my friends, is the fruit of modernism, that science rules. If evolution is true, this life is all there is, and we just rot in the ground.

A shift to postmodernism has brought a new wave of spirituality. But, like modernism, that predominant way to view the world leaves no room for divine judgment. People look forward to visions of angels and grandparents and us all holding hands. The idea that God would send anyone to hell is ridiculed. But we must proclaim in “The District” that Jesus talked more about judgment than anyone else. We must teach that Jesus will come back on a white horse and destroy His enemies.
And we must point out that a heaven with grandma and grandpa holding hands with Joseph Stalin and Jeffrey Dahmer isn’t much of a heaven. And a Jesus that won’t punish child molesters or ethnic cleansers isn’t worth being worshipped. We must proclaim the folly and sadness of not believing in divine judgment.

Second, let’s take the church. Think again of the two gates. I mentioned pluralism before—the idea that there are many ways to God. What is gaining popularity in the church today is what is called inclusivism. This is basically an effort by liberal Christians to say that the man on the island that has never heard of Christ may be saved by Jesus and not realize it. In other words, one does not have to place conscious faith in Christ to be saved by Christ. This is an attempt at a halfway point between what they call Christian exclusivism and non-Christian pluralism, but it ends up making both sides mad. We’re mad because they deny Jesus’s words here that He is the gate. They’re mad because the inclusivists are still rude enough to say that everybody is saved through just Jesus.

They make their arguments in several ways, but let me give you two. First, they often say that the man on the island is saved by general revelation. This is God’s revelation that goes to all persons in all times in all places. This is generally referring to God revealing Himself through His creation. In other words, they say that the man on the island can see the trees and sun and then be saved without naming Christ. The problem with this is Romans chapter one.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

This passage teaches that one can’t be saved by looking at the creation. He can only be judged by looking at it. General revelation can only condemn, not save. It’s the fact that the man on the island is condemned by general revelation that compels us to take the gospel to Him, which is special revelation.

A second argument they use is that the Spirit works in that man on the island, bringing him to God, apart from the name of Christ. How dare we put the Holy Spirit in a box, they say! But Jesus, in John 16:14, speaking of the Spirit, says, “He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Spirit is called in the Bible “the Spirit of Christ.” He never works apart from Jesus (Rom. 8:9; 1 Pet. 1:11). He was sent by Christ and lives to glorify Him.

This sort of mentality makes missions unnecessary and dangerous. Unnecessary is easy to see—if they don’t need to embrace Jesus, we don’t need to go.
Dangerous isn’t quite as easy to see—if they can come to know God without Jesus, by going to tell them, we risk their rejection of Him, which would truly make them worse off than had we never come. So, church, let us never pander to the majority, cave to pluralism, and deny and dishonor our Lord by saying that there are other ways to Him.

Consider the two ways. We not only have inclusivism in the church, but we have prosperity theology or health/wealth teachings. This is Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn and all the other nut-jobs on TBN. This is telling people that the way is not hard, it’s easy. If you put your trust in Jesus, they say, you’ll be fat and sassy. You’ll have cash and health. And, if you’re not healthy and wealthy, then that must mean you don’t have much faith. We must not tell the world, church, that Christianity is easy. It’s not only a lie. It’s stupid. Could Jesus or Paul or Peter or any of the other martyrs fathom such a message?

Consider the two groups. We could easily point to liberal churches that teach universalism, the idea that all people will be saved. This is common, and it is a heresy easy enough to see in today’s passage. But, I read an article about a year ago in World magazine where Gene Edward Veith spoke of Indiana parents who were suing a church because their kid was manipulated into chewing up a “mixture of dog food, sardines, potted meat, sauerkraut, cottage cheese, and salsa, topped off with holiday eggnog.” He was then encouraged to spit it into a glass and convince others to drink it. Several students got sick and this led to the lawsuit. Veith points out rightly, having seen some of these things in youth camps, that this does three things: 1) It encourages them to lose their inhibitions. 2) It teaches them to cave to peer pressure. 3) It instructs them that Christianity is stupid. The point of the article is that this teaches youths to follow the majority.

We see the church follow the majority when she follows business practices of the world and ends up looking like a big Wal-Mart Supercenter. We see the church take polls, see what people like, and implement it so that the majority will come. We see the church reinforce this when it says, “That church is really big and tons of people like it,” so, therefore, it must be doing things right. Pragmatism rules. Popularity determines success. Might equals right. We must declare, church, what Jesus said, that His road will be the way of the few.

Consider the two destinations. Inclusivism isn’t the church’s only problem. Annihilationism is. This is the idea that, when we’re judged, we don’t suffer forever in hell, but rather we’re destroyed or annihilated. John Stott, whose commentary I’ve used much for this study, and who is a terrific and much-loved scholar, has adopted this idea. The problem with this is that Matthew 25:46 says this: “And these will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” It’s punishment for an eternity.
If this punishment is only for a time, the parallelism of the passage demands that heaven is only for a time, too. And, if people say, why infinite punishment for a finite crime, here’s your answer: Sin is against an infinite God—an infinitely glorious being. And that demands forever.

That idea of annihilationism is some big theological word that you can’t relate to and you never would argue for, but here’s something you can relate to: have you ever had a friend’s relative die, and you knew he wasn’t a Christian or you weren’t sure if he was and you said, anyway, “Well, you’ll see him again someday.” Limp-wristed preachers do this every day. Church, we must tell the truth Christ says here. One may choose the way of life or the way of death.

Third, let’s take the gospel. Think again of the two gates. Do we present a message that exalts the life, death, and resurrection of Christ—the true gospel, or do we have this vague, general message to people: believe in God, or, better, trust in Jesus. An assumed gospel is not a transforming one. We can tell people to have faith or be born again or forsake sin or love God without ever talking truly about Jesus. We can totally forget to talk about the gate.

Consider the two ways. We can present a message to people that sounds something like this: come to Jesus and have a wonderful life. We can have sermon series in our churches and share the gospel as individuals in a way that presents the Christian life as a bunch of shiny, happy people holding hands, when it’s a lie. We can totally forget that Jesus said His way was hard.

Consider the two groups. Similarly, we can present a message to people that they can join the “in crowd,” what everybody is doing. They can be one of the “cool kids” and hook up with us. We can appeal to exciting church activities or the allure of a wealth of friends. We can have a message that is less about Jesus, and more about what’s cool.

Consider the two destinations. We can tell people a gospel that isn’t good news, because there is no bad news. We can ignore hell, because it turns people off, but then, when we ask people if they’re saved, they ask, “Saved from what?” Our sin merits eternal punishment. If sin doesn’t mean death, then who needs Jesus?

Fourth, let’s take you and me. Think again of the two gates. Unbeliever, are you embracing the idea that Jesus is the only gate? Christian, are you living a Christian life that is cognizant of the fact, all the time, that you only stand before God thanks to the person and work of Jesus Christ? Are you truly relying on the gate?

Take the two ways. Unbeliever are you taking the easy way out now, only to experience what will be truly hard later? Believer, are you fighting for your own comfort and ease and security or are you embracing the idea that your journey with Christ will be exceedingly hard but overwhelmingly joyful? Theologian Carl Trueman recently said this:

What always challenges me about prosperity doctrine is that many of us who repudiate it in theory still practice it in reality. Every time we suffer a minor setback and are tempted to curse God in our hearts, that's practical prosperity doctrine. Every time we measure our success by the size of our churches, or the near-eschatological importance of our conferences by the number of attendees and the calibre of the speakers, or our self-worth by the Reformed megastar names we can drop in conversation, we make ourselves vulnerable to accusations that we too are committed to a form of the prosperity doctrine, more subtle and all the more deadly precisely because of that subtlety. We are what we are in Christ, nothing more, nothing less. And in his final hours, Christ was friendless, an embarrassment to his disciples, with the fair weather followers and even his closest friends having long since abandoned him; and then, to cap it all, he was crucified. We shouldn't be complacent about the prosperity doctrine; it's not just a problem for 'them'; it's a problem for us too (Blog, Justin Taylor).

Remember the two groups. Unbeliever, are you playing to the applause of people or will you listen to Jesus? Believer, are you content being a part of Christ’s few, or do you crave the attention of the majority? Or have you Christianized your desire to be with the crowd, pursuing whatever exciting church stuff can be found?

Remember the two destinations. Unbeliever, do you reckon with the fact that there is a judgment that awaits? Believer, do you truly believe that your actions deserve eternal punishment and that Christ suffered on the cross in your place, that you might avoid that? And, when you look at your unbelieving friends and neighbors around you, do you truly believe in hell, or are you a practical universalist?

Brothers and sisters, society is opposed to Christ’s teachings in Matthew 7:13-14. The church has imbibed some of the world’s opposition. Our watered-down, inoffensive gospel has been affected. And, sadly, we have embraced such ideas more than we want to admit. As Joshua said in chapter 24, verse 15, “Choose this day whom you will serve”—Jesus or other, false gods. Will we believe Jesus when He says that there are only two choices: two gates, two ways, two groups, and two destinations? We must proclaim the truth of this passage to our own and to the world. However, I began with the context of the passage, so I’ll end there. We must, as Ephesians 4:15 says, preach the “truth in love.” This warning of Jesus is couched in a context of love for enemies, of mercy to others, of pursuing peace. We can talk about Jesus as the only way and the reality of judgment without being jerks. Jesus did. And we are His. And the Sermon of the Mount is a sermon against the Pharisees. In preaching against pluralism, let’s not offer them legalism either. Jesus, my friends, would not approve.