Strive

Jesus’ death on a Roman cross was not by accident, but the result of clear-eyed, deliberate effort (Luke 9.22, 44, 51). As Jesus painstakingly made his final journey to the city of Jerusalem to give up his life, he was asked an interesting question by a man who might have sensed the ominous tone of the trip. “And someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’” (Luke 13.23). Rather than directly answering with a simple “yes” or “no,” Jesus chose to instruct the man: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13.24). In the parable following that statement, Jesus paints a heart-breaking picture of people left outside a house once the master has risen and shut the door. They will pound on the door and beg him for admittance, claiming a relationship based on his presence in their streets and around their tables. But the master will respond by saying, “I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” (vss. 25, 27) and turn them away from his dwelling.

The Jews were exposed many times to Jesus while he lived and worked in their land. But exposure to the truth is not the same as living it. In various ways, God ensures that we are exposed to Him through conversations with disciples of Jesus, through hearing or reading the Scriptures, and through worship with a local group of believers. How do we respond to this exposure? Are we like the Jews, perfectly content to stay within the confines of our sinful thoughts and behavior? Or are we willing to be challenged to grow into different people?

In other words, are we striving to enter the narrow door? In the language Luke wrote in, the word that’s translated in most Bibles as “strive” (agonidzomai) means to strain every nerve, to fight. It’s related to our word agonize. Since Jesus himself was about to purposefully endure the agony of the cross on our behalf, it was appropriate for him to call his followers to do the same thing. Are you feeling spiritually dry, tired, or bored? Strive. Is there a persistent sinful attitude you’ve fallen into? Strive. Do you have spiritual questions or concerns that have sat on a mental shelf for a while? Strive. Have you contributed to broken relationships that require courage and persistence to fix? Strive. As one author summarized it, “If you find the Christian life to be untroubled, without struggle, and without warfare against your own sin, you may not be living the Christian life (John Piper, Providence, page 604).

At the end of his discussion with the man who questioned him, Jesus said: “People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13.29). Those are the strivers. Let’s be those people!

~Nathan Combs