My friend drives a Smart car—you know, the little ones that look like a bobblehead football helmet on four wheels, and not much bigger. Curious as to its crashworthiness and occupant safety, I took the indirect approach to inquiry: “How does your Smart car do in snow?” I asked him. “Terrible,” he replied, “I only drive it in good weather.” He went on: “I once hit a racoon with this car. It cost me $300 in damage, and the racoon ran off!”
(Uh-huh. Just as I thought.)
Sometimes “smart” is, well, just not smart. Sometimes “thrifty” is costly. Sometimes “safety” is still perilous. This is true of our physical health, and even more so of our spiritual wellbeing. Yet when it comes to the latter, it is all too easy to be duped into death-trap theology, such as, “There are many paths that lead to God.” Such feel good assertions are “unsafe at any speed,” for Jesus himself taught us the exact opposite. “Enter by the narrow gate,” He urged His hearers, “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”1 Likewise, Peter, having sat under Jesus’ tutelage before witnessing the risen and ascended Christ, boldly proclaimed to the gathered crowd, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”2 By what authority can we possibly assert anything else? And why would we thus imperil others?
Lest there be any doubt, Jesus proclaimed as clearly as can be, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”3 Place your entire trust in Him and in Him alone. Anything else is less, and anything less is just not smart.
“Lord [Jesus], to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”4 Father, “sanctify [us] in the truth; your word is truth.”5 Holy Spirit, “guide [us] into all the truth.”6 In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Matthew 7:13-14 ESV
2 Acts 4:12 NIV
3 John 14:6 ESV
4 John 6:68-69 ESV
5 John 1:7 ESV
6 John 16:13 ESV
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Paul Nordman—Author 