Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it. ^[1]

~Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14)

Why it matters at work: It seems like normally we like to take safety in numbers. We delight that in looking at opinion polls, we are in the majority. We go into denial when we are the minority. The reality is that most people at work will reject the Way of Jesus. We must be prepared to be in the minority opinion of our colleagues on most issues at work. This is not easy. Jesus knows that and alerts us to the reality of workplace opinions.

God is God at work: Our supervisors like to think that they and the corporate elites are in charge. That is the working premise. Most employees follow right along with that assumption. We like to follow along and fit in. That feels good to us. The counter reality is that Jesus is in charge and rules over corporate life.

• • It is dangerous to our souls.
  • It leads to our destruction.
  • Jesus challenges us at work to follow the narrow way of the Way of Love.
  • The Jesus way of love is the way that leads to life.

These are, of course, the way to heaven and the way to hell. The broad way is the effortless way; it is the popular way at work. But we must not judge spiritual profession by statistics; the majority is not always right. The fact that “everybody does it” at work is no proof that what they are doing is right.

Quite the contrary is true at work: God’s people have always been a remnant, a small minority in the corporate world. The reason is not difficult to discover: The way of life is narrow, lonely, and costly. We can walk on the broad way and keep our “baggage” of sin and worldliness. But if we enter the narrow way, we must give up those things.

Here, then, is the work test: Did your profession of faith in the Messiah cost you anything at your workplace? If not, then it was not a true profession. Many people who “trust” Jesus the Messiah never leave the broad road with its appetites and associations with evil co-workers. They have an easy Christianity that makes no demands on them. Yet Jesus said that the narrow way was hard. We cannot walk on two roads, in two different directions at work, at the same time.

^[1] New American Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 7:13–14). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.