The Adventure of Inconvenience

Follow Along with the Message

These verses in Matthew 7 are not a call to behave ourselves, but a call to action.

Many scholars suggest we should speak of ‘the Jesus way’ as passing through a small gate that leads to a path of affliction.

We are not people who like to be inconvenienced, so too often we treat Jesus more as an acquaintance than the central part of our life.

The adventure of inconvenience…

1. Challenges Our  for  .

In our pursuit of easy, we have stopped seeking the best.

Loving Jesus and loving our neighbor will constantly require us to go the extra mile, often when it is least convenient.

G. K. Chesterton wrote, “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

The adventure of inconvenience…

2. Challenges Our  for  .

The wide gate and road (vv. 13–14) are the ways in which we naturally live life to serve ourselves.

Jesus knows a better way, but we prefer convenience, and we want control of our own directional choices.  

Tension and inconveniences can help us to shed unhealthy habits and beliefs.