Narrow is the Way

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

— Matthew 7:13–14

Jesus’s words about the narrow and wide gates are often used to caution believers against living comfortably in sin or following the crowd without discernment. But for LGBTQ+ Christians, these verses can take on a deeper, more personal resonance.

In a world where many still misunderstand or reject queer identities—especially in Christian spaces—simply choosing to walk in truth can feel like walking the hardest, loneliest road. But Jesus never said the narrow path would be easy. He said it would lead to life.

Many of us as LGBTQ+ people of faith know intimately what it means to seek that narrow gate. We refuse the wide gate of silence, of pretending, of conforming to a version of faith that demands we deny who God created us to be. Saying “yes” to both our faith and our identity is not choosing an easy road—but it is choosing life.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him…” In choosing life, we choose authenticity. We choose to hold fast to a God who calls us beloved—not in spite of who we are, but wholly, wonderfully, because of who we are.

There are those who try to tell us that being LGBTQ+ and Christian is impossible. That living our truth is stepping off the path of righteousness. But we look again at Jesus’s words: the road that leads to life is hard. If it were about comfort, popularity, or fitting in, the wide gate would be enough. But our Savior walked a narrow path, too—one that led through rejection, struggle, and even death, but ultimately broke open into resurrection and glory. Hebrews 12:2–3 says, “Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith… who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame…”

Jesus understands what it means to walk a path that others mock or reject. He never promised his followers an easy way. But he promised his presence—and the Spirit’s strength for the journey. Isaiah 30:21 says, “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

It’s easy to read “few find it” and feel isolated. But we are not the only ones walking this way. Across time and across the globe, queer believers are choosing the narrow gate daily, choosing integrity over fear, choosing the gospel over shame, choosing love over exclusion. Romans 8:18–19 tells us, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.”

We know it won’t be an easy road—nearly all of us in the LGBTQ+ community, especially LGBTQ+ Christians, already know that. We have endured countless trials—whether from the church, from family, or from others who hate us or believe we are unworthy of God’s love. Not all who reject us are even religious, but their hatred is not our spiritual concern. Our calling is to honor God and to live the life Christ asks of us. As James 1:2–3 reminds us: “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

The journey may be narrow, but it is not empty. It is lined with the footprints of saints and witnesses—some named, many anonymous—who dared to trust in the wideness of God’s mercy. We walk with them.

And most importantly: God walks with us.