Question: My cousin says that all roads lead to the same destination eventually. Is that true?
Answer: Your cousin is expressing a belief that has been around for a long time and has recently gained a lot of popularity. So, maybe we should see if it has any validity in the light of Scripture.
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus lays out a comparison between two roads that clearly lead to different destinations. He says, “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.”
Keep in mind that these two verses immediately follow Jesus’ teaching about what we would call the Golden Rule, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you.” It would seem as though Jesus was explaining that those who choose to live by the Golden Rule are choosing to follow the narrow path that leads to life.
Conversely, those who only want to focus on themselves, caring little about the welfare of others, are walking through the wide gate and onto the broad path of a destructive lifestyle.
To emphasize the distinctiveness of these choices and their outcomes, Jesus adds this additional comparison at the end of the chapter: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell – and its collapse was great.”
Different roads or different foundations – not the same outcome in either case.
Maybe I can sum up my answer this way – your cousin may know more than someone like me about where the paths of life might lead, but I doubt that he or she knows more than Jesus.
Dr. Steve Rahter
Pastor, Praise Tabernacle
Egg Harbor Township
