Now if you talk to narrow gaters, you find they possess a curious sense of peace and  tranquility that passes all understanding. I have had so many board roaders look and me and say, “Ed, chill out.  Let your hair down, man.  Do you realize how good it is over here?  Just cool out.  Please, Ed, please.”  The board roaders mean well but they don’t know what is really happening.  They don’t know what is inevitable.  It could happen suddenly, it could happen gradually, but it always happens to the broad roaders.

Now I want to talk about two contrasting results that Jesus talked about.  One result is destruction, for those on the broad road.  The other result is life, for those on the narrow road.  You see, the broad roaders get surprised.  I call this the reverse surprise of the two different roads.  On the broad road you are just having a good time.  You say that everybody gets high.  But after awhile the highs can become addictive on the broad road.  Then you sing, everybody gets low.  On the broad road the lows can lead to depression.

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Now we have got a lot of people in this auditorium right now who are on the broad and wide road.  And you are singing at the top of your lungs.The narrow road is different.   The narrow road has those moral guardrails.  The narrow road has highway patrolmen everywhere.  The narrow road tells us that we have got to live by the authority of the Bible.  The narrow road says that we have got to watch and think about what we are doing in front of others.

Narrow roaders are people who hang out with their spouse until death.  Narrow roaders are people who understand that word is a gift from God and they work hard because they know they are working for the Lord Himself.  Narrow gaters are people who know that their finances are a blessing from God and they give generously to the church and to those in need.

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Some of you think that God is going to kind of change His mind on that day of reckoning.  Some of you think that God is just going to nod and wink and wave everyone through.  Or do you believe that on that final day God is going to say, “You know you have sinned against Me.  You have turned your back on me.

You just do whatever feels good.  You say to everybody that this is the way to do it, that you love what you are doing.  You are singing Sheryl Crow’s song, “Every day is a winding road.  I get a little bit closer.  Every day is a faded sign.  I get a little bit closer to feeling fine.  Everybody gets high.  Everybody gets low.  These are the days when anything goes.”  That’s the theme song.

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And then, during the starting line ups on television games, I’d try to get to the end of the line so the camera could see me clapping for them.  It was pitiful.  But Lisa went to every single game and sat right behind me, staring at my back the whole game.

Rodney, though, my wild friend, was a prophet.  Because one day he said, “You know what? I’ve got a good name for you—the Reverend!  You act like a Reverend.”

So everybody on the team started calling me the Reverend.  The Rev.  He was a prophet, wasn’t he?

So, at the end of my freshman year there was an NBA player who came down to practice with us and played. He was really nice to me and gave me a lot of confidence and I began to improve. That summer I was able to play with a bunch of NBA players from Houston and I gained more confidence. And in my sophomore year I won a starting position for the game against Auburn.  I was starting and I thought, “Man, this is it! I’m starting as a sophomore. Our team is top 25 team. This is incredible!”

I remember calling my parents and saying, “Mom and Dad, I’m starting at this game!  This is going to be the ultimate.”

And I’ll never forget it. The announcer at the game said, “Starting at guard, number 12 from Houston, Texas; 6’2, 172 lbs.—Ed Young!” I walked out on the court and I thought to myself, “This is it? I’m standing here in short shorts (this was the 80’s) with tube socks, trying to put a leather ball through an iron ring.  So, this is my life.  Wow, this is it?”  It’s like God was saying to me, “There’s something more.”

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700 people lived in our dorm. Only 3 out of 700 went to church. And my teammates were like, “Man, what’s wrong with you?  Why don’t you smoke the weed with us?  Why don’t you do the dope with us?  We have all these hooker’s on the road and you don’t even have sex with them.   You don’t even have sex with Lisa. What’s wrong with you!?”

Day in and day out I felt large levels of loneliness. I went through depression because it was just falling apart for me.

Yet, by God’s grace and power, he gave me the ability to remain strong.  But every day before practice, I remember I’d get there early; I’d get all taped up and get my uniform on and I would go up this staircase to this little window overlooking our gym where we’d practice and I would say, “God, I give basketball. I give this whole thing to you.  I am in Sodom and Gomorrah.  I don’t know why I’m in this hell hole. Use me, God, in any way possible.”  I had to pray that over and over and over again every single day.

I met a guy on my team named Rodney.  Rodney was the wildest guy on the team.  He was a phenomenal athlete. Everybody was scared to death of him, and the coach would always put me with him on road trips.  Rodney and I had a couple of discussions about my life and about Christianity, but nothing in depth. He was like talking to a brick wall.

My freshman year I sat on the bench pretty much the whole year.  We’d play on ESPN or some other national television show and my mom would call and say, “Honey, I saw you. You’re hair looked great on the bench.”

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