The Narrow Path - by Rich Villodas

Book Synopsis

A compelling call to embrace the countercultural values of Jesus, which lead to a life of love, peace, and fulfillment, from the bestselling author of The Deeply Formed Life, winner of the Christianity Today Book Award.

"In The Narrow Path, Rich unpacks what living our best life truly looks like. This book is a much-needed heart checkup for every Jesus follower."--Christine Caine, founder of A21 and Propel Women

We live in a culture that wants it all. More is seen as better--whether it's more money, social media fame, choices, or power. For those chasing this way of life, "narrow" seems negative. Who wants to narrow their options . . . or be seen as narrow-minded?

Which is why the most well-known talk in the history of the world--the Sermon on the Mount--is also the most paradoxical one. In it, Jesus holds up the narrow path as the most spacious . . . and the broader path as the more confining one.

Rich Villodas, bestselling author of The Deeply Formed Life, explores what today's broad and narrow paths look like so you can discern which one you're on. The answer may surprise you--and will help you pursue the way of Jesus more deeply when it comes to loving God and others, prayer, sexual desire, conflict, money, anxiety, and more.

The Narrow Path reintroduces the counterintuitive wonder of Jesus's timeless wisdom for this age, one fraught with anxiety, depression, polarizing politics, and online vitriol. The path of Jesus is most certainly narrow, but it is the only one filled with the ever-expanding life of God . . . and it is available now for all who want it!

Review Quotes

"In The Narrow Path, Rich unpacks what living our best life truly looks like. By challenging some of our most basic assumptions about what it is to walk with Jesus and by inviting us to discover whether we are on the broad or narrow path . . . This book is a much-needed heart checkup for every Jesus follower."--Christine Caine, founder of A21 and Propel Women

"A book written for all those 'who are weary of anchoring their lives in the unfulfilling promises of the surrounding culture, ' those who find the broad way, essentially, 'do whatever you want and follow the crowd, ' to be revealing itself as exactly what Jesus warned--a path toward death, not life--and those who are interested, intrigued, and deeply drawn to the possibility of Jesus and his narrow way."--John Mark Comer, author and founder of Practicing the Way

"If you're tired of the choice between a half-Christian, conscience-quieting religion and an exhausting, guilt-inducing moralism, this book is for you. With a map through Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, Rich Villodas leads us to the narrow path and shows us how to find joy on that road. You won't regret the trip!"--Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today

"Rich Villodas is one of the necessary voices of our time. As we wrestle to understand how Jesus speaks to our current day, Rich makes the words of Christ accessible. Leaders like him are rare. This book is needed."--Lecrae, Grammy Award-winning artist and producer

"Brilliant and beautiful, concise and clear, The Narrow Path helps us remember again the words of our Lord that lead us to the liberating reality of a world in which less is more, in which the hard work of obedience leads to durable joy, and in which the love of Jesus is to be discovered and dwelt in while we travel this road together as a body of fellow pilgrims."--Curt Thompson, MD, psychiatrist and author of The Deepest Place and The Soul of Shame

"This is Rich Villodas at his pastoral best. Challenging and confronting, these are pastoral reflections for everyone, calling us to the narrow path toward an expansive life."--Glenn Packiam, lead pastor of Rockharbor Church and author of The Resilient Pastor and The Intentional Year

"By bringing laser focus to the manifesto of our faith--the Sermon on the Mount--Pastor Rich edifies us anew with the wonderful, subversive love of Christ. With clarity, wisdom, and wit, he reminds us that God's ways are the ways of life, joy, love, and peace--the truly good life."--Danai Gurira, actress, playwright, and activist

"This biography of the Jesus Way reset me on his way again. I hope and pray it sets and resets you on the Way. But my real hope is that it would become all our autobiographies. This book won't just do you good; it will do the world good."--Archbishop Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

About the Author

Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiethnic, multigenerational, urban church family, in Elmhurst, Queens. He is the author of The Deeply Formed Life and Good and Beautiful and Kind as well as a key speaker for Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, a movement which has impacted thousands of lives. Rich and his wife, Rosie, along with their two children, reside in New York.