The Narrow Gate: Textbook

by David Bergsland

This book is direct and to the point. In it we share a word the church does not want to hear in this modern age of political correctness. But we really need to consider the implications. "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."

We must start with the narrowness. Many people are made nervous by this. It is obvious that most pastors and priests are. How can you build a church by telling the people things like this? It is not good to talk about exclusiveness. This is certainly part of the narrowness of the gate. In modern America this is where we get into trouble very quickly from the PC media police. Jesus could not have made it clearer. This aspect of the narrowness is made clear by many things he said.

If you are into the words of Jesus typeset in red ink - these are in red. He lays it out boldly - in a way that cannot be ignored. "Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved." However, it is obvious to us all that today many local church pastors have trouble saying that Jesus is the gate, the door to the life abundant. It is commonly not preached because the whole approach sounds a bit narrow-minded. But it is much stronger than that. As you will see in this book, many powerful, active church members will find themselves outside with no way to enter heaven.

Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2012

About the author

I've been a compulsive reader since I was eight years old. It's not uncommon for me to read a book or more a day. I became a fine artist during my hippie days from 1967-71. After graduation from U of Minn, I almost immediately got into publishing, first as an illustrator, then as a graphic designer, then a typographer, art director, instructor, program director, author, font designer, online teacher, self-publisher. All the while I did some art, wrote a lot, and kept myself busy.

My main blog and Website is The Skilled Workman which covers resources for publishing books and ebooks with InDesign, plus training for designing fonts.

These days it's primarily a solid food believers site.

The spiritual blog is
Reality Calling which covers my Christian writing and books, plus the books of authors I represent and/or design for.

I sell my fonts at MyFonts.com for the most part, but also at fonts.com

Reviews

[Michael Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Bergsland neither contacted me nor does he know me. In order to be honest, he reviewed our book Antidisestablishmentarianism, a book as long as 3 or 4 doctoral dissertations. For that I feel a great moral obligation to review not just one, but several of David Bergsland's book. This influence, though considerable, is the only influence he has over me.
To begin, the topic is after my own heart, though I am writing on other topics and have no time for this subject. David Bergsland has biographical information on twitter, Amazon and Smashwords. He has a facebook page and blog as well as a twitter account.
As someone who writes massive books, I greatly appreciate a smaller work that I can read in less than an afternoon. Ten different English translations of the Word of God are used and properly documented.
The opening chapter states; "The way the church teaches, the gate is not very narrow. There are several common practices in the modern church that seem to provide a wide open gate. But it is an illusion. That gate is narrow." He supports this position with Scripture.
Though he is not a Baptist, he takes the Baptist position on Baptism. "Baptism is not a magic act of power. It is the result of an adult decision." He also says, "there is no evidence that baptism provides salvation, it is a ceremonial event of public proclamation and a ritual of cleansing."
"If you have any personal concerns about whether your baptism was real or not, get dunked-as in fully immersed-as an adult."
This next issue he brings up I personally believe has destroyed the modern Church in America and England. "How many people do you know who came down front to an altar call (especially at a large crusade), prayed the sinner's prayer, and nothing happened?"
"The most common figures are that somewhere between 6% and 10% of people who come down for an altar call become church members.
As we will talk about in a bit, becoming a church member has little to do with entering the Kingdom of God. There are no statistics about true conversions resulting from an altar call. It may be only a percent or two."
My concern is that most of these "altar calls" actually inoculate against the gospel. I do not see David Bergsland drawing this conclusion. It is my own.
"I'm not sure what to do with this modern phenomenon [of mega-churches]. I've never been a part of one which truly preached the Gospel." I can truly amen that statement.
"The megachurches I've attended were major problems and more like a cancerous tumor than healthy growth."
"The only megachurch is scripture was the church at Jerusalem and God scattered that one."
David Bergsland then changes to God's standards, not our mistaken beliefs. "The gate is quite a bit narrower than we are commonly taught."
As David Bergsland points out, we do not want to hear "Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." Because "many will seek to enter and will not be able."
The horrifying part is "This is a limited time offer," to use a modern advertising slogan. As David Bergsland points out, that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Church age will end. And what happens next will have little resemblance to the Left Behind series.
Jesus had the most problems with "the heavily involved, defenders of doctrine, self-righteous hypocrites" who go to church constantly, "helping to set policy, zealously watching for infractions, and running the church."
The next great sin engulfing the American Church is lawlessness. David Bergsland uses pages of examples to back up his belief that the modern American church will both welcome and help to usher in the government of the Anti-Christ.
David Bergsland next deals with the problem of knowing the information of the Scriptures without knowing God or having the power of God. This builds on the earlier points and is the core of the book.
He also extends the Biblical parallel of the family. That is how we instruct children and how God instructs us.
The Scriptures, music, worship, communion, community interaction and fellowship can all be used to replace, as substitutes for the true relationship with Christ Jesus.
Probably the most important point is that "This type of relationship takes time." The baby/parent relationship is "good for the baby-not so good for the parent."
The last section of this book is a number of very helpful illustrations and person experiences.
It is a very short, easy read on a very important topic. You can easily read this in less time than a morning Church Service. I highly recommend this. It certainly stands out among modern Christian books which are, for the most part, not worth reading.

[Joanne Rolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is centered around Matthew 7:21-23 about the narrow gate; You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
Jesus is not a gate, he’s THE gate.
Not everyone who says to him ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven.
Religion will not save us.
Jesus will say to people who don’t have a relationship with him, “go away, I never knew you.”
Narrow is the gate. You cannot rely on infant baptism, an altar call or church membership, especially membership of a mega church.
The author explains the major thing is to believe in Jesus and abide with him. Knowing God is a requirement. Hearing the voice of the Lord, this is the core of the whole thing.
I will say “hear hear to that.
This is something we should all know and be taught in church.
I like the summing up of the hard and difficult road; “One of the benefits of this strait and narrow gorge is that it provides direct access to the top. It also provides wonderful tantalizing visions of the mountain tops at the end of the road along the way.
I recommend the book to those who are seeking God and starting out on the road. This book underlines what is needed for the journey.

[Iola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I 'read' The Narrow Gate as an audiobook, so this is a two-in-one review of both the content and the presentation.

The content was excellent. The Narrow Gate is examing the trend for the Christian church to be inclusive, to welcome everyone, and pointing out that it takes more than tithing and church attendance to be a Christian. His points are well-thought out and logical, and backed up by relevant Bible quotations. I found myself agreeing with everything he said (but also being worried by some of the churches he's attended over the years).

The Narrow Gate is easy to understand yet thought-provoking, one of those books I'm sure I'll get even more from the second time around.

But no matter how good the content, an audiobook flies or fails based on the narrator. I've heard narrators take award-winning novels and turn them into something less engaging than Old Testament geneologies, usually though a combination of monotone delivery and insufficient attention to punctuation.

Fortunately, this was not a problem with The Narrow Gate. The narrator had a voice which was easy to listen to and persuasive, an important factor given the material. The only problem with the audiobook version is the inability to highlight significant passages. No matter. I can always buy the book.

Recommended.

Thanks to the author for providing a free Audible book for review.

[David Bergsland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, I think it is the most important book I have ever written. I hope it's good enough to change your life.