AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: A Call to Resurgence by Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll’s new book A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future? releases today.  Driscoll, no stranger to controversy, will certainly raise some new hullabaloo with this no-holds-barred book.  In the spirit of the Old Testament prophets, he goes for the jugular and doesn’t let go.  Also in the spirit of the prophets, however, this resurgence call is not a call to relevance or restoration but to fidelity.  What do we know to be true?  Will we stick to our guns?  Will we stay on mission or will we be distracted by secondary issues?

He picks a few fights as he muses about the future of the Evangelical Christianity in America.  In the first chapter he reiterates the sentiments of a particularly controversial tweet about Barak Obama from earlier this year.  Then he proceeds to call the last inauguration of Obama, “the funeral of Christendom in America.”  Does Driscoll lament this religious sea change?  Not really.  Actually, he seems to celebrate it—now the gloves are off, and the pretenses are dropped.

This truly isn’t a book about politics, as Driscoll himself points out, and he doesn’t veer into the political for the rest of the book.  Rather, it’s a reality check.  It’s a call to action, and a call to mission.  Driscoll speaks as a man who has been ministering on the messy front lines of the post-Christian Pacific Northwest.  Now as the rest of America trends that direction his message is, “quit mourning the Moral Majority and start evangelizing.”  I found his message to be timely and refreshing.  His writing style is direct, raw, and even very funny at times.  The overall tone is positive and hopeful, if you can imagine that.

He spends a good portion of the book examining the cultural factors that led to our current religious climate.  He also challenges the reader to really define their theological and doctrinal leanings.  At first I found this odd considering this is a book about being outward focused and missional.  But you have to know your starting place before you can move forward.  Also, the whole point is unity on the fundamentals, which Driscoll lines out using the very apt analogy of “state borders” and “national borders.”  For example, the bodily resurrection of Christ is a “national border,” while the so-called charismatic gifts are a “state border.”  Christians must stand together despite our minor differences, or we will fall.

This book is all-around excellent, and I would put it on a required reading list for anyone in vocational ministry.  This message needs to be heard.  There are a couple of particularly outstanding sections: the chapter on the Holy Spirit and the chapter on repentance are both incredible.  When Driscoll lines out “Seven Principles for Resurgence” in the final chapter, he inspires hope in such a way that it reminded me why the gospel is so exciting in the first place.

As a bonus, Driscoll gives an excellent overview of later church history (Protestant Reformation to today) as an appendix to the book.  Maybe he’ll write a whole book on church history in the future?  That would be a book on church history I would actually read.

Mike Chamberlain does an adequate, but not outstanding job narrating the audiobook version.

As I finished this book, I felt ready to face this brave new world knowing that what it really needs is Christ.  And it’s the Church’s job to take Christ to the culture.

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.  More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.