Review of A Call to Resurgence by Mark Driscoll

            Let me start by saying I am usually a huge fan of Mark Driscoll especially of his theology. When I heard he had a new book coming out I could not wait to get my hands on a copy. Like anything else he has written this is a meaty book weighing in at 250 pages of actual material and then another 60 pages or so for the appendices. The book is broken up into seven chapters and two appendixes. In the first chapter Driscoll explains how we no longer live in a world ruled by Christian values and how Christendom as we know it has DIED. To make his point of how Christianity has lost its pull in this country in particular he says, “When evangelicals can’t even land a token appearance at an event orchestrated to reflect the various facets of American society, it’s clear that Christian clout has reached its expiration date and been pulled off the shelf.” (Driscoll,7) He also points out our failure to proselytize, “the percentage of Christian converts is not keeping pace with our growing population as unbelief overtakes Christianity.”(page 22.)

            Deep into chapter two he has a chart that describes the different “tribes”. It is rather informative and let me know that I am all over the map with several exceptions being that I don’t fall in to the Charismatic Pentecostal category. Most of the rest of the book almost feels like a rehash of some of his previous work. So as long as you are  a fan of Driscoll you will find something to like, if you are not there are still something’s you can take away from the material. So if you can get a copy of the book check it out and take the time to process it, if you own most of Driscoll’s other works you may not be missing out on much new information here. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

A Critique of Humilitas by John Dickson

Summary

            Humilitas by John Dickson is not some great treatise on humility. It is a rather short work that borrows a lot from other sources, but Dickson tells you that from the onset. John Dickson is a man of many talents according to the dust jacket of the book; he is a PhD in history, he was a musician, and he is also a pastor at a church in Australia where he is from.  As stated before this is not an extremely large book it comes in under 200 pages of material.

            With his background in history it is no wonder that the majority of this book is committed to the historical background of humility and the role it has played in different societies. There is a shift not only in history, but also in the book that takes place with Christ. Before Christ most cultures were based on the shame-honor system, even things in his own Jewish community were set up that way. It is in the context of this society that Christ’s new teaching made him a radical. One aspect of the book that helped to drive home the point Dickson was attempting to make was his use of stories actually depicting acts of humility; in particular the story of Joe Louis.  In short this book can be broken up into three sections, the history of humility before Christ, after Jesus, and application.

Critique

            Dickson’s book as a whole was okay, it was not something that I was blown away by, nor was it something that felt like a complete waste of time.  Throughout the book you will find some nuggets of value such as, “One of the keys to developing humility is spending more time with friends who speak plainly.”[1] There was not much I took away from chapter one, however in the next chapter on leadership I did manage to glean more. He makes a good point in distinguishing art from science when he says, “Leadership is more of an art than a science. This is why there are as many leadership styles, books and courses as there are forms of art.”[2] He goes on to make several other important observations about leadership and how being a good performer will not make you a good leader, while a good leader always did well in some aspect of the work before becoming a leader.[3] There is one thing I was not crazy about when dealing with this chapter it felt disjointed being in a book on humility, because it seemed like it took forever to get to the topic and then covered it poorly.

            In his next chapter subtitled common sense he has a superb point that is often over looked not only in the corporate setting but in other areas such as the home and church. He says, “Humbly acknowledging limitations and refusing to engage in competency extrapolation are not signs of weakness. The demonstrate realism and are therefore strengths.”[4]  In chapter four he points out that in some cultures that humility was not a virtue, it was so ill received that on a list of over 147 virtues it did even make the list.[5] It was thought of so lowly that, “humility was the stuff of slaves, not respected rabbis.”[6]

            He makes the point about respect making a huge difference on how we receive things said by people.  For instance, “The same words my be used by both of us; the same evidence may be presented; but, somehow, the words of the trusted friend are much more compelling.”[7] Some would say that by holding to a solid set of convictions and being unwilling to yield makes us intolerant and unable to be humble. Dickson suggest, “Humility applied to convictions does not mean believing things any less; it means treating those who hold contrary beliefs with respect and friendship.”[8] In building humility we should keep examples worth following before us, “if we are shaped by what we admire, finding admirable examples and studying them will go a long way toward forming humility in us.”[9]

Evaluation

            It would be hard for  me to recommend this book to anyone, unless they were looking for a historical perspective of humility. While this book is used in class on preventing ministry failure I saw very little in this book that was an encouragement. From what I have read there is a book of similar size by C.J. Mahaney entitled Humility that would be far more appropriate on the topic. Dickson’s work is a good historical approach, but as far as practical it misses the  mark.

            I would like to have seen more of a biblical perspective on the topic of humility. He gives us a brief understanding of the humility of Christ, and it stops short. From the vantage point of a pastor or elder in the church there is not much here to take away from this book to be of any benefit to the body, it could very well be applied to the secular context and you would not be able to make any major distinguishing comments between who the intended recipients are supposed to be. Was this book written for the body of Christ or the rest of the world? While it is published by Zondervan a prominent name in Christian publishing, its listing is under business and economics proving that it is not truly set for Christian ministry or living. In  my opinion it is still miscategorized and should be under history.  So in the end I would not recommend this work for use in the body in any capacity.

Bibliography

Dickson, John. Humilitas: A lost key to life, love, and leadership. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

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            [1] John Dickson, Humilitas: A lost key to life, love, and leadership. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011)12.

            [2] Ibid., 34.

            [3] Ibid., 37.

            [4] Ibid., 56.

            [5] Ibid., 88-89.

            [6] Ibid., 104.

            [7] Ibid., 139.

            [8] Ibid., 167.

            [9] Ibid.,175.

Critique of Margin by Richard Swenson

Summary

            Richard A. Swenson is a medical doctor who has written several different books. This book fits into the system of books that has been written by him, it seems as though most of them focus to some degree on margin and things dealing with it. For the purpose of this critique we will be evaluating only the first ten chapters of this fifteen-chapter work. The ten chapters we are going to be evaluating fall into two separate categories that the author has established. Chapters 2-5 are in what he calls The Problem: Pain. While chapters 6-10 are The Prescription: Margin.

            None of the chapters are terribly long, each being about ten pages sometimes twenty not much more than that. Before Dr. Swenson gets too deep into the problem he starts off explaining how we go about in marginless living. You could say that marginless living is living with no room for the unexpected. Swenson defines margin in this manner, “Margin, on the other hand, is having breath left at the top of the staircase, money left at the end of the month, and sanity left at the end of adolescence.” [1]

            After defining what margin and marginlessness is, he goes on to lay out what he call the four areas of pain: progress, problems, stress, and overload.  What exactly is progress and why is it a problem? According to Swenson, “Simply stated, progress means proceeding to a higher stage of development.”[2] So, progress is technological advancement, along with advancement in other field or area you can thank of. For most people I would assume that the problems of pain and stress seem to be pretty self-explanatory. While the problem of overload may seem the same way, is not exactly the case. How does one differentiate the problems of stress from that of overload? It is not so simple to answer that question. I would guess to say that stress is our reaction to the situation while overload is not just one situation but the taking on and handling of too many different things. He responds in kind to the four areas of pain with four different prescriptions to help change the pain to healing. The areas of healing are in emotional, physical, time and finances.

Critique

            Swenson has some valuable input when we sit down and take the time to read and digest what he is saying. Progress is dangerous when it is not kept in check. Swenson says, “Before we can subjugate progress, we must first break the addiction.”[3]  This is not going to be easy because progress has crept into every area of our lives, so now vigilance is required so that progress does not gain any further ground. A great statement that he makes is found in his section on stress. I had never thought of it the way he defined it. “Stress is not the circumstance, it is our response to the circumstance.”[4] He also speaks about vacations and how they are supposed to be joyful and restorative, that is something I have always struggled with, which means I may be a type A according to Swenson. He says, “Most people find a vacation relaxing, but type A’s often do not. “[5]

            “The overload syndrome is often inaccurately labeled weakness, apathy, or lack of commitment.”[6] It is a shame for people who have taken on so much to be given such negative labels. They are more than likely people who struggle with the ability to say no. So what is needed is margin, “Margin is the opposite of overload.”[7] We often look back at how bad generations before us had it without the modern amenities we often take for granted, but Swenson makes an excellent point, “The past might have been poor and deprived in many respects, but its people had margin.”[8]

            I am not sure whether or not I agree with this statement, “Emotional overload saps our strength, paralyzes our resolve, and maximizes our vulnerability, leaving the door open for even further margin erosion.”[9] There seems to be a lot of truth behind that simple statement, because our emotions play such a vital role in our lives and how we process the things going on around us. It is safe to assume that most people would feel blessed (or at least should) by the amount of things they have but, “the widespread use of illicit drugs in our country is evidence that many perceive their personal lot not as a blessing to celebrate but, instead, as a burden to escape from.”[10] This is a shame because it shows us that we no longer worship the creator, but we have been worshiping creation and it is not meeting the void it has created inside of us.

            As a person who lives with depression, I appreciate the fact he did not brush it of as merely psychosomatic when he said, “A depressed person suffers a type of anguish which in its own way can be as painful as anything that can happen to a human being.”[11] One other thing that I really appreciate about his work is that he does not just tell you that your life is screwed up and there is no hope. I like the fact that he mentions God in positive ways and offers solutions while they are broad because not everyone’s situation is similar. One of the best statements that he made was “Progress brings technology, affluence, and education, but not the kind of inner discipline necessary to maintain sound physical health.”[12] And he is right; there is no amount of money or advancement that can make a person do what they do not already want to do for themselves.

Evaluation

            Swenson has written a book that can do the world some good not just pastors. I would recommend this work to anyone with the caveat not to read it unless you are fully alert, because most of the text is very dry. This work can add to the field of pastoral ministry by providing pastors with material that can be used in counseling sessions, and personal application. This book is beneficial because Swenson seemed to work very hard to offer real life principals and anecdotes.  I have ready many different books on the condition of man, and this one has to be one of the better ones on getting the closest to why we are as miserable as we are. When you read this work he is saying that we have allowed so many things to crowd our lives we have no space, among that no space is time with/for God and the things He wants for us. While I may not agree with everything this author has had to say there is much from this book that can be taken away.

Bibliography

Swenson, Richard A. Margin: Restoring emotional, physical, financial, and time reserves to overloaded lives.          Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2004.

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            [1]Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring emotional, physical, financial, and time reserves to overloaded lives. (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2004)13.

            [2] Ibid., 22.

            [3]Ibid., 29.

            [4] Ibid.44.

            [5] Ibid.47.

            [6] Ibid.59

            [7] Ibid.69

            [8] Ibid.73

            [9] Ibid., 79

            [10] Ibid.,83

            [11] Ibid.84.

            [12] Ibid.96