finitum non capax infiniti

Mark Driscoll’s newest book, Death by Love: Letters From the Cross is co-written with Gerry Breshears, with whom Driscoll also co-wrote his last book, Vintage Jesus. Just like Vintage Jesus, it is clear when Mark is writing and when Gerry is writing, as Gerry adds helpful Q&A’s at the end of each chapter.

This book just might be the most original and pastoral book I have ever read. The book is centered on the atonement but, unlike many similarly themed books, is anything but dry, academic theologizing. Rather, the book is extremely practical and reveals just how much theology affects everyday life…something that most books on the atonement leave out. As Mark writes in the introduction:

Our approach is an effort to show that there is no such thing as Christian community or Christian ministry apart from a rigorous theology of the cross that is practically applied to the lives of real people (13).

The book is a series of stories of people who have attended Mars Hill Church. Every chapter deals with a different sin or struggle that someone is going through, such as: porn addiction, demon possession, adultery, hypocrisy, physical abuse, sexual abuse, rape, and cancer. The beginning of the chapter lays out the situation in which the particular person finds themselves in. The latter part of the chapter is a letter written by Mark to this person. The letter focuses on an aspect of the atonement that speaks to that person’s situation. For instance, in the seventh chapter Mark writes a letter to a girl who has been raped and focuses on the concept of expiation. Mark writes:

The truth is that what is at stake is nothing short of the identity you have and, subsequently, the life you live out of that identity. You can no longer allow your identity to be shaped by what you have done by cheating on your fiance, lying to him and your pastor, and denying your husband love and intimacy for so many years. You can no longer allow your identity to be shaped by what has been done to you by the failure of your father, the rape of your boyfriend, or the angry words of your bitter husband.
Mary, if I were preaching this to you, I would be shouting at this point; so please hear my plea for your stained soul. Your identity must be marked only by what Jesus Christ has done for you and no longer by what has been done by or to you. To explain this, the Bible uses terms such as atonement, cleansing, and a purifying fountain that washes away your defilement (152-153).

I know that some have some harsh criticisms of Driscoll because of his language and those same people will cringe at certain things in this book. While I understand this criticism, I don’t agree with it in the least. Driscoll is real. Reality isn’t all smiles and puppy dogs and fields of flowers. It’s harsh; it’s ugly; it hurts. That’s the same reality that Jesus entered into to and hung out with the whores and tax collectors; its the same reality in which Paul told Judaizers to chop of their penises; its the same reality in which we all live and breathe. To hear someone like Driscoll speak into that world with a pastoral heart is, to me at least, a breath of fresh air. And for him to do so while still holding onto a very orthodox, evangelical view of the atonement is to applauded.

This book, perhaps more than any book I have read in the past few years, makes the connection between theology and life abundantly clear. Many who read this book with have gone or are going through some of the struggles and issues that are written to in this book. Many who read this book will be struggling with the same sins mentioned in this book. Those people will benefit the most from this book because they will see, very clearly, what the death of Christ means for their particular situation or the particular sin they are struggling with.

Others will benefit from it as well. If you are a Christian and have a hard time seeing how theology connects with real life, this book will clarify that for you. If you are a pastor or counselor or lay leader who deals with people who are struggling in their lives, this book models how to take theological concepts and connect them with people who are hurting and broken.

While I don’t always agree with everything Driscoll says, I do recommend this book wholeheartedly. It is extremely pastoral, it models pastoral care, and it reflects a solid, evangelical understanding of the atonement.