Real Marriage by Mark & Grace Driscoll

Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship & Life Together by Mark & Grace Driscoll has been a highly anticipated book and one that I was very much looking forward to reading. I was grabbed from the first time I read a description of the book and was happy to see that a pastor and his wife were going to tackle a book on marriage together. I appreciate how the Driscoll's start off this book by openly sharing about their marriage. It sets the tone of how open and real the rest of the book will be. Now I realize there has been a lot of backlash against Driscoll and this book for his supposed "crudeness" and the highly controversial "Can We _____?" chapter. However what I see and read is a pastor who is not afraid to tackle these tough issues. I believe the church needs more pastors like this. So often in the church we talk about how unfortunate it is that culture, movies, celebrities, etc. are influencing the way young people view sex, but at the same time we don't ever bring it up inside the four walls of our local churches. Here is a pastor and his wife who aren't afraid to take a biblical stand on marriage and sex. This is a definitely a book I will need to spend more time in, but I can say that is has caused me to stop and think about my own marriage. And I believe that is the point that Mark and Grace want to happen as people read this book; to stop and think and have conversations as a couple about their marriage. I recently came across an article interview that Mark did and he says this,

"Our goal in the book was not so that bloggers could talk with one another about issues of their sex lives. Our goal was that husbands and wives could have those conversations. That’s really the motive. So bloggers and tweeters and Facebookers, they’re free to discuss it, but really, it’s for married couples."

I challenge you to get past your preconceived ideas and opinions of the Driscolls and this book, and read through it with an open mind. Let it cause you to think, to have conversations.

Currently, Mark's church, Mars Hill, is doing a sermon series based off the book; Real Marriage: A Sermon Series About Jesus, the Gospel, and Marriage. You can check those out here.



Special thanks to Thomas Nelson and BookSneeze for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.