Act Like a Man: 9 Ways to Punch Life in the Mouth

by Mark Driscoll

There aren’t a lot of places or people in this world that are here to help men. There’s a group called the National Organization for Women but no National Organization for Men. You can get a degree in Women’s Studies, but the hairy pitted, non-binary pronoun police professors do not also offer a degree in Men’s Studies. There’s no class on how to be a man. The strip club will take your money and put your hepatitis shot to work. The sports bar will feed you wings, pour you a beer, and let you yell but doesn’t have a lot of wisdom to offer. Most churches are run by men who might die if shot with a Nerf gun. But who is there to help? That’s the goal of this book.

Genres: Faith

208 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark A. Driscoll is the founder and teaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the co-founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network where he also served as President for a short period. Driscoll continues to serve on the board of Acts 29. He has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Cory Jew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like it was a long rant about the two sides of Manhood being about a Lion and a Lamb. Plenty of great scripture references and examples of manhood but I’d say it doesn’t quite stack up to books from John Eldridge or maybe Mark Batterson. Not bad, just maybe a bit underwhelming.

[Johnny Rusnak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review: Act Like a Man

I felt that Act Like a Man was pretty bad. The scripture references were at times taken out of context, and the overall tone sounded more like a complainer—which is the antithesis of “acting like a man.” The book leaned heavily on the lion and lamb imagery. While I understand the metaphor, it felt overbearing on the lion side, giving the impression of aggression without the balance of grace.

If the author wants to critique the church, I’m actually fine with that. The church should be its own harshest critic. Jesus himself was extremely direct with the Jewish leaders of his day, but toward those outside the faith he showed grace, reason, and a measured urgency. This book, however, showed little of that grace for the lost.

I had no idea who Mark Driscoll was before reading this. As I went through the book, I found myself thinking: “This guy seems pretty aggressive.” Out of curiosity, I looked him up and discovered he was a pastor with a checkered past and other very lets just say "creative" writing—uh oh. Then I read more about Mars Hill, and suddenly the tone of the book made complete sense. I’m not one to go hunting for controversies in people. However, when it comes to spiritual authors, it is critical to know who you’ve decided to read and be influenced by.

By contrast, I’ve been reading Tim Keller. My reaction was the exact opposite. His writing struck me as thoughtful and measured, so I looked him up and wasn't surprised when I found that he lived a measured and Godly life through and through. His literature I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Bottom line: This book fails to model the kind of servant-hearted strength men—particularly those in marriage or considering marriage—are called to. It reads more like frustration than formation. If you want a biblically faithful, grace-filled picture of manhood, skip this book and reach for Keller instead.

[Erik Koster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I was gonna write something pithy like "This book promised me 9 ways to punch life in the mouth, and in reality I feel like it was only 6.5 ways to punch life in the mouth." Good thing I didn't do that. Whew!
Anyways, people won't just be picking this book up out of nowhere. If you already like Driscoll (and all of his baggage) then there's not much here that you're going to disagree with, if anything at all. If you dislike Driscoll, you're going to hear his voice throughout this thing of course. I don't feel much about it one way or the other, but I tried to separate the author from the book as best I could given all the publicity over the past umpteen many years.
There's a lot of good advice here and again the folks reading this aren't going to disagree with anything said in it. Really minus one star just because especially the first few chapters kept making the same points over, and over (and over and over). But by the back half of the book that was corrected.

[Lance · Rating 1 out of 5]

While titled "Act Like The Man," this book has an incessant amount of whining, with a touch of contradiction. It clams that big-manly-men fight to protect our country and our communities, but they don't go into churches. Churches are decorated by the womenfolk and run by the sissies, and it is too scary for the big-man! When I discussed this part of the book with a correctional officer who runs worship and the active U.S. Marine who drums in his local praise band, we all had a good laugh. But the book goes on repetitive angry tirades about everything being a threat to "real men," but makes that term feel more and more fragile and brittle along the way.

[JUAN MARTE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, could not pit it down!

Pastor Mark is a genius! My son started reading this book, and I just happened to pick it up and WOW! I bought my own and told my son to keep reading yours, and we will create a study together! Amazing book! There is so much amazing bible based teaching and information. This should be a must-read for any male 13 and up. Thank you, Pastor Mark, God Bless.

[samantha holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF… I tried so hard to finish this, I really did…

[Judah Dehnert · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most influential books I have ever read.