The Call

I've been reading a wonderful book entitled The Call, by Os Guinness. It's subtitle may remind you of a somewhat better-known Christian book of the past year or two: "Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life." Sound familiar?

Yes, there are some superficial similarities between this book and Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life. In fact, it would probably be instructive to compare them closely, but I'm not going to do that here. I will simply say that Warren often writes and thinks not much above the level of a gym teacher's pep-talk, which for me becomes quite tedious in very short order. But Guinness, whose book was first published in 1998, is more stimulating by far. Sure, The Call doesn't come with all the Christian gimcrack that accompanied Warren's feather-weight tome, nor the promises of instant (well, 40 days is almost "instant" in the grand scheme of things) transformation, but it is a book far more worthy of close attention. If you're wondering about your purpose, take a pass on Warren's 40-day medicine show and read instead Guinness' The Call.