Prior to his leadership of the Land Center and faculty role at Texas Baptist College, Darling served as the senior vice president for communications of the National Religious Broadcasters. He also has served the Southern Baptist Convention as the vice president of Communications at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Darling is a best-selling author of The Original Jesus (Baker Books, 2015), The Dignity Revolution (Good Book, 2018), The Characters of Christmas (Moody, 2019), The Characters of Easter (Moody, 2021), and A Way with Words (B&H, 2020). He is also a columnist for WORLD Opinions and a regular contributor to USA Today. His articles also have appeared in Christianity Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, TIME, The Huffington Post, National Review, and First Things. Darling hosts the popular weekly podcast, “The Way Home.” 

Darling has also given invited lectures at Christian colleges including Union University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Taylor University, Judson College, and Dallas Baptist University. He has also pursued additional studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

In addition to these accomplishments, Darling has served in pastoral ministry in Tennessee and Illinois. He is married to Angela, and they have four children.