Mark Driscoll and Hillary Clinton
There’s one thing I know about Hillary Clinton: Virtually everyone has a settled opinion of her, and the opinions are rarely ambivalent - everyone takes a side when the question is Hillary. (Actually, there are two things I know about Hillary, and the second is that I will not be casting a vote for her in 2008 should she receive the nomination for President of the United States.)
I won’t suggest that Mark Driscoll has many things in common with Hillary, but I do think they share this one. (In reality, they share both of the above distinctions. I highly doubt that I’ll be voting for Driscoll for President this year, either, but for entirely different reasons.) Two recent posts on Tim Challies’ blog dealt with Driscoll and his latest book, Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions. The book review came first, and was followed a day later by another containing both explanation for why the comments on the book review were shut down and a deeper look into Challies’ own take on Driscoll. The book review would perhaps be best described as somewhere between a highly-qualified endorsement and a sometimes glowing advisory to avoid the book. The follow-up post posed and answered a number of questions about Driscoll the man and his use (or misuse) of his position.
Personally, I tend to agree very much with what D.A. Carson said about Driscoll while here in Nashville, which is where Challies rubbed shoulders with him. I am very much encouraged by what I see, from a great distance, of the growth and maturing of Mark Driscoll. Carson called this his “trajectory,” and that is a fittingly Carsonian word choice.
What about you? Where do you come down on Driscoll? Is he a master of keeping the world’s most relevant news relevant to the culture of his day, or is he a master at being repugnant?
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Mark Driscoll, DA Carson, Tim Challies
My opinion is that Mark Driscoll and Acts 29 are being greatly used of God. At the same time I don’t think that legitimizes everything done or believed. That’s true of everyone, even if it’s especially transparent in this case.
So, my concerns from a distance are that Driscoll is creating a new fundamentalism. All fundamentalism freezes a period of time and considers that faithfulness to the gospel. Driscoll, for all his talk about contextualisation, is publically dismissive of ways and expressions of Christianity that are not like his. His particular contextualisation works now, but as culture moves on I’m concerned that his ministry will not.
I also think that out of the three dangers for ministers that used to be bandied around, (gold, glory and girls), glory is his archilles heel. If anything, that will bring him down. I truly hope it doesn’t.
But even with those concerns, I trust that God will continue to use Driscoll and his ministry for all the faults he may have. God has used people with well known deep flaws for his glory in the past and will again in the future. I truly believe we can learn from and praise God for Mark Driscoll, and at the same time we need be careful not to be blinded to flaws. That way the glory goes to Whom it should.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and linking the review of the book. I read it first among my circle of friends and truly wanted someone to talk to and sort through the thoughts I was having on the book. I found myself wanting to recommend it, yet feeling like I must do so with a great disclaimer. Maybe I’ll just point them to Challies’ review! :)
Ashley,
Driscoll is an interesting case, for sure. You might find this item that Tim Challies posted this week to be of interest, as well. I continue to believe that we haven’t yet seen the pinnacle of Mark’s impact.
Thanks for stopping by.
Doug,
The simple fact is I wouldn’t want my 14-year-old son sitting under the vulgar language that too much peppers Driscoll’s speech, and for no good reason.
God in His sovereignty can use anyone, and thank God He does, but I couldn’t in good conscience put my family under Driscoll’s ministry.
Blessings,
Terry
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