In 2008, Mark Driscoll was invited to Desiring God Conference. The title of Driscoll's message was, "How Sharp the Edge? Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words." This year Phil Johnson spoke at the Shepherd's conference. From the beginning he goes for Driscoll's jugular. By the end you'll realize he is rebutting this singular message by Driscoll from the 08 DG conference. Johnson's message was entitled "Sound Doctrine; Sound Words."
I think Johnson is a bit unfair to Mark Driscoll. Johnson is right that pastors need to be held to a higher level of maturity. Yet, though I am not always on the same theological page as Mark Driscoll, I find myself on his side in this fire fight. The fact of the matter is, Johnson lumps Driscoll in with a slue of idiotic fools, who make relevance their idol. I don't believe Driscoll is found among their number. Again we need to educate people about the far reaching definition of the Emerging Church.
In Johnson's video you hear him continually tell a story about Driscoll and follow it with more horrendous stories not connected to Driscoll at all. Driscoll has made mistakes, but before you can crucify him, listen as he repents.
1 comment:
Ive had that Phil Johnson sermon for a long time, in fact i played it for a friend of ours just like last week or so, i don't think he has been unfair to Mark Driscoll at all. Driscoll has used the word of god for sexual jokes, has been warned and talked to by many many fathers of the faith. He is way over a line. A pastor should not get into the gutter in the name of contextualization.
a pastor should stand out in the world as someone who has an air of holiness about him. and especially from the pulpit where you are declaring the word of the lord, which was never foul. it doesn't matter how "unchurched" your city is. I could probably argue it is easier to witness and minister to pagans than an "overchurched" region like Dallas or Atlanta or somewhere where they have grown up in a somewhat christian culture and if you ask them if there a christian they say "well I'm from Texas so I'm a baptist" as if that matters for anything.
if you want to stand out from culture you must be different from culture. am i saying we need to go fundamental and start a commune, no of course not, but if your your mannerisms and your speech patterns and what you say is different than everyone else around you, they will notice and ask "what is so different about that person" and many will ask you. light is so much more noticeable because it is so much different than the dark.
Jesus was harsh sounding at times, Jesus was firm many times, but Jesus was never ever crude. He was never sexually suggestive, and was never foul. times are not different than the first church, in fact, it was more pluralistic then than it is now, and much harder to minister exclusivity and preciousness of the gospel. we should be attempting to emulate the speech of our lord and he never was crude or sexual merely for attention grabbing.
it is also confusing to the babies in Christ when the spiritual leader of the flock is using crude humor. this could say to a baby, "joking about this must be OK, i heard my pastor do it" that could cause others to sin. if out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks than perhaps some of the sin in peoples hearts is not being dealt with because they can hold on to those thoughts of crudeness and dirty wit, and stay in impure thoughts...i don't know but just a thought
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