One of the top 10 most viewed articles on the New York Times website today was titled Who Would Jesus Smack Down? You should definitely go read it. Basically, the article is about Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle (not to be confused with Rob Bell's Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan). I was pretty disturbed by the article and decided to go watch some of Mark Driscoll's sermons. I think the Times represented Mark Driscoll pretty well. Pretty much, his church is a reaction against the feel-good, self-help gospel promoted by people like Joel Osteen. Mars Hill has embraced Calvinism to an extreme degree. They believe whole-heartedly in predestination, specific gender roles, and are against the image of a "limp-wristed Jesus." I strongly encourage you to read the article to get a better understanding of the teachings of Mars Hill. The church also is intentionally hip and seeker unfriendly.
I consider myself to be a pretty forward thinking Christian, as I tend to be critical of the modern megachurch. This is why I was so surprised by my disgust of Mark Driscoll's teachings. That sounds a little harsh, but I was mostly offended by Mark Driscoll's presumption to have the answer to every theological question. I think there are some theological truths that we as humans simply cannot understand and never will. Driscoll does not feel the same way; he even expels members who dare to disagree with him, considering it dissent. I do recognize that the actual circumstances of these explusions may be different than the Times portrays them.
After watching some of Driscoll's sermons on YouTube, I think my disgust has waned a little. I still do not agree with most of the practices at Mars Hill, but I do appreciate Driscoll's honesty. They had an entire series titled "Ask Anything" where members were allowed to text message questions to Mark during the sermon. He candidly answers questions about masturbation and different types of sex within a marriage. This content would typically be too inappropriate for a church service, but Driscoll chooses not to separate the church and real life. Watching these clips, I was shocked, embaressed, and even a little offended, but that doesn't make it wrong. I also appreciate the lack of legalism at Mars Hill. Don't get me wrong, they absolutely believe that there are sins which you should avoid, but they see them as secondary to following Christ.
Overall, I still have pretty mixed emotions about Mark Driscoll and this New Calvinism. I'd appreciate some feedback, so maybe together we can form a valid opinion.
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2 comments:
I'm going to sleep but I need to put down some initial thoughts.
I'm thrilled that your first objection to Driscoll is his 'presumption to have the answer to every theological question.' That sickens me and I immediately reduce the value of his opinions. I can't trust a person that doesn't admit that they don't know something about God.
Anyways, I want to discuss this calvanism thing more, but I'm going to sleep. More to come...
I have had many many conversations about the theology of Calvinism. I actually just asked the speaker here at YWAM last week about it some. The conclusion I have come to is there is clear evidence for both sides (free will and predestination) in the Bible. Part of worshiping an infinite, all- knowing God is embracing the truth that we cannot possibly understand all the mysteries of His nature. To me, to be dogmatic one way or the other is to say you have figured something out that theologians have been arguing about over centuries. We're not all coming to the same conclusion about it because... well, it is a mystery.
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