Mark Driscoll is right and his critics are wrong

I do not own a Mark Driscoll book. I'm not a hip urban Calvinist church planter. My first introduction to the Seattle pastor was through a negative source. I'm not a weekly listener to his podcast. This post is not coming from a stereotypical Driscoll fan.

But it seems pretty undeniable that Driscoll is right and his critics are wrong. How can I say this? He seems to be more about Jesus. They seem to be more about Mark Driscoll. If and when that changes and Driscoll becomes just as focused on himself as his critics are, he would be wrong as well. But as of now, their focus is someone other than Christ and that makes them, by default, wrong.

Think I'm wrong? Look at the website of the Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association, one of the chief Driscoll critics. Who's on their front page: Driscoll, Driscoll & more Driscoll. Eight of the 11 links on their home page concerns Driscoll or his church planting organization, Acts 29. They have more quotes from the Mars Hill pastor than Driscoll's own website.

Now go to Mark Driscoll's blog, The Resurgence. There are posts, all from a Calvinist perspective, dealing with theology, resources and prominent theologians. When answering the question "what is the Resurgence?," the website says, "The Resurgence is a movement that resources multiple generations to live for Jesus so that they can effectively reach their cities with the Gospel by staying culturally accessible and Biblically faithful."

But, obviously, websites are not everything, so perhaps the critics have spent more time elsewhere focusing more on Christ and less on Driscoll.

In the middle of a Family Life Today program, a radio station ownerpulled down the show because it featured a Driscoll sermon and he had heard that Driscoll used profanity and spoke too openly about sexual issues. Note that the message removed from the radio contained no questionable language and did not discuss sex at all. Did the FLT sermon contradict Scripture? That question is never addressed because it's not the point. Scripture isn't the point. Mark Driscoll is.

The critics spend hours writing rants against Driscoll and anyone who happens to be connected to him, tearing down brothers in Christ, while conveniently ignoring that Driscoll has apologized for and/or pulled down much of the material that has caused such consternation among the critics. Fairness is not the point. Mark Driscoll is.

Those lobbing criticisms in the direction of Driscoll and anyone who dares to associate with him are not expressing their complaints in a truthful, biblical matter. They are seeking to find fault in either past mistakes or theological disagreements over secondary issues such as alcohol. It's not about the impact the very public attacks make on fellow brothers in Christ or on the Great Commission of Christ. Christ is not the point. Mark Driscoll is.

That's the problem and that's why they are wrong. Who cares what Jesus says? Unless He's ripping Mark Driscoll.

Running the race: illustrated

Paul, knowing the culture in which he was writing, often compared common sporting events of the day to the Christian life. His favorite seemed to be the race. It is one of the oldest and simplest of all sports - everyone line up and run as fast as you can to the finish line, the first one there wins.

In 1 Corinthians, he reminds the church that only one runner is the winner and therefore challenged them to "run in such a way as to get the prize." The writer of Hebrews describes all those people of faith who have gone before us and encourages us to fix our eyes on Christ as we "run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Those illustrations become much more real when you see them up close and personal.

Last week, my 7 year old son Wesley went to a runner's camp put on by a local church. He loves to run, so we thought he would enjoy it. He loved it. All week long, he ran laps at the camp so that he could earn a gold medal. You had to run 25 laps over four days to earn gold. He ran 37. He earned his gold medal.

On Friday night, they have a track meet a local high school where all the kids compete. Wesley signed up for the hurdles, 400 meters and 800 meters. We were all a little nervous about the whole thing, especially me. Daddy's just get that way when their kids are doing sports.

He ran the 400 meters first. Racing with boys his age and above, he finished second overall and first for his age group (even while turning around and looking backwards once (another Bible lesson there) and skipping sideways another time). In the hurdles, he won his timed heat, but two other boys ran faster in their heat. So he had won a first and a third place ribbon heading into his last event - 800 meter.

Earlier, we had been talking about how well Wesley ran and how much he could run, but it is a whole different thing when you actually see your just turned 7 year old little boy lined up to run two full laps around a track with most of the people a year or two older than him.

He got jostled to the back at the beginning of the race, so he had to make his way back up to the front toward the end of the first lap. Like Paul, Pam and I tried to encourage using something that Wesley, our audience, would understand. We told him to run the first lap and then on the last turn of the last lap to use a boost mushroom like Mario Kart Wii.

By the time he got through the crowd heading into the second lap, two older boys had pulled about 1/4 of a lap ahead of him. But he was running ahead of everyone else, most of whom was older than him. In the last turn, you could tell he was starting to fade a little. Another older boy was catching up to him. But then he turned the corner and from the other end of the track I could see it in his eyes. I turned and told Pam, "He just hit the mushroom."

He started sprinting down the track. The other older boy started running harder, too. They were both flying down the back stretch. At the tape, Wesley run by a hair (Photo, he's the one in the blue). He finished third overall, but first in his age group by a long way.

After he crossed the finish line, he sat down and started crying because his side was killing him. Pam can't tell the story without crying. Me? I smile because I know that if he plays sports that will not be the last time his side kills him from running.

But I realized that Wesley perfectly demonstrated the point Paul and other New Testament writers were trying to illustrate. Even if you are hurting. Run. Even if other people are trying to knock you off course. Run. There are prizes to be had. Run. It's not really about how you start, but how you finish. Run.

After the race was over and he got all his ribbons, the pain was forgotten (if it wasn't then, it definitely was when we stopped for ice cream later).

One day, the race will be over and the prizes given out. All the pain and problems will be forgotten. The only regret that could possible happen at that moment will be one of, "I wish I would have run just a little bit harder. I could have pushed myself just a little bit more."

Paul's challenge with words was Wesley's challenge with actions: Run and get the prize.

Trying to slide standards

I know this is shocking seeing that my blog is named Wardrobe Door, but I read a chapter from the Chronicles of Narnia to my boys every night. Right now, we are reading through The Magician's Nephew.

After Uncle Andrew tricked Polly into testing a magic ring that he himself was too afraid to try, he tries to explain to Digory why his actions were not "rotten."

Oh, I see. You mean that little boys ought to keep their promises. Very true; most right and proper, I'm sure, and I'm very glad you have been taught to do it. But of course you must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be for little boys - and servants - and women - and even people in general, can't possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages. No, Digory. Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures. Ours, my boy, is a high and lonely destiny.

For a second, Digory is almost convinced by the grandiose-sounding words until he comes to his senses and thinks, "All it means, is that he thinks he can do anything he likes to get anything he wants."

Politicians have illustrated this perfectly. Cheating on my wife is bad, but I've met my "soul mate." Sure, lying to the public is wrong in most situations, but this is a major issue that needs the solution I have for it.

But moving away from politicians, how often do we do that with ourselves? We explain away rules and standards as not applying to us or our circumstances. Sure those are good rules for people to live by normally, but this is different for me right now.

If you are doing something that you would think was wrong in someone else's life, chances are it is wrong in your life. You can try to convince yourself that the standards should slide around you and your circumstances, but the standards don't change and you are breaking the rules that you want others to live by.

Uncle Andrew was wrong even though he may have sounded convincing, but Digory saw through it. You may sound convincing to yourself, but others will see right through it.

Reflected light

In our camping excursion for my oldest son's birthday, my wife and I were trying to read our Bible before we went to bed. We only had one flashlight. I had it shining on my pages, but Pam needed some light to read hers. If I held my Bible just right, the light would reflect off my pages onto hers. But if I moved it just a tiny bit, Pam's Bible would be in the shadows and she couldn't read it.

As I read my Bible and Pam read hers, I thought about the responsibility that I had as a husband and a father. How I live my life can either reflect light on my family or keep them in darkness. It is a huge responsibility and a difficult one, but that doesn't mean it is any less mine.

All of us that follow Christ, whether we are a father, mother, teacher or friend, bear the responsibility of shedding the light of Christ on those around us with whom we have influence.

Jesus told us that we are light givers. Our job is to shine that light around us through our good works and then have other people glorify God because of them.

We have to always keep in mind that God is the source and reason for the light. It's not us. We can only reflect the light that He shines into our life. And the reason he shines that light is that we would reflect it for others and they would glorify Him.

Blaming the leader

As I have watched the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, I have been impressed with the gracious leadership of our president, Dr. Johnny Hunt. He was truly elected for a time such as this. However, there was a time I (unfairly) held a negative attitude about Hunt.

The Baptist college I attended had a significant number of students from Hunt's church Woodstock Baptist. My early run-ins with them were not positive. When I was a senior, a large group of Woodstock guys came in together as freshmen. It did not take me long to form my negative opinion of them.

Almost immediately, they began to expect leadership positions in campus clubs and ministries. Many would essentially say, "Do you know who my pastor is?" At that point, I was a kid from a country church far outside the reach of the Southern Baptist political power structure. I had no idea who their pastor was, but if he was anything like them I didn't want to know him.

Struggling with pride myself, especially the spiritual type, I wanted nothing to do with the arrogant guys from Woodstock who exuded pride. I took note of ever hypocritical thing I say them do and in my mind blamed a lot of it on their pastor, a man I had never met, Johnny Hunt.

Later in the year, I got to know two other guys from Woodstock. They were humble leaders who showed Christ in their life. One was from Germany and had been able to come to college because some at Woodstock had helped him pay for it. My perception about the church and it's pastor began to change, especially having hearing of the impact he and the church were having on my aunt and uncle who had begun to attend the church. It is possible to become convicted of a wrong attitude, but it takes a good deal of evidence in the other direction.

When non-Southern Baptist and even non-Christians see some of the motions that were made at this year's meetings, what perception do you think that gives them? When outsiders see us, and no matter how much we disagree it is "us," using our meeting to criticize fellow Christians who aren't even Southern Baptist. What about when they see us making negative insinuations about one another? How about when they see us claim that theological ideas within our denomination break up families? We give so little to missions that the IMB is cutting back on programs and missionaries, yet some think the important issue facing us is whether we should boycott a soft drink company.

Who do you think they blame for all that? Partly, they blame us for it, but unfortunately much of it goes toward our leader - Jesus. Just as I blamed Dr. Hunt for the mistakes and attitudes of his church members, those who do not know Jesus will hold Him accountable for the mistakes and attitudes of his self-proclaimed followers.

No it is not fair for them to blame Jesus for the stupid things we do, but is is human nature. It was not fair for me to blame Dr. Hunt, but unfortunately I did. A phrase that has been repeated often about another event is worth repeating and applying to our denomination - "The world is watching." It is time to move beyond petty concerns and be about Kingdom business. Instead of behaving in such a way that outsiders blame our Leader, lets simply behave in such a way that outsiders see us follow our Leader.

Fighting yesterday's battles

In 2003, the Japanese government announced they were sending a team to the Philippine island of Luzon in hopes of informing four World War II veterans that the war was over. The Ministry of Health and Welfare received tips from locals about surviving soldiers living in the jungles.

This isn't the first time this has happened. In the 70's, Japan found several soldiers in Pacific island jungles who believed that Japan was still waging war against the United States. One, Lieutenant Michio Onoda refused to surrender until ordered to do so by his former commanding officer.

After some were told, they were able to reintegrate into a totally different Japanese culture. But many found it too difficult to adjust to all the changes that had occurred over the decades they had been in hiding. After all, the enemy they had been "fighting" (America) was now a strong ally of new Japan.

Today, many in Evangelical Christendom are fighting yesterday's battles. They are stuck in the jungles of the 1950's waging war against the enemies of the 1970's. When some are finally exposed to modern culture, they have no idea how to respond except to sink deeper into the safety of their jungle caves fighting battles that are already over.

As I write this post, someone at the Southern Baptist Convention is proposing a motion to remove books written by Mark Driscoll from LifeWay stores. A motion is also made to investigate Southern Baptist who have a relationship with Driscoll. You see Driscoll is fighting modern enemies with modern weapons and he does so in a manner that is different from many within the SBC. As a denomination, we disagree with him over some minor issues. Therefore, the entire convention should condemn his works and ban them from our stores. That'll really show the world how much we love Jesus, when we seek to condemn and investigate other followers of Him both within and outside our denomination.

I recently had a conversation with a friend from a small, country Southern Baptist church far away from all the denominational politics. He was discussing the attitudes within the church as he was working to change the priorities away from "what have we always done" to "what does Jesus want us to do now."

We were talking about the attitude toward the youth. He said, "They are too busy answering yesterday's questions." To which I added, "And fighting yesterday's battles."

To overcome the overwhelming lostness in this world, we need all of our soldiers, SBC and not, on the same page fighting the same enemy. You know, the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Not the one that uses video clips in the sermon and drums during worship.

The time has come for some of the brave warriors of the past to come out of the jungles of battles long ago and to the aide of many brave warriors of the present fighting battles today that are just as vital as the previous ones were. This has to happen so that together we can see Satan defeated, the Gospel advance and God glorified.

NOTE: I see that some have retweeted this post (thanks for that!) But I wanted to make sure people understand where I'm coming from. I'm not some hip, young, urban, Calvinist, Driscoll-reading, church-planter.

I'm a 29-year-old seminary student who grew up in a small town at a small country church on a dead end road. I'm not hip. I'm not Calvinist. I've never read a Mark Driscoll book (yet). I have no desire to be a church planter. Oh and just because: I'm a teetotaler who has never drank alcohol in my life.

I don't fit the stereotype that many may have in their mind and that is the point. Just because I do not agree with Driscoll or many of his followers does not mean that I want to put the Gospel of Christ behind a quest to make all Christendom look like me. I think there is room under the banner of the cross for Southern Baptist teetotalers and a Seattle church planter who happens to drink.

Real Calvinists don't blog

I'm not a Calvinist. I've went into that discussion here before. I've described myself as a Calminian. Yes, I did invent a word to describe myself.

However, I have friends who are Reformed in their theology. I also respect the ministries of many people who refer to themselves as Calvinist. Many of them are doing great work in expanding God's Kingdom. All of them, directly or indirectly, have been influenced by Charles Spurgeon and his Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.

The current pastor of Met Tab is Dr. Peter Masters and he, as a Calvinist, does not seem to have the same respect I do for his fellow Reformed pastors here in America. In fact, he lays them all down: Piper, Driscoll, MacArthur, Mahaney, Dever, Mohler and anybody else you have ever heard of as an American Calvinist.

What would provoke a distinguished pastor from London to rebuke an entire nation of his fellow Calvinists? Best let him explain himself:

And this picture is repeated many times through the book – large conferences being described at which the syncretism of worldly, sensation-stirring, high-decibel, rhythmic music, is mixed with Calvinistic doctrine.

We are told of thunderous music, thousands of raised hands, ‘Christian’ hip-hop and rap lyrics (the examples seeming inept and awkward in construction) uniting the doctrines of grace with the immoral drug-induced musical forms of worldly culture.

Yep, Dr. Masters calls them all out for allowing "the totally worldly, showbusiness atmosphere" to invade their Calvinist worship. Who knew that hip-hop music, even the scare quote Christian kind, was immoral and drug-induced? (Did TobyMac take a few too many aspirins to write his songs?)

Do you even have to guess which prominent Reformed pastor is the target of the largest and most serious rebuke? Not only does Masters write that Driscoll is "symbolising the new compromise with culture" for preaching in a Jesus t-shirt, he brings out the trump card and harshest attack possible: "His [Driscoll's] resolution of the question of divine sovereignty versus human free will, however, is much nearer to the Arminian view." Fighting words?

If the invective was not yet complete, Masters finishes it off with some more good ol' fashioned scare quotes (just like Mama Puritan used to make):

... one only has to look at the ‘blogs’ of some younger reformed pastors who put themselves forward as mentors and advisers of others.
...

Aside from pastors, we know some ‘new’ young Calvinists who will never settle in a dedicated, working church, because their views live only in their heads and not their hearts. We know of some whose lives are not clean. We know of others who go clubbing. The greater their doctrinal prowess, the greater their hypocrisy.

So if you raise your hands in worship, hold to a non-cessationist viewpoint, like loud music or Christian hip-hop (with or without scare quotes), you sir might as well spend your Saturday nights "clubbing." Your life is not clean and you are a hypocrite. (Kinda glad, I'm not a Calvinists now - at least I'm not a hypocrite, just unregenerate.)

What never ceases to amaze me is I often read these criticism of using newer methodology (different genres of music, video clips in sermons, visuals on the stage, etc.) on a BLOG?!? Is it not a tad ironic to criticize someone for their use of modern technology and music, while you promote your own views using new technology and methodology?

I'm sure Dr. Masters is a wonderful pastor who loves Jesus and is merely trying to serve His Master as faithfully as possible. I'm sure He is much closer to being truly Christlike than I am or possibly ever will be.

However, I can not fathom why he seeks to elevate cultural specific relics from the Puritan era to the status of unquestionable requirements of the Christian faith. The Puritans lived within their own culture. They didn't wear 1st Century clothing and worship in a Jewish manner. There is no need for us to worship in an 16th Century or mid 20th Century manner.

If you want to criticize the "New Calvinists" for not being Puritan enough, then be consistent and do it in sermon you write out and read from the pulpit and then publish it in a period-specific book without any graphic design. But above all else keep it off a website - Real Calvinists don't blog.