CORE BELIEFS #2: Vulgar Language for a Vulgar World (cont.)

Now, assuming that you have taken the time to watch the previous video - and it is an excellent watch if you have not - you will most likely discover that Driscoll has failed to deal with certain portions of Scripture that would, at bare minimum, challenge his central thesis. Having said that, it is absolutely vital to note that these passages are not necessarily incompatible with Driscoll's demarcation. Everything from

CORE BELIEFS #1: Vulgar Language for a Vulgar World

On 27 September 2008, Mark Driscoll (Senior Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) gave this talk to his fellow pastors at John Piper's Desiring God 2008 National Conference. In it, he laid out his case for the use of tough, crass, and even potentially vulgar language by Christians, as they sought to explicate the truth of the gospel in a crass and vulgar world.

Any time you post something by a controversial figure like Mark Driscoll, there is bound to be a some sort of reaction on the part of the reader. Some will immediately assume that you have aligned yourself with said figure; and thus they will immediately write off everything that you say thereafter. Others, who tend to side with the controversial figure, will likewise, have a reaction - often naively assuming that you are "with them."

So let it be said at the outset that although I have posted this address by Mark Driscoll, I neither endorse nor condemn the entirety of his ministry. Rather, I suspect that I would treat Mark Driscoll much as I would treat Martin Luther, John Calvin or any other Christian leader. Luther did many phenomenal things for the church, arguably inaugurating the entire Protestant Reformation. But at the same time, he also wrote some staggeringly outlandish material that dehumanized and ultimately demonized the entire Jewish population. So what am I to make of Luther? Do I reject his writings on sola gratia (saved by grace) because he was sinner whose life was not entirely consistent with Scripture?

And what about John Calvin? Calvin is often placed on a pedestal and revered for his magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion. But Calvin is also a man who, when speaking of Servetus, said: "If he [Servetus] comes to Geneva, I shall never let him go out alive." Sadly, these words were not an idle threat; and when Servetus arrived in Geneva, he was arrested and burned alive at the stake. So am I to reject the Institutes because of a profound failure in Calvin's life?

Clearly not. Rather, I take the good, grieve over the bad, and pray that the Holy Spirit would sanctify my life in such a way as to minimize the hypocrisy in my own life so that the damage I do to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is minimized.

So that brings me back to Mark Driscoll. Do I support everything that Mark Driscoll has done and/or everything that he has said? No I don't. And I can say this with confidence because Mark Driscoll, much like myself, is a sinner elected by God and saved by His grace. He is neither perfect at this very moment, nor will he be perfect in this lifetime. So just as we would do with Luther and Calvin, and just as we would do with every man that dares to preach the Word, we take the good, we grieve over and reject the bad, and pray that God would teach us through both their triumphs and their failures.

In the end, perhaps the wisest counsel on the subject comes from another controversial figure: Rob Bell. From the back of his Velvet Elvis, I quote:

"We have to test everything. I thank God for anybody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God. But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating. Test it. Probe it. Do that to this [website]. Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn't mean I've got it nailed. I'm contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?"

CORE BELIEFS #2: Vulgar Language for a Vulgar World

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