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Mark Driscoll posts abound on the internet these days. I don’t usually “beat the bandwagon drum”….and instead often opt for topics that might have been the latest news….a few years ago. But Driscoll has piqued my curiosity.
Last night I listened to a dozen or so of his You Tube videos..listening to him talk about the Twilight series, The Shack, Thomas Kincaide paintings, TULIP, how to know if you are one of the elect, yoga…the movie Avatar. You won’t find his videos on God Tube. He is a bit too….ahhhhh…..irreverent for God Tube.
in spite of myself, I found myself actually liking him. Believe me I was all set not to based on the quotes I read beforehand... some were included in my last post.
The guy has a gift for public speaking…for preaching. He is hilarious. If his career as a preacher ever falls through, he is shoe in for stand up comedy. I was entertained by most of what he had to say. And challenged.
Challenged because I disagree with him on many points. Eternal conscious torment, penal substitution, God hating sinners, his opinion of The Shack as bordering on demonic immediately come to mind.
Although I would rather look for points of AGREEMENT, the points of DISagreement are, oftentimes, what clarifies what I do believe and why I believe it.
Did I find any points of agreement? Well in a roundabout way I did….
In a sermon about why God is just and hell is right….
We are all hypocrites. We all want to receive mercy and give justice.
Yep.
And sometimes I hear them declaring…buried within their sermon..(what I believe to be) truth….in spite of themselves….
In another sermon, while explaining the gist of the 5 Points of Calvinism versus the 5 Points of Arminianism…concerning Irresistible Grace, Driscoll says this:
if God wants to love you, God wants to save you, God wants you to meet Jesus....you can fight and argue but eventually he's going to change your heart and you will meet Jesus.
Is that not the heart of Christian Universalism? If God wants you to meet Jesus…you will meet Jesus. Eventually, he will melt the hardest heart, bend the stubbornest knee….and every tongue will (joyfully) proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.
3 comments:
Great post. I must say i feel convicted about finding points of disagreements in my writing. Thanks for your posts
Theopoly - You know your comment made me stop and think a bit....because I too feel justified....almost to the point of conviction....of pointing out certain injustices. My "trigger list" is probably most focused on outspoken beliefs and actions that have a victim....when people are hurt. The way homosexuals are treated and marginalized for instance. And there are certain people I doubt I could find any areas of agreement. The Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind....ahhhh.....Ann Coulter.....Laura Schlessinger. Seemingly self righteous....nasty, mean spirited people. Bullies.
Mark Driscoll did not strike me as a bully...even though some people think he is. And I do share some of his beliefs. Just like I share some beliefs with other rather right wing mainstream evangelical Christians. Even though I disagree with a lot of what James Dobson, John MacArthur, John Piper, J.I. Packer have to say, there are points of agreement. And sometimes they word something in a certain way that illuminates or clarifies my beliefs (even though it might be something entirely different than what they mean.
It's difficult to speak my mind....without becoming mean spirited and self righteous myself. I have a rather sarcastic way or wording things...that's just the way my thoughts transfer from the brain to the cyber paper.
And who am I....really....that I should think my opinion or sense of outrage matters to anyone? Or even that I have the right to speak up. Yet, speak up, I do.
I came across a Bible passage while reading through the Holman Christian Standard version of Job. It is spoken by Elihu, in frustration, after listening to Job and some of Job's other friends....his miserable comforters.
"For I am full of words and my spirit compels me to speak." Yep....that's me sometimes. My spirit compels me to speak.
And a quote by Desmond Tutu comes to mind.....
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Cindi.....
Here is an example of something I feel compelled to speak out against...STAND UP FOR ELLEN
Last week, retail giant J.C. Penney announced a new partnership with America's favorite talk-show host, Ellen DeGeneres.
“We share the same fundamental values as Ellen,” noted the company's President, Michael Francis. “At jcpenney, we couldn't think of a better partner to help us put the fun back into the retail experience.”
Now, however, the anti-gay group “One Million Moms” – a project of the designated hate group, American Family Association– has launched a campaign demanding that the retailer fire Ellen simply because she's gay.
Link to the petition....
http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-up-for-ellen
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