Alright. Readers can tell from a previous blog post that I had big issues with Mark Driscoll from his men’s talk last Thursday. The talk did bring out the worst in me – I reacted in an extreme manner & some readers who know me personally might have seen my “unpleasant side”. Well, a few days have gone, the dust has settled, & at this stage, I still stand by much of the views that I aired.
Everything I said in that post had to do with what I think of Mark Driscoll the person. Now a thought just recently came to me that perhaps it’s a “good idea” to look past Driscoll the person, & find out more about his background – u know, get some idea about what he does, specifically the ministry he is involved in. With that in mind, I’ve done a bit of research (just a bit). I’ve found a few things, & for the rest of this post, I will try to be as objective as possible with what I say.
I found out the following things about Mark Driscoll’s work:
He is head pastor of the church he founded in Seattle, called Mars Hill Church. (well, I already knew that….)
He ministers to young people.
He authored a few books.
He co-founded a network of pastors (Acts 29 Network), which is established to assist church leaders in church-planting efforts.
He writes to the “Faith & Values” section of the Seattle Times.
From what I gather, Driscoll has planted churches at various places, & has reached out to many people. He seems to have some sort of a cult following – lots of people are drawn to him.
Driscoll might well be involved with other things that I haven't mentioned above. But as u can see, he is involved with quite a fair bit. I guess what I want to say is – when it comes to his ministry (as opposed to Mark Driscoll the person), I have nothing to criticize. How can I, since I’m a Christian. True, because of his extremely direct & provocative nature, he has offended some people (with me being the most recent!), & he may continue to offend more in the future. But the bottom line is, his work will continue to plant the seeds of the gospel. From what I read, it looks like God has made really good use of him & God has done wonders through him (churches have sprouted, people have received salvation). It shows that even those who offend or annoy us can be used by God to expand His Kingdom & further His purposes. At the end of the day, as long as Driscoll is serving God fervently & faithfully, & as long as people are won over to Christ, then that’s all that really matters – they matter far more than what I or others think of his personality.
Ok then, what I have to say to Mark Driscoll is: good luck with your ministry. Good luck. Good luck with your work, & all the best with your ministry & whatever your plans are for the future. Yes, u have offended me last week, & you might have offended many others in various places. But when it comes to your ministry, good luck. You might need all the luck u can get – because there’s always the risk that your confronting & provocative nature will not only offend people (some might even react worse than I did last Thursday), it might also actually turn some people away from the gospel. Now we don’t want THAT to happen, do we?
So once again, all the best with your ministry, Mr Mark Driscoll. And hey, a few final words: u are fat. So lay off those doughnuts already….....
1 comment:
Just to add further insight, probably the biggest reason that Driscoll is so hard on guys (particularly single guys) is that an enormously large percentage of his female church members (Driscoll mentioned in one of his lectures that anywhere between 1/3 to 1/2...) have either been raped or sexually/physically assaulted.
I imagine that having to counsel that many women would leave one with a sizable impression that men (a lot of men) are failing in their God-given duty to take responsibility, protect their sisters and protect their families.
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