Much Love To Mark Driscoll

Posted by Jonathan Brink
July 18, 2008

Mark Driscoll is at it again…but I got to give him props this time.  And I know some of you are saying…”Whaaaaaaaaa?”  But hear me out.

I don’t know Mark Driscoll.  But I know guys like him.  And I know that anger, that brooding sense that comes from being the guy who has the answers wrapped up in a neat, fundamental package.  That was me a long time ago.  And his strength comes from having a presence that literally controls the room.  He comes across as the smartest guy in the room.  Who is gonna take him on in a verbal, if not physical, fight.

When he did this, I cringed because there was no winning that kind of argument.  It caused quite a stir throughout the blog world.  And we moved on.

But recently Chad Hall wrote what, from my perspective and others, to be a callous and almost absurd critique of both Tony Jones’ book The New Christians and Mark Driscoll’s Vintage Jesus.  Other’s agreed with me.  The review reminded me of Mark’s diatribe against those in the emerging church. It looked like a knife fight masked as a book review.  And to be honest, I thought Tony got sucked in with his response.  Defending one’s point to someone who is not listening doesn’t really work.  But maybe that’s what Chad wanted.  Who knows?

But this is where it gets interesting, as if a fight isn’t already interesting.  If you stuck three guys you knew in a room and said there was a fight, you’d probably think Mark Driscoll was one of them.  And this time you’d be wrong.  Mark’s response was the most gracious, honest, and humble response I have ever seen him make.  It actually made me wonder if his assistant wrote it, which I’m assuming is not the case.

Maybe there was the usual raving energy behind it, masked only by the medium of text in which it was written.  But I don’t think so.  I hope that Mark has embraced a sense of humility that is striking in its love.  He even said,

First, the accusation that I am humble is scandalous. I have said some things over the years that I regret. Meditating on the fact that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, God shook me deeply. Today I am, as a friend says, a proud man pursuing humility by the grace of God.

Honesty in search of humility.  I think its the right way to go.  And if he is truly going down this path, I think it will go a long way in the kingdom.  And I’m not saying I agree with his theology.  I’m saying I appreciate his search and practice of humility in this context.

So I have to say it.  Well done Mark Driscoll.

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Emerging Church, humanity

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  • daniel
    I read that this morning too. All I could think was, "Wow, Driscoll is growing up."

    I love the quote from the first paragraph. It is me. I struggle with pride all the time, especially when it comes to letting people see the real powerless me. Today I am a proud man pursuing humility by the grace of God. ('cause without the Grace of God I am only a proud man.)
  • thanks for the summary. i sense good things down the road. pendulums are swinging wildly still from the things swirling around in the last couple decades, but I think we will see much more beauty as our motions begin to sync up.
  • Daniel, I think we're all capable of being simply the proud man or woman.
  • David, Lets hope so.
  • Let's pray that there are actions behind those words.
    Otherwise they are mere words - nothing more.
  • I do agree the Tony got sucked into this. I wouldn't have graced them with a reply, but if I had it would have been along the lines of "thanks for reading my book." I like Tony because he can be a bit more critical and has a nice sense of irony towards his critics, but I also think perhaps a page from Brian McLaren's book on how to deal with his devoted critics would be nice for Tony every once in awhile.

    On the other hand, I think the reviewer let Mark Driscoll off pretty easy. I haven't read his book, but from what I gather he is far more conservative theologically (whereas Tony would choose to point out the problems with being either conservative or liberal). The review of his book was, to me, a non-review or in a bizarre sense a glowing negative review in that it says that the book is boring because it is a rehash of the traditional and conservative way, and he then goes to criticize Tony for trying to probe around for something beyond the older modes of being.

    This whole thing is just very odd to me!

    Regardless, Tony seemed to be the spotlight for 80% of the article! Oh well, no need to get unglued about this silliness; I am sure it will help them both sell books.
  • Don
    Wow,
    Thanks...that's great to hear about Mark Driscoll. I can be quick to judge people that seem like knee jerk conservatives and it helps to realize that we're often in the same boat of trying to follow God as flawed screw-ups needing the renewing of our hearts.
    D
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