One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
What do you hope will ultimately emerge from the emerging church conversation for evangelicals?
My hope is that what emerges is a blessing of both teams, so that contenders for the gospel become better at evangelism, and contextualizers of the gospel walk away from some of the heretical doctrines (e.g. denial of the inerrancy of Scripture, penal substitutionary atonement, hell, and male pastors) they are considering by returning to Scripture and the legacy of faithful teachers who have guided the church in previous generations. In short, I hope for an uprising of cool Calvinists who can preach the Bible, teach the truth, fight the heretics, plant churches, evangelize the lost, comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable, and compel men to be manly. -Mark Driscoll (emph mine)
Three of these things belong together
Three of these things are kind of the same
Can you guess which one of these doesn't belong here?
Now it's time to play our game (time to play our game).
Mark puts the fun in fundamentalist.
Posted by: ScottB | August 26, 2006 at 09:42 AM
...and the cool in Calvinist,
...and the man in manly. ;)
Posted by: grace | August 26, 2006 at 10:23 AM
It's incredible to see male pastors put in that list. Others are going to put dispensationalism, or something else there. But it cheapens the essential doctrines of the faith.
Another thing is starting to really bug me with the gist of quotes like this. Though I get the importance of reaching men; I also get the importance of reaching women.
I've seen a lot of frustration and disillusionment from women who are passionate about their faith, but feel like second class citizens in the church. Also, I've discovered a strong theme in surveys and interviews I've done for material I've published on Neo-Paganism. There are large numbers of women in that movement who left the Christian faith for spiritual paths they believed had far more equality between genders. This is the saddest result that I see coming from focusing on men to the exclusion of women. It's a both/and thing, not either/or.
It's pathetic, really. In the early church Christianity was radically countercultural when it came to men and women. Today, we're lagging far behind.
Posted by: John Smulo | August 26, 2006 at 10:38 AM
Oh my. Man, I've always though I was a Calvinist. These past few days, and in my interactions with some real nutjobs on the blogosphere (slice, eno, team pyro), I don't think I want to be affiliated with such words... :-)
Posted by: FTM | August 26, 2006 at 01:53 PM
Well, I certainly wouldn't put Mark in the same category as Slice and Emergent No!... I think there are some issues with the guy, his tone, etc. But he's apologized before for his tone and has some people close to him who are whispering in his ear that he needs to chillax. We'll see how that goes. Acts 29 has already lost one high profile church (Imago Dei) over Mark's tone... My hope would be that he's able to moderate a bit and continue to be a voice for the Gospel, rather than the strident clanging gong he sometimes threatens to become, and that he would pull people to Jesus rather than drive them away from himself and A29.
And you can be a calvinist without being like Ingrid and Carla and Ken, et al.
Just be a "calvinist" and not a "Calvinist" if you get my meaning...
Posted by: bob | August 26, 2006 at 02:01 PM
Pop quiz to see if you are a little overboard in that direction:
1. What brand of jeans do you wear?
2. What is your favorite comic strip?
3. What time of the year is your favorite time to go to a cattle ranch?
4. What are the first names of your favorite U.S. president and favorite movie actor?
5. Which is your favorite Chipmunk?
Answers:
1. Calvin Klein
2. Calvin and Hobbes
3. Calvin' season
4. Cal (Coolidge), Vin (Diesel)
5. Alvin (close enough; you don't want to be fundamentalist about this, right?)
Posted by: Kipp Wilson | August 27, 2006 at 08:11 AM
Are you sure about your facts Bob (regarding Imago)? The word at MH from Mark and other elders is that Rick and Mark are still best buds, talk more than weekly and have no issues with each other. Rick just felt that he wanted to have less of a direct planting mission and more of a social action mission so he decided to start his own organization. I haven't heard that differences over theology, views or tone had anything to with it...
Posted by: Jon | August 27, 2006 at 09:06 PM
Bob,
Just curious, where'd you get that quote from Mark?
Posted by: Jon | August 28, 2006 at 11:08 AM
http://9marks.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2249672,00.html
Posted by: bob | August 28, 2006 at 05:02 PM
"Are you sure about your facts Bob (regarding Imago)? The word at MH from Mark and other elders is that Rick and Mark are still best buds, talk more than weekly and have no issues with each other. Rick just felt that he wanted to have less of a direct planting mission and more of a social action mission so he decided to start his own organization. I haven't heard that differences over theology, views or tone had anything to with it..."
Yeah- 100%.
I have no doubt that they are still friends and no doubt that Rick supports Mark's ministry 100%. I'm also sure that it was issues of tone that led to a parting of ways. Imago is also actually more committed to church planting now with a couple in the works...
Posted by: bob | August 28, 2006 at 05:06 PM