For those of you who missed it, Mark Driscoll was on Nightline last night.
I thought Nightline did a good job of presenting Driscoll and the church without adding too much of their own commentary or really showing their cards. The one thing that I found a bit disconcerting as someone who has listened to and read Driscoll for years is that they seem to focus a lot on what Driscoll has said about sex. If you have read Driscoll or listened to him for any amount of time, sex is not a topic that Driscoll talks about all the time…only when he is asked about the topic via text message or if the book of the Bible he is preaching through brings up the topic. For instance, before the series on the Song (Peasant Princess), there was not a lot of talk about sex and afterward there still isn’t a lot of talk about sex.
Nightline also intimates that Driscoll is radically reinterpreting Jesus as a rebel. While this is true that Driscoll has made fun of common understandings of Jesus and does present a more ‘human’ Jesus (i.e., ‘construction worker’), I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to say or suggest that this is some sort of new picture of Jesus that Driscoll is inventing.
Besides those little issues, I thought it was a good segment. My favorite part was this:
Mark Driscoll: So this is an actual Reggie Jackson bat. He, uh, when he played for the Mariners, I think, it was years ago. He got sawed off at the hands….
Journalist: What does this have to do with preaching?
Mark Driscoll: Nothing. I just love baseball.
What did you think about the segment (I put that in bold because I know people have issues with Driscoll, but I want to keep the focus on the segment itself, not some other issue that one may have with Driscoll)?
28 January 2009 at 6.47 pm
I don’t know…..sex seems to be Driscoll’s favorite topic. From “Porn Again Christian” to his personal support for the “Christian Nymphos” right there on his blog (http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2008/11/30/question-21-can-i-perform-anal-sex-on-my-wife/)….I personally think he’s obsessed with sex. This PR release from those concerned with him sums it up: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5479156.html
I don’t know him well enough to say either way but every time I hear him or read his stuff I’m always hearing about sex. Any good thing can become an idol in the guise of ‘taking it back for the one who made it’…..we’ll see if/how he responds.
28 January 2009 at 7.28 pm
I listened to a lot of Driscoll’s sermons from 2004-5 and I don’t recall sex being a theme. I also read his first book (the title is slipping my mind) and would say the same thing.
I think this is a case study in what American culture finds interesting. If one had the goal of starting a church and growing it to “mega” status there are surely useful things to be gleaned from Driscoll. It was also worth noting that the issue of predestination came up. Granted this is not an easy question to deal with, but Driscoll didn’t offer anything that seemed like an answer. I don’t necessarily think apologetics is the answer the church should turn to, but nonetheless, the issue of God sending people to hell–along with the problem of evil–are the major intellectual obstacles to the Christian message today. At least that’s my opinion.
Overall, while one who thinks theologically and critically will find plenty of things to nit pick, it was refreshing to see Christians portrayed as serious about Jesus while still being open to culture and more-or-less “normal”.
28 January 2009 at 8.09 pm
I though this was excellent coverage…in as much as media is going to understand what the heck it is we do.
D
28 January 2009 at 8.16 pm
gump the problem is that you are only hearing from his critics folks like you mention in Christianwire and Slice of Laodicea…people themselves obsessed with pointing out whenever anyone mentions sex which violates their very moralistic (and I would say unbiblical) view of the world. It would be hard for a pastor however to preach Song of Songs without the mention of sex. It would also be inappropriate for Mark not to talk of sex in a city like Seattle it would have been like Paul not confronting the incest in the Corinthian church. His congregation is full of young people whose sin needs confronted…the sin would be saying nothing.
D
28 January 2009 at 10.20 pm
Art, the baseball part was my favorite, too.
28 January 2009 at 11.10 pm
but victor, i thought you were a tennis player
28 January 2009 at 11.18 pm
I though the piece was good as far as what Driscoll himself said. Nightline edited things go make comedy look like craziness a bit but they didn’t go overboard.
As far as Driscoll dealing with sex goes, I’ve listened to everything Driscoll has done since 2005 I think. Driscoll preaches through books of the Bible. Sex is only dealt with when the text he’s preaching from is about sex. As far as I know he’s never talked about sex in a topical sermon so if anyone has issues with him preaching about sex their real problem is with Scripture itself.
Granted his sermons, when they do deal with sex, are more graphic than typical pastors. That’s where I think his context comes into play. I think most pastors are cowards when preaching about sex because they’re scared of a few emails. Driscoll is preaching to his context. If he didn’t deal with questions like anal sex and masturbation he wouldn’t be answering legit questions from his congregation.
The fact of the matter is that no one can out “shock” what the Bible itself says. If people are surprised by pastors preaching biblical sermons about sex it’s probably because they’ve sat under typically wimpy preaching their whole lives.
29 January 2009 at 7.43 am
I thought it was a great interview. My favorite part was getting to see his family and house. He talks about them and his library, but because I only listen via podcasts to his sermons and teachings, I had a hard time understanding his life off of the platform. It helped create a little humanity in Driscoll.
29 January 2009 at 9.14 am
I thought it was a good piece, not great, but good. I agree that they did a fair job covering the church, his ministry, and his family. I found it a little odd that they focused in on the sex thing. Maybe their researchers didn’t dig past Peasant Princess and the Porn-Again Christian stuff on the website? I will give Driscoll props for approaching sex in an open and honest way. Too many churches tend to shy away from talking about it and the issues that stem from it.
29 January 2009 at 11.40 am
Our culture is obsessed with sex. If we refuse to deal with it in a biblical way, and answer the questions people have, it’s because we are chickens. It’s one of the elephants in the room,. Read 1 Corinthians, Paul dealt with sensitive issues because they were just that! Issues! Christ, time and time again dealt with issues that the people were facing, teaching them how to live their lives for God’s glory. I see no difference with this.
“obsessed with sex”
He tells people to stop looking at porn, stop committing fornication, be devoted to their spouse, and enjoy great sex in marriage. I would hardly say he’s obsessed.
29 January 2009 at 12.10 pm
My favorite parts of the segment were: the baseball comment, Driscoll throwing the ball with his son (you can tell he actually played baseball), and his personal library (that study is amazing!).
29 January 2009 at 6.23 pm
i’m all for preaching that addresses key issues in society today, just not in the same crude manner society does. we can discuss worldly issues without matching the same tone that typically pours out of the different heart attitudes of the lost.
29 January 2009 at 9.28 pm
I too have listened to many of Pastor Mark’s sermons and sex is definitely NOT a topic that he dwells on. Some creative editing was done to make it seem like that is his focus. I enjoy hearing and learning about Jesus Christ and the Bible and Mark offers some fresh sermons that are weak or timid like many pastors. He says it like it is, doesn’t shy away from Truth. Praise God for men liek Mark that have the intelligence and ability to convey the Gospel that is both relavent to all of us. Keep doing what you are doing Mark!
30 January 2009 at 3.33 pm
the testosterone-driven church…..
3 November 2009 at 2.39 pm
My opinion on this is that Reggie Jackson never played for the Mariners. Since Driscoll doesn’t know this, his presentation of himself as a baseball fan is clearly a marketing ploy.