Wednesday, February 27, 2008

If you are interested in some of the background of "The Emerging Church" I'd encourage you to listen to Mark Driscoll's perspective, given at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, found here.

Let's talk about it...

2 comments:

Isaac said...

Hey Gary,

I listened to all but the last part of Driscoll's presentation last night, so I'll comment a little about it.

First, I'm not sure of the context of the talk but in some parts I feel like he's sort of trying to prove that he really is "one of them"... which is fine. His criticisms of former associates seem valid, and it was good that he distanced himself from them by repudiating some of the dangers inherent in rejection of objective reality and acceptance of post-modern relativism/diletantism. He seems like a really nice person and an intelligent guy.

However, part of me gets a little worried when I think about the concept of what I might label "cool Christianity" or possibly even "sexy Christianity".

By that, I don't mean that I disagree with the idea of cultural relevance/context. There's just something beneath the surface of all that, a set of assumptions, that make me uncomfortable. It's difficult to just spout off what it is, so please allow me some more time to think about it.

Until then I'll just say that generally I think that often Christianity is quite uncool, and that quite often it requires a sacrifice of coolness if we are to genuinely serve the Lord. Now, this is more difficult for some-- like the rich man who went away sorrowful because of his many possessions-- but suffice it to say it was not difficult for me: I'm one of those that the cool people have never liked.

But I have to think and pray more about all of it-- not just this presentation but all of what you've shown me of Driscoll's before, to give you anything resembling a coherent response.

irreverend fox said...

hey zac! I just posted a video of Driscoll dealing with this also...