Congress, Popular Culture
That people are willing to sit and listen to this filth says a lot about the state of Christianity today. I realize not all churches go in for this sort of thing, but Mark Driscoll is the next “It” guy in the born-twice world and he’s not only a throwback to the Pat Robertson/James Dobson school of spleen venting by portly angry white guys who can’t get real jobs, he goes them all one better.
Driscoll, like many zealots, says he knows what God thinks. But Driscoll says he also knows how God feels, and how He feels is that He hates you. From the Mars Hill Church web site:
the Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition…
Driscoll, based in Seattle, strikes us as the kind of pastor Sarah Palin would high-five and pray with. What is it about cold climates and religious whack jobs? Makes me want to stay right here in the South, where our religious whack jobs are at least happy.
Mark Driscoll is American evangelicalism’s bete noire.* In little more than a decade, his ministry has grown from a living-room Bible study to a megachurch that draws about 7,600 visitors to seven campuses around Seattle each Sunday, and his books, blogs and podcasts have made him one of the most admired — and reviled — figures among evangelicals nationwide…
With his taste for vintage baseball caps and omnipresence on Facebook and iTunes, Driscoll, who is 38, is on the cutting edge of American pop culture. Yet his message seems radically unfashionable, even un-American: you are not captain of your soul or master of your fate but a depraved worm whose hard work and good deeds will get you nowhere, because God marked you for heaven or condemned you to hell before the beginning of time. Yet a significant number of young people in Seattle — and nationwide — say this is exactly what they want to hear. Calvinism has somehow become cool, and just as startling, this generally bookish creed has fused with a macho ethos.
Watch as much of this video as you can stand, just to get the drift. Then hit the “stop” icon and never give this guy one more second out of your life. That goes for every one of his friends and followers, too.
* Literally, “black animal”
Topics: Congress, Popular Culture
Mark Driscoll does not say anything new in this video- he is preaching what the bible says.
If you don’t like the message don’t shoot the messenger.
As sad as it sounds, this is the true “gospel” God hates you but will kill on your behalf. I preached this for many years and believed it for a few. It was a hope. I know now the falseness of the message. Maybe one day rationality and reason will win out and people will see that they don’t need a god(dess) to scare hell out of them, but can rationally choose to do right and be better to their fellow tribe.
The whole mindspasm falls apart if you open the bible to the part where (Lot got so twisted he diden’t realize he was banging his own daughters)…nAME ONE FATHER ALIVE WHO COULD DO THAT!!!!!!Thats not humanly possible to get that drunk!!!!!
Word to the wise about religion, especially Christianity…It’s main sell is “FEAR” and “GUILT”…….I REJECT THE PREMISE OF BOTH!!!!
I am a 68 year old guy. I became a Christian about 30 years ago. I have attended several churches over that span of time. When I first attended Mars Hill (4+ years ago) I was impressed with the fact that Mark Driscoll preached from the Bible only, and preached through entire books. He did not skip verses. He did not add to or subtract from God’s Word. That is why I became a member of Mars Hill. The bottom line is that if you disagree with something Driscoll has said, most often your beef is with God and not Driscoll. He preaches what the Bible says. Some would say “how do we know the Bible is really the Word of God. I would say, read it from cover to cover. I did, and I know it is God’s Word.
It is sad to read some of these comments. You talk about Lot, and how a person could become so twisted to have sex with his daughter. What do you say to the genocide that is happening in Sudan? Or closer to home, how do you rationalize young men in there 20’s who drug a woman’s drink so that he can rape her. It doesn’t even have to be that violent. When I watch someone walk by and immediately compare myself to them, searching for all of the reasons that make me better, or when I see a girl walk by, I judge her based on her beauty, not her heart. It is all sin, and we are all sinners. Whether you accept that or not is up to you. Just like the gospel. Whether you accept it or not is up to you. The central message of the Bible is not fear and guilt at all. If you read the gospel of John, you will see that Jesus didn’t come to the earth to judge it, but to serve and save it from the vast amounts of sin. I believe many Christians have given Jesus and Christianity a bad name, myself included. If I lived exactly as I should live as a Christian, I’d be Jesus. Nobody is perfect, and that is why we have to accept his mercy and grace.
If you read the Bible, and I mean actually read it. As you would any other book, with an open mind. You will see that Jesus didn’t come to earth to condemn us or scare us into following him. It all goes back to His love, and grace, but ultimately it is your choice. Please don’t judge Jesus and Christianity based on the Christians that have lived or are living today because we all fail, and we could never love you like Jesus loves you.
Dan – I’ve read the bible – cover to cover. I’ve even read different versions of the bible, participated in bible study and, you are absolutely right, the bible says whatever you want it to say! (Mind you, in a different part of the bible, it will contradict that.)
The bible is a man made book, it is worse than you can imagine and it is absolutely absurd that people believe any of it.
You reference the gospel of John – not the earliest and definitely not the most reliable of the gospels – one that only devotional bible interpretation considers. Most of what ‘John’ (the gospel was not written by eyewitnesses) says is not supported by most of the other books of the bible (and especially isn’t supported by other books not included in the bible).
Sin is a construct of religion that I don’t believe in and there is no reason to believe in it. If you accept that a god existed, it is despite the evidence (the real evidence and even the ‘evidence’ of the bible).
Mark Driscoll is either deluded or driven by the profit motive. If it is the first, he’s dangerous, if it is the latter then he’s a liar.
Time to put the fairy tales away – there is a real world out there that relies on contributions from everyone.