Driscoll on Nightline

I thought Nightline’s piece was pretty balanced. Driscoll himself said this about it: “I want to personally thank the crew at Nightline for the recent feature on Mars Hill, myself, and my family. This interview was one of the first where I felt that the reporter did not write the story and simply show up to get a few photos and quotes to finish it.”

Here is the article that came out a week ago:

Pastor Dude’s Mega-Church Draws Crowds

The references to sexual issues relate to Mars Hill’s latest sermon series on The Song of Solomon. And what he says about masturbation is taken out of context; here is what he said in context:

Masturbation as Birth Control

Driscoll is the preaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, one of the fastest growing churches in the country (at about 8,000 people). He is the founder of TheResurgence (www.theresurgence.com) and the Acts 29 Church Planting Network (www.acts29network.org), which has planted over 200 churches throughout the US and the world. He is a council member in The Gospel Coalition (www.thegospelcoalition.org), which is led by Tim Keller, John Piper, CJ Mahaney and DA Carson, the four horsemen of a new Evangelical movement in the US and abroad, which is characterized by Gospel-centered, Missional, and Reformed theology, preached alongside culturally relevant forms and styles.

Here are some other good videos if you want to know more about Driscoll, and maybe get a laugh while you’re at it.

The Gospel

Husbands Protect Their Wives

State of the Pulpit – Joel Osteen

Christian Culture vs. Biblical Culture

Husbands as Stay-at-Home Dads

More Videos…

Some people accuse Driscoll of legalism, especially in regard to gender roles,  marriage and family issues, and church discipline. But for me this is simply an attempt at preaching practical wisdom for biblical living: taking the timeless truths of Scripture and faithfully applying them through timely methods to real people, most of whom don’t know anything about the Gospel. The preaching is focused at the demographical group least likely to attend church: young men in their 20s and 30s, and it seeks to convey the need for deep repentance of sin, personal faith in Jesus, and worship of God in every aspect of life. Driscoll explains why he hammers so hard on the men here:

The Church Needs Dudes

Some people also object to what they perceive as harshness and unneeded criticism of mainstream Christianity from Driscoll. The point of it all is an attempt to contend for the historical gospel that is being attacked and eroded more and more by theological liberalism that continually infultrates the church:

Contending for the Gospel

I am thankful for Driscoll’s ministry, it doesn’t work for everyone, but it was instrumental in my conversion to hear the Gospel preached with passion, in a way that presented the fullness of Christ as humble Savior and glorious Lord, and broke down the barriers of legalistic phariseeism and moralistic therapeutic deism that characterizes so much mainstream American Christianity. I pray that the Lord would continue to use a repentant sinner like Mark Driscoll to save jacked up punks like myself. To God be the Glory.