Mark Driscoll

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark A. Driscoll
Occupation	Pastor, Author, Church planter

Mark A. Driscoll (born October 11, 1970) is an American pastor and author. The co-founder and preaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, he co-founded the Acts 29 Network, and has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times. He helped start The Resurgence, a repository of missional theology resources.^[1]

Driscoll was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and is a 1989 graduate of Highline High School in Burien, Washington, where he served as student body president and editor of the school newspaper. He earned a Bachelor's degree in communications from Washington State University with a minor in philosophy and holds a Master of Arts degree in exegetical theology at Western Seminary, a school affiliated with the Conservative Baptist Association.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Theology 1.1 Complementarianism 1.2 Calvinism 2 Criticism 3 Emergent Church Movement 4 ABC Nightline Special 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links

[edit] Theology

Driscoll has not published a comprehensive outline of his theological beliefs (such as a systematic theology), but his sermons, lectures, and books provide a good understanding of what he believes. He has described himself as "first Christian, second Evangelical, third Missional, and fourth Reformed."^[2]

At a pastor's conference in August, 2005, Driscoll characterized himself as a "charismatic Calvinist".^[3] This is sometimes described as a reformed charismatic. In childhood, Driscoll and his family were Catholic, and his family's spiritual progression led them through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement. This was his family's first introduction to the Charismatic movement, and though they eventually left Catholicism, they retained the Charismatic affiliation.^[4] He believes that all of the spiritual gifts are active today (but only by God's divine intervention; he is not a cessationist). According to a July 4, 2006, interview in Christianity Today, Driscoll described the church he leads as "theologically conservative and culturally liberal".^[5] He is best-known for his views on missiology and on gender issues.

[edit] Complementarianism

Driscoll is a strong advocate of complementarianism — a view of gender that says that men and women are equal in value and personhood, but that each gender has unique, complementary roles in the home and in the church, such that the husband should practice headship, and the wife submission and for the husbands to love and give themselves up for their wives.^[6]

He sometimes asks his wife to come up on stage to help him answer questions texted in from the audience^[7], and believes that this does not class as the preaching/teaching of women prohibited by Paul in 1Tim2:12.^[8]

[edit] Calvinism

Driscoll is a Calvinist but distinguishes between double and single predestination, and says that unlike John Calvin, he believes only in single predestination.^[9]

Regarding the 'L' of TULIP, Driscoll believes what he calls 'Unlimited Limited Atonement' saying that Jesus died for all people in some sense, and for some people (the elect) in another sense.^[10] He thinks this position was what John Calvin believed, saying in a humorous tone: 'Calvinism came after Calvin... I will argue that the Calvinists are not very Calvin. I will argue against Calvinism with Calvin... What kind of Calvinist are you? I'm a Calvin, not a Calvinist, that came later'.^[10] Driscoll also believes that this position (or slight variations thereof) was held by men like Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Martin Luther, and Richard Baxter.^[10]

[edit] Criticism

Driscoll caused controversy following revelations that mega-church pastor Ted Haggard used the services of a gay prostitute by remarking on his blog that many pastors fall into sexual sin because their wives let themselves go.^[11] In his post, Driscoll wrote, "Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors' wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him either." He later posted an defense and explanation after widespread protests.^[12]

There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity.

—Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine^[13]

[edit] Emergent Church Movement

Driscoll, in sermons, has claimed to be "Emerging" or "Emerging Reformed" but not "Emergent."^[14][15]

His description of his association with, and eventual distancing from the Emergent Church movement:^[16]

In the mid-1990s I was part of what is now known as the Emerging Church and spent some time traveling the country to speak on the emerging church in the emerging culture on a team put together by Leadership Network called the Young Leader Network. But, I eventually had to distance myself from the Emergent stream of the network because friends like Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt began pushing a theological agenda that greatly troubled me. Examples include referring to God as a chick, questioning God's sovereignty over and knowledge of the future, denial of the substitutionary atonement at the cross, a low view of Scripture, and denial of hell which is one hell of a mistake.

^{[unreliable source?]}

Driscoll, along with Leif Moi, Mike Gunn, and the Acts 29 network of independent churches, is part of the missional theology community that adheres to classical Calvinist, or Reformed, theology and views their mission as communicating this school of theology to "modern" people (Emerging Reformed).

[edit] ABC Nightline Special

In 2009, Driscoll was involved in a debate with Deepak Chopra in an ABC special entitled, "Does Satan Exist?".^[17]. He has also been featured on the program discussing other topics including the 10 Commandments.

[edit] See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mark Driscoll

• Calvinism
• Emerging Church
• John Piper
• Missiology
• Missional
• New Calvinism
• Missional Quotes

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Driscoll, Mark (2009). Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. Crossway Books. ISBN 1433506165. 
• Driscoll, Mark; Gerry Breshears (2009). Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods. Crossway Books. ISBN 1433501302. 
• Driscoll, Mark; Gerry Breshears (2008). Death by Love: Letters from the Cross. Crossway Books. ISBN 1433501295. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2008). On the New Testament (Book You'll Actually Read). Crossway Books. ISBN 1433501341. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2008). On the Old Testament (Book You'll Actually Read). Crossway Books. ISBN 143350135X. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2008). On Church Leadership (Book You'll Actually Read). Crossway Books. ISBN 1433501376. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2008). On Who Is God? (Book You'll Actually Read). Crossway Books. ISBN 1433501368. 
• Driscoll, Mark; Gerry Breshears (2008). Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions. Crossway Books. ISBN 1581349750. 
• Driscoll, Mark; et al. (2007). John Piper. ed. The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. Crossway Books. ISBN 158134922X. 
• Driscoll, Mark; et al. (2007). Robert E. Webber. ed. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches. Zondervan. ISBN 0310271355. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2006). Confessions of a Reformission Rev.. Zondervan. ISBN 0310270162. 
• Driscoll, Mark (2004). The Radical Reformission. Zondervan. ISBN 0310256593. 
• Howerton, Mike (2004). The Relevant Church: A New Vision For Communities Of Faith. Relevant Books. ISBN 097469424X. 

[edit] External links

• Brian McLaren on the Homosexual Question 3: A Prologue and Rant by Mark Driscoll a 'rant' by Driscoll against McLaren. Note that Driscoll later apologized for this 'rant' on his blog.
• Article in Christianity Today
• Mars Hill Church Homepage
• Acts 29 Network 'that exists to start churches that plant churches'
• The Resurgence 'is a movement that resources multiple generations to live for Jesus so that they can effectively reach their cities with the Gospel by staying culturally accessible and Biblically faithful.'