Audience of One

Letter

Following on from Hugh, using the rationale that if lots of people write on the same topic they might print one, I’ve written a letter to the editor of EN about an article in the last issue.

Dear Sir,

I much appreciate Josh Moody’s “Letter from America”, but in your latest issue (April 2008) he seems to have written about the Mark Driscoll of many years ago. Moody critiques the Mars Hill pastor for “colourful language”, something that may have been true years ago but I have never come across in recent times. The epithet “Mark the Cussing Pastor” was coined in a book (Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller) published five years ago. Since then, Driscoll has matured, has received mentoring from men such as John Piper in this area, and has repented of many failures in a recent sermon on humility.

As Moody says, Driscoll’s ministry is to Seattle, one of the most secular areas of America. As such, he encourages his church to “go as far into the culture without sinning as they possibly can”. Perhaps there have been occasions when they have gone too far, but it seems that Driscoll is aware of the dangers. He is clear in his teaching that Christians need to be distinctive, but that we cannot withdraw completely. My understanding is that he and Mars Hill Church have come a long way in getting the balance right over the last few years. They’re not perfect, but they are ever improving!

Yours faithfully,

Matthew Weston

For those who don’t know him and don’t want to read Hugh’s entry or the EN article, Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church, Seattle, a large church in a reasonably anti-Christian city. To engage with the city, Driscoll and his church have been involved in some ventures that more culturally conservative Christians have considered unwise. I’m not really in a position to comment on specifics, but my impression (mainly gleaned from Hugh, but also from what I’ve heard in his talks personally) is that he’s generally on the right side of engaging with the culture without compromising. The problem is that we’re from a very different culture to Seattle (as is Josh Moody, the columnist – he’s a Brit who lives in Connecticut) so it’s hard to assess from the outside.

Driscoll is a challenge to me, because I’m very good at either withdrawing completely, or compromising, when it comes to engaging with culture. I need to get better.

Update (2nd May): The letter was printed!

Matthew @ 15:06, April 6, 2008 to Miscellaneous | Comments (0)