By now you know that Mark Driscoll has done it again. He has pulled one of the most ingenious PR stunts I have seen. From a business perspective, albeit, an unethical one, Mark's visit to the Strange Fire conference was nothing short of genius. For about 3 hours worth of work, Mark has likely added tens of thousands to his book sales, maybe even hundreds of thousands.
Here is a man who claims to know and love Christ. He claims that he engaged in this stunt out of a sincere and pure love for the truth. Mark tells us he only wants to be helpful. He wants to impart the TRUTH to those at the Strange Fire conference that may be struggling to understand how the Holy Spirit moves in modern times. Mark Driscoll is VERY concerned for the TRUTH.
So what does Mark Driscoll, a man VERY concerned about the TRUTH do? He implies that he is in the neighborhood, drives 40 miles up the 5, likely the nation's busiest highway, to take books onto the conference grounds of John MacArthur's Strange Fire event. Why? Well, because Mark Driscoll is concerned about the TRUTH.
What does Driscoll do? He enters the conference grounds and begins, without regard for protocol, without regard or respect for John MacArthur or Grace To You ministries, and proceeds to set up his own little unauthorized booth and distribute his book that he knows contains contrary views to the very conference he is attending.
When security figures out what is going on, they ask him to leave, politely, and to take his books with him. Driscoll, without protest tells GTY to keep his books as a gift and proceeds to his car. But before he can put GTY out of sight of his rear-view-mirror he tweets to nearly half a million people that GTY Security confiscated his books. Why? Well, Mark says he came to the conference because he cares about the TRUTH.
What are we to do with a calculating and deliberate liar like Mark Driscoll? Well, we do three things: first, we make sure the Church knows what he is...a liar. Second, we continue to confront Mark with his sin until he repents according to Matt. 18:15-18. Three, we pray for Mark's salvation. You see, Mark Driscoll deliberately lied to the Church and he deliberately, and in premeditated fashion, committed slander against John MacArthur and GTY Security. Now, I realize to the typical American, easy believism, cheap grace kind of Christianity, this is nothing. In the name of grace, and in the name of "we are all sinners and none of us are perfect" kind of nonsense, Mark's behavior will be downplayed as a mistake, an error in judgment, or even perfectly defensible if you can believe it. May I submit to you that this attitude is the scandal behind the scandal.
I remember a couple in Acts 5 that lied to the Church and to the Holy Spirit. God killed them both. It is a scandal of scandals not that Mark Driscoll would engage in such egregiously wicked behavior. The scandal is actually related to one of the main points of the Strange Fire conference to begin with: the Church's refusal to confront and deal with sin and error in a loving and biblical manner.
This is the "Thyatiran Scandal" of of Rev. 3:20: "But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." It wasn't the sexual immorality that so angered God in the case of Thyatira. That wasn't it at all. It was that Church's tolerance of wickedness and her refusal to rebuke, correct, and criticize the immorality in her presence that had God telling her that He had THIS against her.
No decent elder board would allow Mark Driscoll to continue in leadership after this profane and disgraceful act. He has brought open and public shame to Christ, to the Church, and to Christianity. The Church, if she is to maintain an ounce of moral authority must address Driscoll's sin openly, lovingly, and sternly. She must do so for the sake of Christ, for the sake of Christianity, for the sake of Mark Driscoll, and for the sake of the good name of John MacArthur and GTY Ministries.
I ask you a simple question: if you are to judge a tree by its fruit and Mark Driscoll says he did what he did because he is concerned about TRUTH, what kind of tree is Driscoll?
Here is a man who claims to know and love Christ. He claims that he engaged in this stunt out of a sincere and pure love for the truth. Mark tells us he only wants to be helpful. He wants to impart the TRUTH to those at the Strange Fire conference that may be struggling to understand how the Holy Spirit moves in modern times. Mark Driscoll is VERY concerned for the TRUTH.
So what does Mark Driscoll, a man VERY concerned about the TRUTH do? He implies that he is in the neighborhood, drives 40 miles up the 5, likely the nation's busiest highway, to take books onto the conference grounds of John MacArthur's Strange Fire event. Why? Well, because Mark Driscoll is concerned about the TRUTH.
What does Driscoll do? He enters the conference grounds and begins, without regard for protocol, without regard or respect for John MacArthur or Grace To You ministries, and proceeds to set up his own little unauthorized booth and distribute his book that he knows contains contrary views to the very conference he is attending.
When security figures out what is going on, they ask him to leave, politely, and to take his books with him. Driscoll, without protest tells GTY to keep his books as a gift and proceeds to his car. But before he can put GTY out of sight of his rear-view-mirror he tweets to nearly half a million people that GTY Security confiscated his books. Why? Well, Mark says he came to the conference because he cares about the TRUTH.
What are we to do with a calculating and deliberate liar like Mark Driscoll? Well, we do three things: first, we make sure the Church knows what he is...a liar. Second, we continue to confront Mark with his sin until he repents according to Matt. 18:15-18. Three, we pray for Mark's salvation. You see, Mark Driscoll deliberately lied to the Church and he deliberately, and in premeditated fashion, committed slander against John MacArthur and GTY Security. Now, I realize to the typical American, easy believism, cheap grace kind of Christianity, this is nothing. In the name of grace, and in the name of "we are all sinners and none of us are perfect" kind of nonsense, Mark's behavior will be downplayed as a mistake, an error in judgment, or even perfectly defensible if you can believe it. May I submit to you that this attitude is the scandal behind the scandal.
I remember a couple in Acts 5 that lied to the Church and to the Holy Spirit. God killed them both. It is a scandal of scandals not that Mark Driscoll would engage in such egregiously wicked behavior. The scandal is actually related to one of the main points of the Strange Fire conference to begin with: the Church's refusal to confront and deal with sin and error in a loving and biblical manner.
This is the "Thyatiran Scandal" of of Rev. 3:20: "But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." It wasn't the sexual immorality that so angered God in the case of Thyatira. That wasn't it at all. It was that Church's tolerance of wickedness and her refusal to rebuke, correct, and criticize the immorality in her presence that had God telling her that He had THIS against her.
No decent elder board would allow Mark Driscoll to continue in leadership after this profane and disgraceful act. He has brought open and public shame to Christ, to the Church, and to Christianity. The Church, if she is to maintain an ounce of moral authority must address Driscoll's sin openly, lovingly, and sternly. She must do so for the sake of Christ, for the sake of Christianity, for the sake of Mark Driscoll, and for the sake of the good name of John MacArthur and GTY Ministries.
I ask you a simple question: if you are to judge a tree by its fruit and Mark Driscoll says he did what he did because he is concerned about TRUTH, what kind of tree is Driscoll?
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