Mark Driscoll spoke yesterday afternoon at Moore Theological College. He spoke on Gospel Proclamation (1 Corinthains 9:16-18) and Gospel Contextualisation (1 Corinthians 9:19-22). It was GOLD! He didn’t pull any punches in his critique of Sydney Anglican/ Moore College culture, yet he was forthright in his praise of the commitment the College and Diocese has to the Bible.
He spoke about two main teams in contemporary churches: Really Cool Heretics and Boring Bible Guys. He said there’s a third option: The not-quite-so-boring Bible Guys. Here are 3 things he said about how to be the third option in thinking through gospel contextualisation:
- It’s not about making the gospel relevant but showing the relevance of the gospel.
- It’s not about being seeker-sensitive but seeker sensible.
- Know the culture better than others in the culture (eg. businesses and leaders)
Here are 3 ways to do #3:
i) Watch TV – it’s a missiological window into the world.
ii) Take alternative routes and schedules – see what is happening in your city
iii) Magazine covers are people’s view of heaven.
I was challenged and encouraged in thinking about future plans and preaching Jesus to our culture.
Check out what Ben and Sam had to say…
Warm Fuzzy for location of above pic.
Sounds like he preached the same stuff to you guys as he did to us at SMBC in chapel on Monday morn.
Wasn’t it a little embarrassing to be told that (apparently) you’re mostly dorks who don’t get out much, and need to, you know, watch TV & be engaged with the culture you live in?
hey cj – yeah he did the same talk at smbc, morling, moore and i’m guessing at queensland theological college. though he applied it differently for each college.
hey luke – i feel no shame. i’ve said the same thing that driscoll has said, yet i don’t have the street cred to get away with saying it! i think there are guys who are proud of their boring bible guyness, mainly because they don’t realise there’s a 3rd option.
Driscoll said:
-It’s not about making the gospel relevant but showing the relevance of the gospel.
-It’s not about being seeker-sensitive but seeker sensible.
-Know the culture better than others in the culture (eg. businesses and leaders)
Interesting, none of those things are remotely found in the Bible. The power of the gospel is not in our methods or techniques – IT”S IN THE GOSPEL ITSELF. We add nothing to its effectiveness. It alone is the power of God unto salvation! (Roms. 1:16-17).
Mark is good at putting others down to make himself look relevant. He should stick to preaching the Word. You know what I mean man?
I also agree with Luke…
TStone
But Dave, are YOU boring? ;-)
Hey TStone – thanks for dropping by.
Driscoll said:
-It’s not about making the gospel relevant but showing the relevance of the gospel.
-It’s not about being seeker-sensitive but seeker sensible.
-Know the culture better than others in the culture (eg. businesses and leaders)
Interesting, none of those things are remotely found in the Bible. The power of the gospel is not in our methods or techniques – IT”S IN THE GOSPEL ITSELF. We add nothing to its effectiveness. It alone is the power of God unto salvation! (Roms. 1:16-17).
Driscoll said a lot more than that! He spoke for an hour and then did q&a for an hour. In my quick reflection I wrote some of the application points from his 2nd point on Contextualisation. in no way have i sought to recount everything that he said.
He spent a lot of time in the text of 1 Cor 9 and 1 Cor 15:1-8 (one of the clearest passages in the bible on “the gospel”) and also referred to a stack of other passages throughout his time.
Mark is good at putting others down to make himself look relevant.
I disagree with your comment. I don’t think he is trying to do that at all.
He should stick to preaching the Word. You know what I mean man?
have you heard anything of mark driscoll preach? just go listen to a full sermon series and then come back and let me know if you think he is failing at preaching the Word.
I also agree with Luke…
i feel no shame. i’ve said the same thing that driscoll has said, yet i don’t have the street cred to get away with saying it! i think there are guys who are proud of their boring bible guyness, mainly because they don’t realise there’s a 3rd option.
But Dave, are YOU boring? ;-)
hey geoff… i’m accused of a whole bunch of things… but not normally boring.
do you think i’m boring? let me know if and when you think i’m being boring.
peaceout
no, your not boring Dave. I haven’t heard you preach though, but from our little dialogues when you help me with my sermons you don’t sound like you’d be boring at all.
The first sermon I ever gave was recorded, and it bored the crud out of me.
I just wonder how many people heard what Driscoll said and went “Yeah, they are all boring, good thing I’m the exception”.
i need to hear his message just as much as all the boring guys! i think that the deeper you dig into the bible – the easier it can be to be boring… but we need to keep praying that God’s Spirit would rouse our affections so that it would be impossible for us to be boring!!!
how did your sermon go yesterday???
it was boring
now that was funny.
Don Carson was tops at Engage. Great demonstration of being in the text and being engaging.
is the subtext of that comment that driscoll wasn’t??
no. i reckon Driscoll is a rockin good speaker! Definately not boring. But he wasn’t as into the text as I expected – apparently though his fourth talk on John 10 was heaps more text based and really good.