Radical Reformission

Finally I have finished. For the last copule months I have been reading The Radical Reformission...Reaching Out without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll. It was fabulous, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

For those Intowners, if you pick it up, you will think, yea I heard similar stuff to this for the 6 years that Scot Sherman was our pastor. Basic concept behind the book- as Christians we are called to redeem culture, and the way we redeem culture is by being part of the culture. But we can only redeem culture by staying true to the Bible. If we focus on the culture to the exclusion of the truth of the Bible we become irrelevant, liberal, and universal (Jesus came to save everyone, no one is going to hell, etc). If we focus on the Bible to the exclusion of the culture we become irrelevant, pharasaical, fundamentalists who are more concerned with building a Christian sub-culture where people don't drink and smoke, or hang out with people who do.

He definitely clicks with a side of the emerging church movement, but he is more on what I would call, the conservative side of things, as in not ditching the institution, or preaching etc.

Theologically, a postmodern church addicted to egalitarianism is also marked...by a peculiar commitment to making sure that everyone's voice is equally heard and everyone's input is equally considered, whether or not it is foolish, as if the church were one big internet chat room. Some churches have gone so far as to replace a preaching monologue from a recognized leader to a spiritual dialogue among a group of peers who refuse to acknowledge any leader in authority over them. This makes about as much sense as shooting your doctor and gathering with the other patients in his lobby to speculate about what is wrong with one another and randomly write out prescriptions for one another in the name of equality.

Another reason you might want to read this book, as if what I have given you isn't enough, is that one of the chapters is entitled "The Sin of Light Beer" and it is all about why Christians are allowed to drink. I hate beer, but I liked the chapter, especially because it quote Martin Luther and Calvin who loved their alcohol. All this talk is making me wish that I wasn't prego. 7 more weeks!

Driscoll had so many good things to say that it was a refreshing read. It was also incredibly challenging as I look at my own life and think about how the Lord would call me to be part of reforming the culture in my section of life. Good stuff.

So, now if anyone has a copy of McLaren's book Generous Orthodoxy, let me know. I would just prefer to borrow it.