[todaysdate]
By Eric Blauer
One of Israel’s greatest leaders was prone to dangerous fits of explosive anger, degrading and dehumanizing cursing of people close to him and a presumptuous posture of pride that eventually resulted in the kingdom being torn away from him (1 Samuel 18:10-12/15:24-31).
1 Samuel 20:30-34:
“Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
“But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?”
Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David.”
When I read Mark Driscoll’s resignation letter, I couldn’t help but reflect on this Bible story. I am not accusing Mark of being the embodiment of Saul, or that he “Raves like a madman in the house” or tried to impale any staff or friends with sharp projectiles. I am not saying I think the Lord has “turned away” from Driscoll, like he did Saul. What I resonate with in the story is the way Jonathan fought with Saul till the end, despite the brutal behavior Saul had unleashed on Jonathan and the way David handled himself throughout the dysfunctional seasons of Saul’s decline. Somehow both men were able to ride out a train wreck without throwing the conductor off the train or turing so bitter that his end would be celebrated.
In fact, the way David responded to the news of Saul’s end stands forever as an example of a man who probably knew his own shortcomings and sins and understood that God is way more merciful than anyone deserves. From a place of humility and sincere grief, he penned a song that somehow managed to celebrate an adversary in a way that made the most of his strengths and covered the worst of his failures.
2 Samuel 1-27:
“Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. Then David composed a funeral song for Saul and Jonathan, and he commanded that it be taught to the people of Judah. It is known as the Song of the Bow, and it is recorded in The Book of Jashar.”
“Don’t announce the news in Gath,
don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon,
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice
and the pagans will laugh in triumph.
They were swifter than eagles,
stronger than lions.
O women of Israel, weep for Saul,
for he dressed you in luxurious scarlet clothing,
in garments decorated with gold.
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen in battle!
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen!
Stripped of their weapons, they lie dead.”
As we are subjected to the avalanche of celebration and jubilation of Christians and pagans at a fellow Christian’s failure across every medium of news, I hope we can find some measure of humility that can hate the sin without hating the sinner.
I pray that those devastated by this end and those abused through the years by any behavior, teaching or drama and chaos that surrounded and was often instigated by Driscoll, will find peace, healing and hope again in Christ and a healthier expression of the body of Christ.
I do think a mighty man has fallen, but I know that by the grace of God he will find his footing again and hopefully be offered the same mercy and forgiveness that we all demand for ourselves.
Mighty man? In his own eyes, for sure, but…not in mine.
I do think Mark is a mighty man, much like Samson or David. He has accomplished some amazing things in Seattle and in gospel mission. Yes, he has done wrong too but if God can say David was a man after His own heart, is it too far to say Mark is a mighty man too, even if he has fallen short of that in this season of ministry. There are consequences of such actions and he is reaping those but grace never leaves us there. We have to figure out how to restore people not bury them. If his repentance isn’t genuine, so be it, I can only take people at their word and look to see if there is fruit from those words. We will see.
Oh, sure. Use the Bible against me. Sheesh! lol But you are right. God uses broken people to bring about God’s kingdom. Having been where Driscoll is, I should have more grace for him, and I do, it just takes me a while to get to it. “Mighty man” rankled, because it smacks of Driscoll being the one who made it all happen, when of course it was God. But that’s what you meant, I’m sure, so I should just have read it again.
Philippians 1:15-18New International Version (NIV)
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But
what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether
from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I
rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
I hope he does repent, though reading his resignation letter he still claims that he didn’t do anything immoral. The first step is confession and taking a good look at one’s own sin.
“Prior to and during this process there have been no charges of criminal
activity, immorality or heresy, any of which could clearly be grounds
for disqualification from pastoral ministry. Other issues, such as aspects of my personality and leadership style,
have proven to be divisive within the Mars Hill context, and I do not
want to be the source of anything that might detract from our church’s
mission to lead people to a personal and growing relationship with Jesus
Christ.”
Using Church funds ($200,000) to defraud the New York Times Best Seller list and those that value it, is certainly immoral and fraudulent and all done simply for the puffing up of his own ego. So, using church funds to hire a company that created false individuals for the purpose of buying his book to inflate book sales is not immoral. The spin of this letter makes me pray that he recognizes his own sin as the cause of his downfall and turns to Jesus.
It will be interesting to hear the findings of the elders, I expect we all will get a chance to hear about or read that report, which I imagine will deal with these issues. If not, than members there probably need to examine if the issues are not just Driscoll but the system.
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