Double Driscoll

'Wally' has just plucked enough courage to leave a comment and it is a good one - thanks Wally - I agree with you but thought that you raise such an important issue that we must chew it over a little longer. (So sorry Wally, I'm not picking on you ... honest :-) )

What I've appreciated very much is Mark Driscoll's willingness just to say it how it is. He doesn't try and "dress up" the truth to make it more palatable...his confidence is in Jesus and His gospel.

It depends on what you mean by 'dressing it up'.

If you are referring to things like gushing about God's love and forgetting to mention his holiness and wrath then I fully agree with you.

If by 'say it how it is' you mean literally that all he did was articulate the truths of the gospel then I'd have to disagree.

There were two things that Mark did to make the message more palatable:

1. Humour - not so much jokes as observational humour. There is no doubt that people will let you get away with more if they are laughing.

2. Apologetics - Mark is very, very good at anticipating the questions non-Christians will have. In his talks he anticipates them and answers those questions. Again this is something he does to make the message more palatable.

Now, I want to make it clear that I am in no way criticising him for doing either of these things. I think he's great and have learnt loads from him. (Not least about parenting!) Mark is a great example to follow - but I fear what would happen if the lesson we took away was: just tell it like it is. Our job is preserve the gospel, and not to water it down; but our job is also one of contextualisation too.