Hopefully I will be moving on to some other blogging topics here shortly. But I did want to just comment on my own views regarding Driscoll and this planned protest up in Seattle.
I for one am not in support of a planned protest against Driscoll or the church. Do I disagree with a lot of what he says? Yes. But a lot of people disagree with what I say as well and I hope they don’t plan on rallying a protest against me or the college group because of it.
When is a protest an appropriate form of action against a church or a pastor or the type of theology that is “driving” it? I have no idea. I think the people who are planning the protest feel that Driscoll’s words are not only harmful to them, but a threat to a certain belief, or way of life they espouse. You can read their words in the posts below. I believe that Driscoll’s views on women and their roles are not helpful and a threat to what I believe and what many women I know believe. Do they impact me directly? No. But for those living in Seattle, maybe they felt it was time for action to be taken. I believe that Driscoll’s views on men and testosterone and roles are not helpful either, but they don’t influence me. But for those in the Seattle community, maybe they are a threat. So it’s hard for me to make sense of this situation.
At certain times I have said some stuff I wish I could have back on my blog. People have disagreed with me and even become pretty angry. There are some comments I made about John Piper a while back, disagreeing with his theological views. Before that, never did I receive so much traffic and comments. Yet, people didn’t come protest at my door. When does our theology, which I hate to say is so often lived in our heads, move into a more practical realm where the impact of our beliefs have direct impact on the culture? Maybe this is a case where one’s theological views do not sit well with others, because of the practical implications of it. And maybe it’s not that we as Christians disagree with one another’s theological views, maybe it’s the tone and language we use to express it.
Like many of us who blog, or write, or speak for a living there will be times where we say things we wish we could have back and other times we said exactly what needs to be said. We are conflicted people at times with views and theology that is often in flux as it gets worked out in a practical nature. The only difference is is that many of us who live in the online world are working out our theology and practice before otheres, sometimes before we have had time to sit with it or come to any solid conclusions ourselves.
I hope for the sake of the Church (local, national, global) that Driscoll and others can come together and dialogue, pushing for some form of reconciliation, though theological agreement is not needed. This may never happen and maybe many of us feel dialogue and conversation at this point are a waste of time. But in the meantime I will be praying for healing to come to this situation.
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Rhett- He just apologized on his blog. Not sure if you’ve seen it yet but he did it in a good way. I’m proud of him for taking it like a man….Wait I wonder what that means “taking it like a man” I should ask Mark