I grew up in the Seattle area, and have grown up there I've heard a lot from pastors like Casey Treat, Judah Smith, and Mark Driscoll. The later of these has sparked an interest. Lately, I have been doing a lot of study on Mark Driscoll.
Driscoll will admit to being part of the emerging church movement, actually he embraces it. According to Driscoll there are four "lanes" or "teams" in the emerging church movement. Driscoll says that Mars Hill Church and himself are part of the "Emeriging Reformers" lane.
This view is said by him to be similar to old reformed theology with "minor" exceptions. Exceptions such as worship being "pretty free" and all gifts are viewed as being for today (healing, tongues, etc.). What Mark Driscoll means here is that they believe in the same doctrine as conservative Evangelical Christians except their worship is more liberal (drums, electric guitar, more rock, etc.) and that they believe that all Christians are able to access every spiritual gift mentioned int he New Testament.
So theologically Driscoll would be similar to that of the Baptist denomination. So what's wrong with him? He has some great stuff (especially about the crucifixion of Christ), but he also has some real messed up ideologies. He holds that a Christian should cuss when conversation demands for emphasis.
He also thinks that drinking alcohol is good. He says that it is a sin to abstain from alcohol, and even to drnk light beer. He says, "I personally long to return to the glory days of Christian pubs, where God’s men gather to drink beer and talk theology." While this is not a "critical" issue, it does alarm me to think he is inserting his own opinion so much into the Scriptures.
There are many other minor issues that conservatives have with Mark Driscoll, but let's take a look at some facts. He is a pastor of a CHRIST-CENTERED church the size of 10,000 (a weekend). He preaches with authority, but not the authority of the usual charismatic but with the authority of the Bible. Driscoll says, "The problem with my pastoral job is that I don't really know what I'm doing. So I read every book I can find and cling to the Bible like a kid who can't swim but somehow found a life preserver in the middle of the ocean." He clings to the Gospel.
Although Mark Driscoll and I have some fairly large disagreements, I am proud to call him a brother in Christ. And as for his church, He is preaching the Gospel, others are getting saved, disciples are being grown, and God is being glorified. That's my opinion. Take it or leave it. - Dean
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