Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out

Loved it. I have given Mark Driscoll a hard time in the past but I can tell you he is starting to change how I look at the culture and Jesus Christ, in a good way. The thing I like the most about Pastor Driscoll is that he does not water down the gospel or theology in any way to reach the lost, but instead focuses on going to where the lost are instead of waiting for them to walk through the church doors.


He walks through many things in this book, but the main theme is making sure that we are Hudson Taylor's here in the states and also to understand that sin is not contagious, you can't catch it like a cold. He walks you through how Christ lived and was around sinners so much that people, the religious people, called Him "glutenous and a drunkard." Mark tells the story of him running into one of the men that was crucial in his conversion, where the man reveals that he is gay. Mark then asks the man to visit the church again and the man balks by saying, "Why should I go to your establishment when you would never set foot in one of mine?" So Mark takes the challenge and goes to a gay bar with the man. Please don't judge this story until you read it and see the outcome of it. Because to be honest, it shook me up and brought me to my knees in repentance of thinking, "I would never be seen there!" Part of me was revealed that I was one of the religious people calling Christ, "a gluten and a drunkard."

We must engage sinners with the gospel where they are! We don't engage in their sin, but we must engage the sinner. That is what this book is about, engaging the culture because the culture is where the sinners are.

Please read this book no matter your perspective on ecclesiology as it will at least open your eyes to those around you a little more. There is some course jokes as usual from Pastor Driscoll, some funny, some a little tough to swallow, but get past that and see the content. I would highly recommend this book. Link to Buy

1 Comment:

donsands said...

Thanks for the review. I think I'll order it.

There surely is a balance to reaching out to people. I have witnessed in bars, but I don't want to go to a strip-joint to witness.

"Be not deceived: evil companionships corrupt good manners." 1 Cor. 15:33

We need to be wise as snakes, and harmless as doves.

I like Mark. He's a diamond in the rough. May the Lord grind & polish him so he shines brightly with the love & holiness of Christ, and may the Lord do the same for me. Amen.