“Mark Driscoll has boldly led the parade down this carnal path…”
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Wed, April 15, 2009
- Viewed 199
- (48) comments so far
Well… since you asked… here are some thoughts of mine on the ‘sex series craze’:
1. As with anything, you need to be balanced. If you’re doing two series on sex each year, then you might be a little skewed. Sex is an important Biblical topic to tackle, but not every other week.
2. Some of the campaigns (not nearly all) have pushed the line a little for (even) me. That’s the way things roll. You start with one church starting a series, and others copy and take it to the next level. That’s the danger. My advice… use a little discretion. Otherwise we get go down the path of mykinkylustynightofpassion.com. There… I’ll side with MacArthur.
3. MacArthur claims that the Bible has ‘no hint of sophomoric lewdness in the Bible’. Well, the only word I would take issue with here is ‘sophomoric’. Sophomoric is subjective. Certainly, John isn’t saying that the Bible avoids telling us about lewd acts and sexual practices (both healthy and deviant). In fact, the Bible, I’ve found is very graphic at times in matters of sex, murder, and the human story. And the KJV is as ‘tell it like it is’ as any version.
4. It seems to me that MacArthur’s tirade would seem to have more credibility if the people he’s lumping together were teaching something that wasn’t Biblical. He might not like the way the material is presented. It may be sensationalistic to him. But every sex series that I’ve seen or heard of comes down to this: Biblical sexuality. One man. One Woman (no homosexuality, lesbianism, trannies, etc. allowed). No pre-marital sex. No extra-marital sex. How to deal with lust. Those topics, given our current culture, seem like admirable topics. Oh, and yes… Biblical as well.
5. I find it somewhat ironic… no unbelieveably ironic that John names his article “The Rape of Solomon’s Song”. What a provocative title. Does John know what RAPE means? Does John realize that the word RAPE is no where to be found in the Bible (at least the King James version). What a sensationalistic title. OK, maybe it’s not as sensationalistic as SolomonsBeenRaped.com; but I think you get the idea. Why did John feel the need to use this title? Could it be the same reason that churches use things like MyStupidSexLife.com. It gets your attention. And once you have attention, you can tell your story. It’s the same thing, isn’t it?!
Regardless...MacArthur is on a mission for the next few days: “I keep encountering young pastors who are now following that same example, and I’m rather surprised that the trend has been so well received in the church with practically no significant critics raising any serious objections. So we’re going to analyze and critique this approach to Song of Solomon over the next couple of days, including a look at some specific examples where the line of propriety has clearly been breached.” So, I guess that John is now labeling himself a ‘significant’ critic that will raise some ‘serious’ objections (you know, since no one else will step up to do it).
Yippee.
What do you think?
Todd
PS—You can read all of MacArthur’s thoughts here...
John MacArthur is at it again. This time, John is taking on sex in the church; or at least the 'talking about sex' in the church. And Mark Driscoll is in his sight this time: "Apparently the shortest route to relevance in church ministry right now is for the pastor to talk about sex in garishly explicit terms during the Sunday morning service. If he [the pastor] can shock parishioners with crude words and sophomoric humor, so much the better. The defenders of this trend solemnly inform us that without such a strategy it is well-nigh impossible to connect with today's "culture." No offense to John, but I've never heard even one of these 'sex pastors' use the term 'well-nigh'...
Comments
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Dan Moore on Mon, April 27, 2009
When was the last time a virgin man and a virgin woman came to a pastor and asked to be married in holy matrimony? Are we really having an effect on the culture? Even within our churches? Houston…we have a problem. It is not MacArthur…it is not Driscoll. Each has his flock to shepherd and a community to reach. That is what they are expert at. I might not agree with their approach but…there is a problem that needs addressing. It was the same in Paul’s day. We have to reach the lost, teach them salvation, and then teach them the way of sanctification - and that includes the biblical teaching on sexuality. It is probably better addressed in small group Bible studes among the adults and the teens. It used to be that Christian parents were in charge of this teaching…but with broken marriages and dysfunctional families…the church now has to pick up the slack. There is no easy solution to this…just lots of commitment, hard work, and getting disciples to be discipled.
Gino on Mon, April 27, 2009
I am less interested in the details of the debate than I am with how many have such a negative view of John MacArthur, especially in comparison to the recent posts concerning Rick Warren. Well, let’s see if we can stir the pot a little.
Anytime I have seen MacArthur on Larry King Live he has spoken the truth and presented the Gospel to the viewing audience. Can we say the same thing about Rick Warren?
I think we should also be cautious to condemn what MacArthur speaks against - He criticized the seeker movement long before anyone else (& with Willow Creek’s acknowledgements seems justified); he has been outspoken against John Eldredge (& lo and behold so have others questioned his view of God as being very close to Open Theism).
And I love how people criticize expository preaching because “Jesus never preached that way.” Well, here’s hoping that y’all do really read the rest of the letter that I am writing. I would hate for you to pick and choose a sentence or two and quit without telling the rest of the story.
I’m not saying it’s the only way but it’s hard to deny that God gave His Word in the form of individual letters to be read & not random ideas to be searched for…just a thought.
Peter Hamm on Mon, April 27, 2009
Gino writes
[He criticized the seeker movement long before anyone else (& with Willow Creekâs acknowledgements seems justified)]
What acknowledgements? You have, it seems, misunderstood what Willow is talking about in REVEAL… That’s okay, a lot of people have totally misunderstood and mis-interpreted the REVEAL info. Have you read the study? Or are you just going by what you’ve heard?
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