{"id":1934,"date":"2013-05-15T07:57:36","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T13:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2013-05-15T07:57:36","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T13:57:36","slug":"is-mark-driscoll-this-generations-pat-robertson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2013\/05\/is-mark-driscoll-this-generations-pat-robertson.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Mark Driscoll This Generation’s Pat Robertson?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been pretty tough on Mark Driscoll in the past. I don\u2019t like being that way about any other pastor. But I think he represents something truly dangerous to the gospel. I grew up with a lot of folks very much like him among the Southern Baptist circles in which I was reared \u2013 heavy bravado, always right, constantly leading through size and position. It\u2019s a tired script.<\/p>\n

I know what it means to be a man, and I don\u2019t resonate with any version of that story that is based in fear<\/em>, shame<\/em>, or control<\/em>. I think Driscoll preys on men and women who, in large part, have father\/mother\/abandonment issues and need an authority figure in their lives. People flock to him because he majors in certitude and isn\u2019t afraid to tell people what to think and do, and isn\u2019t afraid to shame them into doing it. When I look at Driscoll I don\u2019t see a strong confident man\/leader, I see a flaccid attempt to be a tough guy; a scared little boy who has taken being the bully all the way to fame and fortune. But his\u00a0shtick\u00a0has very little to do with the gospel.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Merrit is a pretty good writer and I\u2019ve always enjoyed his stuff. He\u2019s written for USA Today<\/em> and The Atlantic Monthly<\/em> as well as this article on Mark Driscoll for RNS<\/em>. He makes an interesting comparison between Driscoll and Pat Robertson. I can only hope that this is the way things go. I don\u2019t think most evangelicals take Robertson very seriously anymore. I hope the same will soon be said for Driscoll. I know that God has done some great things through his ministry, but I think this is owing to the fact that God uses whatever broken thing he can find, and not because Driscoll\u2019s approach is necessarily faithful. In fact I think that any pastor who has said what he\u2019s said and done what he\u2019s done should have been let go from his church long ago.<\/p>\n

For example, he has said:<\/p>\n

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