Text & Context Conference: Session 1, Mark Driscoll
The Text & Context Conference is now in full swing.The conference opened with a performance from some rap artists (I didn't catch their names) who got this place shouting and jumping to their cross-centered lyrics. Man, the sound system here is strong and sweet. The bass gave me a massage.Mark Driscoll then took the stage. He changed his scheduled message title/topic from Humble Incarnational Ministry to: Putting Pastors in Their Place, a 1 hr. 15 min. message that traced the central importance of preaching from Genesis to Revelation. Rather than try to summarize Mark's message here (if you didn't catch the live video stream, you'll want to listen to the mp3 once it's posted online), below are a series of quotes that especially struck me (I've italicized my favorites):
There is no way to be Christian without an acknowledgment that Spirit-anointed preaching is essential.Shame on all who are calling into question the finished work of Christ on the cross.Today there's a growing lack of clarity about what constitutes a church. My fear is that a lot of young guys want to do cool, hip, urban ministry, but with no clear definition of the church we can be starting sects and cults...Some are trying to do church without preaching.There is no preaching without the proclamation of the death of Jesus for our sins.I preached propitiation. I told people that God hated them because of their sin and we grew by 800 in one week...seeker insensitivity is as hot as ever.One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit is the preaching of the gospel.Non-Christians become Christians--lots of them do, through preaching.Do not allow guilt to keep you from prayer and study. You must guard your time. You must have sufficient time to do it [preaching] well.When Paul preached [during his 1st missionary journey] there was so much opposition people tried to kill him...Some of you get one nasty email and you're in a fetal position and you're wife's rubbing your back...You gotta have a little courage when you preach. When you preach people react and if you react to their reaction you'll compromise your ministry.A few wolves can do great damage in a naive flock.Do not let your people dishonor the pulpit...The pulpit belongs to God.Turn your critics into coaches...Don't immediately get defensive. Be humble.Do you know what a church is? The church assumed what the church was for a thousand years. Then the Reformers came and said let's define what the church is. The Reformers put it this way (the 5 marks of a true church):
- The church has to have as the head, Jesus Christ
- Under Jesus are qualified under-shepherds, male elders. I believe male eldership is like the border between two nations. You may still speak the same language, but you see God, family, and the Bible differently. Complementarianism is a crucial issue.
- Right preaching of the Word
- The sacraments rightly administered
- Church discipline rightly enacted
Where the Word is not preached the church is not present.Your preaching ministry is absolutely essential. Without it there is no church.One of the great tricks of some teachers I'm reticent to name, but would like to, is to only preach Jesus as an example, but not as a glorified Savior.Is it even a church is no one preaches the Bible? What we're talking about today is what constitutes the church. There's this great excitement about the church, church planting is hot...I keep asking people the question, what is the church? No one knows.What you have today under the umbrella of missional ministry, in my opinion, are some sects and some cults...people actually denying the central tenets of Christianity.