Gospel+Culture+Church

Mark Driscoll, in his book Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out, asks his readers to see that Jesus has called us to:

1. The Gospel [loving our Lord]
2. The Culture [loving our neighbor]
3. The Church [loving our brother]

Driscoll continues: "When we fail to love our Lord, neighbor, and brother simultaneously, we bury our mission in one of three holes." Driscoll's three holes are:

1. Parachurch
2. Liberalism
3. Fundamentalism

Gospel+Culture-Church= Parachurch
"The success of these ministries [he mentions Campus Crusade for Christ, perhaps Bible Colleges] is due in large part to their involvement in culture and loving people, whereas the church often functions as an irrelevant subculture." Driscoll believes that spiritual immaturity is the result of an often generationally connected group of people disconnected from the rich tapestry of generations found in the local church. He concludes, Parachruch Christians tend to love the Lord and love its neighbors, but not to love its brothers."

Culture+Church-Gospel= Liberalism
This sort of hole is dying in mainline denominational churches. The liberal church is "so concerned with being culturally relevant, though they are deeply involved in the culture, they neglect the gospel. In their desire for relevance, the liberal church has become irrelevant by having nothing to say to the culture that the culture could not say to itself without the church.Driscoll writes, "Their failure is that they bring to the culture a false gospel of accommodation, rather than confrontation, by seeking to bless people as they are rather than calling them to a repentant faith that transforms them." Liberal Christians risk loving their neighbors and theiPick up Driscoll's book and give it a read. Driscoll is sometimes edgy; however he's thoroughly orthodox. He's giving the emergent church fits because he's proved that Reformission is reaching out without selling out.r brothers at the expense of loving their Lord.

Church+Gospel-Culture=Fundamentalism
Driscoll writes, "The success of these churches lies in that they love the church and often love the people in the church. Their failure is that . . . pastors at these churches are prone to speak about the needs of the church, focusing on building up its people and keeping them from sinning . . . Over time, they can become so inwardly focused that the gospel is replaced with rules supported with mere prooftexts from the Bible. Fundamentalist Christians are commonly found to love their Lord and their brothers, but not their neighbors."

Pick up Driscoll's book and give it a read. Driscoll is sometimes edgy; however he's thoroughly orthodox. He's showing the emergent church that Reformission can reach out without selling out.