Steve Camp Back Peddals On Mark Driscoll

"The church has lost her testimony. She has no longer anything to say to the world. Her once robust shout of assurance has faded away to an apologetic whisper. She who one time went out to declare now goes out to inquire. Her dogmatic declaration has become a respectful suggestion, a word of religious advice, given with the understanding that it is after all only an opinion and not meant to sound bigoted.""Pure Christianity, instead of being shaped by its culture, actually stands in sharp opposition to it." -A.W. Tozer

What an utter shame that the righteous fall before the wicked. Compromise because of friendship with a man who is impure before man and God, without a clean conscience, is truly disloyal to Christ.

I saw a recent post at Steve Camp's website on how bloggers should be careful when criticizing Christians and to be cautious with the words we use, etc. Last night I figured out why he posted that. He sadly did a back flip with regard to Mark Driscoll and took full blame for all he said in the past regarding to Driscoll's horrific language and treatment of Scripture. Instead, while saying he believes pastors are to be careful with their language, declared himself to have been the one in sin. So now he's going to try to give wisdom those who refuse to cave to such raunchy behavior because he has a new friend in the putrid-mouthed man, Mark Driscoll. I lost respect for Steve and it grieves me deeply. In fact I was very upset last night and then again this morning when I woke up to get ready for church.

A friend of mine rightly said to me today in an email as she pondered his turn around: " Did he take heat? So what. Sometimes doing the right thing takes great strength and IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO! Why do we always look back instead of forward?"

Why indeed? Are we not to count everything loss for the sake of gaining Christ? Does HE not demand purity? Why is it so hard for so many Reformers (Driscoll says he's a reformer) to reject a false teacher entirely instead of hanging on to the fleshly corpse of false brother?

Jud 1:4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

Jud 1:10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

Jud 1:12 These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; Jud 1:13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Jud 1:16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Many will say "Lord Lord did we not perform miracles in your name...." Did Jesus say, "Well, I know your heart and meant to do good" and let them into Heaven? "Well I realize no one has perfect doctrine or behavior, so that's ok, come on in"? NO! He said:

Mat 7:17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. Mat 7:18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
Mat 7:23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Its almost like so many professing Christians, even Reformers, deny this passage. They can't see that such men are in their own camp (this is pride).While looking down at Arminians who often say, "love the sinner, hate the sin", they love the false teacher, but just hate his false teaching. They cannot bear to reject a man entirely (unless its a Charismatic nut or a pre-mill Christian--hence the hypocrisy), just the bits they disagree with. But God calls us to a higher standard.

1Jo 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Where do they think false prophets come from? They come from their own churches. 1John 2:19 describes this as well. They were never true believers, but yet Christians will continue to call them "brother" and slap the name of Christ Jesus onto a dead, decaying, rotting corpse and rejoice in that!

Mar 7:20 And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." (1Co 15:33)

It seems to me, the more tolerant people become of men like Driscoll, Piper, Tripp, etc., the more they will accept them and their corruption. There's a reason God said do NOT BE DECEIVED: BAD COMPANY RUINS GOOD MORALS. This truly dishonors the Lord. Just read 2 Cor. 6. One CAN be deceived into thinking that hanging with foul-mouthed and brazen fleshly men won't change them, but Scripture says IT SURELY WILL.

3John 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
1Ti 4:2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

In verse 2, the word "insincerity" is hupokrisis, which means hypocrit. "Seared" is kauterizao, which menas to brand as with a hot iron. A seared steak is not soft on the outside anymore. Nor is a seared conscience. Its a type of hardening. One with a seared conscience is a hypocrit and speaks lies and will continue to do so, while claiming Christ Jesus, because they are hardened to the Truth. They do NOT have a clear conscience before God and man.

And where these men are oh-so-tolerant of a disqualified pastor, they are quite INtolerant of those with discernment, exposing the deeds of darkness.

How much do you REALLY believe HIS Word? If you defend Driscoll, then you don't really believe what HE said, and you too, are deceived and your conscience is being seared.

Agape love does not rejoice in evil, but with the TRUTH.

"I believe that one reason why the church at this present moment has so little influence over the world, is because the world has so much influence over the church! Nowadays, we hear professors pleading that they may do this, and do that--that they may live like worldlings. My sad answer to them, when they crave this liberty is, "Do it if you dare. It may not cost you much hurt, for you are so bad already. Your cravings show how rotten your hearts are. If you are hungering after such dogs food--go dogs, and eat the garbage! "– Spurgeon

**Update**

As a reminder I'd like to repost to Slice's article from January 2009 which reflects the heart of what I'm saying.

Cathy Mickles offers insight:

“I am astonished that evangelical pastors would highlight a pastor not only known for his crudeness and careless handling of Scripture, but a pastor who also credits foul-mouthed comedian Chris Rock with teaching him how to preach,” stated Cathy Mickels, former Washington state president of Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum and co-author of Spiritual Junk Food: The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth.

In response to those who will claim Driscoll is doctrinally sound, Mickels states, “Since when is it doctrinally sound to refer to Jesus as some ‘dude’ who tells ‘knock-knock jokes’?” Since when does Biblical doctrine tolerate the description of the Old Testament as ‘a red-neck hillbilly comedy’ containing mocking comments about Noah and Jeremiah?”

Quoting from Driscoll’s book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev, Mickels states, “It also appears Mark Driscoll discovered early on that talking about sex could help him build his church. In fact, Driscoll wrote, ‘I assumed the students and singles were all pretty horney, so I went out on a limb… Each week I extolled the virtues of marriage, …oral sex, sacred stripping and sex outdoors…This helped us a lot because apparently a pastor using words like penis and oral sex is unusual, and before you could say aluminum pole in the bedroom, attendance began to climb steadily to more than two hundred people a week.’”

“It is just as puzzling,” observes Mickels, “why a pastor, who warns young men about the dangers of pornography, admits to frequenting a barbershop Driscoll describes as ‘providing the finest selection of waiting area pornography in our city.’”

Mickels concludes, “Instead of a pastor spiritually lifting up the Body of Christ to a higher standard, Mark Driscoll is dragging the Church through the gutter. Is it any wonder we are losing spiritual ground in this country?”

End quote.

Then Slice rightly comments:

Mark Driscoll should be shunned by decent people everywhere. There are Mormons and certainly Muslims who have more of a sense of decency and propriety in sexual matters than he does. There is a filthiness about this man that evokes a strong desire for a disinfecting bath after watching him. This is not the spirit of Christ. It is the spirit of the age.

Equally guilty are the pathetic, sniggering, middle-aged pastors who refuse to rebuke him, but rather see him as a doctrinally orthodox Sexpert for the young, who, as we know, must discuss every bodily function, fluid, and sexual detail in vivid color in order to be “real”. What we really have is a nation of vulgarians, both inside the church and out. What does Scripture say? Don’t fornicate, don’t commit adultery, keep your mind pure, honor your marriage vows. Absolutely none of the prurient detail explored by Driscoll is necessary. None of it. But Mark Driscoll enjoys his role as Sexpert. It gets him attention, you see. There is no other explanation for it. And it’s time we turned our back, collectively, on such exhibitionist behavior.

Unquote.

Absolutely women! You are both right on.