Join our Newsletter
If you like The NakedJournal, you'll enjoy my weekly newsletter about deconstruction, freedom, and life in general.
Tony Jones on Mark Driscoll: What came first, the thug or the theology?
This drawing is inspired by the Ouroboros Snake... of the snake eating its own tail.
What came first? The chicken or the egg? What came first? The thug or the theology? I read Tony Jones' thoughts on Mark Driscoll.
Jones has always admired Driscoll, maybe envies him a little, wants the best for him, believes he can be redeemed, and suggests that things can be restored.
What I found most interesting though is that Jones believes the problem with Driscoll is theological.
- He titles his post is "Thoughts about Mark Driscoll"
- He talks about the "heady" days of publishing and speaking.
- He dismisses his disturbing personality traits by his use of the word "sure".
- He says it isn't a moral issue (evil) but that he is passionate.
- He says more than once that Driscoll is "extremely smart" or "brilliant".
- He suggests that he will "see" (as in "think"?) his way out of this.
- He writes that Driscoll has just embraced a toxic version of theology.
- He hopes that Driscoll will turn away from this toxic theology.
- He concludes therefore that Driscoll is not the problem, but his theology.
But my question is‚ What came first? The thug or the theology?
That is, did Driscoll become the focus of concern because of his theology? Or was it because of his behavior?
I'm concerned that Jones' post reflects the refusal of the church to understand spiritual abuse. It neglects the pathology of its abusive leaders. I don't think this is being fair to the victims or the perpetrators of spiritual abuse. People are victims of not just a bad theology, but a pathological cruelty.
I don't think Driscoll's theology made this happen. Driscoll "embraced" his toxic version of theology because it aligned with his moral compass. It fit his personality. It worked for him to achieve his goals. Then it manifested the worst in him. Then he continued to develop his toxic theology in order to make more room for his pathological behavior. Mars Hill Church too.
Jones' sentence, "It could have happened to any of us." is true, because I believe we all participate in this dynamic. Theology is our creation. It is a reflection of our drives and desires.
Then, not satisfied to only be the product of our drives and desires, it also becomes the producer of them. Theology is a vicious cycle of our desperate need to understand and control our universe.
Step into this cycle at any point and you can see that we are both the root and fruit of our theology and pathology.
And yes, it spins out of control by manifesting itself in toxic, controlling, and abusive behavior. Nothing can be done about bad theology because of free thought and speech.
But we can do something when this manifests itself in bad behavior. Cruel theology is a nuisance. Cruel behavior is unacceptable.
When Driscoll thinks bully to his people, we can say please stop. But when he actually bullies people, we can step in and say you will stop now!
I don't think this is a theological issue. I think it is a pathological one. Not just for Driscoll and Jones, but for the entire church.
If we would be healed, our theology would take care of itself.
1079 comments
On the Christianity 21 facebook page, they say that, “Most churches could do a lot more to support people who live with mental illnesses. Many Christian teachings link health, wealth and faith in ways that can make anyone having a bad day feel like God has abandoned them. This feels all the more injurious to someone living with a mental-health challenge.”
The sheer and utter hypocrisy of this is mind boggling to me, after seeing how they treated Julie, Becky, and LostVoice.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1461065130809150/permalink/1474499692799027/
Becky brings up a good point. NPD’s gaslight their victims then stand back and say, “Look. see! she’s crazy!” My abuser is obsessed with number and is stuck on thinking and proliferating the meme that I sent x amount of emails crying out for help, so that means I am nuts….actually, it means I am being “stonewalled” and am having to shout into the hurricane to try and be heard…..while they appear calm, cool and collected…it’s pretty down right sadistic if you think about it.
Thank you Lost Voice – your story and Julie’s googling illustrates how this pattern of behavior spread well beyond those connected with the Emergent Village brand. Like Mars Hill, there was a large interconnected network that supported the “emergent brand” at all costs.
Thank you for anyone who has the courage to apologize – the one thing I’d ask moving forward is that you don’t qualify your apology by citing what the survivor of emergent abuse (I like this term better than victim) did or did not do – as we’ve noted before, when someone is in the throes of prolonged abuse and trauma, they will do/say things in response that will seem somewhat “batshit crazy.” In fact, the more intense the abuse, the more likely they are to exhibit signs of extreme trauma and abuse.
Also, it is critical for those apologizing to put their words into action – what will you do to end the cycle of abuse? Too often abusers will issue face saving apologies that upon reflection seem more designed to save their own careers but the structures remain in place that allow the abuse to continue. (This is exactly what you’re seeing at Mars Hill – even the resignation of the #2 bully and Driscoll’s leave of absence hasn’t changed the culture that allowed this bad boy behavior to continue.) Even if one hasn’t been guilty of abuse themselves and were unaware of the Emergent crew’s on and offline bullying (and it’s hard for me to truly believe this given some blog battles), please reflect on how your participation in purchasing emergent products, attending events and the like contributes to the problem. If you stop the flow of money into this machine, it will break down (see Mars Hill).
http://tallskinnykiwi.com/2014/09/next-season/ is the ‘real deal.’
Andrew Jones-the Tall Skinny Kiwi http://tallskinnykiwi.com/2014/09/next-season/ Thank you for being the ‘real deal.’ You made me laugh when you said all those years ago, "You actually don’t seem as “bat shit” crazy as I was told. You and your nomadic, global missional family traveling the world with a truck…restore my faith.