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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
As an aside: someone called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Tonyjones#February_2014 Tonyjones has been http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Jones_(theologian)andaction=history editing his own page on Wikipedia , which is strongly discouraged as a conflict of interest. He’s also been editing the pages of others he’s associated with, such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Tickle Phyllis Tickle .
It appears the machine has been keeping these articles clean and free of criticism…
@Jenelle Forgot to thank you for your truth telling. I know all too well the pressure put on authors by publishers to “play nice” so we can keep playing the game and promote our products. It takes guts to be willing to risk one’s place of pride to speak the truth. I hope your bravery encouraes others to do come forth and do likewise – I’ve heard of other victims and pray they too can someday get justice.
Thank you for asking….anytime I have previously tried to call out this most unGodly bullshit, I have had my neck figuratively stomped on so I could not speak. My Pastor at Solomon’s Porch Doug Pagitt tried to have me put in a mental institution to shore up the crazy campaign and justify an affair and divorce. I have been threatened, “I will tear your head off.” Physical threats. Litigiously, “I will litigate to the fullest extend of the law…and I will not be able to provide for the children.” And spun as crazy to discredit my name and character. So, YES I am speaking. And freely. I absolutely KNOW and believe the LGBT community were used to provide a platform! In 15 years not word one of concern for that community. Why that cause? Why not plastic bags? Pedophile priest? The Pacific Garbage Vortex? NO! THIS was the hottest topic in church and culture, so it would be the best move. An NPD using everything and everyone to position themselves in the best possible light. He became the suffering spouse of a crazy woman…only, he was the one with the verified mental illness and I through a thorough psychological assessment had nothing but “acute distress” from years of enduring gas lighting and physical and psychological abuse.
@David Hayward, Thanks! That’s kind of what I thought was going on. I also wouldn’t have been surprised if some email was coming from burner accounts to make it look like multiple folks were offended. This is a common tactic in political stuff. And I am really grateful you didn’t post names. I’m interested only in the methods used.
What struck me was how similar this is to the way the complaints against CJ Mahaney were shut down by TGC and others around him. Silence publicly, but furious emails asking not to re-open wounds from people’s childhood, this needs to go face-to-face, let’s wait for the evidence/dispositions/trial/verdict/sentencing/whatever, and on and on. It’s like right out of a playbook or something.
The other thing that has struck me is how thoroughly the so-called post-modern mindset has been played. “It’s not true until I say it’s true,” seems to be the mantra here. Nevermind testimony, documentation, and outside experts. At some level, there is an adherence to deconstruction of texts, statements, blogs, events, etc., that has failed to create the freedom that the EV folks seem to desire. That alone has been very revealing to me. There is a set of core events and statements that cannot be deconstructed and still remain in reality.
For those who want the free version of the Amazon eBook, there’s http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-jones/the-church-should-stay-ou_b_831473.html a later version at HuffPost and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-jones/the-church-should-stay-ou_b_831473.html an earlier one on Tony’s blog .