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.
1080 comments
Somebody pass the popcorn!
I apologize for my Irish coming out but that was 6 years in the making and there is nothing I loathe more than a fraud parading under the banner of “all peace love and kindness” while twisting the knife in someone’s back…Doug’s been very busy today private messaging people on this thread doing damage control….come clean Doug. Prove you are not a pathological narcissist full of hot air but actually able to admit, “I made a mistake. I’m sorry for my part in that deception.” You know he CAN’T but maybe if you say you are so open hearted…let’s hear it!! We’re waiting. Led the way to this “missional generative friendship” you spew.
^bullshit! You live 1 block from me. My son mows your lawn. You’ve never said a word and repeatedly shut me down for years when the truth was in your face complete with a psych eval and sex emails. Shut the f$andk up you fraud. Go home. You had your 15 minutes of fame. Put a fork in it . Emergent is beyond done. Let me refresh your memory in a phone call you made to me while I was still married to your BFF although my kids report now dads no longer friends w/ Doug and they’ve had a falling out…of course there was…you used each other up! Next! Onto the next person the narcissist can suck the marrow out of and then discard. “Julie, this is Doug. You and Tony’s marriage is just words on a piece of paper. You may be the legal wife but Tony has a spiritual wife now.” Now THAT my friends is “bat shit crazy!” Yes, that Mike Morrell, not me who in fact does not have the serious clinical diagnosis but rather your idols you look so highly up to. Choke and die before an I’m sorry comes out. They can’t! Their egos and pathology will not allow it. I think it’s fascinating your wife refers to you as “the Duke” Freud would have a field day! Cut the bull shit you coward…you tried to have me hospitalized to cover up an affair and rationalize a divorce! And when they would not admit me (in fact the seasoned intake nurse said prophetically, “honey, what you need is a good lawyer!” because there is nothing wrong with me, you said, “I’ll find a mental hospital to admit you.” All while sitting on the knowledge of Courtney Perry. Cut the crap Doug. It’s over. O-V-E-R. Come clean. Apologize here and now.
Doug,
I’ll respond later today or tomorrow morning as I’m in renovation hell right now, and then on the road away from the reno hell.
Maybe “transcend blogging” means twitter? I must have done that, since I so rarely blog anymore. But I’m still very opinionated, and especially so in matters like this.
Love the image and the metaphor, David. To take a swipe at the question, I would say it’s cyclical: thug-theology-thug. There’s an inner thug, whose theology is affected by his character. The resulting theology lends justification to his actions, which allows for thug amplification and thug discipleship. It’s a perfect venue for narcissists… did anybody see the recent article — I think it was in Time Mag — about what careers narcissists gravitate toward? #1 is CEO, and clergy is solidly in the top ten. When you have pastors turning their role into a command-driven CEO-style one, I think you can make your own inferences… but you’ll know them by their fruit, which is the measure of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. I suggest that where these are lacking, their theology is impacted.
I would take it as almost axiomatic that our character affects our theology. Every one of us. For example, are we greedy? Trust, me there’s a theology for that. Power-hungry? There’s a theology for that too. Let’s take the hypothetical example of marriage. If one is having an affair, or wishes to, or wants to divorce and remarry for some reason outside of the evangelical or catholic norm, one’s theology may begin to change in a manner that allows for these actions. Be very suspicious when theology changes in a way that becomes more convenient for the theologian. So if a theologian puts forward some new concept of marriage and then divorces and remarries, one might be suspicious of the motives involved. I did say hypothetical, right? Huh. What a coincidence, that.
Bill is correct in drawing comparisons between MH and EV. They have the same roots, despite their divergent paths. But whenever there’s an empire involved, there’s an interest in the status quo. Blame the internet or cover it up… whatever it takes to keep the publishing deals and speaking tours flowing. Follow the money, they say. The questions are valid, and the answer is supposed to be transparency, especially for a nonprofit.