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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
The edit is gone. Anyway, Pat, I hate that I was still dealing with my mess that I was not stronger with and for you. Know I have always loved you and have supported you. Love ha brother.
I remember Pat. I hate that I was
I’m shaking right now. Crying too. Thank you again @david and @julie. I’m trying not to make waves and I prefer to deal with my own crap and harm I have done in this world, but I hurt for my kid. She’s my life. She’s one of the few things I have not lost. To hurt a child is criminal and to stand idly by and make no stand or even have empathy is a silent complicity to the harm.
One last thought….
One of my personal favorite quotes that came out of a meeting about me was this….“who is she anyway???? not like she is anyone in this conversation!” Funny, the conversation (emergent) was always about many voices. No voice more important than another.
Another quote said to me personally and I have never forgotten it, “you have to do be a part of (editing out the direct name) because it will give you credit in the conversation. They (leaders and names were listed) will respect you and then listen.”
And there ends the lesson.
@Holly Roach
I love you, but I cannot get down with your blog. I’m sorry, but not really.
It was the current membership players who suggested (including Florin a (non)leader), when my daughter was 12, to come to the communion table served by a Bishop that called her an abomination. They were not alone. Most of the rest were silent and as Martin Luther King said, “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The silence towards a little girl facing clergy abuse was deafening. It was so loud it drowned out my cries to her that I love her as acts of self harm were committed. It was then that I realized that no matter how much I loved her I could not stop the pain in this world and I needed help and we were alone. In another cry of financial justice when one of the old guard who writes so eloquently about justice and criticizes evangelicals who do not tip was, by a twist of fate, in my cab. A man who’s books I bought, seminars I went to and when I brought up my hurt over that, the same two characters I listed earlier among others asked me weird questions. How many fares did you have that day? Maybe he did not know you tip cab drivers despite the fact he is on the road all the time. Now, that one is a little one…a tiny one…compared to the pain of my little girl that I am still repairing. No one held me when I was broken and crying and too many asked too much of a child.
It was not the old guard that stood in deafening silence or even suggested she were at fault, it was the current group. One lesson I learned in the taxi that I never learned in emergent. The equitable spaces exist in the world. They don’t need emergence to bring that which is already there.
@lost voice knows damn well the pain my kid went through. She remembers the online tears of a father broken and helpless in a cruel world with emergent complicity. She’s 14 now and an atheist who trust no person of faith. She sees the elements served at all tables to be moldy bread and poisoned wine.