Grrrrrrrr…

O.K. – NOW you’re scaring me a bit…but I’m taking a deep breath and waiting to hear you out on this one…soon. (And I mean that in the nicest way – really!!)

man, that really makes me sad. i won’t say disapointed because many in the reformed camp have this jerkass edge to them, which is unfortunate.

this is my tradition, and if cornered i would say that yes i am reformed. but i have as many issues with it as i do with the emerging camp. they are different issues.

what is sad is that reformed theology has at its core the grace of God, common and specific. i am always struck dumb by how a person who says he/she belives in grace can be so grace-less.

i think it is helpful to view the reformed rhetoric a bit like the evangelical/GOP coupling. right wing christians have a bent towards conservativism and so they have historically come out for many conservative policies that are clearly wrong. i think reformed folks have a conservative bent (not in itself bad) and they react to what they perceive as “liberal.”

but really, and my reformed friends roll their eyes at me when i say this, to be reformed means to be constantly reforming. that is our tradition. historically the reformers were considered heretics. but then they became static.

it is sad really. i believe all the unpopular doctrines associated with reformed theology. yet i am not accepted in reformed crowds because i don’t draw my circle so tight that someone who is not reformed can’t have something good to say and because i believe that if i want to be a reforming influence in the church and world i have to be out in the church and world were i think that reform is needed.

i do however, see some similarities among the emergent crowd and the reformed crowd. one example is in the way that reformed folk tend to have a graceless criticalness about those they have disagreement with that i see and hear from emergent folks towards institutions and practices in the church that they are trying to emerge from.

i think this has less to do with the doctrines and the theology in question (reformed or emergent) and more to do with the communal and individual pathos that exists in these groups. it is just easier to criticize and be a jackass than to try and see the things we all share in common.

again, i am saddened by this. i checked out Driscolls blog a couple of times and just felt like despite the truth of what he said (and not all of it was Truth capital T) it was how he said it that turned me off.

as to the masculine thing. well, my one time spiritual director Kathy B used to ask her students, “what, do you think the Godhead has a penis?”

i would like to give Driscoll the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe he was not refering to the gender of the Eternal Spirit but rather to the emasculating nature of much of christian culture that tells men to be simply “nice.”

but i don’t know.

i too would like to see where your going with this. are you giving reasons why your not reformed?

i’ll give my explanation this week. right now, because i’m to tired to fully flesh out my thoughts, here is a link to a 7 minute video that explains my struggles with the idea of God punishing us, let alone Christ. not saying it’s right. it’s just why I struggle with certain aspects of the idea. again, please wait until i get a chance to fully think through and explain some things.

until then, here is a video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6632687078883055082

this video has a lot of profanity in it. i would say upwards of 20 or so cuss words in 7 minutes, which for me is a bit excessive. and why i haven’t recommended the video before. so watch it at your own risk and knowing that there might be some language that would offend some of you.

also, i don’t think the solution or problem is as easy or as trivial as this video puts it. however, its a satire that explains why i at least struggle with the idea of punishment. more on gender and crushing later. i promise.

The biggest problem I have with Driscoll’s statement is that he never even bothered to answer the interviewer’s question.

Are young people more sympathetic, Driscoll? Are they?

Answer the friggin question, retard!

Oh, and by the way- nobody really cares about your preference in underwear.

I think both of Driscoll’s statements are inaccurate depictions of each respective theology.