As I noted in an earlier post, Phil Johnson who blogs for Pyromaniacs and who’s also an editorial assistant to John MacArthur preached a provocative sermon at the recent Shepherd’s Conference entitled, “The Pornification of the Pulpit.” In this sermon, Johnson expresses deep concern about the tendency among some pastors today to use in appropriate language or humor in the pulpit. Although Phil’s sermon was not exclusively aimed at Mark Driscoll, he doesn’t deny that Driscoll is a primary target and mentions Driscoll by name. Mark Driscoll, on the other hand, has defended the occasional use of strong, coarse, and cutting language as well as humor in preaching.
Jonathan Christman, who’s a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently a pastoral assistant at Heritage Baptist Church, is attempting to offer an even-handed and charitable assessment of the controversy on his weblog. Jonathan makes the purpose of his review of the debate very clear:
“Just to be clear, the purpose of these posts on Mark Driscoll and Phil Johnson is to pursue truth together with a spirit of love and charity. I am not interested in spreading ‘gossip’ or encouraging attitudes that do not reflect humility and grace. Neither am I excited about the polarization effect. So I pray that we can steer a straight course and benefit together for this.”
I’ve been encouraged by Jonathan’s attempt to provide a balanced assessment. For those interested in being more informed about this debate, I’ve included links to the first three parts of his series:
Phil Johnson vs. Mark Driscoll: A Review by Jonathan Christman
Your servant,
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