AThornquist
Puritan Board Doctor
The only use I've ever heard of whack job is in reference to a nut, a crazy person, etc., which is what Driscoll should be understood as saying if we have any charity.
Mark Driscoll Rant
- Thread starter Phil D.
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Regardless of its origins, I know of no one other than yourself who considers the phrase borderline (I probably first heard it used by my parents with regard to far-right and left-wing politicians). Frankly, if you need proof, look up the long list of quotations using the term in recent politics (usually the other side of the political aisle).
Phil D.
ὁ βαπτιστὴς
Fair enough. I, on the other hand, have personally seen an irate person call someone this, accompanied by making motions commensurate to its urban slang meaning. So I'll stand by my previous comments.
he beholds
Puritan Board Doctor
OH!! I am pretty relieved. Yeah. Crazy person is totally all it means. Whacky? Whacko? That's Whack?
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Montanablue
Puritan Board Doctor
I'm really grateful people don't take the time to look up the etymology of every word I use. One more reason to avoid fame...lol
Montanablue
Puritan Board Doctor
Oh my goodness, Phil, I'm not upset at all. I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I've looked up the origins of common American expressions and words before and a lot of them are untoward. I was just laughing to myself and thinking of how much trouble we'd all be in. That comment was definitely not directed at any person in particular - just a tangent my mind went on.
Rich, but here's the rub; as a minister of the Gospel he should be clear and concise in what he says. He should say what he means; not leave it open for just broad interpretation. He should exercise care and prudence in his words.
Rich Koster
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
That's part of the "let's pray he calms down a bit" comment I made. He has a large group of listeners. Let's pray he goes confessional and humbly leads many to Christ. We all are a work in progress.
LeeJUk
Puritan Board Junior
1) We should interpret his words as they were meant by him, not in some obscure fashion going back to the original first case in which it was used. Wh--- Job means crazy person and thats the way it was used and it's not necessarily a curse word in today's society. I've have personally never heard any other interpretation of those words and I'm pretty sure neither have the majority of people.
2) Mark overstates his case and gets pretty fired up against sin and heresy. This I personally think is a good thing and biblical. Jesus used pretty provocative language as did John the Baptist.
3) His style is for the common man, you won't find it used in our circles but this doesn't however make it less reverent or sinful. All it means is that he's communicating to his current audience which is really what we should be aiming for.
4) Lets be honest here Mark was not supporting criminal activity and I'm pretty sure he never would do. We need to give this man the allowances that we give other preachers. People are intelligent enough to know when Mark is being serious and when he's making a rhetorical point. His listeners aren't mindless zombies who are going to say "Well pastor Mark mentioned this last sunday lets hack a website..." Come on.
5) This video is 3 years old. He has gotten more mellow over time and I think you can tell that when watching his series on Luke.
2) Mark overstates his case and gets pretty fired up against sin and heresy. This I personally think is a good thing and biblical. Jesus used pretty provocative language as did John the Baptist.
3) His style is for the common man, you won't find it used in our circles but this doesn't however make it less reverent or sinful. All it means is that he's communicating to his current audience which is really what we should be aiming for.
4) Lets be honest here Mark was not supporting criminal activity and I'm pretty sure he never would do. We need to give this man the allowances that we give other preachers. People are intelligent enough to know when Mark is being serious and when he's making a rhetorical point. His listeners aren't mindless zombies who are going to say "Well pastor Mark mentioned this last sunday lets hack a website..." Come on.
5) This video is 3 years old. He has gotten more mellow over time and I think you can tell that when watching his series on Luke.
SRoper
Puritan Board Graduate
I find the crass etymology of "wack job" very unlikely. It seems far more likely that it is a combination of "wacko" and "nut job", with "nut job" coming from "nutcase" which is in turn is a variation of "headcase." I guess it sounds the same as "whack job," but I've never heard that term before and doubt it's widely used.
BlackCalvinist
Puritan Board Senior
Scott - I'm in MD 3000 miles from Driscoll and have heard the term used widely on talk shows and on nationalwide cable (including use by 'conservative' tv hosts). There's nothing crass about the term.
Circles.
If your circle of communication isn't much bigger than your immediate church family, you're in a bubble and most of the rest of the culture in the other 49 states will seem foreign to you.
ServantsHeart
Puritan Board Freshman
I am not familliar with Brother Driscoll and his manner of preaching,I have never heard him before except when he debated about the existence of satan on a nightly news program and your clip so I'm no expert about him or his Ministry. I have heard from some who know about him that say he preaches in a very difficult invironment in Seattle WA. and is having good success. I have preached in many Prisons and Jails since 1984 and I speak about things in a way I would not in a normal Worship service at my own Church. Being one who was saved while serving a prison sentence and coming form the hard inner city projects where growing up is hard I can relate to men and women and communicate in a way that may seem coarse and crude to those not rasied in such a situation. I use where GOD has brought me from to show the sinfulness of sin and its consequences by being very blunt and plain at times,yes even shocking to some. I don't use perverse language not do I get to graphic. But there really is no easy way to say that you have literally broken the sixth commandment and thats why your in prison where GOD in His mercy saved you. I'll not glory in my sin for I am ashamed of it but no doubt if I barely went into detail about all I ever did I doubt many of you would want to be my best friend or have me over for dinner with your Beloved wife or children. Maybe enough has been said to cause a hesitation to be one of my friends on line. But you all know very well what horrible pits many of GODS trophies of grace come out of. Mark is passionate,so am I,Mark is crude and coarse,so am I. But I sense he loves Christ and souls and is growing in his methodology and manner of preaching as I am. Pray for him and me that where we need to grow we will but don't spend more time focusing on our faults more than our graces. GOD bless you all.
ServantsHeart
Puritan Board Freshman
Thinking more upon this subject, If we had lived in the days say of Luther during a time and in a Nation when so much pressure and hardship were upon our brother then I would think that in the heat of the battle words and actions spoken and taken might be shocking to us which were common in Germany at that time. In many cultures the substance and manner of speaking to the people of the things of GOD was at times surely less than acceptable. I know Culture is not to rule us in our speech but the Holy Spirit for Paul has much to say about our speech in his Letters to the Ephesians in Philippians & Colossians. James warns of the tongue as well and we would do well to heed his admonitions. In thought,word and deed we are to be a holy people in all our conduct and I commend right discernment and good council by you our Brethren of spiritual maturity for pointing out excess amound your Brethren and especially those who are Pastors,Elders and Teachers. I only encourage patience with Brothers like Mark who are maturing knowing that His Lord and ours is working in us to bring us to be as He is.
SRoper
Puritan Board Graduate
I don't think you understood what I wrote. I said I was unfamiliar with the term "whack job" as in the sexual homophone to "wack job." I've heard "wack job" as in "crazy person" many times.
It is confusing, because apparently, "wacky" and "wacko" can also be spelled "whacky" and "whacko" (I was not aware of this until I checked Merriam-Webster which lists these as alternate spellings). I suppose many people who spell it "wacky" would be tempted to spell it "whack job" instead of "wack job" because "whack" is already a word. A Google search for "wacky" and "whacky" and "that's wack" and "that's whack" seems to bear this out.
Now we don't have a TV that picks up anything other than static here (which is fine by me), but your insinuation that my "circle of communication isn't much bigger than your immediate church family" is not correct and is not warranted by anything I wrote.
BlackCalvinist
Puritan Board Senior
I saw this same issue come up when a seminary student at Church criticized the President for saying on television that someone had "screwed" up. That the origins of the word, he said, were sexual in nature and it was inappropriate language. I, however, remember when growing up the term "screwy" or a "screwball" as being something or someone that was not right, messed up, twisted; which was pretty much the vein President was giving it in. In both this instance and in the "wack" example I wonder which came first, the innocent slang usage or the vulgarity - and should it matter with regard to whether we continue to use the words in daily discourse?
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