Church+Gospel+Culture...

I'm borrowing the below from Tim Challies. He wrote this in a post reviewing the first chapter of Mark Driscoll book titled: The Radical Reformission.


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Driscoll provides three formulas to show what happens when one of these areas is neglected:

Gospel + Culture - Church = Parachurch

Many Christians become frustrated with the church and abandon it in favor of outside organizations. While these organizations can do a lot of good, they allow people to remain disconnected from the local church. People are connected to unbelievers, but outside of a context where they can introduce these people to the wider church body. This in turns leads to theological immaturity (and I would assert it also leads to a greater possibility of theological error). Further, parachurch organizations are often organized around only one type of person (the poor, youth, etc) so they do not display the diversity of the body of Christ.

Culture + Church - Gospel = Liberalism

Some churches are so concerned with being culturally relevant that they neglect the gospel. These people convert others to the church but not to Jesus. Driscoll says that "This is classic liberal Christianity, and it exists largely in the dying mainline churches" (page 21). Many conservative Christians would also suggest that much of the Emergent church fits into this category, having forsaken the gospel in favor of culture and community. These people run the risk of loving their neighbour at the expense of loving God.

Church + Gospel - Culture = Fundamentalism

Some churches care more for the church, its traditions, buildings and politics than the spread of the gospel. While they know the theology of the gospel they rarely take it to the people. We can wonder whether these people love the lost as much as they love their buildings and traditions.

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I thought this was well stated, and I am looking forward to Tim's full review. Right now I don't have the time to read an additional book, but have added Driscoll's book to my wishlist.