Parachurch, Liberalism, Fundamentalism & Reformission

Here is an excerpt from Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll. I believe it is worth quoting here to discuss whether or not his categories are accurate. My guess is that there is some truth, but not absolute truth in what he has written. Therefore those angry white 30 somethings who’ve rebelled against their fundamental heritage will quickly affirm Driscoll’s conclusions and crown him king of their movement. Yet the rest of us are left to wrestle with the truth of his conclusions mixed with the aberration of his theology. I have listened to Driscoll in person and agree that he is basically right on the Gospel, but preaches a hermeneutic, ecclesiology and eschatology more shaped by culture than honed by the text of the Bible. Is there value in being contextual with your faith (applying it to contemporary culture) while lacking textual clarity (interpreting God’s text grammatically, contextually and historically)? Will a passion for culture redeem a slack hermeneutic? Or will a innocent, yet dangerous, hermeneutic spin a movement into chaos leaving a generation of Christians disenchanted and wondering where to go next?

Take a Look:

“…Reformission also seeks to determine how Christians and their churches can most effectively be missionaries to their own local cultures.

Reformission, therefore, begins with a simple return to Jesus who, by grace saves us and sends us into reformission. Jesus has called us to (1) the gospel (loving our Lord), (2) the culture (loving our neighbor), and (3) the church (loving our Christian brothers and sisters). One of the causes for the lack of reformission in the American church is that various Christian traditions are prone to faithfulness on only one or two of these counts. Consequently, when we fail to love the Lord, our culture and our church simultaneously, reformation ceases, leaving one of the three holes: the parachurch, liberalism, and fundamentalism.

Gospel + Culture – Church = Parachurch

First, some people become so frustrated with the church that they bring the gospel into culture without it. This is referred to as the parachurch and includes evangelistic ministries such as Young Life and Campus Crusade for Christ. The parachurch has a propensity to love the Lord and love its neighbors but not to love the church.

Culture + Church – Gospel = Liberalism

Second, some churches are not so concerned with being culturally relevant that, though they are deeply involved in the culture, they neglect the gospel. This is classic liberal Christianity. Liberal Christians run the risk of loving their neighbors and their Christian brothers and sisters at the expense of loving their Lord and his gospel.

Church + Gospel – Culture = Fundamentalism

Third, some churches are more into their church and its traditions, buildings, and politics than they are the gospel. Though they know the gospel theologically, they rarely take it out of their church. This is classic fundamentalist Christianity, which flourishes most widely in more independent-minded, Bible-believing churches. Fundamental Christians are prone to love their Lord and their brothers and sisters but not their neighbors.

The only way out of these holes is repentance, which enables reformission. Through repentance, Christians and churches are empowered by the Holy Spirit to simultaneously love the Lord, love their neighbors, and love their Christian brothers and sisters.

Gospel + Culture + Church = Reformission

Reformission combines the best aspects of each of these types of Christianity: living in the tension of being culturally liberal yet theologically conservative Christians and churches who are absolutely driven by the gospel of grace to love their Lord, their neighbors, and their fellow Christians. This book is a painfully honest chronological account of our church’s reformission and how it caused us to grow from 0 to 4,000 people in eight years.” [1]

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[1] Driscoll, Mark. Confessions of a Reformission Rev. pages 15-16.