Blogs for Brits

Mark Driscoll, the controversial pastor of Mars Hill mega-church in Seattle, wrote a blog in January, in which, among other things, he reflected upon the spiritual condition of the UK.

This came in the aftermath of an interview which appeared in the February issue of Christianity magazine, with which he took exception. It is good to see ourselves as others see us, so here are some of his words.

Thanks and challenges

1. You are in a cultural context more non-Christian, and even anti-Christian, than the most liberal cities in the US. So, for those pastors (especially church planters) working in some tough soil, thank you!

2. You have great pressure from the media and even some legal liability that can cause preachers to whisper their beliefs rather than proclaim them. It’s not unlike the early church preaching in the face of the Roman Empire. More than ever, humble courage is required!

3. Please do not compromise on essential doctrinal issues. Please do not back down from the perfection, authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Please do not shy away from talking about sin. Please do not be ashamed of the cross where Jesus died in our place for our sins, enduring the wrath of God we deserve. Please do not be too timid to call people to repent of sin and trust Jesus apart from whom there is no salvation. And please do not deny the reality of a literal, conscious, eternal punishment in hell, because people are going there and lying to them is not loving them.

4. Please ask yourself if your churches are doing all they can to reach younger generations so that churches do not become museums, but rather remain missions where people continue to meet Jesus as Lord, God and Saviour.

5. Please earnestly ask if enough is being done to reach, train and deploy godly, gifted young men into the marketplace and ministry.

6. Please ask why, when there are big events for evangelicals, a speaker often has to be brought in from another country to preach. Please pray for the next Spurgeon to be raised up to lead the cause of the gospel in your country!

Carson’s comments

Generally agreeing, Don Carson responded to Driscoll’s blog. He blogged on the Gospel Coalition site that the state of Christian confessionalism here is low, but added that there are geographical variations. ‘There’s a ring around London in which close to 10% of people go to church, many of them evangelicals; the percentage in N. Ireland is higher, though falling. By contrast, in Yorkshire, evangelicals account for only 0.4%. This is comparable to the state of affairs in, say, Japan.’

But he went on to point out some encouragements, especially through the Gospel Partnerships, with the North West Partnership planting 30 churches in the last eight years. He also celebrates men, who like his own late father in Canada, labour faithfully in hard situations for years with very little fruit. ‘I suspect, some ministers in Japan, or Yorkshire, will receive greater praise on that last day’ than many others.

Leadership?

Driscoll thinks we have leadership problems at a national level. He may be right. Are sceptical Brits less easy to lead than Yanks? John Stott has gone. It is over 30 years since Dr. Lloyd-Jones went to glory and, unlike Elijah with Elisha, the Doctor’s overcoat has not fallen from heaven onto anyone else’s shoulders. And if God’s way for the future in Britain is not through one or two extraordinarily gifted men, we lesser mortals need to learn to work together with common purpose as we ought.