Anyone who knows anything about what has been taking place at Mars Hill Seattle, knows that there is much more than simply a "change of plans" going on. People have been hurt, some deeply. Others were confused, wondering what took place, how such a thing could have happened between friends, struggling with issues of faith and confidence in the leadership, feeling betrayed and abandoned, wondering how to move on.
Well, never fear.... Rick is here.
Who knew that someone outside of the immediate congregation would be tagged withe task of giving the last sermon and give closure to all that took place at Mark Driscolls's Mars Hill.
In his address, Warren reminded the crowd how believers have the promise
of Romans 8:28. "And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose," he told them, Then went on to say that God's purpose is to make you
like Christ, (even if he has to use a sledgehammer on you.) He told them that if you are a believer, then you're going to have to go through everything that Jesus went through.
Now, I don;t know about you, but I know that Jesus was crucified and now I have Rick telling me that I have to go through that too? Funny...I thought it was the other way around. You know, he took my place and now it is of comfort to know that Jesus, God who became man, suffered, died in my place and therefore truely knows, understands all our suffering and pain. For those who have seen the movie by Mel Gibson, that comment can be pretty intimidating to hear how we will all have to go through everything that Jesus went through.
Rick did offer a list of advice to the crowd that filled the room:
"Let me suggest this: number one, refuse to be bitter about what's happened. If you hold onto bitterness you'll only hurting yourself. Bitterness prolongs the pain."
Without even quoting any good scripture on the matter of bitterness, Rick still makes a positive point about the danger of harboring bitterness in one's heart, but the interesting thing is that he didn't do it in person. His address was not even simulcast "live." Nope. Totally impersonal, his message was merely a video shown on a big screen to the gathered crowd, a pre-recorded video. He continued:
"Refuse to
blame anybody. Stop the blame game."
Again, this is not bad advice. These people were obviously ready to move in a new direction after the sinful actions of their leadership destroyed members of their congregation and left them without a place to call "church." It was time for a new pasture.
"Number three,
refuse to gossip or judge. You've got to let it go."
You can almost hear the echo in his choice of words. "You've go to let it go."
"Let it go... let it go...."
Does he mean "forgive?"
(Isn't it interesting how to gossip" or "to "judge" sometimes means never talking about anything that happens, and never labeling bad behavior as somehow wrong? The bible tells us not to gossip and to judge rightly, when we do.... and it tells us too to speak the truth in love and test all things to see if they are of God.)
"Number four,
show grace to your leaders. Why? Because every leader is flawed. …
Everyone, (not just leaders) is "flawed"..... that is, everyone but Jesus.
Jesus is not flawed.
Number five, be grateful .… You need to be grateful for all of the ways
that God used Mars Hill Church. Be grateful for all the ways God used
Mark Driscoll."
Romans 8:29 rings true.here....
It had been a bad situation.But had Mark been being used by God? After all, Mark Driscoll is known for telling people in his own congregation that God hates them. (The Christian has to wonder, who is this God that Mark represents?)
Is this the same God who is described as "Love".in the bible, the God who is patient, kind, long-suffering, and not self-seeking? Is this the she same God who "so loved" the world that he sent his son as a gift to give eternal life to those who would believe? (John 3:16)
Is Mark right or wrong when he tells his congregation that God "hates them"? Who is this God that makes Mark boast that 'by God's grace" there is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus."
Dead bodies? By God's grace? It does not make sense in light of God and Scripture.
Mark Driscoll is also known for his use of profanity and being vulgar in his position as "pastor." His actions had given him the reputation of "potty mouth" pastor. He has published many controversial books, one on the topic of marriage and another with a rather vulgar interpretation of the character and behavior of Jesus Christ , (see , Vintage Jesus. ) Now, through people who have seen through the veneer and have dared to speak out, the truth is known and Mark Driscoll has been exposed.
Yes.... grace to cover over sin and make amends is always important, but where's Mark Driscoll now? And now that he is gone, is Rick some sort of superior "overseer" of the churches that will now emerge out of the fallen carcass previously known to the world as Seattle's Mars Hill?
Rick demonstrated Mars Hill as a great giant of a tree... now fallen. He showed the camera he was filming for a photo of what he said was a sycamore, and told them,
"Even in God’s garden of grace, broken trees bear fruit."
It's perhaps a comforting statement, but it's certainly not a bible verse with which to live your life by. It is a little quip of Rick's that he's tweeted and used other times in the last year, one that has gotten him some media mileage. It's evidently important for him to promote this concept as well as show this picture and tell how it was given to him by a monk and also to mention to everyone that it is a sycamore tree. (Why a "sycamore?") Most of the sermon, or rather "video recorded message," was a lot of regurgitation of Rick's previous dissertations, philosophies and personal experiences and of course he also could not do without at least one, ( actually much more than one,) mention of the the word, "purpose."
Calling himself a “purpose-driven eater” Warren, as he has done before, compared God’s plan of working all things for good (Romans 8:28) to the ingredients involved in making a cake, saying how import it was for them to work together:
“Eaten individually, every one of those items is pretty distasteful
... even if you eat sugar by itself, it’s just not that good, but if you stir it all in, all things work together.”
Even the part about how God uses sledgehammers and jack hammers to make us be like Jesus, for example, came from chapter 29 of his Purpose Driven Life book! He would have you think that we but mere jewels in the making at the hands of a sledgehammer wielding jeweler forcing us to conform. Is this biblical teaching? (Answer: NO.)
His words and visual aid didn't quite mesh together. His photo depicted a dead tree and he pointed out new trees rising up where the old tree had fallen. It didn't show "fruit" on the fallen tree, or fruit on the new young trees either, yet he talked about fruit on trees. This is not coherrent, but the concept of dead and up-rooted trees being actual "fruit producers" is incoherent too. Even fallen tree branches only produce fruit if they had fruit in production in the first place.... they do not produce any fruit once they are uprooted and fall.
But besides all that,Jesus said it is not just being a fruit producer that matters; (Mathew 7:17. Producing some fruit is easy for any fruit tree to do. The fruit produced must actually be suitable for consumption. Good trees bear good fruit, not bad.
Lastly, Rick gave one more directive. He said,
"Number six, keep your eyes on Jesus."
And that's good advice straight from the book of Hebrews in the Bible. To do that you have to make some time and learn about Jesus.... You will be able to do this by reading about him in the Bible. There you will see who he is and what he dis and does and understand what it is that we as Christians,and what some, serving as pastors, are supposed to do and not do.
Jesus, the good shepherd, is faithful and true and he will never leave us or forsake us... (and he probably will not ever need to make "pre-recorded videos" in some pretense of being in touch with us.) God is not a shadow on the wall that moves and changes. He is real and in our midst as believers. As the Good Shepherd he will lead us and guide us and protect us from all the storms of life. His is the one that pastors should be pointing people to instead of writing book after book and pitching sales, because only Jesus, (not mere men like Rick Warren or Mark Driscoll) and it is recorded in the Bible, has the words of eternal life.
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