Two Enemies of the Gospel
// September 12th, 2007 // Christian Living, Video
Mark Driscoll did a great talk on the gospel and two enemies in us that constantly attempt to undermine it. This is really good stuff. Mark is an excellent preacher and this is a topic that he is particularly passionate about.
I’ve included some summary and my own thoughts after the video. Chime in with a comment and tell us what you think!
Check it out. You won’t be sorry that you did.
Or… download the mp3 and listen offline (right click the link – save as)
First Enemy: Idolatry
“Idolatry is the root sin that leads to fruit sin.”
Questions to ask yourself to discover where your idols are:
- What am I most afraid of?
- What do I long for most passionately?
- Where do I run for comfort?
- What do I complain about most?
- What makes me happy the most?
- How do I explain myself to other people?
- What has caused you to be angry with God?
- What do I brag about?
- What do you sacrifice for in your life?
- If I could change one thing in my life, what would it be?
- Who’s approval are you seeking the most?
- What do I want to control or master?
- What comfort do you treasure the most?
Second Enemy: Religion
The goal with religion is to get from God. “Religion is a stick and God is the pinata.”
| Relgion | The Gospel |
| If you obey, God will love you | Because God loves you, now you can obey |
| It’s all about “good” people and “bad” people | It’s all about repentant and unrepentant |
| What I do | What Jesus has done |
| Hardship is punishment | Hardship makes us more like Jesus |
| It’s about me | It’s about Jesus |
My Thoughts
A couple of things really strike me while watching this. First, that the enemies of the gospel that he mentions both come from us. From within the ranks, not outside. So often we pretend that the real enemies to the gospel are our culture, government, Satan, etc. I would wager that the internal enemies are far more dangerous than the external ones. There is a lot at stake when it comes to how we live our lives and who (or what) we depend on.
Also, I look around me and realize that the way we measure success and value tends to be completely wrong. We don’t measure things with the standard set by the gospel, but rather we measure things based on a religious or idolatrous system. We value things and people based on how close to perfection and competence they are or how well they satisfy our needs. Churches get excited when a talented person joins them. Not so much with a needy person. We judge a church (and whether or not we will return) based on the cleanliness of the bathrooms, size of the children’s ministry and the guitar solo during “Amazing Grace”. We rate people in our minds when we meet them based on how spiritual (or like us) they appear to be.
What do you think? Is this as big an issue as he makes of it?
[tags]Mark Driscoll, gospel, preaching, video, Mars Hill, religion, idolatry, freedom, faith, church, Jesus, God[/tags]
all too often the problems come from within. we are usually our own worst enemy, both personally and corporately. sometimes i feel like driscoll is a whistleblower among pastors.
he seems to excel at blowing the covers off from beneath which the pastors are hiding.
REVOLUTION