First yoga, now stay-at-home Dads??
I sometimes don’t understand how Christians can claim many of the things they claim with such confidence to so many people from such a wide and far-reaching platform that are simply not biblical…especially when they champion theological depth and Biblical rigor week in and week out from their pulpit.
Just as the yoga-is-demonic controversy was passing, Seattle Pastor Mark Driscoll does it again…
The question this time is about whether or not it’s okay for husbands to stay at home while wives work. As has come to be expected, Driscoll’s answer is anything but uncontroversial…
Rather than list all the things in the Driscolls’ response which are troubling from a Biblical teaching perspective, I refer Dojo readers to the excellent critique by John Stackhouse, Prof. of New Testament at Regent College:
“Time to Give Mark Driscoll a Sabbatical“
Stackhouse notes that Driscoll’s intentions are undoubtedly good and his desire for men to take responsibility for their family is commendable as well.
BUT…Driscoll himself is working from a cultural perspective that he seems genuinely unaware of and his use of unrelated Scripture to prop up what is, in the end, his personal opinion on child raising and family finances is irresponsible at best.
Many of the best preachers and Biblical scholars today, for instance, were stay-at-home Dads during seminary so that they could study and raise the kids while their wives provided for the couple’s educational expenses. Would such couples be disciplined at Mars Hill? If not, why? Is that an exception to the rule? If so, what are the other exceptions? If there are other exceptions, why have such a rule in place…particularly when it’s nowhere commanded in Scripture?
Stackhouse’s closing thoughts are worth repeating in the Dojo:
Mark Driscoll, I repeat, has doubtless done much good for the Kingdom of God and has a lot to offer it still. He’s undeniably energetic, charismatic, and principled. But my goodness: how he has strayed from the basic exegetical teaching I trust he received at Western! How much damage he is doing by misreading the Scripture and then dogmatically declaiming his errors with the full weight of his Big Church and even larger network behind him.
I expect he won’t listen to me: We haven’t met and I have no reason to think he would pay my opinion much attention. But I hope his big brothers in the American Reformed circle he frequents, such as John Piper and Tim Keller, will take him aside and remind him of the basic exegetical do’s and don’t’s he seems somehow, somewhere to have abandoned. Perhaps he is due for a well-deserved study break to regroup, re-establish his basic tools, and hear what God wants him to do next–and how God wants him to do it.
If instead, however, he persists in such troubling exegesis, theology, and preaching, the impressively innovative, faithful, and effective work done at Mars Hill will be compromised, perhaps fatally. People who find this sort of interpretation to be sexist, classist, and just plain uninformed will go elsewhere for competent Biblical preaching.
And they should.
A personal note to Mark Driscoll from the Dojo:
Mark (or Pastor Mark, or Pastor Driscoll, whichever you prefer),
I don’t know if you’ll read this or not. I know you have many, many critics who have said many, many harsh things about you. I don’t seek to be one of them. God has placed you in a position of amazing influence within the Kingdom and many people have met our Lord, Savior and Sensei through your preaching, teaching and writing. I acknowledge this with gratitude and realize that many of your critics are more motivated by less than holy motives. I pray that mine are pure and I hesitated before posting this in order to make sure that it would not come across as divisive or overly-critical. Rather, I seek to honestly challenge you, in the spirit of iron sharpening iron and warriors strengthening one another through rigorous sparring sessions.
While I don’t agree with Complementarian theological conclusions, there are many who hold that view who do so with an admirable degree of charity and a true lack of dogmatism whom I greatly respect (D.A. Carson or Bill Mounce, for instance). I urge you in light of James 3:1 to learn from such teachers and to be more careful in how you attempt to wield the Sword. You are the “Preaching and Theology Pastor” of your church. People look to you for guidance in understanding Scripture. Such a position carries a tremendous amount of responsibility. When stating opinions or conclusions which are not 100% clear in Scripture, please at least let your listeners know that you are stating YOUR convictions on the issue rather than “the Biblical position.” We as teachers owe it to those we teach to be as transparent as we can when speaking to issues where Scripture is not crystal clear.
A loving challenge from a fellow swordsman,
JM
ps: Dojo readers, for a far more in-depth and balanced approach to the issue that ends up coming down more on the Complementarian side see the excellent treatment by Gordon Hugenberger of Park Street Church in Boston: “Notes on the Gender Question and Related Biblical Texts“
Categories: Arts and Culture, Biblical Theology, Blog, Ministry, New Testament, Political/Social issues, Relationships, Theological issues
This is just sad. Unfortunately, Pastor Driscoll is representing the body of Christ. People hear him and they will think we all (Christians) believe this way.
I have a friend who is a stay-at-home Dad because his son has Down’s Syndrome and his wife just happened to make more money in order to support them. They are okay with their choices, as they should be. I admire him for being willing to stay at home and take care of their son; it is very challenging to have a child with DS. I doubt that God would have problem with this, in fact, I’m thinking that God will look upon that family with love and compassion. My sincerest hope is that Pastor Driscoll would do the same and go to the Lord in prayer before giving a message to the world that is not exactly Bible-based.
In the meantime, I will pray for this pastor to have the guidance from God that he needs, to give the messages that God would have him deliver.
by Bev. on Oct 27, 2010 at 3:08 pm
What’s interesting is that this is purely a product of culture, not anything scriptural. What’s interesting to me JMS, is that you can see this as purely a product of the culture (rather than genuinely scripturally, ethically or philosophically based) and yet you don’t think that positions on sexual practices are cultural.
In fact, isn’t this really a discussion of sexuality since it has to do with gender roles?
You say:
“Driscoll himself is working from a cultural perspective that he seems genuinely unaware of and his use of unrelated Scripture to prop up what is, in the end, his personal opinion.”
I don’t understand how you can have the insight to see this Driscoll’s view of sexuality here as purely a cultural viewpoint, yet don’t see how the general Christian church’s take on homosexuality is a purely cultural viewpoint.
by Chris McCauley on Oct 27, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Chris, it’s very simple. There is NO command (or even suggestion) in Scripture that husbands and wives take Driscoll’s position regarding work/career/earning.
On the other hand, EVERY time the subject of same-sex sexual acts are mentioned they are ALWAYS explicitly prohibited, even universally so (such as in Rom.1). There is no counter-example in all of Scripture.
Driscoll’s position isn’t about sex at all; it’s about gender roles in economic and household matters. And there is no support for it from Scripture. To compare this with Scripture’s teachings on male-female sexuality is apples and oranges when it comes down to the actual details and hermeneutic issues involved.
by jm on Oct 30, 2010 at 2:59 am
I posted this video on my facebook page and started a debate. One of the girls who responded spoke with Dr. Ben Witherington here at Asbury and he did a blog post on it as well. Check it out: http://blog.beliefnet.com/bibleandculture/2010/10/husbands-as-stay-at-home-dads.html
by Sara Beth Stout on Oct 27, 2010 at 8:53 pm