I have a bad habit. I must admit it. Sometimes I hear of books ‘under the ban’~not so much because of the book but the author. And seeing I don’t like others doing my thinking for me, when I hear of a book/author ‘under the ban’ the bad habit kicks in and I read the author for myself-and I’ve discovered in doing this some real literary gems.
This was the case with Dan Kimball’s work The Emerging Church (which I concluded is good missiology), this was the case with Don Miller’s work Blue Like Jazz (which I found fun, refreshing and thought provoking as a testimony of Miller’s faith journey) and this is the case with books by Mark Driscoll, who finds himself under the gun and under the ban by some in the evangelical world but who, IMHO, is in the trenches with Jesus preaching, praying, and impacting the greater Seattle area and beyond for the gospel.
Thus far I’ve read three of Driscoll’s books-the Radical Reformission, Confessions of a Reformission Rev, and Vintage Jesus, am half way thru Vintage Church; and I have Death by Love on my reading list. What have I found in these books? Several things:
1st, Radical Reformission and Confessions encouraged me to do the same things we did on the mission field to reach street kids and Muslims in Asia with the gospel, here in the SFO Bay area. What’s that, you may ask? Simply put, the books encourage christians and churches to contextualize to evangelize in culturally relevant ways~to be both attractional and missional. Wow, I thought, I knew this! Why had I ceased practicing this in my life? And why had I ceased leading our church in this direction?
2nd, I found Vintage Jesus and am finding Vintage Church to be excellent, simple and for the most part accurate presentations of the Bible’s teaching about Jesus and about the Church, geared for todays generations. In these two works, Driscoll, along with his co-author Gerry Breshears, has provided a readable Christology and Ecclesiology for contemporary young women and men who want to understand more about Jesus and understand and experience more about the church but who are new to the faith and/or who lack the background people who grew up in church took for granted. Wow, I thought, now I have a couple of good books about Jesus and the church I can give to new or older believers that they will actually read!
3rd, Death by Love provides a work that exalts Jesus work on the cross in a down to earth, practical and pastoral way. What I mean is this. In Death by Love, Driscoll and Breshears tell the story of 12 (that’s twelve) people who were severely broken by sin and who sought help through the good news of Jesus. After relating each story a response, in the form of a letter, is given, showing how Jesus work on the cross applies to each respective situation. And the result? Hope giving testimonies, examples of compassionate pastoral care, and the exaltation of Jesus’ victory over sins power in it’s most heinous manifestations. Wow, I say, here is a work I can give to the broken which both gives great hope and which points the to the source of all hope~righteous Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, who came to seek and to save those who are lost.
Obviously, none of these books is perfect. Only the Bible has fame to that claim. And yes, Driscoll sometimes uses edgy phrases and language getting his points across. But I found these books to be credible, refreshing and useable for ministry in the 21st century, all because I have this bad habit~I don’t like other people to do my thinking for me~and so, I read this ‘under the ban’ author.
There are times, of course, when after reading a book under the ban I conclude the book needs to remain there. There are surely many of those sorts of works. But I’ve also found something else. Books ‘under the ban’ can and sometimes do make for the best reads.
(For all titles by Mark Driscoll, available thru Crossway books, click here)
