Mark Driscoll and Megachurches
Jul 8th, 2006 by admin
If you want to catch a flavor of Mark Driscoll’s thinking, here is a quote from him from a recent Christianity Today interview:
What are some of the major blind spots of megachurches?
The major blind spot of megachurches is that they tend to be very effeminate with aesthetics, music, and preaching perfectly tailored for moms. Manly men are repelled by this, and many of the men who find it appealing are the types to sing prom songs to Jesus and learn about their feelings while sitting in a seafoam green chair drinking herbal teaâ€â€the spiritual equivalent of Richard Simmons. A friend of mine calls them “evangellyfish” with no spiritual vertebrae. Statistically, traditional churches are in steep decline, contemporary churches will dominate in the foreseeable future, and emerging churches are just beginning to sort out what the future holds for them.Are young people becoming more sympathetic to Reformed theology?
The two hot theologies today are Reformed and emerging. Reformed theology offers certainty, with a masculine God who names our sin, crushes Jesus on the Cross for it, and sends us to hell if we fail to repent. Emerging theology offers obscurity, with a neutered God who would not say an unkind word to us, did not crush Jesus for our sins, and would not send anyone to hell. I came to Reformed theology by preaching through books of the Bible such as Exodus, Romans, John, and Revelation, along with continually repenting of my sin. I am, however, a boxers, not briefs, Reformed guy. I am pretty laid back about it and not uptight and tidy like many Reformed guys.
- Plenary 4: Mark Driscoll
- Reformed Conferences for 2007
- T4G Statement
- Virtual M. Div. - Preaching
- Christ is Supreme - Even Over Asian-Americans

Driscoll needs to come clean about what he means when he says “Reformed”. He has indicated that he does not hold to limited atonement AKA particular redemption. Most “Reformed” that I have come across would say there is a word for that: “nonReformed”. Mark’s carelessness with terms adds confusion, not clarity, to the dialog. It seems odd that he seems to go to great lengths to communicate crassly but at the same time lacks in precision.
Interesting, his comments on the “megachurch”. By most definitions his gathering in Seattle which numbers 4000 - 4500 would qualify as a megachurch. I wonder how he critiques Mars Hill …
Reformed theology as hot today? By what criteria? Sounds like he is getting his background research from Dave Hunt …