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What do you think needs to be the relationship between church and culture?

The difficulty is that there are actually three ways that faithful Christians and churches must respond to culture:

Reject —Some aspects of a culture are simply sinful and should be rejected by God's people. In our day this would include sexual sins (fornication, pornography, homosexuality, adultery), illegal drug use, and the pluralistic notion that every religion is an equally valid path to salvation.

Receive —Some aspects of a culture are the result of common grace and should be received by God's people. Examples in our day would include stewarding and enjoying creation, building community, and acts of mercy for the poor, widows, orphans, sick, and elderly.

Redeem —Some aspects of a culture are, in and of themselves, morally neutral but are used for evil, and can be redeemed for good. Examples in our day include using media portals (e.g., internet, podcast, vodcast) for the gospel, celebrating sex within heterosexual marriage, and spending money and using power in such a way that honors Jesus and demonstrates his love for people.

What authors have most shaped your life and work?

I appreciate John Calvin for his Bible teaching, Charles Spurgeon for his gospel preaching, Martin Luther for his insights on faith and grace, and Billy Graham for the witness of his life. I have thousands of books in my library and lean most heavily on dead guys for theology and modern stand-up comedians for preaching tips. In the end, I am an old-school, Jesus-loving Bible-thumper with a penchant for the portrait of Jesus in Revelation as an ultimate fighter with a tattoo down his leg.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More about the book is available from Zondervan.

More about Driscoll's Mars Hill Church is available from their website.

Driscoll's blog is at TheResurgence.

Driscoll's A Pastoral Perspective on the Emergent Church, in which he critiques Emergent leaders for being too theologically wishy-washy is available from the Criswell Theological Review.

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July (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50