I couldn’t not ask…

Pretty much anyone who knows me well enough to read this blog with any frequency is aware of the regard I've held for Pastor Mark Driscoll's preaching and teaching the last few years, and for the effect his church has been having in Seattle.

Driscoll has been something of a polarizing agent/subject in American Christianity for some time now, and controversy is part-n-parcel where his ministry is concerned. I have been able to clear any hurdles (real and imagined) regarding him with no real problems…until now.

I just found out yesterday that he is scheduled to speak next month at the Crystal Cathedral, and the idea that he would join arms with Robert Schuller has me very flustered. However, not knowing the details of it all, and knowing his past, I cannot just condemn this appearance – nor can I condone it.

For an average Joe like me to "reach" Driscoll is akin to me easily telephoning Tony Blair to invite him over for tea. The most likely chance seems to be via his Facebook page which shows him interacting on some level with the "fans" who post there. So, on his Facebook "Discussions" page I posted this a few minutes ago…

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This is aimed at Pastor Mark, but I am interested in what anyone else thinks as well on the subject.

I got started on your preaching because of Dr. John Piper, and after my initial "That's different!" factor wore off, I proceeded to listen to dozens and dozens of hours of your preaching. I listened through everything that was offered on the site, and downloaded the podcasts each week.

You challenged me, thrilled me, made me say "Amen!" like a grunt yells "Booyah!", and week after week, you encouraged me and helped me keep my tank full. I also read a lot of voices and opinions on you, your preaching, and Mars Hill Church from people I respect like John Piper, John MacArthur, etc, and from people I have no respect at all for like Brian Maclaren and his sidekick Rob Bell.

There have been little bits and pieces here and there I've disagreed with you on, but nothing so major that I stopped listening, stopped reading, or stopped suggesting you to others (something I do not do with anyone but a small handful of preachers/teachers); and I would really love the opportunity to sit down with you over some seriously black coffee one day and discuss those little nagging things a bit as well as just 'shooting the poop'.

The last few months I haven't had the time to listen each week, and have gotten behind on your preaching, but I just yesterday saw that you are set to speak at the Crystal Cathedral next month, and I am concerned as much as I am confused by this. I'm having real trouble understanding how you could go after Joel Osteen as openly and honestly as you have in the near past (and rightly so!) and now be willing to speak at Robert Schuller's mega-glass monstrosity as a guest. How is the line in the sand between Osteen and Schuller's teachings  different for you?

A few years ago I did some real research on Schuller, Osteen, Hinn, Duplantis, Crouch, and a pile of others due to the influence being had on a family member of mine, and came to some very clear-cut conclusions when held to the light of the Bible. That research is socked away somewhere in my attic right now, and is lengthy enough to not be something easily posted and digested here now.

However, the quotes below are from research by others who found much of the same and much similar data in their own research, and are easily verifiable with nothing more than 10 minutes and access to Google. If one were to read the entire work of Schuller that is quoted (and I wouldn't suggest it to any but the most centered and settled believer), they will find that these quotes are not a matter of contextual editing in any way, nor are they rare aberrations in his work, both in books and at the pulpit. Please read theme over, and then I will ask my overall question(s) about your upcoming appearance at the Crystal Cathedral.

'Self-Esteem–The New Reformation' by: Robert Schuller

"What do I mean by sin? Answer: Any human condition or act that robs God of glory by stripping one of His children of their right to divine dignity. … I can offer still another answer: 'Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem'" (p. 14).

"Classical theology defines sin as 'rebellion against God.' The answer is not incorrect as much as it is shallow and insulting to the human being. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity even if he or she is a 'rebellious sinner" (p. 65).

"The core of original sin, then is LOT — Lack of Trust. Or, it could be considered an innate inability to adequately value ourselves. Label it a 'negative self-image,' but do not say that the central core of the human soul is wickedness. … positive Christianity does not hold to human depravity, but to human inability" (p. 67).

"Any analysis of 'sin' or 'evil' or 'demonic influence' or 'negative thinking' or 'systemic evil' or 'antisocial behavior' that fails to see the lack of self-dignity as the core of the problem will prove to be too shallow" (p. 68).

"… the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem. … Sin is  psychological self-abuse. … the most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.' For once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ" (pp. 98-99)

"And what is 'hell'? It is the loss of pride that naturally follows separation from God – the ultimate and unfailing source of our soul's sense of self-respect. 'My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?' was Christ's encounter with hell. In that 'hellish' death our Lord experienced the ultimate horror-humiliation, shame, and loss of pride as a human being. A person is in hell when he has lost his self-esteem. Can you imagine any condition more tragic than to live life and eternity in shame?" (pp. 14-15, 93).

"To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image --from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust" (Schuller, Self-Esteem, p. 68)].

Also: In an article in Christianity Today, October 5, 1984, Schuller said, "I don't think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition." 

So my question Pastor Mark is: Do YOU actually believe this heretical humanistic horsecrap??? Considering all I have read and listened to from you, if you do believe it, I can honestly say I will not be able to fathom how you do so. If you do not believe the false gospel of garbage that Schuller has sold for decades to itching ears around the world - what the F*&! are you doing speaking at his shining arena of self-idolatry?

Is it your intention to go there, walk to the pulpit, and in front of the thousands there (and the multi-thousands watching on TV) deliver the true cleansing fire of the actual real Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone in that place where it is not only never heard, but often is outright denied? I've listened to you deliver the truth of Christ's gospel from the pulpit of Mars Hill a couple of hundred times now - and I would LOVE to hear you do it there! If your intent is to man up like no one else before you, and go there and bring the noise of Heaven down around Schuller's ears, just say so and I'll have as many people as I can tuning in to watch and cheer.

If it is anything less than that, anything at all less than that, please explain it to me, and to the many thousands of others who've held you up as their shepherd these last few years. It will break an awful lot of hearts, mine included, but if it isn't the truth of God, we deserve and need to know it now. As you yourself know, the great and glorious Father of all creation that I serve allows me no truck with anti-Christs, great or small.

My hope, my prayer, is that your answer will be one that aligns only with the Word of God (as I've so far known it to be in your ministry), and not the Power Of Positive Thinking or any other narcissistic swill.

Loren Sanders
Milwaukee, WI