Book Review: Vintage Church
Vintage Church was a nice narrative piece on the theology of church (or ecclesiology, for all you nerds out there.) I found that I didn’t disagree with much, if anything from a theological and strategic perspective.
The section on technology and the church was one that interested me. There’s nothing that Driscoll said that I definitively disagreed with. The church does need to leverage technology, as much as is culturally appropriate in their setting. I don’t think it makes much sense to utilize every piece of new social media/visual technology in the middle of Kansas with an average attendance age of 55. However, here in DC, we should stay current. As a video guy, this excites me. Telling the gospel visually would be a lot of fun.
I thought Driscoll (and Brasheers, don’t mean to forget him) was a bit unclear in his section on church discipline. He both stated that unrepentant, prideful people need to be removed, but also echoed the concept of not treating them like an enemy. (I had a debate with some friends about 1 Cor 5:9–13 on what it means to disassociate with someone bearing the name of brother who refuses to repent, 2 Thessalonians 3 talks about warning someone in a similar position as you would a brother and not treating them like an enemy, all of which isn’t super pertinent to this book review.)
The way in which Mars Hill became multi-site and video broadcasted was interesting. I completely agree that the burden on Mark was too great and video was a good solution. It all seemed to happen fairly organically. The criticism of such a method (at least that I find moderately convincing) is simply the question ‘why do YOU have to be on stage?’ Why not another qualified elder? Driscoll talks about how each campus has its own set of elders, including one that preaches 10–15 times a year. I think that all is crucial. Driscoll dives a bit into his perspective on ‘apostles’ here as part of his justification. Its a concept he spelled out a little more in the Elephant Room 2. Essentially, some men are used by God to create this larger roles that move huge groups of people. Its true, Driscoll has started a movement, its quite clear. At the same time, does it really matter what man is delivering the news? Do we not believe the word will go out?
Regardless, its an interesting discussion point and Driscoll did point to the fact that Mars Hill had too much expansion too quickly to have enough qualified and prepared elders to fill these teaching roles. I wonder though, if they should start transitioning some of their campuses to their own teaching pastors now. At what point does Mars Hill need to shift into a denomination or association instead of a ‘single’ church, which it is not and Driscoll admits to that by treating each campus as its own church with its own set of elders. Interesting challenge of fast growth.