Vintage Jesus

I just finished reading "Vintage Jesus" by Mark Driscoll. To be honest, I'm not the hugest Mark Driscoll fan - I think he's probably a really good guy, but I just don't jive with his communication style. But several of our young adults are Driscoll lovers, so I wanted to stay up with what he was writing so I could stay conversant with what they're reading.

I really liked this book. It has a couple of rough spots - mostly places where there's some gratuitous off-the-wall humor that I think distracts from the point. But it's refreshing to read a guy who is thinking theologically, and communicating contemporarily (yes, I know "contemporarily" is not a word).

Vintage Jesus is a basic handbook on Christology (the study of Christ). It covers apologetics, church history, and a biblical look at who Jesus is, what He came to do, where He is now, and what confidence we have that the whole story of Jesus is truly True.

I come at the end times stuff a little differently than Driscoll. He seems to be an amillinealist (doesn't believe in a rapture, doesn't seem to believe in a literal 1000 year kingdom, etc...) but that stuff doesn't show up until the last chapter.

The best part of this book is that it deals with theological issues in contemporary language. The contemporary language may be a bit over the top for some people, and the fact that Driscoll illustrates a Christological point using "South Park" will likely get some fundamentalist shorts in a wad. But even they will find little to gripe about when it comes to the theological foundation of the book. It's pretty good stuff.

It's not cool to think theologically. It isn't inherently relational, or technological, and it certainly doesn't have the characteristics of postmodern thought. But, I think it's vital that the world of younger pastors begins to write and teach theologically so the baton continues to be handed down.

Sadly, a lot of us have sacrificed theological thinking at the altar of pragmatism, not realizing that they don't need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, theology and pragmatism are necessarily mutually inclusive. One informs the other. If pragmatism is our starting point, it will have a direct affect on our theology, and vice versa. If we don't teach our people (and our future pastors) to begin with the foundation of who God is and what God has done rather than who we are and how we should do what we want to do, what we end up doing will ultimately be foolish. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... we have to begin there.