Mark continues his silliness by then declaring his politicking is somehow justifiable because God rebuked the nations through prophets. He offers up Moses and Egypt, Jonah and Nahum for Nineveh, and Obadiah for Edom. The glaring problem with these stupid comparisons is that Edom was rebuked for excessive violence and enslavement of Israel. Nineveh was called to repentance because of its great sin, including some of the worst treatment of Israel in history. Egypt enslaved the Israelites for 400 years. Again, are you sensing a theme Mark? So yes, God rebuked nations before and called them to repentance, but no one is enslaving the church today except through the false doctrine of people like Mark Driscoll. Oh, and the prophets from the Old Testament? They were never wrong in the word they claimed as from God. Driscoll then tries to claim you should vote as he orders because various biblical figures held office, including Jospeh, Daniel, David, Mordecai, Nehemiah, Naaman, Cornelius, to name a few. So what? No one is saying that people, including Christians cannot hold public office. It seems that Driscoll is trying to connect two points that have no connection. He is trying to prove that politics has existed throughout history, even biblical history. Of course, it has. Man will always be man. The desire for power will always be there. Remember though that this started by Mark trying to say you cannot be biblical without being political. What about all of the people in the bible who had nothing to do with politics? What about our Savior Himself? If you read the accounts of Joseph, Daniel, David, and everyone else Driscoll tries to leverage and only come away thinking, hey they were political, then you missed the entire point of the bible. Joseph, Daniel and David were types of Christ! This is what happens when you sell the gospel and your soul out for thirty pieces of political silver or to sell your latest book. Mark then says one thing correctly - God appoints rulers. This of course eviscerates his entire premise, and he cannot even see it. Driscoll then disgustingly summarizes that God, Satan, demons, and the wicked are all involved in politics. No Mark and how dare you lump in our Savior with the devil, his minions and the wicked. God is above the petty politics of man. God raises up all leaders and will not be surprised or caught off guard on November 6th of this year. He will not be dismayed or confused. He will still be on the throne and use whoever is elected for His ends and purposes. He has not asked for our help Mark, and he does not need it.
In typical abusive fashion, Driscoll derides pastors who do not want to sully God's holy desk with carnality as being "educated beyond their intelligence" and having a "hard heart and a soft mind." This is what happens when you allow someone to escape church discipline for being a bully. They are empowered to bully further. These are typical NAR dominionist talking points. Anyone who has the temerity to have independent thought or fact checking is deemed to be too smart for their own good or somehow mentally or spiritually deficient. What is always frustrating about Driscoll is the uncontrolled gaslighting. He has no problem correctly stating some theology but fails to see how it destroys the points he is making. For example, he correctly says that Romans states we are to be subject to the governing authorities and that there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. He rightly says that our citizenship is in the kingdom of God and that here, is just our residence. He also correctly admits that any political system is inherently sinful because man is inherently sinful. Yet despite these admissions, he still defaults to solving things politically and pretending that his sinful choice is God's choice. It is not. Perhaps the worst gaslighting is when he says that it is not the government's job to restrain vice even though that is entirely the NAR political position. They deem that certain things are vice, or sin, and campaign to legislate it away to force those heathens to behave better. As if that will save anyone. Spoiler alert - it won't. It was the religious freaks of the day that pushed for and eventually got Prohibition enacted that banned alcohol. The result? An explosion the underground criminal world and the development of organized crime. Good job church. The gospel is not forcing the unsaved to behave marginally better but to tell them about the Savior they so desperately need.
Now, because the heart of Republican politics are tax cuts for the uber-wealthy, Driscoll takes a stab at trying to make that sound biblical. He states the Romans 13 verse that says to pay your taxes but then complains that much of taxes are 'wasted" and "spent on evil." As if this somehow means that letting billionaires keep more of their money would somehow lessen the waste and evil. How ridiculous. He then wrongly indicates the tithe, or ten percent, is "fair" while regurgitating a GOP talking point about how 40% of Americans pay zero taxes. Tithing is an Old Testament practice of law that was nailed to the cross. Driscoll does not care because it is how he lives the lifestyle he does and provides a pool of money to hire marketing firms to bolster his book sales. The more grotesque argument is about the 40%, who do not pay federal income tax, many of which do not make enough money to. This is a direct result of Republican Party politics by the way. These poor people still have payroll taxes that feed Social Security and Medicare and are taxed to death on local goods and services. Nothing like a false Christian leader disparaging the poor, you know, like Jesus never did. Lastly here, tithing was not "taxes." It was a system so the Levitical Tribe could eat. Driscoll uses these poorly thought-out false teachings to declare that he has "every right to vote for candidates and policies that lower taxes." What? How in the world do you come to that inane conclusion? Look, if you want to be greedy and say the government should not have any taxes or help anyone in society go for it but do not dare to pretend the bible supports such nonsense.
Driscoll then gets dangerous and suggests that there are just and unjust states and compares North Korea to the inferred rule of a Republican presidency. This conferred righteousness is at the heart of NAR theology. The only thing that prevents dictatorships in this country is the separation of powers and checks and balances. Mark uses this to launch into a segment on civil disobedience, yet another concept he clearly does not understand. He incorrectly tries to leverage when Peter said he must follow God and not man. The problem with that? He was not speaking to the Roman Empire but to the teachers of law. His issue was not civil disobedience but rather refusing to obey false teaching. That really sums this up pretty well. Mark Driscoll is a false teacher and if Peter were here today, he would be urging us to follow God and not the man, Mark Driscoll. That by the way, is not civil disobedience. Just biblical sense.
Mark concludes with the smarmy line, "as you vote for our president, don't forget to vote for your God." I urge you to do the same beloved but in correct biblical context. Do not forget that God is in control. He is on the throne. He raises up who He wants to raise for the reasons He desires. We are not partnering with God. He is not our wing man. Whoever Mark Driscoll or anyone tries to sell you as "God's choice" know they are lying to you. Driscoll is trying to sell books, period. The man he supports is on record as saying that he does not need God's forgiveness. The church leaders all crowing for him have abandoned the gospel for a morally bankrupt man. In 2012, the Republicans put forth a very nice man in Mitt Romney but there was one little problem. He was a Mormon. Not only that but he was a direct descendent of one of the founding apostles of Mormonism and tithed 25% of his vast wealth to the satanic cult. The Billy Graham Association for years had listed Mormonism on its list of cults but Franklin Graham, political operative, removed it after Romney became the candidate. If you cannot see why that is problematic, then perhaps you need to check how idolatrous your personal politics have become. Remember God when you vote by remembering that when Jesus walked this planet, He was entirely apolitical. His kingdom is not of this world. The only thing Mark Driscoll proved in this nonsensical screed was that the bible correctly cites what the politics of man have always been. At no point does He advocate for or demand our involvement. Much like those followers of Jesus walking on the road the Emmaus after the resurrection of Christ, the Mark Driscoll's of the NAR directly overlook redemption while wistfully lamenting not being delivered from those evil Democrats. The punch line of that story, however, is they are responding to the risen Christ, who was walking with them on the road. Yet they had no idea who He was. Neither does Mark Driscoll.
Reverend Anthony Wade - September 16, 2024
