May
23
2009
Mark Driscoll on Little-World Negatives
At last month’s Gospel Coalition, Mark Driscoll gave some wise counsel on avoiding what he calls “little-world” negatives – people who are so wrapped up in one stream of Christianity that they cannot see the positives outside their little world.
“Little world negatives… There are differences between boundaries. There are city boundaries (your church, your denomination, your network).
“Then there is your state (your theological team). I’m Reformed complementarian. There are certain borders around that, inerrancy and complementary gender roles and things of that nature.
“Then there is your nation. For me, my nation would be evangelicalism. I want to be on good terms with evangelicals. I don’t want to declare war on evangelicals in the same way that Illinois shouldn’t declare war on Iowa…
“People who are ‘little-world’ get scared of anyone outside of their proverbial city. You didn’t go to the same seminary as me? You’re suspect!
“You don’t buy all your books from one publisher? Look at your bookshelf sometime. If you have three or four publishers that constitute the totality of your library, you may have turned your theology into a prison and not a home, a place you’re not allowed to leave to go visit other brothers and sisters.”