Mark Driscoll "The Cussing Pastor"

Last Sunday, at Church, my pastor made reference to someone known as the "Cussing Pastor", a pastor that uses swear words in his sermons. The Bible talks about not being characterized by obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are “out of place” for a believer (Ephesians 5:4), so how can a pastor talk like that to his congregation and be preaching the word of God? This is a struggle of mine. I have a potty mouth. At times it is pretty bad. It is something I am aware of. It is something that I am working to correct. It is something that I fail at. A lot. So I searched for the "Cussing Pastor" on YouTube. I immediately got some cracked up dude that resembled Snoop Dogg saying swear word after swear word. I listened for less than a minute and read a few YouTube video comments that lead me to believe this was NOT the man my pastor spoke of. So I continued my search and I found Mark Driscoll. Now I am not sure if this is the man my pastor spoke of, but this Driscoll character caught my attention immediately in a sermon on Idols. He was blunt and to the point. So I watched a few more. I did NOT hear one swear word, although some of his sermons were on subjects that are a little bit totally touche in any mainstream church.

I posted one of his videos on Facebook. I did it to get a rise out of people. I do that. I like to debate. It worked. I also got a message from a friend. The message was a post written by author and faith based blogger, Rachel Held Evans. It seems there is some controversy with Pastor Mark. I do not know if Mark Driscoll is an asshat. He might be. The controversy that surrounds him is waaaay above me.

I was not raised in Church. The only Christian background I have is when I was able to be around my grandparents. Up until a few months ago I didn't even believe in the gospel. This whole Christianity thing is new to me. And I am in awe. I can't even put into words the way Jesus makes me feel. But I have questions. I have A LOT of questions. And I feel like asking my questions is like a 16 year old girl discussing her period with her school's Football Coach who happens to be the Health Education teacher. She doesn't wanna ask, and he sure as hell doesn't want to hear...let alone answer. So my friends get the questions. But they don't have the answers. Some of them have been going to Church all of their lives, but you know what? They have the same questions! And so I get the answer that they have been given. "Pray on it." "Read the Bible." "That is between you and God." Like hell it is! I want a discussion! I wanna know if other people feel like me! I wanna know if thinking the way I think means that something is the matter with me! I wanna know if I am normal! I wanna know if there is hope for me!

This is a perfect example. My pastor and a few friends will be familiar with this question. Mark Driscoll offers a bit more than the "Pray on it." "Read the Bible." "That is between you and God." answers.

The only thing I do know is that Mark Driscoll has the balls to allow persuade people to be comfortable enough ask these unorthodox questions that older, new believers have about faith and answer them without a sugar coating. Like I said, I don't know if he is a jerk and I don't care. He is not preaching at the pulpit that I seek wisdom from every Sunday. And that makes all the difference.