Wow.
A lot of fury over a recent tweet by Mark Driscoll. We talked about it a little yesterday in an episode of Ministry Briefing…
Praying for our president, who today will place his hand on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know.
— Mark Driscoll (@PastorMark) January 21, 2013
What you are about to read is one former pastor’s response. Shaun King left the pastorate a couple of years ago and founded HopeMob, a crowdfunding organization that does a lot of good.
But evidently, Shaun either was having a bad day, or he’d just had enough of Mark Driscoll.
You can read the tweets that followed (both from Shaun, and a few other prominent Christian bloggers)
WARNING: Language alert. Don’t read if you don’t want.
Read… then a lesson at the end I think we all need to keep in mind…
Hey @pastormark U are the most ugly, harsh & judgmental excuse 4 a Christian I know. How dare u judge the sincerity of the Presidents faith!
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
@pastormark kiss my Christian ass for saying that. How dare you pass such an ugly judgment on him. He knows God & prays more than daily.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
I read Mark Driscoll’s tweet. I read it again and then again. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Almost instantly I was outraged….
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
How dare @pastormark or any one of you fake ass Christian motherfuckers think you can say that @barackobama doesn’t know God for himself.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
Hey Friends. Sorry I lost it earlier. Still angry, but should have controlled my language. Man that made me man. About to cuss again.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
For the record, I meant everything I said. I wish I had tempered a few coarse words, but I meant them all. I’m still angry actually.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
And, all of Rated-R movie loving Christians quit pissing in your panties because I said the “f” word. Your false faith sickens me. Goodness.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 21, 2013
It is the height of arrogance to assert that someone with whom you have never conversed does not have the faith they profess. Very Sad.
— Chris Seay (@PastorChrisSeay) January 21, 2013
@shaunking Shaun, you know we love you.There’s life/justice intensity you battle everyday few will understand. #hope
— davegibbons (@davegibbons) January 21, 2013
That last tweet by @pastormark marks the end of me trying to hang with him.I’ve tried.I really have.But dang. #PlankEye
— Carlos Whittaker (@loswhit) January 21, 2013
@shaunking you should try some dance therapy for that rage, dude. Hate kills.
— Frank Turk (@Frank_Turk) January 21, 2013
OK… the lesson(s):
1. 140 characters can create a lot of different feelings.
2. 140 characters can incite rage
3. 140 characters can be a temptation to respond in an inappropriate manner
4. What goes online is online forever.
5. What you type in 140 characters can forever change people’s opinions of you.
6. As church leaders, you have more clout that you realize with each of your followers.
7. Think twice (and three or four times) before you click send.
8. Never respond in the heat of the moment.
9. We learn a lot about you from what you say, and from how you react.
What do YOU think?
Jay has a great piece on this here…
How does this cause you to re-think how you use social media? (or does it make you think at all?
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We are as close to our God as our weakest tweet.
It seems to be the Mark’s tweet is reasonable. President Obama by his own admission does not believe the Bible is completely true, and his positions are antithetical to word of God. We should pray for him. I just don’t see why that tweet should be seen as harsh or judgmental. It doesn’t seem to be mean spirited at all. That’s just my take on it. We do need to be thoughtful about what we post. So much can be read into it.
My teen-aged sons gave me some great advice when I was “outraged” at a tweet. It was, “don’t feed the trolls.” I put it into practice every day.
Is @shaunking dude a member of the “holy smokers” group? Somebody must have replaced his Tabasco for something else.
Rage on, you angry narcissist, rage on.
Jesus “tweeted” some pretty outrageous things about the leaders of His day. Also, most of the OT prophets had some stuff to say about leadership that would make Mark Driscoll’s antics look tame.
Don’t know Shaun King. Only have heard of Mark Driscoll. I’m more turned off by Driscoll’s judgmental attitude than Kings rant. Driscoll is the attitude that is turning off a significant number of young people.
People are such sissy’s about everything nowadays. If you don’t like what Mark’s saying, ignore him. I think Obama can defend himself if he feels the need to.
Amen Steven. What a reaction for a call to prayer.
I pray every day for our illustrious pres.
Might do an update and add this tweet by Anthony Bradley – https://twitter.com/drantbradley/status/293744632494424065?uid=294265117&iid=3f682446-6bca-4ca1-977b-33078a74161c&nid=12+138+20130122
Mark’s tweet creates a problem: He makes a statement but then has no means of expounding on it–or won’t. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him respond to another tweet. If a person has a legitimate question, “why’d he say that?”, they’d have to rely on their friends or pastors. And this is why Shaun’s tweet(s) are even worse: A Christian or non-believer can simply dismiss Mark’s tweet because a Christian “Leader” rebukes it in the strongest of terms. Therefore, according to those who need the most nourishment, Mark’s tweet is easily dismissed and we’re back at square one: just because President Obama says he’s a Christian we must take his word for it. There are many people defending Mark, and many people defending Shaun, yet few are employing a 1Pet3:8-9 mindset. Even Shaun could have said, “Brother, why’d you say that?” and Mark would have be ignorant not to say, “Brother, this is why…”
Wow, Dave Gibbons. I went to his church in Irvine for a couple years.
I don’t think it’s helpful to anyone to be so harsh, either Mark or Shaun. All the world sees is Pharisees fighting amongst themselves.
The funny thing about this is that Driscoll would probably said the same thing about Romny had he been elected. But, I doubt that King would have had the same reaction. Hypocrite? You decide.
there is a need for leaders to demonstrate what passionate, intelligent dialogue and dissent looks like, without rushing to disfellowship and castigate each other. It’s like the Jerry Springerization of the Church. Shaun is a friend, but his rush to condemn Mark is as rapid and unthoughtful as Driscoll’s. We need examples of passionate but respectful dialogue among those who disagree on non-essentials, with Spirit-infused leaders who show a new way.