Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Provides great insight July 26, 2008
Driscoll really provides the reader with a good view of the Gospel and its effect on very different people
The Radical Reformission Is Radical! April 14, 2008
This book is really helping our small groups rethink how we evangelize and speak to people. Its been a great tool and we are thoroughly enjoying it.
Wow March 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really, really liked this book. So much so that I not only ordered my own copy, but I didn't give back the one I borrowed, I gave it to someone else to read first.
Radical reformission is about a transformation of the church. Mark shares his philosophy regarding the church, and what it means for a church to be missional. This book combines powerful teaching with storytelling, and the typical driscoll humor.
I love the story of how he started in ministry. Mark accepted Christ, and then immediately decided to start a bible study (the same week!). He summarizes it like this "It then dawned on me that I had been a Christian for only a few days, had never been in a Bible study, and did not really know anything in the Bible other than the fact that I sucked and that Jesus is God." Mark offered to let anyone ask any question, as long as they would give him a week to try to figure it out.
Mark is very transparent in this book, sharing both success and failures. After one very entertaining story about going to a gay cowboy bar (gotta read the book!) in which he was afraid to tell people he was a pastor, he said "I cared more about how I appeared to people than about whether I shared the passion of Jesus for those who are lost"
But the chapter on reformissional evangelism really hit home with me. I struggle with the idea that we expect people to jump through hoops to be part of the church, and Mark writes an incredible analogy on this point:
"In reformission evangelism, people are called to come and see the transformed lives of God's people before they are called to repent of sin and trust in God. Taking a cue from dating is helpful on this point. If we desire people to be happily married to Jesus as his loving bride, it makes sense to let them go out on a few dates with him instead of just putting a shotgun to their heads and asking them to hurry up, put on a white dress, and try to look happy for the photos."
Mark then explains "In our church in Seattle, as lost people become friends with Christians, they often get connected to various ministries (for example, helping to run concerts, helping to guide a rock-climbing expedition, taking a class on biblical marriage, helping to develop a website, joining a Bible study, serving the needy) and participate in them before they possess saving faith."
This is a key difference between the emerging church and the traditional church. Traditionally churches require people to be members before they do things, which requires that they are already Christians. The emerging church is about exposing people to a life in Christ and using that to draw them in.
Mark challenges readers to engage culture rather than withdraw from it, but is careful to caution that engaging culture does not include sinning (e.g. things like fornication and drunkenness are not engaging culture, they are sin).
In a chapter entitled "the sin of light beer" Mark talks about the dangers of syncretism and sectarianism, and specifically utilizes the Christian church's demonization of something God created for the joy of His people, alcohol, to make his point. I really love Mark's conclusion in this chapter:
"Here's what I'd like you to remember from this chapter: reformission is not about abstention; it is about redemption. We must throw ourselves into the culture so that all that God made good is taken back and used in a way that glorifies him. Our goal is not to avoid drinking, singing, working, playing, eating, love-making, and the like. Instead, our goal must be to redeem those things through the power of the gospel so that they are used rightly according to Scripture, bringing God glory and his people a satisfied joy."
The conclusion of the book is profound in its own very post-modern way. Rather than wrap everything up into a neat little conclusion, Mark concludes the book by sharing his hopes and dreams for the city of Seattle and the ministry of Mars Hill. In essence, Mark shares what he prays will be the end result of putting into practice the things that he has been writing about through this book. That the world would be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is one of the best books I have read in a long, long time.
Joel
Raising the bar January 21, 2008
There are few men in the US who are raising the bar for ministry and the men who are called to do such work, quite like Mark Driscoll. Young men going into ministry need humble models and they are hard to find. God calls real men to stand in the gape for souls. Driscoll is burdened to see men in ministry who love Jesus best and love His word. Everyone else stay away! This is a man worthy of imitation and this book is a good start in understanding how to follow him as he follows Christ.
Local churches can die or "Reform"ission - January 16, 2008
A great read! As long as you are willing to admit that our own flesh is often the limiting factor to the spread of the gospel, you will like the book. Most people will probably get mad that Mark makes fun of them. He is either criticizing their preference of tradition or calling them out for not loving Jesus and the Gospel. There are some great points brought forth in the book, but keep in mind, and Mark even make a point to say this in his conclusion, that he is not saying that we all need to do church like he does. He is simply saying that for every cultural setting there is a way to share the offensive truth of the Gospel, and it's our job to find the right method given our cultural setting. Enjoy, Pastor Wade
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