Mark Driscoll has recently preached a sermon on the topic of Heaven and Hell from Luke 16…. and as passionate and convicting he is on the subject… he totally gets it wrong.
It’s unfortunate Mark did that passage in Luke 16 a major disservice because this passage isn’t even about heaven and hell. In the context of the story – its a rebuke to the religious leaders who value money over people…. it begins with chapter 15 where the religious leaders and the ratbags of society have gathered around Jesus and RL’s start to mutter about the societal scum…
There Jesus builds on the tension by telling a series of stories about a lost sheep, coin, son, repentant manager, and then rebukes the RL’s (Religious leaders) with a story about divorce – which btw has nothing to do with divorce either…rather slaps them in the face, telling them they have committed adultery against God and married idolatrous money – The RL’s get up tight and Jesus gives them a double whammy telling them God wasn’t on their side… Finally in chapter 17:1-10 Jesus tells them that the whole context of those stories was one of repentance / forgiveness.
So within the context of the holistic story that starts in chap 15 and ends in the beginning of 17… Mark simply has it wrong.
It’s about time we stop proof texting the Scriptures… and really be faithful to the text.
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