Patience and Repentance

Today I caught a clip of Mark Driscoll calling out men to be men. I'd heard some of the rage over his doing so--so I was all ears. Much of what he said I agreed with (those who have followed my blogs elsewhere know I am a Driscoll fan, mostly because of his constant emphasis on Jesus--specifically the genuine Jesus). But it was the spirit and tone in which Driscoll shared his concerns (rebuke) that I found extremely unhelpful and childish.

We who preach repentance would do well to remember these words from Paul.

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ~Romans 2:1-4, ESV (italics mine)

Maybe a little patience from us could go a long ways with our brothers who are not as far along as us--those brothers who are presently stuck in habitual sin, gross sin, or any other type of sin for that matter (as we have been ourselves if we are honest even a smidgen).

You can see the clip here at Jared Wilson's awesome "Gospel-Driven Church" blog.