{"id":252,"date":"2009-03-03T06:39:08","date_gmt":"2009-03-03T06:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-day-37.html"},"modified":"2009-03-03T06:39:08","modified_gmt":"2009-03-03T06:39:08","slug":"comment-of-the-day-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-day-37.html","title":{"rendered":"Comment of the Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drew Tatusko<\/a> drops a very thoughtful comment Re: Mark Driscoll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Postmodern and post-structuralism aside (since this will sound to some
\nlike that but is not), gender is different than sex due to its
\npsycho-social construction. Since it is this, anyone can assert a
\ndifferent gender construction from within a existing frame that is at
\nodds with another frame (see David Martin’s definition of this picked
\nup by Charles Taylor). Thus, Driscoll asserts his own construction of
\ngender in a way that is offensive to many. I frankly have no
\nover-arching issue with that. People are free to be misogynistic and
\nloaded with machismo as they wish. I can stay away from those
\nconstructions and find comfort in other social frames more like “me.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Where Driscoll crosses boundaries is that he uses a very
\nunsophisticated biblical legitimation for that socially constructed
\nidentity. What is important here is that the social construction of
\ngender identity in the ancient near east that absolutely placed women
\nin a lower social strata in terms of social and political influence
\namong other things. Men had to go to war and work the fields, etc such
\nis the nature of agrarian life. But Driscoll wants this image of the
\nman tow work in a social frame that increasingly eschews it save for
\nincreasingly sectarian cleavages from the norm.<\/p>\n

The issue is that he makes this kind of social construction of
\ngender a core value in his understanding and communication of the
\nGospel. When we make any such social constructions non-negotiable
\nfoundations to the Gospel it creates divergences from the actual
\nfunction of the Gospel and the role that Christians ought to play in
\nits communication. The Gospel is not about gender construction, it is
\nabout soul re-construction through works enacted by faith – something
\nmade effectual to ultimate salvation by God’s grace. Thus, Driscoll
\nerects a barrier to this central role for Christians with his
\nstammering through often strange notions of Jesus’ gender and bizarrely
\nmisplaced renderings of the apocalyptic in terms of gender construction
\nin the frame of the secularized West.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drew Tatusko drops a very thoughtful comment Re: Mark Driscoll. Postmodern and post-structuralism aside (since this will sound to some like that but is not), gender is different than sex due to its psycho-social construction. Since it is this, anyone can assert a different gender construction from within a existing frame that is at odds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-emergent-church"],"yoast_head":"\nComment of the Day - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-day-37.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment of the Day - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drew Tatusko drops a very thoughtful comment Re: Mark Driscoll. 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