I wanted to avoid giving Mark Driscoll any further press.  I wanted to avoid reading, writing, or thinking any more about this man and what he has to say.  Most of all, I wanted to avoid using the words, "Mark Driscoll" and "right" in the same sentence.

Darn.

I have not read his latest book; I have no plans to do so in the near (or far) future.  I'm not writing a review or a critique.  That's better left to people who are a) smarter than I am and b) nicer than I am.  There is no doubt in my mind that if I read the book, I would not be able to be reasonable.  That isn't fair to him or to anyone else.

Just to make it clear, I don't care for a lot of what comes out of that man's mouth and keyboard.  He comes across as the sort of person who has all the answers and likes to share them, whether or not he's been asked.  I'm not impressed with his position on women in marriage or in the church, nor by his brand of hyper-masculinized Christianity.  And although his church is doing well in terms of sheer volume, all that says about him is that he has great salesmanship.

By now everyone is probably wondering why on Earth I've said that he's right about anything, given my dislike for his teaching.  Here it is: I believe he is right to open the conversation about marriage, family, relationships, sex, and men.  He's right that young men are leaving the church and not returning (so are young women).  He's right that churches are shying away from talking about intimacy.  He's right that we are failing to maintain our marriages.  He's right that we are in need of unconventional methods to address these issues.  He may be going about it in a somewhat strange and possibly uncouth way, but he's right to be heading down that path.  Driscoll is boldly opening Pandora's Box, and he's not afraid of what he will find inside.

Why aren't the rest of us taking the hint?  Why aren't we asking why we have such a mess?  When we ask why people (including men) don't come to church, we conclude that the best fix is to buy bigger buildings, equip ourselves with the latest technology, and ask more of our friends to show up.  When we talk about relationships, we've stalled at talking about the "Biblical view" of love, sex, and marriage, with the emphasis on what we're not supposed to do.  The one thing we aren't doing is opening the conversation.    Driscoll may be going about it in an unpleasant manner, but at least he's speaking out.

There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with Mark Driscoll's attitude or methods.  But it's reached the point of becoming unproductive.  Are we as ready as he is to talk frankly about the very real issues we face?