Mark Driscoll Quotes

Some will tell you that there are multiple worldviews. The Bible says we have only 2: the Truth and the Lie.

You know what I find amazing is within Christianity it is not uncommon to find [married] people who don't have sexual intimacy, don't have emotional intimacy, don't have spiritual intimacy, don't pray together, don't do their life together, don't put their schedules together, don't put their budgets together, but they don't get divorced. So they can pat themselves on the back and say, 'We're good Christians.' They're divorced in everything but the paperwork.

Idols tend to be good things that you have turned into god things, which therefore become bad things

We need to pay attention to the questions non-Christians are asking, and the conversations that Christians are having.

Past: Jesus saved us from the penalty of sin. Present: He saves us from the power of sin. Future: He will save us from the presence of sin.

God is tolerant in that He asks everyone to repent.

The problem with our churches today is that the lead pastor is some sissy boy who wears cardigan sweaters, has The Carpenters dialed in on his iPod, gets his hair cut at a salon instead of a barber shop, hasn’t been to an Ultimate Fighting match, works out on an elliptical machine instead of going to isolated regions of Russia like in Rocky IV in order to harvest lumber with his teeth, and generally swishes around like Jack from Three’s Company whenever Mr. Roper was around.

Work like an Arminian, sleep like a Calvinist.

Repentance keeps sin from condemning us because Jesus died and scorned the shame.

The church was custom built by Jesus, and we are all works in progress. We do not expect people to get their sin in order before attending church any more than a hospital expects people to get healed before they show up.

This world needs more than good works. It needs good news. Good works come out of the good news.

Everyone has something to teach you if you are humble enough to learn.

I'll preach anywhere. If it's a round trip ticket to preach in hell, I'll take it-as long as it's round trip.

You have been told that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, kind, compassionate, wonderful, and good sky fairy who runs a day care in the sky and has a bucket of suckers for everyone because we're all good people. That is a lie... God looks down and says 'I hate you, you are my enemy, and I will crush you,' and we say that is deserved, right and just, and then God says 'Because of Jesus I will love you and forgive you.' This is a miracle.

Forgiveness is both a decision and a process.

God picked a junior high girl [to be Jesus' mother]. Jesus was raised by a woman who today, we wouldn't even let her lead a bible study at a high school. But she could raise God.

I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.

You don't need to beat yourself up in order to make God love you. Jesus already took your beating.

...Seattle has unleashed this weird phenomenon on the world called the coffee shop. And the coffee shop, thanks to Starbucks, is the place where socially isolated, lonely, needy people gather together to ignore one another.

You're either selfish, or you're a servant...but fundamentally selfish people are terrible friends, terrible lovers, terrible spouses, terrible Christians, terrible parents. They leave a terrible legacy. Will you be selfish? Will you be a servant?...A good marriage is a servant and a servant.

Because we worship our way into sin, ultimately we need to worship our way out. When Christians commit sin, they do not cease worshiping. Rather, their worship is directed away from the Creator and toward created things. Repentance is the act of turning from sin and returning to God by trusting in Jesus Christ who is the perfect worshiper.

While this may look loving, when we struggle with an idol of dependence, we’re in fact not loving people as much as we’re using them to fulfill our need to belong, be liked, and be desired. This explains why some friends and family members can be so demanding, smothering, and needy. It also explains why we’re so easily inflated by praise and deflated by criticism. It’s as if others have the ability to determine our identity for that day based on a word or even a glance

God loves you enough to receive you as you are. He loves you too much to keep you as you are.

Study the Bible like a soldier on a mission, not a scholar on a sabbatical.

The only thing worse than dying is living a boring life.

Any religious person who says he does not really need human friends because God is his Friend is calling God a liar because He's the One Who says we also need human friends.

A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him either.

If you really want to be a rebel, get a job, cut your grass, read your bible, and shut up. Because no one is doing that.

Everyone is sinning, so it's no longer rebellious to sin. You're just a conformist if you're drunk; and naked; driving around in a loud motorcycle; smoking cigarrettes; breaking commandments; getting pregnant out of wedlock. Everyone's done that. That's so tired!

Married life can seem as if it's only five days long. The first day you meet, the second day you marry, the third day your raise your children, the fourth day you meet your grandchildren, and the fifth day you die first or bury your spouse to go home alone for the first time in many years.

I know who made the environment and he's coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV.

Tragically, we live in a day when offense to God doesn't matter nearly as much as offense to others.

If my words don't flow out of a heart that rests in God's control, sovereignty, then they come out of the heart that seeks control so I can get what I want.

On the Sabbath day, we are remembering that my relationship with God did not begin with what I've done, it is not sustained by what I do, and it is not guaranteed to the end by my effort or work. I'm saved from beginning to end by Jesus' work.

You wanna be counter-culture? You wanna be a total rebel? Get a job! You wanna be counter-culture, totally alternative, radical? Be a virgin until you get married...to a person of the opposite gender. And then stay married and pump out some kids and pay your taxes and read the Bible, you freak. You'll be just totally a rebel.

We're not to follow our hearts, we're to guard our hearts.

I study the Bible all week, pray to the Lord, and then I speak from my heart. It's all about brutal honesty.

Being single is not easy. But neither is being married. They are just difficult in different ways as God uses everything in our life to make us more like Jesus, who happened to live a perfect life while single.

In marriage we have a duty to God, our spuses, the world, and future generations. But we are sinners. A husband and wife need to acknowledge that when the Bible speaks of fools, it is not just speaking about other people, but about them as well. Even the wisest among us has moments of folly. So God gives us spouses to serve as wise friends by praying with and for us, attending church with us, speaking truth, and providing Scripture along with good books and online classes, lectures, and sermons to nourish fruitfulness in our lives.

Fear in the mind causes stress in the body.

Everything may not be OK but if God is with you, you will be OK.

So I decided to start a church, for three reasons. First, I hated going to church and wanted one I liked, so I thought I would just start my own. Second, God had spoken to me in one of those weird charismatic moments and told me to start a church. Third, I am scared of God and try to do what he says.

Everything in the service needs to preach - architecture, lighting, songs, prayers, fellowship, the smell - it all preaches. All five senses must be engaged to experience God.

If you're not a Christian, you're going to hell. It's not unloving to say that. it's unloving not to say that.

Did think you were here to kill time listening to Christian music until you go to heaven? We've got work to do.

Looking for a word from the Lord? Believe that he has already spoken, and read what he's already written.

Tribes must be our homes, not our prisons.

Every great cause was initiated by someone whose heart was broken.