Mark Driscoll's talk failed to match the hype

This post is written when the author is in a very foul mood. Please keep this in mind as you read.

The well-renowned pastor from Seattle, Mark Driscoll came to Australia recently to deliver some talks. I attended his talk in Northside Christian College in Everton Park yesterday (Thursday) evening. The event was "300 Men for Jesus", though the turnout was a lot more than 300 men. Refer to this website for more details: http://300menforjesus.com/. The theme was "Burn Your Plastic Jesus", whereby Driscoll's talk was supposed to challenge Christian men to get out of their complacency & be real men for Jesus. Or something to that effect. At the end, I was left somewhat dismayed & disappointed that I even bothered turning up. I'll explain why later.

The evening started on a sour note. At the entrance, when trying to get my name ticked off, I found out that my name was not even on any of the lists of people who signed up. Well, I thought I signed up online (because I did it at church), but obviously something went wrong somewhere. (I've just checked my credit card statement, & cannot see any payment going to the organisers). So, I felt really embarrassed trying to explain that I did try to sign up, but there may have been a glitch online which prevented registration. Freaking fantastic organisation, fellas. If they can't get these registration things right, u wonder what else can go wrong? I was kindly let in for free, but was still very embarrassed about the whole fiasco. And my evening didn't get much better - because after a guy called Phil Davidson gave a decent musical performance (nothing wrong with that), that man Mark Driscoll spoke.

Now, Mr Driscoll spoke from Genesis 1 to 3. He took us back to the start, where God our creator made everything. Here is a blurb of what I got out of his talk (only a summary):
Creation exists to glorify God. God existed right at the beginning & He made everything out of nothing. God made men in His image, & we are made for relationship & are meant to reflect some of God's characteristics. Men are made to rule & God gave men responsibility over creation. After God created Adam, he decided that it was not good for men to be alone, so for that reason he created a helper (Eve). When Eve later committed the sin, God held Adam accountable for that sin. And so it is with us men today - our wives & family members will be held accountable for their sins, & so will we. God made men to lead & gave men responsibility over creation. But many men abdicate responsibility, & they shun leadership roles. A lot of men don't want to lead, & don't want to face the responsibilities associated with leadership - & that is why some women take on leadership roles within the church. So Driscoll challenged the Christian men to be real men, to step up, take responsibility & lead. Work, so that we can pay our bills & support our family. Work because God made us to work, & work so that we give glory to God. Be strong for our family. A real man is one who takes responsibility, & Driscoll urges us to be like that.

Now, let me just say I have no issues with any of the above. It's all Biblical, & he did not misquote the Bible or say anything contrary to the Scriptures. I also will not & cannot question his Bible knowledge, & he obviously has good public speaking skills. That's all fine, fair game to Driscoll, no problems with all that.

But I have a number of issues with the rest of his talk, all of which combine to make me disillusioned & regret that I came all the way to listen to him.

Gripe 1: Driscoll seemed to be too pro-marriage & anti-single/anti-unmarried men
In harping on about how the Bible said it was not good for men to be alone, Driscoll seemed to be bashing the single/unmarried men. He showed favouritism towards married men. That made me very upset, deeply offended & very uncomfortable sitting in the audience. He was attacking me, & he was attacking all the other unmarried men in the audience simply because we are not married. He basically alienated a sizable segment of the audience. Driscoll seems to think that all man should be married. He is saying, hey you single men, what are you waiting for, find a lady to marry.

I mean, was I the only unmarried guy in the audience offended by Driscoll? I certainly hope not, & I'm sure there might be others in the audience who might have been offended, too. By all means, be confronting if necessary, but he went beyond that - he disrespected those who are single/unmarried & rubbed their faces the wrong way, something sadly typical among some married people. And this coming from a so-called respected pastor who many people look up to. A man who claims to follow Jesus, yet had the nerve to come up on stage & show no love towards a segment of the audience (the single/unmarried) who Jesus loves.

So if Driscoll doesn't like unmarried men, what then would Driscoll have to say about the Apostle Paul? What would he have to say to John Stott or other famous single Christian men in the world today? These are men who were & are far far greater than Driscoll will ever be. If Driscoll doesn't like men to stay unmarried, why doesn't he round up all the single/unmarried men & have them shot??!! Does Driscoll also not realise that singlehood can also be a gift from God (just as marriage is a gift from God), that some men are called on by God to be single? I mean, some of those called to be single might have desire to marry, but at the end of the day, if God's will is for them to remain unmarried, then they shall remain single. Others remain single for whatever reason (e.g. still looking for the right partner & waiting for God's provision). However, one would have thought these things are lost on Mark Driscoll, judging by the way he bangs the marriage drum.

Gripe 2: Driscoll is arrogant & opinionated
Mark Driscoll was boastful. He went on & on about how he met his beautiful wife in college (or something like that), & how they have 5 wonderful kids. They are all great, fantastic children, one of his daughters is very smart, yada yada yada. It's fine & good to be thankful for being blessed with a great family, but Driscoll went beyond that - he boasted about himself & his family, & put himself on a pedestal. He put himself up, & put others down. He is so full of himself. I wouldn't know if there is a more arrogant & opinionated Christian around, & wouldn't want to meet that person.

Never have I ever had such dislike, even "hatred", for a Christian. So Driscoll thinks he's so great, better than any in the audience just because he has 5 kids? What, does he want a medal for each child? And what happens if he gets child number 6 - is he going to put his hand up for the mayor seat of Seattle? And if he then gets child number 7, is he going to run for the US presidency???

Another thing he ranted about is about the young men in this country who still live with their parents after a certain age (what? 25??). He said these people should move out & be a master of their domain. Who the hell does he think he is, criticising his audience in that manner??? Does he not realise how expensive properties are in Australia? Some people can't yet afford to live out. I guess not - remember, he is from Seattle, where properties cost only a fraction of the prices in Australia. He presumably owns his house, & thinks everyone should be in the same position as him. So he feels that gives him the right to mouth off against those who still live with their parents. He is not qualified to make such judgemental remarks.

This is a man who has such a vastly inflated opinion of himself, a sanctimonious know-it-all. If I were to buy Mark Driscoll for what he's worth & sell him for what he thinks he's worth, I would make a ton of money - I'll be wealthier than Bill Gates.

Gripe 3: Driscoll's talk failed to encourage & inspire me
OK, some people might think my judgement is clouded by the first 2 gripes. But even leaving both those things aside, I still have reason to take issue with Driscoll.
You see, I came to the talk to be edified, to learn how to be a better Christian, to learn how to improve my spiritual walk. I mean, Driscoll has been hyped up by the people at my church as being "all that", as being so good that I have to attend this talk. And I fell for the hype: hook, line, sinker. The way his talk goes is like this: men are not doing X, men should do X. He never elaborate much further. So he says men are not taking responsibility, he would later say men should take responsibility - which is ok, but he should also elaborate more on how men should lead & take responsibility, instead of spouting rubbish about every men should be married or how great his family is.

The "Burn Your Plastic Jesus" thing is meant to be a challenge to the men who carry a convenient idol & live comfortable, unchallenged lives. To repent of that, Mark Driscoll has been invited to "unsettle our complacency and expand our view of the real Jesus". Well, he failed to achieve both objectives with me & has managed to put me offside. I don't believe anything that Mark Driscoll said has had any effect on whatever complacency I might have. Nothing he said has increased my knowledge of Jesus & godliness. Nothing he said has edified me. No encouragement whatsoever was given. I did not learn anything new because there is nothing in his talk (the blue words as summarised in the third paragraph above) that I have not heard before elsewhere. I drove home feeling empty & disillusioned, & I wondered if I would have missed anything had I not come. Felt like I wasted 3.5 hours of my life (including travel time) listening to that man - time which I will never recover. The talk did NOTHING for me. Absolutely nothing!

In fact, I just don't understand why the people at my church like Driscoll so much. They go on about how great he is. And as I said before, I got "duped" into coming to his talk. Well, I found out for myself that Mark Driscoll carries a lot of hot air. I felt that his talk never matched the hype that preceded it. But hey, it's my fault. I blame myself for listening when friends encouraged me to attend this talk. I had been skeptical about the whole thing, but allowed myself to be sucked into turning up. That's ok - we make mistakes, we learn from them & I will never ever make mistakes like this again.

So Driscoll has been preaching that men are made in God's image. Yeah?? But if God resembles Mark Driscoll, then we Christians should really worry.
Still, if people actually like him, that's their decision. I'm not going to blindly follow popular opinion & kiss the ground he walks on. Because having listened to his talk & seen what he's like, there's little about him that I find likeable. I have nothing but contempt for that man.
Having said all the above, for all my ranting & raving, at least I will acknowledge Driscoll never twisted the message of the Genesis passages. And ok, at the end of the day, he is a Christian whom Jesus has loved & saved - so who knows, one day, Mark Driscoll might prove my current opinion of him wrong. If or when that time comes, I will be willing to revise my opinion of him - but for that to happen, he will have to do something really drastic. For now, it appears unlikely to happen.