Oh man, the latest DGM 2006 video [1] of Mark Driscoll is killer.
I’ve gotta think these guys [David, Paul, John the Baptist] were ‘dudes.’ Heterosexual, win a fight, punch you in the nose, dudes. And the problem in the church today is it’s just a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chick-ified, church boys. Sixty percent of Christians are chicks and the forty percent that are dudes are still sort of chicks. I mean its just sad. When you walk in its sea foam green and fuschia and lemon yellow the whole architecture and the whole aesthetic is feminine and the preacher is kind of feminine and the music is kind of emotional and feminine and we’re looking around going ‘how come we’re not innovative?’ Its because all the innovative dudes are at home watching football.
One good thing for me from the interview is when he was talking about church planters. He said the key is screening. This part consistantly worries me. What if I don’t make it through their process? Does it mean I’m not a church planter even if I think I am? When Driscoll gets to the point where he’s talking about potential church planters I felt better. They are the “trouble makers” in the church who are critical and think they can do it better. It may be that they’re just critical and the screening needs to eliminate them. Otherwise, they might be church planters! They’re leaders and their not leading it is driving them nuts!
That made me feel better. :) I’ll just delude myself into thinking that’s my problem.
Addendum: The thing that is beginning to bother me a bit about this is the unqualified nature of the praise of all things male. Surely masculinity is incomplete without femininity for “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” While it is wrong to allow the church to lapse into a predominantly female organization, it would be equally wrong to incorporate masculinity unchecked. We don’t need leaders who go around punching people in the nose as their answer to problems. There have been many many times when my beautiful, wise wife has clued me in on how other people are affected and feel. I would have steamrolled right ahead and hurt some without my wife’s insight.
That said, we do need to man up in the church.