Lots of X and YouTube noise over Pastor Mark Driscoll rebuking the Stronger Men’s Conference (this is a Christian men’s conference mind you) for opening up the six-thousand-strong soiree last weekend with a sword-swallowing shirtless male stripper working a stripper pole. That’s gotta be, heretofore, the weirdest sentence that I have ever typed in my entire life. Anyway…
Driscoll linked that spectacle to some Jezebel-like hoo-doo-voodoo and Old Testament idol worship and then proceeded to righteously and appropriately rebuke the place.
John Lindell, the conference’s host pastor, who greenlit that shirtless stripper stuff, told Mark to zip it and that HE was out of line calling out the obvious tawdry garbage with the male exotic dancer.
So Mark’s like, “whatever” and then he walked off stage. Which he should have.
The Twitterverse quickly made Mark a hero until video surfaced of Mark apologizing to John for rebuking that mess and not honoring him as “the father of the house.”
Mark said he should have rebuked John in private for the stripper crap and not in public even though it was public stupidity done in the name of God. Here’s an FYI: Matthew 18’s admonition to rebuke a brother in private doesn’t apply when there’s a stripper involved, on public display, at a public event, like at a Christian Men’s Conference. See 1 Tim. 5:20.
By the way… what’s this “father of the house” stuff? According to the scripture, we have no father but God (Mt. 23:9) and no standard but God’s Word (Ps. 119:105).
QUESTION: who came up with the idea of opening up a Christian Men’s conference with a sword-chugging, shirtless, male stripper? In addition, I’d like to know what ideas got shot down if that idea made the cut? Good Lawd!
I’ve done a lot of big conferences in America, Europe, and Africa in the last thirty years, and not one time did any weirdo suggest that we launch our conference with a shirtless Harry Styles working a stripper pole to icebreak for our special event. Like in, never.
In addition, and don’t hate me, but I don’t need no Jezebel reference to know that what the leaders of that Men’s conference did was as stupid, gross, dumb, and as blasphemous as it comes.
Lindell needs some time in the wilderness to get a healthy dose of the fear of God and regain some decorum.
Driscoll should repent for repenting to Lindell for calling that obscene nonsense out.
Mark was completely in the right to do so.
Dr. R.C. Sproul never rolled out a male stripper to open for one of his epic conferences. Neither has Dr. John MacArthur, heretofore. The late Leonard Ravenhill never did anything like that. Neither did A.W. Tozer. Nope, their appeal was simply sticking tight to the verbum Dei, with awe-inspiring worship and a megadose of the fear of God and guess what; they attracted and discipled millions of men without the need of choppers, push-up contests, feats of strength, and shirtless sword swallowing male strippers. Imagine that …
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