Have No Other Gods Before Me: The Rise And Fall Of Evangelical "Rambo Jesus", Misogynist Bully Mark Driscoll

I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ 

because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up."

The Cult of 'Rambo Jesus" Just Took A Hit

In the latest transformation of theology and within Right Wing Christian circles, the cult of "Rambo Jesus" has emerged as the theology du jour: Fmr. Gen. Jerry Boykin recently characterized the Second Coming as Jesus carrying an AR-15.





Blasphemous to many, the cult has nonetheless become a small epidemic, a virus spread by "emerging church" ministers who want to take on an aggressive, take-no-prisoners stance against progressive Christians, atheists and other religions. It has a "become Christian or suffer the consequences" strategy that relies on strict obedience.

Master of Misogyny


Mark Driscoll and his Mars Hill Church (Seattle) came on the scene in 1996. At first the start of "church planting" endeavor, it seemed to grow exponentially, from 11 churches in 1998 to 410 by 2011. Along with Acts 29 (the church planting network) and it's growth, however, other things began to grow: organization, workload ... and Driscoll's ego. Driscoll divested himself of some responsibility, but not the attendant fame and notoriety. He became known as the "cussing pastor", the "Holy Hipster" and the "Rush Limbaugh of Evangelism" as well as an ardent proponent of "Rambo Jesus":

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.”

He also became known for out-and-out misogyny: when Driscoll and his wife, Grace, published a book entitled Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship & Life Together, it raised eyebrows not only because it described sex in graphic terms (and OK'd formerly taboo subjects like anal sex), but because:

"Grace [Driscoll] is often cast as the damaged and sinful wife who withholds sex from her deserving husband, Mark the hero who is justified in leaving his wife but instead comes along to rescue her." (Rachel Held Evans)

Jezebel ("Worst Guy Ever")

Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your role in the scripture.

They're quarrelsome. They're a nag. And some women — you're a nag. You're disrespectful. You're quarrelsome. Being married to you is like a life sentence, and the guy's just scratching on his wall every day.

First, masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman. If a man were to masturbate while engaged in other forms of sexual intimacy with his wife then he would not be doing so in a homosexual way. However, any man who does so without his wife in the room is bordering on homosexuality activity, particularly if he's watching himself in a mirror and being turned on by his own male body.

Driscoll's blog also had a turn at Ted Haggard's predicament:

"A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him, either,"

Father, Son and Spirit. But some chicks and some chickified dudes with limp wrists and minors in 'women's studies' are not happy because two persons of the trinity have a dude-ish ring."

In early January of this year, it was easy for this writer to give Mark Driscoll the Righteous Arrogance Award simply because of this tweet:





Of course, along with the misogyny, the homophobia naturally follows: Driscoll's touting of MMA (mixed martial arts fighting) for "real" men got people to thinking about Driscoll's own sexuality*:
Religion Dispatches (Elizabeth Drescher)

So it is, of course, ironic that the churches and pastors who are touting MMA are doing so in order to inject some masculinity into American Christianity. What they seem to be missing—or maybe just what they refuse to admit—is that they’ve chosen the one sport on the American scene that is highly sexually charged. And the sexuality in MMA is not hetero.

Anatomy Of A Fall


Driscoll's fall from grace could be traced in these steps:

• Janet Mefferd, super Right-Wing Christian radio talk show host accuses Driscoll of plagiarism.
• Real Marriage's bestseller status is discovered to be engineered by ResultSource, Inc., a company paid over $210,000 by Mars Hill (not Driscoll). 
• Acts 29 Network removed Driscoll and Mars Hill from its membership
• 21 former Mars Hill Pastors charge Driscoll with abusive behavior and creating a "Culture of Fear"
• 80 members of Mars Hill allege lack of financial transparency.
• Lifeway Christian Stores drops all of Driscoll's books
• After Driscoll dismisses facebook criticisms because they are "anonymous", former Mars Hill members stage a protest:

A Long, Long Hiatus


Last Sunday, Driscoll stepped down from his role in Mars Hill for "six weeks" while a range of charges are being "investigated." He has also insinuated that, at the request of Acts 29 and others, he is "seeking help". Earlier this year, he stated:

In the last year or two, I have been deeply convicted by God that my angry-young-prophet days are over, to be replaced by a helpful, Bible-teaching spiritual father.

The range and intensity of the allegations, however, belie the possibility of a mere six-week hiatus: Driscoll's anger-management issues alone will take months (if not years) to resolve. He may have to cut back on his core belief in "Rambo Jesus," the theology that made him famous in the first place. In terms of therapy, Driscoll has a long, long way to go.

And his forgiveness may be a long time in coming.

Hollis Phelps, Religion Dispatches

All of which is to say, any criticism of Driscoll should also be directed at the system that allowed him to emerge in the first place. Driscoll may certainly be an extreme case among evangelical leaders and evangelical culture more generally, but we should not understand him as an exception.

The "system" Phelps refers to is one in which obedience and control are keys to a theology that strives to gain a foothold among an already strident American Fundamentalism.



an pobvious fail

*My husband, btw, who is a master at judging male anatomy proportions (even fully clothed) has opined that Mark Driscoll is definitely compensating for something. That may sound like a cheap shot, but given Driscoll's cheap shots at women and gays, it might be fitting.

Preachers of Bling and Their Ensuing War With Francis: "Sacrifice? You've Got To Be Kidding!"

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10

“The church doesn’t need apologists for their own agendas or crusaders for their own battles, but humble and faithful sowers of the truth.”

There is no doubt that Pope Francis I is shaking things up in today's world of religion - and not without plenty of hostility from some of America's most visible Christian preachers. Above, Francis called upon his clergy to be humble and not seek to climb any hierarchical ladder. But in perhaps his most provocative statement, he also called on clerics to live simply and humbly:  his address to the cardinals and staff who make up the Congregation for Bishops, Francis said that "self-denial and sacrifice are written into the bishop’s DNA."

Catholics across the country are responding accordingly:

ATLANTA — The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta apologized Monday for building a $2.2 million mansion for himself, a decision criticized by local Catholics who cited the example of austerity set by the new pope.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory recently moved into a nearly 6,400-square-foot residence. Its construction was made possible by a large donation from the estate of Joseph Mitchell, nephew of Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With The Wind,” a Civil War epic that made his family wealthy. When Mitchell died in 2011, he left an estate worth more than $15 million to the archdiocese on the condition it be used for “general religious and charitable purposes.”

In New Jersey, Newark Archbishop John Myers hasn’t opted for penitence, and instead isdefending the expenditure of some $500,000 to add a three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition to his already spacious retirement home. The new wing will include an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library and an elevator.

The Diocese of Camden, N.J., includes one of the poorest cities in the country, which is partly why Bishop Dennis Sullivan made headlines in January for spending $500,000 to buy an historic 7,000-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, three fireplaces, a library, a five-car garage and an in-ground pool. The diocese said Sullivan needs the space to entertain dignitaries and donors. Not everyone’s buying that. “This is a joke,” parishioner John Miller told the local paper. “Jesus was born in a stable.”

In one his latest articles on Pope Francis, OpEdNews' Rob Kall called Francis' call for serving and sacrifice, The Pope's Bottom Up Revolution. To be sure, Kall's article focuses on church hierarchy and not "bling", but bishops in the past (as in present day prosperity "bishops" and preachers) have always associated hierarchy with lavish lifestyles - certainly better than any in their congregations. Certain "Bishops" like T.D. Jakes and Eddie Long created their own hierarchy in order to give their gospel the cache that goes with the cash.*

The Tangled Web of Capitalist Churches

Perhaps the most common defense today's "prosperity gospel" preachers will have against Francis's message will be the same as Rep. Paul Ryan's: this new pope just doesn't understand the workings of America's wonderful capitalism. Its churches create a stronger belief and bring in lost souls!

They don't add "through greed". They don't have to. Kate Blowler's article Believers in Bling highlights the Prosperity "Preachers of L.A."

Many believers in the prosperity gospel will despise the “The Preachers of L.A.” for advertising the humanity of the man behind the message. Still others will tune in because of their deep belief that the high life might actually be divine.

 Or the preacher himself might be divine: Pastor Steven Furtick's  Elevation Church hands out coloring books to young worshippers stating "Elevation Church is based upon the vision given by God to Pastor Steven. We will protect our unity in supporting his vision." Furtick's new $3.3 million mansion certainly demonstrates the amount of support his "vision" has engendered besides all that adoration. 

The key to all of capitalist churches today may be transparency - or lack of it: few churches subscribe to the Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability. Lack of transparency puts them on Ministry Watch's "Donor Alert". Among those on the alert are:

Creflo Dollar Ministries
Benny Hinn
Rod Parsley (Breakthrough Ministries)
Trinity Broadcasting Network
Ken Copeland Ministries

Other churches equally culpable in shifting "bling" to their pastors and "bishops", however, may seem transparent, but have low "efficiency ratings', churches like:

John Hagee Ministries
TD Jakes Ministries
Mars Hill (Pastor Mark Driscoll**)

An Ensuing War

Whether on not capitalist churches like Ken Copeland's will address the "Francis Dilemma" head on has yet to be seen. So far, only ultra-conservatives like Paul Ryan (himself as Catholic) have made noises against Francis (ditto Rush Limbaugh, of course). But if Francis' theology of servitude and sacrifice truly takes flight, stronger names than "Marxist" will flow out of some of America's pulpits. 

Never come between a "bishop of bling" and his dreams. 



The below video is years old, but the preachers featured still thrive along with many more. 

*The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship that "consecrated" Long as Bishop is less than twenty years old and the original membership included Long himself. 
** Driscoll's latest scandal involves using church funds to pay for a "consulting" firm to place his latest book on bestseller lists. Up to $220,000. What Driscoll got from this fraud has still been undisclosed. 

Twitter Truth, Mark Driscoll, Hell and The Righteous Arrogance Award

Pastor Mark Driscoll loves firestorms. He's that kind of preacher. He likens himself to Chris Rock.

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     "In a Crosscut.com article, his style was described this way: "Pacing the stage at the main Ballard campus, he delivered a sermon on marriage roles as he saw them set forth in the Song of Solomon. He told stories from his own marriage, offered statistics, and dropped jokes without their feeling forced. Every few minutes he would sniff in a thoughtful, practiced sort of way. This untucked, down-to-earth demeanor was the opposite of a huckster televangelist, but polished in its own way. It makes the guy easy to listen to."

But his tweets are not easy to read.





There is no humility about Driscoll: his writings and sermons may seem "down-to-earth" but they are like Rick Warren's Hawaiian shirts: casual dressing on a Southern Baptist theology. And whereas Warren is Southern Baptist, Driscoll is Calvinist (with a capital C): everyone is called, but few are predestined. And Mark Driscoll is predestined. Definitely.


Bludgeoning People With "I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life"

Driscoll may, however, suffer from the kind of righteous arrogance many evangelicals have about Christianity: we are the ONE, the ONLY way to heaven. We are RIGHT. EVERYONE else is either WRONG, MISGUIDED, or simply OF THE DEVIL. But because of this attitude, WE ARE SO PERSECUTED! Too many evangelicals have taken one passage from Scripture and made it into a sword/mantra, smiting sinning souls while repeating it endlessly to themselves as a balm for any wounds encountered.

Ironically, it is the one thing that is causing most young people to leave their churches (and religion) altogether. Such righteous arrogance has become abrasive. And Driscoll's tweet has caused similar reactions.

Here are some of the reactions thus far:



Hell Exists - For The Righteously Arrogant

The world's biggest guilt trip was done by God: "I created you, but you sinned against me. Then I came down to earth in your form and died an agonizing death in order to absolve you of those sins because I love you." Yes, God as Jewish mother. And this particular guilt trip has endured throughout centuries. The guilt trip also comes with a penalty from a stern father: hell.

Scholars and theologians doubt the existence of hell - the fiery place where a vengeful God sends people after they die. While Jesus mentions a fiery place (often thought of as Gehenna), his focus is more on love and forgiveness than vengeance and control. For the only purpose of such a place is control, a carrot or stick approach to the human condition: without the prospect of hell, man's sins would overcome him. The promise of heaven isn't enough. Bishop John Shelby Spong has some good thoughts on the man-made concept of hell (see below).

For the righteously arrogant, however, hell is heaven-sent (sorry): it gives them authority (and a bit of sadism) while it covers them in heroism: battling evil while saving everyone else.

Mark Driscoll's tweet puts him on a pedestal while dousing him with radiant heroism. "It's unloving not to say that." How noble. How righteous ... ly arrogant. In a sense, Driscoll uses a hypocritical slash and burn tactic against everyone not Christian. And friends of non-Christians don't like it. If Driscoll wants an even bigger firestorm, he should address the Dalai Lama directly. Or Mohammed.

I'm thinking about instituting an annual Righteous Arrogance Award to be voted on by readers (and, yes, I'll include myself as a nominee, for even bloggers about RA can be R[ly]A at times). I will, of course, post all the nominees and the winner towards the end of the year in a full article (on OpEdNews as well).

Driscoll, of course, is the first nominee.