Two wrongs…and two rights?

^{My take on the Mark Driscoll/men’s conference fiasco}

So, this happened. A somewhat controversial pastor called out a somewhat controversial moment in what should have never been a controversial men’s conference this weekend and was…called out for it. Wait…what?

According to an article on CBN News, The once-embattled preacher, who resigned in 2014 from his role as founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, amid accusations he abused his spiritual authority, took to the stage over the weekend at the Stronger Men’s Conference, where he deviated from his planned message to rebuke what he described as the “Jezebel Spirit” present in the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.

When seeing the video of this “Jezebel Spirit,” one might scratch their heads and wonder, ‘what’s the problem?’ Quite honestly, it was rather impressive. A former 2013 “America’s Got Talent” and 2016 “Britain’s Got Talent” contestant climbed a pole after swallowing a sword (still in his mouth), fell down the pole upside down, and then took the sword out of his mouth. Pretty cool, right? A seemingly innocent break from the regular conference sessions. Though we assume it’s a break. Finding the conference schedule is rather difficult, and when going to their site, we find next year’s itinerary instead.

If next year’s conference is any indicator, they have scheduled a Friday night full of fun with professional bull riding, motocross/BMX competitions, professional boxing, and more. Now this isn’t bad in and of itself. When I attended my then-denomination’s regional men’s conference a decade ago, we had an afternoon of fun, then an evening with worship (our church provided the worship) and a guest speaker, who was a Christian comedian. He gave us both laughs and a message. The biggest ministry from that weekend wasn’t so much the message, but the refreshing camaraderie with fellow brothers in Christ.

So is entertainment in and of itself what the Springfield, Missouri -based conference is guilty of? Well, no.

What Driscoll aimed his ire at was the entertainer himself. Alex Magala is (or was) a Vegas stripper (who took off his shirt in order to do this stunt). They must have known that before they hired him. How and why a Christian conference would have any inclination as to hear of him and how to find him in the first place–is beyond me. That alone, sends up a red flag.

There are a number of other ways to find entertainment for a conference. I’ve seen a Christian BMXer who jumped through burning flames; a Christian one-man vollyeball team; and Christian wrestling (believe it or not, that’s a thing–or at least it was) at various events. There are other forms of Christian entertainment–we’ve all seem them–such as books, movies, music, musicals and the aforementioned stand-up comedy. You can go to Christian music festivals and even Christian cruises. Lots of entertainment. Usually, these forms of entertainment have a message–even an altar call, but not always. And so, why couldn’t the organizers of Strong Men’s Conference do the same? Was it a way to have a quality act while witnessing (Sorry, I know, Christianese) to the performer? Sort of “two birds with one stone” idea? Maybe. And hopefully it worked in some way. But Driscoll makes a point.

Here’s what he had to say:

From CBN News:

After urging the men at the conference to stand up against LGBTQ identities, which he described as demonic and “the counterfeit image of the mind,” Driscoll, who is now pastoring Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, turned to critiquing events that transpired at the start of the two-day convention.

“I’ve been up since 1 o’clock in the morning,” the pastor said, taking a knee, removing his baseball hat, and softening his tone of voice. “The reason I’m hoarse is I have been praying and my heart is very burdened for you.”

The mood in the arena shifted from one of vociferous agreement to attentive listening.

“I want to be very careful with this, and it’s not what I want to say,” Driscoll continued. “But the Jezebel Spirit has already been here. The Jezebel Spirit opened our event.”

He explained, “This is a rebuke and a correction of no one. This is an observation. Before the Word of God was open, there was a platform; it was a high place. On it was a pole, an Asherah, the same thing that’s used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel Spirit to seduce men.”

Driscoll’s use of the word “Asherah” was a reference to a goddess from the Canaanite pantheon.

“In front of that was a man, who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club,” he told the men as an air of discomfort seemed to fill the space.

It was around that time that Lindell interrupted Driscoll, telling the Scottsdale-based preacher he was “out of line,” telling him to stop speaking: “You’re done!”

“OK, Pastor John, I’ll receive that,” Driscoll replied, standing up, returning his hat to his head, and collecting his things from the pulpit. “Thank you,” he added as he left the stage.

So the question remains, who’s in the wrong here? Are they both? I would say so. While I don’t agree with everything Driscoll had to say (mainly likening the pole to stripper and ashera poles), I do agree that it was in bad taste to have a stripper perform at a Christian event. Even though the stunt was family-friendly, it makes us wonder if this particular ministry has any concept of holiness. Paul admonished the Thessalonian church to refrain from even the appearance of evil. Though this is worded differently in some English translations, and we can become slaves to legalism if we become slaves to what others may think of us, it is still wise words to live by.

I remember a police officer I knew who liked pizza from a certain town bar. So when his shift was over, he’d call to order the pizza, go home, change out of his uniform (though the bar was in walking distance from the Police station) and then go back and get his pizza. He didn’t want the taxpayers to come to any sort of assumption that he was going to a bar while on duty. And in a small gossipy town of 4,000 people, that little thing can become a big mistake.

Here’s another example. There was a church not far from where I live that built an event center. While it’s nice for churches to engage with the community, this church built the center thinking it would attract the lost by hosting various secular concerts there–Ace Frehley, Lita Ford, Winger, and more. It also hosted a Wicked Realm film festival. Though they did have Classic Petra and Stryper, and the occasional family friendly events, the center made a rather poor name for itself in the greater Christian community–and community at large (including issues with the Town over local zoning ordinances, and complaints from neighbors).

Do you see what I’m saying? I’m not one to normally use the “guilty by association” argument, because it generally is in reference to what Steve Taylor once satirically sang about (i.e., “I only drink milk from a Christian cow”). But in this case, I might make an exception.

So was Driscoll right in how he handled the situation? Yes and no. The pastor, John Lindell, did have a point as well. The Book of Matthew records Jesus addressing how we are to handle this type of situation.

Matt. 18:15-17

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

If Driscoll was up since 1 a.m. pondering this issue, perhaps it would have been better for him to have found (or tried to find) a way to address his concerns to the pastor in a Biblical way. However, for whatever reason, he didn’t.

So who’s right? Is one right but not the other? Are they both right? Or are they both wrong? I’d say…yes to all three. Rather than an either/or situation, I believe this is both/and.

The event should not have hired a male stripper for any reason whatsoever–if he is still stripping. According to a recent Youtube video by Ruslan KD, Magala is no longer a stripper and is attending a church. But finding that important detail has been difficult for this writer to come across. Certainly, no one else has mentioned that important detail in the midst of all of this mess.

But, Driscoll should have addressed the orgainizers in person before this took place. At any rate, I’d have to say Driscoll wins by a narrow margin. Though he may not have followed Biblical precepts, he still addressed an issue that needed to be addressed, even though (as I said) I don’t quite see everything the same way he did. Lindell should have humbly accepted the rebuke and let Driscoll continue. At some point after Driscoll’s message, Lindell could have addressed the crowd (if he wanted) as to why they decided to hire this performer.

At any rate, this is a mess. Even Kyle Mann, editor-in-chief at The Babylon Bee remarked in a Tweet (or is it in an X?) that, “”Mark Driscoll calls out male stripper at men’s conference” is one of those headlines that makes me think we’ll be out of a job at @TheBabylonBee soon.”

Yeah, truth is becoming stranger than satire, and perhaps this is just the beginning of what is yet to come. It just may be that the rift that has broken within the World has now come to the Church. Expect to see the wheat separating from the chaff even more so as time goes on.