Mark Driscoll, singleness, and comics?

So, I follow Driscoll on FB, and recently one of his status updates was...

I recently heard two guys in their 20s passionately arguing over which superhero is the best of all. I took the liberty of asking them if they were single. They were. Who saw that coming?

Now normally I don't let stuff like that phase me because if I hear it it's either done in a joking sorta way from friends and coworkers, or if it's done with malice the people that say that usually don't understand my comeback. Anyway, this one annoyed me.

I find it annoying for several reasons.

1. That statement seems to imply that something is wrong with being single. Paul, Peter, Jesus, and many many more examples of singleness in Christendom would disagree.

2. It seems to imply that arguging about nerd-suff is somehow inferior to arguing about sports/other manly stuff.

I'm kinda curious what you guys think about that statement.

As you observed, it could be a harmless friendly joke. Problem is, text does not convey tone, and so I think posting that was extremely foolish for a pastor, and comes across as hypocritical from a pastor who wants to emphasize loving Christian community, as the Mars Hill Website does.

So not knowing his heart, my issue is less with the comment and more the medium through which it was made. Potentially an unloving attitude, but at the very least a bonehead, alienating move, I think.

Paeter wrote:As you observed, it could be a harmless friendly joke. Problem is, text does not convey tone, and so I think posting that was extremely foolish for a pastor, and comes across as hypocritical from a pastor who wants to emphasize loving Christian community, as the Mars Hill Website does.

So not knowing his heart, my issue is less with the comment and more the medium through which it was made. Potentially an unloving attitude, but at the very least a bonehead, alienating move, I think.

Yep

tmorrill wrote:

1. That statement seems to imply that something is wrong with being single. Paul, Peter, Jesus, and many many more examples of singleness in Christendom would disagree.

well you can't spell single with out sin

But seriously I feel like the single adults are the most ignored group in the Church I can't think of one devotional that's geared towards to the 20 and 30 somethings that aren't married there is the Teens and Men which deals with being a better a better husband and father.

Rickster wrote:
well you can't spell single with out sin

But seriously I feel like the single adults are the most ignored group in the Church I can't think of one devotional that's geared towards to the 20 and 30 somethings that aren't married there is the Teens and Men which deals with being a better a better husband and father.

Hahaa! I've never heard that one before!

And you are, of course, correct!

So here's the solution. I don't think we should be building extra programs for single 20-30 somethings. I think we should be integrating EVERYONE into one cohesive body structure.

For instance, I just finished a discipleship group with four men. There was me - a young married guy with no kids, another young guy who is single with a kid, a middle aged guy married with two kids, and a gentleman who's "over the hill" married with grandkids. We're in totally different walks of life, but we're growing in Christ together!

Now, we have small groups for older women, for women, youth groups, etc . . . but we're in church together, and we do service throughout the community together. The older teach the younger, and the younger inspire the older. It's like a family . . . and we grow together!

tmorrill wrote:So, I follow Driscoll on FB, and recently one of his status updates was...

I recently heard two guys in their 20s passionately arguing over which superhero is the best of all. I took the liberty of asking them if they were single. They were. Who saw that coming?

Now normally I don't let stuff like that phase me because if I hear it it's either done in a joking sorta way from friends and coworkers, or if it's done with malice the people that say that usually don't understand my comeback. Anyway, this one annoyed me.

I find it annoying for several reasons.

1. That statement seems to imply that something is wrong with being single. Paul, Peter, Jesus, and many many more examples of singleness in Christendom would disagree.

2. It seems to imply that arguging about nerd-suff is somehow inferior to arguing about sports/other manly stuff.

I'm kinda curious what you guys think about that statement.

It's patently absurd.

But that doesn't surprise me coming from Mark Driscoll. Maybe you guys haven't heard much from him, but I've listened to a lot of his sermons, and read a book of his. That's about all I could take. I know he's a brother in the Lord, but he is VERY mistaken about what being a Christian is. He's not just tied to minor non-essential doctrinal issues (which Paul expressly forbids as a means of division within the church), but EVERYTHING is about sports and being a manly-man. I don't just mean that he's into those things, (I live in Idaho, so believe me I have plenty of friends and neighbors that are into that kind of thing) I mean that he forcibly inserts them into his understanding about what it means to be a Christian man. I have no doubt that people like us have no positive place in his theology... :-/

You guys are right to say we don't know what's in his heart, and I agree. I can say that I'm pretty sure his heart's in the right place, he's just very narrow in his thinking and a bit immature in his attitudes. It's hard to take him seriously when he says things like that...

Believe me, I'm not a "hard-line conservative" Christian like I used to be, but there are plenty of hard-liners out there who know how to be loving and accepting of people without ridiculing them. Whenever I come across a pastor who enjoys ridiculing and belittling, I know it's time to find a new pastor... ;-)
(For the record: I don't believe that a pastor has to be perfect, just a good shepherd)...

There's definitely a place for ministry to "manly Christians" but I agree it shouldn't be at the expense of "nerdy Christians." Nothing positive comes from belittling someone.

Plus, there's nerdy women as well. Both single and not.

Plus, NOT every single person is in their 20-30s.

Because this somehow turned into how to be "manly" vs. "nerdy", just thought I'd add that, being a single christian geeky girl NOT in her 20-30s and all...

While I defiantly have geeky interest I wouldn't consider myself a geek. I think of myself more as a chameleon that's why my geeky side comes out more here.

But I also have a passion for working out like lifting weights, running, and playing volleyball

While I'm not that into sports (with the exception of Volleyball) if I'm at a friends house who's watching a game I know enough about sports that I can sit, watch and actually enjoy myself.

I also enjoy Disney and still watch Disney Channel Disney movies and going to Disneyland

So I guess that makes me manly geek with who's a child a heart? What would Driscoll think of me?

WhiteBoy wrote:There's definitely a place for ministry to "manly Christians" but I agree it shouldn't be at the expense of "nerdy Christians." Nothing positive comes from belittling someone.

I don't think being geeky or nerdy excludes you from being manly. (I personally think every guy should be manly.) I don't think being manly means you are really strong or like sports or any of that hoopla. What I think of being manly is being willing and able to protect and provide for your family, to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. To me it is less of an activity and more of a frame of mind. It is not something you do or feel, it is something you are or aren't.

DNArington wrote:

WhiteBoy wrote:There's definitely a place for ministry to "manly Christians" but I agree it shouldn't be at the expense of "nerdy Christians." Nothing positive comes from belittling someone.

I don't think being geeky or nerdy excludes you from being manly. (I personally think every guy should be manly.) I don't think being manly means you are really strong or like sports or any of that hoopla. What I think of being manly is being willing and able to protect and provide for your family, to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. To me it is less of an activity and more of a frame of mind. It is not something you do or feel, it is something you are or aren't.

I definitely agree. And as Rickster and Kate pointed out those groups intersect with all kinds of other demographics. I'm just saying there's nothing wrong with having a ministry focused on "manly Christians" and all the stereotypes that go with that just like there's nothing wrong with having a ministry that focuses on "geeky Christians" and all the things that stereotypically are associated with us geeks.