I suppose that it wouldn’t be as sensational to say that the videos didn’t get distributed, as it was for Driscoll to imply that Hybels wouldn’t let them be distributed. I wonder if Driscoll ever gets dizzy from all the spinning he does.

Hybels isn’t afraid of anything. The issue is only that Hybels made a statement or two acknowledging women’s role in church planting before he gave his speech. He didn’t say anything negative about Mark Driscoll.

No one on this forum is afraid of censorship. We have all seen Driscoll’s video already.

I found his name calling extremely offensive.

Why not let people have the video, and then make up their own minds? What is Hybles afraid of? Is the CBE in favor of censorship? We’ll see…

His success in ministry is due (in my opinion) to an almost perfect stage timing and acting presentation every Sunday. He has the rhetoric to draw in those who do not carefully evaluate what he says.

I find it particularly upsetting to see women come to our counseling ministry (members of his church or his satellite churches) who believe that if they only were more spiritual and submissive they would be able to solve all of the problems in their marriage and their bi-polar or chemical depression issues. (Leaders of his satellite church openly tell people not to take psychiatric medications and all of the churches in his group imply to women that it is their job to submit to heal the marriage).

In fact, his influence through Mars Hill and his associate churches is so powerfully negative on these issues that we as pastoral counselors have taken the step of actively telling our clients not to attend those churches. It is the only time in over 15 years that we have ever said that about another ministry since we deal with people from all denominations. The impact on women and families is all very sad.

Please take the time to do your homework.

Matthew 5:22 NASB
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother ,”Raca (meaning empty headed or good for nothing)shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say “You fool,” shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

I know that Pastor Driscoll did not call anyone a fool. But the name calling he does do in this video equates to calling people fools. I pray that he understands that this is not Christ like behavior.

Haven’t we discussed Driscoll before? I seem to recall a few months ago somebody posted a link here to a magazine article profiling his church. In the discussion afterwards, a member of his church posted a link to a sermon of his, and said it was filled with bad language, such as calling women “butch” and “whores” if they didn’t agree with his mysogynist worldview. I’m sorry, but I don’t consider him a man of God. There is no way in heck that you can tell me he is following the example of Jesus. The Son of God would NEVER have used language like that. And He sure didn’t alienate people He disagreed with, either. In fact, if you read the gospels, you find that the only people He did alienate were the ones He should have agreed with–the religous leaders. I, personally, think that Driscoll is no more than the Christian version of a shock jock–someone with the mindset of a teenager, who enjoys offending people just to annoy those who don’t like him. My opinion was reinforced after reading Mehta’s book. He heard pastors making similar comments and it disgusted him. He certainly had no desire to visit those churches again. I truly believe that Driscoll has no desire to reach out to people like Mehta, but simply wants to build an army of admiring followers so he can have the power to tell all those he hates “Screw you” and enjoy the attention that goes with it. (Sorry about the language, but given his own statements, I actually wanted to say something stronger.)

Leigh in #3 said:

This is a very interesting comment thread. It’s so refreshing (and I’m not using that term in a flippant way) to see an evangelical man stand up for women as equals in God’s creation.

That was my first thought, too! Finally. It’s about time a mainstream evangelical leader stood up for women, instead of just keeping silent and going along with the complementary mainstream. I find it very interesting that most of the
mega-churches in America are very careful not to talk about gender issues. I think they know darn well that if they did their large congregations would evaporate. People coming from non-churched backgrounds are simply not going to put up with the subordination of women in the name of religion, when the rest of society treats women equally. I see this as a very hopeful trend.

Getting back to Driscoll, I would love to know his thoughts about women like Priscilla, who helped Paul plant churches. Given his viewpoint, I’m sure he would find a way to downplay her role or dismiss her altogether.

I think that’s the point. If the top positions are reserved for males, it can convey the message that women are disqualified because they are female and that men can avoid some accountability there because they are male. That may not be the intention, but it seems to be an unnecessary risk. It can foster cynicism within women, particularly if one uses the Bible to reinforce that structure.

Driscoll was definitely addressing church planters in the video. It was presented to a diverse audience, including those who consider women qualified for church planting. This particular video does not seem to acknowledge this in any way, so it seems self-promoting. Moreover, the fact that Driscoll does not apparently portray women in a flattering light or in just an indirect fashion (eg. the serving and loving part), it detracts from the primary message. This seems typical of Driscoll’s communications, in my humble opinion, and is partly self-defeating. It also gives his strong complementarianism a bad name, as if it doesn’t already.

Driscoll’s blog post on the subject of the video comes across as though there was a conspiracy against him. Wouldn’t that seem self-absorbed by outsiders? What message does it send? Driscoll may be a good guy, but he may be undermining whatever good he does.