Misogynist Mark, World Class Attention Seeker

 So a thing happened this weekend.

If you are on Christian Twitter you already know.

For those who haven't gone down that time-consuming rabbit hole, here are a few links from other sources on the event.

From Baptist Global News (Egalitarian)

From Underdog Theology (Complementarian)

From The Wartburg Watch  (Not completely sure)

I shared these links with WenatcheeTheHatchet and he put in his two cents worth.

okay, fine, I'll briefly discuss a thing

Long and short, Mark Driscoll was kicked off a stage at the premier Tough Guy conference in Springfield, Missouri.

That's right, faux tough-guy Driscoll postured too big and too controversial for his friend, Pastor John Lindell of James River Church in Springfield. But it was Lindell who shut Mark down when Mark started dissing one of the circus acts presented, calling it something, something, spirit of Jezebel something.

For a video of Mark's shenanigans go to the Underdog Theology link above and start at about the 13 minute mark.

My blogging friend, Wenatchee, does not think misogyny is involved. which is I respectfully disagree with. While I often defer to Wenatchee on all things Driscoll because he actually went to and ministered at Mark's Mars Hill in Seattle, I can't agree on this one.

I tend to lean in the direction of Wendy Alsup (Complementarian) who also went to Driscoll's church and was part of the women's ministry there in Seattle back in the day. She had this to say about Mark's rant.

So Driscoll is at a testosterone infused giant grunt fest with a bunch of other guys. Somewhere that you think would be right up his alley. And he still manages to stir up controversy (because what better way to draw attention to yourself) and to blame women and their sexuality in the form of the Jezebel Spirit for some entertainment he didn't like.

Whether that entertainment was appropriate or not (probably not) I won't get into.

But rather, I want to point out that, for men like Driscoll to build power, he has to have an enemy. He has to vilify someone. And for him, the easy target is women who don't kowtow to him.

As far as the Jezebel Spirt is concerned, I've said this before, I'll say it again.

If you look as the Jezebel spirit as representing a controlling, manipulating, dominating person, Mark is the most guilty man I know of displaying the Jezebel spirit.

If, rather (or in addition to) you look at the Jezebel spirit as being about sexual immorality, again, Mark Driscoll is the most guilty man in the room, whatever room he is in. HE is the one who raped and pornified The Song of Solomon. HE is the one who was telling women that they needed to do strip teases and perhaps even pole dancing for their husbands. He is the one who instructed women that Jesus commanded them to service their husband's orally. He is the one who worked tirelessly to convince women that their primary job was to be personal porn stars for their husbands.

Yes, I have strong feelings about this. Besides anger, I have a great sorrow over how masterfully Mark manipulates and finds opportunity to promote himself and his books (yes he has a book on Elijah and Jezebel where he fancies himself as Elijah). I have friends who have been taken in by his charm and charisma. I am wary of what I will find them saying on Facebook. I am not looking forward to seeing how they have been deceived by his treachery.

But I am thankful for the voices that continue to point out who and what Driscoll is, which definitely isn't Elijah.

[Note #1: I don't get into this calling out spirits of Jezebel and Ahab business. I'm just tired of men with agendas doing it. The post above is just me lamenting Driscoll's terrible log/splinter problem. He has no basis, authority, or credibility to do so. But he's too determined to be front and center in the lime light to do anything else other than stir up controversy and betray friends at their own conferences in front of thousands of people. He can't help himself.

Note #2: I understand Wenatchee not wanting to go there concerning calling Mark a misogynist. He's never been on the receiving end of misogyny and so it's just not a priority. He also steers away from terms like narcissist for his own good reasons. I still respect and seek his insight because it is always well thought out.]

Good Post on Jezebel Spirit

Wordgazer's Words has a very good post on the frightening rise of a false teaching concerning Jezebel. The teaching is nothing short of modern day witch hunts minus the literal burning (though the spiritual, emotional, and psychological burning are very much present).

The "Jezebel Spirit" Teaching

Church beware of this slippery slope.

Scapegoating Women...

... i.e. blaming Jezebel.

Here's a video that lays out how misogyny is scapegoating women using the dreaded "JEZEBEL" label to vent their hate and how men shouldn't be doing that.
Also, It's by a man which is over the top refreshing to me.

Don't Blame Jezebel

What Is Feminism? What Are Its Waves?

As noted many places besides here, Feminism has become the dirty F-word of the Evangelical world. It has become the scapegoat of all that is wrong with modern society. And there are men and women who are in active witch hunts for that Jezebel, Feminism in order to discredit it and destroy its hold on our culture.

These witch hunters don't get it.
Feminism is not the main thing that is ripping apart American families. Feminism, like everything else, is not all black or all white. It will neither destroy nor save the world. It has good points. It also has bad points. But the point is not to try to destroy it or promote every part of it.
The point is to understand it, recognize where you agree with it and where you disagree with it rather than to just mindlessly declare it evil like Hitler going after the Jews.

Okay, rant over.
Now you can go to the link that talks intelligently about Feminism, it's different waves and what they mean.

The F-Word: Why Feminism Is Not the Enemy

Jezebel Castration of Men

Catches your attention, doesn't it?

I sure did catch my attention when I saw it in the key word search of my stats.

There is either some vindictive female or scared-to-death male out searching the connection between Jezebel and castration. And somehow it has led them to my blog. Crazy.

It's crazy that anyone would ever search for such a connection. After all, the Jezebel mentioned in Revelation isn't interested in castrating men. She's interested in leading men (and women) into fornication. Last I heard, it's easier to lead uncastrated men into this than the castrated ones.

The crazy things people search.

Who Is Jezebel?

Well, for starters there are two listed in the Bible.

I wrote a post sometime back concerning the one mentioned in Revelation:
Did You Hear the One about Jezebel?

But the blog post I'd really like to direct you to is the one by Libby Anne who is examining Debi Pearl's Created to Be His Helpmeet (CTBHH).

Libby does a good job of reigning Debi in on a few outlandish assumptions that she makes about the two Jezebels mentioned in scripture:
CTBHH: The Jezebel Type

Jezebel is another woman that is judged from the depravity of hierarchy rather than from a level place of logic, justice, and reason. Yes, both Jezebels are guilty of certain things. But what they are truly guilty of is completely lost because of church hierarchy agendas.

Did You Hear the One About Jezebel?

I'm sure you have. Everyone has.
There is nothing that strikes fear into the hearts of men more than the dreaded "SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL"!!!

And everyone knows what that spirit is. It is a controlling spirit, found most often in women, that has the ability to castrate men and turn them into sniveling little Ahabs, the wimpy, less-than-a-man, a man to be hated and pitied for not having enough testosterone to fight his way out of a paper bag.

But here is the problem.

When you actually look at the spirit of Jezebel, it is not about a controlling woman at all. It is about a woman who teaches people to sin.

Revelation 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

One of the things the spirit of Jezebel teaches is fornication or pornography. I know this because when I looked up "acts of immorality" in the original Greek in a Strong's Concordance the Greek word used is the word we get both fornication and pornography.

So instead of the spirit of Jezebel being this awful, man-hating, male-castrating feminist spirit, it is actually more along the lines of a Play Boy, Hustler, pornography spirit that entices and exploits human sexuality and promotes prostitution and human trafficking.

The spitting hell-fire and brimstone preachers who warn against this Spirit of Jezebel have it all wrong. They don't know what they are talking about. They are preaching the superstitions of men, the witch-burning kind, and using scriptures that they ought to be applying to the porn problem that is running rampant in churches today.