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")
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