One of the most obnoxious things for me about contemporary evangelicalism has been the neo-masculinist movement of Mark Driscoll, John Piper, and others like them. I think it brings up a lot of things from my past. The reason I sought out a savior in the first place was because I was the opposite of macho. I have always resonated deeply to the vulnerability Paul expressed to the Corinthians: “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling” (1 Cor 2:3). What drove me out of the fellowship groups I joined in college was the way that all the people around me seemed so beautiful and confident. Their perfectly straight white teeth were like gates that barred me from seeing much of anything beneath the surface. I feel like today’s megachurchianity in its ethos of making Jesus attractive and contagious produces a particular vision of Christian manliness as “unflappable, decisive leadership.” If that’s what being a man is, I fail utterly. I have absolute confidence in God’s ability to work through me and show me how to help others find God’s vision for them, but zero confidence in my own ability to puff out my chest and show everyone else that I’m in charge. That’s why I’m always delighted to find teaching like San Francisco pastor Chuck DeGroat’s recent piece challenging men to lose the fear… of their vulnerability. Continue reading
