Driscoll’s vulgar comments and explicit preaching style

Mark Driscoll, the highly controversial Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle Washington did an interview for the acclaimed “Family Life” radio program in May. The segment was interrupted mid way through the interview by Dick Bott, founder of the Bott Radio Network. Bott, who has one of the largest Christian Radio networks in the country, not only interrupted the program but also cancelled an additional upcoming interview with Driscoll and informed all stations in the Bott Network to cancel any programming that involved Driscoll and his ministry.
Bott made the decision to pull all programming involving Driscoll after viewing and reading numerous accounts of Driscoll’s vulgar comments and explicit preaching style. Just a few years ago Driscoll preached at an event in Edinburgh, Scotland where he shared in a message that he had once counseled a female who was a new Christian on how to pull down her husband’s pants and perform oral sex on him. Driscoll has stated from the pulpit more than once that oral sex is the duty of a Godly wife; and in his Scotland message stated that he spoke about the oral sex with this woman because she is a “repentant woman” who is “supposed to be a biblical wife.”
Driscoll is a published author, founder of Acts 29 Ministries, Pastor and a self-proclaimed “5 ½ point Calvinist” or a “Charismatic Calvinist” and is a forerunner in paving the way for what is being called the “Reformed Calvinistic” point of view.
During Driscoll’s Scotland sermon, which was titled “Sex, a study of the good bits from Song of Solomon”, he stated: “Men, I am glad to report to you that oral sex is biblical…the wife performing oral sex on the husband is biblical. God’s men said ‘Amen’?”
Driscoll then referred to a scripture from Song of Solomon when addressing the women in the audience. “Ladies, your husband’s appreciate oral sex. It’s biblical. It’s right here. “The fruit of her husband is sweet to her taste and she delights to be beneath him.”
From the pulpit and in his own blog, Driscoll uses edgy humor and graphic language to get the attention of his audience. He has also addressed the topics of sex toys, anal sex and nymphomania, stating that chapter 7 of Song of Solomon gives biblical justification for spouses stripping for each other. Driscoll has reportedly referred congregants to what he states is an online ‘Christian Nymphos’ page run by Christian women and also an online source for sex toys.
The Bott Network stands behind their right and decision to pull Driscoll from their stations. Though Bott is in full support of the “Family Life” show and its host Dennis Rainey, Bott stated that he could not trust what might come out of Driscoll’s mouth on the radio. “All I know is when a man behaves badly; he’s not a role model. And when a man’s mouth, you know, speaks of things that will embarrass people in the audience he certainly isn’t a gentleman.” (Ephesians 4:29)
Though Driscoll has numerous supporters for his bold style and rogue sense of humor, many Pastors and Christian organizations around the globe are concerned over the skewed biblical interpretations that Pastor Mark Driscoll is embracing and sharing via his ministry. Much of the sexual doctrine Driscoll extols on the congregation comes merely from Song of Solomon and his own worldly viewpoint.
Driscoll displays his viewpoint via a video series of services titled “Ask Anything”. As you view the videos, Pastor Driscoll begins with a caution and a rating of MH-17, for mature audiences only. He goes on to state that the topics basically come in two different categories, “offensive and really offensive”. Driscoll states that the topics are what some would consider vulgar but ‘pretty fun.’ He justifies the videos with the remark, “To be fair, we are in the least churched city in the nation, the services tend to include a lot of non-Christians and new Christians.” – As if the purported freedom to be vulgar is alright since he is attempting to reach out to non-Christians and those who are new to the faith.
Despite the controversy surrounding Driscoll he was named one of the top 50 most influential Christians in America by Zondervan this past year. For those unaware, the word influential means ‘to influence’ and according to Miriam Webster is defined as: an emanation of spiritual or moral force; corrupt interference with authority for personal gain.