Mark Driscoll over at the Resurgence blog is the founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and does a bunch of other ministry stuff. He and his three young sons were watching an Ultimate Fighting contest the other day "in conjunction with our Old Testament Bible studies," he says in his blog. The brutal no-holds-barred fights have become popular Spike TV broadcasts in recent years.
These mixed martial arts competitions are also called Pride Fighting. "The gist of a fight is now pretty simple. Two guys of similar weight get into a ring and beat the Holy Spirit out of one another in short, five-minute rounds," Driscoll explains.
"Because I am a Christian pastor, I now need to find something that connects all of this to being a Christian. So, I'll just say that while young men are watching tough men compete, the reason they don't go to most churches is because they could take the pastor and can't respect a guy in a lemon-yellow sweater, sipping decaf and talking about his feelings."
Well Mark, we've found your perfect pastoral ideal. Meet Pastor Ntumi (see photo above of Ntumi and one of his Ninja lieutenants).
Ntumi, whose real name is Frederick Bintsamou, led a savage guerrilla war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 10 years, but now has become part of the government's peace and reparations ministry in return for disbanding his militia.
His ex-fighters, who call themselves Ninjas, are a "semi-religious group" still feared even though they've laid down their arms.
Pastor Ntumi, who is described in news reports as "a Protestant clergyman," has probably never watched Spike TV's Ultimate Fighting Championship (although the capital Brazzaville does get satellite TV reception). On the other hand, Seattle magazine has named Driscoll as one of the twenty-five most powerful people in Seattle.
But in a Texas death match, I'll bet Pastor Ntumi could "take" Rev. Driscoll, whether he's wearing a lemon-yellow sweater or not.
(I suspected there was a militant aspect to the "Mars" in Mars Hill, but I had no idea....Sheesh!)
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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Web: The Fist of Fellowship
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3 comments:
I doth protest, I take my latte fully caffenated!
But more seriously, to argue that pastors have to be more macho to attract people to the church may work -- to some extent -- but in so doing do we undermine the Gospel! Of Course Driscoll believes that women belong in the home and not in the pulpit!
I've gotta confess, I'm a mixed martial arts fan, too. There are a couple of well known fighters (Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Joe Stevenson) who are pretty outspoken believers. In fact, Hughes was once described as " the nicest person you'll ever meet who can beat you to death).
Not sure what to do with that, but it was interesting...
TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION FILE
Driscoll brags about beating up his elder pastors:
http://riseandfallofmarshill.blogspot.com/2008/01/marks-anger-with-those-who-oppose-him.html
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