Driscoll’s ministry borrowed the aggressive aesthetic of Fight Club

Evidence

Like many other evangelicals, Driscoll was a fan of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, but it was the movie Fight Club that more directly inspired his approach to ministry. He encouraged men to engage in theological sparring contests, and he goaded men in the audience to throw things at participants and mock men who were not adequately prepared or whose arguments were not sharp enough. Winners were crowned with a Viking helmet. Once, after preaching on manhood for over two hours, Driscoll challenged men to either recommit to the mission of the church or leave, “because you can’t charge hell with your pants around your ankles, a bottle of lotion in one hand, and a Kleenex in the other.” Driscoll then handed the men two stones, telling them God was “giving them their balls back to get the courage to do kingdom work.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 442

Categorization

• XREF: Du Mez’s method in action — a consumer culture artifact (Fight Club, secular Hollywood film) directly shaping church practice. Supports her claim that the source of this masculinity is commercial pop culture, not pulpit theology.