Pastor Mark Driscoll has been booted off a church conference stage after calling out the event’s opening act for featuring a “strip-show-like” performance.
The incident occurred last week at the Stronger Men’s Conference, hosted by James River Church in Springfield, Missouri, where Driscoll was set to preach on, “How to be an Elijah and how to deal with Ahab and Jezebel.”
As he took to the stage, Driscoll explained that his voice was hoarse because he had been up all night, burdened and praying for the conference attendees.
“I want to be very careful with this,” Driscoll said after kneeling on the stage. “It’s not what I want to say, but the Jezebel spirit has been here.
“The Jezebel spirit opened our event.
“This is a rebuke and a correction of no one,” he said. “This is an observation.
“Before the Word of God was opened, there was a platform — it was a high place. On it was a pole — an Asherah. The same thing that’s used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men.
“In front of that was a man who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club. That man then ascended.”
He continued: “See, our God is not arrogant. He doesn’t ascend. Our God is humble he descends. And then he swallowed a sword, and Jesus Christ–“
Driscoll was then interrupted mid-sentence.
“You’re out of line, Mark,” John Lindell, pastor of James River Church is heard shouting from off-stage.
“You’re done,” he added.
Driscoll replied, “OK. Pastor John, I’ll receive that.” Driscoll then collected his Bible from the pulpit and walked off stage.
The crowd then began to boo, before chanting, “Bring him back!”
Pastor Lindell then took to the stage, explaining that Mark should have spoken to him first, citing Mattew 18:15, which says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”
“I talked to Mark for a half-hour,” Lindell said. “There was not one word of that.
“He’s out of line. If he wanted to say it, he can say it to me. You may not agree with me, you may not agree with him, but we are brothers in Christ and there’s a right way to handle disagreement.
“And I’m just telling you, I’m not going to sit back and watch somebody do publicly what they should have done privately, and as a pastor and a man of God I’ll call another man of God out.
“I love Mark, but he was out of line,” Lindell said.
Video of the incident has been uploaded to social media, with many supporting Driscoll’s actions, arguing that public wrongs require public reactions, as per Paul’s rebuke of Peter in Galatians 2:14.
You can watch below and judge for yourselves:
