The always thought-provoking Richard Beck defends Mark Driscoll’s attempt to masculinize the church.

Here’s my point. People tend to confuse gender role interest and agenic
personality motives. If “Joe Six Pack” shows up at church and gets the
vibe that he “can’t be a man” what, exactly, does this mean? That to be
a Christian you can’t drink beer or go to Ultimate Fighter matches? It
seems to me that the feminine/child metaphors of Christianity are
pushing back against agenic strivings rather then stereotypical gender
interests. But this is not at all clear to many male believers. The two
issues–gender role interests and agenic motives–are often conflated.
This leads to a great deal of confusion about if “real guys” have a
place at church.

More from Beliefnet and our partners