Stay at home dads


As per usual, Driscoll does not flinch from what he believes.
With all the namby pamby ‘lets water down the bible’ types around at the moment, I admire him for that.

I reckon if you are a lazy bum husband/father…who just cant be bothered providing for your family, you probably need a kick in the pants.

However there are many situations where grace and understanding is needed.

I can also think of plenty of fathers who for a whole raft of reasons look after their kids while their wife works. Me for 1!! Melinda has always chosen to work part time, and I generally look after the kids one day a week, have done from birth…and I love it. It is a privilege and a joy to be a part of their lives.

16 thoughts on “Stay at home dads”

  1. I don’t think that the godly response to “the namby pamby ‘lets water down the bible'” is to take a very specific, highly contentious interpretation of the bible, and decide that it is “biblical” and any other interpretation to be “unbiblical”.

    Driscoll has some fantastic things to say – but he also has an approach that comes across as being frighteningly legalistic for my mind. Maybe that makes me namby-pamby.

  2. we all think we are balanced Geoff….we cant all be right.

    I think Driscoll is a redress to some of the feminisation that has pervaded the church. Maybe like some of the other redresses he goes too far…maybe not.
    He does not think so…and he probaby does not think he is highly specific or legalistic. He does think his view is contentious…something he alludes to at the start.

  3. Wow – crazy clip! I must be completely namby-pamby!

    Whilst my wife & I practised what Driscoll stated, it certainly wasn't in this spirit which is straight up legalistic, plus I think it lacks biblical authenticity.

    1 Tim 5:8 does not mean man as in male, the word is gender neutral & the context is widows for goodness sake.

    If we are going to be this KJV literal then we better start greeting each other with a holy kiss & break out our widow's list as per Paul's instructions in 1 Tim 5!

    And don't get me going on this as a case for church discipline!!! Oh please!!

  4. Ha ha! I dont think you are that John!

    My comment about namby pamby was probably out of context in this case. I have been reading some blogs lately which have been (imho) severly denigrating the authority of the bible to speak into our lives on matters of faith and practice. So I admire Driscoll for standing up for the authority of the bible…even if his interpretation of it provokes discussion.

    Personally speaking, I agree with John on the interpretation of that scripture, I like the NLT wording of it, ” 8 But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.”

    However, let me be a DA (Driscoll Advocate) for a moment. If in a pastoral situation you were dealing with a husband who stayed at home playing his Wii all day, and refused to work, and the family was suffering because of his laziness, I think those issues in his life would need to be confronted.

  5. Oops shouldn't write stuff late at night especially on a Monday!

    I sound a bit ouchy in the light of day … anyway all good fun Mark!!

    On the lazy hubby – send the boys around 😉 … seriously there's absolutely no place for this sort of abdication of responsibility.

    Back to Driscoll – I have had very little contact with his material but is he always this provocative??

    I think one of the problems with the American church (& I'm not an American basher – I like them & their country) is that their enormous publishing ability gets them into trouble. What I mean is … they should publish all they like but some of it should never their shores.

    Thus Driscoll probably 'works' in his context but frankly we don't need that brand of fundamentalism in Australia.

    That's it for me for today!!

  6. no prob John….I like the discussion, and if you check out some of Driscolls stuff…there is some great stuff in there. He was recently in Sydney, and had some good and challenging things to say about our culture.

  7. I think he hit the nail on the head when he said that there are too many men out there thinking they’re Peter Pan and will always be boys, free of responsibility.

    I know a lot of Christian women who when looking for a spouse, are turned off by Christian men who are lazy, childish and unwilling to ever be fathers.

  8. Thanks Sarah, thats exactly what I think.
    anonymous….Jesus was and is the most powerful person in the world, he is also called and displayed as a fierce warrior in many places. He took the worst of what the enemey could dish out. No matter your interpretation of Revelation, it depicts Christ as one day returning as Judge…and a fierce one as that. (as well as the gospels portraying Him as welcoming children etc)
    And I dont agree with your assesment of his theology.

  9. I would love to let him loose on the dropkick husbands of a few women in our church who in their early thirties have thrown in the towel, abandoned their responsibilities as husbands, fathers, leaders and now spend their days on the couch whilst their incredibly forgiving wives work, run the household, raise the kids, and apologise everywhere for their useless men.

    I may not always agree with Driscoll [how can a man so smart buy into Reformed theology?], but I like his stand and deliver style. Even if you are offended he makes you think and respond.

  10. I don’t think I’d pay to listen to him. I agree men need to take responsibility, but seriously, his conception of manhood appears to be very sick. Jesus is the coming warrior king and one day we will reign with him. But until then, if we don’t get that the Christian life now is about living in the cross – self-giving love and sacrifice, shame for the name of Christ, death to self, we won’t see the other side of Christ. Guys who have given up on taking responsibility don’t get this, but it appears Driscoll doesn’t either. In between is the real world.

    By the way, why is his wife addressing men and why isn’t she wearing a head covering?

  11. Alex, those words about warrior King etc were mine…not Driscolls.

    I think it might pay to listen to a bit more of him before coming to those conclusions.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *