The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill - Christianity Today Podcast

What does the church need to learn about the Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll Fallout?

With the popularity of the podcast from Christianity Today titled, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill”, the question is whether it’s needless gossip or an open door for the church to learn about celebrity Christian culture and spiritual abuse. Mars Hill was like a comet, appearing in the sky bright enough for all to see, and then vanishing quickly.

When the scandal involving Ravi Zacharias broke in 2020, I thought it was important for the church to speak openly about it for a few reasons. First, we needed to assure the victims that we would stand with them, hear their stories, and help them seek restitution. Secondly, the church has to learn from this. What were the warning signs that we missed? How can a culture of abuse be ignored by many who should have spoken up?

The Mars Hill Story in similar in that the church needs to learn and victims need to be treated with compassion. With Mars Hill the cult of celebrity Christianity was rampant. I remember Mark Driscoll saying, “I am the brand.” The internet brings the opportunity to take a spiritual gift and broadcast it to the world. If we have a gifted 25 year old leader, then certainly we should put the online and let them share their message with as many people as possible.

If I’m honest, I get the allure. I’d love for one of my YouTube videos to go “viral.” To believe that I have a special gift to minister to the world. But are the spiritual gifts that God has given me for the world? Or are they for the local body of believers which I am called to be an active participant in? It’s only through the internet that I would have this debate (though certainly other forms of mass media brought the possibility of broadcasting a message, now anyone with a phone and data connection could go global with a message).

James gives me a warning about my ambition for leadership and teaching:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1, ESV)

Church authority is important. Godly church leadership is vital. We stand under God knowing that we are ultimately accountable to Him. I can certainly relate to the rebuke the Lord gave to Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch: “And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not...”” (Jeremiah 45:5, ESV)

The results of Mars Hill were undeniable. Lives were being changed. People were being baptized. On the podcast a number of interviewees mentioned how they would overlook issues by saying, “But look at the fruit.” Mark Driscoll has an incredible confidence. The certainly of his calling, the bravado, the epic statements, the war analogies were incredibly compelling, especially for young men. Who wouldn’t want to be on the bus that’s moving with clarity to build God’s Kinddom? Even if that bus is planning on running over lots of people in the process. They must have been the wrong people anyway, right? The bus was on it’s way to 50,000 members!

When a church or ministry makes numbers the goal, it can easily crowd out an original godly vision. Bigger is better, more is better. Now the emphasis is on grabbing more churches and more congregants. And the bus was indeed running over people.

What are some of the warning signs of abuse spiritual leadership? One of the major components was the consolidation of power in fewer and fewer people. As the church grew, less people had a voice in the decision making. Also, a senior pastor who was not under any authority. This is especially an issue when we are taking young men in their 20s, throwing them into leadership due to their gifts, and always letting external fruit be the marker of their spiritual leadership.

One other area of abusive leadership that sticks out to me was the continual usage of something to the effect of, “God told me (x)” therefore we should (y)”. These were rarely Scriptural messages, rather a leader using his own personal communion with God as the trump card for all decision making. For example, when Driscoll finally resigned from Mars Hill, he said that God told him a trap was set for him and therefore he had to leave.

How do we determine whether a leader’s “God told me… and therefore you should all do…” language is legitimate. This is a serious challenge that forces us to stay in the Scriptures and use discernment. The major warning sign here should have been the lack of humility and submission to any leadership.

The podcast played a number of clips from sermons and workshops along with witness testimonies. The major pushback here would be the issue of context. We are not always given full context, so it can be easy to assume what you hear in the clips is what it was always like. That is most likely not the case, and we are hearing some of the worst of the worst. Driscoll was like a shock jock radio jockey who wanted to stir the pot and shock the crowd. It was certainly good for business to get youtube views and podcast listens.

One point of reflection for me from the podcast, was the issue of sharing stories. When we share ministry stories, who is the hero? When we share personal stories from the pulpit, are they to magnify Christ and the work that God is doing? Or do they build up my own reputation and a hero myth. For a lot of the stories shared on the podcast, they were accomplishing the latter. This is a serious warning sign for leadership. I love John the Baptist’s attitude about Christ’s growing ministry, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). May that ever be my attitude.