This Must be The End - Mark Driscoll

Felicia and I visited Mars Hill Church in Seattle in 2005 when we were starting to consider church planting in Vancouver.

Mars Hill Ballard (at the time), met in a retro fitted warehouse. It had a very cool vibe and was filled with young people. The worship I think was good - but I can't remember it now.
Mark Driscoll spoke on an unpopular passage of Judah and Tamar from Genesis 38.
I remember that Driscoll made a remark that women should not go to night-clubs because they are at risk for assault there. The way he said it sounded like he was insinuating it was their own fault if they were assaulted.

After that visit, I kept track of Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll. There seemed to be no stopping them. They continued to grow and expand at an incredible rate. Driscoll was writing a lot of books and speaking in a lot of places.

In 2007 two popular elders were fired when they voiced disagreement with a new governance structure which centralized the power to Mark and I think 2 other executive elders - so now this mega church was being run by basically 3 people. This is where I think things began to go off track. Focused on growth and success, the church seemed to jettison other things such as humility and sacrifice.

In the past 3 years there has been a series of scandals that culminated in a "peaceful protest" outside one of the church locations a couple of weeks ago.
Many of the scandals are documented elsewhere, so I don't really need to list them again - just google Mark Driscoll and they will all pop up.

My assessment is that we are witnessing the final climax of an extended period of institutional spiritual abuse from this church. Church leadership at Mars Hill has been shown to be controlling and deceptive for years now.

This kind of behavior has a shelf life before it comes out of suppression. Spiritual abuse and religious authoritarianism happens a lot in all forms of organized religion. Psychological manipulation and abuses of power occur not just in religion, but anywhere where human beings organize themselves: business, schools, etc.

What is unique here is the breadth and depth of the dysfunctional behavior. Mars Hill is a big church that meets over several states. The fall out is massive - it is not confined to some small local congregation somewhere. The abuse also is linked to someone who at one time was a leading voice in evangelicalism. I don't believe Driscoll is getting very many invites to speak anymore or is being commissioned to write any more books. This is the end of one chapter of his ministry.

Today I found out that the church planting organization that Driscoll FOUNDED has now removed his church from their membership and the board has unanimously asked for Driscoll's removal from ministry for a period of time.

Here's the link:

 http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/a-message-from-the-board-of-acts-29-concerning-mark-driscoll-and-mars-hill-church/

This is unbelievable. The board of his former organization - men that he had worked with very closely, some of whom he had even appointed - have now in concert accused Driscoll of no longer being fit for ministry.

(Note - Mars Hill has responded by saying they were never contacted prior to the announcement from Acts 29 and are disappointed with the "divisive" decision. They also called the letter "friendly fire". There is no acknowledgment of any wrong doing on their part. I guess if you embrace a false narrative long enough, truth can no longer enter into it).

Wow. This must be the end.
The writing is not just on the wall but on blog posts, web-sites and discussion boards across America.

What we can learn from all of this is that the ends can no longer justify the means when it comes to fulfilling Jesus' mission on earth. 
Growth of our churches cannot happen by using worldly methods deprived of the Spirit's leading.
The celebrity pastor is a ridiculous contradiction which must come to an end.
Pastors are servants and shepherds, not rock stars.

The end has come for church as big business.
It is time to confess, repent and humble ourselves.
Paying a marketing company $200 000 to make your book a best seller does not make Jesus famous, it makes the church look duplicitous.
Diverting funds away from your global fund to start more churches in America is deceptive.

The events at Mars Hill have forced the church in America to look in the mirror and question our techniques and strategies.
Is big always best?
Does more people and more money always equal the blessing of God?
Mars Hill teaches us absolutely not.

As I write this I am reflecting on my motives.
Am I writing to malign or slander Driscoll or his church?
No - that has been done by much more force by others more closely connected to it.

I think I am finally sharing my thoughts out of a deep sense of sadness.
Mark Driscoll entered the ministry with a desire to share Jesus Christ with those who don't know Christ.
He has done that extremely well - I am sure there are thousands of people in the kingdom as a result of Dricoll's obedience to that call.
But, my sadness is in the fact that he was unable to diagnose the start of the cancer and the blindness that made him incapable of seeing what was happening through his ministry.
An inability to see people being deeply deeply hurt through the authoritarianism and power that was happening in the church.

And I have a sadness for the the church in America. This affects us all. We should all be saddened by the fact that the incredible impact Mars Hill could have had has now been sharply stunted. Mars Hill could have gone down in history as one of the most significant movements of the early 21st Century. But now sadly, Driscoll's legacy will forever be tied to these series of scandals.

It is a time for sadness and repentance.

And I believe it is the end of this chapter of Dricoll's ministry.