I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. - John 10: 11 (ESV)
It was my sincere hope that the devotional earlier this week addressing the resignation of Mark Driscoll would put this sad saga to rest. Unfortunately, it seems now there are many coming out of the woodwork to denounce the treatment Mark Driscoll received. As if he is the victim in this story. I cannot begin to describe how saddening that is. There are over 7,000 sheep of God who have left Mars Hill Church because of the actions of Mark Driscoll. Many of which have never returned to a church. My sincere question is does anyone care about the sheep of God anymore?
Please do not hand me this nonsense about Driscoll's board clearing him. Anyone who has followed this story knows the real board of Mars Hill was forced out by Driscoll in 2007. He had his congregants shun some of them. He publicly maligned them. He then replaced them with sycophants. He replaced them with yes-men. So is it any wonder that in the midst of his resignation, this board cherry picked which of their findings to release, all of which paint Driscoll as the victim? The first released finding was that they felt nothing they investigated disqualified Driscoll from pastoral ministry. Are you serious? Please realize there was little to investigate. These are facts in the public record. Mark Driscoll is not denying the reality of any of them. These are the main charges, of which Driscoll has never apologized for.
1) Mark Driscoll took over $200,000 of tithe money to hire a company to cheat the New York Times to ensure his book became a "best seller." Conservative estimates place his personal profit in excess of a million dollars. Driscoll has apologized for using the company but not taking the tithes. The "board" said he was allowed to. Imagine standing in front of Christ trying to explain this one. It is beyond immoral. It is not a harmless indiscretion. I am tired of hearing people defend this. It is indefensible; especially in light of the fact that he refuses to admit he should not have used the tithe money of the sheep of God to promote his own book.
2) There is a sermon preached by Driscoll where he gleefully bragged about the people he had hurt for simply disagreeing with him. His exact quote was, "there is a pile of bodies behind the Mars Hill bus and by God's grace it will be a mountain by the time I am done." I have read the testimonies of these victims. People who were shunned by the church they loved. Their friends instructed by Driscoll and his leadership to no longer speak with them. People forced to sign non compete clauses so they could not serve in another church anywhere near the Pacific northwest after daring to leave Mars Hill. Women advised to not pursue school or work because they were taught they should stay at home and serve their husband. People lied about. People maligned. Personal attacks as petty as dealing with their weight issues; Driscoll saying he "did not care about his fat ass." The key verse today should remind us beloved that Jesus Christ died for us. Not just for Mark Driscoll. He bled and died on that cross for everyone of the "dead bodies" Mark Driscoll so callously ran over with his bus. Do we care about these sheep anymore?
3) Proven charges of plagiarism, not just in his last book but in every book he has ever written. Sure the publisher stood by him but is that the standard we set for our leaders? Plagiarism is theft! Do we understand that! It is stealing someone else's work and pretending it is your own! Do we even remember the Ten Commandments anymore?
There are plenty of other charges, all of which are public record. I urge people to visit wearemarshill.com and read the story of the real sheep behind the pile of dead bodies. These are the victims, not Mark Driscoll. I am tired of the pastor worship that exists in Christianity. Does anyone care about the sheep anymore? How can you look at this record and say anything in defense of Mark Driscoll? And please stop misusing the Bible to defend the indefensible. Taking the log out of my own eye is only relevant and applicable if I have been guilty of plagiarism, stole tithe monies, or abused people at the rate Mark Driscoll has. That is what those verses deal with - hypocrisy. Jesus never intended for us to abuse those verses to excuse pastors who mutilate the sheep and then preach happily about it!
I am worried when we start to worship the pastor instead of the Savior. Mark Driscoll was not assassinated. No one cast stones at him. No one crucified him. All people did was tell the truth and when those truths were compared to the Bible, it was clear he needed to step down. For the sake of the body of Christ. For the sake of the kingdom. For the sake of the bleeding sheep lying in the wake of Mark Driscoll's bus.
Does anyone care about the sheep of God anymore? I have heard arguments that because he was successful at building a church we should look the other way. I have heard arguments that because his preaching was generally solid we should look the other way. I have heard arguments that because it is such a difficult region to spread the Gospel we should look the other way. Let me say this. We have been looking the other way since these problems started in 2007 and that is why we are here today. No one dared stand up to Driscoll for the past seven years and the pile of bodies grew bigger and bigger. I might add here, let us not lose sight of the fact that his peers in the Acts 29 Church Network he founded, parted ways from him this year and publicly rebuked him. They tried to rely on the board and realized the board was completely compromised.
How else do you explain their findings? The three things I listed are not in dispute! They are public record! Most of the accusations of arrogant and belittling treatment are equally public record. This is not a he said-she said. This is a he said-he agreed-who cares? I care! Not for selfish reasons. Not for any sense of joy. I care because there are 7,000 plus sheep out there bleeding and watching people defend the man who ran them over with his bus! How can we not see this? Does anyone care about the sheep of God anymore?
Honestly. If an unknown pastor came to you and said they took $200,000 of tithe monies to game the system and make themselves a best seller; what would you think? Would you think they are fit to lead? Would you think they are disqualified? What if they said, "don't worry about it, my board said I was allowed to do it." Would that really matter to you? Wouldn't you assume that board has no value whatsoever? What if you then heard this unknown pastor referring to one of his pastors as "fat ass" and heard him comparing those who disagree with him with dead bodies? What would you think? Wouldn't you wonder why anyone would consider him a pastor at all? Would you first check the size of his church? Does that matter?
Then why does it seem to matter when it comes to Mark Driscoll? Because we know him. Because he was successful, had 14 campuses and 15,000 congregants. We fall again and again for the Warren model of churchianity that says size is somehow indicative of success. We start to worship the man instead of the God we serve. I can't come up with any other reason. Because the alternative is that the answer to that question I keep asking is "no." No one cares anymore about the sheep of God. That weighs my soul down so low, I cannot explain.
Pray for Mark Driscoll and his family. This is not about burying our wounded. Pray for the church he leaves behind and the pile of dead bodies he once was so happy about. Whatever you do though, stop pretending that Mark Driscoll is the victim here. Stop defending the indefensible. He was not a target of the media. He was not a victim of those who built him. He was not stoned to death by Christians who cannot see their own sins. He stole $200,000 of his own sheep's money. He abused many of the sheep he was entrusted with and bragged about it. He resigned because he should have. He resigned because of his actions and no one else's. By all means pray for him but stop trying to paint the abuser as the victim.
Rev. Anthony
