Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. - Proverbs 28: 13 (ESV)
The empire that was Mars Hill Church continues to unravel before Mark Driscoll's eyes. It never gives me pleasure to point out what is false in the church. My preference would be for all men to realize their error and correct them. That all men claiming the mantle of Christianity support the one true Gospel. Until that point of unity however, the Bible compels me to expose false teachers according to Titus 1:9. I sometimes do not get folks who just want to keep keeping on. Who are concerned about how they will be seen if they dare to speak the truth, even if that truth is that someone is false. For me it is always about the sheep not the shepherd. I pray the shepherd wakes up and repents but I am far more concerned about the sheep that sit under the false teaching. One look at the case involving Mars Hill Church and we see why. I urge people to go to welovemarshill.com and read the horrifying, cult-like tendencies people experienced under the leadership of Mark Driscoll. These are the sheep of God who love him and were abused badly by the man who was in charge of shepherding them. Stand up for these people. Make them your concern.
To recap. Mark Driscoll built Mars Hill Church into the mega church it is now with 14 satellite locations. He was one of the brash young gun pastors trained in the Warren purpose driven model where Mark was the CEO. Driscoll however had an edge to his teaching. A welcomed edge. He was no nonsense about sin. He was for the most part on point and seemed to genuinely care about the cause of Christ. I certainly do not think that Mark Driscoll started out false. The problem is that on his journey he ended up there. His preaching became more and more arrogant. He started enforcing a false authority paradigm that many preachers today enforce. Soon he forced out the people he started the church with and because he makes people sign non disclosure forms, they could not speak out or risk losing whatever severance he was willing to give them.
As time wore on his teaching seemed to become sex obsessed and he often used the pulpit for topics better reserved for personal counseling. He started gaining criticism for his use of profanity which he seemed to relish as opposed to be convicted of. Anyone who dared stand up to him or question anything about leadership was summarily ostracized from the Mars Hill Community. One such person was brutalized by Driscoll in a letter he sent to congregants explaining how they needed to shun this former brother at Mars Hill. The large the church grew the larger his ego grew. He was caught in a sermon saying that there are only two choices. You either get on the bus or you get run over by the bus. He said some people want to stand in the way of the Mars Hill bus and they are going to get run over. Some want to drive the bus and they are going to get thrown off. He went on to brag that there is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus and by God's grace it will be a mountain when he is done. To this date he has not apologized for these comments. The problem is some of those bodies weren't quite dead and they are doing some talking.
They are retelling stories of an abusive pastor who had no accountability. Women forced into subservient roles, only there to sexually please their husbands and raise children. A network of groups set up to keep people in line, not to have them grow. People with legitimate reasons for leaving who were then shunned by the people they thought were their friends at the direction of Mark Driscoll. Then there were the accusations of plagiarism, which have been correctly verified. More recently, Driscoll became a NY Times bestseller, which profited him over one million dollars. That would be fine until it was discovered that he stole over 200K from tithe monies to pay a company to game the system and ensure he ended up on the best seller list. He cheated in other words, using money he stole from his sheep. To this day he has yet to apologize or even acknowledge what he did was wrong. He puts out videos where he tries to sound pious but he takes no accountability for his own actions. He has preached that he is actually the victim here. Then the website opened from the members run over by the bus and recently a Facebook group has been started as well. All in all, it has been a bad year for Driscoll as he has seen attendance drop precipitously as people are running from this church as fast as they can. Hemorrhaging money and congregants, Driscoll tried another video last week but it apparently is falling on deaf ears because there is no substance to them. Today the other shoe dropped when the Acts 29 Network, which Driscoll founded, sent him a letter disassociating themselves from him. The letter they sent Pastor Driscoll is quite telling and supports everything that we have said for the past few years:
"Mark,
As the Board of Acts 29, we are grateful to God for the leadership, courage, and generosity of both you and Mars Hill in not only founding the network but also sustaining it through the transition to this board three years ago. The very act of giving away your authority over the network was one of humility and grace, and for that we are grateful.
Over the past three years, our board and network have been the recipients of countless shots and dozens of fires directly linked to you and what we consider ungodly and disqualifying behavior. We have both publicly and internally tried to support and give you the benefit of the doubt, even when multiple pastors in our network confirmed this behavior.
In response, we leaned on the Mars Hill Board of Advisors & Accountability to take the lead in dealing with this matter. But we no longer believe the BoAA is able to execute the plan of reconciliation originally laid out. Ample time has been given for repentance, change, and restitution, with none forthcoming. We now have to take another course of action.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, we are now asking you to please step down from ministry for an extended time and seek help. Consequently, we also feel that we have no alternative but to remove you and Mars Hill from membership in Acts 29. Because you are the founder of Acts 29 and a member, we are naturally associated with you and feel that this association discredits the network and is a major distraction.
We tell you this out of love for you, Mars Hill, Acts 29, and most significantly, the cause of Christ, and we would be irresponsible and deeply unloving not to do so in a clear and unequivocal manner. Again, we want you to know that we are eternally thankful for what you as a man and Mars Hill as a church have meant to our network. However, that cannot dissuade us from action. Instead, it gives added significance and importance to our decision. We hope and pray that you see this decision as the action of men who love you deeply and want you to walk in the light--for your good, the good of your family, and the honor of your Savior.
Shortly after sending this, we will be informing the members of Acts 29, your Board of Advisors and Accountability, and your elders, as well as putting out a public statement on the Acts 29 website. It brings us no joy to move forward in this direction, and we trust that the Lord will be at work in all of this.
In sorrow and with hope,
The Board of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network"
Thank God someone is still willing to take a stand for Christ even if it is uncomfortable and unpopular. Their request that Driscoll step down and seek help is echoed here. Their point is correct - it would be unloving to stand by and do nothing. That is why I do not understand the kumbya crowd. How phenomenal would it be for Joel Osteen to give his heart to Christ and start preaching the Gospel? That will never happen if we are so unloving of him and his sheep that we never tell him he is wrong. The same goes for Mark Driscoll. It is time to think about God and not yourself. It is time to step down and step back. Seek God and let Him heal you. Take ownership of the things you have done and seek forgiveness. I for one would immediately call for forgiveness for anyone genuinely repentant because that is what Christ does for us and I am no better than anyone else.
Take a look around you Mark. No one has hijacked you bus. No one wants to steal your bus. The problem is you are driving it off a cliff and looking for people to hold your hand on the way down and tell you everything is going to be OK. Meanwhile, people are jumping out the back door trying to save themselves before you go off the deep end. It is time to stop, get off the bus and turn over the keys to someone responsible. The key verse cannot be clearer. He who tries to hide his sins will not prosper but he who confesses and forsakes them will find mercy. I pray you find that mercy Pastor Mark. I really do.
Rev. Anthony.
