For a long time I have watched the "Christian celebrity" phenomenon blast off before it eventually crash landed on top of the American evangelical church. What this celebrity phenomenon illustrates, among many things, is that evangelicalism as a whole has very little spiritual discernment. We want 'results' even when it means succumbing to worldliness, pragmatism, or you fill in the blank. We desperately want to be viewed as relevant, hip, innovative, and successful.
In this vein, Phil Johnson wisely notes- Dr. Trueman is right to point out that it is a uniquely American evangelical phenomenon to foster these cults of celebrity and to encourage each wave of superstars to push the limits of sobriety and propriety further than the last superstar did. American evangelicalism has become a large jingoistic freak show. Sadly, some of today's evangelicals seem to think that's something to gloat about. The Evangelical church seems more than willing to justify questionable behavior and/or salacious speech if the person or church in question are popular enough.
Before I get into that issue let me first say this. As in all areas of life it is very difficult not to fall into an "extremist ditch" when fleshing out the Christian faith. For example, some envious "no name" pastors have been hypercritical of any "well known" pastor, any "best-selling" Christian author, and every local church larger than their own. It comes as no surprise then that these same jealous critics have been skeptical of even the most orthodox of mega conferences such as Together for the Gospel, Ligonier Conference, or the Shepherds' Conference.
Though many examples could be given to justify my opening remarks for the sake of this post I want to focus my attention on but one "evangelical celebrity." Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church. According to Wikipedia, "Mars Hill Church is a Christian megachurch based in Seattle, Washington and with 15 locations in 5 U.S. states.[1] Services are offered at its 15 locations; the church podcasts content of weekend services, as well as conferences on the Internet[2] with more than 260,000 sermon views online every week.[3] In 2012 approximately 14,000 people attended services at Mars Hill Church locations every week.[4] As of November, 2013, Mars Hill had 6,568 actual members."
F) This next few articles highlight various patterns of sin in the life of this very influential and popular leader. Read this CT story and this disturbing article by an unbelieving skeptic.
On the other hand, quite a few Christians believe popularity equals not only "success" but also ministry "fruitfulness." People in this camp often assume that big buildings and large crowds validate someone's theology (note 1 Corinthians 1-2) as well as their ministry methodology (note 1 Corinthians 3-4). Popularity and fame have provided certain choice "evangelical celebrities" and/or mega churches a free pass on valid critiques from within the larger body of Christ. From the Elephant Room debacle to you fill in the blank. After all, "God must be blessing so and so." "Look at how fast his church has grown!" "Look how many books they've sold." "Look how many unchurched people attend there satellite services; etc, etc." Pastor Jerry Wragg and Dr. Carl Trueman have voiced some of these same concerns here and here. Dr. David Wells also addresses this problem in his classic work, The Courage To Be Protestant: Truth lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World.
Though many examples could be given to justify my opening remarks for the sake of this post I want to focus my attention on but one "evangelical celebrity." Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church. According to Wikipedia, "Mars Hill Church is a Christian megachurch based in Seattle, Washington and with 15 locations in 5 U.S. states.[1] Services are offered at its 15 locations; the church podcasts content of weekend services, as well as conferences on the Internet[2] with more than 260,000 sermon views online every week.[3] In 2012 approximately 14,000 people attended services at Mars Hill Church locations every week.[4] As of November, 2013, Mars Hill had 6,568 actual members."
The following real life examples (see below) highlight why Mark Driscoll has never been my theological "homeboy." These examples also help explain why for many years now I have encouraged Christians and young pastors to find better examples, more reliable podcast heroes, and a more biblical ministry model (note 1 Corinthians 11:1).
As genuine Christians consider this mountain of public evidence, that has been presented against Mark Driscoll, they must ask themselves if this very influential leader is truly qualified to continue serving in the office of pastor-teacher/elder in any local church (per the non-negotiable qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1).
Providentially, the following monumental decision was made by the leaders of Acts 29, as I was editing this very article. This decision is a brave move by Pastor Matt Chandler and the leaders of Acts 29. Having said that, as many church leaders and laymen have been saying for years now this decision was a long time coming. Why did it take these brothers in Christ so long to come to this decision? Why did John Piper ever ask Mark Driscoll to come and preach at his very influential pastors' conference?
Pastor Phil Johnson has already responded to this breaking news with the following inside commentary, "I sincerely hope this is something more than a PR stratagem based on which way the wind is currently blowing. Here's what disturbs me most about the recent revelations regarding the history of Mars Hill: It is now absolutely clear that by 2004 or earlier (years before I ever said anything critical about Mark Driscoll) many on the board of Acts 29 and dozens of Driscoll's colleagues in leadership had full knowledge of his most disqualifying character flaws. They tolerated and even encouraged his abusive behavior. In fact, when Driscoll was at the peak of his popularity, many of these men were the main consiglieri who provided cover for some of the secret sins that are now being exposed.
At the time, slanderous and purposely insulting posts about critics were posted on the Acts29 web site, written by top Acts 29 leaders, aimed at those who were trying to point out some of the very issues the Acts 29 leaders are now shocked--SHOCKED, I say--to find coming to light.
Let's hope and pray that the way ahead for Acts29 as an organization involves deeper and more fundamental corrective changes than merely the dismissal of Mark Driscoll."
As genuine Christians consider this mountain of public evidence, that has been presented against Mark Driscoll, they must ask themselves if this very influential leader is truly qualified to continue serving in the office of pastor-teacher/elder in any local church (per the non-negotiable qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1).
Providentially, the following monumental decision was made by the leaders of Acts 29, as I was editing this very article. This decision is a brave move by Pastor Matt Chandler and the leaders of Acts 29. Having said that, as many church leaders and laymen have been saying for years now this decision was a long time coming. Why did it take these brothers in Christ so long to come to this decision? Why did John Piper ever ask Mark Driscoll to come and preach at his very influential pastors' conference?
Pastor Phil Johnson has already responded to this breaking news with the following inside commentary, "I sincerely hope this is something more than a PR stratagem based on which way the wind is currently blowing. Here's what disturbs me most about the recent revelations regarding the history of Mars Hill: It is now absolutely clear that by 2004 or earlier (years before I ever said anything critical about Mark Driscoll) many on the board of Acts 29 and dozens of Driscoll's colleagues in leadership had full knowledge of his most disqualifying character flaws. They tolerated and even encouraged his abusive behavior. In fact, when Driscoll was at the peak of his popularity, many of these men were the main consiglieri who provided cover for some of the secret sins that are now being exposed.
At the time, slanderous and purposely insulting posts about critics were posted on the Acts29 web site, written by top Acts 29 leaders, aimed at those who were trying to point out some of the very issues the Acts 29 leaders are now shocked--SHOCKED, I say--to find coming to light.
Let's hope and pray that the way ahead for Acts29 as an organization involves deeper and more fundamental corrective changes than merely the dismissal of Mark Driscoll."
A) The following clip illustrates MD's Charismatic theology in action. In this "sermon" Driscoll talks about his gift of prophesy. This "revelation" was allegedly given by the Holy Spirit to Pastor Mark so he could "help" struggling counselees.
Mark Driscoll's 'Pornographic Divination' video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVyFyauE4ig
Phil Johnson's commentary sums it up very well.
B) This next MD article talks about how Mark got his explicit marriage/sex book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
Tim Challies provides a great review of this book here and Denny Burk gives a gracious but thoughtful review of Real Marriage here. I have a problem with both the explicit language and the manner in which Mark got his book on top of the New York Times bestseller list ($250,000 dollars is a lot of money).
C) The next few articles highlight Mark's 'bad boy' reputation. For a while people actually referred to him as the "Cussing Pastor." Read here, here, here, here, and here.
D) The next few articles describe the way Mark Driscoll has sinfully exploited the Song of Solomon. Some have label this craze, "the pornification of the pulpit." Read here.
E) The next article is an example of a "self-promoting" stunt that MD tried to pull of in Southern California. This kind of behavior should not characterize bond servants of Christ. http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2013/10/acting-like-men-mark-driscoll-crashes.html
F) This next few articles highlight various patterns of sin in the life of this very influential and popular leader. Read this CT story and this disturbing article by an unbelieving skeptic.
This is no time for bloggers or pastors to be high-fiving one another saying, "We were right!" "We warned people of this years ago." What we need to do is to pray for Mark Driscoll and for the leaders of Acts 29. Mark is "big enough" that he could dig his heels in here and cause even greater harm to the body of Christ in Seattle and around the United States. Let's pray fervently for genuine repentance, true biblical change, and genuine reconciliation of broken relationships. Let's pray Mark responds to his friends and steps down from pastoral ministry. Let's pray that God will be glorified and that the American Church learns what she needs to learn from this tragedy.
To be continued...
To be continued...
