Anybody in evangelical circles who has missed the swarm of
controversy surrounding Mark Driscoll lately must not have an internet
connection. The embattled pastor is the founder of Mars
Hill Church
in Seattle and
the Acts 29 church planting network. My purpose is not to rehash Driscoll’s
troubles (just google him for details) but to examine how we should react to
them. Right now followers are abandoning the leader like passengers on a
sinking ship. Speaking engagements have been canceled, Acts 29 removed his
church from their network and Lifeway pulled all his books from their shelves.
I confess, I have been a Mark Driscoll fan. Two of the
favorite books on my bookshelf are “Vintage Jesus” and “Doctrine” authored by
him. I thought it was cool when Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae sampled a
sermon from Driscoll on the “Rebel” album’s intro track. I’ve watched hours of
Driscoll on youtube and listened to numerous podcasts from him. However, I
stopped being a fan years ago.
I could sense something going awry as I saw a man I
respected saying things that could inflict pain and also presenting the Holy
word of God in a crude fashion. It seemed like he was starting to lose his
direction. I never imagined that the course he was on would be transforming
into the evangelical pariah he seems to be today. He had successfully founded a
church in the most unchurched part of America and had reached thousands
with the Gospel. How could it all go wrong?
I don’t have the answer. However, I know it can go wrong for
any of us. Any of us who has ever worn any semblance of the title church or
ministry leader are in danger of falling deeply away from Christ’s true
calling. It could be me. I try to remain mindful of the particular pitfalls
Satan, the world and my flesh can effectively use against me. I am not
bulletproof – I have to armor up every day for the spiritual war being waged
around me.
One thing I learned early in ministry is that people will
say nice things to you even when they need to say tough things. When I first started
preaching everybody loved my sermons. I knew it was too good to be true. They
did love me. They did love seeing God calling me out of atheism and into the
ministry. They just wanted to encourage me to do better and better and so
bragged on me and complimented me. I had a friend and I told him, “You have to
be real with me. You have to tell me like it is. I am counting on you to
critically judge the things that come out of my mouth with your spiritual
discernment and God’s word.” We need that person or group of people to keep us
grounded.
I’m not a “yes man” and I don’t need “yes men” around me in
ministry. I need people to hold me accountable. I worry that maybe Driscoll
failed to do that. Again, I’m not sure where he went wrong. Sadly now, instead
of people gathering around and trying to hold him accountable, they are
circling around and trying to find a better place to hit from. As Christians we
seem to take such perverse pleasure at seeing one of our own fall and taking
personal shots at him. It should not be that way.
I do believe Mark Driscoll needs to step down from ministry.
I’m not sure he can ever be in a similar position of leadership again. I do
believe he is not beyond being salvaged, redeemed, restored and used by God in
even greater ways. However, he seems to be surrounded by two types of people –
fans who don’t want to admit there is a problem and enemies who don’t want to
admit there is any hope.
I wish I had prayed more for Driscoll. As I saw him going in
a direction that made me uncomfortable, I “unliked” him on facebook and stopped
watching him on youtube and unsubscribed from his podcasts. I should have
prayed for him. We all should pray for him. We should pray for all the leaders
in church whether we agree with them or not.
The Apostle Paul was no stranger to dealing with leadership
issues. We think that our 21st Century church scandals trump those
of the 1st Century. However, I think any church today would be hard
pressed to outdo the Church of Corinth or the Church of Crete
for scandals and illicit behavior. Paul dealt with it seriously, decisively,
lovingly and with restoration and redemption in mind. I’m not sure what the
fate of Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll will be. I wish we had a man like Paul to
step in and help out today. I am reminded of his wise words written so long
ago:
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are
spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be
tempted. (Galatians 6:1 NIV)
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