He’s been called the “cussing pastor,” (although I have never heard him swear in a sermon) Pastor Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington and is one of the world’s most-downloaded and quoted pastors. His audience—fans and critics alike—spans the theological and cultural left and right. He was also named one of the “25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years” by Preaching magazine, and his sermons are consistently #1 on iTunes each week for Religion & Spirituality with over 10 million of downloads each year.
I’ve listened to a few of his sermons on podcast, and they have been pretty good although I have never read any of his books. Personally for me he has always been a little “sexist” for my taste, my wife is an ordained pastor and so his message of women as the “weaker” sex doesn’t really fly with me (or scripture).
Recently, I was listening to a podcast that shared the following story about a recent event at Mars Hill and I felt that this story had to be told and made (more) public.
Here is the story: Mars Hill Church Discipline Contract (part 1) (part 2) from Matthew Paul Turner
In a nutshell the story is about a young man who has some inappropriate sexual contact with a girl at church, he feels poorly afterwards and confesses to his fiance and his small group. What follows is a series of phone calls and meetings with Church leaders until he his handed a “discipline contact” that the church wants him to sign and adhere to.
After feeling a little beat up, he decides to leave his church only to find out that Mars Hill has no intent on letting him go without shoving a few more knives in his back – one of which is a public notice to the entire church detailing what he has done, calling him “unrepentant” and advising church members to sever all ties from him.
To be fair, the article and story are not specifically about Mark Driscoll although his name and picture are in the banner, and in all honesty if this story picks up, I would not be surprised if Mark tries to distance himself from this story.
And like all stories I am sure there are people grieving on the Mars Hill leadership team that it has gone this far, and I am sure there is more to the story than just the story of the victim. (read Mars Hill’s statement on Church Discipline)
But I have preached sermons on church discipline and Matthew 18 and yes, it can be very heavy handed… but I can’t for the life of me believe it was meant to be carried to this extreme.
Can you?
The Mars Hill website calls Church discipline a sword to wield!
I’m sure Mark would call me a “wimp” at this point, but I would never treat someone like this, or make their sin public, or demand that they jump through hoops to find forgiveness and restoration.
The gospel is good news, Jesus brought Good News that flew in the face of the current message of the Pharisees. The Pharisees and the temple system were built around penance and sacrifice, and they did their best to create a chasm between the “godly” and the “ungodly.” Jesus fought that corrupt system and invited that…
Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Who wants a heavy faith? Who wants their faith to be a burden to bear?
Martin Luther fought a corrupt church system that insisted that sinners had to “buy their freedom” and that salvation wasn’t free; and when he didn’t retract his statement he was banned from the church and labeled an outlaw.
Martin Luther taught that salvation is not earned by “good deeds” but received only as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Luther’s theology challenged the authority of the Pope and the Catholic church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and strongly opposed elected church leadership by claiming that all Christians were a holy priesthood.
Am I saying that this kid at Mars Hill is the next Martin Luther? Of course not, but I am saying that I think this kid has both Jesus and Martin Luther on his side.
As soon as we set “church leaders” up to be holier than thou, or the medium between forgiveness and God, then we pull Christ out of the picture. Forgiveness and grace and love is free and Christ is the only medium you need between you and God.
Yes, we should absolutely confess our sins, but we can do that with any believer, it doesn’t have to be a pastor or church leader.
Remember, it’s Christ’s church.. it’s His bride. Don’t allow your church leaders to make it about their doctrine of their vision. If someone is ruling with an iron fist in your church then just remember that iron isn’t light or easy – and if it isn’t light or easy, it’s not from Christ.
