“Why anyone would have Mark Driscoll host a conference on how to govern a church when he has utterly destroyed one and is covered in the blood of his former sheep. Was Ted Haggard unavailable? Rob Bell too busy? I pray anyone foolish enough to attend this can see they are being taught unbiblical principles by unprincipled men.”
(Anthony Wade – 8:28 Ministries) The truth is often stranger than fiction. When I saw the story about Mark Driscoll hosting a conference on biblical church governance I immediately thought it was another scathing satire from Babylon Bee but I was mistaken. Apparently Driscoll thinks enough time has passed since he destroyed Mars Hill Church in the most unbiblical manner possible and then fled church discipline by lying that God told Him to. …
Never mind the thousands of bloodied sheep he left in his wake. Many are still bleeding and never recovered from what Driscoll did. For the uninitiated, Mark Driscoll was once the brash face of the new young gun pastors in this country. Preaching in Micky Mouse shirts and torn jeans, Driscoll embodied the teachings of one of his mentors, Rick Warren. He was relatable and hip with a dash of inappropriate thrown in. He loved talking about sex during sermons, often in inaccurate and crude fashions.
As he grew Mars Hill Church (Seattle) into a mega church of over 15,000 attendees, he began spreading out and opening other sites. He became belligerent and authoritative in his management style. When discussing people who disagreed with him he once referred to them as a “pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus”; gleefully mocking the very people he had run over. He refused correction over and over again until the Acts 29 Network, which he founded, kicked him out. He stole 200,000 dollars from tithes to hire a company to cheat the NY Times Best-Seller list in order to say he had a top ten book. He once removed his board in order to replace them with sycophants who would never challenge him on anything. Ironically at the end that very board was going to sit him down, rebuke him, and provide a plan for restoration but Driscoll caught wind of it and simply walked away. He did so claiming God told him that a trap was being set for him and he should leave. To this day he remains a fugitive from that very church discipline despite opening his new church in Arizona. Every chance he gets he portrays himself as the hero and victim at Mars Hill. The damage he wrought was deep as the church imploded and dissolved and the ten thousand plus sheep scattered to the Christian landscape leaving a trail of blood behind them and the tire tracks of the Mars Hill Express across their hearts. With this as the backdrop, let us see how this seminar is being marketed:
Research: