Mars Hill and the case for no mega churches

On the recommendation of a number of people I've just finished listening to the podcast "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" (listen here on Spotify). It's difficult to know where to start really but I can say that I am left with an enormous sense of disquiet, as well as the sense that the podcast should be required listened for all current and aspiring pastors. 

What can be learnt from Mars Hill? It would be easy to land the whole blame at the feet of Mark Driscoll and he certainly was a driving factor. However the whole 'bus' (if you listen you'll get the pop reference) could have been stopped in it's tracks early on if good people had stood up and called him to account. Driscoll may have planted the seeds of the culture but the people who surrounded him watered, tended and cultivated it to the extent that he was enabled to buy into his own hype. He was young when it all started and his elders failed him.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that Driscoll is a very disturbing human. He is manipulative, controlling, angry, misogynistic, homophobic and discrimatory on pretty much every level. If I never have to hear about how he treated women with mental health issues again it'll be a lifetime too soon. He is self serving and has huge delusions of his own grandiose when it comes to his calling and perhaps even his relationship with God. From what I can read, to this day he has failed to apologise and repent of the damage he caused to individuals and to whole communities. 

His treatment of women is probably how he first caught my attention. He is a staunch complementarian but definitely over on the conservative end of the spectrum. Women were routinely gaslighted (see above comment about mental health) and side-lined. In his churches women were actively discouraged from working outside of the home regardless of financial and children situation because to do otherwise would emasculate their husbands. Personally I would say this assertion betrays an equally poor opinion of men but there we go, such is the nonsensical nature of extreme beliefs.

All of his red flag behaviour, which was there from the beginning should have sent his team running for the hills. Instead they doubled down. They took on god-like positions of deciding what behaviours were pardonable because of a perceived greater good. As Christians we don't believe that the end justified abominable means. But that is what they did by enabling this man. By protecting him, bankrolling him, not listening to the checks in their spirit (of which there were apparently many), they fell prey to celebrity status.

And I guess something that makes this so disturbing is that we are all capable of it. Can we all say hand on heart that we wouldn't stand by and be swept along by the sheer tide and force of an extraordinary personality? The anger I think bubbles up because we know we're not immune. There's anger at Mark and these leaders but then for myself, anger AT myself because as Christians we do the same as everyone else and we are too often captivated by celebrity. We downplay bad behaviour, we cover it up but for us it's much MUCH worse because we spiritualise it too. We talk about repentance and restoration and we keep it hushed up. I'm exhausted by the constant revelations of celebrity pastors and churches. Not by the revelations of the sins per se because we're human, we sin, but by the fact that they happened so long ago and people knew. 

So what's the answer? I really don't think it's rocket science. Celebrity status should have no place in the church. Mark Driscoll systematically separated himself from his congregation and from any form of accountability. Leaders should not ever be in a position of isolation and should always be in submission to another leader, a wiser and older person of God. Leadership teams should be able to say no to the senior pastor without fear of being vilified or having the "thus saith the Lord" card waved at them. Congregations should never feel that they cannot hold their leaders to account. Don't ignore red flags.

I personally think the day of the mega church has come and gone. I listened to a podcast recently (and must read the book), about "Small Town Jesus" and how small towns, making up the vast proportion of the worlds population, are really where it's at. Glorifying the cities at the expense of the (majority population!) small towns is a mistake and misses so much. Big congregations which explode with hot air don't build community or disciples and that is what we are called to do. I don't think this means we shouldn't have vision or shouldn't church plant or anything like that, but certainly that any desire to expand or plant should be vigorously interrogated for any possible motive extraneous to making Jesus known in our lands.