Joan Didion wrote that we tell ourselves stories in order to leave. The more than implicit observation in her axiom was not to present the world with an inspirational aphorism but to warn that the stories we tell ourselves in order to live may not be true and that we may not even care if they aren't true.
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Sunday, December 19, 2021
was the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast a mistake? Someone apparently has said "yes" to which R Scott Clark says "no"--some concerns about Cosper's two jumbled arguments regarding Driscoll's theology/character and celebrity
...The podcast series is not failure porn nor is too harsh. If anything it is too soft on Driscoll. Jason wants the church as an institution to deal with Driscoll but his argument assumes something that it must prove: that Mars Hill was a church. I think not. On sociological terms we we should describe Mars Hill (and its satellites) as a congregation but not church. It lacked the marks of the true church (see Belgic Confession, art. 29). It was not disciplined. Kim Riddlebarger has argued that Driscoll did not even have elders to whom he was accountable. Did Driscoll preach the pure gospel? Sometimes, perhaps but not consistently. Were the sacraments purely administered? No. Even Driscoll’s current congregation (more on this below) lacks the marks as defined by the Reformed churches. Mars Hill tried to discipline him and he defied them. Which ecclesiastical body would discipline him now? It certainly would not be his current congregation which is controlled by Driscoll and family members. He is not accountable to anyone but he continues to pose a danger to many.
Further, Mark did not merely sin as a private person. He abused the sheep and he often did it publicly. He made himself a pastor, though he was by his own admission, unqualified and then proceeded to use his position as well as those around and under him. According to a group from his current congregation, he continues to do these very same things in Scottsdale, AZ. As our Lord Jesus said, “to whom much was given, much from him will be required” (Luke 12:48). It is not too much to say that he is a false teacher and to be marked out as such. In this respect the podcast series and the several critiques published here and elsewhere perform a valuable service: warning vulnerable sheep about dangerous figures in the church. ...
I don't know if I'd say it was a mistake but I find myself having come to the twelfth episode profoundly ambivalent about the series. I think Clark is right to say that, if anything, Cosper went easy on Driscoll yet there's something else that's been nagging at me. A friend of mine from the Mars Hill years who has been listening to the series has mentioned that it seems as though Cosper has made two distinct criticisms of Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll: 1) Mark Driscoll was/is a conservative/reactionary type in his theology and 2) Mark Driscoll was a celebrity and corrupted by celebrity. But the thing about those two distinct lines of critique is ...
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