Plans are still coming together but at least one protestant will greet the Easter Sunday meeting of The Trinity Church on Sunday. Las Vegas resident and Mars Hill critic Bob Sluys plans to show up at The Trinity Church with signs to express his views about Mark Driscoll’s new venture.
Sluys has been busy making signs for the grand opening.
Driscoll has been advertising the first meeting with promises of a “free carnival.”
Anyone who has ever taken or given a Wechsler Intelligence Scale will recognize my title as having the form of the Similarities portion of the test. Those taking the test are given two different terms or things and asked how they are alike. Since the exact questions are a carefully guarded professional secret, if I tell you more I will have to see about broadening the laws on torture or something.
Writing in the New York Times op-ed section yesterday, Christianity Today‘s managing editor Katelyn Beaty wondered how Donald Trump and dictatorial church pastors are alike. She used our pal Mark Driscoll as exhibit A. Although I get what she is going for and as much as I don’t understand how Driscoll manages his brand, I think Mr. Trump is the scarier proposition.
Beaty tells us that there is a strong correlation between being a church pastor and narcissistic personality disorder. She might be right. At the 2015 American Association of Christian Counselors conference, R. Glenn Ball and Darrell Puls reported that “Narcissistic Personality Disorder in active clergy in the PCC is between 500% to 3000% higher than is found in the general population.” PCC stands for Presbyterian Church in Canada and those are big numbers.
Screen capture from Mars Hill Church video, 2014
Yesterday, I taught the familiar social psychology experiment conducted by Stanley Milgrim (more recently replicated by Jerry Burger) in which two-thirds of subjects thought they were shocking a person in the next room at dangerous levels because a researcher in a lab coat said it was necessary. We are a lot like sheep with many clergy and politicians willing to be our shepherds. When the shepherds are narcissists, the sheep are more like pawns.
Human nature being what it is, we must take care. I want to commit appropriate conformity for the good of others but I must keep my wits about me, whether in church or at the ballot box. Blind conformity or failure to question those we like and agree with can lead us astray.
“Unfortunately, false and malicious allegations continue to be made against me,” Driscoll said in an email to RNS Thursday (March 3). “I’m certain that the most recent examples are without any merit.”
“I remain focused and devoted to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, loving others, and praying for my enemies,” Driscoll said.
I may never understand why this energy hasn’t been spent on reaching out to those who have very publicly asked Driscoll for reconciliation. I have reached out to more than three dozen former Mars Hill leaders and members and none of them have heard from Driscoll. Several of them have reached out to Driscoll with the message back that there will be no meeting.
In particular Bryan Zug and Jeff Bettger claim to have reached out and have received negative responses. Instead of talking to God about the “enemies,” why can’t the parties talk to each other?
The Trinity Church. Used by permission of Becky Garrison
Ho-hum.
In a email sent to supporters today, Driscoll details what he is looking for in a meeting place:
Howdy everyone,
I want to thank all of you who have been praying for and connecting with Mark Driscoll Ministries. I’m on the road teaching this week, but I look forward to returning home to catch some sun and spring training baseball games with my family.
We are in the first steps of planting The Trinity Church in the greater Phoenix area. As we continue to make plans, many people have asked where we will meet and when we will start services. Both of those questions will be answered when we find a church building to call home. Our search for a building is underway. As soon as we have a home we will let everyone know. In the meantime, we genuinely appreciate everyone who is praying for this next step.
Here are some specific things we are asking the Lord to provide with our first church home:
· The ability to meet multiple times on Sunday mornings
· Space for the main service
· Lots of space for children’s ministry
· Close proximity to a major freeway for accessibility
Lastly, with Good Friday and Easter Sunday coming up, I want to let you know about a free eBook called Gerry Breshears and I put together. It’s called “It is Finished! Jesus’ Death and Resurrection”. You can download in now EPUB http://bit.ly/1QVPqnx
Thanks for your support,
Pastor Mark Driscoll
There is something surreal about these messages in light of the controversies swirling around the RICO lawsuit and Mars Hill Church.
Mars Hill Ballard Campus was put on the market in October 2014 and then sold in early 2015 for $9-million. When the building changed hands to Quest Church in Seattle, the contents were abandoned by Mars Hill’s leadership. One casualty was Mark Driscoll’s book A Call to Resurgence, left behind in bulk during the Mars Hill rapture. Use by permission of Alex Rozier
That is a lot of money in books. It is surprising that Mars Hill’s leadership did not either donate or sell these books. Most likely, they were purchased originally with funds donated by individuals who attended Mars Hill.
Based on conversations I had with former marketing and communications staff back in 2014, I believe this book did not use Result Source to game the New York Times system but still involved bulk purchases in house. To my knowledge, this book did not make the NYT bestseller list. It is hard to make a case that this bulk book purchase benefited Mars Hill Church when the books died in a dumpster.
Thanks to Alex Rozier with King5 in Seattle who sent this picture to me after he obtained it recently.
