Introduction

My attempt in this article is to encourage the saints. I hope to encourage those saints who have seen a brother or sister walk away from their service to Christ, their faith entirely, or have proved to be acting for their own gain. So long as we are on this side of eternity there will be unregenerate church members, de-constructers, and bad actors. But that does not warrant our doubt of Christ. He builds his Church despite Demas and Driscoll. This we can trust. Christ will build His Church, and in so doing He may even use the bad actions or the unregenerate nature of some. The trust we place in His hands will cure us of our doubt, and allow us to avoid the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill mindset.

Demas – In love with the World

Demas is mentioned just three times in scripture. In both Colossians and Philemon he is mentioned as sending a greeting; however, in 2 Timothy 4, he is mentioned as having left Paul. Paul writes this one note, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me…” (2 Tim. 4:10). We do not have any record to indicate that Demas later repented and came back to Christ. It appears the Holy Spirit has intended for us to understand Demas’ life as a sad case of apostasy.

Throughout our service to Christ, there will be many Demas-es. Pastors and church leaders have no shortage of names they think of and are grieved over when they consider this category. We will each have our own Demas-es we think of at the end of our lives. Our closest friends and family may be among those who are one point zealous for Christ, and yet prove to never have truly known Him. This was the case for Demas. He was in Paul’s ministry crowd. He worked closely with Paul, planted churches with Paul, saw conversions with Paul, and prayed with/for Paul. But something happened, and Demas proved to be one of the first three soils (Luke 8:4-15).

We should be both grieved, and encouraged by Demas and those who fall away from the faith. Apostates prove that God uses anyone for His purposes. In His mysterious and perfect wisdom God even sees fit to use those who will later deny Him. Maybe this is your story? Maybe you came to faith under the ministry of a Pastor who later denied Christ? Maybe your parents who took you to church faithfully fell away when they became empty-nesters? There are no shortage of examples of those who fall away. God can and will use whomever He pleases. We do not need to worry. If someone who was once faithful has fallen away from the faith entirely, we can trust that God was not surprised, and He intentionally used them for His Kingdom.

Driscoll – In Love With Himself

This principle is also seen in those who have not denied Christ, yet their track-record of ministry is suspect, and even marred with scandal. Such is the case with Mark Driscoll. Mark Driscoll may not be one who has rejected the faith and denied Christ by loving the world, but his ministry is best known for all the worst reasons. I trust you, dear reader, do not need too many of the details. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast was a smashing success. If you haven’t listened, or if you have no idea who Mark Driscoll is, know this: he pastored a large church and over that time he proved to be a poor leader who was in love with himself.

Why does this matter? I will speak to my main critique of the Rise and Fall podcast momentarily. For now, I will encourage. Christ, who is the head of His Church, chose to use Mark Driscoll. In some ways He is choosing to still use Mark Driscoll (Mark currently pastors in Arizona). Mark Driscoll should not be a pastor, he should be seeking reconciliation and restoration from the church and many Christians he harmed during his time at Mars Hill Church. Mark Driscoll was a poor representation of Jesus, and a poor pastor. Yet, Jesus chose to use Him, and Jesus chose to do many good things through Mark.

Perhaps this is your story. Perhaps you found yourself wrapped up in the ministry of a man who proved to be a toxic leader, pastor, and seemed to do more bad than good. Likely, if that is not your story, you know someone who has gone through that. It leaves many on the other end of the scandal and hurt questioning their faith. When a pastor, like Mark, is a poor representation of Jesus, it causes many to reject the Church. Many “deconstruction” stories find their roots in a toxic ministry. Dear reader, if that is you, trust that the poor ministry of toxic pastor is not the love that God has through Christ. You do not need to doubt our perfect God because of imperfect pastors.

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Dilemma

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast by Christianity Today did many good things. Most notably, it fully presented Mark Driscoll’s faults as a pastor, and the damage his ministry did to many. But it failed to present the redeeming grace of Jesus. Many listeners will have a full understanding of Mark Driscoll’s failures as a pastor, yet those same listeners were not encouraged to trust God’s use of Mark. Instead, the podcast presented the events that took place at Mars Hill Church as purely a failure by the church’s leaders, a terrible event to have experienced first-hand, and a thing to be avoided in the future.

When I finished The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill I did not feel I had a better understanding of God’s choice to use Mark Driscoll despite his failures. The podcast needed to encourage its listeners, the first-hand witnesses, and all who have experienced church-hurt that Christ building His Church is the hope of even our church-hurt. Christ is building His church despite the evil done to us and those we love by bad actors. If God uses flawed men, even non-christians, to build His Church, then it is our responsibility to trust God when faced with the sins of those men. God does use flawed men, even non-Christians, therefore we must trust Him when those men present themselves and their flaws.

Our Hope in the Face of Sinful Men

We must put our hope in God’s sovereign plan to use sinners, and be encouraged that He is building His Church. He uses sinful men to do great things, when they otherwise may do evil things. He uses slothful men to great things, when they may otherwise sit on the couch. He uses loud men to do great things, when they may otherwise shout for their favorite sports team. He uses quiet men to do great things, when they may otherwise avoid being heard. He uses imperfect men, even those who prove not to know Him, to build Him Church, because He is God, and we are not. Only He could do such things.

For His Glory,

Alan