Driscoll Unqualified to Teach (NPD)

Big news rolling through the blogsphere. Big news, not new news.

Apparently Former Mars Hill Elders are saying he is still unfit to pastor and that he should step down. 

He's not gonna.

By the way, I know the news is "He's not fit to pastor" and not "He's not fit to teach." I know there is a difference in the eyes of some. But I'm sticking with my "Unqualified to Teach" because he is, in spite of stories claiming otherwise.

I was made aware of Mark Driscoll back in June of 2009 and made a post about him called SOS in the Hands of the Perverted. SOS is an acronym for The Song of Songs. I knew then and there that Driscoll was unqualified to teach on this subject. I could see, readily, that 'rightly dividing the word of truth' was the last thing on his mind. It was clear to me from the start that he had an agenda that was completely different and diametrically opposed to the Spirit behind the Song of Songs.

I will link one more post written back in the day as an example of how much Driscoll was disqualified to preach in SOS. Manipulating Scripture for Personal Benefit. This concerns Driscoll's mishandling a one specific verse (out of soooo many) in The Songs.

Back then I looked at Driscoll's misuse of Scripture as evidence of him being unqualified to teach. This was before I knew about his Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) symptoms and his Narcissistic Rage and his need for Narcissistic Supply. This was before I was even aware that NPD was a thing and before I knew the fact that my husband, at that time, also suffered from NPD symptoms (besides other things that I did know about.)

In The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcasts, Mark self-reports that, as a man of Irish decent, he has two moods. Pissed off and asleep. He gets a laugh out of that. Of all the negative things I point at in him, I appreciate his self-awareness on this, even though he uses it as an excuse to rage at his underlings. I appreciate it because Narcissists are notoriously un-self-aware.

But having said this, if Mark knew he had this much anger inside, as a Christian, and especially as a Pastor, he should have done what he needed to do to overcome this. He hasn't. And even more concerning, he hasn't seen this as a need within himself nor understood that this anger disqualifies him from preaching and teaching the Bible to others. 

His anger disqualifies him from teaching any part of the Bible and, exponentially, disqualifies him from teaching anything from The Songs.

Here is why. In the very first chapter of The Songs we have this verse.

Songs 1:6 "Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, For the sun has burned me, My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me caretaker of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard." (NAS)

This verse talks about angry brothers and their oppression of the beloved. They basically enslaved their sister and forced her to work out in the family vineyard rather than treat her like the nobleman's daughter that she was.

Even though Driscoll would like to identify as the lover in this story, and his wife as the beloved, in truth, he is far more like the angry brothers in verse 6.

Driscoll used his anger and the Bible to command women to become sex slaves, taking care of the vineyard of the sexual whims and pornographic gluttony of his manly men. He did this to build his church. And he burned and traumatized them with his words and teaching like the sun burned the beloved in Songs 1:6.

I am not using the term sex slaves lightly. Mark Driscoll groomed and trafficked the women of Mars Hill Church as Kyle Howard so aptly points out and explains. Driscoll bullied the women of Mars Hill, pressing them down to lower than the position of harlots. At least harlots receive wages for their work. Driscoll got the benefit of the sexual work of his Mars Hill women, using them as building blocks for his church/kingdom for free. It cost him nothing but propped up the machine of his empire so well. And the women got used and burned like the beloved working out in the sun in a vineyard, not her own.

Because Driscoll takes the stance of an angry, entitled taskmaster, he embodies the villains in Songs 1:6 and will therefore interpret the rest of the book through that lens. His "Good Bits" are a villainous and oppressive interpretation of a book doing violence to the actual spirit behind it. The true spirit behind is is liberating to women and anyone else who is willing to dig deeper.

You think I'm joking about the liberating aspect of the Songs? You have seen the state of the beloved in chapter 1 verse 6. Look at her now at the end of the book, after her time spent with the true lover of her soul and compare. Here she speaks again:

Songs 8:12 "My very own vineyard is at my disposal. The thousand shekels are for you Solomon, and two hundred for those who take care of it's fruit." (NAS)

In this verse, the beloved is in now in charge of her own vineyard and she decides what to do with the money made from it. Instead of being the one working in it, she has workers that she manages and pays. And she has profited so well from her own vineyard, she is able to give a substantial amount of money away.

Her relationship with her lover builds her up, enriches her, and sets her free. This is the opposite of Driscoll and the angry brothers of the first chapter. Angry brothers tear women down, steal from them, and enslave them.

Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Driscoll's version of the truth does not do this. His version steals, destroys, enslaves, and rapes.

For way more evidence of Driscoll's horrible teachings about women and sex see WenatcheeTheHatchet's supplemental reading post on the topic. It is nothing short of ghastly.

Mars Hill, the good and the bad

I don't have much time for blogging these days. But things haven't slowed down in popular Christian culture news. Especially at Mars Hill.

For those who want to keep on top of it, I suggest reading WTH's blog. He is in the know, both as a former MH member and as someone who is still in contact with people who go there. He is keeping track of all the inconsistencies and spin.

But on a more personal note, here is a thoughtful comment over at Warren Throckmorton's blog by a former member and leader on both the good and the bad of belonging to Mars Hill.

1John410's comment at Throckmorton's

Most things are not rigidly black and white. Even Mars Hill.

ExMH Employee and Misogyny at Mars Hill

Thanks to Retha for pointing this article out.

Mark Anderson, former 'Minister of Propaganda'* at Mars Hill apologizes for being a, quote, ''willing participant in a culture of Misogyny."

(*The term, 'Minister of Propaganda' is what he used to jokingly say his title was while working for Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill. You can find that in his article that is linked below.)

He apologizes for a lot of things.
One of them is this:
"I want to apologize to women everywhere for being part of a culture that didn’t value you as equal to men."

You see, Mike pressured his "brilliant and hard-working wife to give up her dream of law school and have a baby and be a stay-at-home mom as soon as possible."

He says about this: "I allowed others to take verses from the Bible out of context and put a law on my wife and rob her of a dream. I only added pressure on her. It was wrong, and I’m terribly sorry."

The article that contains these quotes and a lot of other good stuff can be found here:

HELLO, MY NAME IS MIKE, I'M A RECOVERING TRUE BELIEVER

Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill are guilty of misogyny. And worse than that, they are guilty of misquoting and misrepresenting the Bible to make it agree with their misogyny.
This is akin to taking God's name in vain.

This has been going on a long time. I'm glad that people are finally (after far too long) finally exposing this sin of misogyny for what it is in this broken and ill church.

Driscoll and Deception

Or should I say, 'Driscoll and Spin'? Or perhaps 'Driscoll and Delusion'? Any number of titles would work. And I could replace the word 'Driscoll' with 'Mars Hill'. It's all the same. Long and short, the Spinmeisters are at it again as displayed by the findings and screen shots of Wenatchee the Hatchet (WTH).

When WTH sent me an email with the link to these new and very incrimination findings, I emailed him back.
I'd like to share with you some of what I wrote.

I've known something wasn't right with the man for some time. 
Early on I found precious few people who agreed with me and 
felt utterly compelled to sound the alarm.

Now I've met you, TWW, and see the work of Throckmorton. I see 
that I'm not only not alone, there are more informed and more 
qualified people to speak on this.

I'm almost feeling sorry for Driscoll now. I'm sorry that he 
got away with so much for so long and now it's all falling 
down around him. He appears to have developed no quality tools 
to deal with this collapse in any reasonable way. It's just 
more of the same schtick. But this time nearly everyone is 
seeing right through the deception.

I'm saying all of this to let you know, I so appreciate you 
speaking out reasonably, informatively, and objectively. You 
have been a rock when I've thrown up my hands in a tizzy 
wondering what the heck is wrong with everybody, being 
schmoozed so easily by this guy.

I'm going link this because it is just 
another amazing example of the character flaws in Driscoll. 
These flaws should have disqualified him years ago. Yes, I 
blame Driscoll. I also blame Grace a little bit. She should 
not have just rolled over and let him do these things. But 
mostly I blame the church for have ZERO levels of discernment. 
We are to be a shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves. Not 
stupid and enabling as sheep who have had frontal lobotomies.

Now, to the link of incriminating evidence that proves, once again, that Driscoll should have never been allowed to pastor a church:

Driscoll LIES about who was doing the premarital counseling in the early years of Mars Hill.

Honestly, I'm really starting to feel sorry for him. This doesn't mean I give him a pass or think he shouldn't be called into account for everyone he has hurt. But gosh darn it. After a while, watching someone make so many bad decisions, it just becomes painful to watch and I'm about ready to look away now.

Accurately Handling Driscoll Info

I try to keep my facts straight.

There are a whole lot of them.

I also try to give Driscoll the benefit of a doubt in some fuzzy areas. I know it doesn't look like it. It looks like I'm out to get him. Well, okay, I kind of am because he's been out to get so many for so long he needs to stop his reign of control, manipulation, and in some cases terror over there at Mars Hill.

In all this, I still want the info concerning him to stay as accurate as possible. But I simply do not have the hours in the day to keep up.

Wenatchee the Hatchet has been doing a better job. Here he points out errors in a Salon article.
Overview of Factual Errors on a Salon Article.

Thanks WTH for keeping us up-to-date.

Driscoll's Spinmeisters

A behind the scenes look at the spin doctoring that went on to cover Mark Driscoll's sins. When he unceremoniously threw honest questioners under the bus, his spin doctors were hard at work making what he did sound spiritual, godly, and necessary.

Here is a link to Rob Smith's comment on Throckmorton's blog which is very revealing:
Words spun to the church

Again, thankful for those coming forward. May God bless and keep them.

Domineering, Forceful Marriages

Yesterday I linked an article by Jessica Abrams concerning Mark Driscoll stealing the voices of women. Today I want to link the confessional letter of her husband Luke Abrams. The reason I'm linking it is because of this quote from the letter listing of sins that he committed while participating at Mars Hill.

Sin #2 that he confesses is this:
"I lived out and defended the early MH years teaching about marriage, which was domineering and forceful leadership,"

I feel no judgment towards Luke for being part of the Mars Hill 'machine'. I've been a part of a 'machine' in the past myself and know how enticing it can be.

Rather, I feel relief that this is breaking and the machine may be grinding to a halt so that it might have a chance to become a church rather than a machine.

May more people come forward, confess, heal and bring healing. And may Driscoll himself be broken so that he can heal properly. I wish actual, Spirit-led healing on him.

Link to Throckmorton article with Luke's letter and confession in it:
Former Mars Hill Church Worship Leader Luke Abrams to Current Church Members

(Thanks goes to Gem who reminded me about this letter.)

[Blast from the past link from 2012 "Stolen Hearts and Stolen Voices"]

WTH Critiques Driscolls' Sex/Marriage Book

Actually, it's not a full critique.

As he mentioned, there have been plenty of overview critiques and much of what was said doesn't need repeating.

However, detail man that WTH is, he has stumbled upon an oversight of sorts that has been missed by some of the overview critiques. It may not seem like much. But in light of what Mars Hill wants to be, what it actually is, and what it has done in order to put forward the façade that it presently has... this sort of thing is good to be aware of for Driscoll watchers and critiquers everywhere.

Real Marriage, Chapter 7-- Grace and Disgrace

Good Catch WTH (that's short for Wenatchee The Hatchet, not WHAT THE H***!?, which is what I usually say when looking at the latest shenanigans from the Driscoll camp.)

As has been said before, The Saga Continues.

More Analysis of Driscoll's Desperation

More Analysis from someone in the know.

Former Mars Hill member, WTH* spent time on Driscoll's plane and jumped off, hopefully making a soft landing, rather than being thrown off the bus or under the bus or shot or something else...

I'll let WTH explain these transportation metaphors and what they mean to him, a successful parachuter fleeing the doomed Mars Hill plane.

Mark Driscoll has shifted transportation metaphors

I always love a good metaphor. Even bad ones hold a certain amount of entertainment value if you can get past the automatic gag reflex.

* WTH is short for "Wenatchee the Hatchet", not "What the h*!!", something I've said more than once watching the Mars Hill machine lurch forward toward its doom. Speaking of machine, I've always thought of Mars Hill as being a train speeding down the track toward the gorge where the bridge is out. How many metaphors can we come up with in one short post?

Mars, Venus, and Uranus

I'm not even going to tell you how I got onto this train of thought. The story is too long and complicated and drags in some places.

I am going to give a disclaimer:
I have never read "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" nor "Women May Be from Venus, But Men Are Really from Uranus." So I can't comment on whether either book is worth anything.

I'm also going to state something else. In the past I never really thought about the name of Mars Hill being anything but taken from the Bible concerning Paul arguing for the faith on Mars Hill as mentioned in the Book of Acts. But part of me is really beginning to think that the name "Mars Hill" might be far more loaded in the minds and hearts of the men who came up with the name. Part of me is starting to believe that Mark Driscoll might have read John Gray's "Men are from Mars..." and might have taken it to heart so that it has became part of the psyche that is Mars Hill. Perhaps it is more Mars/Men/Mark Hill that what I originally thought.

This, I cannot really say. But part of me really wonders if they named it Mars Hill because they really are concerned about raising the Masculine over the Feminine, making Mars Hill a great place for men (the right kind of men, Mars type men, Mark type men). They have made it a great place for Mars Men at the hurt and expense of the women. I already know that Mars Hill is a place that hurts and puts down women in order to raise up and (fake) heal the souls of men. But I've never considered the name to be a part of the abuse and oppression of women. Now I'm wondering.

And the thing that got me wondering about it again this morning is reading a blog post by the women who wrote "Women May Be from Venus, But Men Are Really from Uranus." In this post Katherine Black lays out the top ten defenses of John Gray that she receives. I post them only because they sound strangely close to the defenses the are given against feminism, egalitarianism, and arguments against male privilege in the church.

Again, I can neither endorse nor defend anything concern the books by John Gray and Katherine Black. But I can appreciate this post on men defending the words and writings of another men by attacking a woman.

John Gray Is Soundly Defended

Promise Keepers, the Shepherding Movement, and Sowing to the Wind

For those who are unaware of the Shepherding Movement here is a brief definition of it:

The Shepherding Movement


The article that I linked to in my previous post connects Promise Keepers, a 1990s organization, to the Shepherding Movement of the 70s and early 80s.

These principles and structure, which are similar to the shepherding/discipleship model of the Word of God, would take years to implement and introduce a highly disciplined group. Most men drawn to Promise Keepers have probably never heard of shepherding/discipleship (which, in 1995, was still not widely known even within the evangelical community) and may be deeply offended if they experience the degree of manipulation and control (to which they may be "submitting" themselves and their families) that has occurred in many shepherding/disciple situations.

Taken from this link:
Christian Soldiers for Theocracy under the heading "Something Like Punching You Lights Out".

And a Promise Keeper spokes person used similar language back in the 90s that Mark Driscoll uses today.
"All of our success here is contingent upon men taking part in small groups when they return home," Promise Keepers spokesman Steve Chavis told Christianity Today. Less elegantly, Dave Wardell, the national coordinator for local leaders, explains, "I can go home and maybe still be the same guy after a conference. But if I have another guy calling up, holding me accountable, asking, `How are you treating your wife? Are you still cheating on your income taxes? Are you looking at your secretaries with lust?' it makes a difference. I don't think a woman would get in my face, go toe to toe with a guy, whereas a guy could tell me, `I don't like it. And if you don't listen to me, I'll punch your lights out.' Something like that."
(Also taken from article linked above also under the heading "Something Like Punching Your Lights Out".)

And here is Mark Driscoll using that similar language which he thinks it brilliant:

"I Break Their Nose."

Folks, the Shepherding Movement is not dead. It just changed it's name, existed in Promise Keepers and is now alive and well in many places, including Mars Hill.

Mars Hill Investigation Update

Before I continue on with my exploration of New Calvinism, I have to draw people's attention to WTH's investigative jounalism style of getting down to the truth.

I have a tendency to rant. Ever notice? But ranting doesn't get to the truth. It only points out that there may be a problem. It has its place, but it solves little to nothing. It just gets attention and hopefully helps people to look a little closer at what is going on.

What WTH is doing on his blog if far more important in getting to the truth. WTH doesn't rant, nor does he make explosive claim and false accusations. It's just the facts, ma'am, just the facts.

So in the interest of pursuing the truth, I'd like to link the first post (out of 8, so far) of WTH's investigation into the Mars Hill mess:

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2012/03/context-for-call-for-reconciliation.html

Mark Driscoll Is in Trouble Now

The man who threatens to break the noses of those who question him is going to have trouble breaking so many noses now. More and more, he is becoming outnumbered. The great host of walking wounded that he has left in his wake, they are breaking their silence in greater numbers all the time.

Here is the most recent couple to do so:

Joyful Exiles

Mark, are you listening. You cannot keep bullying your way to success. Eventually you are going to have to face the music. Eventually you will have to reap what you have sown. You can run and deny. But you cannot stop the day of reckoning from over taking you forever.

Honestly, I hope, for your sake, that you face the music in this life rather than in the hereafter.

Mars Hill Calls for Reconciliation. Whatever.

Does it sound like I have a bad attitude. Sorry. I openly confess that I do. You see, the cat is out of the bag. Their abusive practices are being exposed for what they are and they are scrambling for whatever damage control they can get.

Here is what they have posted on their blog:

A Call for Reconciliation

They say they wish to reconcile but it is a reconciliation on their terms and for their benefit to stop the accusations. It's not about changing their abusive practices or even examining their practices to see if they are abusive.

Oh, they also have a word to their Critics. Since I would fall in that category I thought I'd address it.

"To our critics, we'd humbly ask you to imagine how complicated situations such as this are for us. When someone says they have a issue with us, they get to tell the media their side of the story. If we tell the other side of the story, we risk breaching laws and exposing people-both the people in the discipline process and the people they've sinned against-to public backlash. The choice for us as a church is often to either take the hits in the in the press or put one of our members forward (often a young woman sexually sinned against) to let our members take the hits and endure the criticism. Obviously, we'd rather take the hits as a church than expose our members to the media and potentially break the law by divulging private information shared in counseling session by a victim." -- The Mars Hill Pastors

Sigh.

Dear Mars Hill Pastors...

I'm sorry but I fail to see where you only have the two choices of either silently taking the hits or hiding behind the skirts of women who you claim have been sexually sinned against (whether they were sinned against or not is not the issue. They may very well have been. The very fact that you bring them up in order for you to hide behind is very telling.).

Okay... I understand that you truly believe with all of your hearts that you are doing church discipline right. I get the fact that you believe you are right. Your "A Call for Reconciliation" reeks with the fact that you believe that you are right and that everyone else is wrong.

But could it be that perhaps you are not right and that your church discipline practices have gone in a bad direction?

I understand that thinking this way probably hurts your brains because you are so sure you are right.

But I humbly ask you to consider the possibility that perhaps you all are not as right as you think you are.

I humbly ask you to consider a third choice that would make you look just a little less self-righteous and leave women who have been sinned against out of the equation so that you don't look like you are hiding behind their skirts.

I humbly ask you this, not because I have a vendetta against you or am out to get you or am bored and looking for a fight that doesn't belong to me.

I'm asking because people are being hurt and thrown away and it's making you look bad.

I don't want you to look bad.

I want you to be a light in Seattle and in your satellite churches. I want you to bring the gospel to hurting people and get them healed rather than be the ones that are hurting people so that they have to go to counselling to get healing.

Mars Hill Pastors, please, please, please consider a third choice. Please consider that perhaps there is something wrong with the way you do church. I understand that you don't think so. But the incredible volume of evidence against you speaks otherwise.