“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts
absolutely” – Lord Acton
Most of
us are familiar with the quote above and we often think about it as it applies
to politics and politicians. We see how
the power to govern a state corrupts governors.
We see Senators and Congressmen get unseated because the wielded their
power incorrectly. The desire to hold
power even took down a president.
Sometimes the politician in question has to face criminal repercussions
for his/her actions; sometimes they just get voted out of office. Regardless, we hold them accountable for
their actions.
But what do we do when the people
who have abused their power lead some of the biggest churches in America? It’s a question that’s been on my mind for
the last several weeks and three key churches come to mind – Steven Furtick’s
Elevation Church, Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church, and C.J. Mahaney’s
Sovereign Grace Ministries. All three
churches have enjoyed a certain amount of success and broad appeal beyond their
congregation(s). All three have multiple
campuses. Elevation and Mars Hill have
been the launch pad for the popular Christian bands Elevation and Citizens,
respectively. Bob Kauflin and the music
team at SGM have done some great things with old hymns and Kauflin has written
multiple books containing some very valuable insights into being a worship
leader. But all three churches have big
problems.
Elevation – Steven Furtick lives in
a $1.7 million, 16,000 square foot mansion.
It has 5 bedroom and 7 ½ bathrooms for a family of Furtick, his wife,
and their 3 children. Seems overly
excessive and a waste of money that could be better spent caring for the poor,
the orphaned, and the needy as the Bible tells us. Furtick wants us all to believe that the
money for the home came entirely from sales of his books, but many people aren’t
buying it and Elevation isn’t doing anything to clear it up. Part of the problem is that Furtick doesn’t
actually own the home. It’s owned by a
trust run by another pastor at Elevation.
If the money came entirely from book sales, why does a trust run by
another pastor at the church actually control the property?
Mars Hill – Pastor Rob Driscoll has
created quite a mega-church out in the Seattle area that has gone global. Sadly, he’s been running it like a
corporation, not a church. If you are to
be a member of the leadership team at Mars Hill, you have to sign a “Unity of
Mission” statement. It’s basically a
non-compete clause that states if you leave Mars Hill to pursue ministry
elsewhere, you will not serve at a church within 10 miles of any Mars Hill church. There’s also clear evidence that Mars Hill
used church funds to buy up large numbers of Driscoll’s books and keep those
books on bestseller lists. Profits from
the sale of said books went to Driscoll, not the church. Lastly, there are the formal charges leveled
against Driscoll by 21 former pastors alleging that Driscoll is unfit to pastor
a church. To be fair, Driscoll just
announced that he is stepping away from ministry for the next 6 weeks while independent
members of the Mars Hill Board of Advisors and Accountability investigate the
charges.
Sovereign Grace Ministries – In short,
it’s a smaller protestant version of the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the
Catholic church for the last few decades.
Abuse happened and pastors covered it up. Members were asked to forgive the abusers and
not report it to the police. Grant
Layman, C.J. Mahaney’s brother-in-law, has admitted to the cover up and I have
a hard time believing Mahaney’s claims that he never knew about it. There are enough people who were abused
during their time with SGM that there is actually a survivors website – SGMSurvivors.com.
I’m sorry, but no experience with the church should be so bad that
people see themselves as having survived the experience.
So here’s my dilemma: how do I, as
a Christian, respond to these three churches?
In each case there are serious questions regarding abuse of power,
finances, and/or congregants. This post
was originally much longer, but I realized that I didn't want to get into a detailed recounting of all the problems with each church and the accompanying detail explanation of all my objections. I also had a brief conversation on the topic with my
pastor and he reminded me that, to borrow from St. Augustine, truth is truth
wherever it is found. So when it comes
to my decision to read Bob Kauflin’s Worship
Matters (I already own it) it shouldn’t necessarily be about the church he
is a part of, but is he sharing truth?
Setting that one book aside, how do I relate to these churches? Obviously, I don’t attend any of them. Just as clearly, I should be praying about
it. I don’t think I’ll be buying any
books written by the pastors anytime soon.
But what about buying music from Elevation Band or Citizens? Citizens is getting some rave reviews and now
their frontman, Zach Bolen, has stepped down from his leadership position with
Mars Hill. I guess the key question
comes down to figuring out what constitutes support for these
churches/pastors. It’s one I don’t have
an answer to, but I’m hoping to find it.
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