Why every Christian Leader needs to listen to the podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill

Celebrity pastor falls in a spectacular way due to scandal and then their megachurch collapses shortly after.

 As believers, it's something we have come to expect. It's not really a surprise when we hear that the latest flavor of the month pastor and his church have fallen apart due to moral failings.  In some cases,  we're almost waiting for the lastest celebrity preacher to fall when we should be praying for him.

Christianity Today has produced an amazing podcast called, "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" that examines what killed one of the biggest churches in the nation and also looks at how mega-churches came into existence beginning with Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral to Rick Warren and Saddleback.

Mark Discroll led the thriving mega-church of 10,000 attendees called Mars Hill based in Seattle, Washington.  While listening to excerpts of his sermons on the podcast, I can't say that I disagreed with a lot of what he was teaching.  

Even though I didn't care for his delivery, I did agree with his points about men taking their place at home and church. I also thought he was onto something about the trend of seeker-friendly churches not being a good thing.

As a guest in the "Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" podcast pointed out, it was hard to argue with the fruit of Mars Hill.  Marriages were restored, people were being saved, and more people were engaged in the Christian community.  

I believe every Christian leader should listen to this podcast for several reasons and ask ourselves these questions:

• Are we bearing the fruit of the Spirit or Fruit of the ego?
• Why do we continue to enable this type of behavior?
• What is our purpose for ministry?
• Do we think this can happen to us?

Are we bearing fruit of the Spirit or fruit of the Ego?

This is the first reason I believe every Christian Leader should listen to this podcast.  You can be doing everything right as it pertains to ministry and bearing "fruit" but is it sustainable fruit and is God first?  I'm reminded of Jesus talking to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2.

 “Write this letter to the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first![b] 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

The church of Ephesus was a hardworking church.  They were doing so much right but they were doing a major thing wrong.  They didn't love God first nor did they love each other.  That invalidated everything else that they were doing.

We can be doing all of the "Right Things" but if God is not our first love and neither are our brothers and sisters, then we're wasting our time

It's the Holy Spirit that's doing the work and not us.  The fruit that is by the spirit and connected to Jesus will last.  Ego-based fruit does not last and often leaves abuse and other terrible scandals in its wake.

Why do we continue to enable this type of behavior?

Why do we regularly platform people whose charisma outpaces their character and who leave devastation in their wake? We buy in and then we watch the collapse like spectators at a demolition derby. - Who Killed Mars Hill Podcast

This question is brought up on the podcast and it's a great question for all of us to answer.  Pastors falling and churches collapsing continue to happen regularly.  It's almost like some of us wait for the latest flavor of the month pastor and church to fall into sin because we know the trajectory.

Do the church leaders who see a dying church revived or the offerings pouring in ever ask themselves whether this person is mature enough to handle all of the influence and attention coming their way. 

While it's one thing to blame the pastors and leaders for moral failings and poor character, I think it says more about us as the body of believers that this continues to happen over and over again. We like these charismatic figures who keep our attention during sermons and have grandiose visions of what the church can be.   We line up to buy their books, go to their conferences, and watch their sermons.  

Yet do we as the body pray for their character to match their gifts?

Are we placing our favorite pastors on a pedestal and listening to their words over Jesus? 

It says a lot about the body of believers that when the collapse comes we're all there with our popcorn waiting for the gory details to emerge rather than asking ourselves, "How could this happen again? What are we missing that we continually see these scandals happening over and over again.

Mars Hill fits a pattern whether it's the latest megachurch to fall, WeWork, Elizabeth Holmes, and Theranos, or whatever the latest scandal of the month is.  People who sold tall tales and in the eager rush to believe them we bought in, and then it all crashed in spectacular fashion.

What is the purpose of our ministry?

The third reason that I think Christian leaders should listen to this podcast is that it asks us to re-evaluate what our why and purpose for the ministry actually is?

Is it to save souls and bring Glory to God or is it to have political and financial power?

I recently listened to the "In God we Lust" podcast about Jerry Falwell Jr and the Liberty University scandal. It seemed like the focus for Jerry Falwell Jr was to make money with real estate and gain political power.  

When the focus of the ministry becomes about self-gain and power in the natural, the results will never be good. 

1 Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

The Bible does not say for us to spend our time trying to gain political power or building lots of monumental buildings. The Bible says that whatever we do is for the glory of God.

We can look at Jesus' ministry as a prime example and see that the point wasn't to gain power with the Romans or build himself a temple. 

It was to heal people's minds and souls, die for the sins of humanity, and to bring glory to the Father.

Do I believe that this can happen to me?

The Final Reason why I think everyone should listen to What Killed Mars Hill is that a spectacular fall from grace can happen to any of us in Christian leadership.  

We should ask ourselves if we believe this can happen to us.

If we don't think it can happen, then pride is already blinding us.  Scripture tells us that Pride Goes before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction,
    and haughtiness before a fall.

Any Christian leader can get lured away by their own desires and fall into temptation BUT knowing this is a possibility we must do all we can to stay connected to the Father, keep our focus and WHY about Jesus, AND make sure to have an inner circle that holds us accountable and keeps us covered in prayer.

I believe The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast is relevant especially in this day and age where everyone can be their own celebrity on social media.

I pray that the church would move away from performative and celebrity Christianity and get back into the small group model. I have nothing against large churches but I think the bigger you go, the smaller you need to get to avoid egos and idolatry.