During his recent Sunday sermon, ‘pastor’ Mark Driscoll released a bombshell, claiming that the reason he resigned from the pastorate at Mars Hill after previously saying he wasn’t going anywhere and would submit to a period of church discipline, is that the Holy Spirit revealed to him a secret plot by the church elders to get him to step down by falsely accusing him of adultery, freeing him to leave.
Driscoll’s Mars Hill Ministry imploded in 2014 after his elders accused him of being arrogant, crude, bullying, harsh, and overbearing. Rather than stay and submit to the ignominy of church discipline, Mark took his ball and went home, resigning and starting a new church in Arizona (the 1000-member Trinity Church) that notably does not have elders who can reign him in and keep him in check. His lack of elders is not for lack of prospects, but rather is being done to avoid accountability and accumulate maximum control, and where his better angels have transformed into crooked and decrepit demons.
It was only a year ago that nearly 40 elders who once worked at Mars Hill Church and served alongside Mark Driscoll during the most tumultuous years of his career released a public statement outlining their dismay that their former leader has continued his abusive tactics at his new church; calling on him to step down and to enter into a process of conciliation with those he abused.
Now Driscoll, who regularly claims that God speaks to him and gives him secret knowledge and visions, including famously claiming he receives pornographic divinations from the Holy Spirit, says that he decided to resign from the church after God showed him a trap was being set for him and after God told him he did not have to stick around and submit to church discipline but was instead “released.” He has referenced this “trap” before in interviews, but now finally explains what it is.
Some years ago, we were in a season where massive media firestorm, lots of conflict and controversy. I said ‘okay, investigate everything. I know I’m not disqualified. I know who I am. I can’t wait to stand before Jesus, it’s gonna be a great day for me.’ Not that I’m perfect, but I know who I am and I know who He is.
And we were asked to return and I’ll share something with you I’ve never shared. I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not…So I was in one end of the house, Grace was in the other. God spoke to his both and said ‘you’re released, you need to resign immediately”
And God told me a trap is set. He didn’t tell Grace (his wife) that. So she came in. She’s like ‘God just spoke to me’ I was like ‘God just spoke to me’. And I said ‘what did you hear?’ She said, ‘we’re released’. I heard ‘we’re released and that a strap was set.’
So we walked away, didn’t defend ourselves. Took 18 months, didn’t do social media didn’t do public ministry. Just wanted to heal up and be with my family, get them into safety in a very dangerous season of our life. And so during that time, I met with some of my critics and enemies, one on one or small group. People that had been friends, people who claim to be Christians, some who were pastors, some who still are pastors.
And I asked them, I said ‘God told me a trap was set’. So I asked them, I said, ‘Do you know what that might be?’ And these people that we had known, said, ‘yeah, the nuclear option was we were going to accuse you of adultery.’
I like the dig of ‘people who claim to be Christians.’ He continues:
This was at Panera, multiple meetings at Panera. (I said) ‘You guys discussed accusing me of adultery? You know, that’s not true. I’ve been faithful to my wife my whole life. I adore my wife. I love my wife, and she loves me. We’ve been faithful to each other. We’ve been open our whole marriage about any struggles we’ve had, because we know that every married couple has some hardship to go through. And we have never been dishonest, but we have never done that. We’ve never done anything remotely like that.’
He said, ‘yeah, that’s why we kept it as the nuclear option.’I was like ‘to get me what?’ they said ‘to get you out of the pulpit.’ They said ‘because we knew that if we accuse you of adultery, and enough of us signed the open letter, that ultimately there would be such a media firestorm that you would have to exit ministry, exit preaching God’s word for probably a year well, a full investigation was done. During that time, we could take over and lead and be in charge and then we figured one of two things would happen. Either you would come back but we would be in charge, or you would never come back and you’d be done forever.’
I came home I told Grace, I was like “Oh my gosh. Multiple people told me that to my face on separate occasions and days. ‘
If I’m going to be your pastor, and I love you, I promise you this; I will always tell you the truth. And I want you to love and honor and respect Christian leaders and pastors. Don’t assume the worst assume the best. And don’t believe everything you hear and don’t contribute to the gossip that just takes lies and gives them life.”
Driscoll is completely unrepentant thoroughly disqualified from the ministry, and with every retelling of this retconned fantasy version of events, he only digs in deeper.
See more about Driscoll Here:
Saddleback Pastor Apologizes for Mark Driscoll Interview, But is He Sincere?
Mark Driscoll Lies About Where His Bible Came From
Mark Driscoll Church Structure Leak Confirms our Suspicions + Woman Protests His Church
News Station Investigating Mark Driscoll Puts Fox in Charge of the Henhouse
Mark Driscoll Shuns Elders and Accountability at New Church
Wayne Grudem, Mark Driscoll, Michael Brown Sign Joint Statement Affirming False Prophet
