top of page
Writer's picturePeder Tellefsdal

The Proven Way To Meltdown: When Charisma Trumps Character



At its peak of expansion, the fast-growing evangelical church Mars Hill in Seattle centralized power to a handful of people surrounding lead pastor Mark Driscoll.  


In an interview with one of the “inner circle” leaders, he reveals a crucial dynamic that repeatedly manifests itself in similar cases: 


“We had witnessed enormous growth. The result was an enmeshed perspective on the work of God and the work of the church—not the capital C church, as in the global or historical church, but this particular local church.”


Since Mars Hill had gotten so many things right, everyone else must get it wrong. 


Bill Hybels of Willow Creek took the same approach: “Willow has to reach its full potential because it's the hope of the world.” 


When we let God be a means to an end

Grandiosity is a feature of this kind of church. There’s an almost utopian sense of what the church might be capable of—God will fulfill his purposes for the city or even the world through this particular congregation.


The weight of the potential outcome, a transformed city or a revived generation, creates tremendous momentum.


You can easily get caught up in that momentum and find a sense of purpose and fulfillment - we all can. It is a temptation all of us should be aware of. 

That momentum can be a curse, too. If you are in its way, it will run you down. The fundamental mission of such a church turns out to be building the leader’s platform and empire. It is rarely the way it starts but often the way it ends. And the common denominator is leaving the original brand—the radical love Jesus gave us.


The church is not a building, a denomination, or an organization. It is a global movement responding to Jesus's calling and following him to restore a broken world. 


The problem of evil is not, first and foremost, why God allows evil. It is why I allow evil. When we grasp that, the Gospel story unfolds in all its beauty. Evil shall not prevail. 


Jesus promises to help us build character to fight evil internally and externally. Our egos do a terrible job of guiding us toward solid character, and we live in times when our egos have every incentive to flourish. 


The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. 


Timothy Keller said, “To the degree you understand your need for grace; to that degree, faith explodes in your life in the form of love.”

The Gospel is not information; it’s transformation. It is what we are about to celebrate this easter.


When our love gets out of order 

Augustine famously stated: “The essence of sin is disordered love.” 


Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (Matthew 22:37-40, The Message (MSG)). 


According to Jesus, the originator of our faith and hope, this is the essence. So, a church torn apart must somehow have prioritized differently. 


A case study of leaving the first love behind

The other day, I shared a social media post about the rise and fall of Levende Ord, a church phenomenon once Norway’s fastest-growing congregation. 


The response in my mail-inbox and phone was overwhelming, with many sharing their stories and providing insightful literature and podcast tips. 


I recommend checking out Christianity Today’s podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. It is a captivating story of what happens when talent and charisma trump character. 


In 1996, Mark Driscoll co-founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It was an “urban, postmodern” church stemming from Generation X. 


In the early 2000s, Driscoll and his team were early adopters and innovators in leveraging the power of video, the internet, and social media to connect with a much broader audience than most churches could even dream of. 


Things went well for years. Mark and his movement seemed unstoppable. Even when internal whistleblowers started reporting on a toxic, ungraceful, and sometimes abusive leadership style, the leadership team didn’t act. 


In the podcast, many leaders think back to this period, ashamed for being so blinded by the success. Success became “proof” of God’s plan for Mark and Mars Hill. Over time, an objection against Driscoll was perceived as an objection against God. Such dynamics always get ugly. 


One of the guys on Driscoll’s media team (which at one point counted more than 60 people) tells this story in one episode: “A team member had just read the letter to the Ephesians. He approached me and said, “This letter is about us.” Then he continued, “We have abandoned our first love.” And that’s when he realized, he finished, “This whole project is not about Jesus; it’s about Mark. That was a wrap.”


What we do in small, we do in large. 

I guess it all goes back to Adam and Eve. We want to be God; we want to run the show; it is the original sin. 


My big hero, Paul, called himself “the worst of sinners,” a mindset that became the foundation for God’s power to work through him. 


Jesus repeatedly teaches that humility is a prerequisite for grace. Humility comes with daily reminders of one's brokenness. 


In “Road to Character,” New York Times columnist and author David Brooks describes two metaphors for understanding our lives: the journey metaphor and the self-confrontation metaphor. 


Brooks argues that many today see our lives as a journey through the external world and up the ladder of success. When we think about making a difference or leading a life with purpose, we often think of achieving something external—performing some service that will impact the world, creating a successful company, or doing something for the community. 


Truly humble people also use that journey metaphor to describe their own lives. But they also use, alongside that, a different metaphor, which has more to do with internal life. This is the metaphor of self-confrontation. 


They are more likely to assume that we are all deeply divided selves, both splendidly endowed and deeply flawed - that we each have certain talents but also certain weaknesses. And if we habitually fall for those temptations and do not struggle against our weaknesses, we will gradually spoil some core pieces of ourselves. 


For people of this sort, the external drama up the ladder of success is important, but the inner struggle against one’s weaknesses is the central drama of life. 


Truly humble people are engaged in a great effort to magnify what is best in themselves and defeat what is worst to become strong in the weak places. They start with an acute awareness of the bugs in their own nature. Our basic problem is that we are all self-centered. 


Unfortunately, this self-centeredness leads us down a path of self-destruction. It breeds selfishness, a desire to exploit others for personal gain. It fosters pride and a need to feel superior to everyone else. It enables us to pay no heed to our flaws, justifying them while exaggerating our virtues. This is a dangerous cycle that truly humble people strive to break, and it's a cycle we should all be wary of. 


A lesson for all of us

In all the case studies I’ve gone through, the leader’s self-image has shifted too much to the journey metaphor. However, the only leader mindset that can have a lasting impact is the mindset of a humble servant. 


A former Mars Hill leader tells a story of a conversation with another speaker at an event. At lunch, the Mars Hill leader talked about how great his church was, how fast it grew, and how humble they were. 


Then, faith-based memoirist Donald Miller approached him and commented, “Boy, you guys are so humble; it’s just surprising that you are so aware of it.” 


Leonard Cohen wrote, “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” 


Unless a flaw comes into the light, it holds power over us and cannot be healed. The sense of sin measures a soul’s awareness of God. It is returning to our first love, and I believe that is precisely the Church Rebranding needed.

I dream of the church being known for dispensing radical love and surprising grace in a world craving it. 


I wish you all a happy easter! 


Talk soon, 

Peder 






154 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Discover How Clear Your Church's Message Truly Is

Take a FREE Self-Assessment on "How Clear is Your Church Message"This quick quiz is your key to evaluating and strengthening your church's messaging and communication. 

Self-Assessment for Church Leaders
bottom of page