Glib, arrogant, sarcastic, irreverent, name-calling, insulting, immature, insensitive, contentious . . .

These words describe the Mark Driscoll I have seen and heard at Mars Hill. As Christians, we are called to be more like Christ everday. I look to the leaders of my church for examples of this behavior. Sure, they aren't perfect, none of us are. But the basic characteristics of humility, kindness, charity, empathy and love are ones that I have come to expect from the pulpit. Listening to Mark Driscoll, these aren't the characteristics that immediately come to mind. To the contrary, of the many sermons I've seen in person and listened to on the web, there hasn't been one where I haven't been shocked and perhaps outraged at the man's arrogance and insensitivity. Not only does he directly insult groups he dislikes - from gays to Episcopalians - but it is also as if he looks to pick a fight and find ways to say that his church is better than all the others (don't believe me? read his blog). Once he takes a position on something, it's his way or the highway. Sure, like many politicians, he will claim that there are points where all Christians need to come together and not fight about; but he's only willing to not fight if he AGREES with your theology. If he disagrees, than you are WRONG. End of story. Begin the name-calling.

I have found that people who go to Mars Hill take on this mentality (I have many, many friends who go to this church). Their attitude is "if you don't like the way we do things, we don't want you." In general, this is the attitude that organizations must have to survive, lest they be running amuck trying to please everyone. But at Mars Hill, it seems to breed more of an unwillingness to question what is being taught, fed and done. Unfortunately, this attitude can lead to power and authority in a church being put in the hands of a few, with the massess blindly following.

Friends who have left other churches for Mars Hill often say they weren't being "fed" at their previous church. When I hear this, I want to add the word "spoon" before "fed." It's a fact of life that many of us want to be told how to live, what to do, how to think, what to believe, etc. We don't want to have to figure it out for ourselves. Mars Hill does it for you. Under the guise of being "biblical," Mark Driscoll dictates these things for his congregation. It is a personal choice for his congregation and, frankly, no business of anyone elses. Where it becomes troubling is 1) his glib and sarcastic attitude rubs off and 2)his desire to extend his mandates and biblical beliefs on the rest of Seattle - and eventually, the world - through politicizing his positions. I suppose I would have no problem with that if Mark Driscoll's position carried out Jesus 2nd commandment (Matthew 22:39) and actually encourged people to "love their neighbor," but it doesn't.

Mark Driscoll is young. Because he started his own church, he was not mentored by loving pastors along the way. He admits that he did not grow up going to church and only became a Christian shortly before he started Mars Hill. It is no surprise that he is stuck in his 20-something mentality of "I'm right, you're wrong" and "it's ok to make fun of people, as long as others laugh." He has made a name for himself by with this behavior so there is no reason for him to change. Unfortunately, he is teaching his flock that this attitude - rather than a loving one - brings success. That is the most unfortunate part of the whole situation. Lots more arrogant, insensitive Christians who ignore Jesus' command to love thy neighbor.

I read this article, and others like it, as well as the responses and just shake my head.

Cult or no, Mars Hill and others like it are acting to their own benefit where society has not.

They have their finger on the pulse of teen and 20's something angst and instead of shaking their own heads and waiting for these people to grow up, they are steping in and moulding them to be the fundamentalistic ideal.

Will the moulding hold? Well, that is always the problem isn't it? Even where it does in the first generation... the next... by the very nature of youth will be out there rebelling again.

The fact that this is all billed as some "new" or startling development goes back to the short sightedness of America in many ways. I would wager this religious style is very much an American thing. That type of ego with a solid dash of conspicuous consumption is very much our hallmark. The ongoing belief that if we did it... we did it first, with no regard for history. Even more ironic when you consider that the religion discussed itself is a rehash of the history before it's founding.

But it isn't new... 20 years ago when I was in high school... Campus Life, the born again movement of the moment, was busy saving the dissaffected teens of Terre Haute IN and the rest of the nation. My senior class president was voted in a speech that went "Some say I am a burnt out Jesus freak, well I am a burn out and I am a Jesus Freak and if you elect me there will be slam dancing in the halls for Jesus." She won by about 80%. Short sightedness isn't generational.

School shootings, street kids, child on child sexual abuse and the like, kids looking for answers and not finding them where they should, with their families and their communities. We love to banty about that "It takes a village to raise a child..." but we are so busy raising our children to be individuals that can't function in a village we are suprised when they lash back or submit to some one or something that offers a place.

Mars Hill and it's seedlings are not the answer. If anything they further the problem. It is sad to think that Asher or his sister may well be in the fore front of whatever new form of child/teen violence springs from such strict moulding. And make no mistake, no matter how prettily you package it with tattoos, rock music and beer... the bait.... the switch is strict indeed.

What is truly criminal in the Mars Hill model isn't the subjigation of women (though that is bad enough, the women are making that choice knowingly) but the fact that in a world that is already straining to provide for a burdgeoning population they see fit to add to it. I am not a believer in Zero Population Growth but there is a responsibility inherent in calling yourself Christian. Abusing the very home that your God has given you seems just a tad like biting the hand that feeds you.

No matter what side of this fence you are on... or who built it... Caring and support of your community shouldn't be just a Christian value. And you undermine that value when you so blatantly say something to tune of "...We are different... it goes no further than this..."

Don't be surprised when the person you say that too holds your life at lower value when your backs are against the wall... He's just doing unto others...