Spiritual Narcissism Case Study: Unpacking Mars Hill Church's Missional Madness

Part 3, The Aftermath

For those just tuning into this saga, here's the links to Part 1 "In the beginning: Mark Driscoll v US Emergent Church" and Part 2 "The Truth is Revealed."

Graphic courtesy of https://www.megathepodcast.com

In 2021, Christianity Today (CT), the evangelical flagship magazine founded bc by none other than Billy Graham, released a podcast series titled "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill." (Those who can't listen to anything Driscoll related without losing their lunch can get a gist of the scandals by listening to "The Rise and Fall of Twin Falls," a gripping five-part mockumentary podcast investigating a scandal involving the podcast’s fictional pastor.)

True, this series fails to point the finger at themselves given CT's own sex scandals, not to mention the oversized role this outlet plays in elevating select pastors like Driscoll to Christian celebrity status. But by including other scandals such as the downfall of Hillsong, they at least admit the larger scope of this problem by noting how fame replaced virtue as the key quality desired in Christian leaders.

Unfortunately, this series failed to garner any media buzz outside of conservative evangelical circles. When news broke in 2024 of child molestation charges against Driscoll's mentor Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in Texas, I hoped this might bring interest in covering his protégé. But nada.

In a similar vein, online social media activists like Megan Benninger of Baptist Accountability were unable to halt Jones' return to the public stage in 2023 as event organizers did the "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" monkey dance. The following year, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, and other progressive "thought" leaders lent their support to the "Emerged Podcast" (2024) hosted by Jones and Fuller despite the re-emergence of these stories of abuse.

Furthermore, Jones continued to garner academic respectability via his connections with figures like Ryan Burge of the Danforth Center at Washington University. They collaborated on a project titled “Making Meaning in a Post-Religious America” funded by the Templeton Foundation.

In this faith fracas, Tim Whitaker, Creator + Facilitator of The New Evangelicals (TNE), emerged as the latest 800-pound ungodly gorilla to join the progressive Christian circus. As per their website, TNE's stated mission is "to build an empathetic and inclusive space that encourages authentic conversations, connections, and faith." Yet TNE continues to defy their mission by following the Emergent Village unpastoral playbook that pushes a DARVO brand of discipleship.

TNE was instrumental in throwing TNT towards those who questioned Jones' return to the public stage.

Unlike Mars Hill where the culture shifted to where those abused by Driscoll were finally believed, the extent of abuses committed by those who benefited from the Emergent Village/and Outlaw Preachers brands remain largely unaddressed. Meanwhile, these deconstructionist dudebros claim faux persecution by their perceived enemies.

The tides may be turning when it comes to these progressive posers thanks to a 94-page report issued in 2025 by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuses in the Christian Environment) detailing abuses within the TNE network and Whitaker in particular. On April Fools Day 2025, I received word Eerdmans notified TNE they would not be proceeding with the publication of a book that was to be authored by Whitaker.

But all is not lost in TNE land as "The New Evangelicals Podcast" has been invited to participate in the 2025 Theology Beer Camp. Guess the organizers decided to ignore the unbiblical bombs Whittaker dropped on those who spoke out when his own abuse was brought to light in 2025 with his wife going so far as to defend her spouse using a fake Instagram account. Speaking of spousal support, these missional males are aided and abetted in this quest by their suitable helper partners along with those Christians (especially women, BIPOC, and LGBT folks) hoping to land their spot in the Christian media circus. In their quest for clicks over content, these content creators/influencers (calling them "authors" is often more than a bit of a stretch) side with organizations like TNE who can give them the platform they need to cash in in lieu of speaking truth to power.

Case in point. To date, Christian content creator/podcaster April Ajoy remains supportive of Whittaker with their podcast resuming on April 17, 2025. This move indicates she is continuing with the Rachel 'n' Nadia playbook by supporting the missional males in power over those they've abused knowing such support will ensure their success within the Christian Industrial Complex. Such thinking may be misguided in the long run. According to the PRRI Census of American Religion conducted in 2013, 35% of men and 29% of women aged 18 to 29 said they were religiously unaffiliated. In their 2023 survey, found that while the percentage of young men claiming no religious affiliation remained the same, the percentage of young women rose to 40%.

For now, choosing power over prophecy can be considered a success in the short term. Ajoy's publisher Worthy continues to pimp her products, thus proving they value clicks over content. Perhaps they should change their name to Worthless given their cluelessness around #churchtoo and promotion of Kardashian Christians such as Ajoy. Just a thought.

While conservative evangelicals have a history of protecting theological and institutional hierarchy when stories of spiritual abuse emerge, in Baptist News Global, Rick Pidcock points to his fellow progressive evangelicals doing likewise. "When we carefully examine [the] story about Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals, we’ll realize the problem isn’t that we’re going too far in our critique of hierarchy, but that we’re not going far enough. We’re not recognizing remnants of hierarchy in ourselves and our friends." Sargent adds, "They mentally deconstructed but didn't dynamite the underlying hierarchy, and so they ended up with both hierarchy and hype."

As we would say back in the recovery movement days, "Same root, different fruit." Ultimately it doesn't matter whether they present as "conservative" or "progressive," "complementarian" or "egalitarian," abusive tactics are a common root that shows up in all their fruit."―Futurist Brad Sargent

These keyboard warriors may appear to be smashing the Christian Industrial Complex (aka church-as-it always-has been) to spiritual smithereens. Truth be told, they're simply refashioning this missional media monster into the Deconstruction Industrial Complex." Less missionary but the same misogyny. Furthermore, by meeting mostly online, they manage to hype up their holiness while masking their messiness. They may act like clueless Christians but they are clearly Internet savvy with a long history of doxing, cyberbullying, and other online antics that demonstrate how they act more infantile than incarnational.

In a November 20, 2024 Zoom interview with Throckmorton, I inquired why he concluded Driscoll was a narcissistic church leader.

The whole church was built around Mark Driscoll and organized around his ego. Driscoll would preach in one place and then his sermons were all broadcast to all these different church plants located across the country. These church plants had pastors but none of them taught or preached in any significant way. So you had this organism [Driscoll] at the center of the church with everything geared toward maintaining this system.

This dynamic sounds very similar to the pyramid scheme style of leadership I observed among the US Emergent 'n Outlaw Preachers posse. Surprise, surprise.

When asked for the signs one is encountering a church led by those with extreme spiritual narcissistic tendencies, Throckmorton offers this sage advice. "If the church is more about the minister than the people in the ministry, then that is a red flag. When keeping the pastor happy is the goal instead of serving God and the people, then you have a problem.." He added how those coming out of Mars Hill felt it wasn't about spirituality or God at all but rather making the church, and by default Driscoll, look good.

Another red flag is when the congregation doesn't have any involvement in the church's decisions. Everything is done for them by the leadership and there's no transparency regarding the church's finances. In particular, watch how those in leadership react when you ask to see a budget.

Also, the closer you get to the leadership, you find that in a church like Mars Hill, the leaders have a sense of entitlement. As Throckmorton observes, "The leaders and those closest to them believe they deserve special treatment and privileges that other people don't. There's a lack of empathy that comes from the leader. As such, those leading the church have difficulty understanding the feelings of those underneath them."

Another key sign is to say "no" to a request. Watch how they respond when you say, "I can't do what you're asking me to do." Do they push you aside? Throckmorton adds that most of us can feel when we're being manipulated by someone who tries to manipulate us using spiritual language like "Well, if you were committed to the ministry, then you would do that" or "You didn't share what Pastor Mark said last week."

When asked if those who display Driscoll-level signs of spiritual narcissism can be cured, Throckmorton notes how as a mental health matter, narcissism is difficult to treat. "Success requires a long-term commitment to treatment. As a church matter, I don’t recommend staying with narcissistic leaders. You as a church member are not going to be able to fix the situation. There are plenty of churches. Go find another one.”

As long as pastors like Driscoll could remain on center stage as the main event, Throckmorton says things ran smoothly. But once something threatens the organism at the center, all the defense mechanisms organize themselves to defend anyone who is attacking the main central organism. "Then when this organism is exposed and people leave, they often look for somebody to take this organism's place," he adds. In the case of Mars Hill, some ex-Mars Hill members gravitated towards that other Mars Hill Church based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Wenatchee the Hatchet documented how others who fled from Driscoll's abusive tactics found solace in the liberal equivalent of a cussin' hipster pastor in Nadia Bolz-Weber. In typical narcissistic fashion, both best-selling branded badasses re-imagined themselves once their Muscular Christianity schtick ran its branded best-selling course so to speak. Driscoll went from Calvinistic to Charismatic while Bolz-Weber appeared to rebrand herself from a spiritual shock jock to yet another Oprahesque lifestyle guru by washing her face Rachel Hollis style. Such rebranding without any introspection continues their cycle of abuse while also continuing to attract new followers unaware of their abusive histories. Thus the Christian (and ex-Christian should they go the a/theist route) cash keeps coming in.

Throckmorton offered this reflection, "Just because they're liberal doesn't mean that that they can't have a system like Mars Hill Church. People tend to gravitate toward what they know, and I think that's probably why people leave Mars Hill and then sadly find themselves in similar systems when they look at another church."

This spiritual saga will be included in my forthcoming book Gaslighting for God: A Satirical Guide to Save Yourself from Spiritual Narcissists (Lake Drive Books, Spring 2026). If this reporting is of interest to you, consider contributing to Lake Drive Book’s Gaslighting for God Kickstarter Campaign to help make this project a reality.

Becky Garrison, author, journalist, satirist, and storyteller focusing on spirituality, sustainability, and community

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