The Problem Was Always Bigger Than Driscoll

As he takes the stage during the weekly meeting of the "Real Men" ministry at his church, Mark Driscoll is flanked by black-and-white images of soldiers donning rifles and helmets, preparing to storm the enemy awaiting them on the shore. He dispenses practical advice on issues ranging from prayer to sex to spiritual headship to his battalion of eager men facing what he has called the "everyday war" of Christian manhood in the United States. Driscoll served as founding pastor of the Mars Hill megachurch empire, based in Seattle, for 18 years before resigning in the fall of 2014. This followed an investigation in which the church elders formally charged him with being arrogant, quick-tempered, harsh in speech, and domineering in his leadership. He is making waves once again as an even larger group of former Mars Hill pastors believe he is doing the same -- or worse -- at his current church in Arizona.