The article fascinated me because the author had written about ideas the podcast provoked, primarily on the subject of legalism. I decided to listen to the entire podcast to hear it for myself and, not to be a spoilsport, but the podcast is not really about legalism. It comes up in the final episode, but it's only one of many facets which the podcast explores.
I listened to the entire podcast, fascinated to learn about this toxic side of Christianity. Many times I found myself thinking, "this doesn't sound like church - this sounds like a cult" - especially when stories of church members being threatened at having their dirty laundry aired in public. I've never really understood American Evangelicalism but this podcast gave me some helpful information.
My fear at the outset - knowing that this was the story of a toxic church that collapsed on itself - was that Christianity Today would try to make the story somehow neat and palatable. I do often find my fellow Christians are unwilling to really face something difficult or challenging in our faith without tying it up in a Calvinist ribbon that assures the listener that this problem isn't really a problem. There are plenty of passages in the Bible where good men of God simply lament; we should have a place for lament as well, and so I applaud this podcast for placing the focus on the lament. There is talk of what good the church accomplished, but it is not the subject of the podcast. As I learned, the church experienced plenty of laud and honour in its time - someone needed to try and make sense of what was done wrong. Kudos.
Many former members of the church who spoke on the podcast lost their faith as a result of what happened. In a discussion of how they were now deconstructing their beliefs, one commenter remarked that it's actually helpful for us to deconstruct our faith.
Having listened to the podcast, it makes me relieved that I come from the liturgical traditions. We're not perfect in the Anglican church, but our emphasis usually isn't on flashy messages delivered by charismatic figures. We work our way through the liturgy and we don't tend to place our pastors too far above us. I'm also fortunate in being a pastor's son in that I can separate my father as the head of my church from my father as the head of my family. I love and respect my Dad, but having lived in his house for 20 years I knew he wasn't perfect. A personal Christian faith become more approachable to me because I knew my Dad didn't have everything right. It sounds like a paradox, but it made faith accessible to me.
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill probably isn't for everyone. The people on the podcast make themselves very vulnerable; there is disgusting audio of the church's pastor delivering deeply wrong theology; and it's very long - the last two episodes take 2.5 hours. I think it might be my new recommendation to Christians who want something to study through Lent - it is challenging in the best sense.
