Mark Driscoll Tries To Justify ‘How Dare You!’ Sermon, But Facts Don’t Match Testimony
Mark Driscoll claims in a sermon on Oct. 23, 2022, that elders at Mars Hill Church plotted to accuse him of adultery if he didn’t resign. (Video screengrab)
Disgraced former Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll has posted a video attempting to justify his infamous sermon from 15 years ago in which he screams, “How dare you!”
But like other explanations Driscoll has given, the facts don’t match the recollections of former staff from the now-shuttered Seattle megachurch.
Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill in 2014, after an internal investigation at the church found Driscoll guilty of “arrogance,” “a quick temper” and leading “in a domineering manner.” He then moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and launched The Trinity Church, where some former staff have accused him of cult-like actions, like mandated loyalty and 24/7 surveillance of members.
Driscoll preached his infamous sermon, entitled “Marriage and Men,” at Mars Hill in 2009. It has been used by critics to highlight what they say is Driscoll’s angry and abusive leadership.
A former Mars Hill member told Mike Cosper, host of the extremely popular podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” that the sermon typified Driscoll’s core message.
“That message was, You suck, do better, do like me,” Cosper recalls.
Clips from that sermon have now gone viral on social media.
Driscoll screaming “How dare you!” was also mixed into the song, “Sticks and Stones,” by King’s Kaleidoscope and featured in the signature open of “The Rise and Fall” podcast. (The producers of the podcast eventually removed Driscoll’s sound byte from the open at the request of Chad Gardner, who wrote “Sticks and Stones.”)
But in a video posted last Sunday, Driscoll claims that his anger in the sermon was justified. And to his “critics and enemies that have used it,” Driscoll says, “shame on you.”
Driscoll’s explanation of what ‘triggered’ his anger
According to Driscoll’s recent video, the infamous sermon came a few years after his wife, Grace, had revealed to him that she had been sexually assaulted before the couple had met. Driscoll said the news “wrecked” him.
Yet, as Grace began to tell her story in the church, more women felt safe to come forward with their stories of abuse, Driscoll said.
“And the thought of men doing these things to not just daughters, but God the Father’s daughters — it just made me furious,” he added.
Driscoll said that on the day he gave the sermon, women were coming up to him between services and sharing their abuse stories with him. “And by the end of the day, I was completely emotionally devastated and angry and furious at all the damage done to women, starting with my wife.”
Then, Driscoll said he heard an especially tragic story, which “triggered” him, before what was “probably the sixth or seventh sermon of the day. I just preached myself, literally, almost to death on a few occasions.”
Before that last sermon, Driscoll said an 18-year-old African American woman told him she was born out of rape, and her mother didn’t allow her to meet her father because he wasn’t safe. But after turning 18, she flew out to meet with her dad. He then raped her, Driscoll said.
“I honestly started crying so hard, I threw up — and then preached the sermon,” Driscoll said.
It was this sermon that was recorded and eventually went viral, Driscoll said.
Driscoll’s story doesn’t match witness account
However, Driscoll’s story does not match the account given by an eyewitness interviewed by Mike Cosper on his podcast.
In “Episode 5: The Things We Do to Women,” Cosper said he wondered whether Driscoll screamed at his audience at all of the services the day of his infamous sermon, or just one.
Cosper notes that when describing that day, Driscoll said in an interview with FamilyLife co-founder Dennis Rainey that his sermons “just sort of happen in the moment. I’m more of an extemporaneous preacher. And so, I just kinda got fired up.”
However, Cosper said there were five sermons that day (not seven or eight), “and I was able to confirm that Mark screamed just like this at all five. Someone who was intimately familiar with all of these operations confirmed that the whole thing was planned and rehearsed. It was made by Mark for TV.”
Cosper noted something else that was consistent with the notion that the screaming was planned.
Right after Driscoll’s rant, he announces: “We’re going to do something we’ve never done. We’re going to pass the plate. You can give your tithes and offerings. ... If you’re disconnected, please fill out the visitor card.” (This part of the sermon appears to be edited out of the sermon video posted by Driscoll.)
“I don’t want to sound cynical,” Cosper said on the podcast, “but that’s weird, right? Fill out the visitor card, in the middle of this?”
Driscoll rewriting history?
This isn’t the first time Driscoll has allegedly tried to rewrite history, according to former Mars Hill Executive Elder Sutton Turner.
In 2022, Driscoll claimed in a sermon that he resigned from Mars Hill in 2014 because church leaders were plotting to accuse him of adultery if he didn’t.
Driscoll alleged that prior to resigning from Mars Hill, God told him “that a trap was set.”
Driscoll said he then met multiple times at Panera with some “critics and enemies,” some of whom were pastors and former pastors at Mars Hill. Driscoll said when he asked these critics about a possible trap, they responded that “the nuclear option was that we were going to accuse you of adultery.”
Turner told The Roys Report that Driscoll’s allegation was “totally false,” and transcripts of the elders’ investigative meetings leading up to Driscoll’s resignation corroborate Turner’s claim.
The transcripts show that the elders were unanimous in wanting Driscoll to repent and be restored; none were plotting to get rid of him.
“Some did not want him to be restored to full-time ministry,” Turner said. “But all of them wanted him to repent and reconcile with people he sinned against (which he never did) and be restored as a Christian in the church.”
On a podcast with TRR, Turner also called into question other claims Driscoll has made since leaving Mars Hill.
For example, Driscoll claimed at Robert Morris’ Gateway Conference in 2014 that people were giving him death threats and harassing him at his home. Driscoll said that one time, he and his kids camped out in their backyard. And around 6:30 in the morning, “huge rocks about the size of baseballs come flying at my kids.”
Driscoll said a few days later, the media flew over his house with a helicopter “trying to flush this out for a story.”
However, Turner said he’s been to the house where Driscoll lived at the time, which was on an acre to an acre-and-a-half. “It was like a forest behind his house” with 40- to 50-foot high trees, Turner said.
“So, how did this happen? Where did they park the car?” Turner asked. “So, they threw (a rock), and it went through all these trees ... it’s just astounding.”
Turner added that helicopters flew over Driscoll’s home all the time because his home was near a hospital.
“So, some of the details that (Driscoll) leaves out to elicit empathy and to tell his side of the story work,” Turner said. “If you don’t know the details, then you’re like, ‘Oh, I feel so sorry for him.’”
This piece was originally published at The Roys Report.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.