‘Christianity Today’ Under Fire For Using LGBTQ-Affirming Sponsor in Anti-Mark Driscoll Podcast
‘Christianity Today’ is under fire after author and social commentator Megan Basham pointed out on X that their well-known podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, is sponsored by several LGBTQ-affirming companies, including BetterHelp and PolicyGenius.
Basham displayed images from Better Help’s website, showing the perspective, along with their Q&A intake form.
After noting that Policy Genius, who is also LGBTQ affirming, sponsored the podcast, Basham made further discoveries:
“It’s not just the hit Mars Hill podcast. Multiple podcasts at Christianity Today are sponsored by this LGBTQ affirming therapy company. Have confirmed this includes Russell Moore’s own podcast. And this was not an oversight by an outside advertising company. These ads were read in house.”
She further notes:
Basham has been listening to the show, which outlines Driscoll’s rise and personal and professional implosion (see endnotes), and offering commentary, which has resulted in several followers accusing her of trying to rehabilitate his image, even though she has done nothing of the sort.
One notable critic is Mike Cosper, Senior contributor at Christianity Today and creator of Then Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, who writes:
We’ve written about Mark Driscoll many times. Whereas he was once standard fare for New Calvinists and the pseudo-Reformed community, Driscoll runs almost exclusively in the charismatic community.
Back in the day, Driscoll favored an edgy, aggressive style marked by prurient sermons laced with cuss words and punk-style worship- he once called women’ penis homes’ and commanded women with unsaved husbands to give their husbands oral sex to convert them.
All the edgy aggressiveness boiled over in 2014 when the empire suddenly imploded due to Driscoll’s emotional and spiritual abuse of the flock, plagiarism, and accusations of financial misconduct. Rather than undergo church discipline, he claimed he audibly heard from God that he needed to leave, and he bolted. Later, nearly 40 former Mars Hill elders issued a public statement describing him as ‘unfit’ and ‘unrepentant.’
Not many years later, with the help of his crony James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll wrapped up his own discipline and re-established himself behind a pulpit in Phoenix, Arizona. Here, he set himself up as Pope of his own church, removing any of the limiting factors that previously constrained him, chiefly the presence of elders. Despite having hundreds and hundreds of people attending each week, there are no elders at The Trinity Church, which has resulted in his bullying ways continuing. Think of him as a wayward child who locked his parents in their room and now has the run of the house, terrorizing the dogs and torturing the cats.
Slowly, he rebuilt his empire, even as his theology got squishier. He mocked reformed theology and described Calvinism as “garbage.” He publicly apologized for criticizing Joel Osteen. He started selling copies of his sermon notes online and pushed seeker-sensitive services like “Swimsuit Sunday.” He even defended the Roman Catholic Church, saying they “believe in the essentials.”
Despite resigning in disgrace and possessing a penchant for theological violence, people flocked to him at his new home, and his church has grown immensely in the last few years, slowly edging towards megachurch status.