I Kissed Christianity Goodbye - Bonus Episode - The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Love it or hate it, if you grew up in a youth group after 1997, you probably had to reckon with Joshua Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye, his treatise on dating and courtship. The book sold millions and made him, in Collin Hansen’s terms, an “evangelical boy wonder.”
At 29 years old he became the lead pastor of a Maryland megachurch and a rising star in Sovereign Grace Ministries. But when that movement was torn apart by controversy, conflict, and accusations of a systemic cover-up of child abuse, he found himself reeling, unsure of his calling and convictions. He left ministry in 2015, and in 2019, he announced that he no longer identified as a Christian.
In this bonus episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, we’ll explore Josh’s story as a contemporary of Mark Driscoll, someone who was his polar opposite in temperament, and whose struggles in ministry led to a divergent outcome. We’ll talk about faith, doubt, and celebrity, and discuss how Christians might think about their own doubts and deconstruction, recognizing them as a normal part of the Christian life.
Subscriptions to CT are one of the best ways to support this kind of journalism. If you want to help us continue doing this kind of work, consider joining today at orderct.com/marshill.
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill is a production of Christianity Today
www.christiani...
Executive Producer: Erik Petrik
Produced, written, and edited by Mike Cosper
Associate Producer: Joy Beth Smith
Music and sound design by Kate Siefker and Mike Cosper
Mixed by Mike Cosper
Graphic Design by Bryan Todd
Social Media by Nicole Shanks
Editorial consulting by Andrea Palpant Dilley
CT’s Editor in Chief is Timothy Dalrymple
Our theme song is “Sticks and Stones” by King’s Kaleidescope
The closing song is “Spirit (Keep On)” by Jeremy Casella
1 Timothy 3:6: "[An overseer] must not be a recent convert,or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil."
When "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" was published, Joshua Harris would have been no older than twenty-three. Where were the church leaders when someone this immature was allowed to propagate an ill- conceived view of Christian living--with NO theological education no less? The pastors who allowed an arrogant boy to set himself up as a relationship guru without denouncing his hubris bear as much responsibility for the damage done as Harris does.
My thoughts exactly
21. He was 21.
Your feelings on Spurgeon or Calvin or Billy Graham or Moody? Those complaining about, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" are rejecting the plain truth of Scripture that sex outside of marriage is SIN. That's what their real beef is about, not if one should date with a chaperone or in a group (otherwise known as courting). They want couples out alone so more fall into sexual sin, so they don't feel bad about their own.
@@Window4503awful. Just awful. Did his father find a bride for him?
This is an important point !! There are also mega church pastors with zero theological training. There’s been a mocking of that training in the past twenty five years or more. It’s not the end point but it’s a good start.
Part of strong, responsible leadership is having the humility to entertain respectful, earnest critique; neither to be so craven as to abandon a considered position, nor to be too arrogant for counsel.
Don't let Judas make you leave Jesus.
Well said!
100%
Thank you for that! It really is that simple.
Wow. Well said 👍. Sometimes Judas is still in active “ministry”
I’m listening to this after listening to the first 8 episodes about mars hill and I just wanna scream. Like I have so many questions about this guy saying he deconstructed. Like why? What were you being taught at church that was so damaging to your life you just decided to walk away? This is so frustrating as I’m listening I wanna scream dude you never knew Jesus. The Jesus of the gospels and why he came. He keeps talking about evangelical laws etc. etc. Like didn’t you read the gospels? It’s not about laws. There’s a reason Jesus said he came to set us free. Come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest. My yolk is easy and my burden is light. I have to say he was NEVER a Christian because he never knew Christ. Then I have to ask what are these churches teaching people that puts them into this kind of turmoil. This was eye opening to me. Like how badly is our church broken and destructive? And how many people who say they are Christian and go to church but they really don’t know Christ. They clearly don’t read their bibles and even know Jesus. The entire Bible is about Jesus. The OT points to his coming and starts in Genesis 3. The new testament fulfills the OT promises. IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS. This is very alarming.
Good questions. My take in all of these disasters is that we are encouraging people to follow the personality who is standing at the pulpit. We are not teaching people to follow Jesus. It’s the glorification of man, not God.
@Tina
It's actually pretty simple - 99% of what is preaching Evangelical Church is total bullshit
The rest of it's just religious cotton candy
All that glitters is not gold. Your judgment of this human’s journey is characteristic of evangelicalism and the required “proof texting” to justify your lack of compassion.
@@cwellik805 Got it 👍
Josh Harris was from the beginning and remains someone with something to sell, something that puts himself and his keen insights out front with a price tag on it. Don't lose sight of that. Even now for the low price of $250 he'll help you deconstruct your faith. First a young, virgin expert on relationships, then a young pastor telling people how to live their faith in the real world while never having stepped outside the church, and now as an expert in faithlessness, he always on the grift.
I agree completely. Josh Harris should not have been trusted when he called himself a Believer writer and pastor. Why should he be trusted now? As a recanter of his former faith, he is trying to make money on denying what he once preached. If he was genuine, he would give back the incredible amounts of money he made during his years in "Christian ministry."
Funny how that works ...
32:53 Yeah ... Most people who "deconstruct" their faith do so after being abused/ manipulated by someone claiming to have their best spiritual interests at heart. Josh was the manipulator and he's deconstructing his faith? Boo hoo hoo. Who harmed him? I know the answer - he harmed others spiritually and blames others while "boldly deconstructing" his faith at a religious institution. His story isn't adding up.
I believe he can heal. I don't think he or the church has any clue how to do it.
This is insightful.
Always the “expert”
"This" sadly is going on in many many church's, large and small. Politicizing church is at the height of all "This" and is turning away souls in disgust of Christianity today. Thanks for this reporting. I don't go to church but still believe, pray and worship God including in the way I live and talk. That's what it's all about. Also with "celebrity status" comes $$, talk about that part of all "This"
Josh's story is not over..Solomon has some thought on restoration
Josh had the courage to admit where he went wrong. I respect that.
Yes, to be willing to humble oneself, and to admit one's past mistakes is admirable. However, if it was a true mistake, admitting this often/ usually results in opposition and persecution; this instead of an increase in popularity.
IMO the challenging message of Josh's IKDG book was not wrong. He seem to have been too immature, and not grounded enough in his convictions and even basic faith to remain standing against criticism, which is why eventually he had conformed again to fit in with what is popular - walking on the wide road - advancing worldly ways.
What are you talking about? To any degree that he briefly admits wrong on his part, he then goes on and on with a narrative of how he is the actual victim and it’s really these other people and cultural forces that are to blame, he is actually a victim caught in the middle and his life was destroyed. He references a lot about when he was training and an apprentice, snail completely avoiding the fact that the wrong he did was when he was a in charge mature lead pastor… He sold over a million books, and was huge on the speaking circuit, had a big salary at a mega church, people who achieve these thing are millionaires… what has he done with all this money? Poor victim Josh… As if the failure of his marriage is any ones fault but his own? So he had hurt and stepped away from church attendance, is not the same thing as denying Jesus and saying the Bible is wrong and made up… also there are no base line questions asked about the people in this series original belief as to did they ever believe the Bible was true, or just nice creative stories with a moral theme but actually never happened? Because that matters is evaluating their disillusionment and walking away from the church. Did they ever actually believe in Jesus as a real supernatural person God amount us? Josh H is a manipulative bad man. He thought extra biblical nonsense that he made up and when the fall out of his bad fruit that made him a celebrity and millionaire comes around we get to hear him say how he is a victim too and actually he doesn’t even believe in Jesus now. Open your eyes and see what is plainly in front of you and ask your self why isn’t this “jernalist” for CT asking him these pointed question but instead having these buddy buddy conversations with him to embrace a narrative where Josh is no actually held accountable?
Still preaching himself: his own thoughts, philosophy, wisdom and sense of right and wrong. Zero debate over scripture. I follow the Jesus and Gospel revealed in the whole Bible. I let that inform me and correct me and I trust it completely.
God/Jesus is LOVE. 😏
That Jesus that you follow is a Republican Jesus. It's not the same, it's not LOVE, not even close.
@@ezbody
LOVING Jesus means obeying His teachings.
You seem to have missed the entire point :( Please keep listening.
I believe he can heal. I don't think he or the church has any clue how to do it, including the host.
I remember visiting Joshua’s church and hearing his presentation of the gospel and feeling like it was rather dark and almost thinking this can’t last. How can you worship a God like this forever? I’ve come to a picture of God that seems very different to what I heard from Joshua at that time.
Stories like these make me wonder out loud whether a man should be able to lead a church when they are under 30. I am beginning to believe that leading a church in the first chair should be approached from the perspective an apprenticeship. Rather than allowing a young inexperienced charismatic leader simply taking over a congregation because of all of their popularity, maybe we should ask the harder question of maturity. Thoughts?
You do realize Josh Harris was under the head pastor for many years?
I have opinions on this but it really depends on the leadership people are under. I think Josh was uneducated and immature to be a senior pastor and was told to ignore accountability which is bad advice from CJ. Honestly these are the same reasons I am no longer teaching art of the SBC because they do this sort of thing in their churches.
Being over 30 alone doesn't qualify one for any position
If you are drawn to Christ with a "transactional" mentality, difficult times will break your fellowship. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” ~John 6:68-69.
Follow the prophet of Zod! Own the truth
That's the only Prophet who I know who might be close to speaking God's word
@@greglogan7706 all hail his static head
The deconstructionist approach to interpreting the Bible comes out of postmodernism and is therefore simply another denial of the existence of absolute truth, which is one of the most serious logical fallacies anyone can commit. The denial of absolute truth is a logical fallacy because it is a self-contradictory statement.
This is entirely missing the point. Deconstruction as it originally emerged was a way of exposing disingenuous language games that perpetuated oppressive power structures. It has no applicability to the Bible for any Christian because it begins with a hermeneutic of distrust. The Bible cannot be at the same time God's word and untrustworthy. If it is God's word it must be believed. What people like Josh Harris are doing, though, isn't the same thing for a couple of reasons. First, Harris isn't informed enough about what actually is and isn't essential to Christianity to deconstruct in any significant way. Calling what he does deconstruction is like calling a butcher's apprentice a surgeon. Second, though they seldom admit it, people like Harris aren't usually first and foremost attacking the Bible (although they profess to). What they are really going after is the INTERPRETATION of the Bible they were taught and the bad behavior they saw from Christians. Bad interpretation and bad behavior both can and should be deconstructed. Doing so actually makes us better followers of Christ--it strips away the assumptions that become idols to us and points us back to worshipping God as He is, not as we wish Him to be.
No the Bible is an absolute truth, our human interpretation is always open to questioning and searching for the actual intent and meaning of the Bible. And I can disagree with famous Christian authors without being a heretic or unbeliever. They're still human like me. I believe that the Bible and marriage has not been fully studied as it should.
Absolute truth absolutely exists. And you do not absolutely understand it. That's the danger.
@@bryceneuberger3460
Thank you - that's really what it's all about
What are we seeking by deconstructing?
We are simply trying to stay off the doomed Titanic that Christianity accepted the invitation on.
@ezbody,
May I suggest Evangelicalism (vs Christianity) and the Evangelical bibliology that they idolize
First letting go of previous challenging convictions surrounding purity, then discarding his marriage, spiritual leadership, and Christianity... What next to throw away? In the process creating much confusion, amidst a (still present) quest to be famous... Was that really what IKDG was about? IMO that message was, and still is much-needed.
I’m just here for the intro song
I left the church in college but was drawn back in my mid 30’s to the faith ( by an audible) but with a strong rebellion that I will only let the Holy Spirit and the Bible lead me. I blew your book off early as silly. I still have a weary eye but I am keeping Jesus and my faith for they are the rock in my life. Not pastors. Not celebrities. Not books. When it is all over it will be my relationship with Him that will count.
Best comment so far
You can kissed your false ministry goodbye, but the true born-believer believe to the saving of the soul and NOT following personalities and false teachers.
I don't like that Josh always needs to be the center of attention for whatever he vehemently believes - and monetizes - at the time .
Seems to me that Josh never had a real relationship with Jesus, he just went with what he was taught and used that to elevate himself…much like Simon Magus in Acts 8
Everyone (Christians) at some point must come to the end of themselves the difference is when you do who is it that turn to, yourself or GOD.. The great falling away is most certainly here, it's time to STAND STILL and hold fast >> 2 Thessalonians 2:15
TRUTH !! Amen
this is fair testimony from Josh
Joshua was disqualified from the on set
Perhaps you mean unqualified from the outset?
So when sin disappoints, do they leave it?
Right ? !! This episode has so many insightful comments.
Oooohhh that’s good! Love this thought.
Where did he ever say anything about leaving the church because he wanted to sin??
25:47 Sad. He couldn't own what he had done, but catered to social media. Yet he said earlier that people were on opposite sides of his book. So, it didn't matter what which side of "social media" he took. He didn't own his actions.
He accepted responsibility for what he was accused of, but as for guilt, his book couldn't harm anyone except the narcissist's body count of gullible women.
He did. Whether or not you believe it, he has owned up to it, and taken the book out of print
If that's not owning up, I don't know what is
37:30 Innocent people don't need to repent. By saying the church is known for repentance dehumanizes responsibility by individuals who allegedly need to repent. I think there is something else going on, but the church (and others) don't have the answers nor the way forward regardless of denomination.
The Bible call it backsliding.
I'm glad the Apostle Paul did not deconstructed after what the Corinthians and Galatians did to him.
22:35 WTF?? Sounds like he bought into his own lies. And, he couldn't hear God's call on his life until his mother died two decades later? And the elders should have been more responsible to make sure he was kept in line?
Ugh.
Once again you haven't done any research. His elders were the ones covering up child sex abuse and he trusted the elders when they wanted a ministry of reconciliation rather than call the police and watch the news tear down the whole church over what 2 men did in a congregation of over a thousand.
You make it sound like he was supposed to be a child that shouldn't think for himself
I will not abandon my saviour because of the faults or sins of any man/pastor. Tjeir not my savior and lord.
40:11 Too much word salad. I'm out for the entire series.
Justifying that you are too scared to wrestle with these episodes
Deconstruction happens when people place their faith and hope in people, not Jesus. He is our anchor in the storm. His people will fail. Jesus doesn't.
No true Scotsman much
Nothing more than end times apostasy. Just love of sin more than Jesus, not paying the price of death to self.