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How Mike Cosper Navigated Popularity and Criticism During ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’

Cosper also pointed out there are examples of abuse flourishing in places that are not complementarian. “I mean, Bill Hybels was a champion for egalitarian leadership throughout his ministry and was a sexual predator,” he said, observing that plenty of predators are not even Christian. “I mean, let’s talk about Harvey Weinstein, whose ideology swings as far in the opposite direction of, you know, Reformed evangelicalism as you can get.”

When it comes to the accusation that Cosper was biased against Reformed theology, he said, “I always laugh at that critique because I’m like, ‘Y’all, I’m Reformed.’ I’ve written two books on Reformed theology. I’m very pro-Reformed theology, so that’s definitely not an issue to me.”

As far as how the success of the series impacted him personally, Cosper shared, “I had a good pastor that…began sort of reaching out to me, encouraging me, praying for me along the way. And we had a conversation one time, and he just had this very frank word in the midst of this thing, saying, ‘Hey, I hope you don’t forget about the judgment of God.’”

Cosper said this advice, as well as advice from a friend in the entertainment industry, helped to keep him grounded when the series became extremely popular. “Truly the only thing that keeps a leader sober,” he said, “is a recognition that life is short, the judgment of God is real.”

And then when the criticism started to come, said Cosper, “it really didn’t change what we wanted to cover. That’s the honest truth because we knew where we were headed…Part of why certain voices were on there at certain times and places, a significant part of it is, those were the people in the room. Those were the people who lived this story who were part of these conversations, who had the relationships to be there.” 

“We didn’t want to be pivoting to the audience’s objections in the way we told the story,” he said.

Despite the criticism, Cosper is hopeful about the role of “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” in helping believers be more aware of the abuse of leadership in ministry. “Because it took off,” he said, “I’m hopeful and optimistic that it’s catalyzing a conversation about power and weakness in leadership, repentance and leadership, spiritual abuse. I’m hoping it catalyzes a national conversation, maybe even a global conversation, around those issues in a new and constructive way.”