Toxic-workplace allegations have plagued several megachurch pastors recently. The 2021 podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” explored the dysfunctional culture at Mark Driscoll’s Seattle megachurch. That summer, Sauls tweeted his reactions to listening to the Christianity Today podcast about Mars Hill.
“It’s a sobering, needed cautionary tale for leaders,” Sauls wrote. “Some responses to it lack self-reflection, as in ‘Thank God that I am not like that.’ (Luke 18:9-14) The Sermon on the Mount reminds us that the same seeds are in us all.”
The pastor added: “Perhaps these self-examining diagnostic questions can be helpful: Leaders: When is the last time I apologized, not to save face but to repair the hurt I caused? Critics: Am I responding to bad leadership in health, or am I responding to good leadership in unhealth?”
