If you follow any of the extreme niche podcasts of ministry that I do, you have no doubt heard of the new, limited series podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Just for the sake of exposition, it’s hosted by Mike Cosper, who in excruciating detail, lays out the process of a (in)famous, pastor and his church, Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill respectively. This story has become especially poignant for me because at the same time as I am listening to the podcast, the second season of my favorite running show ran in conjunction. The show: Ted Lasso. It interested me because the two title characters are so opposite in their character, and especially in comparisons to the norms associated with their respective career choices.
Ted is an American football coach who decides at the beginning of the first season to take on the challenge of coaching a European football club, AFC Richmond, which to put it kindly, is a joke of a team. A reporter even acknowledges that Ted has only ever had success in Division II college football, and now is responsible for leading a pro team. Ted is set up to fail. Mark alternatively is the leader of one of the largest churches in American history. He is a NYT Bestselling author, and he is widely respected as one of the best communicators, currently working in The Church. Mark is totally set up to succeed. And yet, the stories of both characters is how regardless of their situation, the actions they take, lead to it being totally reversed. Again, it would be totally socially understandable for the pastor to be the one that, at the end of the day is perceived as a caring, loving, compassionate leader, and the coach be seen as the sociopathic, merciless, mean-spirited jerk. I would postulate, as someone who works at a church, I am better off taking leadership from Ted, rather than Mark.
So, let’s start with the bad and then move to the good. That means addressing the fact that Mark Driscoll is a bad leader. I am not going to take time right now to dissect why he is a bad person (even though I wouldn’t disagree with those who do). Right now I simply want to look at the ways in which he leads those in his church and on his staff. That is the strongest example of his flaws and there is still much to be known of Mark Driscoll. For instance, it must be known that I have never heard his side of the story, with the notable exception of the fact that when he spoke on his exit, he claimed that God revealed that a trap had been set for him by enemies in the church, and based on what I have heard, that is definitively not true.
Mark was known at Mars Hill for being the loud bombastic preacher, unafraid to curse from the pulpit, as well as make very bold theological statements about sex from the pulpit. I must admit, there was a day in my life that I admired this quality in him. He seemed willing to say things that other people weren’t willing to do. But underneath this was a misogyny that pervaded every facet of his leadership. Going so far the at least one time he said to a woman that he holds the right to only address “heads of households.” He was not afraid to look at a woman and tell her that she is inherently not important enough for his time, which is only an earshot from good enough. He also was a coward. Near the end of his tenure at Mars Hill he brought in a person who would run the church in a very corporate direction. This meant that people who had been staples in the church’s DNA would be let go for political reasons. This was not because it was wise for the church, but because they were in the way of Mark in some way. I could go into much more detail, but you should just go listen to the podcast here. Mark was a toxic leader who loved himself more than his family, his church, and Jesus.
And now we get some extreme nuance. Ted is not a perfect hero. His main arc over the course of the first season centers around him recovering from his divorce. We regularly see him drink too much throughout the course of the show. And yet, I don’t find it controversial to say that Ted is without a doubt a much better leader than Mark. When he arrives in London, he begins with little acts of kindness and love, like genuinely asking people their name. The next time in the show that his leadership is visible is in the third episode (my personal favorite of the show). The episode centers around a day that Ted spends with one of the beat-writers for the team. Trent Crimm is a cynical fan of AFC Richmond and clearly has severe doubts in Teds ability to lead this team. The interview was set up by Teds boss in an effort to embarrass him and sequentially, the team. However, as the episode unfolds there are a few key moments that realign Trents thoughts. Firstly, Ted confirms that he is always on the hunt for good ideas, no matter where they come from. This is clear by the fact that their kit-man (water boy) has input on play design, because as Ted says, “That boy’s forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know.” The next moment that shocks Trent is when twice, Ted tells him that he doesn’t care about wins and losses. Trent also discovers that Ted has gifted each player a book. He finds that one player who is a leader on the team was given A Wrinkle In Time, a book that Trent himself describes as “A lovely novel. It’s the story of a young girl burdened with leadership as she journeys through space.” Finally Trent says the quiet part out loud: “What you are doing is irresponsible. People care about this team.” To which Ted replies, “I love coaching.” And from there, the journey that the show goes on is centered around what coaching means to Ted. At their final meal, Ted goes to great lengths to show grace to the people serving them at a restaurant. A line that Trent writes about Ted is that, “…that means allowing followers to become leaders…”
There it is. At his root, Mark Driscoll was the only person allowed to lead Mark Driscoll. He once even went as far to say, “I will never take advice from someone with a smaller church than me.” Ted on the other hand seeks out any opportunity to lift others up, higher than himself. Even in moments that mean temporarily sacrificing the success of the team, just to see a person flourish. As someone who recently began working at a church, based on what I read in places like John 20, Jesus’ form of leadership is one that centers around a sacrificial attitude of humility that, at the end of the day leads to my exaltation. In turn that makes me admire and follow him all the more passionately. That is not to say that I am a perfect Christ follower, but I know that Jesus isn’t in search of that. He is in search of people to love, and went to great lengths to show that love. So, again, I don’t think I am out of line saying that Ted Lasso is a better church leader than Mark Driscoll.
Sawyer Huelat 