I’m sure I sound as though I’m banging the same old drum, but what is missing in all of this are the very sort of controls on pastoral ambition which characterize the Old Calvinism. On the one hand, New Calvinism lacks an established standard of doctrine by which the individual pastor’s preaching may be evaluated. Wherever a man is the creed of the church, the danger of a spiritual tyrant exists. Absent confessionalism, we ought to expect the emergence of popes.

Earlier this week I wrote about the legalism inherent in much of the New Calvinism, a legalism which grows easily in the rich soil of antinomianism fertilized with charismaticism. Legalism, as I noted, takes many forms. In some cases it will manifest itself in a complex ethical construct built apart from the law of God. In others the ethical construct will be a simple follow-the-leader mentality responding to a charismatic personality with the supposed input of the Holy Spirit.

Such a system is depends upon and promotes the celebrity of the chosen leader. Carl Trueman has put some effort into defining what exactly makes for celebrity in ecclesiastical leadership, but if I could add my two cents – celebrity occurs wherever the leader is greater than the creed, or more properly, wherever the leader becomes the creed.

You have probably known some Christians who settle every question by simple appeal to their pastor: “Pastor ____ says…” is the universal answer. This occurs with immature Christians in every church. At least in Old Calvinist churches, though, the pastor is accountable toan ecclesiastical structure undera confessional statement of doctrine. The more mature Christian in his congregation knows not to look to him to settle every question, no matter how famous or popular he may become. Even the immature are protected by the controls on pastoral arrogance.

However, in the New Calvinist soil of antinomian, charismatic, non-confessionalism, such controls are rare indeed. This is why the New Calvinism has become a hotbed of celebrity-ism. It is, as I have noted, understandable that Iain Murray’s defense of the New Calvinism came in the context of the Together for the Gospel conference. Yet even there, the presence of Matt Chandler of the Acts 29 Network is an ominous reminder that the New Calvinism cannot be understood without an examination of the movement’s celebrity extraordinaire, Mark Driscoll.

Driscoll, the pastor of Mars Hill Church Ecclesiastical Consortium based in Seattle but with branches streaming his sermons far and wide, has perfected the essence of the celebrity pastor. Perhaps he has perfected it too far, since the attention drawn to his ministry has led to a cascade of scandals concerning fund-raising, unethical book promotions, and a large number of disaffected former church leaders. As details leak out, New Calvinists are quick to distance themselves from Driscoll’s antics. It is important to remember, though, that Driscoll was for a time the golden boy of the New Calvinism (one visitor to my church called him “today’s Spurgeon”!), and that the seeds of his ministry’s destruction were present from the beginning.

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