The troubling fuzziness of those lines has significance far beyond Mars Hill.

As Smith’s meticulously reported story uncovered, ResultSource’s work for Mars Hill included arranging for a “network of book buyers” to purchase copies of the books at multiple locations across the country, and distributing at least 11,000 copies to 6,000 names and addresses supplied by the church. However ethically shady, the scheme is legal—and effective. Real Marriage hit No. 1 on the New York Times’s “Advice and How-To” list on January 22, 2012, and promptly dropped off the list the next week. But one week is enough to let Driscoll call himself a “No. 1 New York Times best-selling author” for the rest of his life.

The revelation prompted some soul-searching in the publishing world. The LA Times, for example, asked “Can bestseller lists be bought?” But the questions raised for the evangelical world may be even more significant. How much information do church members deserve to know about their church’s financial decisions? Are the rules different for large churches? Where is the line between a pastor promoting his own career and promoting the ministry of his church?

A church spokesman told Smith that Mars Hill invests in marketing because it wants to reach a large audience, and “we want to tell lots of people about Jesus by every means available.” But that defense didn’t stick for long. On Friday, the church posted a statement on its website calling its work with ResultSource an “unwise” one-time error, and emphasizing that all profits from Driscoll’s book sales have always gone to the church. By Saturday, the church had edited Driscoll’s online biography to remove a description of Real Marriage as a “No. 1 New York Times best-selling” book. (Mars Hill declined to answer questions for this story.)

Even before the ResultSource controversy, Driscoll was one of the most divisive figures in contemporary evangelicalism. Just within the last few months, he has been accused by other Christians of plagiarism, of failing to give credit to his research assistants, and of pressuring departing staff members to sign onerous non-disclosure agreements. With a dissent-averse leadership style, he is faced with a growing community of disgruntled ex-members and -leaders. (I spoke with four of them for this story, and have talked to others in the past.)

Those who claim Driscoll is strategically shrinking the number of people he is accountable to are closely watching recent leadership changes at Mars Hill. His inner circle now consists of two executive elders who are close allies; they and Driscoll sit on the seven-man board that sets salaries and appoints elders.

The church may have stamped out its latest fire, but there are other serious issues on the horizon. For example, Mars Hill does not publicly report Driscoll’s annual salary. In a current climate of acrimony and scrutiny, that number could become a matter of controversy, depending on how high it is.