A Man and His Mission in Mars (Hill)

There's a great article in the New York Times about bad-boy pastor Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church in Seattle, which is apparently raising eyebrows both inside and outside the evangelical communities. I have to admit that I found the article fascinating and my reactions to Driscoll oscillated from "Yeah! That's what talking about!" to "Dude, is that really necessary?" to "Man, someone seriously needs to take you behind the woodshed" and back. Unsurprisingly, the article talks about paradox on a number of levels, whether referring to Calvinism or Driscoll's own practice of faith and approach of "doing church".

Driscoll is a pastor who when asked about masturbation answers, "I had one guy quote Ecclesiastes 9:10, which says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Now to be fair, he doesn't say that he condones the practice, and immediately warns the congregation of the dangers of lust. He's a pastor who swears like a sailor but fiercely embraces what many would call "conservative" doctrine. To call him unorthodox in terms of his preaching style and delivery would be an understatement.

What I like about Mark Driscoll is that he preaches and seems to live out fervently a doctrine which I also embrace, one which stresses the sovereignity of God. As mentioned in the article, "...Driscoll's theology means that his congregants' salvation is not in his hands. It's not in their own hands, either - this is the heart of Calvinism." It doesn't take a theologan to deduce in Whose hands salvation lies. Ah, the joy of the assurance of salvation. And you can't but laud how God has used Driscoll to "right" his congregants' view of God: Traditional evangelical theology falls apart in the face of real tragedy, says the 20-year-old Brett Harris... Reducing God to a projection of our own wishes trivializes divine sovereignty and fails to explain how both good and evil have a place in the divine plan. “There are plenty of comfortable people who can say, ‘God’s on my side,’ ” Harris says. “But they couldn’t turn around and say, ‘God gave me cancer.’ ”


I also can relate to Driscoll's antipathy towards to "me-centered" or "slick, program-driven" churches. He has led a church which eschews "positive thinking" quick thinking, instead focusing on the work of Christ and man's chief end to glorify God. He clearly wants to move away from the Joel Osteen and all-style, no-substance model, and I couldn't applaud that more.

But if you take the article at face value, you have to wonder a little about what seems like a disconcerting lack of humility and grace. The shunning of an elder who protested the consolidation of Driscoll's power? The suspension of a member who complained on an online message board? Preaching "they are sinning by questioning"?

And don't even get me started on Mark hating on Richard Simmons. What's up with that?

Molly Worthen, the writer of the article closes with an astute observation: the doctrine of total human depravity has always had a funny way of emboldening, rather than humbling, its adherents. Let's just pray that for our brother Mark Driscoll, the Lord emboldens him to preach Christ and the gospel of grace; but that the Lord would also bring Mark humility so that Christ, not Mark nor Mars Hill, is magnified.