Confessions of a Reformission Rev. - My Review of Mark Driscoll's story

I read this book several months ago - maybe even a year ago.  I really should have written this review much sooner, as a lot has happened in the last couple of months to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church.

I had heard about the "cussing pastor from Seattle" but had never really known much about him.  Then I downloaded a few of his podcasts.  I listened to the audiobook of one of his early books on the structure and nature of Church.  I like him - mostly.  I honestly don't think he is that great of a preacher - he preaches too long and tends to wander.  But who am I to judge - after all, he lead a growing church from a handful to 13,000.  However, that church no longer exists.

This book was one in a series published by the Leadership Network.  After reading their "Exponential" book, I decided to read this also. Published in 2006, Mars Hill was running over 4,000 people per weekend and heading towards 10,000.

I love Driscoll's candor and honesty.  He tells of his struggles and mistakes.  He owns up to his own sin.  In fact, many of the wrongs that were brought up over the last few years are the issues he publicly owns up to in this book!

I wonder if the Mars Hill Church story is a book about a church that grew too fast.  In many ways, I heard loud and clear that they struggled to maintain growth and then, as they were growing, they struggled to manage their own fame.  Mark tells about his getting to the point of a nervous breakdown, and his decision to limit his travel schedule.  He tells about the pressures on his family.  At the same time, though, he tells of difficult decisions made to grow the church.  In a couple of places, he tells of decisions to let some associate leaders resign/transition because they were not ready for the next level.  In other words, he fired them so that he could find a higher-capacity leader.  And in the light of the downfall of Mars Hill, this happened time and again and really the church in the long-run.

While I am getting very critical here, I also recognize that Mars Hill was reaching a crowd that most churches are not reaching - unchurched, nonbelievers in a very culturally-liberal area!  And he was doing it with a very conservative theology!  Many experts would suggest that such is impossible!  So before we are quick to judge, it would be proper for us to appreciate exactly what Driscoll was doing right!

I did get one big takeaway from this book.  Driscoll suggests that churches that effectively reach people are theologically conservative and culturally liberal.  Chew on that for a while!

I also really benefited from the 10 Curious Questions found in Chapter Zero. With these diagnostic questions, Driscoll encourages church leaders to answer the difficult questions, to identify what their church will look like and act, and to think through the implications of our answers.  Good stuff here, even if you can't stand the man who wrote it!  It is in these opening chapters that we find that Driscoll indeed has a good grasp on theology, organization and leadership. No wonder he lead a growing church.