Category: Mark Driscoll

A Question for Pastor Lindell: What Isn't True About Mark Driscoll?

In his intro (I should have video up later today), Pastor John Lindell told his congregation that much of what one reads about Mark Driscoll on the web isn’t true. Dan Kellogg at Gold Creek Community Church said much the same thing.
My question for these two men is: What isn’t true? If you can show me anything untrue on my blog, I will correct it. Always have.
By making such a general statement, these men mislead their flocks (a serious responsibility in the Bible) and cast doubt on the well established facts.
Lindell also said Driscoll decided to resign. Well, yes, that is technically true. However, according to his elders, he resigned after being told he needed to become involved in a restoration plan. Up until then, Driscoll had resisted calls for his resignation.
Pastor Lindell, if you are correct, then why did Acts 29 remove Driscoll and his whole group of churches from the network? Why did nine of his then-current elders and later his Board of Overseers call for him to step down from preaching and enter a restoration plan? Why did Paul Tripp call Mars Hill one of the most abusive ministry cultures he’d ever seen?
People outside the church will chalk this up to what they believe to be insincerity among self-righteous Christians. People who are close to the situation should take such statements as a sign that the person claiming that the allegations against Driscoll weren’t accurate really is ignorant about the issues involved.  People like me aren’t sure which is more true. I hope he is ignorant and is remaining ignorant due to the social pressures to engage in confirmation bias. But the skeptic in me doesn’t rule out the possibility that there is an effort on the part of powerful ministers to spin the entire year of 2014 into something it wasn’t.
Lindell’s intro:

Lindell also disclosed to his audience that Driscoll had been getting input from famous pastors, so famous that you would know them if he said their name. However, Driscoll had an elder board that he declined to get help from. It all sounds elitist to me.

Hillsong Cancels Mark Driscoll's Appearance at June Conference – Full Statement and Analysis

According the Sydney Morning Herald, Brian Houston announced that Mark Driscoll would no longer attend the Sydney conference later this month.
Brian Houston’s statement in full:

Statement from Pastor Brian Houston, Hillsong Church
June 2015
After personal interaction with Mark Driscoll today, we have agreed that he will no longer be coming to Australia or the UK to attend Hillsong Conference. It is my hope that Mark and I will be able to speak in person in the coming weeks to discuss some of the issues that have been raised, what – if anything – he has learned, and for me to understand better how he is progressing in both his personal and professional life.
The teachings of Christ are based on love and forgiveness, and I will not write off Mark as a person simply because of the things that people have said about him, a small minority of people signing a petition or statements he has made many years ago for which he has since repeatedly apologised.
However, I do not want unnecessary distractions during our conference, particularly as this 30 minute interview was only a small part of this five day event. It was clear to me that Mark’s attendance had the potential to divert attention from the real purpose of Hillsong Conference, which is to see people leave encouraged in their own spiritual journey.
Clearly Mark has held some views and made some statements that cannot be defended. One or two of the more outrageous things he is purported to have said, I have heard for the first time through the media exposure over the past week.

Driscoll’s picture is still on the conference website.
Houston does not emerge from this mess without suffering damage to his public image. It is beyond clear that this move was done to save face and was a reaction to the negative publicity. His statement seems full of contradiction. He will not write off Driscoll, he says, because of statements he made many years ago or a petition, but those are the exact reasons for the bad publicity in Australia.
He refers to the “outrageous things” Driscoll said as things Driscoll was “purported to have said.” However, earlier in the statement, Houston said  he wouldn’t write Driscoll off due to “statements he has made many years ago for which he has since repeatedly apologised.” If Rev. Houston is not even sure Driscoll made these outrageous statements, how does Houston know Driscoll has “repeatedly apologized” for them? All of this is very easy to verify and we now know that Houston and Driscoll talked. Are we to believe he didn’t ask Driscoll about it?
Video:

If he did say that? That is a stunning lack of homework Rev. Houston.

Australian News Report: Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston to Review Decision to Host Mark Driscoll

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Brian Houston told an Australian television station that he would review the decision to host Mark Driscoll later this month at the Hillsong Conference in Sydney. It is Sunday morning in Sydney and Houston said he would talk to Driscoll later on Sunday to determine the next move.
From the Sunrise television show:


Stay tuned…
 

Mark Driscoll Wants You to Tune In This Sunday

Mark Driscoll’s last two appearances in church were stealth sermons. At Thrive, he spoke in a main session but wasn’t on the program. Gold Creek Community Church leaders would not disclose Driscoll’s identity as guest speaker in advance. However, he appears to want an audience tomorrow. From Driscoll’s website:

Pastor Mark Live-Streaming from James River Church

This Sunday, June 7th 2015, Pastor Mark will be preaching live at James River Church near Springfield, MO. He will be preaching the 9:00 and 10:45 services Central Time. These services will be streamed live on the James River online church site. Check the site for your local time live service.

This appearance at James River is anything but secret. Does this mean he’s now ready for prime time again? I suspect this is staging for the Hillsong conference and it may also mean there is something he wants people to know.

Hat tip to Wenatchee the Hatchet for pointing out that some enterprising person is offering a breakfast and movie theatre viewing of the free broadcast from James River. I guess for some, church just isn’t church without Pastor Mark.

Hillsong's Brian Houston On His Desire to Interview Mark Driscoll: Did He Really Say Those Things?

Not sure how long the statement has been there (update: apparently it was posted today) but it is dated June, 2015 and is revealing. Hillsong’s pastor Brian Houston reveals he doesn’t know Mark Driscoll very well but wants to ask him some questions in this high profile interview. Building on his earlier statement made to this blog, Houston said today:

Personal statement from Pastor Brian Houston – Re: Mark Driscoll
June 2015
Let me be clear about one thing. Mark Driscoll and I stand poles apart on women, their place in society, and their role in the Church.
Hillsong Church has a long history of involving women in every area of church life both on and off the platform, and my own wife Bobbie is my co-Senior Pastor.
I think our leadership styles and relationship with staff and key people have also been vastly different.
So why am I using our platform to interview Mark? We come from different backgrounds, theological positions, and church expressions. I genuinely want to know! Did he really say those things? Does he believe those things? Does he have any regrets? Has he been misrepresented? What has he learned and what can we all learn? And where to from here?
I have met Mark just twice. Before his very public resignation from Mars Hill Church, a mutual friend introduced us over a cup of coffee in Seattle. We talked about life, ministry, and his previous exposure to Australia. The second time, I was standing in line at Starbucks in California bleary eyed and jet lagged when another customer in the line said hi. It was Mark Driscoll and his daughter.
A lot has been said. There’s lessons to be learned. I’m looking forward to asking the questions and hearing from Mark directly. Will we agree afterwards or agree to disagree? Time will tell. I doubt we will agree on everything, but everyone deserves an opportunity to be heard.
Mark will not be speaking at the conference. It’s an open interview with Mark and his wife Grace. Let’s see what he has to say.
Blessings,
Brian

I think it is head scratcher that Brian Houston implies Mark Driscoll hasn’t had a chance to be heard. I wonder if Rev. Houston will then give the former Mars Hill folks some time and space to be heard.
The rationale is curious given the size and prominence of the conference in Australia. Most hosts do the exploration of these matters before a conference rather than live during it. Houston appears to be distancing himself from Driscoll even as he gives him an incredible platform to shape his comeback in the way he desires.
The statement may have been in response to this report on the Australian Broadcasting Network. Houston’s response to Driscoll’s views on gender appear to relate to this report.