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Mark Driscoll in Sydney

Got back yesterday from a fairly intense 3 day conference for clergy (and other ministers) here in Sydney in their first 4 years after ordination. The speakers were Mark Driscoll, Don Carson and Kent Hughes (impressive, right?)

Mark Driscoll was sensational - in so many ways. If you’ve never come across the name before then, I have to ask, what planet have you been on? Driscoll is lead pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. His wiki article has this to say:

Mark A. Driscoll (born October 11, 1970) is an American minister and author. The co-founder and preaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, he co-founded the Acts 29 Network, and has contributed to the “Faith and Values” section of the Seattle Times. He helped start The Resurgence, a repository of missional theology resources.

What it doesn’t tell you is that the man is a living, breathing, walking freak. He has been extraordinarily gifted by God as a communicator and his talks are pod and vodcast all over the world and listened to and watched by millions.

He has quite an assertive style and some would call him prophetic, in the sense that he is a tremendously sharp social commentator. For instance, check this out on the current culture of cohabitation:

One of his well-known themes is the issue of male/female relationships, both in marriage and the in the church. A strong complementarian, he is (no surprise here) not afraid to speak boldly about the issue. On a positive note, this includes a call to men to treat women well. Very well:

The following got him into a lot of trouble:

can’t think why….

Driscoll is also well known for his strong Reformed views. Here’s an excellent example:

So let me be clear. I like Driscoll. I really do. So when I heard that he was going to be speaking at our conference I was very excited.

And he didn’t disappoint. He challenged us, he encouraged us. And he told us where he thought we in Sydney were seriously wrong.

His main criticism was that our diocesan structures stifle ministry. We make it so hard for young men to go into ministry. He planted Mars Hill at the age of 25. In Sydney that would never happen, at least not amongst the Anglicans. He observed:

By 34, I had a church of 5,000. Before that age Jesus had saved the World! And you won’t let men older than that do more than be 2IC in small parish churches.

Lots for us to think about. More to come.

Posted by on 09/04 at 09:26 PM

Hi Dave,

As a single man, I’m getting more and more irritated with Driscoll’s teaching concerning single men. I’ve just written a comment over on the Sola Panel, so I won’t vent my spleen over again, but on this topic, I think that he’s definitely wrong.

Posted by on 09/09 at 09:17 PM

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