driscoll maturity

I'm neither here nor there on Mark Driscoll. The little I've read from him or heard by him has been a mix of good and not-good/not-bad. I have however read an amazing amount of criticism of him to the point of calling him a heretic. As I've expressed before in my blog, I'm amazed at the amount of energy put into tearing others down by people who profess themselves to being Christian.

I don't know Driscoll but I know that he publicly professes the Christ of the Bible as his forgiver and leader. His life has evidence of serving the God of the Bible. And the below quote in response to some recent sharp rebuke he has received, causes me to believe that not only is he a Christian, but a far more mature one than many of his detractors.

I learned that my theological convictions, even the most controversial ones, are as unwavering as ever. But I also learned that as my platform has grown, so has my responsibility to speak about my convictions in a way that invites other people to experience charity from me, which means inflammatory language and such need to be scaled back. I was also sad and sorry to hear that various things I have said over the years have been received very personally by some people who felt personally attacked. A female pastor had a very good insight: as my platform has grown, so has my audience, and that in some sense I need to consider myself the pastor of two churches. In Mars Hill where I labor as a pastor who deeply loves his people, they are gracious with my faults and flaws because they know me and they know of my love for them. But outside of Mars Hill, for those who do not know me or my pastoral affection for people, the perception of me can be very different. Therefore, I need to learn how to function most effectively in a new role as someone given a broader voice to speak for Jesus. There is much to learn. To be honest, this is all new to me and comes quicker than I would have hoped for; I wish I was at this place in my fifties or sixties, following a longer period of maturing. However, Jesus obviously has something different planned for me.

Whether or not a protest against me occurs on Sunday I am unsure. But I am sure that by God’s grace the words of James are true. Through the various experiences and people God has kindly brought into my life in recent weeks, I have been made aware of where God is inviting me to work with Him for maturity. In that, I am finding a new kind of joy that oddly enough is due in part to my critics, for whom I am grateful.

Here is his full post on the issue.

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