Whenever a Pastor leaves their church it is sad, for different reasons I am sure. When a high profile Pastor like Mark Driscoll leaves there are many other words used to describe it. Scandalous, shocking, harmful.

In the great old USA Church news is much more prominent that here in Australia, Hillsong excepted of course. When the news broke that Driscoll was taking a leave of absence and then quitting it was mainstream newsworthy. Imagine that sort of pressure upon you as a minister.

The point of my post here is that we are all flawed. Some of us immensely. I know I am. The flaws peculiar to Mark Driscoll where just on display for all to see at a much higher intensity than mine.
Do these flaws take away from the good that God has done? I don’t believe so, because anything God has done is good, and prevails.

If the reports are true, the work God did through Mars Hill Church was immense and eternal. Thousands of people had their destinies changed because they preached the good news. Any arrogance, bluster, insensitivity or plain pig-headedness Driscoll may have does not take away from what God has done.

I enjoyed listening to Driscoll preach. I thought it was great that much of his teaching was given away. I felt encouraged, challenged and blessed by much of what he said. I also thought at times he was sexist, overbearing, arrogant and bullish in his approach. But as so very often is true, our greatest strength is our greatest weakness. Perhaps this is true of Driscoll.

I know God is not finished with him yet. But what I would say in a general sense, that perhaps could be applied specifically to this situation, is that no one needs to be a Pastor to serve God. It is a high calling. Sometimes the path of humility is to recognise that, and to be able to say, I don’t need to be a Pastor to be significant to the Kingdom of God. Sometimes it may be our need for significance that drives us to the pulpit, rather than the need of the Kingdom.