Driscoll on Church Planting
I just finished reading Mark Driscoll’s book: Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons From an Emerging Missional Church. I found it to be a very engaging, and at times funny read. I have finally begun making time to read on a more regular basis. This is one that I have wanted to read for a while, and was one of the first few books on my list to start.
In this book, Driscoll tells the story of Mars Hill Church, the church in Seattle that he pastors. Over the last 11 years, it has grown from a handful of people to over 6,000. Driscoll, in his own somewhat profane way, tells of many mistakes that he made on the way, how God blessed the church in spite of their mistakes, and tells of his vision and strategy for developing a church that will glorify God and draw unbelievers in a city that is known for unbelievers.
I find Driscoll to be a little more charismatic that I am generally comfortable with. He talks of prophetic dreams, and divinely inspired knowledge. This is the type of stuff that I would typically write off as unbelievable. However, Driscoll has earned some trust with me. His teaching is Biblical, he does not tend to boast about this type of stuff from the pulpit. Even in the book, it is given for the narrative and to explain why he did some of what he did. Throughout, the charismatic stuff seems to be about glorifying God, rather than Driscoll. All of this makes it much harder for me to ignore. As it happens, the church plant that I am part of is currently studying spiritual gifts. If anything, having read about Driscoll’s experience makes me more open to consider the reality of the more charismatic gifts, even if I am not really ready to embrace them with open arms.
I have passed my copy on to my pastor so that he can read the first couple of chapters. I found several useful insights that would apply to a young pastor who is helping get a young church up and running. It is a book that I recommend, and really enjoyed.
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