Why Mark Driscoll is a Good Fit For Seattle

My buddy (and future Acts29 church planter) Carlos Griego is currently up in Seattle for their ReTrain program for future leaders.  Part of a current assignment was to go out into the city of Seattle to talk to some people for the sake of learning about the culture.  After that experience he wrote this post about why Mark Driscoll is the right guy to be leading a church in Seattle that seeks to reach that dark city.

He writes:

Talking to some people in Seattle a few things hit me about understanding Pastor Mark and Mars Hill. 

1. Mark Driscoll is the right guy for this city. His personality, his blunt way of speaking, now make sense in new ways. Simply put, it fits, he fits. A soft spoken, “seeker sensitive” pastor would be eaten alive here, would not be able to stand boldly, and would eventually either move to a “safer” location or compromise in deadly ways. Mark’s boldness is not done for “coolness” sake like many may think, it is done because that is what it takes to reach this city. I think I understood that, but not till today had that reality become so visible. 

2. Mark Driscoll needs our prayers not our critiques. I get it, Pastor Mark has said things that make people sigh or shake their heads. He does things that more conservative pastors in other contexts don’t understand. He is a bit “edgy” for the reformed camp and his thoughts on contextualization are somewhat scandalous. Spending 2 days in this city has reaffirmed something I thought, but now understand in a real way, Pastor Mark is not the “cool”, “hip”, “relevant” pastor in the eyes of many in Seattle. He is the fundamentalist, women oppressing, leader of the intolerant Mars Hill Church. He is obviously not, he is just faithful to the Bible. 

Mark is in a war, he is on the front-lines. He is passionate about the Biblical view of man and woman, God’s Glory, calling out idols, and telling people about Jesus. He is taking shots a plenty from the people of Seattle. He is standing boldly in the face of fierce opposition. He trusts and follows Jesus. He is an under-shepherd who puts himself between his people and fierce wolves. He takes a beating. 

At the end of the day, whether you totally agree with Mark on some minor issues or not, the truth is, he needs your prayers not your arrows. He is already taking shots from most of the city, that hate him, hate the church and hate Jesus, he doesn’t need it from his brothers and sisters. 

Pastor Mark is not perfect, I realize this, so I am not trying to put him on a pedestal. Just in proper perspective of who he is, and how he is working to see his city transformed by the gospel. 

The battles Mars Hill and Pastor Mark are fighting are the ones we should be too. Instead of taking shots at Pastor Mark, let’s take shots at Satan through the power of God, as we go and preach and work to transform OUR city, OUR neighborhoods with the gospel. Let’s learn from Mark, and see the mission of God as more important and more critical than whether we agree with how Driscoll reaches his city. Most of our lawns and gardens are dry and dead cause we have spent all our time looking and being critical at how he tends his. 

Spending a day in downtown Seattle talking to random people, walking around and seeing the idols of the city will put you on your knees for Pastor Mark. So maybe before you run to the blog to type another anti-Driscoll post, take some time to think about Seattle, and ask if maybe what he is doing is for a greater cause, the greatest cause, the glory and name of Jesus. I believe it is, and after today, I truly appreciate and thank God even moreso for Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church.