Mark Driscoll’s The Radical Reformission (which I read last month) served as a sort of manifesto of the mission he set out to follow in the planting of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. If it was the manifesto, then his Confessions of a Reformission Rev. is the story of how that manifesto was worked out culturally, theologically, and ecclesiologically to bring Mars Hill to where it is today. Radical Reformission was the “why,” Confessions is the “how.” While both were great reads and valuable tools for anyone who wants to reach their culture with the gospel, Confessions ups the ante in just about every way and is the best work of Driscoll’s I’ve read yet.
Driscoll tells Mars Hill’s story from its humble beginnings in a borrowed youth room to its current explosion in influence and ministry in America’s least-churched city. Each chapter of the book details a chapter in the church’s history, marked off by the number of people who made it up at the time. In each, Driscoll details the struggles that marked that particular stage of the planting process, both for he as a pastor and for the church as a whole. This structure flows really well and does a fantastic job of communicating to the reader how the church got from A to B.
Since it’s a history of the church, the book is largely a collection of stories, which causes Driscoll the author to shine like I’ve never seen him before. His blunt honesty, clever wit, and theological fidelity make him perfectly suited for a book like this. It’s engaging from cover to cover. He also seems to have matured a bit since the writing of The Radical Reformission, with more humility and introspection coming through in his words. While there’s not really much in the way of new content for Driscoll from a theological or ecclesiological perspective, the book’s real power lies in the content of the story itself. As a pastor, and especially now as a prospective church planter, I’ve often looked at large churches and wondered how on earth they became what they are. Imagining my little congregation becoming a church like that seemed incomprehensible from a practical perspective. Seeing the story of Mars Hill’s growth – in spite of Driscoll’s freely-admitted errors – hammers home the point that it is truly only God who grows his church. Driscoll highlights the decisions that were key moments along the way, dispensing valuable wisdom to those who follow in his footsteps, but not for one moment over the course of the book do we lose the unmistakable impression that he realizes he was just riding along on God’s ride. This combination of practical advice and strong theological perspective makes for a powerful read. Church planters, pastors, deacons, and anybody with a pulse for the gospel or their church will find this a great resource. I commend it to you.
I’m not asking that question about your theology. I’m quite sure that most of you reading this who take the Bible seriously would answer a quick yes. I’m asking about how your theology practically works itself out into your living. Twice in the course of the past week, I’ve had church-planting mentors impress upon me and the rest of our team the importance of taking seriously the reality of the spiritual stakes in what we’re about to undertake. As planters, we will be pushing the gospel forward into places where it hasn’t been and into lives that haven’t believed it. That will put us on the front lines of the battle, spiritually speaking, and it will draw the attention and retribution of the enemy. Both our mentors recounted personal stories of suffering and opposition that they and their families encountered along their planting journeys that ranged from sobering to downright creepy.
To say the conversations were much-needed for us all, and for me especially, would be an understatement. Sure, I know that there are demons, that there is a spiritual reality that goes beyond what we see every day. I’ve got my theology pretty well in order, thank you very much. The problem, I realized, is that I just didn’t believe much of it. On a real, practical, gritty level, I didn’t believe these things I said I believed. There are a couple reasons for this. For one, in a way I think seminary intellectual-ed it out of me, largely. After all, when you’re spending time ruminating on the details of old-earth creationism or the intricacies of eschatological systems, the notion of real angels and demons just seems so infantile, so childish. The even bigger reason, I think, is that I really don’t want to be one of the crazy charlatans on TV running around bashing people on the foreheads to get the demons out and hopefully procure a nice donation to fund their private jets. I want to be as far away from that guy as I can get, and so, as is human nature, in the reactionary process I’ve ended up running too far in the opposite direction. Whatever the reasoning, though, the end result was a giant heap of unbelief I’d weakly attempted to intellectually justify.
Christianity, however, isn’t an intellectual exercise. This isn’t a game. The same Jesus who I trust rose from the dead and procured my salvation tended to take demons fairly seriously. The same Holy Spirit who I praise for convicting my heart of sin inspired Peter to describe Satan as a very real person “roaming around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” What God convicted me about most deeply this week is that when I disbelieve the reality of the spiritual realm, whether mentally or practically, I am really disbelieving him, since his word speaks plainly about not only the reality of this realm, but the absolute necessity of preparing ourselves to survive what we’ll find there. As my friend Dan encouraged us last night to be on our guard – while maintaining a healthy and wise discernment – my heart was shaken to the core with the seriousness of the mission God is sending us on. However, it was made even more resolute in the knowledge that our faith is in a very real God who has made very real promises about the very real power that we have received to overcome darkness through Jesus Christ. It’s refocused me as a husband, father and pastor. It’s the best wake-up call I could have had, and I’d ask you to consider if it’s one that perhaps, just perhaps, you might need too.
As I prepare to enter the world of church planting, I’m spending my time reading just about everything of use I can get my hands on. After tackling Ed Stetzer and J.D. Payne at the end of last year, I’ve moved on to Mark Driscoll for the beginning of 2010. Last week, I finished his book The Radical Reformission, with Confessions of a Reformission Rev. now on the slate. If the latter is as good as the former, it’ll be a worthwhile read.
In The Radical Reformission, Driscoll seeks to lay out exactly what kind of challenge awaits the modern church. The culture has moved on without us, seeing the church as an archaic dinosaur from decades gone by with little to no relevance for today’s world. Much of that, Driscoll argues, is due to the standoffish way we’ve approached our culture over the years. The temptation, then, is to plunge headfirst into cultural accommodation to try to win back the people we’ve alienated. Driscoll, however, suggests that will be an empty pursuit, only resulting in winning people back to a worthless and powerless religion. He argues that we must take the timeless gospel message and change the way we relate it to the world around us. We must understand the culture in which we live – whether Seattle, Savannah, or Salt Lake City – and contextualize the message with our words and actions so that it can be best communicated to broken people where they’re at. In his classic raw, witty style, Driscoll offers a way forward to help Christians do exactly that.
From a prospective church planter’s perspective, this was a fantastic “big picture” book. Driscoll does a great job of spelling out with clarity and precision the cultural picture that we all have to deal with. He clearly understands modern-day America and he’s got a heart for the people that inhabit it. Viewing the book through that lens as a “Diagnosing and Reaching Culture 101” text, Driscoll could hardly have done much better. Older, more tradition-bound Christians should read it as a wake-up call to the realities waiting just outside their church’s door, and younger, boundary-pushing Christians should read it as a strong reminder that the answer to our cultural disconnect isn’t hip ideas and catchy campaigns but rather the timeless message of the Gospel. The book’s only real weakness stems from the fact that it’s now six years old. While the culture hasn’t changed that much, Driscoll has, and there were moments in the book where I think 2010 Mark Driscoll might have said things a bit more carefully than 2004 Mark Driscoll. Nothing glaring, but I can imagine some spots where perhaps someone unfamiliar with the topics could take things the wrong way, seeing Driscoll as more culturally (rather than theologically) driven than he actually is. All-in-all, though, this is a fantastic read for church planters, pastors, and people who know other people who need Jesus. Give it a shot.
Mark Driscoll posted today reflecting on the 14-year anniversary of Mars Hill Church. This article was such an encouragement to me. One of the most discouraging and intimidating things about preparing for church planting has been seeing so many incredible churches and thinking, “There is no way we can do that.” As I read Driscoll’s look back at the Mars Hill’s humble beginnings, I was reminded that, quite frankly, no one can “do that.” God alone can, and the same God who has been with Mark Driscoll through 14 years will be with us when we head out to plant.
As those of you who know me or who follow the blog regularly are aware, I’m currently part of a team that is working toward church planting. Much of our focus over the last couple months has been directed toward choosing a city to plant in, and I’m very excited to say that over the weekend our team officially selected the city that will become our new home and mission field in the next year or two. We’re not quite ready to put it out there publicly yet – look for the public reveal to come when we launch our website in the coming months – but please be praying for us as we transition from exploring possibilities into the focused work of seeking to impact a specific community with the gospel message. To my family and friends – if you’re particularly curious, just send me an email or a Facebook message and I’ll let you know where we’re headed. We rejoice in God granting us unity (our selection was first-ballot-unanimous among the three planters and our wives) and tremendous excitement over the task ahead! Stay tuned for more info!
We just returned yesterday from a weekend trip to Charleston, WV – one of the cities our team is currently considering for church planting in the next couple years. Pastor Andy DeHart and the rest of the people of Centerpointe Church in Hurricane, WV were very gracious to us during our stay, and we greatly enjoyed getting to know them and worshipping with them as we sought whether God has work for us to do in Charleston. The trip was very helpful, and we’d ask for your prayers as we continue in the decision-making process. Whether we end up there or not, please also pray for the spiritual condition of Charleston (believe it or not, between 65-70% unchurched) and the people like Andy and other area pastors seeking to reach the city with the gospel of Christ.
If you, like me, are beginning a foray into the world of church planting, I’ve found a blog that you really need to check out. Dustin Neeley, pastor of Crossing Church here in Louisville (which Heather and I are making our new church home) has started a blog called Church Planting For the Rest of Us. Dustin has had posts featured at The Resurgence and is now starting his own blog in an attempt to equip church planters who are fighting the good fight, even if they don’t pastor 1,000-member congregations. In the short time I’ve known Dustin, I’ve found him to have a genuine heart for planting and planters, and that heart comes through in his writing. Go visit the blog (which I’ve added to my Great Blogs sidebar), and here’s a taste of what you’ll find – a helpful video of Dustin interviewing Matt Chandler at last weeks Louisville Acts 29 boot camp.
The Acts 29 Network is hosting one of their church-planting boot camps here in Louisville today and tomorrow. Given our desire to plant a church with Acts 29 in the next couple years, I’m following the Ambition conference closely through their live blog (which you can find here) and am eagerly anticipating the release of the session audio. One of the guys from our planting team, Scott Whitaker, is attending the conference, so please pray for him and the other 400 prospective planters seeking wisdom and direction this week.
Paul was a tentmaker, not because there was no other option, but because it was the best option to reach many segments of society. He wanted to be an example of how a Christian lives in this world. He wanted to earn the right to be heard based on his lifestyle, the careful building of relationships, being where the people were, working side-by-side with them. – John MacArthur
Mark Driscoll’s The Radical Reformission (which I read last month) served as a sort of manifesto of the mission he set out to follow in the planting of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. If it was the manifesto, then his Confessions of a Reformission Rev. is the story of how that manifesto was worked out culturally, theologically, and ecclesiologically to bring Mars Hill to where it is today. Radical Reformission was the “why,” Confessions is the “how.” While both were great reads and valuable tools for anyone who wants to reach their culture with the gospel, Confessions ups the ante in just about every way and is the best work of Driscoll’s I’ve read yet.
As I prepare to enter the world of church planting, I’m spending my time reading just about everything of use I can get my hands on. After tackling 
