I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

- The Apostle’s Creed

I have been watching (although not terribly closely) the agony of Mars Hill church with considerable sympathy. Truth to tell, I considered this to be a matter of “when”, not “if”. Something like this was pretty much bound to happen. It’s hard to handle success. It’s hard to be in charge and not want full freedom of movement. And if you are going to have any success in such a spot, you are clearly an uber-type-A personality in the first place. And probably impatient to boot. I have no doubt Mark was asking for it, and that he had it coming.

But, having spent over three decades working on teams, and being under authority, I have some thoughts on this, and they don’t all come down hard on Mark Driscoll. The first one, which I won’t pursue in detail, is that a lot of people, including Christians, gun for the successful person. It’s called envy. You can be sure some of that has been going on. Moving on:

It’s only in the last few years that I’ve felt like I may have learned a little about being under authority. For most of my adult life I really figured that the job of the authorities was to do what I told them, because I’m such a smart, smart guy. And I certainly did not feel compelled to obey them if I didn’t agree with them. Because, if I didn’t agree with them, they were wrong of course. In short, I never really put myself under authority. I may have been a subordinate on paper, but I was a rebel in fact.

Now, I’m the extreme case, but having realized how I am, I do see it a lot, to a lesser degree, in others. You can bet that there is plenty of type A in the upper echelons of a mega-church, and there have been a lot of people who considered it their job to tell Driscoll what to do. Try to picture what a hell it is to deal with a bunch of people like that. Or ask any of my managers over the years, and they’ll tell you. I think the subordinate who (as cheerfully as possible) does what he’s told because it’s the boss’s job to give orders and his job to obey them, must be rare and wonderful, even in Christian circles where we love to marvel at the Roman Centurion. I’m working on that. It’s interesting.

In my years and experiences, I’ve had to put up, generally with very ill grace at best, the foibles, faults and failings of my direct authorities. I eventually sort of realized that they had to put up with me, too, and it wasn’t easy. Enough people have come after me with pitchforks and torches, enough times, that I have had to finally figure out who the common denominator was and face the obvious conclusion. Not to brag, but I know several people who have had much the same experiences, but still wonder what’s wrong with everybody else. To his credit, Driscoll has clearly gotten the memo.

But I digress. I’m trying to say that, while I believe every allegation that isn’t clearly apocalyptic, and while I believe this crisis can (and I think, will) bring Driscoll the change he needs, nonetheless, you can be sure that he’s not the only actor here who needs change.

The thing I’m wondering is if the people coming after him now, especially the (I think) 21 pastors, want him dumped or restored. Is the theme “Let’s make Mark shine”, or is it “Fork over the church and nobody gets hurt”?

I like what Driscoll has been saying. Scripture says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another”. We have to remember that the only time we really need to HEAR that is when obeying it would be unfair and unjust. That’s what forgiveness is. It’s funny how beautiful and sentimental we find that verse to be, but how quickly we nevertheless toss it overboard just when it ought to be, to use a relevant word here, obeyed.

Here’s another angle. You wanna see Seattle get saved, right? You wanna see it awash in grateful Christians, right? Well, you know who can do it? Do you really want to see him get thrown overboard because he’s still learning not be an asshole? Here’s a silly parallel. Suppose Winston Churchill had the most awful flatulence you can imagine. Suppose his general staff could barely be in the room with him. Which of the following do you think they would have said:

1. Well, I’m tired of the stench. He’s got to go. Let the Germans conquer us. At least I won’t have to breathe Churchill farts.

2. This really bites. But this guy has what we need. This guy can do what has to be done. We’re just going to have to hold our breath and deal with it.

See what I’m saying? What’s job one, here? Again, I’m not excusing Driscoll, and I’m agreeing that he needs to change. I AM pointing out that he is willing to change, and he freely admits it. If you don’t realize how astonishingly rare that is, wait until you’re my age. This. Doesn’t. Happen. Anyway, what I’m saying is that he’s the guy. He’s got the stuff. He can get it done. Do you WANT it done? Then figure out how to deal with him while he’s figuring out how to deal with you.

I believe in the forgiveness of sins. We are apt to forget how revolutionary that statement is. We are also apt to forget to apply it to others while we are accepting (or expecting) it for ourselves. Forgive him. Remember. Hear me: forgive him. Really. Forgive him anyway. Don’t excuse him. Forgive him. He’s a sinner, so he needs it and you need to do it. After that, talk about throwing him out of the church. I bet the discussion will have lost a lot of punch at that point. It may have merit, but I really don’t think that’s what the discussion is about at this point. We’re still in the torches and pitchforks stage, and some repenting has to happen all round. And Driscoll is doing his part. When it comes to believing in the forgiveness of sins, most of us Christians are practical atheists. Believe me, a lot of that is going on, here.

Let me cut to the chase. Christian authorities are supposed to serve, sacrificially. In my experience, hordes of Christian followers use that mandate as a stepladder to try to dominate and control the people they are in fact called to follow and obey. Don’t even dream this hasn’t been part of the mix, here. Sure, he’s been a jerk, and he’s used bad judgment that veered even into the unethical. Granted. And the people going after him are in danger of doing as bad, or worse. I don’t subscribe to the pseudo-rational affectation that it’s always necessary to blame both sides. I want to make that clear, because I’m blaming both sides now. And I think Driscoll has a head start on the other guys in getting right!