In this video are Mark Discoll, James MacDonald, and Mark Dever. I first watched this when I was in college in 2015 and the difference of ministry philosophy was apparent to me without knowing anything about these gentlemen. I didn’t even really know what Calvinism was at this point but I was wrestling with what the local church was, which led me to this video – this video that TGC has since scrubbed from their website.
Since this video was published, two men have been disqualified from ministry and one faithfully continues to serve in ministry. Can you take a guess who?
Time proves everything. All these words are cheap. Driscoll at one point answers the question, “What happens when you die?” with words that have since proved untrue. He obviously didn’t die, but was disqualified from ministry, kicked out of his church, etc. He said, “it’s going to be far easier than for you because you’re a pastor-centered model, we’re a mission-centered model.” That sounds good in theory, but theory never beats character. Tell that to the current Mars Hill campuses closed down across Seattle (and evidently Albuquerque). When Driscoll fell, so did the church because as much as he was a “total introvert” he actually wasn’t. He made the ministry and the church about himself. Time shows our true character.
It truly is a sad irony. “When you go multi-site, we’ll be there to celebrate with you” with lawds and guffaws. Dever still isn’t multi-site and he’s still in ministry. Why? Because Charisma and Ministry Philosophies never beat character. The multi-site might check certain X’s and O’s on paper, but at the end of the day, what it was truly about was the celebrity pastor who started them. Because of that, they grew proud and too charismatic (in the leadership sense) for their own good. When they fell, so did the church.
As much as Driscoll says he beat Dever in that discussion, he was beaten by character. Character always beats charisma. Young pastors be warned.