Is Church Leadership a Man's World?

Mark Driscoll is the bare-knuckle fighter of celebrity preachers. Very much a man’s man when it comes to matters of leadership and relationships, the founding pastor of Mars Hill mega-church is quoted as much by his supporters as by his critics. But who does he think he is?

If what you think and believe about hell, heaven, relationships, British preachers and women in leadership, is broadly in line with Mark’s hard-line biblical interpretation, then you might think he’s unfairly pursued by the wolves of controversy.

Though to be fair to the wolves, he doesn’t exactly make an effort to outrun them, let alone pacify them, he prefers to provoke them with equivalent of a poke in the eye.

A sort of bare knuckle preacher, Mark very much puts men back in the church leadership driving seat and in the marriage relationship trousers.

Mark Driscoll: Very Smart... Too Smart

But does Mark Driscoll even believe everything he says himself? Biblical liberal, Brian McClaren - theologically about as far as you can get from Mark Driscoll, described the 42 year old, as “Very smart… too smart to be saying and doing what he’s saying and doing.”

It’s his directness, clarity and authoritative use of scripture that defines who Mark Driscoll is and what he’s about; a sense of identity, purpose and authority which, you have to admit, is often lacking in his opponents and critics.

Mark’s latest book is all about restoring that sense of identity, purpose and authority to his supporters and opponents alike. In ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ the pastor, who grew a church of 13,000 from a Bible study class of 30 in less than 20 years, shows how we fail to get the right answers from God because we ask the wrong question.

We Need to Ask God the Right Question

Instead of coming to God with desparate prayers of ‘How do I get I out of here?’ Driscoll, founder and director the Acts 29 global ministry, has you ask yourself, ‘Who Do You Think You Are – In Christ?’

In this mind changing book with its supporting DVD based study course, Mark shows how we can’t know where we’re going until we know who we’re meant to be. Knowing your true identity is the key to knowing which way to turn.

His argument is that we’re all living with a false identity; that we’ve sold out to the idols of identity the world would have us follow. Now we define ourselves by the standards of the world, not by the standards of Christ. We are, in a nutshell not who we were meant to be – in fact, we don’t know who we are.

Reclaiming Your True Identity - in Christ

While his supporters urge him to speak his mind and his critics wish he wouldn't, the truth is that Mark Driscoll keeps Christians of all shades of opinion from settling into their comfort zones and forgetting who they are. Mark Driscoll is the great unsettler, and that's just who he thinks he is.

Starting the fight to reclaim your true identity, Mark asks three basic questions: ‘Who are you?’ ‘What defines you?’ and ‘What is you true identity?’ What ever you think of Mark’s position theologically, you can’t deny he’s a fighter.

Take a look at Mark's new book and study course and you'll see that reclaiming your true identity is going to be a fight. And if there’s going to be a fight, Mark Driscoll is the man you want in your corner. - Les Ellison