Love him or hate him, we can all learn from Driscoll's public apology?

Yesterday, Mark Driscoll addressed his church regarding recent controversy that's arisen concerning his personal conduct. Acts 29, the church planting ministry that Mark himself started, removed him and his church, Mars Hill, from their list of churches calling his behavior, "ungodly and disqualifying". The board of Acts 29 did not give a specific list of Mark's disqualifying actions, of which they say most have been, "confirmed by him."

After a service at Mars Hill yesterday, Mark made a public apology to his church and family, which was posted on his Facebook page shortly after. While most of us can only speculate about what Acts 29 means when they say, "ungodly and disqualifying behavior", there's much to be gleaned from the video of his apology (The video of his remarks is below if you haven't seen it). 

If you're having trouble viewing the video, you can click here to watch it. 

Driscoll is not typically stereotyped as a man of incredible humility. But his words came as a sobering example of humble shepherding. You don't have to be a fan of Mark Driscoll to take a lot away from his public apology. Anyone looking to become a better church leader can glean a number of important lessons from his address. Here are just a few that I noticed. But I'd like to hear from you. Please add your insights in the comments below.

A real man submits like a woman. Mark Driscoll is an alpha male type, meaning that other guys want to follow him. It's one of the reasons his church is so big. Submissiveness isn't one of the hallmarks of the alpha male type, but Mark doesn't seem to hesitate to bow down to Jesus, the Bible and his church's bylaws regarding this type of controversy. He has readily handed over his own authority to the church's elder in a biblical manner (Galatians 6:1).

Driscoll respects the pulpit. I've been learning about this one lately. Last week I brought up the idea of doing an ALS Icebucket Challenge live on stage during a Sunday service. My church's teaching pastor gently declined. He said it felt like a move to try to look trendy, and he was right. Great pastors respect the weight of their charge to teach people God's Word. And they won't dilute it with shallow publicity stunts. 

It would be easy for Mark to talk about the controversy surrounding his name in a sermon, and he'd probably get a lot of sympathy for it. But he's not after sympathy. According to his apology, all he cares about is loving his family and teaching the gospel. And that's the mark of a good pastor.

A great pastor loves his church like a dad. Several times throughout his address, he mentions how much he loves Mars Hill and cares for the church attendees' well-being. That's something that not a lot of churches have. Charles Stanley calls it 'the burden' that pastors have when they care for their congregation in a nurturing sort of way. In Driscoll's address he is, at the very least, displaying this kind of fatherly love.

Mark Driscoll seeks to surround himself with great men. Near the end of his remarks, Driscoll mentions two groups of men who will oversee his leave of absence. One is a committee who will process the accusations made against Mark, and determine what needs to be done about them. The second group of men is a, "professional team of mature Christians" who will walk Mark through his time off.

Given the circumstances, this is a wise move for Mark, but you don't have to wait until you're buried in accusations to get wise counsel. In fact, the best pastors keep themselves surrounded with men who are better than them. They know it's the best way to get personal insight, and develop their strengths.

Powerful men take it like a man. The first time internationally renowned pastor Jimmy Swaggart was caught having an illicit sexual affair, he publicly apologized. The second time it happened, he said, "It's none of your business." It was less than graceful. Driscoll mentions that this is the first time he's taken a leave of absence. But it isn't the first time he's messed up and made a public apology.

I imagine there's a huge amount of pressure that comes with facing accusations like the ones pastor Mark is facing right now, but he really seems to take it like a man. Not avoiding the lashes of his accusers remarks, he takes responsibility and apologizes (in spite of the fact that admitting and submitting to his church likely bares great consequences).

Mark isn't feeding into the media hype. I'm a Driscoll fan. And I'd love to be able to keep up with him on Twitter and Facebook as he goes through this process. But as one of my very good pastor friends puts it, "social media is high school." There are two hard fast rules for social media high school. First, popularity is alluring. And all press is good press.

The truth is, Mark Driscoll has, perhaps, never been more popular than when he's been in the news for some controversial matter. If I were in his shoes, I'd have trouble not speaking to the 'haters' trolling around spreading vicious gossip. But he's not doing that. He realizes that it's foolish to respond to gossip and naysayers. He's only responding to the things he absolutely has to. He's letting the rest roll off his back.


These are just a few things I took away from the talk. But what about you? What was your number one take away from Mark's public apology? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.