A Helpful Guide to Cultural Unity: Leadership Culture (Part 3)
WHAT IS YOUR CHURCH'S REAL DOCTRINE STATEMENT?
If you are a church leader, I recommend that you set up a dedicated day or leadership retreat and put these terms on the board. As you begin this time with your team, hand out a piece of paper with the chart I've given above. Ask your team to first write out their own personal definition of each in the blank space of the first column. Then have them circle which extreme they think your church most closely resembles. Have each team member complete the evaluation anonymously.
Then document the results on a white board, tallying up each definition's votes. After you have posted all the results, lead the group through a scriptural discussion on each of the items. Allow a lot of time for open discussion on each topic. Make sure to tell the team that the point is not to convince people of your opinion, but to hear everyone's thoughts and beliefs on each issue.
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It is critical that you as a leader know what your team believes on these key issues. As you begin to understand your team's views, you will begin to understand where your church body is on these same issues. We know from Luke 6:40 that a fully trained student will be like his teacher. So if your leadership (pastors, staff, teachers, ministry leads) has a certain viewpoint, one can assume that your church body will think similarly, especially if your church has several new converts who are receiving their foundational doctrine from your team.
CLOSING TO THE MARS HILL BLOG SERIES
Over the past couple of weeks, I have written a series of blogs about what I have learned through my experiences at Mars Hill. I have tried my best to not talk about any one person, but rather to focus on the things I would like to take responsibility for publicly and also provide clarifying information to certain situations. I hope these blogs have informed a leader who doesn't want to make some of the same mistakes I made nor sin in the manner that I did. I also pray that they allow healing to people that were hurt by things that I did or did not do during my tenure at Mars Hill.
I suspect you might like me to talk directly about Pastor Mark Driscoll. So in closing, I will say something concerning him: I love him very much. There are two men from whom I have learned the most since Jesus saved me: Pastor Mark Driscoll and Pastor Joe Champion. I love both men very much and will continue to pray for them, their families, and their ministries each and every day. I am honored to have served each of them as their executive pastor. Even though full-time ministry is the hardest job I've ever been privileged to do, I choose to focus on the good times I shared with them and how these men were used by Jesus to grow me into a better man. I am very thankful God allowed me to serve each man and his church.
Going forward, these blogs represent all that I want to address about my past experiences.
MY GOD IS GOOD
Many people ask me the simple question, "Are you angry about all that has happened at Mars Hill?" I simply say that if I were to be angry, it would be at only one Person: the God of the Universe. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, completely good, infinitely wise, and wholly sovereign (1 Tim. 6:15, Jude 25, Rom. 8:28). So in knowing his character in the midst of these struggles, I can't be angry at him. Instead, I praise him for the blessings in my life, and praise him for allowing me to go through difficult things to become more like him (1 Peter 4:12-19). I am not a victim of anyone's actions, but a receiver of exactly what Jesus designed to happen before the foundation of the world (Eph. 2:10). Most of my suffering at Mars Hill was self-inflicted as a result of my own sin and mistakes. By the grace of God, I hope to continue to learn from the sins that I have committed, repent of the sins that I will commit, and quickly forgive others for the sins committed against me. If you are in Christ, there are two guarantees in this world: sin (yours and others') and the grace of God. You need to decide now how you will handle both. "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15) by Christ's grace, through the Holy Spirit's power, to the Father's glory.
This article was originally posted here.
