What Good Is Your Calling Then?

I have been involved in the replanting of one church and the new church plant of another. I've been active in both, taking on leadership wherever it was needed....

My problem with Mark Driscoll is not so much what he says but his attitude; he believes that he can say what he wants, and won't take much correction on it. I'm afraid for him that he's begun to believe his own hype.

Hype is the persona that some church planters will take on. They need to appeal to the culture that they are targeting....

There is a danger when you have a powerful voice that is listened to by many. If you have believed your own hype you may think that you are justified in saying or doing what you want. If you look around you there will be many who support what you say or do. They are easy to find. They're the ones standing right in your front of you. The groupies who say 'amen' and 'right on' to whatever you utter. But if you look further away you will see the faithful who are doing the work to make relationships with those you have drawn in. Who in your life do you let hold you accountable? Is it only the yes men? Are there any yes women?

You are human, you cannot possibly be right all the time. You will fail. You will say or do the wrong thing and you will do it in a very public way. It's humiliating, if you actually come to the place of seeing your error. If there is someone in your life that you listen to, who can and will correct you, then your ministry will continue to reach the many that it has. If you don't your ministry will fall, it is inevitable. That's not prophecy, it's common sense.

I don't say that because I have it out for Mark. The loss of someone who is as effective as Mark is a sad thing for the ministry but the reality is if you cannot be accountable then God will remove you, and that's nothing to rejoice over. What good is your calling then?

[via my father's house, emphasis mine]