About Mark Driscoll

Pastor Mark Driscoll is one of the most downloaded and quoted pastors in America. His audience–fans and critics alike–spans the breadth of culture, from conservative Christians in the Bible belt to secular humanists in Driscoll’s hometown, Seattle.

“I’m going to talk about certain subjects in different tones than a soccer mom would,” Driscoll explains. “But when her son rebels, she’ll send him to my church.”

The largest demographic at Mars Hill is the single, twenty-something, college-educated white male–who also happens to be the least likely of all Americans to attend church.

“Men want to be treated like men, and spoken to like men,” Driscoll explains. “They want you to shoot straight. We don’t have a Men’s Ministry at our church…our church is a Men’s Ministry.”

In a postmodern culture that rejects doctrinal boundaries and absolutes, Mars Hill and the Acts 29 Church Planting Network (also founded by Driscoll) have both grown by unapologetically adhering to the traditional orthodox doctrine of Christianity. In 2009 alone, Mars Hill baptized over 500 people and Acts 29 started an average of one new church every week.

“If a church sands off the rough edges of doctrine–that is, the idea that we’re sinners in need of a Redeemer–and tries to convert someone to a cause, or an idea…it won’t be sustainable,” Driscoll says. “The Apostle Paul says to ‘watch your life and your doctrine closely,’ so our lives are just an extension of our doctrine. We need to start with Christ, and start by submitting to his authority. There are words like submission, sin, and rebuke that have become off-limits in our churches. It’s almost like we’re ashamed of what God has said.”

With the right mix of bold presentation, clear biblical teaching, and compassion for outsiders, Driscoll has taken the faith into corners previously unexplored by evangelicals. In the same year that he speaks at a Gospel Coalition conference with notable contemporary theologians like John Piper and Tim Keller, he will discuss biblical sexuality as a guest on Loveline with Dr. Drew. Driscoll has debated Deepak Chopra on ABC’s Nightline, and has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, Blender music magazine, CNN, TIME magazine, and The Washington Post.

Doctrine is the book that Driscoll says he would use as a starting point if he had to plant Mars Hill Church again. It comes at a pivotal time in church history when leaders are less likely to emphasize Bible doctrine and more likely to elevate personal experience, ambiguity, and doubt. Doctrine gives definitions, takes stands, and explains the beauty and freedom of absolute, biblical truth.

In an era when church leaders are calling themselves “revolutionaries”, “visionaries”, or “conversation partners,” Driscoll is proud to call himself a pastor. “If I can get young men to read their Bibles and dead guys, and love Jesus and their wives, then I’ve done my job.”