Pastor James Miller was in attendance today when Mark Driscoll took the stage at the Thrive Leadership Conference. Miller gives a close account of what Driscoll said and then provides reactions. It seems to me that Miller makes some good sense.
First, Miller says Driscoll spent some of his time talking about how hard 2014 was. Then he talked about how he had come to forgive those who struck the shepherd. According to Miller, Driscoll said God spoke to him. Referring to Driscoll, Miller wrote:
He said God spoke to he and his wife “audibly” and released them from ministry.
Miller tells the rest of Driscolls remarks but says something was missing.
Now here’s the one lingering issue I have. Driscoll just gave a long lecture on forgiveness without asking for it. Aside from the allusion to “not being totally innocent,” he really didn’t point out his own failings. In fact, it seemed like the entire lecture was aimed at his need to forgive those people who had wronged him.
It appears that perceptions of the situation in Seattle are still pretty far apart.
I encourage you to go read Miller’s summary and analysis.