Defamed Mars Hill church leader Mark Driscoll was recently interviewed by Brian Houston, current senior pastor of Hillsong Church Sydney, where he showed remorse and humility for his past misdeeds.
The video was shared in Warren Throckmorton's Patheos blog. "I don't believe that every day I was a combative, maybe a loud-mouthed person, but certainly, sadly, that was part of my ministry and I think that can be confusing for people," Driscoll admitted in the video. "Some people have seen me primarily as a loving, gracious person and others have seen me as more short-tempered or careless with words, and harmful, and so that contributes to the confusion."
Driscoll drew rebuke for his fiery temper and arrogance while he was still with Mars Hill. He was also accused of plagiarism and bullying. Early in 2014, he finally confessed to "past pride, anger and a domineering spirit" and requested for a six-week leave of absence to get his life back on track.
But in October that same year, he resigned from the mega church. This eventually led to the closure of Mars Hill church, as well as that of its satellite campuses and other congregations.
While a lot of people fumed over Driscoll's actions, there were others who showed him love and kindness during that difficult period, and for that, Driscoll remains grateful.
"The whole Bible is ultimately about the personal love of Jesus, and when it comes to salvation, it is the work that God does and we respond to that, but we don't participate in that," he said.
Driscoll also bravely confronted the controversial "pussified nation" comments he made back in 2000 under the pseudonym "William Wallace." He confessed that he felt "horrified" when the comments resurfaced: "It is one of my greatest regrets in life. I can't read some of the things I said in text... I feel horrified that I shared some of this sentiment, that perception of what I think about women is entirely my own fault, I have no one to blame but myself."
"Looking back on that, that was not a healthy person working from a godly place," he added.
