Leadership Network Advance recently spoke with Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and author of the newly released Confessions of a Reformission Rev: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church.

Why did you write this book?
I found all the ministry land mines by driving over them. This book is about the hard lessons, big mistakes, and crazy adventures of taking a church of broken young people in one of America's least churched cities to a church of over 4,000 people by God's grace. I wrote this book to show the agony and joy of ministry and to help others avoid some of the painful mistakes I have made.

What was the genesis of the ideas?
The book is simply my biased perspective on our church--complete with what my peculiar sense of humor thinks are funny stories about everything from dead bodies to messing my pants while preaching with the stomach flu. In some ways, I guess it reads like a combination of stand-up junior high comedy and practical biblical theology.
What are one or two "lessons learned" that you could give to any church leader in almost any setting?
Ministry stinks. The hours are bad, the pay is bad, the people drive you nuts, and you are rarely sure exactly what your job even is. To make matters worse your health suffers, your family takes a beating, and if you do anything right, someone makes certain to criticize you. Too many people have an idealized view of ministers and ministries. Ministry is nothing more than God’s grace working a miracle through a flawed people.

What do you say that’s new?
There is a lot of talk about postmodernism, the emerging church, and being missional. This book is one story that gets beyond the ideas to what such a ministry looks like and what it takes to be a new kind of church in a new kind of culture.

Who is the book for and why should they read it?
Most fundamentalists won’t like our view of culture and most liberals won’t like our view of Scripture because we are theologically conservative and culturally liberal. I doubt anyone will love or hate everything in the book but will respond strongly throughout it both positively and negatively.

Tell us about something specific and practical from the book.
I define the difference between the traditional, contemporary, and emerging church forms in very succinct and practical categories. Most of the pastors I have spoken to at conferences comment that such a clear delineation is helpful. Pastors of more traditional and contemporary churches also said it helped them understand the emerging church and even why they have some concerns about it.

What are the big surprises in the book?
The tone and the comedy. It is irreverent, raw, and brutally honest. If most pastors used my tone, they would be fired.

What else do you hope the reader takes away from the book?
I hope they learn to see and tell the story of their own church in such a way as to help others learn from it. I also hope they gain permission to have courage, take risks, and pursue a vision that without God simply cannot come to pass. Most pastors and Christian leaders know exactly what changes should be made but simply lack the courage to put a bullet in the people, systems, doctrines, and programs that hold them back from getting things done well.

Raised in an Irish Catholic family of five children, Mark Driscoll became a Christian at 19 years old, married his high-school sweetheart at 21, graduated at 22 and started Mars Hill at 25 in 1996. He has five kids, still pastors Mars Hill, is president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, and founder of TheResurgence.com missional theology cooperative.

You can get free video and audio of sermons and worship music from Mars Hill at www.MarsHillChurch.org. Mark is currently writing the first of a series of books on hot theological issues such as the cross, hell, and Jesus. Near the end of the year, Mark and four co-authors will release Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches on the theological variety of emerging churches.