This post is an excerpt from a Q&A Pastor Mark did for the most recent issue of Tabletalk, a magazine from R.C. Sproul's Ligonier Ministries. Read the rest of the interview, with specific questions on pastoral sin and ministry critics, on the Resurgence or the Tabletalk site.
Tabletalk: What do you believe is the ultimate purpose of the church?
Mark Driscoll: The biblical marks of the church universally and its expressions locally are many (for example, the Word, sacraments, discipline, discipleship, mission/evangelism, love), but their overarching purpose is to reflect, or mirror, the glory of God to the cultures of the earth. Or, to put it another way, the purpose of the church is to serve as an outpost of Jesus’ kingdom that makes the invisible kingdom visible by the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit. The church belongs to God as his self-chosen means by which to serve and save the world through the gospel message to the glory of God.
TT: What do you think is one of the biggest idols in the church today?
MD: Religious idolatry uses God for health, wealth, success, and the like. In this grotesque inversion of the gospel, God is used for our glory, as if not only are we supposed to worship ourselves, but God is also to be a worshiper of us. This kind of false gospel preaching is evident whenever Jesus is presented as the means by which an idolater can obtain his idol. Examples include Jesus being presented as the one who promises to make you rich, happy, healed, joyfully married, and parentally successful.
TT: What do you think will be the greatest crisis that will face the next generation of Christians?
MD: The trouble always begins with the erosion of confidence in the inerrancy, authority, sufficiency, and cross-cultural timelessness of Scripture. Once that dam is breached, there is no way to determine where the ensuing flood of error will surge. Still, for many younger people who comprise the next generation of Christianity, the early indicators are that we will see an ongoing increase of support for sex outside of marriage in all forms (gay, straight, and bisexual) as an acceptable Christian practice, with the endorsement of pastors who put cool before Christ. In the name of "love" and "community," there is a trend away from preaching and practicing personal repentance of one’s own sin while only addressing institutional sin of others. This is what happens when we think too little of Scripture and too much of our own reason, which Martin Luther rightly called the Devil’s whore.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Illustration by Tabletalk"]
[/caption]
TT: What sermon series are you preaching right now and how do you believe God is using these sermons among the people at Mars Hill?
MD: Currently, I am one year into a two-and-a-half-year series preaching verse by verse through the entire book of Luke, with sermons that last over an hour each. By God’s grace, in the past year we saw the church grow by about two thousand people and crest at eighteen thousand on
Easter Sunday. On Easter alone,
we baptized nearly seven hundred people at Qwest Field in what used to be one of the nation’s least churched cities by reaching mainly twenty-something singles, especially men, who are statistically the least likely to attend church. We are seeing significant conversion and life change. I feel like a kite in the hurricane of God’s grace.
TT: What do you most cherish about your wife as it relates to your ministry?
MD: Grace and I met at the age of 17 before I was a Christian. She was a pastor’s daughter and my first Christian friend. I got saved reading the nice leather-bound Bible she gave me. Over 22 years later, I find myself more intrigued by, in love with, and satisfied by her than ever. Grace helps me, but she does not enable me. In recent years she has made taking care of her husband and five children her ministry priority, and that has been a priceless blessing.
TT: If you were to die tomorrow, what do you hope people will most remember you for?
MD: My biblical priorities since my conversion have been: 1) Christian, 2) husband, 3) father, and 4) pastor. That order is very important. So I hope people would remember me as someone who loved Jesus and grew to be more like him by ongoing repentance and grace, adored and enjoyed his wife well, cultivated his children while enjoying them deeply, and served the cause of the gospel wholeheartedly. I really enjoy being a pastor, but it’s not the source of my identity or righteousness. Most of all, I enjoy Jesus and my wife, and being "Poppa Daddy" to our five children.
Mark Driscoll is co-founder and preaching pastor of Mars Hill Church. 
