Mark Driscoll and Public Censure

I have just read about 21 former Mars Hill Church pastors calling publicly for Mark Driscoll's removal from his pastorate. Before anyone in the Internet world starts complaining that all this should have been done privately, it appears from what we know that there had been quite a fair bit of discreet work done with brother Mark over several years. 

For any who categorically object to how these 21 ex-Mars Hill pastors have expressed their objections, I would point you to III John. In verses 9-12, the apostle John publicly disapproves of a local pastor named Diotrophes, then publicly commends a different Christian brother named Demetrius. John's epistles were circulated among all the churches of God, so what John wrote was a public censure and a public commendation.

Diotrophes was not censured for frivolous reasons, or because the apostle John felt cross that day. Diotrophes was an egotist who loved to be preeminent; he rejected the authority and fellowship of the apostles; he maliciously "prated" against John; and he disfellowshipped anyone who did not follow him in his wicked behavior. Diotrophes deserved to be publicly censured. 

So the New Testament gives us an example of public censure, when serious, unchanged sins are involved, when it's a leader, and if all the normal preceding corrective steps have been tried.