It's a good thing that there's an elder board (or whatever it is in this case), that has the authority and gumption to discipline their famous (infamous) pastor, and that he submitted to it.
Excellent summary of the dynamics here--you've captured the key ingredients, "gumption" and submission. Here's another look at it from my own experience. I served as an elder for a small church whose pastor I found to be somewhat headstrong. Repeatedly he acted beyond his authority by intruding on the elder board's. (The only other elder was his brother.) Finally I confronted him formally. But in doing so I had to resign, to avoid both the temptation and the appearance of trying to get him to submit not to the board (as a proxy for God) but to me personally.