Before reading the books, through information I was
hearing, I was under the impression that Pastor Rick Warren was the worst thing
since sliced bread. What I actually
found was very interesting. The books,
generally, were based in scripture and Pastor Warren seems to have done a
spectacular job in getting people to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. The figures I found showed that Saddleback Church
In my opinion, the way Pastor Warren recommends a church be
set up is good and effective for a new congregation. The problems seem to be when these same
tactics are tried in established churches.
The Saddleback
Church
I have seen testimony after testimony of how a small group
in a church is encouraged to take control of the church without consulting the
congregation. In some cases it is
recommended that the congregation not be told of the planned changes until step
four is reached, thereby making it too late for the congregation to
object. The “pillars” of the established
church are seen as “holding things up”, as in wanting to keep things the way
they like them and impeding progress.
These are most often the members who contributed to the building of the
church but are no longer wanted there. This,
in some cases can encompass the majority of the congregation. This subterfuge is, in my opinion, one of the
most serious fallacies or faults in expanding Pastor Warren’s tactics and
influence.
Jesus said He would build His church upon the rock of His Lordship,
and salvation; not that we the people will build His church through modern marketing
and sales techniques.
Some things I found in the Purpose Driven Life and The
Purpose Driven Church seemed to be slightly off, scriptural.
1.
Pastor Warren seems to think that there will be one judgment, conducted by God
the Father[4]. In reality, Jesus said: “all judgment is
given to me[5]”. There will in fact be two separate judgments:
one for the believers, and another for nonbelievers.
2.
“Jesus stood at a fork in the road. Would he fulfill his purpose and bring
glory to God, or would he shrink back and live a comfortable, self centered
life?”[6] In fact Jesus made His decision before He came
to earth.
3.
Pastor Warren’s salvation prayer is simplistic and fails to include repentance.[7]
4.
“When we worship, our goal is to bring pleasure to God, not ourselves.”[8] It is my opinion, the purpose of Worship is
to build a closer relationship with God; this would be a two way street.
5.
Pastor Warren indicates that you should follow what you believe to be from God,
immediately and without exception[9]. The Bible says that every Spirit should be
tested[10].
6.
“But fear of God, not friendship, was more common in the Old Testament.”[11] In reality, the Old Testament ‘fear’ of God
meant respect and reverence for God.
7.
“You have heard people say, ‘I can’t make it to the meeting tonight, but I’ll
be with you in spirit.’ Do you know what that means? Nothing, it’s worthless!
As long as you are on earth, your spirit can only be where your body is.”[12] Pastor Warren obviously doesn’t know that it
is an expression of solidarity and unity. Jesus is not physically here with us
now, but is here in Spirit. Paul said
that although he could not be with the Colossians in body, he would be with
them in spirit.[13]
8.
“In utter desperation, you cry out, what’s the matter with me? The truth is,
there is nothing wrong with you!”[14]
In fact, this is an excellent question to ask God.[15]
9. “My
God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Phil.4:19 NIV[16]”
Emphasis is wrong here: should be, by Christ.
10. “Jesus
said our love for each other - not our doctrinal beliefs”[17] Love for each other is a doctrine of Jesus.
11.
“For over 2,000 years Christians have been regularly gathering in small groups
for fellowship.”[18] This
book was copyrighted in 2002. There were
no Christians when Jesus was a baby.
12.
Pastor Warren says that Jesus said: “The details of my return are none of your
business.”[19] Really!
Why did Jesus give lots of details, lots of times? Before His crucifixion, he
told the disciples, at least nine times, what was to happen to Him. He would
not have us to be ignorant. He related the times and seasons so that we would
be aware and waiting[20].
13.
Pastor Warren says you should be able to bring the unsaved into your church
“without embarrassment[21]”. I have never been embarrassed to bring anyone
into churches I have attended, whether they were Baptist, Episcopalian,
Presbyterian, Assemblies of God or any other.
14. Members
of his church are required to sign a membership covenant[22]. Apparently being a member of the body of
Christ is not sufficient. I do realize
that, generally speaking, denominations are simply clubs set up by man for the
purpose of fellowship. Clubs can set up
whatever rules they like, as long as the rules are legal.
15.
Jesus said He would build His church: not He will depend on the skills[23]
of men.
16.
“Are you being faithful to God’s word if you if you insist on communicating in
an outdated style?”[24]
What is outdated, the style of the Apostles, the early church or the different
‘styles’ developed over the years? As
Pastor Warren likes to say; different people respond to different things.
17. The
Apostles were really not pastors, but rather evangelists. They started churches and visited them, but
left the locals in charge. Small groups
are not the same thing. In the early
church days, the groups were small and met in peoples homes: they were not mega
churches.
18. Disagreement
with church authorities is ridiculed[25]. The ‘whiners’[26]
are anyone in the congregation who challenges the leadership, and therefore not
respected members?
19. “After you define your
church purposes, you must communicate those purposes to everyone in your church
– on a regular basis.”[27] This
sounds good but in reality it will only be done after step
four of the church takeover.
There are eight steps in all. “If
your church is in the initial stages of change (music or the first 40–day
program), your church could be saved by talking to other church members, and
with activist intervention by 10–20 percent of the membership. If nothing is done
at this early stage, then by the time the program advances to step four, there is
little that can be done except look for another church. Your church has become a
Purpose Driven entity in association with Saddleback Church of Orange County or
Willow Creek of Chicago”[28].
20.
“Today, very few Christians would recognize George Whitefield’s name.”[29] That is true, for those who have not studied
the foundation and history of our country.
21. Speaking
of traditional type churches, Pastor Warren says: “Most churches of this type
have less than 200 members, since that’s about all one pastor can personally
care for.”[30] He goes
on to criticize most of the existing churches that ‘specialize’. I agree that a pastor can’t properly fulfill
his duties in churches with more than 200 families. I don’t really care for the MEGA church with
its delegation of pastoral duties. Jesus
instructed us to feed His sheep, both physically and spiritually.
22.
It is hard to tell if he was having 10,000 in attendance total, or if it was
10,000 in the “crowd” category; or even if these figures were for one service
or over their four services.
23.
Pastor Warren’s resume differs in the “The Purpose Driven Life” book and the “Purpose Driven Church
24.
Much of what Pastor Warren describes as methods of establishing a Purpose Driven Church
25.
The Pillars of a church; the elderly – grounded members, those over 50, the
mature in Christ, those who are set in their ways, tend to interfere with and
hold up progress in the new church undertakings. "Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told you earlier
the fact that people are gonna leave the church no matter what you do. But when
you define the vision, you're choosing who leaves. You say, "But Rick,
yes, they're the pillars of the church." Now, you know what pillars are.
Pillars are people who hold things up ... And in your church, you may have to
have some blessed subtractions before you have any real additions."[31]
Respect for elders has always been a biblical principal.[32] In Acts 8:12 Peter, James and John were
referred to as pillars of the church.
26.
“Focus on progress not perfection.”[33] Aren’t
we to be perfected in Christ? How about
a balanced approach?
27.
“The traditional approach to beginning a new church is to build a committed
core of mature believers first, and then start reaching out to the
community. The problem I have found with
an ‘inside out’ approach is that by the time the church planter has ‘discipled’
his core, they have often lost contact with the community and are actually
afraid of interacting with the unchurched.”[34] Really? I guess we should just jump in the lake and
get swimming lessons later. What about being grounded in the word?
28. “No
member may proceed to the next base until he has committed to the requirements
of each covenant.”[35] Just like a cult.
29.
In chapter 9 of “The Purpose Driven Church” he says several times that the
message must not be compromised, but in practice he does it a lot.
30. Pastor
Warren writes that he wonders why there had to be four gospels to tell about
the one life of Christ[36]. Has he ever heard that by two or more a thing
is established?
31.
Chapter 9’s discussion of ‘targeting’ sounds more like a marketing decision
than the leading of the Lord.
32.
On page 176, he apparently lauds himself as an intellectual. He had great difficulty in relating to truck
drivers and mechanics. I have sold in
the medical field as well as the auto repair industry. I never had any difficulty in relating to
anyone; from the highest praised medical researcher to the lowest oil change tech.
33. Pastor
Warren says that Jesus was being strategic in targeting the audience most
likely to respond when he sent out the twelve.
No, Jesus was being prejudiced and exclusive. He told the twelve to avoid the Samaritans
and other gentiles because the message was to be given to the Jew first.
34.
Pastor Warren’s lack of understanding of biblical text (or the distorting of
it) is exemplified by the following. “Jesus told us not to worry about the
unresponsive. Shake the dust from your feet and move on.”[37] In reality Jesus was saying to curse the
inhabitants of a town that failed to receive the Gospel. Also, what about ‘I stand at the door and
knock’?
35.
Pastor Warren either boarders on or believes in ‘replacement theology’ where
the belief is that the ‘church’ has replaced the Jews with God.[38] We are not the vine. We are grafted into the vine.
36.
Your neighborhood church is not the body of Christ; it is a member of the
body. The body of Christ is made up of
all of the Christians. Where two or more
are gathered, Christ is. The body of
Christ can be in your living room as well as the largest cathedral. Pastor Warren says that if you are not
committed to a specific congregation, you will shrivel and die.[39] Paul was not a member of a specific congregation,
and sure enough, he shriveled and died when he was executed. John was not a member of a specific congregation, and sure enough, he shriveled and
died in Ephesus in his 90’s.
37.
“Meaningless membership[40]”
is defined as not being willing to be totally committed to a church club. A club church may have Christians in it but
it is not the body of Christ. A club can
be Masonic, Ladies Aid, Women’s Aglow, Full Gospel Businessmen, Knights of
Columbus and the Moose Lodge. All the
clubs have their own rules and covenants.
A life committed to Christ does not seem to be enough for membership in the
Saddleback church.
38.
“If we adopt a membership covenant, there will be some who leave our church
over it.” “People even walked away from Jesus.”[41] I
don’t think I need to tie in the inference here.
Some observations by Rev. Noah W. Hutchings, founder of
Southwest Radio Ministries, and Author of “The Dark Side of The Purpose Driven
Church”.
1. “Initially, a small clique of church staff,
possibly including the pastor or a new pastor plans the change without telling
the rest of the church membership. Church Transitions, an associate of Saddleback Church
in California
1. Identify those who are resisting the changes;
2. Assess the effectiveness of their
opposition;
3. Befriend those who are undecided about the
changes;
4. Marginalize more persistent resisters;
5. Vilify those who stay and fight;
6. Establish new rules that will silence all resistance. This means the church membership is not told
until it is too late to make a difference.
In other words the members either accept the changes, or leave the
church, which they may have served and given to build.”[42]
2. “While some PDC initiators may not implement
the full PDC format, generally these are the signs indicating that your church
may be targeted for a Purpose
Driven Church
1. Change in music to a contemporary rock
style.
2. Removal of hymn books; eliminating the
choir.
3. Replacement of organ and piano with heavy
metal instruments.
4. Repetitive singing of praise lyrics.
5. Dressing down to casual attire.
6. Eliminating of business meetings, church
committees, council of elders, board of deacons, etc.
7. The pastor, or a new leader with a few
assistants, usually four, takes charge of all church business.
8. A repetitive 40–day Purpose Driven
Church
9. Funded budgeted programs
are abandoned, or ignored, with ambiguous financial reports made.
10. Sunday morning, evening,
and/or Wednesday prayer meetings are changed to other times; some may even be
eliminated.
11. Sunday School teachers
are moved to different classes, or replaced by new teachers more sympathetic
with the changes being implemented.
12. The name “Sunday school”
is dropped and classes are given new names.
13. Crosses and other
traditional Christian symbols may be moved from both the inside and outside of
the church building. The pulpit may also be removed.
14. In accordance with Dr.
Warren’s instructions, new version Bibles are used; or only verses flashed on a
screen are referenced during regular services.
15. Purpose Driven
Church
16. The décor, including
the carpets, may be changed to eliminate any resemblance to the former church.
17. The word “church” is
often taken from the name of the church, and the church may be called a
“campus.” Denominational names may also be removed.
18. An emphasis on more fun
and party sessions for the youth.
19. Elimination of altar
calls or salvation invitations at the close of the services.
20. The elimination of such
words as “unsaved,” “lost,” “sin,” “Hell,” “Heaven,” and other gospel verities
from the pastor’s messages.
21. The reclassification of
the saved and lost to the “churched” and “unchurched.”
22. The marginalizing, or
ostracizing, of all who are not avid promoters of the new Purpose Driven
program.
23. Closed meetings between
the pastor or chosen staff members without any reports made to the general
membership.
24. Open hostility to
members who do not openly embrace the new program, or who may have left for
another church.”[43]
Over the years there have been successes and failures when
the Purpose Driven methods have been employed.
There has been a problem with the alienation of many of our fellow
Christians, by apparently well intentioned people. We do have to keep in mind that the road to
Hell is paved with good intentions.
In closing I would like to say that Pastor Warren’s heart
seems to be in the right place, and he has been very successful with his own
congregation. He, himself says that
trying to make clones of his church is not advisable. He, however, publishes materials and holds
teaching seminars for that very purpose.
[1] By Rick
Warren, copyright 2002, Zondervan
[2] By Rick
Warren, copyright 1995, Zondervan
[3] By Noah
W. Hutchings, copyright 2005,2007,2008,2011, Hutchings
[4] Page 34,
The Purpose Driven Life
[5] John
5:22
[6] Page 57,
The Purpose Driven Life
[7] Page 58,
The Purpose Driven Life
[8] Page 66,
The Purpose Driven Life
[9] Page 72,
The Purpose Driven Life
[10] 1 John,
4:1
[11] Page
86, The Purpose Driven Life
[12] Page
105, The Purpose Driven Life
[13]
Colossians 2:5
[14] Page
108-109, The Purpose Driven Life
[15] Psalm
34: 23-24
[16] Page
119, The Purpose Driven Life
[17] Page
124, The Purpose Driven Life
[18] Page
143, The Purpose Driven Life
[19] Page
285, The Purpose Driven Life
[20] Luke
12: 42-48
[21] Page
48, The Purpose Driven Church
[22] Page
54, The Purpose Driven Church
[23] Page
56-59, The Purpose Driven Church
[24] Page
65, The Purpose Driven Church
[25] Page
92, The Purpose Driven Church
[26] Page
92, The Purpose Driven Church
[27] Page
94, The Purpose Driven Church
[29] Page
121, The Purpose Driven Church
[30] Page
123, The Purpose Driven Church
[31] "Building a Purpose-Driven Church "
seminar at Saddleback
Church
[32]
Leviticus 19:32, Deuteronomy 32:7, Psalms 4:1-2, 1 Peter 5:5, Job 32:7
[33] Page
137, The Purpose Driven Church
[34] Page
138, The Purpose Driven Church
[35] Page
145, The Purpose Driven Church
[36] Page
158, The Purpose Driven Church
[37] Page
188, The Purpose Driven Church
[38] Page
196, The Purpose Driven Church
[39] Page
310, The Purpose Driven Church
[40] Page
317, The Purpose Driven Church
[41] Page
320, The Purpose Driven Church
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