An
Analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" Teachings
by Mike Rich
Dear Reader,
The SDA church has sent many
pastors to Rick Warren’s seminars to learn his methodology. This is an
account as to how Satan’s track of spiritualism has been constructed in the
SDA church.
An
Analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" Teachings
by Mike Rich
Recently, the _________ church body was led in a 40 day study of a book entitled
"The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. When the book was
distributed, the congregation was told that there were some
"doctrinal errors" contained in the book and that we would have to
work through them. This raised concern with several members of our church.
Soon after the program started, members discovered that many churches in
different denominations throughout the Sacramento area were simultaneously
taking part in a 40 day study of Warren's book. Therefore, we decided to do
some additional research into the nature and source of the book and the 40
day event our church had undertaken. What we found is significant.
Our search immediately led us to a web page called - "40
Days of Purpose - A Purpose Driven Life Campaign" where we discovered
that this was a multi-denominational religious event taking place
simultaneously in thousands of churches across the United States. On another
web site we found it stated that 500,000 people had already signed up for the
"40 Days of Purpose" event before the end of September and it was
expected that this number would grow phenomenally once the book was actually
released in October.
We also discovered that over 250,000 pastors in over 125
countries have personally attended Warren's church growth seminars based on
his previous book, "The Purpose Driven Church ".
Based upon our research, it is estimated that millions of people across
hundreds of denominations will have directly participated in Warren's 40-Day
seminar by the end of this spring's national campaign scheduled to end in
April, 2003.
What was even more startling was the realization that the _________ church
has been in the process of transforming itself according to Warren's church
growth philosophies as specifically laid out in " The Purpose Driven Church ".
Warren is quoted in one of his seminars as praying the following as part of a
prayer offered during a PDC seminar session:
"Warren starts his prayer: 'Thank you that there is a
movement, a stealth movement, that's flying beneath the radar, that's
changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the
world."
The author of the article where this quote was found concludes with the
following:
"It is necessary for the faithful believer today to be wary of
any 'stealth' program intended to fly under the radar in order to avoid
detection. For many years now, the church growth movement has certainly flown
into congregations undetected by thousands of churches worldwide. The
onslaught must be detected ,
the warning must be sounded!".
Warren refers to any congregation of any denomination and size that
incorporate his church growth formulas as "Purpose Driven
Churches". Therefore, by Warren's own definition, the _________ church
has become a "Purpose Driven Church". Since our church
appears to be following the "gospel" according to Rick Warren, we
decided to examine Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" teachings.
What is the Gospel of The Purpose Driven Life
?
In order to understand more clearly the gospel of "The
Purpose Driven Life", we will need to zoom out to examine the author,
Rick Warren, and his previous best selling book, "The Purpose Driven
Church". Warren has stated that his latest book, "The
Purpose Driven Life" is simply a compilation of the same principles as
those laid out in his former book the "Purpose Driven Church"
(hereinafter referred to as PDC) but adapted to the church member rather than
church leaders.
The PDC is a book written specifically for Protestant church leaders who want
to dramatically increase the size of their churches. It is a very pragmatic
or business-like approach to church growth that focuses on reaching the
"Pagans" (Warren's term) predominantly by asking them what they
would like from a church and making changes in the church in order to cater
to them.
Warren even has a web site called "Pastors.com" where pastors can
download pre-scripted sermons (and other programs designed for the pagans)
complete with Power Point presentations for about $30. When I personally
received a flyer in the mail advertising the "40 Days" event at a
non-denominational church near my home, to my surprise, I noted that the
sermon titles were exactly the same as the sermon titles that had been listed
in our church bulletin over the last several weeks.
When questioned on this point, the pastor confirmed that he had in fact
received eight pre-scripted sermons from Warren's organization to go along
with the 40 day event and indicated that he had rewritten them before
presenting the sermons from the pulpit. Warren's church growth strategies
combined with this for profit website takes the idea of a corporate franchise
church to a new level.
However, before we look at the specifics of Warren's model for church growth,
we will quickly look at Warren's background and affiliations. On a web page
called "About Rick" on Warren's web site, it is noted that Warren
got a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. This is
significant as Fuller is the birth place of a new age, ecumenical religious
movement referred to by journalists and scholars as the "Third Wave of
the Holy Spirit" or, alternatively, as the "signs and wonders"
movement.
The term the "Third Wave" was originated by Peter Wagner (a church
growth scholar who was head of Fuller Seminary School of World Missions
during the 80's). Another name more recently attached to this movement is the
"signs and wonders" movement.
While Wagner was at Fuller, he coordinated with a man named John Wimber (who worked with Wagner
as a church growth consultant with the Fuller Evangelistic Association and
later went on to found the "Vineyard Fellowship") to teach a class
called "Signs and Wonders". It was the most popular class on the
Fuller campus but eventually had to be canceled as it became too
controversial.
Both of these men have played leading roles in launching what has now become
known as the "signs and wonders" movement. This movement has many
different branches, one of which is the church growth movement, of which
Warren is a leading figure.
So, by adopting Warren's philosophies and teachings, our church has become
part of much more than just the "40 Days of Purpose" national
campaign, we have become part of one of the largest religious movements since
the Protestant reformation of the sixteenth century.
Dave Hunt is an author that is acknowledged as one of the leading authorities
on the infiltration of paganism (and the occult and mind sciences) into the
Christian church, both past and present. Dave has written many books but
probably his most well know work is The Seduction of Christianity which was
published in 1985.
One of his most recent works is titled Occult Invasion - The Subtle Seduction
of the World and Church and was published in 1998. In the first chapter of
his book, Hunt communicates his concern with regard to the spiritualistic
teachings that have been entering the church through the "signs and
wonders" movement and notes that the "church growth movement"
(of which Warren is a leading figure) is indeed a branch of this extensive
movement.
"Today a growing "signs and wonders " movement in the
Christian church is literally exploding and is involving not only charismatics and Pentecostals
but even evangelicals who only a few years ago were opposed to what they
would have characterized at that time as a fraud. Today, in spite of the
warnings by both Jesus and Paul, there is scarcely any thought that today's
signs and wonders might be part of the very spiritual deception which the
Bible foretells.
We are also seeing as part of the "signs and wonders" movement a
burgeoning church growth movement , a prayer and fasting for revival movement
and a spiritual warfare movement , all working toward the same goal . Few are
those who dare to see any connection between these movements within the
church and the false "sign's and wonders" which the Bible
prophesies for the last-days apostate church....
It is this author's conviction, based on more than 50 years of observation
and research, that we are
in the midst of an accelerating occult seduction of both the secular world
and the church."
Now let's look at another of Warren's mentors. The
following quote from the magazine Christianity Today, November 18, 2002,
indicates that Robert Schuller
has had considerable influence on Warren's church growth philosophies:
"During his last year in seminary, he (Warren) and Kay (Warren's wife)
drove west to visit Robert Schuller's
institute for Church Growth. 'We had a very stony ride out to the conference'
she says, because such nontraditional ministry scared her to death. Schuller, though, won them
over. 'He had a profound influence on Rick' Kay says . ' We
were captivated by his positive appeal to non-believers. I never looked
back.'"
So, Who is Robert Schuller? And what does this reference to Schuller's "positive appeal
to non-believers" mean? Let's take a closer look.
Robert Schuller is a very
famous TV evangelist that broadcasts his "Hour of Power" weekly
Sunday program from the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim
Ca. Amongst other things, Schuller
has, on four separate occasions, had personal meetings with Pope John Paul
II. In one of these meetings, Schuller
requested and obtained the Pope's blessing on the blueprint's for his own church, the Crystal
Cathedral, before it was constructed.
Schuller has acknowledged
on his weekly television program that Norman Vincent Peale was his mentor.
Peale was a spiritualist who claimed he talked to the dead and was a
33-degree Mason.
Schuller credits Peale's
"Power of Positive thinking" theology as the basis for his
"Gospel of Success" called "Possibility Thinking". What
is "Possibility Thinking?" Schuller
preaches that "what ever the mind can believe, it can
conceive." These principles are found in many forms of
spiritualism and black magic.
What does Schuller have
to say about sin? The following is an excerpt from the book "The
Seduction of Christianity" by Dave Hunt:
"Schuller's
influence is enormous, and his "Gospel of Success" is being
accepted and preached by increasing numbers of Christian leaders. What does Schuller find wrong with the
old gospel? Although Paul wrote that 'Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners (I Tim 1:15), and Christ Himself said that He came to call
'sinners to repentance' (Luke 5:32), Robert Schuller writes:
'I don't think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the
banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality
and, hence, counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often
crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware
of their lost and sinful condition.'"
So it would appear that Schuller's
"positive appeal to non-believers" (as referenced in the
Christianity Today quotation above) refers to the fact that he omits sin,
judgment and righteousness from his message. He loathes the idea of reminding
non-believers of their sinful or lost condition. Since Robert Schuller's
"Positive Appeal" to non-believers had a profound influence on
Warren, we will look to see if we can find the same "Positive
Appeal" in Warren's "Purpose Driven" teachings. However,
before we go on, let's stop to look at what the Spirit of Prophecy has to say
about this type of spiritualistic teaching.
In The Great Controversy (PG 603-604) we are told that as the teachings of
spiritualism enter the churches, the fall of Babylon will be complete and the
influence of evil angels will be felt in the church. Therefore, as followers
of Christ, we need to be on the look out for spiritualistic teachings. But
what exactly is spiritualism?
In The Great Controversy ,
Chapter 34 (Can The Dead Speak To Us?), a much broader definition of
spiritualism is given than that which one normally imagines. The author
explains that as we near the end of time, spiritualism will actually assume
the "form" of Christianity and the "doctrines of devils"
that come into the church will seduce many, even the elect if it were
possible. In GC page 557-558 we read:
"It is true that spiritualism is now changing form and veiling some of
its more objectionable features, (it) is assuming a Christian guise . Even in it's present form, so far from
being more worthy of toleration than formerly, it is really a more dangerous
deception. While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes
to accept both. But the bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to
the un-renewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no
effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded
to a weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good and evil.
God's justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His holy law,
are all kept out of sight .
... Pleasing , bewitching
fables captivate the senses and lead men to reject the Bible as the
foundation of their faith . Christ is as verily denied as before but Satan
has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not
discerned."
In other words, when spiritualism enters the church and takes the form of
Christianity just before the second coming, it will claim Christ as its
savior and preach straight from the Bible. However, this "form of
godliness" will emphasize only the goodness of God while keeping sin and
judgment out of the message. This is the "Positive Appeal" of
Robert Schuller's gospel,
which is not surprising since he credits Norman Vincent Peale (a known
spiritualist) as his mentor. It is a different gospel with a
different christ. Now
let's see if we can find any indication of this theology in Warren's
philosophies.
The following is an excerpt from an article written by a conservative
evangelical who personally attended one of Warren's PDC seminars. What
follows are the fundamental dictates of Warren's church growth model.
"So what are some of the changes that must take place for a local
assembly to adopt the growth strategy of the Saddleback model (Warren's
Church is Saddleback)? From our understanding of the plan, which was clearly
spelled out at the seminar, the following must occur in order to transform a
traditionally-styled church of any size into one that can boast dramatic
growth:
• A contemporary-styled "Seeker Service" aimed at drawing in
the unsaved and the unchurched from the community must replace the
traditional Sunday worship service. To do this successfully, the church
service must be non-threatening, familiar and comfortable to the
"seeker" (the unsaved visitor).
• The dress must be
casual. The typical "Saddleback Sam" (a researched composite of the
unchurched yuppie commonly found in Saddleback Church's surrounding
community) dresses up for work all week, and he wants to "dress
down" on the weekends. (As we shall see throughout this article,
Saddleback Sam's likes and dislikes are what determine the style of the
church service.) Attendees and church staff alike shun any ties, suits and
dresses. Warren, dressed in
a casual shirt, khakis and loafers told his seminar audience, "Get
comfortable. This is as dressed up as I get in this church. My idea of winter
is I put on socks, and obviously I don't think it's winter yet."
• The music must be
contemporary . Not only must the lyrics of the music be more recent, but the
style of music should be that which the unsaved hears on a daily basis. The
entertainment composite of the Saddleback sound system, band, singers and
presentation would rival that of any secular rock concert. Warren stated that
one of the first things a church should do is "replace the organ with a
band." But he went on to say that if a band was not feasible, then at
least a church could purchase a keyboard that will incorporate midi disks in
order to give the sound of a band. Furthermore, the purpose of the church
choir should be "backing up the soloist. That's the 90's way to use a
choir rather than just having them sing."
• The message must be
only positive . We consider this to be the most flagrant flaw. Yes, the saved
and unsaved alike can feel better about themselves after a message that often
mixes psychology and an uplifting Scripture text. Such topics as dealing with
guilt, self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, mood enhancement or
motivation for success will encourage the worldly, weary individual. But what
is God's command to the faithful undershepherd
of the flock? Far, far different.
• The ministries of
the church must be geared to meeting the needs and special interests of the
thousands who attend. Support groups for depression, eating disorders,
infertility, family and friends of homosexuals, post abortion, and separated
men and women were abundant. Many ministries were intended to bring together
ones with similar business or professional interests, common recreational
interests and so on. We could not find one single ministry listed in
Saddleback Community Church's bulletin that involved taking the
Gospel message out to the lost in the community. In fact, Warren scoffed at
the idea of passing out tracts or going door-to-door since "Saddleback
Sam" is offended by such old-fashion, out-moded forms of evangelism.
• Doctrinal
instruction is not given to the church as a whole on the Lord's Day . Despite
the fact that the early church clearly sets forth the example that doctrine
is to be taught on Sunday to all the church body, at Saddleback, doctrine is
only taught to sub-groups of the congregation apart from the regular church
services. Warren emphasized Saddleback's strategy of moving new members
"around the bases" by having interested Christians take special
classes to prepare them for service. Although Bible study groups also meet
together, our question is this: Why is not the pulpit used to proclaim the
"whole counsel of God" to the whole congregation assembled before
it on the Lord's Day (Acts 20:20-31)? Why make serious, systematic Bible
instruction an option, heard only by the relatively few in the crowd who
desire to "round the next base"? The whole counsel of God is to be
proclaimed, to all seated before the pulpit, all the time!
• A spirit of
compromise must prevail in the church that is to experience dynamic growth.
The embrace of contemporary culture and style will most assuredly set the
desired mood that totally opposes the Biblical mandate to earnestly contend
for the faith and separate from error. What works, what is least offensive
and what is positive and uplifting is what should define the ministry,
according to Warren. The church leaders who are interested in dynamic growth
must embrace the attitude that says, "Don't try to tell me the Bible
requires holiness and a style for worship and ministry that is different from
that of the world." This "grace-in-your-face" attitude is so
prevalent today because of church elders who are not willing, or not aware of
how, to instruct ones to behave in the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15).
Of the points above, the most objectionable is the "positive only
message". What is even more deceptive about Warren's gospel over Schuller's is that Warren is
not so obvious about omitting sin and judgment from his teachings. In fact,
he does mention sin and judgment from time to time. But the overwhelming
emphasis is always away from these topics. These Bible truths are set just in
the shadows where Satan wants them.
If sinners are not made to recognize their lost and sinful condition, they
will never see their true need for a savior in order to overcome sin.
Therefore, they will ultimately be lost. The grace of God is not properly
understood and the liberty of God's grace becomes license.
A positive only gospel does attract non-believers to its
teachings; like a moth to the flame. And this appears to be one
of the reasons that The Purpose Driven Life is such a popular book, and one
of the secret weapons of Warren's church growth formula obtained from Schuller.
The second, and almost equally objectionable principle of Warren's formula,
is the withholding of Biblical doctrine from the pulpit. Eliminating doctrine
not only waters down the gospel but eliminates denominational differences and
prepares for the world wide ecumenism that is predicted in the prophecies of
Revelation's Chapter 13.
As you can see from the outline of the PDC model above, there are some
serious theological issues with regard to Warren's theories.
However, there are still other practical pitfalls in Warren's
church growth model.
What are the practical implications of Warren's PDC model?
Warren openly states that his church growth strategies will cause the
pillars of the church to leave as the suggested changes of the model are
incorporated. The following is a quote given by Warren during one of his
"Purpose Driven Church" seminars:
"Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told you earlier the
fact that people are going to leave the church no matter what you do
(meaning if you incorporate Warren's church growth strategies).
But when you define the vision, you define who leaves. You say, 'But Rick,
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."
Warren's method of church growth is simply to go out and ask the pagans (Warren's
term) what they want, and then to make changes in your church to accommodate
them. It is a very consumer oriented or market based approach to
church growth. Warren states:
"The unchurched culture determines our style. We're laid back Southern
California. We're just a few miles from the beach, so we have a laid back
Southern California style....Regardless of the style you choose, you're going
to be criticized. Okay? So, the key question is, "Who are you trying to
impress?" The unchurched populations determine our goals."
Warren's formula for church growth can be stated in simple terms as follows:
As you make changes to conform your church to the world, the pillars of your
church will leave. Those who leave will be replaced by pagans, some of whom
will become new believers. As the church becomes more and more conformed to
modern culture, more and more long time members will leave. Eventually, the
church is completely changed from its original state, with few or none of
them remaining who hold a higher standard. And it's all justified in the name
of church growth.
As demonstrated by the over 250,000 pastors (and climbing) that have attended
" Purpose Driven
Church " seminars, Warren's philosophies do work rather well in
increasing church membership and attendance. As a result, his
teachings are being adopted by churches of all denominations across the
world.
The church growth movement is penetrating virtually all denominational
barriers, and continues to pick up speed. However, this question
must be asked. Do we at _________ want to follow the ways of the world? Are
we at the _________ church willing to make changes that will cause our
conscientious brothers and sisters (pillars) to leave in the name of
transforming ourselves to reach the pagans?
History shows us the results of treading the path of conforming the church to the world around us. As
the early church conformed itself to the world in the name of reaching
pagans, the doctrines and practices of paganism entered the church; and the
church soon became the "little horn" of Daniel 7
"which thought to change times and laws." Are we now watching the
same progression? As the saying goes, "Those who do not learn from
history are doomed to repeat it".
As always, the question to be answered is do the results justify the means?
Are the principles of Warren's church growth formula in harmony with
Christian principles? Are these the kind of results we are after? Do we have
to compromise the everlasting gospel or the last day message of the SDA church
in order to implement Warren's philosophies? In order to examine these
questions, it is important to briefly revisit the God given
"Purpose" of the Seventh day Adventist Church.
Since it is inherent in even the title of Warren's best selling books The
Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church that Warren is attempting
to re-define in his own terms what the purpose of a Christian Church should
be, we thought it necessary
to compare Warren's philosophies to that of traditional Seventh Day Adventism.
Therefore, we will start with a brief overview of the traditional
"Purpose" of the Adventist church and then compare and contrast
this to Warren's teachings.
What is the traditional purpose of the SDA church?
The foundational purpose of the SDA Church is to proclaim the everlasting
gospel found in the warning contained in the 3 Angels Message of Rev 14:6-10.
This fact is clearly established in the history and doctrine of the church,
as well as the Spirit of Prophecy.
"And I saw another angel, flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, saying with a
loud voice,
• Fear god , and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is
come ; and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea, and the
fountains of waters.
• And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is
fallen, is fallen , that
great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine (of the wrath) of
her fornication.
• And the third angel
followed them saying with a loud voice , If any man worship the beast and his
image , and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall
drink (of the wine) of the wrath of God , which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb.
The Advent message is one of repentance and the judgment.
Warren's "positive only" message intentionally places these very
topics in the shadows and thus directly contradicts the three angels messages of revelation 14
& 18.
By continuing to study these spiritualistic teachings, we will ourselves
become intoxicated with the wine of Babylon and the victim of seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils. We are clearly warned in the scriptures to
watch for false prophets in these last days. When the disciples asked Jesus
what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, he told
them:
" Take heed that no man deceive you
. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall
deceive many... And many false prophets shall rise , and shall deceive many ..But he that shall
endure until the end, the same shall be saved". (Matt 24:5, 11,13)
And Paul says::
"I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom
we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not
received, or another gospel ,
which ye have not accepted, ye might well endure it! - (For) s uch are false apostles , deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light
. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness ". (IICor 11:3,4,13,14,15)
We have been warned adamantly to guard against false prophets sneaking into
our ranks in these last days. We are told that these false teachers will
transform themselves into ministers of righteousness but that they will
preach a gospel of spiritualism. Rick Warren is a false prophet
whose spiritualistic gospel is dangerously close to the true. We have been
warned that the end time deceptions will be so extremely subtle, and so
extremely seductive that even the elect would be deceived if it were
possible. We stand warned.
By drinking of Warren's Babylonian wine (false teachings) and becoming part
of the worldwide religious revival know formally as the Church Growth
Movement, we have apostatized and stand in direct contradiction to God and
the message of the remnant church. Will we obey God's warning to
"Come out of Babylon" or will we accept Rick Warren's invitation to
"Come in?" So, Board members, what will the answer be?
This article was presented at a local church board meeting by the author on
March 11, 2003.
If you would like to contact the author, you may email him at
mrichmail@yahoo.com.
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