Reviewing a Popular but Flawed Recipe for Rapid Church Expansion: Rick Warren's - The Purpose Driven Church by Dr. Peter Masters Senior Pastor, Metropolitan Tabernacle London, UK

Since the beginning of the 1960s the apostles of the modern church growth movement, by a flood of books, articles and seminars, have been sweeping away the old simple trust in powerful soul-winning preaching. Many have made their names inventing gimmicks, entertainment-style techniques and processes designed to improve upon the presumed inability of the Holy Spirit to win souls on the scale they would like to see.

Perhaps the most widely circulated book of this genre in the last decade is one entitled The Purpose Driven Church, by Dr. Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Southern California.

This book's subtitle promises - 'Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission'. Surprisingly, despite its transparently Arminian and decisionistic character, Rick Warren's manual is currently being recommended in this country by some who claim to be reformed in their theology.

This reviewer is totally committed to the great commission to preach the Gospel persuasively and constantly to the very maximum extent, and to press and encourage others to do the same. But he believes that books of this kind do not help Christians do this as Almighty God wants it to be done, and this is very serious.

A few general comments on this and similar books will curtail the length of this review. There are at least nine points of striking similarity between pretty well all modern church growth books. Readers are invited to watch out for these if they find themselves weighing the merits of any of them.

[Church Growth Books: What they all have in common]
1. The first similarity is a common rule of approach - that successful evangelism is all about bridging the gap between the outsider and the church.

No longer should the church appeal to the world from a separate and distinctive platform. The idea is that any visible differences must be reduced to the very minimum in order to make the church acceptable to worldly minds.

'We are the same as you!' we must now cry.

'We have something good to give you, and it will not involve you in any great change. Look at us - with few exceptions we have the same tastes and lifestyle as you. You will be at home with us.'

Christians in the West have become increasingly worldly over the last forty years, and the modern church growth philosophy has provided a powerful spur and justification to this trend.

2. The second similarity among church growth books is their underlying rationalism. They all underestimate the work of the Spirit in conversion, believing that rational forces help to influence people to 'make decisions' for Christ, and therefore that the most effective influences must be brought to bear. We should find the best techniques, and press the right buttons to get the response we desire.

3. The third similarity is that nearly all church growth books go for deliberate imitation of whatever or whoever appears to be successful in evangelism. Biblical principles are thrown aside as they seek to identify models of growth so that these may be copied.

Their prize models often include some of the most disreputable (theologically) and compromised churches on earth, the very last places where we would expect to see a genuine work of God.

4. The fourth similarity is that all these books reveal a hideously shallow view of conversion. Any commitment will do.

Any kind of momentary and emotional response arising from entertainment-style evangelism is fine and valid. ( Some even applaud the 'conversions' of Catholics, syncretists, and other non-evangelical groups. If famous people can be claimed as converts, so much the better, even if it is obvious that these people do not attempt to live Christian lives. Commitments to Christ generated by Social Gospel activities and healing ministries are also approved by most authors. )

The latest books strongly discourage talk of repentance as this is considered too negative and offensive. To refer to sin as though it were willful and guilt-incurring is particularly disapproved of.

5. The fifth similarity is that these books are entirely preoccupied with quantity rather than quality. For them...

evangelism is all about numbers, not holiness of life, personal devotion and service.
( In this connection most authors discard child evangelism, regarding it as outmoded and not labour-effective. Sunday Schools for children are to a great extent long-term ministries and so there is no heart and concern for them. )

6. The sixth similarity is that all these writers are 'modernists' in the sense that they never go back before the 1950s for their models of church growth.

For them, the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are all unprofitable times for gleaning help, because those preachers followed the direct-proclamational methods of the New Testament. The great days of reformation and true revival are passed over as irrelevant.

Blatant emotional manipulation

7. The seventh similarity is the blatant advocacy of emotional manipulation in gaining responses. Commitments to Christ, some say, can only be secured by cultivation of meaningful relationships (and use of the 'right music' !).

Friendship evangelism is the key, and peer groups, housegroups, teen groups and so on must be set up so that friendship groups become so important to people, that they will accept the Lord.

The same policy of manipulation lies behind the proliferation of special 'hurting groups', usually characterized by mutual rehearsing of trials and heartaches. Within each group, emotional catharsis will evoke the sense of belonging that will produce a commitment to Christianity. It is all a matter of reducing that gap and drawing as close as possible to people.

Typical groups would be those struggling with the trials of addiction, loneliness, singleness or divorce. Such groups appear well-intended, but their use is prescribed by the church growth experts as a conscious technique of manipulation, or soul management.

8. The eighth similarity is not far removed from the hurting groups just referred to. It is the strategy of class targeting - advocated by all the later church growth authors. We are repeatedly told to aim at the most vulnerable or responsive class (which in the USA is often the young, urban, middle-class professional).

Sometimes separate churches are advocated for different groupings to avoid one kind of person ' turning off ' another. As a church grows it may be able to extend its target further than the chosen main aim. To focus on a particular group enables a church to tailor itself exactly to that group's desires, needs and tastes, thus more effectively reducing the gap between church and world.

Shaping the church to fit the world

9. Overall, the church growth books share great enthusiasm for contextualisation, by which almost everything is open to adaptation in the interests of shaping and molding the church to suit the world. The belief that there is a distinctive Christian culture for churches, taught in Scripture, is generally rejected, and the necessity pressed of conforming to what is acceptable and attractive to unconverted people in any given age or district.

The latest adaptation is the now familiar 'seeker sensitive' service, and though the book to be reviewed did not originate the idea, it builds upon it with total approval.

The Purpose Driven Church is the work of a compelling writer, and from its publication in 1995 it has been a bestseller. The author is firmly Arminian and pragmatic in outlook, coming from that wing of the Southern Baptist denomination in the USA. His church in Southern California has been called the fastest-growing Baptist church in the history of America. It is currently situated on a 74- acre, campus, and has over 10,000 people.

The style of the book is popular and persuasive, although there is a considerable amount of repetition. Once again, the reviewer feels a need to stress that he believes wholeheartedly in fervent and strenuous activity to reach lost souls for Christ, and the persuasive preaching of the free offer of salvation on the largest possible scale. Nevertheless, it must be God's way that we follow, and not humanly devised substitutes.

Rick Warren begins his book with a surfing analogy, contending that God makes the waves of church growth, and church leaders must learn to ride those waves. Today, he says, God is creating wave after wave of people receptive to the Gospel, but because of widespread ignorance of the techniques of evangelistic surf-riding, churches are missing out on the blessing.

The author believes he can equip the churches to ride God's waves of blessing. If they do not learn the techniques, people will not be saved.

Especially emphasized as a vital part of evangelistic surf-riding is the need to be on the front line of progressive and contemporary methods and music. Pragmatism is extolled in the words -

'Stop praying, "Lord bless what I'm doing," and start praying, "Lord help me do what You are blessing. " '

In other words, copy the person who is right up to the minute in riding those waves of success. As the saying goes, if it works it must be right.

Rick Warren himself says, 'Never criticize any method that God is blessing.' He also asserts that methods will and must change with every generation.

Thin on biblical justification

This book is pretty thin as far as biblical justification goes. There certainly are some biblical arguments, but they hardly ever have any connection with the tactics presented. Paul's exhortation, for example, to build on the one foundation of Jesus Christ in I Corinthians 3, is employed as the authority for having a purpose-driven church. But this text gives no support whatever to the details which emerge of Warren's blueprint.

If readers are not vigilant they may be satisfied that the book is based on the Bible, but if they look even moderately carefully they will notice that the sense of a text is always bent considerably to fit what the author is advancing.

At one point Rick Warren points to Jerusalem and Corinth as being different, thus justifying widely differing techniques in evangelism. But neither church adopted methods anything like those advanced in this book. The author urges us to look at them, but our gaze is then whisked away, lest we should notice that they do not give credibility to his ideas.

Much of the use of Scripture is simply preposterous, as when the author tries to prove that the Lord Jesus chose limited targets for evangelism in the way his book advocates. The proof, believe it or not, is that Christ went to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and (initially) refused to help the Canaanite woman of Matthew 15. Equally, He sent the disciples on a mission (Matthew 10) to go only to Israel. But there is a special reason for the initial focus on Israel, as everyone knows. The author's use of Scripture throughout is similarly flimsy.

We understand, however, that Dr Rick Warren's personality is so earnest and warm that he wins over thousands of pastors to his ideas in seminars all over the world.

Extreme Arminian theology

Rick Warren tells us that he researched the 100 largest churches in the USA to form his views, and then founded one in the fastest-growing bit of the USA. He considered carefully which style of worship would be the best for his area.

At the very first event 60 people attended and five gave their lives to Christ. At the first public service 205 attended and 82 professed Christ. On one occasion 367 were baptized in a high school pool.

The huge numbers of instant conversions (outside a time of special awakening) surely reflects the author's extreme Arminian theology and his shallow notion of a decision for Christ.

Much emphasis is placed on the need to explain and keep before the congregation the church's ' mission statement ', which, once you get to the details, is an extremely subjective, person-centred affair. The book then launches into a system to carry out the mission statement.

Amidst a jumble of wholesome - if rather obvious - statements, 'big secrets' abound, along with anecdotes of success. Much is argued from a kind of 'natural theology', such as earthly fishing techniques. The author's keenness to proliferate charts and tabulated approaches is seen throughout.

Great importance is attached to stratifying a church into five categories, namely
1. Contacts (unchurched, occasional attendees)
2. Regular attendees
3. Official members (baptized and committed)
4. Seriously committed
5. Dedicated leaders and workers.

The author seems to present this as something hugely innovative, but so far as this reviewer is aware, most pastors would think in these terms naturally.

The startling thing about Rick Warren's categories is the difference between No.3 and No.4 - members and seriously committed. The latter, category No.4, is made up of people pledged to have quiet times, tithe, and be active in one of the church groups. This is one of the great 'giveaways' in the book. Baptized members make no such pledge. They are not even expected to ensure that they have a quiet time. They do not have to be even moderately serious in their Christian life. Small wonder they can baptize so many if so little is expected of 'converts'.

The chief methods advocated by the book involve group evangelism, and 'bridge' events (which may be anything from anniversary and harvest festival events, to seeker sensitive services).

Dr Warren tells us that we should target people like ourselves. He believes that pastors each have a uniqueness and suitability for a certain kind of person. If there is no culture match for us in our neighborhood, then we should move on. We will attract, says Warren, people like ourselves.

Cultural match is regarded as extremely important. It is not so much the Word, or the power of the Spirit that matters, but that our personality matches that of our target group.

Sow only in fertile soil, says the author. Aim at people in new marriages, with new babies, or a new home, or a new job, or new school. God, it is claimed, uses change.

High-touch ministry

Exercise a high-touch ministry, says the author. Put an arm round many a shoulder, and touch many hands. There are even woman-hugging anecdotes. To Warren it is all good emotional manipulation, even if it transgresses the rules of caution concerning overfamiliaiity across the sexes.

Rick Warren's decided Arminianism shows constantly, especially in such comments as - 'Anyone can be won to Christ if you discover the key to his or her heart.'

His methods may not be in the Bible, but with Dr Warren there is always powerful anecdotal proof. Many who have taken his advice, he tells us, have had their lives and ministries turned round.

Will readers, we wonder, believe the chain of amazingly triumphant anecdotes? For this reviewer they are all too perfect, too wonderful, too self-justifying, and too rose-tinted.

Rick Warren tells us that at his church, 'We remove hundreds of names from our membership each year.' He must often have been challenged about the high rate of falling away in churches following his easy-believist methodology, but he steers round that with a classic misuse of the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13. To be superficial is all okay, he tell us, for Jesus said, 'Don't worry about the tares mixed in among the wheat. One day I'll separate them.'

Warren wrongly interprets the field as standing for the church, whereas, if he were to read Christ's own explanation of the parable, he would learn that it represents the world.

However, he dismisses any effort to be careful about professions, and to be concerned about building a regenerate church membership.

In other words, he has no fear of building a church of wood, hay and stubble, contrary to the apostolic warning. Is this really the counsel that soul-winners want to heed?

Like many advocates of progressive methods in evangelism, the author equates 'traditionalists' with Pharisees. All non-Pharisees, he assumes, will welcome the central feature of his church growth policy - entertainment. Having organized seeker sensitive services so that decor, atmosphere and everything else is just right, music then becomes a key factor.

Match music to targeted people

It is important that people should not be put off, and therefore the style of music must be selected to match the taste of targeted people. If other potential attendees want a different style, then a separate service will need to be organized for them.

The ideal is to have different services to suit different tastes. The author tells us he has employed jazz, country, rock, reggae and rap on the basis that there is no such thing as sacred music.

Some of his approaches are justified by hit-and-run references to various historical figures, but these are usually superficial and deeply flawed. One has fears that less well-informed readers may trust the wild statements the author makes about past worthies. They are usually dashing, and amusing, but never accurate.

Repeated myths

The author, for example, ridicules all resistance to contemporary music in church by claiming that what is now traditional was once rejected as innovative and worldly. To prove this we are given glib statements such as the assertion that Spurgeon despised the contemporary worship songs of his day - the very items now revered as traditional. Needless to say no references or examples are given, and not surprisingly as the statement is completely untrue. The hymns and tunes we receive today as being in line with the age-old standards of reverent worship were not criticized by Spurgeon. The idea is invented.

We also find the old chestnut repeated that revered tunes were originally tavern songs. The case for contemporary music is too often based on such myths, and on slipshod homework. The promoters of progressive worship always seem to take this course to ridicule the biblical standard of separation between sacred and profane.

At all costs the format of the seeker sensitive meeting must get away from a traditionally reverent church service.

'Silence is scary to unchurched visitors,' says Warren. There should be much talking and hubbub among people at the beginning encouraged by loud background music. A 'bright, upbeat number' must launch the service.

The author's church boasts a complete pop/rock orchestra, and he advises churches which cannot assemble high-standard instrumentalists to use 'midi' technology through a synthesizer, so that drums and bass, or anything missing, can be added to live musicians. In seeker services he advocates the use of more performed music than congregational singing.

A short chapter of Rick Warren's book is given over to the rather secondary matter of preaching. The method he advocates is to begin every sermon with a need, hurt or interest, moving on to 'what God has to say about it in His Word'.

Beyond this, he gives no advice about content and method, only about peripheral matters such as making printed sermon outlines available, and choosing speakers carefully.

This chapter moves swiftly to the need to offer believers an opportunity to respond to Christ. 'Too many pastors,' says the author, 'go fishing without ever reeling in the line or drawing up the net.' (The fishing analogy theology is seldom far away.) A portion of the book entitled, 'How Jesus Attracted Crowds', contains hardly anything about the Lord apart from a few superficial comments. It is all about common-sense tips, some conventional and sensible, others gimmicky and emotionally manipulative. The longest passage about the Lord is a brief presentation of the Sermon on the Mount as a model of evangelistic address, but shorn of any note of repentance and focusing only on the availability of happiness. This hardly reminds one of the first public words of the Lord's ministry: 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel' (Mark 1.15). Despite being a former Southern Baptist evangelist, Rick Warren has veered away from the altar call, but only in method, not in principle. When the decision call comes, as the supreme object of the service, a model prayer is prayed, and people are asked to mark decision cards. The necessity of securing an immediate card response is stressed, and imaginative techniques suggested. Rick Warren's book, curiously, is full of 'fives'. Five elements appear repeatedly in the various charts of church conduct processes (presented in the style of an elementary business-studies course). It seems almost trivial to notice a missing 'five', namely the doctrines of grace. This review has been very selective and sketchy (Rick Warren's book is almost 400 pages long). We have already observed that the author is apparently, a most attractive and persuasive speaker at seminars and conferences, possessing the ability and personality to win people to his ways. To a large extent this capacity comes through in print, but ...this material is nevertheless unbiblical, and harmful to true, God-honoring evangelism. If it works at all in the UK, it will only bring into churches unchanged, worldly-minded people, deluded into thinking they are born-again Christians. We have seen this result already in many places, with churches ruined as a result. We can think of so many churches where the entertainment culture has so changed the character of the fellowship, that there seems no prospect of a sane, sound, truly spiritual witness being found in them again. Spiritual tragedy beckons When these methods began to appear in the 1960s we called them 'evangelism by entertainment', and sounder Christians rejected them. Their successors are now changing their minds, and spiritual tragedy beckons. © 2002 seageronline.org E-Mail: contact@seageronline.org Copyright Info: Seager Online is the exclusive proprietor of all the electronic material on this site. This includes all text, all images, html code, and formatting. Any and all material downloaded must be for non-commercial, personal [i.e. non-public] use only. The downloaded material must retain all copyright and other proprietary information. For public or commercial purposes [such as placing downloaded material on another web page] written permission from Seager Online must first be obtained. For all other potential scenarios, the following applies: You may not electronically or physically distribute, modify, use or reuse the contents of this site, without the explicit written consent from Seager Online. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- The BDM Letter Volume 8 No#2Behavior or Disease? I just don't understand why any churches would go for the disease idea, except insofar as they are taken by the notion that we have to be enlightened and that seems to be the enlightened view. The disease approach denies the spiritual dimensions of the whole thing. People in the church may be afraid to take a different stand because it will be labeled antiseptic, antimodern, or old fashion. I think that's all misguided. -- "The 'Generic Disease'," Christianity Today, 12/9/88, pp. 36-37. When does behavior become disease? Certainly some behavior is sickening and may be called "sick" in the metaphorical sense. And there are certain neurological/brain diseases that affect behavior. But does that mean that be havior itself can be diseased? Millions in America think so, and as a result, the behavior-called-disease industry has mushroomed. In fact, according to the new definitions, everyone could be accused of having some form of this disease by at least one hungry psychotherapist, psychological counselor, psychiatric social worker, or addiction treatment group. While the Bible clearly states that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), our psychological society has substituted the word sin with sickness, so that "all are sick and come short of their highest potential." The disease concept has moved from physical disorders to so-called mental illness and to a broad spectrum of addictions, which include those labeled "codependent," who are supposedly addicted to those who are addicted. Psychological therapists fuel the industry with propaganda and with new definitions of disease. And they feed their pockets through expensive treatment programs that have not yet proven themselves to be any more effective than no treatment at all. And while psychological professionals claim to help people, the research indicates that more people get over these "diseases" without psychological treatment as with it. Dr. Herbert Fingarette, a professor at the University of California and an internationally distinguished scholar, has written a book titled Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease. Fingarette says: ... the greatest scandal of the argument for the disease concept as a useful lie is the claim that it helps alcoholics by inducing them to enter treatment. On the contrary, both independent and government research show expensive disease-oriented treatment programs to be largely a waste of money and human resources. There is a very serious possibility that those who treat such "diseases" are doing more harm than good by calling addictions and other related behaviors diseases. Stanton Peele in his book Diseasing of America: Addiction Treatment Out of Control, says: By revising notions of personal responsibility, our disease conceptions undercut moral and legal standards exactly at a time when we suffer most from a general loss of social morality. While we desperately protest the growth of criminal and antisocial behavior, disease definitions undermine the individual's obligations to control behavior and to answer for misconduct ... Disease notions actually increase the incidence of the behaviors of concern. They legitimize, reinforce, and excuse the behaviors in question -- convincing people, contrary to all evidence, that their behavior is not their own. Meanwhile, the number of addicts and those who believe they cannot control themselves grows steadily. (Peele, pp. 27-28; emphasis added.) Besides the problems cited by Peele, calling behavior "disease" has a number of problems and consequences from a Biblical perspective. The Bible identifies behavior as sinful or not sinful. Sinful behavior is also called the "works of the flesh." Drunkenness is listed among the works of the flesh along with a number of other behaviors (Galatians 5:19-21). (Notice it is not called "alcoholism.") Is drunkenness "disease"? Is adultery a "disease"? Or idolatry or wrath or murder? If Christians relabel those behaviors as diseases, they are saying that the Bible is not true, that it is antiquated and does not adequately address drunkenness and other problems of living. They are, in effect, calling God a liar. In past centuries, addictions were looked upon as sinful habits. Jesus came to save people from their sin and to enable them to overcome sinful behavior. Nevertheless, today's professing Christians are turning away from Biblical words (drunkenness and sin) and embracing worldly words (alcoholism and addictions) and the disease mentality. There is hardly a "Christian" leader who has not bought into the Alcoholics Anonymous mentality and a Twelve-Step world view. "Christian" books on alcoholism (not called "drunkenness") and other addictions (not called "sinful habits") copy the world in both diagnosis and treatment, except that they engage God in their worldly explanations and admonitions. By embracing worldly ideas, professing Christians have put aside their armor. They have left themselves vulnerable, not only to temptation, but also to deceptions and weakness. Many can no longer resist sin because they have relabeled it "disease" and feel helpless and overwhelmed without the help of addiction priests and addiction groups. Moreover, they lay themselves open to becoming captives of a world system that, underneath all the fine rhetoric, hates Jesus Christ and all who follow Him to the cross. James 4:4 says that whoever "will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Christians become friends with the world when they follow its psychological theories to understand themselves and others and to change behavior. They are friends of the world when they call sinful behavior "mental illness" and sinful habits "diseases." [Reprinted in part from the Summer 1990 issue of PsychoHeresy Update (EastGate Publishers, 4137 Primavera Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93110; now the PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter), by permission of Martin & Deidre Bobgan.] > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Book Review: The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren (Zondervan:1995) Rick Warren is pastor of the 14,000-member Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, California. He has influenced tens of thousands of pastors and church leaders during the last decade through his church growth seminars at Saddleback and as director of "Building a Purpose Driven Church" workshops (see note at end of this article). His 399-page book, The Purpose Driven Church, is being used as a "How-to" manual throughout church growth circles. Its principal teachings are: The principle of pragmatism: (p. 13-15) Rick Warren uses a surfing illustration to demonstrate how church leaders should operate. He says pastors need to learn to recognize a "wave of God's Spirit and ride it" or "catch a spiritual wave of growth" (p. 14). His advice is to learn how to recognize a wave in which people are getting saved (a successful method). He also suggests that we learn to get off dying waves (methods that do not seem to be producing fruit). This is nothing more than a modern illustration of an old principle New Evangelicals have been teaching for decades, namely, "if it works, it must be right"! His advice seems to boil down to this -- look around at different methods used by other churches, and if it seems to bring people in -- jump on the bandwagon -- ride the wave! His updated illustration of surfing is nothing more than pragmatism. This is the principle that serves as a foundation to his whole approach to church growth. Ridicule of the "old fashioned": Warren mocks churches which "seem to think that the 1950s was the golden age, and they are determined to preserve that era in their church" (p. 55). He later makes it clear what he means by this. He encourages young pastors to leave behind that old fashioned church music in favor of jazz or rock or whatever turns your people on! He encourages churches to imitate the culture and "dress down" for church. On the one hand, he states that "there are those who, fearing irrelevance, foolishly imitate the latest fad and fashion; in their attempt to relate to today's culture, they compromise the message and lose all sense of being set apart." Yet Warren and those who follow his methodology practice exactly what he says is "foolish." He is desperately trying to be relevant, and in the process has lost all sense of being "set apart." Walking into church with food and drink, dressed down as if at the mall, and hearing rock & jazz music may be relevant, but it is NOT much different from the world. On page 62, Warren attempts to shelter himself from criticism on this issue. He says, "Never criticize what God is blessing, even though it may be a style of ministry that makes you uncomfortable." In other words, the new rock music, the new dress down look, and all the "cultural changes" which make many fundamentalists uncomfortable should be overlooked -- IF IT WORKS! Enamored with success: Fundamentalists have for years made "faithfulness to the written Word of God" their hallmark. Many fine sermons have been preached in which it was declared that God has not called us to be successful, but to be faithful. This principle is well documented in the Word of God. Noah faithfully preached for many decades, and yet seemed to have precious little fruit to show for it! While he may have only won his own family, he was successful in God's sight. Missionaries around the world have sown the precious seed of the gospel for years and have not seen much fruit for their labors. Yet Rick Warren strongly disagrees with that principle (p. 64). He argues that God HAS called us to be successful. He cites an example from the gospel in which the Lord Jesus judged the unfruitful tree (Matt. 21:19). He states that the nation of Israel lost its privileges because of unfruitfulness (Matt. 21:43). He concludes from this that God HAS called us to be fruitful and that God is not pleased if we are not successful. But in those examples he cites, the lack of fruit was the proof that Israel was an apostate, unbelieving nation. It had nothing to do winning souls for Christ. A church ministry based on a market-study of the unregenerate, rather than a study of the Scriptures: When Rick Warren began his church, he started out using the very same methodology of Robert Schuller and Bill Hybels. Not surprisingly, Schuller praises the book inside the front cover, and Hybels highlights the book on his Willow Creek Internet web site! Warren spent twelve weeks going door to door and surveying the "needs" of the people (p. 139). Therefore, he offers what he calls a "full menu" of support groups for empty nesters, divorced couples, grief recovery, etc. In other words, offer the community/consumer what they want, and they will come. Perhaps the title "Market Driven Church" would suffice as well as "Purpose Driven Church." While he SAYS he is not "pandering to consumerism" (p. 200), his own words seem to contradict that. He states that church, in order to be successful, must target its audience, and then appeal to that audience. He even goes so far as to claim that Jesus targeted the audience of Israel "in order to be effective, not to be exclusive" (p. 158). In applying this philosophy to dress standards, Warren discovered that people in his community do not like to dress up, but instead prefer casual, informal meetings. Therefore, Warren said, "I never wear a coat and tie when I speak at Saddleback services [his home church]. I intentionally dress down to match the mind set of those I'm trying to reach." Warren states that Jesus also used this methodology. He and His disciples "targeted people they were most likely to reach -- people like themselves. Jesus was not being prejudiced, he was being strategic" (p. 187). To say that Jesus targeted Israel because He could relate to them culturally and in order to be strategic (successful) flies in the face of prophecy, the real purpose of His ministry, and common sense. Jesus "targeted" Israel because He was sent there by His Father, not because He felt He would be more successful there than in Egypt! Disdain for fundamentalism and separation: Rick Warren's distaste for fundamentalism is expressed subtly, yet distinctly. On page 236 he writes, "Must we choose between liberalism and legalism? Is there a third alternative to imitation and isolation?" Note what he considers to be the opposite of liberalism -- legalism. The opposite of liberalism and modernism is in reality, fundamentalism! Warren knows that, but avoids using the term. Note how he refers to the doctrine of separation -- isolation! After asking if we must choose between the liberals or the fundamentalists (which he calls legalists), he offers a third alternative -- a new (?) method. Consider his words: "The strategy of Jesus is the antidote to both extremes: infiltration!" His words sound strangely like a quote from Dr. Harold Ockenga, the father of New Evangelicalism: "The New Evangelicalism has changed its strategy from one of separation to one of infiltration." Warren's thinking is thoroughly New Evangelical. Man-centered philosophy: Examples of this philosophy abound throughout the book. His aim is obviously to please men. Consider Rick Warren's own words: Figure out what mood you want your service to project, and then create it. (p. 264); We start positive and end positive. (p. 271); We use humor in our services ... it is not a sin to help people feel good. (p. 272); Cultivate an informal, relaxed, and friendly atmosphere. (p. 272); We made a strategic decision to stop singing hymns in our seeker services. (p. 285); We have attracted thousands more because of our music. (p. 285); Saddleback now has a complete pop/rock orchestra. (p. 290); Use more performed music than congregational singing ... (p. 291) (emphasis on entertainment); The ground we have in common with unbelievers is not the Bible, but our common needs, hurts, and interests as human beings. You cannot start with a text ... (p. 295); Make your members feel special ... they need to feel special. (p. 320,323) Rick Warren's church (and others like it) have attracted thousands. His methods do work. He says that the reason for the spectacular growth has been his emphasis on creating a "purpose driven church." It could be argued with equal force, however, that the real reason for the spectacular growth is not at all related to his thesis. The real reason for the growth is because of the New Evangelical principle of pragmatism. He asked the people what they wanted, and he gave it to them. He provided the product the market demanded, and it sold like hot-cakes. If you please people, they will come and come again. But what could be more contrary to the principles found in Scripture? Consider what God told the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:4-11). Ezekiel was told that the people would not like his ministry or message, and yet he was to preach it anyway, regardless of the response. Ezekiel was successful if he did what God said. His success in God's sight had nothing to do with the response of the people. It had to do with the faithfulness of the servant. They would know that a prophet was in their midst. He was not to ask the folks what kind of a prophetic ministry would most appeal to them. He was given a forehead harder than flint to stand for the truth against all opposition. "Whether they will hear or forbear" was not the prophet's responsibility. His goal was not to get as large a crowd as he could. His job was to preach the truth, and he did (vs. 11). That is success in God's eyes. That was a fruitful and faithful ministry. Of course our churches will grow faster if we throw out Scriptural standards. Of course our churches will grow faster if we please men and give them what they want. Yet, the BIBLE says we are to aim to please God, not men. If we are really concerned about learning how to "build a church," does it not make more sense to study God's Word, rather than studying polls and surveys of popular opinion? Conspicuous by their absence in this book on church growth were any extended expositions from the pastoral epistles. Isn't God's opinion on the matter what we should really be seeking? Rick Warren's approach to church growth stems from his primary philosophy: man-centered pragmatism. From that faulty foundation arises a ridicule of the old fashioned, and a disdain for the fundamentalist/separatist. Like so many in our age, being intoxicated by the sweet aroma of worldly success, he has stooped to building a church ministry based on a market-study of the unregenerate, rather than a Bible-study from the appropriate Scriptures. [Adapted from a 4/98 report by Jim Delany, Salem Bible Church, Salem, NH 03079.] [Editor's Note: In January of 1998, Dr. Dennis Costella attended a "Building a Purpose Driven Church" seminar where Warren taught that the following must occur to transform a traditional church into a dramatic growing church (March-April 1998, Foundation magazine): (1) A contemporary-styled, non-threatening "Seeker Service" must replace the traditional Sunday worship service; (2) The dress must be casual; (3) The music must be contemporary; (4) The message must be only positive so that saved and unsaved alike can feel better about themselves after a message that often mixes psychology and an uplifting Scripture text; (5) Church ministries must be geared to meeting needs, with support groups for depression, eating disorders, infertility, homosexuals' family/friends, post-abortion, and marital separation. Warren scoffed at the idea of passing out gospel tracts or going door-to-door since the typical "Saddleback Sam" is offended by such old-fashioned evangelism; (6) Doctrinal instruction is not given to the church as a whole on Sundays, but is available in sub-groups apart from formal church services; and (7) A spirit of pragmatic compromise must prevail. Warren was trained as a Southern Baptist (he frequently speaks at SBC events), but said, "It really doesn't matter your denomination, folks. We're all on the same team if you love Jesus." (Source: 6/98, Calvary Contender.)] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ > Trusting God ... or Testing Him Matthew Henry makes an interesting comment concerning Matthew 24:16: "In times of imminent peril and danger, it is not only lawful, but our duty, to seek our own preservation by all good and honest means; and if God opens a door of escape, we ought to make our escape, otherwise we do not trust God but tempt him. There may be a time when even those that are in Judea, where God is known, and his name is great, must flee to the mountains; and while we only go out of the way of danger, not out of the way of duty, we may trust God to provide a dwelling for his outcasts. See Isa. 16:4,5. In times of public calamity, when it is manifest that we cannot be serviceable at home and may be safe abroad, Providence calls us to make our escape. He that flees, may fight again." (MH, Online Bible.) It is the strong man armed that keepeth his palace, and keeps his goods in peace. (The man who prepares for the foreseen evil keeps his house. See Lk. 11:21, Mk. 3:27, Mt. 12:29. The context speaks of the spiritually strong man protecting his house against the Devil's intrusion, or the Devil as the strong man, and the Lord binding him so he could spoil his house.) Accordingly, those who do not take precautionary action concerning foreseen approaching evil "do not trust God but tempt him." (Adapted from The Biblical Examiner.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----< ______________________________________________________________

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