Purpose-Driven Life. Rick Warren: Multiply Christ, not Christians
Frank A. Hilario
July 20, 2009
In fact, I had in mind to write about a purpose-driven email, and so I wanted to learn more about those 2 books by Warren. The first thing the editor in me noticed was that their titles were grammatically incorrect; the entries should be ´purpose-driven church´ and ´purpose-driven life´ (hyphen included) – purpose-driven is used as adjective to describe church and life. Was this error minor? I didn´t think so. It told me that those books were either not well-edited or hardly edited at all. I thought that there must be more mistakes in those books, not simply grammatical. Careless writing, careless editing. And I was not mistaken, as we shall presently see.
Of the Purpose-Driven Life, David Cloud has this to say (10 March 2008, wayoflife.org):
Rick Warren has been called ´America´s pastor,´ and it is for good reason. He is so shallow in his teaching, so positive in his approach, so slighting of repentance, so neglecting of unpopular doctrines such as hell and judgment and repentance, so tolerant of heresies, so enthusiastic of rock music, so soft-spoken on that nasty subject of worldliness, that apostate America can´t help but love him.
Love hides a multitude of sins.
Also of the Purpose-Driven Life, Gary Gilley of the Southern View Chapel asks a rhetorical question: ´What if Warren is misrepresenting Scripture over 40 times as well as peppering his book with extra-Biblical psychological theories and other earthly pieces of wisdom, disguised as Biblical principles?´ Read and examine your copy again!
More to the point, Chase_E encourages you not to read it because:
(1) Warren teaches you to find your purpose in life, not surrender to God´s.
(2) Warren prescribes a reading of 40 days for his book, basing it on suspect Biblical interpretations. Warren says Noah was transformed by 40 days of rain. Not so. Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mt Sinai. Not so. Jesus was transformed by 40 days in the desert. Not so.
(3) Warren often disregards the context of the Biblical verses he quotes, if only to prove his point. He does it by quoting from paraphrase versions of the Bible.
(4) Warren says nothing of God´s anger against sin. You commit yourself to Jesus Christ, and that´s it, you have received God´s grace.
(5) Warren mixes Christianity with New Age practices. For instance, ´to pray all the time,´ he suggests a ´breath prayer´ – a transcendental meditation practice.
Recommended Reading for Roman Catholics? Not even for Protestants!
Yes, by the title itself, personally I note that Warren wants us to lead lives that are purpose-driven, not God-driven. He wants you to ´focus on people rather than on God and His will,´ says Mike Ratcliff (09 July 2007, mikeratliff.wordpress.com).
So why have 70 million copies been sold? I say that´s so many people who want to focus on their own purposes rather than God´s, as taught by Rick Warren. 70 million people can´t be wrong! It´s simpler; it´s not complicated. You know what you want, don´t you?
In his earlier book, the Purpose-Driven Church, Warren lists down 5 purposes of the church: (1) ´Love the Lord with all your heart´ – In 1 word, he says, worship. Attend worship services, sing hymns in honor of God, praise the Lord! (2) ´Love your neighbor as yourself´ – In 1 word, he says, ministry. Attend to the spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical needs of the people. (3) ´Go and make disciples´ – In 1 word, he says, evangelism. Share the Good News wherever you go. (4) ´Baptizing them´ – In 3 words, he says, going, baptizing, teaching. ´We are called to belong, not just to believe.´ (5) ´Teaching them´ – In 1 word, he says, discipleship. ´The church exists to edify, or educate, God´s people.´
That is all there is to it, according to Rick Warren. As I see it, the purposes of the driven church of Warren can be restated in a 10-word commandment: You shall make disciples of all nations – focusing on people. You shall multiply the Christians, not Christ in Christians. It´s easier, and it´s more rewarding – in more ways than one. So, it should not be surprising if the Purpose-Driven Life is more popular than the Bible.
Warren says that ´a good salesman knows you always start with the customer´s needs, not the product´ (quoted by Michael J Penfold, webtruth.org). I say Warren is a good marketing man, as Christianity must be marketed. However, in this case, the resident copywriter in me (Manila, Pacifica Publicity Bureau, 1974-1975) says this particular product cannot be packaged otherwise, cannot be changed, modified or altered in any manner, shape or form; there is no marketing niche or blue ocean for any ´new, improved Christianity´ – you will have to adulterate the product first if you wanted it to meet the customer´s needs. Adulterated Christianity, anyone?
How should a true-blue Christian behave towards Jesus Christ? Warren advises you (Penfold as cited):
Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe ... bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: ´Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.´ Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God.´
Are you among those innocents beguiled?
To be sure, I have been quoting sources other than Roman Catholic such as I am. Penfold points out that there is no mention of sin, no mention of repentance, only of feeling good. Nothing about pride, nothing about self-righteousness. This is how one can be saved? It´s so easy to be a Christian after all! No sweat. Just read Rick Warren, Southern Baptist. Just focus on your purpose-driven self. Have a good day!
As for me, I want to focus on purpose-driven emails, one purpose-driven file at a time. How about you? If your purpose is to convince people to lead lives focused on God, by all means don´t ever mention in your email the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California and any of his beguilingly best-selling books – unless of course you want people to be purpose-driven like Richard ´Rick´ Duane Warren, widely winning and worldly successful.