WHERE IS THE DISCERNMENT?

A critique of Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Philosophy

David C. Bennett, D. Min.

Hebrews 5: 14 "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Note in Hebrews 5: 14 the word "discern". Some synonyms for this word is distinguish, make out, differentiate, determine, detect, pick out, recognize, and tell apart. Discernment is a result of spiritual exercise and growth. Of all people one would think preachers of the Gospel would be discerners. But are we? Are we really discerners of men, methods, and messages as to their Biblical-ness? Are we leading our churches in the wrong direction due to a lack of discernment?

Then consider 1Corinthians 11:1 where we read "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." If Paul was around today would we preachers be followers of him? Do we have the spiritual discernment to know whether someone is following the Lord or not?

I say all this due to the vast following Rick Warren from Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California has and is continuing to bring together. Pastors and missionaries of almost every denomination are following Warren’s Purpose Driven philosophy.

On the web site http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/home/todaystory.asp? id= 8184 one reads that "More than 100,000 people attended a rally held at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, and 20,000 pastors participated in the Purpose Driven Church Conference there." It seems Rick Warren draws a crowd wherever he goes. This year, 2006, over 15,000 gathered to hear Rick Warren speak in Sydney, Australia. He seems to be a man in demand!

This paper is mainly a result of a recent article I read online at: http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=12466. According to the article, the city of Manila in the Philippines was Rick Warren’s last stop on his recent Asian tour. He was in Manila to speak at the "National Purpose-Driven Congress" and he took time to talk to journalists and answer their questions.

From other articles I have read, including this article, Rick Warren is a very congenial person. He is described as "a huge man who could give you a bear hug, very friendly and giving off warmth and comfort on a wet, stormy day." He is also known by the Hawaiian shirts he wears.

Without doubt Rick Warren is an intelligent man and knows how to read and lead people. He definitely would be considered a true leader, for no one can gather 20,000 people together each week and not have leadership abilities! As the leader he is he now has a name known world wide. It is said that Rick Warren has "a global status only slightly lower than the Pope’s."

He and his church, Saddleback, is in the Southern Baptist Convention but that does not limit his ability to cross denominational lines with his Purpose Driven philosophy. This Purpose Driven philosophy has been absorbed by all denominations with every imaginable doctrinal belief.

Is this Purpose Driven philosophy a curse or a blessing to the Lord’s churches? I believe it is a curse and here are some of the reasons why.

1. Rick Warren says he wrote his first book "for pastors and priest on how to manage their church." It wasn’t written for those pastors who are sound in Bible doctrine but for "pastors and priest"! It was not written to win the priests to Christ but to teach the priests "how to manage their church"! Does this say anything to the Bible believing pastor? Does Warren’s purpose for his first book tell us where his Purpose Driven philosophy is leading? It is easy to see that the Purpose Driven philosophy is leading to an even greater ecumenical bond between liberals, evangelicals, new-evangelicals and Catholics?

2. In this article only once was the name of Christ mentioned and only twice was the name of Jesus mentioned. Then these names, Christ and Jesus, were not used to acknowledge His Person as the God Man or the Saviour from sin but they were used in explaining why Warren used 40 days rather than some other number of days such as three days, four days etc.! Is there a reason why the name of the Lord

Jesus Christ is mentioned so little in many of the articles dealing with the Purpose Driven philosophy? Perhaps it was the journalists neglect or perhaps it isn’t.

3. The Purpose Driven philosophy is an ecumenical playground. It can be adapted to any denomination and any doctrinal position. Rick Warren told the journalists in Manila that it is "interesting, a lot of Catholic churches count 40 days during Lent and a lot of Pentecostal churches count 40 days of Pentecost, after Easter."

To underscore the fact that the Purpose Driven philosophy is ecumenical the following is from the web site http://www.rickwarren.com/ . On this web site one reads Rick Warren saying "We believe God wants to use his people to change the world, so that people can experience his love in every dimension of their lives. An important part of our overseas tour is to share the P.E.A.C.E. Plan vision with Christians and with leaders in government, business, education, and other sectors of society. We believe that the Church is the only organization on earth that has both the spiritual power and the grassroots connections to defeat the giants that governments and humanitarian organizations have been trying without success to defeat on their own. One reason we have been here in the Philippines is to present this vision.

"The response has been so encouraging! Here at the end of our visit, we met with leaders of all four Christian groups in the country – evangelicals, charismatics, liberals, and Catholics. I presented the challenge of the P.E.A.C.E. Plan to the head bishops of all those groups, and every one of them committed himself to take this vision as his own and to challenge his people to mobilize and defeat these giants. It was so neat to see four leaders, who represented all the followers of Jesus in the Philippines, making a commitment to work together to transform this country!" (Underlining by DCB)

Just who are "his people" that Rick Warren is referring to? Are they the "evangelicals, charismatics, liberals, and Catholics" with whom he met with in the Philippines? Is the true Roman Catholic a follower of Jesus? Is a "liberal" as Rick Warren himself called some of these leaders, followers of the Biblical Jesus? When did the Bible believing Baptists make peace with the Gibeonites?

4. Fourthly, Rick Warren says there are "five giant problems in the world" today. The number one problem is "spiritual emptiness". Is this what God calls man’s number one problem? In the article found at http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=12466 Rick Warren did not once mention "sin" or that man is "lost" as Jesus said he is in Luke 19:10. Rick Warren never mentioned the blood of the Lord Jesus or of its necessity for the salvation of the soul but he only spoke of a "spiritual emptiness"! What an opportunity to give the gospel to so many journalists! But what is the gospel according to the Purpose Driven philosophy? The gospel of Rome is not the Gospel of the Bible! The gospel of the liberal is not the Gospel of the Bible! The Purpose Driven philosophy will fit any gospel! Galatians 1: 6 "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel."

5. The second problem the world has according to Rick Warren is "egocentric or corrupt leadership" and number three "is poverty". Number four is "disease" and number five is "illiteracy". According to Rick Warren "For the stability of a nation, you must have strong healthy government, strong healthy businesses, and strong healthy churches."

Now almost no one would argue that last statement standing on its own, but how can it be achieved? Well Rick Warren is seeking to achieve this by "going from country to country teaching business its role, teaching church its role, and teaching government leaders their role—you’ve got to work together! We cannot solve the problem in your country or in the world if we won’t work together."

Brethren, this Purpose Driven philosophy is dangerous. It is worth noting that Leonard Verduin in his book THE REFORMERS AND THEIR STEPCHILDREN said on page 37 that our Anabaptist forefathers saw that "the Reformation had gone sour when the Reformers had made a league with the civil powers." Why do so many of our Baptist brethren fail to see where this Purpose Driven philosophy is eventually going to lead?

God’s Word tells us "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day..." Ephesians 6: 12, 13.

6. Rick Warren loves the Roman Church and its leaders and I do not mean he loves it in the sense of wanting to see them come to Christ!. Warren said "Well, I love the cardinal… Cardinal Rosales showed me his purpose statement for the Archdiocese of Manila…" Warren went on to say that Rosales is "a purpose-driven cardinal!" and that "I love this man. Wonderful cardinal."

I debated a Roman Catholic priest on radio a few years ago and he told me off radio that he had as a Catholic the big T. That is he and the Romish Church had tradition. That tradition takes pre-eminence over the Scriptures. Do not our Baptist brethren discern the anti-Scriptural alliance that this Purpose Driven philosophy is leading them? The Roman Church continues to worship Mary, saints, and the bones of saints. Our local Roman Catholic Church had the bones of Saint Theresa on display a few years ago. Miracles were said to have happened while her bones were here! The local priest used 2Ki 13:21 "And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet" to defend this idolatry. Is this the company in which Bible believing Baptists want to be associated with?

7. Rick Warren stated that he and others were "...working on the Catholic workbook for the ‘Purpose Driven Life’ that has been written by some priests in America. I asked Cardinal Rosales if somebody could review it and tell us what needed to be changed before it went to print and he could give the blessing that it was okay, that it was for all Catholic congregations and cathedrals, churches, chapels." Warren said further that when he "met with Cardinal Rosales the other day, he gave me the idea to do 40 Days of Vision. It was a very good meeting. When we come to countries like the Philippines, I don’t come just to teach; I come to learn. I’ve already learned a lot."

Note Rick Warren is working with and learning from the Roman Church! The Psalmist said "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly" Psalm 1:1. Richard Knight says on page 121 in his book HISTORY OF THE GENERAL OR SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA that in the year 1417 Sir John Oldcastle who was a Baptist "was then taken to London, and the King being absent, the Roman clergy made all speed to dispatch him, by a most inhuman death. He was hanged up by an iron chain round the waist, and roasted to death over a slow fire." Rome has not changed! Are some of our Baptist brethren walking hand in hand with those whose "feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood" Proverbs 1:16. Much of that blood will be Baptist blood if history repeats itself!

8. Lastly Warren says Saddleback has "over 100,000 names..." on their "...computer roll of members —it’s like a city. On a typical week, we have 20,000 people in attendance, maybe 22,000. People come to services on a day like Easter or Christmas and we’ll have 40,000 and I’ll preach 13 services in a row. Every week we do six services. I speak six times in a row."

Now it has to be admitted that Rick Warren speaks to more people on one Sunday than most of us may speak to in a lifetime but why do so few of the total number on the roll attend the services at Saddleback in a typical week?

In Acts 2:42 it says the 3,000 that were saved "continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship"! Strong’s Greek Dictionary says the word "stedfast" is "to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor):--attend (give self) continually (upon), continue (in, instant in, with), wait on (continually)."

Now think about it, out of 100,000 names in the computers memory bank only 22,000 show up in a typical week!? Where are the other 78,000 Purpose Driven enthusiasts?

So where is the Purpose Driven philosophy leading?

1. Firstly it is leading to a greater ecumenical unity of believers with unbelievers. This is open defiance of 2 Corinthians 6: 14 & 15 which says "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

2. Secondly, this Purpose Driven ecumenism literally nullifies Bible doctrine. The Bible says we are to "speak thou the things which become sound doctrine" Titus 2:1. However, what is taking place through this Purpose Driven movement should come as no surprise for Paul wrote Timothy saying "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears" 2Timothy 4:3.