In The Purpose Driven Church Rick Warren writes that Christians are obligated to remain faithful to the unchanging Word of God but also must minister in an ever-changing world.[1] To accomplish this Warren developed a structure and process for doing church which he claims will allow it to continually adapt and adjust to a continually changing culture. These processes and methods are designed to be seeker sensitive, culture-friendly, and acceptable to the unchurched. As culture changes, old methods are disposed of and new methods are plugged in without harming or compromising the message. But is this true? If Warren is wrong, the widely-accepted assumptions and methods of the Purpose Driven Church will have critically if not mortally wounded evangelicalism in America and many other parts of the world.

Balance is everything in the Purpose Driven Church

Warren’s solution rests on creation of new churches and transformation of existing churches into new paradigm churches “that are driven by purpose instead of other forces.” The new paradigm churches must impose two essential elements. To become a new paradigm church, the first essential is that the church must be looked at through the […] Continue Reading…

Rick Warren published The Purpose Driven Church in 1995. Preceding the title page were forty-one endorsements written by many well-known luminaries spanning both the evangelical and non-evangelical spectrums. These included pastors such as Adrian Rogers, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee; Jack Hayford, Pastor of The Church On The Way, Van Nuys, California; Robert H. Schuller, Pastor of The Chrystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, California; and Eddie Gibbs, Associate Rector of All Saints Parish, Beverly Hills, California. Denominational officials included Ken Hemphill, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Jim Henry, President of the Southern Baptist Convention; Henry J. Schmidt, President of Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary; Archibald Hart, Dean, School of Psychology, Fuller Seminary; Thom S. Rainer, Dean, Billy Graham School, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Elmer L. Towns, Dean, School of Religion, Liberty University; Jerry Falwell, Chancellor, Liberty University; and Bill Bright, President of Campus Crusade for Christ International. Also endorsing the book was Leonard Sweet, Dean of Drew Theological Seminary.[1] Sweet professes to be an evangelical but is leading supporter of the New Spirituality, aka “New Age Spirituality”. Sweet has distilled the pantheistic teachings of many New Age leaders into what he calls quantum […] Continue Reading…

Rick Warren is a fourth-generation preacher. His great-grandfather came to Christ in Charles Spurgeon’s church in England. Following training in Spurgeon’s college, Spurgeon sent him to America to become a circuit-riding preacher. Warren’s father was a lay-preacher who specialized in planting and (literally) building churches. Born in 1954, Warren spent most of his growing-up years in Redwood Valley, California, where during his teenage years aspired to be a guitar-playing rock star. While working at a Christian summer camp in 1970 just before beginning his junior year in high school, Warren began thinking that perhaps God wanted him to be a preacher. In 1972 he entered California Baptist University in Riverside and held many revivals and crusades throughout California during his college years.[1]

In 1973 Warren traveled to San Francisco to hear W. A. Criswell speak at a conference. Criswell was the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Dallas which at that time was the largest Baptist Church in the world. Warren met Criswell and cherishes the memory of his laying hands on Warren and praying that God would bless him.[2]

Warren […] Continue Reading…

In his flattering 2005 biography of Rick Warren, George Mair identified the principal founders of the Church Growth movement: C. Donald McGavran, Gilbert Bilezikian, and Robert Schuller. The son of two missionaries, McGavran was born in India in 1897. While serving as a missionary to India, McGavran studied 145 churches between 1938 and 1955 to discover why some churches grow very slowly.[1] From these studies he developed the concept of receptivity to measure the positive or negative response to the gospel among certain people groups. McGavran then proposed that areas of high receptivity were to receive priority in the assignment of missionaries and resources.[2]

This was a dramatic change with regard to making disciples, the first part of the church’s mission as outlined in Matthew 28:18-20. Missionaries are called by the Holy Spirit and most are also led by the Holy Spirit with regard to which countries and areas they were to go. Now, the deciding factors for many denominations and missions organizations are dependent on sociological and demographic studies. Receptivity studies not only identify receptivity but also allow modern Church Growth practitioners to better craft their sermons to […] Continue Reading…

Norman Vincent Peale and the Church Growth movement

Norman Vincent Peale’s practical Christianity is often credited with being the forerunner of the of the modern Church Growth movement. The popularization of his philosophy and methods was left to a later generation. Peale’s philosophy and methods grew out of his wholehearted belief in the humanistic concept of the perfectibility of man.[1] As seen in the previous two chapters, Peale’s theology was heavily imbued with his belief that through his own efforts man could improve his life and overcome life’s obstacles either through self-realization or through getting in touch with the god within. Although he believed in the perfectibility of man, Peale’s ministry was focused on discipling rather than perfecting members. He believed that people should be brought into membership “in anticipation that education would subsequently reveal to them the fuller implications of a richer, more self-conscious faith.”[2]

The major focus of Peale’s ministry was winning members. This involved door-to-door canvasing, use of various advertising techniques, weekly radio broadcasts of his sermons, rented auditoriums for special services, and adoption of other business techniques to further church development. Sunday services were planned to perfection. His […] Continue Reading…