The Purpose Drivel Church IV
This is in continuation of my series on Mr. Rick Warren’s purpose-driven ideology. In chpater 11 of his book, The Purpose Driven Church, Mr. Warren addresses the issue of “developing your strategy”.
He stetches jesus’ words about making the disciples “fishers of men” beyond Biblical boundaries to present us a terribly flawed premise. When Jesus said that He would make the disciples fishers of men, all it meant was that He would conscript them into the ministry of preaching the gospel.
However, Mr. Warren stretches it to draw a comparison between catching fish and making disciples. Mr. Warren speaks of “catching fish on their terms”. The problem is, the gospel is antitethical to this concept. The gospel is salvation offered to man on God’s terms; not on man’s terms. Hear Paul:
1 Corinthians 1:22-24
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Rather than dance to the terms of the “fish”, Paul offered them what was a stumblingblock to them – the very thing the fish are not interested in.
Mr. Warren further attempts to support his unBiblical notion of catching “fish on their own terms” by appealing to Matthew 10 and Luke 10.
He takes Jesus’ instruction, “”Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
Mat 10:6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”, and tells his readers that Jesus “narrowed the target”, and concludes:
“He [Jesus] targeted the kind of people the disciples were most likely to reach – people like themselves. Jesus was not being prejudiced, he was being strategic. As I mentioned in chapter 9, Jesus defined the disciples’ target so they’d be effective, not in order to be exclusive.”
This is absolute poppycock, of course. It had nothing to do with effectiveness, but with God’s eternal plan that salvation would come from the Jews, be offered to the Jews first, and then the Gentiles be brought in. This fact is repeated all through Scriptures. A study of romans and Ephesians will help here.
The fallacy of saying that Jesus “targeted the kind of people the disciples were most likely to reach – people like themselves” is that these same disciples were later used to reach people not like themselves – Gentiles. Peter reached Cornelius’ household. Phillip reached an Ethiopean eunuch. Stephen proclaimed the Gospel at Samaria, and Paul (alongside many others) reached non-Gentiles.
Mr. Warren is lying about this strategy thing. Jesus gave no such strategy for ministry.
Learn to Think Like a Fish?
Warren asserts on page 188 that “In order to catch fish it helps to understand their habits, preferences, and feeding patterns”.
He further submits; “The problem is, the longer you are a believer, the less you think like an unbeliever. Your interests and values change.” How on earth can this be a problem? Warren’s idea of reaching sinners is that we contradict Scriptures and begin to think like the very people who we set out to turn from godlessness to righteousness?
If we are to understand the habits and preferences of the “fish”, as Warren submits, then someone like me has to start thinking of what makes whoresome women tick. I must become a profiler, and apply some psychology to helping them understand the gospel.
But is this all Scriptural?
Here’s something Paul said to the Corinthians, for example:
1Co 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
1Co 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
That doesn’t sound like he set out to understand the habits and preferences of this set of fish. He wasn’t interested in anything but knocking off their wrong platform and presenting the gospel of Christ to them.
On page 189, Mr. Warren writes about “church advertising”. He submits that most church advertising are written “from a believer’s viewpoint; not from the mind-set of an unchurched person“.
As seen in my last article in this series, the Church is the body of believers. By default, unbelievers (read: the unchurched) have no place in the gathering of the saints (the Church). So, what would churches be advertising for, in the first place?
Churches advertise basically because we have stooped to the lowest common denominator – and anything goes. As such, “ALL are welcome”.
Mr. Warren further advices:
How do you learn to think like unbelievers? Talk to them!
We all know what the Bible says about what a man thinks in his heart. Yes; that’s the path that Mr. Rick Warren wants us to follow. No, sir! We won’t follow that line.
Four Basic Complaints
Warren presents four basic complaints about churches from the surver conducted by him in the Saddleback Valley.
1. Church is boring, especially the sermons. The messages don’t relate to my life.
Those sinners are right to complain about boredom. If I were a sinner, I would be bored stiff too hearing the gospel. It wouldn’t interest me one bit. As a sinner, I would be interested in how to: make more money, have a beautiful home, climb the corporate ladder, etc. Holiness, righteousness, heaven, etc would all bla, bla me to sleep.
However, those sinners lied when they said that Church messages don’t relate to their lives. They are sinners. The gospel tells of sinners abiding under the wrath and condemnation of God. That’s relevant, sir.
The Bible talks of salvation being available to the repentant sinner who drops his life and submits to Christ. That’s very relevant. But those sinners have to lie about that. The sinner is NOT interesting in laying down his life and be ruled by another. The primary sin of any man is probably self-determination and independence. But the Gospel calls men to become Christ-dependent instead.
Mr. Warren plays the devil’s advocate for his “unchurched” (why does he use that word? What does it really mean?). he says, “They want to hear something on Sunday that they can apply on Monday”.
Based on the above line, I submit that Mr. Warren knows that sinners do not want to hear the gospel. He must know. That is why he is advocating for an alternative message (though he lies about promoting “growth without compromising your message and mission”). His entire book results in only one thing: compromising the message and the mission of Christ.
If sinners really want to hear something they can apply on Monday, why not just as well present them the gospel? Surely, we can hope that the holy Spirit will convict them on Monday, or Tuesday, or whenever as a result of hearing just that.
2. Church members are unfriendly to visitors. If I go to church I want to feel welcomed without being embarassed.
Another cop-out. To sinners, its always about the “feeling”.
Warren submits, “Many unchurched people told me that they felt like the church was a clique”. Yes; Mr. Warren, the Church is a clique. We are the “called out ones”, the “peculiar people”; the “sanctified”; the “separated”. Sinners don’t belong in church meetings. It doesn’t matter how well they are welcomed, they would always “feel” odd and out of place.
I do not doubt that there may be churches so stuck up and closed to anyone but their own members, but again, that is their own character problem. Sinners do not belong in the gathering of the saints, and will simply never feel comfortable there without some sort of compromise bing allowed.
3. The church is more interested in my money than in me.
If sinners can see this one so clearly, shame on many church-going folks who don’t see it. Truly, as far as many churches are concerned, getting people into the pews is just a means to an end: cash!
Every Sunday, preachers hoodwink and manipulate people into giving “offerings” and paying tithes. Shame.
4. We worry about the quality of the church’s child care
Incidentally, they do not waorry about the quality of their night club’s child care, or of the local NGO’s child care, or the local pub’s child care. But child care becomes an issue when it has to do with attending church meetings. Bah. But sinners do not belong in Church meetings anyway.
True saints are too delighted at the opportunity to fellowship, hear and share God’s word, and worship together, to harp about the quality of child care. Child care or not, the saints are delighted to gather.
The people who gathered to hear Jesus preach included men, women and children. No child care mentioned, but they gathered all the same. The early Church had no child care either, and many churches today still do not. Yet, God’s people gather. Of course, God’s people do not mind. Sinners would use anything as an excuse. They do have Mr. Warren on their side: he’s rooting to have us all open the doors of our churches of the lowest common denominator and catch the fish on their own terms.
I wish I could go on with this chapter, but I am already weary of the drivel on these pages. I’ll probably pick up from here at a later date.
