Did Rick Warren Teach A Different Gospel at TED?

Earlier this year Pastor Rick Warren participated in a TED Talk. The audience was NOT a Christian audience and Pastor Warren used this opportunity to tell these unbelievers a message of good news about what makes God happy. But, was Pastor Warren’s message the Good News of the Holy Scriptures or was it something else?

Before you listen to what Pastor Rick Warren said at TED, let me remind everyone what Scripture teaches on this subject.

The Apostle Paul spoke very harshly to the to the Galatian churches in his letter to them. Why? Because they had abandoned the gospel that Paul preached and were following a ‘different’ gospel. The gospel the Galatians had been deceived into following was one that mixed the grace and mercy of God with the Mosaic law. In his letter, Paul rained down stern warnings and threats of eternal punishment upon the Galatian churches. Here is what he wrote…

Galatians. 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

This passage is very a very clear warning against teaching a false gospel. But, what exactly was the Gospel Message that the Apostle Paul taught? We need to keep that as a reference point in our minds so that we are able to spot 'other' gospels and reject them. Here is an outline of the Gospel that Paul taught.

• God Made Mankind

• Man Disobeyed God and Fell Into Sin.

• Therefore, all of mankind is under the curse of sin and has earned God’s just judgment of eternal condemnation and punishment.

• God gave us his law to show us just how sinful we are and to show us our need for a savior.

• But, God so loved the world that He sent his son, Jesus, God in human flesh, to meet the righteous requirements for us and suffer our punishment for us, die on the cross for all of our sins, and therefore satisfy God’s justice.

• Salvation is now offered as a free gift to sinners by faith alone to everyone who believes.

Scripture also makes it perfectly clear that God is ONLY pleased with those who trust in Christ. Those who do not trust in Christ already stand condemned before God. No matter how good people are or think that they are it is impossible for them to please God without first having faith in Christ.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Now back to Pastor Rick Warren’s TED Talk.

The audience at Pastor Rick’s TED Talk was literally comprised of some of America’s most talented and brightest people. Think of this as Pastor Rick Warren’s Mars Hill moment. Just, like the Apostle Paul when he was in Athens was invited to speak to some of the greatest thinkers of his time, Pastor Warren was invited to speak to some of the greatest thinkers of our time.

This was a crucial moment in history. It was a rare opportunity for a Christian Pastor to be invited to speak at such an event. Would Pastor Warren tell his audience about their sinful state before God and their need for a savior in Jesus Christ? Would Pastor Warren, like the Apostle Paul expose his audience’s idolatry and false ideas about God and then replace those ideas with the truth of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their sins?

Well…ummmm…I think you need to hear it for yourself.

Click Here to Listen.

What was the gospel message that Pastor Rick Warren brought with him to share with the unbelievers at TED?

Here are the exact words that Pastor Warren spoke, this was the message of good news that he brought to these unbelievers…

“Did you know that God smiles when you be you. Some people have the misguided idea that God only gets excited when you're doing “spiritual things” like going to church or helping the poor or confessing or doing something like that.

The bottom line is that God gets pleasure watching you be you. Why? He made you. And when you do what you were made to do He says ‘That’s my boy!’, ‘That’s my girl!’

You're using the talent and ability that I gave you... So my advice to you is look at what is in your hand, your identity, your influence, your income, and say its not about me, its about making the world a better place.”

If I were a non-believer and I heard this message I would think, “Wow, God is happy with me when I be myself. That’s a religion that I can agree with! I don’t have to worry about that sin stuff and have to be like those religious fanatics who believe in Jesus. This is a liberating piece of good news. This is a gospel I can believe in.”

But, is this the Gospel message of the holy scriptures?

I don’t think so. I don’t even think it comes close!

Imagine yourself as one of the unbelievers who heard Rick’s ‘gospel’ that night and believed what Pastor Rick said.

Now imagine that your life has ended and you are standing before the judgment seat of Christ and Jesus says, “To hell with you!”

You blink in terrified amazement and say, “But, I believed what Pastor Warren told me at his TED Talk. I lived my life being what you made me to be. I made the world a better place. This whole time I was under the impression that you were smiling from heaven saying, ‘That’s my boy’. How could you send me to hell?”

Jesus’ response will be, “depart from me. I never knew you.”

The thought of this VERY REAL SCENARIO breaks my heart!

How could a man who is a Christian Pastor comfort unbelievers with such a message?

Comments

[slave2Messiah]

Anathema...

[Matt Power]

Is there anyone out there who has a downloadable copy of the comments made by Warren at this conference. I would love to play this in our church to show people who are so in love with him that he is a false prophet. my email is [email protected]

[Lygia]

I was speechless when I read Rick Warren's message at TED's. I still cannot believe that he really said that. He is helping people to be comfortable in their sins, he is saying that there is no difference between saved and non saved (You can just be 'you')and he is most certainly preaching ANOTHER Gospel. Very sad indeed.

[Tim Brown]

Here's another good commentary on What Warren had to say...

[John Wilson]

A guy leading a Christian life, speaking truth to intelligent people, and you respond with an unworthy judgment. Warren was not speaking to Christian dogma, he was speaking to the Teachings of Jesus. Go thou, and do likewise.

[John Wilson]

A guy leading a Christian life, speaking truth to intelligent people, and you respond with an unworthy judgment. Warren was not speaking to Christian dogma, he was speaking to the Teachings of Jesus. Go thou, and do likewise.

[Amber Porter]

Wow, John Wilson, in what verse of scripture did Jesus teach any of that? When people were building the tower of babel to "make the world a better place", was God smiling on them and their talents, thinking "atta boy!"?

[Jennifer]

Rick Warren's gospel message is sugar-coated poison. He's like the Pied Piper leading the people along the broad road that leads to destruction!

[wilson]

Excellent, excellent point Amber. They were looking at their talents and their gifts and what they had in their hands.

I've seen the video on youtube and it is desperately depressing. He gave a very similar message on the Colbert Report.

Was Jesus' message to the woman caught in adultery "Go thou and make the world a better place"? Or was it "that's my girl!"?

[Olufunmilayo]

hi,

it is too bad that "america's pastor" is a man who is committed to preaching and heralding a strange message which he thinks is the gospel of Christ.

i hope some of his many puppets all around the world will read this and send him a note of urgent warning to desist from preaching this message that is TOTALLY foreign to the Scriptures.

This is because the truth remains the same, those who preach such are cursed and under divine wrath Gal1.6-10 TOO BAD!

[Bob Nickester]

Honestly my dear man, I think u are confused. Rick was only saying the truth. That God loves us as we are. He expects us to come to him as we are, then as we love him and begin to serve him, we become more like Christ. I understood and understand why you thought that, but you have to take the full contexte of the message sir.

[shipwrecksoul]

A Letter to Risk Warren
Some people have an Idea that God is inclusive for mans eternal destiny, that all religions and all people will be saved. That God will allow all of mankind to enter into heaven because everybody is good so God must be fair and include everyone! It is true God does love the whole world but God is exclusive about mans eternal destiny without the Savior. To keep this simple man has a problem called sin in which man refuses to believe that there are eternal consequences for having sin, which is a one way ticket to hell. God is holy and he will not allow anyone with sin to enter into heaven. God is hurt and angry about our sin, we have broken his laws. But God is just and good and he knows our need so he provided a solution to our problem. His solution to our problem is to have our sins removed by having our sins placed on someone else, a sacrifice for us; paying for the penalty of the sin we have in our lives. So that someone else would get the penalty of Gods wrath and separation on him that was meant for us. So God sent his son Jesus on a mission from heaven to earth as our sacrifice to die on the cross on our behalf after this happened three days later Jesus came back from the dead, alive. But that’s not all remember I wrote that God is exclusive about mans eternal destiny without the Savior? The only way that Gods promise can be applied to your life is for you to turn from your way of thinking and know that your sin offends and hurts God and call on the Lord Jesus who’s alive to save you. Your sins are then transferred to Jesus for what he did at the cross, dying and being abandon by God because of your sins, for you and because Jesus arose from the dead he is alive you can now enter into a relationship with God. Will you call out to Jesus to save you? It’s your choice to enter in exclusively with God’s grace for you. Where will you want to spend eternity after hearing Gods promise for you?
If the answer was yes that you do want Jesus as your sin bearer, Savior, and you do believe God raised Jesus from the dead you can pray with your voice.

“Dear Lord Jesus save me.”

Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.