Extreme Theology

The Debut of the NEW Issues, Etc.

Today is the day! It feels like Christmas!

The New Issues, Etc. Debuts at 3:05PM CST.

Pirate Christian Radio is having a special "Pre-Game Show" an hour before the debut.

Rick Warren Purpose Driven Critique - Does PD Preaching Have Any Good News to Offer Me?

If you ever want to see what Rick Warren's vision for Purpose-Driven Preaching looks like in practice, then all you would need to do is watch or listen to Saddleback's sermons on-line. Over the past couple of years the sermons preached at Saddleback have covered such topics as Knowing Your Purpose, Thirty Days to a No Regrets Life, Leaving a Legacy, Deepening Relationships that Matter, Setting Financial Goals, Managing Your Time, Learning the Ancient Secrets From God's Word for a Less Stressed, More Relaxed, and Lighter, Freer Lifestyle, The Secrets of Staying Power - How to Always Give Yourself Fully to the Work of the Lord, and Breaking Free from Desperate Hidden Lives.

Every one of these sermons was teeming with 'good advice' and practical 'how to' information that could be applied to your life the same day that you listened. All of these sermons were heavy with God's law but sadly had nothing to offer me. For you see, my problem can't be fixed with 'good advice' and practical 'how to' applications because I am a wicked and sinful man.

It is too late for me to have a 'no regrets life'. Even though I have been a Christian for nearly all of my life, I have committed terrible sins for which I have deep regrets.

As for managing my time, I have struggled with procrastination my entire life. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have squandered my time doing unimportant and wasteful things when I should have been working on a project, doing homework, spending time with my wife, playing with my kids, visiting my grandparents etc. The correct way to describe me when it comes to time management is selfish. Even that doesn’t even correctly describe the depths of the ugliness of my sin when it comes to time management. In order to rein this sin in I’ve been to Franklin Covey time management seminars, read books and attended classes. Everything that I’ve tried has petered out over time. Overall, there has been some improvement but even when I am doing what I should be doing in my heart I want to be doing something else.

When it comes to financial management I have sinned so terribly that I deserve God’s wrath and punishments both in this life and the life to come AND I AM A CHRISTIAN.

I don’t need good advice, I need good news.

Am I going to burn in hell for all of the sins that I’ve committed? Can God forgive me for all of these sins? Will God forgive me for them or is there a limit to God’s grace? What if there is a limit and I have exceeded it? I’ve already asked God to forgive me for these sins tens of thousands of times. Can God forgive me the next ten thousand times I ask him to forgive me?

I am sick with sin. I don’t need good advice I need good news.

Don’t even get me started on the other areas discussed in these sermons. I am so depraved and sinful that I don’t even know what it means to be heavenly minded and prioritize my life accordingly. Yet, I read the Bible through several times a year. My priorities are so far out of whack compared to what God would have them be that they could only be described as wickedly selfish. As for offering forgiveness to other people, that is always so difficult. My first inclination when someone has wronged me is to knock their block off. But, according to God’s perfect law, that inclination is sinful and murderous. As for living as if it were my last day’s on earth, you’ve got to be kidding me. I am a selfish and wickedly sinful man. My obedience is pathetically weak and shot through with sin. If I were told that I had 30 days to live then the ONLY thing I could count on is sinning for 30 more days.

I don’t need good advice, I need good news.

I confess that I do NOT love God with all of my heart, I HAVE taken the Lord’s name in vain, I have NOT kept the Sabbath, I have NOT honored and obeyed my parents, I HAVE murdered, I HAVE committed adultery, I HAVE stolen, I HAVE lied and I HAVE coveted everything that belongs to my neighbor including his wife, his car, his clothes, and is entertainment center.

All of these sins I have committed since becoming a Christian. All of these sins I have committed THIS WEEK and every time I break even one of the commandments the Bible says that I am guilty of breaking the ENTIRE law.

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

I am sick with sin through and through. I don’t need good advice, I need good news.

I am desperate because God’s word says that I deserve His wrath, punishment and hell for all eternity for the sins that I have committed and I am terrified because I know that God is just.

I don’t need good advice right now. I need good news.

Telling me to repent, change my mind and be more obedient just won’t cut it. I already know and believe that all of these things that I have done and continue to do are sinful and wrong and contrary to what the one true and holy God expects and demands from me. It's too late, the cow is already out of the barn for me. I can’t go back and undo these sins and ‘trying harder’ and 'doing better' is just not going to be enough.

So I don’t need ‘good advice’ right now.

Does Rick Warren or any Purpose-Driven Preacher have any good news to offer me?

Rick Warren Purpose Driven Critique - Is Repentance the Central Message of the New Testament?

One of the statements that surprised me the most at the Purpose Driven Community Gathering was when Rick Warren said that he believed that “Repentance was the central message of the New Testament”. Even more shocking was hearing Warren claim that the primary goal of all of his sermons was ‘repentance’.

Up until I heard Warren say these words I believed that Warren’s sermons were completely devoid of repentance. The reason why I believed that is because in all the sermons I have heard Warren preach (I listen to them all), I couldn’t recall as single time where I had heard him say the word ‘repent’ or ‘repentance’. Warren’ sermons always seem chock full of practical advice and simple applications but I can’t recall the last time I heard Warren rail against sin and call people to repent of their sins and believe the gospel for the forgiveness of sins.

Well, it turns out that there is a reason why I never heard Warren say those words. At the conference Warren clearly stated that he always preaches for repentance but that he does so in a way whereby he doesn’t actually say the word “repentance”.

This revelation tweeked my view of Warren and his preaching philosophy. Where I once thought Warren’s sermons were all practical self-help feel good sermons, I now believe that Warren primarily preaches the law and only on the rarest of rare occasions does he preach the gospel.

Definition of the Gospel – many people have a difficult time defining the gospel. Thankfully, 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4 gives us a clear and concise definition of the gospel. Here is how scripture defines the gospel: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

In his lecture on Purpose-Driven Preaching Warren made it unmistakably clear that the goal of Purpose-Driven Preaching is obedience. This is why Warren’s sermons are heavy on application and practical ‘how to’ information. In classic Warren sound-bite style he claimed that “the problem with a lot of preaching is that it produces learners instead of doers.” One of Warren’s recurring mantra’s was that Christians already know more information than they are putting into practice. Said Warren, “Too many people are informed but not transformed.”

The ahah moment came for me when Warren emphatically claimed “THE central message of the New Testament is repentance.” It was at that moment that I fully understood that Rick Warren is a pietist and that the preaching philosophy employed by Warren is nothing less than the 21st Century incarnation of Wesleyan Methodism. (I mean that in the nicest way possible). In other words, with the goal of PD preaching being ‘obedience’ the only thing you could count on hearing Sunday after Sunday is God’s Law, do this, or don’t do that, along with practical information (methods) on how to do this or don’t do that. The underlying assumption is that by applying the information or methods given in any particular sermon a person will become ‘more obedient’ to God.

Armed with this insight I was able to discuss this directly with Warren.

In my face to face meeting with Pastor Rick I directly challenged him on his claim that repentance is the central message of the New Testament. I told Warren that his claim was inaccurate because it was only HALF TRUE.

(BTW, I was not being unloving or unkind in telling Warren that he was wrong because he was only half right. Warren himself uses this exact same argument against some of his critics on page 234 of the Purpose Driven Church.)

I then pointed Warren to Luke chapter 24:46-47. This text states.

[Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Jesus himself, in Luke’s version of the ‘great commission’ instructs the disciples to preach a twin message of repentance AND the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. I pointed this out to Pastor Warren and told him that what is conspicuously missing from his sermons (I listen to them all) is the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name. Furthermore, I gave him examples from his own sermons where he gave practical ‘how to’ information but never once dealt with the most important ‘application’ of how Jesus Christ’s death on the cross applies to me and how Jesus Christ forgives me of the all the times when I have sinned and not been obedient to God.

The problem with Purpose-Driven Preaching is that it emphasizes ‘naked obedience’ but the message of ‘Christ crucified for sins’ is almost always omitted.

This approach blurs law and gospel and makes it appear that we are made right before God by our own efforts.

Gal. 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Why is Purpose-Driven Preaching Dangerous?

When was the last time that you told your spouse that you loved him or her? If your marriage is anything like mine then you’d say that you constantly tell your partner that you love them many times a day. To not do so would be unthinkably cruel.

Imagine what your marriage would be like if you told your wife or husband, “I told you once that I loved you and I don’t feel any reason to keep on telling you that. In fact, you should just assume that I love you and if anything changes I’ll let you know.”

If I had said that to my wife then I would be a divorced man. The fact is, telling my wife that I love her and hearing her say that she loves me is vital to the health of our marriage. When I tell my wife I love her I am not conveying useless and redundant information. Instead, I am again summing up the vows I made to her on our wedding day and letting her know that despite the fact that we’ve been through better and worse and have been richer and poorer and that despite all the disagreements and challenges that we’ve faced and struggled through that I still passionately love her and no one else. It’s not mere information that I am conveying to my wife when I tell her I love her. I am sharing my heart with her. My marriage could not survive without it and neither could yours.

What holds true for a marriage also holds true in our relationship with God. I need to hear that God loves me and forgives me constantly. This is not mere information that we are talking about. This is one critical facet of Christian preaching that cannot be neglected because all of us still sin, daily, hour by hour, minute by minute and trying harder to be more obedient and sinning less cannot and does not absolve us of our sins nor does it quiet our guilty consciences. Even though I have been a Christian nearly all of my life (I am 40 years old) I still need to hear God tell me that He loves me and forgives me of my sins. I need to hear this gospel message just as often as I need to hear my wife tell me that she loves me.

If I do not hear the gospel but instead only hear that I must try harder or apply certain steps in order to be more obedient or change my life then I am likely to despair and begin to believe that God only loves me based upon my performance and despair and think that God doesn’t love me anymore because of my lack of obedience. Even worse, I may become self-deceived like the Pharisees and think that I am more favored by God because of my better obedience. (That is not the Christian faith. That is self-righteousness.)

Oddly enough Rick Warren perfectly understands the importance of stating something over and over. In the Purpose-Driven Church on page 117 Warren said:

“Don’t assume that a single sermon on your church’s purposes will permanently set the direction of your church. Don’t suppose that by printing your purposes in the bulletin everyone has learned them, or even read them! One widely known law of advertising is that a message must be communicated seven times before it sinks in.

At Saddleback we use as many different channels as we can think of to keep our purposes before our church family.

In my face to face meeiting with Pastor Warren I challenged him to preach the Gospel, the message of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name, every single Sunday. Why? Not only is this what Jesus' told us to preach, but I understand the importance of stating something over and over. In fact, I think it is utterly tragic and borderline criminal of Warren to not be as committed to over communicating the Gospel as he is to over communicating his church’s purposes. Imagine if that passage of the PDC read:

Don’t assume that a single sermon on the gospel will permanently fix the gospel in people’s minds and hearts. Don’t suppose that by printing the gospel in the bulletin that everyone will understand the depths of Christ’s love and mercy to them. At Saddleback we use as many different channels as we can think of to keep the gospel before our church family.”

Before I publish my next installment on my Purpose-Driven critique I invite you to listen to what I consider to be the most tragic sermon I have ever heard Rick Warren preach.

The title of the Sermon is “Breaking Free From Persistent Temptation”.

You can view the sermon notes by clicking here.

The tragedy of this sermon is that Warren shares the private struggles, sins and temptations of some of those who attend Saddleback. You can hear and feel their despair. Yet, never once in the sermon does Warren comfort these people with the good news of the forgiveness of sins won for them by Christ on the Cross. Instead, Warren gives 7 applications for not giving in to sin. Warren only preached ‘repentance’ but was only half right because he omitted the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name. Even more tragic is the fact that this is the typical Warren sermon.

So as I told Warren to his face, I will now say again. Pastor Warren you are wrong about repentance being the central message of the New Testament because you are only half right. Repent and preach BOTH repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name as our Lord has instructed.

Rick Warren Purpose Driven Critique - What is the Purpose-Driven Church paradigm?

Before I critique the content of the PD Conference. It is important that people have an accurate understanding of the Purpose-Driven Church paradigm. There is a lot of confusion about what it means to be “Purpose-Driven”. Many people’s definitions of what it means to be “Purpose-Driven” are colored by their experiences (usually negative).

Some people believe that to be a Purpose-Driven Church means being Seeker-Sensitive. Although many many many Purpose-Driven Churches are Seeker-Sensitive that is technically not what it means to be a Purpose-Driven Church.

Some people believe that to be a Purpose-Driven Church means that a church is a mega church that utilizes a praise band, pop-psychology feel good sermons and small group Bible studies. Although many many many Purpose-Driven Churches are like this that is technically not what it means to be a Purpose-Driven Church.

Accurately understanding and discussing the Purpose-Driven Church paradigm is critical! If you get this wrong you will not truly understand it.

Rick Warren claims that Purpose-Driven is a Church Health Paradigm. In its simplest definition a “Purpose-Driven Church” is one that strategically and tactically works to fulfill five specific purposes for the church. These purposes are:

1. Worship
2. Ministry
3. Evangelism
4. Fellowship
5. Discipleship

According to Rick Warren, these 5 Purposes are “empty categories” that ANY church can fill with whatever content or programs that they see fit. In other words, a Confessional Liturgical Lutheran Church could technically be a Purpose-Driven Church by strategically addressing these five purposes. In this case the mix would look something like this.

1. Worship – Liturgical style with hymns
2. Ministry – strategic emphasis on community outreach to meet local community needs as well as acts of mercy for orphans in India and Katrina victims.
3. Evangelism – Organized evangelism training for lay people and the sending out of teams to share the gospel with unbelievers, along with postcard marketing inviting people to church.
4. Fellowship – regular and well organized events designed for community building
5. Discipleship – ongoing Biblical education and membership classes.

According to Warren some churches specialize in discipleship and neglect evangelism. While others specialize in evangelism but neglect fellowship and discipleship. The basic goal of the Purpose-Driven paradigm is to help pastors strategically and tactically address and measure progress and results in each of the five purposes. The goal of the PD paradigm is overall church health.

One of the reasons why people equate the PDC paradigm with seeker-sensitive churches is because Saddleback Church’s approach to meeting these five purposes utilizes a Seeker-Friendly approach, praise music, topical sermons determined through surveys, the PEACE plan, and small group studies. There is an incorrect assumption that Saddleback’s methods for meeting the five purposes is the only way to meet them. I will agree that many Purpose-Driven churches model themselves on Saddleback but that DOES NOT mean that is the only way to be “Purpose-Driven”.

I’ll say this again for emphasis…The reason why the Purpose-Driven brand has become synonymous with seeker-sensitive mega churches is because so many PD churches are utilizing the exact same strategies and methods that Warren and Saddleback Church use to meet the five purposes.

Therefore, the dangers of the Purpose-Driven Church movement DO NOT lie in its basic goal of helping churches focus on these five purposes. The problem lies in the methods promoted by Warren and others in addressing these five purposes. In fact, as bizarre as it may sound I must confess that the church that I attend and teach at is TECHNICALLY a Purpose-Driven Church.

A good way of thinking about the five purposes is to imagine each purpose as an empty glass. It’s not the empty glass that is the problem. The problem lies in what liquid you fill the glass with. Therefore, even though my church is TECHNICALLY Purpose-Driven because we address each of the ‘empty glasses’. What we fill those glasses with is radically different than what Rick Warren and Saddleback promote for filling those glasses. Contrary to what some of you may think and what Rick Warren says, what we fill those glasses with is NOT just a mere matter of personal preferences and stylistic tastes.

In the next installment I will lay out the huge differences between Christ-Centered (Gospel Centered) preaching versus what Rick Warren calls ‘Purpose-Driven Preaching”. These are two different liquids that can be poured into the ‘Discipleship glass'. But the differences between these two ‘liquids’ is not a mere matter of style. In fact, the differences directly impact the doctrine of Justification by Grace Alone, through Faith alone by Christ’s Work Alone.

Stay Tuned

Rick Warren Purpose Driven Critique - My Presuppositions

This post will serve as the prelude to my critique of what was taught by Rick Warren at the Purpose-Driven Community Conference.

Before I launch into my critique I would like to lay out a few of the presuppositions I am operating from.

1. Testing what a pastor or teacher preaches or teaches against the word of God is Biblically mandated.

1 John 4:1   Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Thess 5:21 test everything; hold fast what is good.

In fact, even the Apostle Paul, a man who received his doctrines directly from Jesus Christ had the content of his messages tested against the word of God by the Bereans. And the Bereans were said to be of a more noble character than the Thessalonians precisely because they scrutinzed what Paul said against the scriptures.

Acts 17:10   The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Therefore, Rick Warren is not immune from having his messages and teaching tested against the scriptures to determine whether or not they square with the Word of God.

Therefore, those who test Rick Warren’s teaching against the word of God are following the clear instructions of scripture and are engaging in a noble work.

Therefore, those who test Rick Warren’s teaching against the word of God are not being divisive. Instead, they are being obedient. In fact, those who discover that a teacher is teaching false doctrine and warn the church of that false doctrine and false teacher are not the ones sowing division in the Christian Church. Instead, the ones sowing division in the Church ARE the people who are teaching the false doctrine, not the ones exposing them.

2. Unity with a false teacher is only possible if the false teacher repents of his false doctrine.

3. A published doctrinal statement is NOT definitive proof in deciding whether or not a pastor or teacher is teaching true or false doctrine. As a Lutheran I can point to many Lutheran pastors who claim to subscribe to the confessions of the Lutheran faith as found in the Book of Concord YET these pastors deny and teach against the inerrancy of scripture, argue for the ordination of women and the ordination of practicing homosexuals. Despite their passionate claims to be in agreement with the Lutheran confessions the evidence proves the contrary.

Therefore, what a pastor publicly preaches and teaches MUST ALWAYS be compared with any and all published doctrinal statements to determine whether or not the pastor is adhering to that doctrinal statement. This includes Rick Warren.

4. Calling a false doctrine what it is and calling a false teacher or pastor to repentance IS NOT unloving nor is it incompatible with the Gospel nor does it contradict the clear call in scripture for our Christian apologetics to be done with ‘gentleness and respect’. Jesus, who is God in human flesh and one who has never sinned called people to repentance and faith. Therefore, calling people to repentance whether for behavioral sins or doctrinal errors is one of the most loving good works that a Christian can perform in service to his neighbor.

5. Lastly, everything I post as a critique against Rick Warren or any other teacher MUST be tested against the scriptures. If I am in error, then I pray that you would love me enough to point out my errors and call me to repentance.