|
|
Well there goes any popularity I'll have again!
Check out the following clp before you go any further: Church Growth
An Analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" Church Growth Strategy by Dennis Costella
Is the church growing because of the church growth movement? Yes and no. Individual churches are growing, but the church is standing still. Though church growth pundits desire to win the lost usually what happens is they lose the found. Church growth techniques create a giant game of evangelical musical chairs.
Book Review: The Purpose Driven Church
The only seekers we tend to draw with seeker sensitive services are believers seeking a different church. By presenting a God who wants us to look at ourselves, who doesn't judge and command, who has a wonderful set of insights on how to have a happy, healthy marriage we put God's imprimatur on narcissism. There's nothing evangelicals like more than to be told that God loves them just the way they are.
An Analysis of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life by Matt Costella
But why aren't the seekers coming? They like pop music, so we give them pop music. They like stories so we give them dramas. They like anonymity, so we let them have it. They like convenience, so we'll change their oil while they're here (this by the way is being done). The problem is that we can do none of these things as well as the world can. Why get up on a Sunday morning and drive somewhere to listen to pop music, when its as close as my stereo? Why settle for cheesy scripts and sets when the television does it so much better? Why spend an hour getting an oil change when the pros can do it in ten minutes?
The Adulation of Man in The Purpose Driven Life by Richard Bennett
Imagine every company on the stock exchange looking to the one company whose stock rose the highest in a given year deciding to do what they did. "Gee", thinks Ford, "Microsoft made a killing. Let's get out of the car business and make software." Or imagine PBS deciding to air nothing but sitcoms made up of sophisticated urban x-ers.
Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven? -- The Purpose Driven Life Book Review by Berit Kjos
The problem with this practical approach, apart from being unbiblical, is that its just not practical. In fact these two problems, that it's unbiblical and impractical are really one problem. The church growth pundits counsel us to look to the experts for wisdom. They then provide mountains of demographic, sociological, marketing factoids. The experts are Madison Avenue pagans who may know a great deal about how to sell toothpaste, but know nothing about proclaiming the Good News. Are we left then to grope in the dark? If you can't trust sociologists and pollsters, who can you trust? God.
The Purpose Driven Life -- Review of Scripture Misuse by Gary Gilley
We have in the Bible an example of church growth which has never been paralleled. We have the first evangelistic sermon ever preached. And it is recorded for us by the Holy Spirit, without error. Consider how Peter practiced church growth. First the Spirit descended at Pentecost. Do you suppose the unbelievers there were comfortable, at ease, in this strange situation? Did Peter try to mold and control this work of the Spirit?
Celebrate Recovery: Rick Warren's Purpose Driven 12-Step Recovery Program by T.A. McMahon
Peter instead pointed the crowd to the Old Testament, to the prophecy of Joel. He gave evidence that God was with them. And then he gave a sermon. Did he preach on how Jesus could help you with your finances? Did he announce a new series on how to raise you children's self-esteem? Peter's sermon went something like this: "You all remember Jesus, the one with the miracle that you saw, the one God had sent, the one you crucified." Wow. That was not very sensitive to the seekers.
Challies Dot Com
Peter went on with more Old Testament evidence for Jesus. And then, perhaps for the sake of those seeker who arrived late to this service he concluded with the bombshell, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has mad Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified"(Acts 2:36).
Purpose Driven Life: Book Review by Jose Francis Martinez
Peter would have found himself in hot water with the "experts." They would tell him that people come to church carrying guilt with them, adding to that guilt will only drive them away. But from a strictly practical point of view, if we want to be experimental about this we need to check the response. Luke tells us, "Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?' " Peter answered, "Repent"
Way Of Life
That, of course is not the message of choice among the experts. Perhaps they should seek healing for their wounded psyches. They needed affirmation after all. Peter instead pours on the guilt by telling the crowd, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Judgment, judgment. Hasn't Peter heard that Jesus told us not to judge? Doesn't he know judgment drives them away?
"The Purpose Driven Life": A Modern Day "Golden Calf" by Joseph Chambers
The foolishness of the gospel routes the wisdom of the wise. Practically speaking the experts are failures. What they consider failure, on the other hand succeeds.
Let Us Reason
So what does this tell us about how to grow the church? It demonstrates that we're listening to the wrong experts. Even the pagans know it is wise to counter-program. When everyone is going one way, go the other way. You will stand out. You will be noticed. You will be effective. If there were such a thing as a "seeker", someone who is looking for something, they would certainly not be looking for more of the same, or a bad imitation of what he is fleeing. When the world gives us mindless drivel, then is the time to say of the church, "Come in here. You'll get none of the nonsense you're so tired of." When the world is happy and light, we need to be somber, serious. When the gods of this world are distant, spineless, voiceless, reflections of our baser selves, our duty is to present the on true God, transcendent and immanent, omnipotent and tender, the God who speaks with all authority and wisdom. And we need to reflect not the perverse generation form which we have been saved, but Him in whom we have been regenerated, Him whose image we are to be.
The Purpose Driven Life reviewed by Paul Alexander
More importantly this reminds us whence comes true wisdom. Proverbs tells us "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Ours is a God which confounds the wise, on who tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Practically, if we want to grow churches, we too must begin with the fear of God. If we want wisdom we need to turn in His Word which tells us, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him ( James 1:50).
This one I really liked straight to the point. All I wanted to show was a warning flag, not an Anti-Rick Warren for some good may come out of it.
The Teaching of The Purpose Driven Life by Richard Phillips
But now for the “danger zone”. Bringing in number...okay I can see that. But at what cost?
Rick Warren Teams Up With New-Age Guru Ken Blanchard!
=========================================================================================
A Critique of the "Seeker-Sensitive, Purpose-Driven" Church Model
by Dan Norcini (10-part series)
Wow!:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10
=========================================================================================
“How a book sells is not an indication of its merit. The American public has a seemingly bottomless appetite for nonsense, as evidenced by the countless tomes about astrology, aliens from outer space, quack diets, and UFOs that have regularly graced best-seller lists over the years. Some books that sold millions have later been exposed as hoaxes. A slot on the best-seller list tells you exactly one thing about a book: that a lot of people bought it.” Robert Boston, The Most Dangerous Man In America?
=========================================================================================
FEEDING SHEEP OR AMUSING GOATS? A Message by C. H. Spurgeon
An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its imprudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, "He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not sugar candy-something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainment. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
=========================================================================================
Find me anywhere in the Scriptures where the church gathers as Christians for the purpose of watering down the Gospel message and getting people to come into their church congregation. The church gathered for training and edification of believers, then they went out with the message of sin and salvation so people could get right with God before they could even begin to think about whatever purpose God had for their lives. First things first. That is the consistent model in every single time in the book of Acts where the Gospel is preached.
In all 14 times the Gospel is preached where we have detail of what they said, there is not a single occasion where anyone was invited to have a relationship with God. There is not a single occasion where anyone is told that if they become Christians their life will get better, they will have more purpose, and everything will fall together. There is not a single occasion where the Apostles said that God loves them. The word love appears nowhere in the book of Acts. Now, is the love of God manifest there? Sure. But it is not the central message. It isn’t what leads to salvation. It is not what the Gospel is all about. The love of God is manifest in the efforts that He took to rescue a fallen human race. That’s the measure of His love. But the message is about fallen human beings, about sin and righteousness and judgment, and that Jesus came to restore man to their Savior against whom they have persistently rebelled. That’s the message that saves. (Greg Koukl. What’s Wrong with Being Seeker-Centered?)
=========================================================================================
More comments from various authors and educators
Shall We Sell Our Birthright for a Mess of Faddage? by Phil Johnson
The Purpose Driven Church and Life by John MacArthur's Grace to You
The Promise-Driven Life by Michael S. Horton
The Antidote to Worldy Power, Techniques and Methods by Eugene H. Peterson
Sounding Out the Idols of Church Growth by Os Guinness
My Anguish: My Kinsmen Are Accursed Sermon by John Piper
Revivals Golden Key by Ray Comfort (online book)
What's Wrong with "User Friendly"? by John MacArthur
Gimme that Showtime Religion by John MacArthur
The Seeker-Sensitive Movement by John MacArthur
What's Inside the Trojan Horse? by John MacArthur
Does the Truth Matter Anymore? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 by John MacArthur (pdf Notes from video series)
The Gospel According to Hybels & Warren by Nathan Busenitz
The Purpose Driven Life by Nathan Busenitz
Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Seeker Sensitive Movement
SPIRIT TRUTH MINISTRIES:"CHURCH GROWTH" MOVEMENT OR PURPOSE DRIVEN APOSTASY?
Seeker-Sensitive Problems
An Analysis of Rick Warren's Purpose Drive Life
An examination of Rick Warren’s teaching on “exponential growth” |
Four Types of Churches & Their Relation to Culture
1. Church against culture (Pietism, Modern Evangelicalism, dispensational)
2. Church separate from the culture- the holy huddle (Fundamentalism, Monasticism)
3. Church integrated into culture- cannot tell the difference between believers and nonbelievers (Seeker Sensitive & Liberal Churches)
4. Church having an impact on their community to transform the culture- agents of change (Covenantal/Reformed & Progressive Evangelicals)
=========================================================================================
Comparing the Purpose Driven Church to The Bible
Purpose Driven Church: The Church needs a new purpose.
The Bible:The Church already has a purpose since its beginning 2000 years ago. The Great Commission: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15.
"Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" Jude 1:3.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" Mark 16:15-16.
Purpose Driven Church:Conform the Church to the image of the world and culture in order to make the church more palatable and comfortable for the unsaved.
The Bible: "Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God?" James 4:4.
"And be not conformed to this world..." Romans 12:2.
"The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness..." Romans 1:17-18.
Purpose Driven Church:Promote self-love.
The Bible: "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" John 12:25.
"Loved their lives not unto death" Revelation 12:11.
Purpose Driven Church: The goal of the Church is Happiness and Personal Fulfillment
The Bible: The goal of the Church is Holiness. "Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16.
Purpose Driven Church: Do not offend seekers with "religious" words.
The Bible: And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, [even to them] which stumble at the word," 1 Peter 2:8.
Purpose Driven Church: Remove the Cross from the church.
The Bible: Cling to the ole rugged Cross. The Cross was in plain view for all to see: "and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced" Zechariah 12:10.
Purpose Driven Church: Manmade 12-step programs toward psychological healing and deliverance.
The Bible: One-step deliverance program: Being Born Again in Christ. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" John 8:36.
At the most, we could also acknowledge a second "step": Sanctification, which is the process of perfecting the saints until we are resurrected in our glorified bodies.
Purpose Driven Church: Scriptures are insufficient for perfecting the saints. Psychology and sociology help the church where the Bible seems to lack.
The Bible: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Purpose Driven Church:Need to discover the key to "Unchurched Harry's" heart to reach him for Christ.
The Bible: Condition of man's heart is already known: "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" Genesis 6:5.
Purpose Driven Church:Christ's salvation is equal trade for worth of man and focus on unsaved Harry's worth.
The Bible: Unequal trade: Man's worth is zero, Christ's salvation is worth infinite value. "All our righteousness are as filthy rags" Isaiah 64:6. Christ alone is our refuge and our worth!
Purpose Driven Church: Entertain the world into the Kingdom of God.
The Bible: Convict the world unto salvation: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" 1 Corinthians 12:3
Purpose Driven Church: Caters to the flesh.
The Bible: Crucifies the flesh: "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" Romans 8:13.
Purpose Driven Church:Pleasers of men.
The Bible: Pleasers of God: "We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts" 1 Thessalonians 2:4.
Purpose Driven Church:The answer to low self-esteem is high self-esteem.
The Bible: Concept of self-esteem is nonexistent in Scripture. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" Psalm 51:17.
Purpose Driven Church: How to become an "influential Christian" (John C. Maxwell).
The Bible: "But he that is greater among you shall be your servant" Matthew 23:11. We are to be imitators of Christ who made himself of no reputation.
Purpose Driven Church: Nature of man: Man is a victim.
The Bible:Nature of man: Man is a sinner: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. "They did not like to retain God in their knowledge" Romans 1:28.
Purpose Driven Church: Focus on self.
The Bible:Focus on God, then others: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" John 13:34.
Purpose Driven Church: Christians need to be pleasing savor to the world.
The Bible:"For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one (we are) the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life" 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.
Purpose Driven Church: Be loved by the world.
The Bible: "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you (from their company), and shall reproach (you), and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" Luke 6:22. "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" I John 3:13.
Purpose Driven Church: Seek ye first the felt needs of the world and the Kingdom shall be added unto you.
The Bible:"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33.
Purpose Driven Church: Different church services for "Churched Harry & Mary" vs. "Unchurched Harry & Mary."
The Bible: Same church service and message for both church and unchurced at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-11). Same message of repentance to every tribe, tongue and nation: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15. (Same message throughout the Old Testament as well!
Purpose Driven Church: Shine the salt of earth into a sparkling gem.
The Bible: As the salt of the earth we must be covered with the blood of the Lamb in order to retain savor, remove poison in the world, and preserve the world: "Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" Matthew 5:13.
Purpose Driven Church: Unchurched have rejected church but not necessarily God.
The Bible: All unsaved are in rebellion and have rejected God: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" 1 Corinthians 1:18.
Purpose Driven Church: Self-centered.
The Bible: Self-Sacrifice.
Purpose Driven Church: This generation is different from all past generations.
The Bible: This generation is IDENTICAL to all generations.
Purpose Driven Church: Asks what we can require of God.
The Bible: Asks what God requires of us.
Purpose Driven Church: Seeks personal fulfillment.
The Bible: Seeks obedience to Christ.
Purpose Driven Church: Integrates psychology with the Bible.
The Bible: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" 1 Timothy 6:20. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" Isaiah 8:20. "Beware lest anyone spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" Colossians 2:8. "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies" 2 Peter 2:1.
|
Purpose Driven Church: Integrates Personality Theory and Tests with the Bible, such as Meyer-Briggs Test, S.H.A.P.E., Kiersey-Bates Temperament Sorter, based on occultist and atheist Carl Jung & Sigmund Freud... all based on astrological signs of the Zodiac.
The Bible: "Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come. Behold, they shall be as stubble..." Isaiah 47:13, 14. "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Matthew 7:16. "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes" Luke 6:43-44. "Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh" James 3:12. "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" 1 Corinthians 10:21.
Purpose Driven Church: Unconditional acceptance.
The Bible: Requires repentance; God is not tolerant of evil. Sets in place Elders in church discipline to judge and restore those in the church.
Purpose Driven Church: You set boundaries.
The Bible: God sets the boundaries.
Purpose Driven Church: Seek a higher power... whatever or whomever that might be for deliverance from disease.
The Bible: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:12.
Purpose Driven Church: Journaling is how you keep connected with God.
The Bible: Praying and meditating on God's Word is how you keep connected with God.
Purpose Driven Church: Invites false teachers to pulpit, such as Muslim clerics; or Presents false or contrary teachings in positive light from the pulpit.
The Bible: Shepherds protect and guard the flock from wolves and wolves in sheep's clothing. "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" Acts 20:28-31.
Purpose Driven Church: Never criticize what God is "blessing."
The Bible: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" Galatians 1:8. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" Ephesians 5:11. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world" 1 John 4:1.
Purpose Driven Church: Principle of Pragmatism: If it works, it must be good!
The Bible: Be faithful to the same message whether they respond or not: "And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear" Ezekiel 3:11.
Purpose Driven Church:All truth is God's Truth.
The Bible: "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth" John 14:17; 16:13.
Purpose Driven Church: Respecter of persons.
The Bible: Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, In truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" Acts 10:34.
Purpose Driven Church: Makes the Highway to Heaven as wide as possible.
The Bible: "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" Matthew 7:14.
Purpose Driven Church: A growing church means God is blessing us.
The Bible: Blessing and curse is completely dependent on obedience to God's Word.
Purpose Driven Church: Thinks men seek after God.
The Bible: "There is no one who seeks God" Romans 3:11. God seeks after men: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17.
Purpose Driven Church: Promotion comes via completion of courses.
The Bible: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" 1 Peter 5:6. "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another" Psalm 75:6-7.
Purpose Driven Church: Catch people unaware
The Bible: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" Colossians 2:8. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" 1 Peter 5:8.
Purpose Driven Church:Lower mind's resistance.
The Bible: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:13.
Purpose Driven Church:No silence during church service.
The Bible: "Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation" Zechariah 2:13. "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him" Habakkuk 2:20.
Purpose Driven Church:Man builds the church.
The Bible: Jesus Christ builds his church: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" Matthew 16:18.
Purpose Driven Church:My strength is made perfect in my "strengths", i.e. S.H.A.P.E. (Personality profiles, Gift profiles, etc
The Bible: "My strength is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9.
Purpose Driven Church:Fear of the Lord?: "I don't think fear, as a tactic, really moves people toward faith these days. So, tactically, I think there are better ways to interest the uninterested in the claims of Jesus Christ." --- Pastor Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church.
The Bible: "And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes" Romans 3:17-18. |
=========================================================================================
A. W. Tozer wrote these words in 1955:
"For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate "producers" peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it."
=========================================================================================
“The last thing many believers need today is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice.” (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life , 2002, pg. 231)
"They [the early Christians] were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." - Acts 2:42, 47
=========================================================================================
"Arguing with Success"
by Douglas Groothuis
You can’t argue with success — or so most Americans believe. But you can argue about the meaning of success. The church-growth movement is after success: reaching the largest number of people possible through innovative and culturally relevant means. Healthy churches are growing churches; and, presumably, growth requires updating worship, preaching, and church architecture. We must "become all things to all [people]" in order to win them to Christ (1 Cor. 9:22).
Who could argue with this? Are not many seeker-sensitive churches thriving while other churches are dying? Despite its growing congregations and contagious influence, however, the church-growth movement needs to be evaluated biblically, especially by those who love the church and want it to grow.
American evangelicals have tended to be populist and pragmatic in their thinking. They have yearned to win as many souls to Christ as possible through any biblically permissible means. This zeal, however, has not always been tempered by knowledge. As Os Guinness warns in Fit Bodies, Fat Minds (Baker, 1994), though energetic and inventive, this orientation can lapse into appeals to the lowest common denominator that sacrifice biblical integrity. Simply drawing a crowd and giving people what they want is not the calling of Scripture.
In their zeal for converts, seeker-sensitive churches may convert God’s message into a form more likely to impress but less likely to save the unbeliever. If cultural relevance is our guiding principle for evangelism and church growth, we can become irrelevant to God’s agenda, for the gospel will always contest, subvert, and make foolish "the wisdom of the world" (1 Cor. 1:20). We must engage the culture biblically by renegotiating its assumptions and calling into question its false gospels, false securities, and false loyalties.
How might some aspects of the church-growth movement be accommodating the gospel message to worldliness? These observations are not blanket indictments. There is a broad range of church-growth strategies — some are compromising to varying degrees while some are perfectly biblical.
First, in order to reach an entertainment-oriented culture, many churches are adopting an approach that dishonors the gravity, depth, and substance of biblical truth. This is sadly evident in many sermons. One megachurch pastor advises that seeker-sensitive pastors preach for no more than 20 minutes on topics taken from the self-help section of the bookstore. These messages must be "light and informal." Instead of offering an antidote to the superficial and mind-numbing distractions of a culture that is addicted to amusement, preachers sometimes resemble talk-show hosts more than impassioned orators of a holy God (1 Pet. 4:11). The banter of mirth often obscures the glory of the gospel. This criticism does not apply equally to all seeker-sensitive churches, but the trend cuts deep and wide.
Second, some church-growth pundits champion the "marketing of the gospel." This notion often goes uncriticized, since advertising permeates nearly every square inch of our culture. If marketing other things works well, why not market the gospel? Marketing attempts to meet an audience’s existing desires or create new desires for the purpose of selling a product. Marketing typically appeals to selfishness, covetousness, vanity, and fear. It is the science of psychological manipulation for economic ends.
The gospel is not merchandise that we can buy or sell (Acts 8:18-23). Rather, it is a gift to offer, a gift to receive, and a life to live. Although we must understand the unbeliever’s mindset in order to speak the truth in love to him or her (Eph. 4:15), the gospel cannot be converted into a commercial for Christ. Marketing never chastens or offends its potential customers. The gospel repeatedly chastens our self-sufficiency and offends our pride so that we might humbly rest in the sufficiency of Christ (Matt. 11:28-30). Christianity has no customers; it has disciples who are disciples only because they have been brought to their knees before Christ. Jesus initiated His public ministry by exclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (4:17). Preaching repentance is utterly alien and antithetical to marketing. Therefore, marketing and evangelism are antagonists, not allies. A church can be advertised, but the gospel cannot be marketed.
Third, the use of contemporary music and drama in worship can diminish the appreciation of God’s transcendent holiness, especially if it is presented as a performance for spectators instead of as an offering to God.1 One churchgoer interviewed for a television special said he wished his church services were longer because they were like "a good movie." It seems he was more entertained than edified. Of course, older music is not always better for worship. Nevertheless, because much of popular culture is intellectually insipid, aesthetically impoverished, and emotionally vapid, contemporary music’s incorporation into worship should be done with surgical care. The medium must fit the dignity of the message.
We should thank God for creative ways to evangelize. Church growth through conversion should be our aim. But we must not become anything less than biblical in order to reach as many as possible for Christ (Rom. 12:1-2).
Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., teaches at Denver Seminary and is the author of Christianity That Counts (Baker, 1994).
NOTES:
1 See Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, "Putting Worship Back into the Worship Service," in Douglas Groothuis, Christianity That Counts: Being a Christian in a Non-Christian World (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 72-84. |
=========================================================================================
Rick Warren is...the average American pastor. He’s not a false-teacher, heretic, liberal, whatever. He’s wrong in a few areas; he’s made mistakes as we all have. When we make mistakes, though, it’s best for us to acknowledge them, repent, and seek reconciliation. To my knowledge, Rick Warren has not done that in regards to any of these issues.
Would I ever recommend PDL? I have in some select circumstances. I would never recommend it as an evangelistic tool, but I think there are some instances when it is a good basic discipleship tool. As with most discipleship tools, it teaches some necessary truths but further training is required.
|
|
|
|
|
|
