Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature
Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature
unreconcilable dichotomy between fleshly and spiritualmusic, then further study on the holiness of God is advised.What does Warren say regarding those in the church whooppose the switch from conservative to contemporary inorder to bring in the crowds? He stated in no uncertain termsthat the old stalwarts would have to go:Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told youearlier the fact that people are gonna leave the church nomatter what you do. But when you define the vision,you’re choosing who leaves. You say, “But Rick, yes,they’re the pillars of the church.” Now, you know whatpillars are. Pillars are people who hold things up ... Andin your church, you may have to have some blessedsubtractions before you have any real additions.How terribly sad! We have heard from many dear, godly,older saints (and some discerning younger believers as well!)who are heartsick about what happened to their churchesafter the leaders attended Saddleback seminars. Invariably,these now-dispensable saints have a spiritual maturity and anawareness of Bible truth that is obvious. Yet, instead of theirchurch recognizing the place and blessedness of suchbelievers in the local body of Christ (see Titus 2:1-15), theyare brushed off to the side, told to come only to the “moretraditional” mid-week service or frankly told to move on andfind another church. Because Warren is located in theSouthern California area, he mentioned that he often refersothers (either visitors or dissenters) to such churches asRobert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral or Jack Hayford’sChurch on the Way.No doubt Warren has been criticized by denominationalleaders who recoil at his strong suggestion thatdenominational “labels” should be abolished (thus,Saddleback Community Church, the People’s Church,Willow Creek Community Church, etc.). This is common to110
ecumenical endeavors which minimize doctrinal differences.Warren feels that terms like Baptist, Bible, Presbyterian, etc.might unduly offend some or unnecessarily narrow the groupof those who would visit:The unchurched hang-ups determine our strategy....Wefound a hang-up about denominational labels. I went out.I went door to door and said, “What do you think ofwhen I say ‘Southern Baptist’?” They said, “You don’twant to know.” ...So, we chose a neutral name. Why?Well, it wasn’t a theological decision, a compromise. Itwas an evangelistic strategy decision because we wantedto reach out.Interestingly, Warren worked into his presentation the factthat the Southern Baptist traditionalists evidently smile on hisapproach. Notice what he said concerning his meeting withseveral Southern Baptist notables:Once a year the pastors of the twenty-five largestSouthern Baptist churches get together, and we hole upin a hotel for two or three days and just talk about ourchurches. All these churches are running at least 2,000 inattendance. And it’s people like Adrian Rodgers andCharles Stanley and Ed Young and just all kinds of guysyou may have heard or may have never heard of....wewere sitting in a room together with all these people, andthey said, “Rick, take a couple hours and just tell usabout Saddleback. What’s going on?” Sitting cattycornerto me--I was a little nervous about this--sittingcatty-corner to me was Dr. W. A. Criswell....for twohours I’m just telling what’s going on at Saddleback.And here’s W. A. Criswell in his seventies taking notesas fast as he could, writing things down, writing thingsdown. And I walked out of there, and I started crying. Iwas so humbled by that experience, and I realized whyhe was a great man. He’d never stopped learning.This account was not given to merely express Warren’shumility; it was to authenticate his church growth strategy byrevealing that the respected experts, the “denominational111
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ecumenical endeav<strong>or</strong>s which minimize doctrinal differences.Warren feels that terms like Baptist, Bible, Presbyterian, etc.might unduly <strong>of</strong>fend some <strong>or</strong> unnecessarily narrow the group<strong>of</strong> those who would visit:The unchurched hang-ups determine our strategy....Wefound a hang-up about denominational labels. I went out.I went do<strong>or</strong> to do<strong>or</strong> and said, “What do you think <strong>of</strong>when I say ‘Southern Baptist’?” They said, “You don’twant to know.” ...So, we chose a neutral name. Why?Well, it wasn’t a theological decision, a compromise. Itwas an evangelistic strategy decision because we wantedto reach out.Interestingly, Warren w<strong>or</strong>ked into his presentation the factthat the Southern Baptist traditionalists evidently smile on hisapproach. Notice what he said concerning his meeting withseveral Southern Baptist notables:Once a year the past<strong>or</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the twenty-five largestSouthern Baptist churches get together, and we hole upin a hotel f<strong>or</strong> two <strong>or</strong> three days and just talk about ourchurches. All these churches are running at least 2,000 inattendance. And it’s people like Adrian Rodgers andCharles Stanley and Ed Young and just all kinds <strong>of</strong> guysyou may have heard <strong>or</strong> may have never heard <strong>of</strong>....wewere sitting in a room together with all these people, andthey said, “Rick, take a couple hours and just tell usabout Saddleback. What’s going on?” Sitting cattyc<strong>or</strong>nerto me--I was a little nervous about this--sittingcatty-c<strong>or</strong>ner to me was Dr. W. A. Criswell....f<strong>or</strong> twohours I’m just telling what’s going on at Saddleback.And here’s W. A. Criswell in his seventies taking notesas fast as he could, writing things down, writing thingsdown. And I walked out <strong>of</strong> there, and I started crying. Iwas so humbled by that experience, and I realized whyhe was a great man. He’d never stopped learning.This account was not given to merely express Warren’shumility; it was to authenticate his church growth strategy byrevealing that the respected experts, the “denominational111
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