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
that the local New Testament church consisted of believerswho met together for worship, fellowship, instruction andedification. First Corinthians 3:16-17 tells us that the churchis the temple of God. When believers gather together as alocal church, they must view themselves as the dwellingplace of God and must realize that it is a place where manand God meet together for fellowship. The local body ofbelievers, the church, is the temple of the all-holy God.Ephesians 4:11-12 clearly shows that God gave individualleaders of the local church (pastors and teachers) special giftsfor a particular purpose--“For the perfecting of the saints, forthe work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body ofChrist.” The local church is not an organization that isordained by God to conform to the world in order to reachthe lost. No, the purpose of the local church is to worshipGod, to grow in His grace and knowledge and to train theindividual believers in the Word so that they might betterreach the lost for Christ and be a testimony to the world.They are to be different from the world--patterned afterChrist--not imitating or conforming to the world.One of the most revealing slogans used by Warren to showwhat must occur in any church in order for growth to result isthis: “Never confuse the method with the message. Themessage must never change, but the methods must change!”Is it true that Saddleback Community Church has notchanged its proclamation to the thousands assembled beneathits pulpit? What about Willowcreek Community Church andother contemporary, dynamic-growth ministries? No, thesemega-churches have indeed changed the message--they havedeparted significantly from the Biblical mandate regardingthe declaration of the whole counsel of God to be proclaimedby the elders/pastors of the faithful New Testament church.116
The message has clearly changed, and Warren’s own wordsprove it:Read Scripture from a newer translation. And as youread that Scripture, realize that you’re trying to pick outScriptures that appeal especially to baby boomers. Andtry to find Scriptures that specifically relate to thebenefits that Christ can bring into a person’s life.They’ve never heard the Scripture before, so try to pickpositive Scriptures that talk about the benefits of Christ...you want to pick out Scriptures that are very positive.Choosing only “positive texts” to preach on the Lord’s Day(or on Saturday evenings for those churches that desire tomake the services more “convenient”) and using only“positive texts” to define the purposes of the church (of the41 “verses that relate to the purposes of the church” listed inthe seminar workbook, none were included which dealt withinsistence upon warning, doctrine, etc.; none were from Acts20, Romans 16, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Peter, Jude orRevelation) resulting in a glaring deficiency in one’smessage. Vitally important texts dealing specifically with thechurch’s doctrine, message and ministry must be ignored inorder to maintain positive-only preaching. Indeed, themessage does change!Notice the following quote from a revealing essay entitled“Does Theology Still Matter?” by Gary L. W. Johnson in thebook The Coming Evangelical Crisis:Although most of today’s professing evangelicals wouldacknowledge that theology, in some sense of the word,does matter, a recent survey in Christianity Todayrevealed that this is more lip service than anything else.According to this survey...theology, in any sense of theword, is really not all that important to the very people towhom it should matter most: those in the pew and in thepulpit. Both groups listed theological knowledge as lastin terms of pastoral priorities. ... We are sadlyexperiencing, on a rather large scale, a subjectivism that117
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The message has clearly changed, and Warren’s own w<strong>or</strong>dsprove it:Read <strong>Scripture</strong> from a newer translation. And as youread that <strong>Scripture</strong>, realize that you’re trying to pick out<strong>Scripture</strong>s that appeal especially to baby boomers. Andtry to find <strong>Scripture</strong>s that specifically relate to thebenefits that Christ can bring into a person’s life.They’ve never heard the <strong>Scripture</strong> bef<strong>or</strong>e, so try to pickpositive <strong>Scripture</strong>s that talk about the benefits <strong>of</strong> Christ...you want to pick out <strong>Scripture</strong>s that are very positive.Choosing only “positive texts” to preach on the L<strong>or</strong>d’s Day(<strong>or</strong> on Saturday evenings f<strong>or</strong> those churches that desire tomake the services m<strong>or</strong>e “convenient”) and using only“positive texts” to define the purposes <strong>of</strong> the church (<strong>of</strong> the41 “verses that relate to the purposes <strong>of</strong> the church” listed inthe seminar w<strong>or</strong>kbook, none were included which dealt withinsistence upon warning, doctrine, etc.; none were from Acts20, Romans 16, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Peter, Jude <strong>or</strong>Revelation) resulting in a glaring deficiency in one’smessage. Vitally imp<strong>or</strong>tant texts dealing specifically with thechurch’s doctrine, message and ministry must be ign<strong>or</strong>ed in<strong>or</strong>der to maintain positive-only preaching. Indeed, themessage does change!Notice the following quote from a revealing essay entitled“Does Theology Still Matter?” by Gary L. W. Johnson in thebook The Coming Evangelical Crisis:Although most <strong>of</strong> today’s pr<strong>of</strong>essing evangelicals wouldacknowledge that theology, in some sense <strong>of</strong> the w<strong>or</strong>d,does matter, a recent survey in Christianity Todayrevealed that this is m<strong>or</strong>e lip service than anything else.Acc<strong>or</strong>ding to this survey...theology, in any sense <strong>of</strong> thew<strong>or</strong>d, is really not all that imp<strong>or</strong>tant to the very people towhom it should matter most: those in the pew and in thepulpit. Both groups listed theological knowledge as lastin terms <strong>of</strong> past<strong>or</strong>al pri<strong>or</strong>ities. ... We are sadlyexperiencing, on a rather large scale, a subjectivism that117
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