The Purpose Driven Church (2)

The second session of this brief series explains what are the five M's that Rick Warren, of Saddleback Church has identified as being the focus of his programme for The Purpose Driven Church. These are:

1: Magnify God – to celebrate His presence in worship
2: Ministry – demonstrate love through service
3: Mission – communicate God's Word through evangelism
4: Membership – incorporate God's family into fellowship
5: Maturity – educate God's people through discipleship

Behind Warren's statements lies the idea that these things are measurable, in other words, the Purpose Driven approach is itself driven by numbers, by continually asking the question “how many”?

Warren's programme for church growth makes it sound so easy, but there is concern about the accuracy of some of his statements. Some of his references to incidents in church history are just not true. As an example, his comment that Wycliffe was burnt at the stake is totally inaccurate, he was not. His insistence that the hymn-writers used tunes that came from the taverns as a justification for using worldly music is also an assault on those who hold to traditional church music.

Another major concern about Rick Warren is his association with Robert Schuller, who is an anathema to many evangelicals and has a track record in non-biblical teaching.

The simplicity of Warren's approach; that you merely have to meet peoples felt needs and they are then more open is belied by many examples in the Gospels.