About the Author
Bob DeWaay is the senior pastor of Twin City Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has been a pastor with Twin City Fellowship for 25 years and the senior pastor since 1995. He holds a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from North Central Bible College, and a M.A. in Theological Studies from Bethel Theological Seminary. Since 1992 Bob has published over 90 articles on important theological issues through Critical Issues Commentary. He is also a frequent radio guest on KKMS 980am in the Twin Cities and has a Critical Issues Commentary radio show on Oneplace.com. Bob and his wife Diane have been married 33 years and have two children and one grandson. For leisurely activity Bob enjoys fishing and golf.
Foreword
Jan Markell introduced me to Bob DeWaay when we were both being interviewed on her radio program, Understanding the Times. It was then that I learned of our parallel ministries. Not only were we both pastors of Bible-centered churches, but each of us also had writing ministries dealing with theological issues facing the church today. Since that time I have made it a practice to read Bob’s excellent bi-monthly positional papers in Critical Issues Commentary. More than that, when people write me about subjects that I have not yet addressed, I always refer them to Critical Issues Commentary (and I often do so even if I have written on the subject). In reading his work, I have found Bob to be a careful researcher who is gracious yet clear and not afraid to speak the truth in love. But most of all, I have been delighted to confirm time after time that Bob is biblical.
When I learned that he was writing a book on Rick Warren and his ministry, I was excited. Here would be a book, I was sure, which would shine the light of Scripture on what Warren taught and would do so in a way which honored God and edified the church. I was not disappointed. This is the best overall examination of Rick Warren and his “Purpose Driven” ministry that I have read. Pastor DeWaay has done a great service for the church of Christ.
Several times each year I visit the worship services of other evangelical churches. In recent years I have noticed a commonality about most of them. It seems as if they are all reading from the same menu when it comes to philosophy of ministry, worship style, preaching content, and use of Scripture (or, should I say, non-use?). While I was aware of the influence some of the flagship seeker-sensitive churches were having (especially Willow Creek and Saddleback), I was nevertheless mystified at the level of cloning that I saw in the smaller churches that I visited. I had numerous bits and pieces of information, but I still could not comprehend some of the things I was experiencing. Bob connected the dots for me when he documented Warren’s successful efforts at franchising his own church, Saddleback Valley Community Church (Warren calls this his “church-in-a-box” approach).
Bob painstakingly shows that Rick Warren has done for the church what McDonald’s has done for the restaurant industry. Unfortunately, the church is not in the hamburger flipping business. Applying franchising principles to Christ’s church may result in outward success, but true success cannot be measured by simply reading the bottom line of “nickels and noses,” buildings and programs.
But there is a bottom line by which to measure the church – it is doctrinal integrity. The church is the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15); if the church fails in its God-given mission of upholding, defending and propagating the truth then it fails. Period.
It is on this level that Bob DeWaay challenges Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven” agenda. Is the Warren franchise successful? By every criteria that a retail franchise can be measured, the answer is a clear yes. But how is the Warren franchise doing with the all-important commodity of truth? This is the question with which Redefining Christianity is concerned. The answer will be hard for some to take. Then again, we are talking about truth. In Christianity Redefined, Bob DeWaay demonstrates that Warren strips the faith of key doctrines, accessorizes it with human wisdom, turns it into a journey of self-discovery and sells it to the unsuspecting world as “Christianity.”
Some will decry Bob’s efforts in this volume. Why expose Rick Warren? After all, he is surely doing some good and his motives seem to be pure. What these people miss is that God has called the elders of the church to not only exhort in sound doctrine, but to also refute those who contradict sound doctrine (Titus 1:9). These two things all elders of every local church are to do, but only a few godly leaders are equipped to exhort and refute in such a manner that the church at large is edified. Pastor DeWaay is one of those few. Provided by God with an analytical mind, willing to do the hard work of careful research, knowledgeable of Scripture, gifted to write and possessing the heart of a pastor, Bob DeWaay is the right man to give us the insight we need into the Purpose Driven movement.
Dr. Gary E. Gilley, Th.D
Senior Pastor of Southern View Chapel, Springfield, Illinois.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Chapter 1
Rick Warren’s Ministry Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Chapter 2
Redefining the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chapter 3
Redefining Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 4
Redefining Christian Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Chapter 5
The “Gospel” According to The Purpose Driven Life . . . . . . . . . ....103
Chapter 6
How Misused Bible Translations
Support a Journey of Self-discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Chapter 7
Redefining God’s Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Chapter 8
The Problem with Private Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Chapter 9
The Purpose Driven Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Chapter 10
Who determines “Church Health,”
Jesus Christ or Rick Warren? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Conclusion
Redefining Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..233
Appendix 1
The Invisible and Visible Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Appendix 2
The Churches of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
