A Rick Warren blog

Size, location don't matter

By Mark Kelly

The Purpose Driven paradigm works in all churches because God gave the Great Commandment and Great Commission to every church, regardless of size and location. As Rick Warren says, "Purpose Driven is a biblical strategy, and anything that is biblical will work anywhere!"

We know the PD paradigm works in small churches because Saddleback started out as a small church. It grew large, by God's grace, using the Purpose Driven process. The PD paradigm worked when it was a small church, and it still works now that it is a mega-church. The point of the paradigm is not growing a mega-church; the point is helping a congregation achieve health and strength by focusing equally on all five of its biblical purposes.

You don't have to take my word for it. Listen to the testimony of a couple of pastors:

Assisting the poor

By Mark Kelly

With the passing of Jerry Falwell, voices in the major media have been musing about the “new breed” of evangelicals. Some seem to think evangelicals will be less concerned about political “hot button” issues.

That’s not very likely, but there does seem to be a new spirit of understanding among followers of Jesus that God cares about the whole gamut of problems that keep people from experiencing the full, free, and forever life he created them to enjoy – and that Jesus died to give them. While the major media have made a big deal out of renewed evangelical concern for “creation care,” the new awareness reaches far beyond that.

More and more evangelicals are realizing that God’s concerns transcend political platforms. His heart breaks for the oppressed. Injustice makes him angry. And he has a special love for the poor – the weak, vulnerable, voiceless half of the world’s people who live in extreme poverty. Jesus made it very clear that when we help “the least of these my brothers,” we have helped him. (Matthew 25:31-46) If Jesus cares like that, his followers ought to do something about it.

Saddleback’s P.E.A.C.E. initiative envisions God’s people all over the world rising up to tackle the “global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, self-serving leaders, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and lack of education. In this issue of The Better Life, Rick Warren focuses on the problem of poverty: what causes it and what you can do about it.

Read: Four ways to help God's favorites, the poor

Lifesaving and treasure hunting

By Mark Kelly

Suppose you’re a lifeguard at the beach who uses a Jet Ski to rescue swimmers in trouble. And you also have a second job, diving for treasure in shipwrecks off the coast. What would you think if someone criticized your Jet Ski as inadequate for the job of treasure hunting?

That’s how I feel when I hear criticizers say Saddleback’s weekend services don’t do a good job of teaching believers the deeper truths of the faith.

There’s a reason they don’t: The weekend services aren’t intended to do that. They are designed to accomplish two things: help our members worship God and assist them in evangelizing lost friends they are witnessing to.

On the passing of Jerry Falwell

A statement from Pastor Rick Warren on the passing of Jerry Falwell (1933-2007):

"Jerry Falwell was one of the giant figures who towered over the 20th century American church. Most people knew him as the founder of the Moral Majority, the face of the Religious Right, and because of some of his more controversial statements, many saw only a caricature of the real man.

The story was never told about his compassionate heart, his gentle spirit, his enormous sense of humor, and the millions he invested in helping the underprivileged. Jerry founded the Elim Home for alcoholics, the Center for tutoring inner city children, the Hope Aglow ministry for prisoners, Liberty Godparent Home for unwed mothers, and literally dozens of other compassion projects to help the poor, the sick, and others in desperate need.

I believe Jerry Falwell’s primary legacy will not be his political leadership, but the church he pastored for 50 years, the university he founded that has produced two generations of leaders, the millions who heard him preach the Good News, the innovations in ministry he introduced, and the thousands of young pastors, like myself, that he constantly encouraged."

Seven myths about ‘Purpose Driven’

By Mark Kelly

Hundreds of thousands of churches all over the world have been transformed by an idea: Balancing your focus on all five of God’s eternal purposes for the Church will bring a congregation into vigorous health and allow it to experience the spiritual and numerical growth God intends it to have.

A global phenomenon like Purpose Driven is bound to be misunderstood by some. It’s inevitable that misinformation would circulate. In spite of all the time and effort spent helping people understand the biblical vision of the purpose driven church, we have found seven myths pop up regularly:

Worship can reach the unchurched

By Mark Kelly

I have never quite understood why some Christians think the Gospel is bad news. If a church is drawing large numbers of unbelievers, they think that somehow it must be watering down the truth to attract the unchurched.

Didn’t the angel tell the shepherd he was bringing “good news of great joy which will be for all the people”? (Luke 2:10 NASB, emphasis mine)

The Gospel is not, as some people seem to believe, “God hates sinners.” The Gospel is that God loves sinners and that Jesus died to set us sinners free from everything that keeps us from living the full, free, and forever life he created us to enjoy.

Rick Warren says that a clear, biblical message – delivered in terms unchurched people understand and in a tone that shows you respect and care about them – will attract unbelievers. They want to understand how the Bible’s message relates to their lives. “They are looking for solutions, not a scolding,” he says.

And he says you don’t have to choose between deep, authentic worship and a service that evangelizes: “A clear message coupled with genuine worship will not only attract unbelievers, it will open their hearts to the power of the Gospel. As they feel God’s presence and understand the message, they will walk away changed.”

In his column in this week’s edition of Rick Warren’s Ministry ToolBox, Pastor Rick explains how genuine worship can be a powerful witness. If you’ve heard a criticizer say that Saddleback Church compromises the eternal truth of God’s Word to attract a crowd, you need to read this article.

By the way, subscriptions to the ToolBox are free.