Friday, April 20, 2007

Worrying trend: Rick Warren may not be a Christian after all

Check out this article by my dear brother Pastor Ken Silva regarding the state of Rick Warren. Granted, we need to excercise extreme caution when talking about another's salvation, but Rick Warren has committed so many sins against the Church, against fellow Christians, against the Word of God, and against ultimately God Himself so blatently and without remorse for so long that it is evident that his heart is hardened against God, and thus it is right to question his salvation.

Since we are on this topic, I would like to post the summary report of my review of Rick Warren's sermon during his 'PDC tour' in Singapore 2006. Here it is:


From this review of Pastor Warren’s message, many troubling signs can be seen. Warren’s promotion of the Neo-Apostolic heresy and his subtle hint of an embracing of Word-faith heresy are particularly disturbing. His revivalist tendencies reminiscent of the Pelagian arch-heretic Charles Grandison Finney, together with his neo-liberal socialist tendencies in promoting a new ‘evangelical’ social gospel exposes him as a false teacher. When one includes all the church splits he has indirectly caused by his Purpose Driven Church/Life and 40 Days of Purpose campaign, which implicates Warren of committing the Diotrephesian error (3 Jn. 9-10), there is very much cause for concern. One can only hope that the Church of Jesus Christ would open her eyes to the deception of this heretic and turn back to Christ alone.

With regards to Warren’s sincerity, it can clearly be seen that Warren seems to be passionate about serving God. At least in this sermon, Warren comes across partly as a humble servant of the Lord with God just blessing him with affluence and influence. He also did mention that he did not seek wealth, nor fame or influence, but God just gave them to him. Assuming he is what he has portrayed himself to be from this sermon, it is no wonder that many people who call themselves Evangelicals are fooled. As Christians who are called to be discerning, however, we are called by Christ to discern the fruits (Mt. 7:15-20) and not look on the surface at apparent piety. If discernment is properly and biblically exercised, even if Warren is sincere and means what he says, Warren, through his false teachings and beliefs and improper associations, could be seen to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Oh, he is sincere, but he is sincerely devoted NOT to Christ, but to a god of his own making; to a god whom he creates from reading the Bible through the lenses of his unbiblical worldview. He is serving that god, and NOT the true God of the Bible.

However, we do know from the words that he says elsewhere in secular interviews and speeches etc that Warren is not being true in his portrayal of himself in this sermon. On the one hand, he says that he says that he is not seeking fame and influence, yet if then, why should he be yearning to be the pastors of pastors, through setting up his pastors.com website and the Purpose-driven network? Why is he championing the HIV/AIDS cause but not championing the cause of the unborn? Worse still, why is he not championing the best way to solve the HIV/ AIDS crisis, which is for sexual abstinence before marriage, marital fidelity, an end to homosexuality and all forms of deviant sexuality, no drug abuse and thus no sharing of needles? Why would he be toeing the liberal line on fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis, unless of cause that truly standing up for Christ in this manner would make him unpopular with the elites in society? So from all this, we can see that Rick Warren is indeed seeking fame contrary to what he says in his message. At the very least, he is ashamed of the Gospel, and Scripture does tell us what the punishment of God is upon those who do such things (Mk. 8:38; Lk. 9:26). Since he is supposed to be a pastor, such action of his is sufficient cause for him to be removed from the pulpit altogether.

In conclusion, we can see the various errors embraced by and being promoted by Rick Warren. Therefore, Rick Warren is to be marked as a heretic and avoided (Rom. 16:17) because of his embrace and promotion of various heresies, and treated as such if and until he repents of his heresies and sin of schism.

Oh, and just to add one more point for the sake of fellow Christians, if you really care about Rick Warren, encouraging him in his apostasy is the more hateful thing you are doing to him, since he will continue to be convinced he is right. The most loving thing anyone can do for Rick Warren now would be to rebuke him for his errors and hand him over to Satan (1 Cor. 5:5), in the hope that God would break him and turn him back to Christ in repentance for his many heresies, like what God has done in the immoral man who repented (2 Cor. 2:5-8) after being given over to Satan previously. Since such is the case, and since many undiscerning Christians are supporting and even defending Rick Warren, Warren supporters are actually guilty of hating Rick Warren and allowing, and even facilitating him to slide into perdition.

6 comments:

Mike Ratliff said...

I left our old church in Olathe, Kansas USA last year in May because the Pastor was leading the church to become a Purpose Driven Church. No matter how much I said or how much evidence I gave to him and the other leaders that they were making a huge error, they ignored me. My wife and I have been churchless since. We have been visiting other churches, but we haven't found the right one yet.

I like your blog very much and I admire your courage in taking on the Purpose Driven Paradigm and Rick Warren. I also like the direct way you write.

In Christ

Mike Ratliff

Daniel C said...

Mike,

thanks for sharing. Indeed, it is a heartbreaking to be abadoned by most people who call themselves Christians. All of us believers truly desire to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and when we can't do that because of such a situation, we are pained in our hearts.

Anyway, just to encourage you to persevere on also. Your love for Christ and humility is evident in the posts on CRN and on your blog. Keep up the good work.

SDG,
Daniel Chew.

Anonymous said...

"... Rick Warren has committed so many sins against the Church, against fellow Christians, against the Word of God, and against ultimately God Himself so blatently and without remorse for so long that it is evident that his heart is hardened against God, and thus it is right to question his salvation."

I doubt Rick Warren would acknowledge that. His problem is not that he has sinned or he is without remorse, but this:

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20

Not trying to quibble, but either way, it is just as tragic...

Anonymous said...

disgusting!

Anonymous said...

Daniel, great book - I have placed a few copies on our small church bookstall, along with some good MacArthur titles (no takers as of yet).

I was going to write an encouraging word or two, and yet the Spirit is drawing me to write that we should pray. Pray that THIS deception WILL draw to a close and NOT lead many to apostasy, that those sheep and shepherds of our Lord's pasture will hear His voice, repent and SUBMIT to God, under the headship of Christ Jesus.

Mike, I acknowledge the heartache that is felt when people WILL not listen, it is almost as bad as that felt when I neglect to speak when I should.

I could write more, but it has already been said in many places by many people.

Pray, preach the Word.

Peter James

Daniel C said...

Thanks Peter for the encouragement. And yes, we should pray; after all, prayer is the only weapon that we have which call upon the resources of heaven and bring us to the state and position whereby God can use us to mightily impact the place wherever we are for Christ. So let's contunue to pray for the Visible Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe God will be faithful and answer our prayers.