His paradigm consists of a perspective that looks at everything through the five New Testament purposes of the church, and a process for fulfilling those purposes (p80). Warren’s primary thesis is that “what is needed today are churches that are driven by purpose instead of by other forces” (p80).
The magnitude of popular influence wielded by the Purpose Driven method, coupled with the enormity of its reported success among professing evangelicals, makes asking all the more important: what should we think of a church driven by purpose?īefore posing the question, let’s be careful to understand the author in his own words. As such, its implementation will contribute to our understanding of the gospel and the church. It is an overarching method for Christian ministry – a way of going about spreading the gospel and building up the church. The Purpose Driven concept is more than just an isolated idea or discrete curriculum that takes its place among a pantheon of programs. The relationship is reciprocal – our methods will in turn play a subtly formative role for our thinking on gospel and church (or at least the thinking of those converted under our ministries). The methods we use to spread the gospel and build the church will not just be determined by our understanding of gospel and church. What’s more, his evident productivity in evangelism is nearly unrivaled, which makes his methods seem sacrosanct, and critically evaluating them taboo.īut McLuhan’s dictum is still instructive: The medium is the message. In fact, his beliefs and values are ours in so many ways that we are wary of questioning his methods lest we be seen as turning our turrets on our own trenches. His understanding of salvation is biblical, he trusts in the sovereignty of God, evangelistic zeal pulsates from his heart, he affirms the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture, he believes in regenerate church membership, and he has been practicing church discipline for 21 years now. On the spiritual battlefield, he is our ally. Indeed, Warren is part of our own household. Warren’s has become a household name among pastors everywhere, many of whom are implementing the Purpose Driven model with reportedly astounding results.
While most evangelical authors struggle to sell 5,000 copies of a single title, Warren’s 1995 release has sold over a million, with rave reviews from evangelicals of all stripes. Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995) fits this bill to a “T”.
Every so often a book makes itself a must read simply because of the sheer number of people being influenced by it.
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