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Tuesday's Wall
Street Journal article, "Veneration Gap - A Popular
Strategy For Church Growth Splits Congregants," written by WSJ
reporter Suzanne Sataline, was based on
interviews that Ms. Sataline had with many
people, including an editor at Lighthouse Trails and several of the
researchers we know. The interviews extended over many weeks and
equaled hours worth of discussion. Ms. Sataline also interviewed former members of
churches that had become Purpose Driven, and for that reason those
members were no longer at those churches.
While Ms. Sataline's effort
to tell the story of how so many churches are in disarray because of
the Purpose Driven movement is commendable, the article is lacking in
that it left out some vital factors in understanding the seriousness
of what is taking place in churches throughout North America. As is
often the case in journalism, it is possible that Ms. Sataline's article was altered by editors at Wall
Street Journal and the final version was beyond her control -
thus it is not our intention to criticize Ms. Sataline
but rather to bring to light issues that in many ways have become
obscure. Given the fact that so many people have now testified to the
great damage, the unkind and often cruel treatment and the dangerous
integration of non-biblical, New Age ideas into the Christian church
through Purpose Driven, it is possible that the Wall Street
Journal article could do more harm than good - by omitting the
real key issues, readers may be led to believe that criticisms of
Purpose Driven are trivial and thus unimportant.
First, the article fell short in describing the
underlying foundation of Purpose Driven, which is humanistic,
ecumenical, and a betrayal of faith, and emphasized symptoms or signs
of the movement (e.g.. removal of hymns and
pews) rather than the dangerous and deceptive nature of it. The
article said that critics, or resisters as Rick Warren has called
them, are concerned about church growth tactics such as "mission
statements" and "simplistic Bible teachings," and
while this may be true, we know from the countless emails and phone
calls we have received that those who oppose Purpose Driven would
describe their concerns as far more serious than that.
Secondly, there was an underlying theme woven
throughout the WSJ article depicting older, traditional church
members who reject Purpose Driven versus younger, contemporary ones
who want it. On Tuesday, after we read the WSJ article, we contacted
Charles Jones, the man in Mississippi who is discussed in the WSJ
article. Mr. Jones told us that, prior to he and other members
leaving Iuka Baptist Church (where he had attended for over 59
years), he had been removed from a deaconship position and said that
when the new Purpose Driven shift took place, "the older folks
were totally left-out," and leadership positions were given to
younger members, sometimes new believers. Jones said that two other
deacons were pressured to resign. This disregard for older, seasoned
believers has become an earmark for Purpose Driven churches. At
Lighthouse Trails, we have received many phone calls from older
saints. A typical phone call would be from a man or woman in their
sixties or seventies, who along with other members of their church,
were concerned over the lack of biblical integrity of Purpose Driven
and tried to persuade church leadership to reevaluate the decision to
incorporate it into their church body. Jones told us, "We've
been studying the Bible for a long time, and we recognized this was
not biblical teaching." Sometimes those who call us say that
after decades of attending church, they have no
where to go - all of the churches in their community have
become or are influenced by Purpose Driven. Recently, Rick Warren
told followers, "If your church has been plateaued
for six months, it might take six months to get it going again. If
it's been plateaued a year, it might take a
year. If it's been plateaued for 20 years,
you've got to set in for the duration! I'm saying some people are
going to have to die or leave. Moses had to wander around the desert
for 40 years while God killed off a million people before he let them
go into the Promised Land. That may be brutally blunt, but it's true.
There may be people in your church who love God sincerely, but who
will never, ever change." (from Purpose
Driven Resisters - Leave or Die)
The WSJ article accurately showed that
"Congregations nationwide have split or expelled members who
fought the [Purpose Driven] changes," and that Purpose Driven
training for pastors and leaders meant "help [ing] them leave if they don't stop
objecting" and "when those congregants join a new church
... pastors should call their new minister and suggest that the
congregants be barred from any leadership role." But what the
WSJ article unfortunately left out was just how villainous
"resisters" are viewed and treated. The article mentions a
man named Rev. Dan Southerland, president of Transitions. It did not
tell, however, that Southerland is a member of Saddleback Church and
the author of a book called Transitioning, which is sold on
Rick Warren's website and used to train leaders. In that book,
Southerland states: "We have experienced two major sources of
criticism during our transitions. The first is Christians from more
traditional backgrounds.... Not all of our traditional backgrounded Christians have been critical - just
the ornery ones. Our second source of criticism is traditional church
pastors. Again, not all traditional church pastors - just the meaner
ones" (p. 116). In that same book, Southerland refers to opposers as "leaders from hell." In an
email sent to us by a former Purpose Driven church member, a field
representative for Rick Warren told the former member's pastor to do
whatever he had to do to get rid of complainers. It is Rick Warren's
mantra, "Whatever
it takes," that seems to justify such attitudes. Lighthouse
Trails has witnessed these tactics first hand. Recently, Saddleback
Church told Lighthouse Trails that they believed we had broken into
their server and that Federal agents were "working on the
case." (see
more) This accusation followed a series of emails from Rick
Warren and phone calls from other Saddleback men over the last 18
months. In addition to our own experiences with opposing Rick Warren,
we receive phone calls and emails every week by those who tell us how
they were ostracized, ridiculed and intimidated by pro-Purpose Driven
church leaders when they even slightly questioned the changes taking
place.
While we believe that the Wall Street Journal
article can have value because it does alert the general public to
problems with the Purpose Driven movement, we regret that the article
did not mention anything about Rick Warren's promotion and
endorsement of contemplative spirituality (i.e., Spiritual Formation)
and the emerging church. These aspects were carefully explained to
the WSJ reporter with the hope that this story would show that the
real reason why so many people are opposed to Purpose Driven goes far
beyond the removal of pews and hymnals. As Pastor
Bob DeWaay (quoted in the article and
author of Redefining Christianity) stated, Rick Warren is
"gutting" Christianity. We believe this gutting is removing
the very tenets
of our faith and replacing them with a seductive and sensual
spirituality that ultimately diminishes biblical Christianity and the
true gospel message of Jesus Christ.
To Mr. and Mrs. Jones of Iuka, Mississippi and to all
other brothers and sisters who have courageously stood for the faith
in spite of ill and undeserved treatment, we salute you and thank you
for being such examples of whom the church really needs.
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