The Heresy of Rick Warren
This is written for people who truly believe and trust in the reality that Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who created all things. Please be warned there is not a single instance in the Gospels or in the rest of the New Testament where false teaching is treated mildly. The harshest words in the New Testament are reserved not for simply “religious leaders” as many modern pastors frequently state but more specifically to false teachers and hypocrites. Often, it is these same “pastors” who are leading people to another “Jesus” – a different “Jesus” – a carnal unholy rock and roll “Jesus” who cannot save. We must label what they are: Destroyers. Is Rick Warren a completely wicked agent of the devil, or is he a goodhearted believer who is simply deceived himself? Only God can know the heart. Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them.” Regardless of his motivations, Warren is steering the American Evangelical ship onto the Rocks of a carnal unbiblical Social Gospel.
Warren’s Background and Secular Accomplishments
In addition to his position as founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, now one of the largest churches in the United States, Warren is also a public figure. He has been called "America’s most influential spiritual leader" and "America’s Pastor.” He was named one of America’s Top 25 Leaders in the October 31, 2005 issue of U.S. News and World Report and selected by TIME magazine as one of 15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004 and one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World (2005). This bio taken from Christian booksellers Biblio website explains more of his background.
As an author, Warren is best known for:
* The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 25 million copies, making it the bestselling hardback in American history according to Publisher’s Weekly.
His six books have been translated into over 50 languages.
Rick and Kay Warren have donated 90% of their income through three foundations: 1. Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected by AIDS 2. Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries 3.The Global PEACE Fund, which fights poverty, disease, and illiteracy.
Warren’s humanitarian efforts have focused on addressing what he calls the five Global Goliaths:
* Spiritual Emptiness
* Egocentric Leadership
* Extreme Poverty
* Pandemic Diseases
* Illiteracy and lack of education
Warren claims that these problems are so large that every attempt by the public and private sector has failed and that the only organization big enough to take on these problems is the network of Christian churches around the world.
On August 22, 2005, Time magazine reported that Warren has been asked by Rwandan President Paul Kagame to help his country become a "Purpose-Driven” nation. To implement this, Warren has enlisted over 2,000 Saddleback church members to go to Rwanda in small groups to initiate a national strategy and the cooperation of 600 Rwandan churches. Business leaders and leaders of parliament in Rwanda are also involved.
Criticisms by other Christians:
Many Christian authors and teachers have expressed concerns regarding Rick Warren’s teachings and writings. While acknowledging some valuable content in his books, these authors and teachers complain that Warren tends to use sloppy exegesis, inaccurate paraphrases of the Bible, ecumenical teachings and a watered-down presentation of the Christian gospel. Many have also complained about pragmatism in his books, alleging that he endorses church practices based on their outcome, rather than whether they are doctrinally sound.
Warren has also been criticized for affiliation with Bill Hybels and his "seeker-sensitive" or "seeker-friendly" approach to church growth. This "seeker-friendly" movement has been disparaged for being more interested with, and catering to, people’s (often self-centered) "wants" rather than their real "need" (the latter representing traditional Biblical preaching). Critics also complain about the quality and content of the teachings espoused within this movement.
Warren is inclusive beyond his Southern Baptist roots, and welcomes pastors and leaders from all denominations to his training programs. Warren claims to stick to the "essentials" of the faith and focus on "loving people into the Kingdom of God” in an attractive way without compromising the essential tenets of his faith. Many critics, however, contend that Warren does compromise on various doctrinal truths in his teachings and that he espouses ecumenical teachings.
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A Different Jesus
Rick Warren has made millions of dollars from selling millions of people a false view of God the Father, Jesus his Son and the Holy Spirit: A rock and roll Jesus who comes with his candy coated cross and is OK with those who worship false gods and practice false religions.
How is Warren’s Jesus different than the Biblical, actual, factual Jesus of Nazareth? Warren only tells you half of the story. He speaks of God’s love but nearly avoids mentioning God’s coming judgment altogether. His professed Lord, Jesus the Christ, spoke of Hell more than anyone in the Bible. Warren’s church’s statement of faith is loosely orthodox. He doesn’t deny any major tenets of the Christian faith on paper, rather he does it by his traitorous and blasphemous actions in real life. This makes him all the more dangerous! Jesus instructed us to judge with a righteous judgment not merely for appearance sake.
John 7:24 reads: “Judge not according to the appearance, but Judge righteous judgment.” That means to assess or evaluate based on the relevant evidence. I speak harshly of “false teachers” as did my Lord and his Apostles since they set the example we as Christians must follow.
What makes Warren’s Gospel a Different Gospel?
He refuses to obey and accept the commands in scripture to separate from and rebuke apostates and false teachers, whether or not they are professed Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or Modernist Liberal’s who all deceptively call themselves Christians.
It boils down to this statement by Christ, “Why do you call me Lord but do not what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
This is the main point of Mr. Warren’s failings. He is orthodox in name only. He has refused to abide by the Biblical commands to separate from False Teachers, Heretics and join in worship with false religions. A Christianity that does not do these things is not in reality Christianity at all.
The Jesus Warren asks his hearers to invite into their hearts is another Jesus, a counterfeit. Once they are convinced that the nice, fluffy Jesus they bought into is the REAL Jesus they are closed off to and inoculated from true faith in the King of King’s and Lord of Lords who is returning to rule the world with a rod of iron and to judge the quick and the dead.
Specific Instances of Rick Warren’s Un-Biblical Behavior – In his own words and actions
Warren is part of the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist Convention. All of his senior staff sign on to the SBC’s doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and the exclusion of women as senior pastors.Yet, Warren’s pastors’ training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women. "I’m not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won’t try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" he asks, citing as his model Billy Graham, "a statesman for Christ ministering across barriers." (This evangelist has a ‘Purpose’, by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY 7/21/2003)
Can a "Christian” Pastor agree that the Bible and the Koran are both divine and that Mohammed was the prophet spoken of by Moses? Rick Warren, in blatant disobedience to our duty as Followers of Christ, along with many others signers on to the Yale Divinity Schools "Response to a Common Word" did just that!. This document, simply put, is rank heresy. Here is an excerpt [click here for source]:
It is hoped that this document will provide a common constitution for the many worthy organizations and individuals who are carrying out interfaith dialogue all over the world. Often these groups are unaware of each other, and duplicate each other’s efforts. Not only can A Common Word Between Us give them a starting point for cooperation and worldwide co-ordination, but it does so on the most solid theological ground possible: the teachings of the Qu’ran and the Prophet, and the commandments described by Jesus Christ in the Bible. Thus despite their differences, Islam and Christianity not only share the same Divine Origin and the same Abrahamic heritage, but the same two greatest commandments.
