Mike Ratliff uses his own experience to make the case. I am curious to read his earlier writing closer to the time he lived through this, and particularly his understand of the influence of Rick Warren and the Purpose Drive Life & Church.
I too helped teach a small group using those materials, also an Alpha course. I later became aware of issues with both of those and the men behind them. Save that for another post. Maybe after I find and read Mike’s early posts.
I do observe that their influence continues until today. In fact, our church is actual running a new Alpha course. And in a dinner conversation with some young adults, children of our good friends, there was an active discussion of the now almost 20 year old Purpose Driven Life. Someone even shared they still had a dozen or so copies they had never given away. So it’s true then and now it’s had widespread influence.
Here are a few quotes from Mike’s post, but again more discussion is needed to understand these concerns, and if they are valid.
”The emergent movement, the seeker-sensitive movement, and the New Perspective on Paul, for example, have one thing in common. They all seek to nullify what God’s Word clearly teaches about the Gospel. In the small skirmishes I have had in this battle I have found that their usage of scripture to make their points is out of context and, therefore, not based in God’s truth. Their attacks against orthodoxy cannot be based from scripture because genuine orthodoxy is based entirely in it. The deeper we dig into the Word of God the more we see the truth and the more we see it the closer to orthodoxy we become because God’s Word changes the hearts of His people. Therefore, the attacks against orthodoxy take the form of Straw Man attacks. These battles can be quite heated and painful and I have learned that there are some that are not worth taking on.
In any case, those who resisted what I was “teaching” at my former church could not refute what I was saying from scripture. On the other hand I used scripture to show how corrupt the Purpose Driven Church model was in relation to what the Bible teaches. That period was one of the most painful times I have ever gone through.
What I experienced then was quite mild compared to what those Christians in other parts of the world deal with even to the point of being martyred. However, it opened my eyes to how spiritually blind most professing believers are. Some do not want to “give up” their favorite sin so they resent calls to repentance and obedience. Others are deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing like Rick Warren.
When I stood against that I became a pariah very quickly. Why? They had fallen for the lie that to stand against the Purpose Driven Church is to stand against evangelism. No one wanted to hear how Rick Warren had watered-down the Gospel, removing the cross and why it is necessary in any preaching of it. There is no dependance on simply preaching the Word and the genuine Gospel that God will save people who repent and believe as He gives them faith to do so by His Grace. Instead, they gear church to be popular with unbelievers by NOT preaching about the Fall of man and his hopelessness before our Holy God to save themselves from His wrath. Instead, church becomes a constant push to be a fun place to be on Sunday mornings hoping that those unbelievers will feel at home and join their fellowship.
The mindset that says that God’s desire for His people is that they be religious, just “doing church,” without any emphasis on discipleship and spiritual growth with little to no emphasis on doctrine, is hypocritical and spiritually blind”
Rainbow Trout 