Rick Warren Says: ‘Your #1 Purpose in Life is to ‘Let God Love You”
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
(Westminster Shorter Catechism)
As braggart Rick Warren adjusts to the post-2023 SBC Annual Meeting, where Saddleback Church was disfellowshipped for allowing a bunch of lady “pastors,” he spends much of his days whittling away on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), that bastion for spiritual scoundrels and knaves, peddling his skin-deep and sugary sweet brand of Christianity with the hope that if he begs enough, someone will take a bite.
Perhaps no single individual has done as much to stunt the spiritual growth of and sear the modern American evangelical conscience than Rick Warren. With his Peter Drucker-mentored corporatization of the church, his advocacy for purpose-driving, his Schuller-inspired, man-pleasing “gospel,” and his endless ability to taint every would-be solid minister on his way to becoming the king of dollar store, bargain-bin Christianity, Rick Warren’s career as the leader of the 25,000 members, 14 campus Saddleback Church has been nothing short of infamous. Warren’s brand of cheap, biblically-devoid, “I’m lovin’ it” Christianity has been the junk food that fattened up the American McChurch with so many empty spiritual calories, and he has been nothing if not boastful about it.
Saddleback has been the subject of a few controversies over the last few years after it was uncovered that they have several gay-affirming church leaders on staff who run a gay-affirming ministry for parents of LGBTQ+ children (the same as Andy Stanley’s North Point Church) and for having a “Blacks Only worship service” where no white members were allowed in, so the “black fold” could have a “safe space” to “heal.” They also came under fire after they blasted white Christians for having ‘no discernment’ and accusing them of not caring about black people.
In a clip posted by TBN to Instagram, Warren can be seen giving this unbiblical pronouncement:
Your number one purpose in life is to let God love you. Not for you to love God, but to let God love you. Now let me explain this; from cover to cover in this book, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible says the whole reason the universe exists is God wanted a family. God wanted a family, okay?
He didn’t need a family. He wasn’t lonely. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in a relationship to themselves, in a love relationship. But he wanted a family. The Bible says God is love. Not that he has love, that he is love.
It’s his essence, it’s his nature, it’s his character. The only reason there’s any love in the universe is because God created us and he’s a God of love. If God was not a God of love, you and I would not have the ability to give and receive love. The only reason we have the ability to give love and receive love is we’re made in God’s image.
About Author
I cannot stand Rick Warren given the destruction that man has caused all across the Christian Church. (I even refused one home I was about to buy because the street name was Saddleback Drive. Thankfully there was another one on a side street available.) That being said, my church music ministry started when all his drivel (Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, et al) began and I predicted what was going to happen and I have sadly been right. I’m now still living with the repercussions of their efforts.
Church music programs were thrown out, children stopped being taught the Bible, praise bands cropped up where every Sunday was a rock concert, you couldn’t ask people to bring a Bible because that might hurt someone’s feelings (versus letting them borrow one or having a stack of Bibles available to give as a gift) and pastors reduced to giving pep talks. All of the woke nonsense took hold because churches had already put their roots down on the world’s culture. (look up what Warren had to say against those that spoke up against his programs and how pastors should handle it.)
Children were raised in homes where they grew up Biblically iliterate, God was thrown out of the home so not to be “offensive,” and churches opened the doors wide to the world letting them dictate how they wanted church to be. This is where the millenials sprang from. And the further bread crumbs from his efforts have brought us snowflakes (look at Columbia and Harvard Universitys for their demonic stuff) and what is following behind will only grow worse.
This bozo has cropped up in my bank employer. All they talk about is “your purpose” and his other drivel so he is still getting a paycheck behind the scenes. “Inspiring and building better lives and communities is ******’s why. It’s the reason we’re here. And we achieve our purpose and fulfill our mission to our clients, teammates, and stakeholders, by living out our values every single day. ” All DEI and woke nonsence were given an open doors because we lost helping Christians study God’s Word so they had a Biblical foundation to face the world to stand strong against Satan’s onslaught. Now those same churches invite them in to preach, perform or lead the churches.
I’d say that pretty much sums up a lot of what passes for American Christianity these days: Spirituality a mile wide and an inch deep, producing generations of biblically ignorant ‘saints.’
Jesus is gathering “a people for his own possession who will glorify Him forever.” Apparently that is Rick Warren’s view of a family. He comes across as someone who wants the same from his own church family as well.
The seeker-sensitive Mega-Church is the one of the most destructive ideas ever for Christianity. RW was not the architect, but he was at least a major pillar. A good book was written about him years ago: Deceived On Purpose.