RE: Creative Destruction
Seems to me Jesus does His best building up when we are "broken".
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Matthew 21:44
That stuff is NOT what Schumpeter and Drucker -- and when you get down to it, Marx -- are all about.
(Funny, though, how Marx's ideas have found their way into so many churches during the latter part of the last century, purportedly a good fit for "the gospel.")
These guys are talking about tearing down the society, churches, and lives, and then reconstructing them the way they determine to be best for society.
Note that I said "for society". If you examine Warren's teachings, he IS preaching a "social gospel" -- he is literally talking about establishing "peace on earh" -- a condition that every orthodox (and I use the term in the generic sense) Christian KNOWS will not happen until the return of the Messiah, when HE establishes HIS Kingdom.
Yet, Warren preaches a "different" gospel -- a gospel that does assert that if we obey his rules, we WILL have that which Christ says we will NOT have.
Not to put too fine a point on it, this is the "gospel" that the antichrist will attempt to impose on the world: A type of "unity" among the nations of the world, based on the works of man. (And no, don't anyone go putting any words in my mouth. I am NOT saying that Warren is the beast. There have always been people who have been seduced into preaching the false gospel. This is nothing new.)
These are not complex issues. This is the simplest "milk" of the Gospel. Yet, "even the elect" are subject to the siren song of worldly "peace", and all the trappings.
To go back on an earlier (faulty) comparison attempted to apply to what is going on, it's NOT like pruning a tree in order to get more fruit. It's like pulling out the entire orchard, so that a supermarket can be built on the site. Reams of "proof" will be provided, demonstrating that it makes much more sense to bring in produce from afar, and market it using efficient business techniques, so that more people can buy more fruit for less money.
Might make "economic sense", but it's certainly not even a rough fit for the parable.
Creative DESTRUCTION. Not by Christ, but by Rick Warren -- with the ghost of Joseph Schumpeter whispering sweet less-than-nothings in his ear. (Please, no lectures on "ghosts" -- I am using a figure of speech, OK?)
We can go round an round -- but I won't. I'll lay out some facts, and those who want to see what's going on, well, he who has ears to hear, let 'im listen.
For those who are apparently committed to Rick Warren, there's nothing I, or anyone else can do for you.
Hopefully some lives -- some families -- perhaps even some churches -- might be spared, if enough people wake up to what is happening in their midst. It's already too late for far too many, but there are many more still "in the valley of decision."
It seems like every decade or so, something "different" comes along, promising to "help" churches, but in the final analysis, leaving a trail of broken lives in its wake. I remember the "Basic Youth Conflict" seminars back in the '70s, and then, a few years later there was the "Shepherding and Discipleship" movement (which destroyed a church I built from scratch -- and many lives and families in the process), and now, the "Purpose Driven" Gospel.
It's sad, but it's like clockwork. Funny how that works, isn't it.
And hopefully I'm done for tonight. I am weary beyond words.