“Rick Warren is ALL about Rick Warren.”
that’s true of modern leaders of religion and politics, and most all phases of public life.
Show me a list of humble leaders - the nation or the world!
GWB would most likely make the humble list, but who else??
Pope Benedict XVI
1) They preach a disproportionate Gospel. What I mean is, they preach almost exclusively about the love of Christ, how he forgives, how he can meet your needs, how he can heal your wounds, how great he can make you feel, etc. I ABSOLUTELY don NOT disagree with any of those things, BUT they never seem to get around to preaching about our sinfulness and Jesus reaction to that. Jesus talked about hell 3x as much as he did about heaven. He taught about becoming holy and the consequences of sin and living a sinful life. Warren and others NEVER seem to get around to those points.
2) This is my MAIN objection to Warren and those in the ‘Emerging Church’ movement. It appears to me that they approach their relationship with God, and thus teach others the same, from the point of what God can do for them. It is all about how you can benefit from a relationship with God. Almost like the reason for entering into a relationship with him is for all the ‘goodies’. This is SO wrong. We are placed here to SERVE God. To bring Him glory. Not the other way around. All of the examples in the bible are of men who served God to further His kingdom, not to make their life on earth a more pleasant experience. Warren seems to miss that quite often.
So what? The fact that that truth is so widely repeated by others does not diminish the relevance of it, in understanding Rick Warren.
Billy Graham has a great deal of influence in America. And he is one of the most humble of men. His goal has only been to spread the word of Christ. I don’t believe that Warren can say the same.