Excerpts from Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life

mmpublicrelations.com ^ | Rick Warren

[P-Marlowe]

Excerpts from Rick Warren's

The Purpose-Drivenâ Life

 

 

What On Earth Am I Here For?

It's not about you.  The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.  It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.  If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.  You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will not make sense.

 

Planned For God's Pleasure

Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship."  It is the first and primary purpose of your life.  The Bible says, "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love."¹ Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship. 

 

Depending on your religious background, you probably need to expand your understanding of "worship."  You may think of church services with singing, praying and listening to a sermon.  Or you may think of ceremonies, candles and communion.  Or you may think of healing, miracles, and ecstatic experiences.  Worship can include these elements, but worship is far more than these expressions.  Worship is a lifestyle.

 

Formed for God's Family

Your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old and inevitably, by death.  On the other hand, our spiritual family -- our relationship to other believers -- will continue throughout eternity.  It is a much stronger union, a more permanent bond, than blood relationships.  On earth, it is called fellowship.

 

Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule.  We talk about finding time for our children, or making time for people in our lives.  That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks.  But God says relationships are what life is all about.

 

Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ!  God expects us to give our lives for each other. It is God's second purpose for your life.

 

Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationship to each other.  But all of them are about relationships!  Later, Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: love God and love people.  After worship, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life.

 

Created to Become Like Christ

From the very beginning, God's plan has been to make you like his son, Jesus.  This is your destiny, and the third purpose of your life.  God announced this intention at creation: "Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.'"² 

 

God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so he certainly doesn't want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.

 

--more--

Excerpts from The Purpose-Drivenâ Life/page two

 

 

Let me be absolutely clear - You will never become God, or even a god.  That prideful lie is Satan's oldest temptation . . . This desire to be god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future and people around us.  But as creatures, we will never be the Creator.  God doesn't want you to become a god, he wants you to become godly -- possessing his moral character.

 

Shaped for Serving God

God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play, based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed, or "shaped,"to do certain things. You were shaped to serve God. Your service is called your "ministry"and it is the fourth purpose of your life.

 

Only you can be you.  God designed each of us so there would be no duplication in the world. No one has the exact same mix of factors that make you unique. That means no one else on earth will ever be able to play the role God planned for you. If you don't make your unique contribution to the Body of Christ, it won't be made.

 

Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination.  Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us"than service.  Immature people say "I'm looking for a church that meets my needs and bless me,"not "I'm looking for a place to serve and be a blessing."  We expect others to serve us, not vice versa.  But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service.  What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. 

 

Made for A Mission (pg. 146, 255)

 

God is at work in the world, and he wants you to join him. This assignment is called your mission. God wants you to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world. Your ministry is your service to believers, and your mission is your service to unbelievers.

 

The mission that Jesus had while on earth is now our mission since we are the Body of Christ.  What he did in his physical body, we are to continue as his spiritual body, the church.  What is that mission?  Introducing people to God!  The Bible says, "Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also."³ 

 

When you became a believer, you also became God's messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you. Paul said, "We speak the truth before God, as messengers of God."... Your Life Message has four parts to it: Your testimony: the story of how you began a relationship with Jesus; Your life lessons: the most important lessons God has taught you; Your godly passions: the issues God shaped that you care about most; The Good News: the message of salvation

 

 

 

¹ Psalm 147:11 CEV

² Genesis 1:26 NCV

³ 2 Cor. 5:18 TEV

 

 

[BipolarBob]

After viewing the website you linked, I will not be in any haste to search out the book. I still have my sword (Bible).

[Not A Snowbird]

I looked at that one when I was doing my internet search. Vancouver's pretty far, but if I find myself down that way on a Sunday I'll check it out.

Thanks!

[Not A Snowbird]

Please keep an open mind. Most of the people bashing Rick Warren have never even seen a Saddleback service.

[blue-duncan]

I've read the book at least three times in order to lead one of the small groups in my church. We had over 80% participation of members and attenders in the Purpose Driven Project and, after the forty days, a request to keep the small groups going with a standardized Bible curriculum. The participation did not drop off. It changed the way we approach adult education. It is just a tool, not the message. I am now working with a biblically conservative group in a liberal UCC church to implement the program. Because it is a New York Times bestseller, the church's pastor thinks it is appropriate without ever reading the book. Pray for this church in Connecticut.

[P-Marlowe]

Seems that the big complaint about the book is that it is not DEEP. Well, 99% of the population in this country is not spiritually DEEP. When people aren't ready for meat, a little milk at least gives them spiritual nourishment.

It is clearly not a book designed for the "Theoologian Class", so I suspect that wannabe theologians might find it less than substantive. So what?

[Not A Snowbird]

I think you're right on the money.

I confess to being slightly biased where Rick is concerned. He's the reason I came to Christ.

[buckeyesrule]

I love John MacArthur!

[Frumanchu]

I have this book. My church is currently doing it for one of their adult Sunday School classes. It's painful to say the least. If I had read this book even before I became a Calvinist, I still wouldn't like it. Too saccharine. No meat. Barely even milk. More like Similac.

For a review from a Reformed perspective you can read here.

[blue-duncan]

Way to go P-M, this thread should go on for a couple of days at least. Not bad for a Saturday evening preparation for Sunday. We are all going to bed having thought about the scriptures, and that is a good thing. Thanks.

[k2blader]

Ha! Funny thing. I just bumped a really old thread on the subject hoping to gain interest.

I started reading the book a few days ago. So far, so good! It has got me thinking and spending more time with the Lord.

[AAABEST]

...More like Similac.

This is what happens when do-it-yourself-ministers don't rely on a Church and the wisdom of the ages filtered by all who came before them. This is in direct conflict of what Christ desired when He founded a Church via His apostles. He certainly didn't want loose cannons with bibles under their arms single handedly professing what they believe to be His doctrine.

If it's Similac, that's not half bad. Sometimes it turns out to be Strychnine.

[Zechariah11]

That seems to be true.

When I thought of the success of Rick Warren’s church earlier today, I couldn’t help but think of how pertinent Revelation 3:17 was. Many dispensationalists believe that the Laodecean letter especially relates to today's modern evangelical church:

: -- Because you say I’m rich (ie successful); I have become wealthy, and need nothing, and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

It is the small church with strong Bible exposition and reverence in worship that holds the guidon of past faithful congregations. I have been to Warren's church and was appalled.

[Zechariah11]

This is what happens when do-it-yourself-ministers don't rely on a Church.

Care to elaborate on which church with a capital "C" you have in mind? I don't believe our Calvinist friend would quite go so far as to renounce Reformed theology for a universal Church that would train pastors in sodomite seminaries.

[LiteKeeper]

It is one thing for it to be weak theologically...it is an entirely different thing for it to be wrong...and that is it's biggest failing. For instance, the first principle, RW defines "worship" as us giving God pleasure - that is NOT a generally accepted definition of worship!

[P-Marlowe]

You seem to equate success with the Laodecean Church. So if a church grows then you have to assume that they are doing something wrong.

If Rick Warren's church represents the Laodecean Church, then which of the 7 Churches does your church represent?

And how big is your church? And has it grown in the last 20 years?

[LiteKeeper]

No, why?

[P-Marlowe]

For instance, the first principle, RW defines "worship" as us giving God pleasure - that is NOT a generally accepted definition of worship!

Is it untrue? Or just unconventional?

Did not God create us for his good pleasure? And does he not want us to worship him? Then doesn't it follow that if we worship him, it gives him pleasure?

[LiteKeeper]

Giving God pleasure, and worshipping God, are not the same thing. The angels is Rev 4:11 are worshipping God by speaking direclty to God. Their actions may have given God pleasure, but that is NOT worship.

A good summary description of worship is here

[Zechariah11]

So if a church grows then you have to assume that they are doing something wrong.

Not necessarily, but in the pop- ethos of the current age, likely. Just look at many of the popular Pentecostal churches prominently featured on TBN.

The growth in Saddleback seems to have rendered it a quasi-evangelical phenomenoh worth emulating in the minds of many. Hopefully, a discerning Biblically trained believer would visit before embracing this Laodecea..

Another poster mentioned the saccarine approach taken by Warren. That is it in a nutshell. Toss out the beloved hymns of the past, get everyone up and clapping to some rousing entertainers, install the teleprompter screens, water down the Bible expositon, and "presto" you've got a crowd.

[AAABEST]

Care to elaborate...

No not really. Our stupid opinions (including mine) aren't really worth very much, whether your name is Warren, Calvin, AAABEST, Zechariah11, Frumanchu or Luther.

Such would be like relying on some ant crawling along the sidewalk to tell us how to build a space shuttle to explore the solar system.

The Word of God is infinite, we're at this moment earthbound sinners. Logic dictates that in such a circumstance you should choose the well you draw from carefully. It's a shame that the minds of singular impeachable philosophers have become the source of salvation for many.

Some here are prideful enough to believe that they can just pick up a bible and run with it, or worse minister to others with any true effect. As if Jesus died, handed His ministry to His twelve apostles, who then in turn gave His Church directly to the any ol' body who picks up "The Message" (or a host of other corrupt translations) at Barnes and Noble, bypassing twenty centuries and countless others who walked before him.

Neglecting 2,000 years of saints, martyrs, philosophers, wisemen, kings, theologians, monks, hermits, scribes and laymen to rely on any solo-doctrinarian is illogical, whether that person be one's self or another.

Christ didn't found a Church-of-One, He founded a Church. As with everything else He did, He did so for good reason.