Why I Don’t Accept Rick Warren As An Orthodox, Biblically-Sound, Legitimate Christian Preacher
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October 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Well, yes and no. Warren’s “Just show up” is screwy, but the “entry point” he mentions is accurate, as far as it goes. Yes, Jesus did indeed tell some disciples of John, “Come and see,”
So, Warren’s initial takeoff isn’t bad. Indeed, Jesus Himself both modeled and (didactically) taught a “show and tell” gospel–and commanded us to do the same (check the Greek and a couple of decent translations of Matt 28:19-20, for example).
But.
Where Warren and others screw up is in attempting to make the Gospel relevant to people’s felt needs.
*feh*
Still, even a blind pig finds the ocassional acorn, and Warren isn’t entirely off base in all his remarks. The rroubling thing is that he doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish between bright, shiny distractions and eternal truths. What we’d be better to aim for is praying for him to meet a blinding light on his own Damascus road… *heh*
(BTW, for an interesting take on the mega-church with little or no connection to a biblical foundation, see the wry treatment at Evangellyfish. It’s in “blogological order” so page on down to the bottom for chapter 1. (So far, Doug Wilson’s gotten 12 chapters out–trying to keep his schedule at one a week. It’s not modeled after any particular mega-church, but it does touch a number of sore points many of them have rubbed raw over the years. I find it’s easier to just subscribe to the newsfeed so I always have the next chapter up front. You might also want to check Doug’s blog and Credenda Agenda. You’ll likely find some things to argue with, but they’ll be worth your time, IMO. You can find the links on my right sidebar–one under Credenda Agenda and the other under Blog and Mablog.)
October 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
David, the audio/video presentation and refutation from Todd Friel isn’t the sole reason why I do not accept Warren as a legitimate Christian preacher but it does illustrates many problems fairly well. There are more.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
“…illustrates many problems fairly well. There are more.”
Yes, there are. And I very much agree with your general statement that he doesn’t qualify as a “legitimate Christian preacher”. Just wanted to point out the first point objected to in the video was not entirely legit, either. We need to watch ourselves when critiquing preachers that we don’t err, either (we will, of course, cos we’re not yet perfect either, but some of the ilk of Warren–who’s at least not quite as bad as Joel Osteen, though that’s damning with faint praise indeed!–make it hard to come up with anything to say in their defense, eh? *heh*
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Point taken, David.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Of course, someone also said, ‘who are you to judge the servant of another, for to his own master he stands or falls, and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.’
From what I see here, this passage of scripture is violated.
That is extremely frustrating. God asks us to love God and people, but I hear none of that in this reply. Just arrogance, judgment, lack of love.
Truth is important. But is it more important than love? Not according to 1 Cor. 13. But from the tone of this video, truth is more important. Except that John 1:39 says, ‘come and see’, which Rick Warren agrees with, but the video strongly denies. So the video (Friel) is in error, and preaching falsehood.
As someone once said, “now the shoe is on the other hand”… (I recognize the irony, but it is a quote)
October 13th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Well, Ron, we will have to agree to disagree. Proper discernment, testing all things and holding on to that which is good and also being Bereanic in making sure what is being preached is in harmony with the Scriptures is what I consider Biblical. With that in mind, I do not accept Rick Warren as a legitimate Christian pastor due to many unscriptural teachings he has put forth, some of which wander into essential doctrine. Whereas it may be arguable that Friel may or may not be in error in the portion you make, it seems other points he made concerning Warren’s words are quite valid.