Rick Warren is the pastor of Saddleback Megachurch and the author of The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 30,000,000 copies. He is undeniably popular and well liked throughout the visible church. However, some concerns have arisen in his ministry that must be addressed, and in light of these issues we must question as to whether or not he is sound. These are just some of the concerns people have with him.
- If he is to be considered a teacher of sound doctrine, he breaks the required one degree of separation. He has and said that we should follow the likes of Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and Cash Luna (You can see his list here). Also on the list are Mark Driscoll, Brian Houston, Steven Furtick, Jentezen Franklin, Perry Noble, Mark Batterson, David Crank, and Robert Morris. To get this straight, not only has he broken the law God made in Romans 16:17 to avoid false teachers and the Ephesians 5:7 command to not become partners with them.
- When he spoke at Hillsong, he taught that all Christians should hear direct prophecies from God. 1 Corinthians 12 was written solely to disprove the idea that all Christians are meant to have the Charismata. In verse 29 (ESV), it says, "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?" (In the Greek, there is an implied "no" to each of those questions).
- He has promoted ecumenism/partnership between Christians and Muslims (Source). The Bible says, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14, ESV).
- He often quotes from The Message ( and ), which is a distortion of the Bible that was written by Eugene Peterson. The Message is basically a bad paraphrase of what the Bible teaches (And even as a paraphrase it distorts the actual message). You can see a comparison between a good translation and The Message can be found here (Note: I have not gone through the site this is at and don't know if its other articles are theologically sound).
- Rick Warren has been softening on Homosexuality. (I point you back to 2 Corinthians 6:14). He has also apologized for promoting a proposition that would ban same-sex unions (Source).
- He has said that people who didn't give to his church were sinning (, see at 6:03). This takes tithing to a legalistic level.
- Rick Warren has endorsed Catholics Come Home, a Roman Catholic organization whose goal it is to undo the Reformation and bring all Protestants and nominal Catholics into the Roman Catholic Church. (Source)
- In the same video as in #6, Rick Warren taught the Prosperity Gospel, saying, "Generosity multiplies my money," and, "When I give God 10% of my income, then he makes the 90% go farther than if I had 100% on my own." This is heresy and it is unchristian. He also said, "[Generosity] brings God's protection on your family, on your business, and on your own life."
- Rick Warren has affirmed the Papacy. As a big fan of Pope Francis, Rick Warren has not only violated the required degree of separation by partnering with Roman Catholics, but he has also praised the Pope (). He has also referred to him as "our pope" (See Previous Source) and "holy father" (Source).
With all of these critiques in mind, one must ask why Rick Warren is allowed a pulpit. He clearly taught the Prosperity Gospel, and in all honesty I have no clue why he hasn't already joined the Roman Catholic Church. Rick Warren is a false teacher and one that I would urge everyone to avoid.
Authors: Learning the Path - Blog
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