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Should We Use The "Purpose Driven Life?"
George
L. Faull
Dear Brother Faull,
Should we
use the “Purpose
Driven Life” and the 40-day program it advocates in
our Church?
ANSWER:
I would not
recommend if for the following reasons:
1.
The author does not hold to the New Testament pattern in
many areas of theology.
It is the same o, same o use of fads that’s ruining our
Churches because it introduces false doctine.
2.
It is Calvinistic through and through and most readers will
not be able to even discern the doctrine hidden in its pages.
He even says God planned that children would be born out of
wedlock! Did he plan fornication? It claims that he planned our life in every
detail even to the reading of His book!
3.
It is presumptuous from the very beginning.
It informs us that God planned for you to read the Book
before you were born. Has a more
egotistical remark ever begun a book.
It assures the reader will be transformed. That is audacious.
4.
It manipulates the reader by using 15 alleged translations,
many of which are only paraphrases and not translations, so you will get the
nuance he wants you to get.
It borders on manipulation.
5.
He uses paraphrases to prove his Calvinism and
predestination doctrines.
6.
It has dozens of verses taken out of context.
A text out of context indicates a pre-text.
7.
Its emphasis is trite.
He says, “whenever God wanted to prepare someone for His
purpose, He took 40 days.” He then
names a few Bible characters of which this is alleged to be true, but this is
not true even of these people. Forty is
the number of probation not preparation.
That is, someone is on trial or being tested, not transformed. He says,
“Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took 40
days… The next forty days will (not
may) transform your life.”
He says, “God considers 40 days a spiritually significant
time period. When God wanted to prepare
someone for His purpose, He took forty days.”
This is not so. One
could name dozens of Bible saints that a 40-day period had no significance in
their life.
8.
It gets very repetitive especially in latter chapters in
order to continue their 40-day idea.
9.
It is your typical faddish “easily believism.”
“Jesus, I believe in you, I receive you.” Welcome to the family of God. That doesn’t sound like
Luke 14:26-27, “26 If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot
be my disciple.”
10.
It stresses a false plan of salvation of “faith only” rather
than obedience to the faith.
Romans
1:5, “By whom we have received grace and
apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all
nations, for his name:”
Romans
16:26, “But now is made manifest, and by the
scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:” He advocates that the sinner’s prayer will save. This is unscriptural.
11.
He quotes many renowned popular religious figures like
Mother Teresa with no warning of her universalistic, New Age philosophy and her
Mariolatry and subjection to the Pope of Rome.
Other well-known apostates are quoted as if they were
Christians.
12.
Warren is known for his “seeker sensitive” fad as if there
were people everywhere who are diligently seeking God though they are in a
lifestyle of hedonism, debauchery and rebellion.
“Seeker sensitive” is absurd language for a Calvinist to
even speak about. Supposedly the lost
have no ability to seek God. They are
totally depraved and God must give them faith so they can be part of the elect.
13.
It preaches a diluted gospel at best.
Sin, repentance, the cross, or the empty tomb is noticeably
rarely mentioned. The Gospel definitely
is not explained, yet the book is supposed to be for both sinner and saint.
My beef with the book is, “where’s the cross?”
14.
If you use this book as a textbook, you are not marking and
avoiding false teachers, but rather promoting a denominational preacher. You are making him an authority and expert
on a subject that he knows little about.
15.
Any book outside the Bible that is well received for Bible
study by Churches of all persuasions must be suspect.
16.
To use this book is to follow the philosophy that the end
justifies the means.
A book filled with abused Scriptures, false concepts, easy
believism, Calvinism and faith-only doctrine as a means to an end cannot
produce more good fruit than harm.
17.
Our Churches are turning Baptists in their doctrine, they
are joining Baptists Church Associations, they are inviting in Baptist
ministers to our conventions and colleges and they are using books by Baptist
authors for study guides.
Think of the foolishness of doing that. “Repent and be Baptists” is the cry of our
Churches. I for one protest
solemnly. Our Churches do not do
anything to alarm the flock but invite their Pastors in to feed them. Some Elders and Preachers are going to have
a lot of explaining to do to the Chief Shepherd.
I could name Churches in my area that is Christian Church or
Church of Christ in name only. They are
totally Baptist in doctrine, polity, and vocabulary due to their fads.
18.
Stop and think how absurd it is for a predestinationist who
believes that everything ever done is planned of God, to be a pusher of someone
to be driven by a purpose.
If God ordained or planned for man to accomplish or be
something, mans own drive is worthless and fruitless. Imagine a predestinated man having to read a mere man’s book to
fulfill his destiny. How could a man choose to have a “purpose driven life” if predestination is true? It would be like preaching to the elect. It would be unnecessary.
19.
He denies that baptism is essential to salvation or a part
of being added to the Church, but it’s merely an initiation.
What? That’s what an
initiation is, “a bringing into.”
Galatians
3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ.”
Romans
6:3, “Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
I
Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and
have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
These show that baptism is into Christ, His death and His
body!
Is there salvation anywhere else than in Christ? How do you get into Christ? Is baptism not essential? There are no un-baptized Christians in the
Bible.
His chapter on baptism is atrocious. No wonder our Churches are so mixed up!
20.
It is dangerous for a leadership to recommend a book to its
congregation.
The people buy into the book, the author and his concepts
and then they are sold on him, and they buy his next book. So it continues on and on. Warren had the Purpose Driven Church, now
the Purpose Driven Life. What’s next? Who knows, but you can depend on our faddish
Brethren to seek it out and Standard and College Press to promote it big time,
false doctrine and all!