The Purpose-Driven Life of Rick Warren reviewed by Ronald J. Rychlak and Kyle Duncan

Wrong Turn
The Purpose-Given Life Gives Bad Directions

By Ronald J. Rychlak and Kyle Duncan

The Purpose-Driven Life has sold over 7 million copies and was named Christian "Book of the Year" in 2003. "Purpose-Driven" is now a registered trademark, and "Purpose-Driven" programs have been offered everywhere from schools and prisons to corporate headquarters, including Coca Cola, Sparrow Records, NASCAR, the LPGA, and the Oakland Raiders.

The book’s promise for those who follow its forty-day journey is that "you will know God’s purpose for your life." The book is being promoted and studied in some Catholic parishes, especially as a Lenten exercise, so it is worth examining whether it can deliver on its exaggerated promise.

The book’s author, Rick Warren, was labeled as "America’s most influential pastor" by Christianity Today. He is the pastor of Saddleback Church, which is situated on a 120-acre campus in southern California that was designed by theme park experts. Every weekend nearly 20,000 people attend services at one of nine "venues," including a 3,000-seat main sanctuary, a religious coffee bar, and a "beach hut" for high school students. Sculpted into the landscape are settings for forty Bible reenactments, including a stream that can part like the Red Sea.

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Warren is also doing praiseworthy work in Rwanda. After he and his wife observed the poverty and AIDS epidemic ravaging that nation, they set up foundations to distribute 90 percent of the proceeds from Warren’s book to alleviate poverty and combat AIDS in that country. Unlike so many other programs, Warren’s seems to be focused on abstinence and monogamy rather than simple condom distribution. Of course, because of this morality-based approach, Warren has already been severely criticized in the secular press. It also means, though, that his program might have a real impact.

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Purpose-Driven Salvation

Warren assures his readers that "God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?" For salvation, "all you need to do is receive and believe." He encourages his audiences to join God’s family as follows: "I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity, ‘Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.’" Then, "if you sincerely meant that prayer congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!"

Entry into eternal life? "If you learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God forever."

All of this can sound plausible to a Catholic who doesn’t have a firm grasp of the faith. Surely God doesn’t care about "religious background or doctrinal views"! But Warren’s assertions are themselves "doctrinal views," unstated and undefended. More urgently, is Warren talking about the same "eternal life" as Jesus did, the Jesus who taught that "the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matt. 7:14)?

Warren is right that we must love and trust Jesus, but Jesus himself told us what that really meant. For starters, Jesus said: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). He also said, "Not every one who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). And to those who say "Lord, Lord," Jesus warned that God may reply, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). But Warren makes little if any mention of sin, damnation, repentance, or the cross.  read it all