The Rick Warren Approach
Unbelievers determine the church’s message
Extract from ‘Redefining Christianity’ by Bob DeWaay (available from Amazon)
The key idea behind Warren’s Purpose Driven church movement is not new – Robert Schuller invented it when he began his ministry in California in the 1950’s. Schuller’s idea was to make a church that unchurched people would find appealing. He consulted his good friend Norman Vincent Peale to find an answer. Schuller writes, “Hoping to impress unchurched people, I wrote to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote back a marvelous statement with his permission to quote extensively. So I grabbed hold of his coattails.” This insight led to Schuller’s philosophy of possibility thinking and self-esteem. Schuller developed and perfected this non-offensive message and eventually turned it into the Crystal Cathedral and the “Hour of Power.” His Institute for Successful Church Leadership has trained many of the key leaders that are currently promoting the seeker model within evangelicalism, including Bill Hybels and Rick Warren.
The key idea is very simple: Change the Sunday Morning church service so that non-Christians will not only attend it, but enjoy it and keep coming back. Using a fishing analogy, Warren says, “Catching fish on their terms means letting your target determine your approach.” The way to do this is to begin with the felt needs of the unchurched. One felt need that unbelievers (unchurched is a euphemism for sinners) do not have, according to Warren, is for the truth. Warren reasons, “While most unbelievers aren’t looking for truth, they are looking for relief.” Since, in our post-modern milieu, most people are more interested in what works for them (in terms of their own wants and priorities), making a church service designed to appeal to the general public means not making truth claims a prominent part of the message of the church. Warren knows the culture of the age:
Because preachers are called to communicate truth, we often mistakenly assume that unbelievers are eager to hear it. But unbelievers aren’t that interested in truth these days. In fact, surveys show that the majority of Americans reject the idea of absolute truth.
The bottom line for Warren is that the church must meet people’s felt needs and not expect them to listen to sermons that proclaim the truth.
