ESSAYS    

CA 640

The Purpose Driven Church

Rick Warren

Zondervan Reflective, 1995

Brandon J. Bridges

Master of Arts in Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth

This paper is prepared for Newburgh Theological Seminary and

Newburgh College of the Bible

February 21, 2024

The Purpose Driven Church By Dr. Rick Warren

Foreword

This section of the book is affectionately written by Rick's "Father in the ministry," Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas: W.A. Criswell. Here he uses the familiar designation that the Apostle Paul himself gave to Timothy, calling Rick his "son in the ministry." He notes that he first met Rick in 1974, "when he was just a lad—" a crazed, idealistic college student having just driven over 350 miles to hear him speak at the California Baptist Convention that year in San Francisco. This is an excellent picture of just how far Rick is willing to go to get it "right," and to see to it that he learns all that God has for him, leading the reader into a sense of trust towards the lessons to come. With this man's endorsement, authenticity, credibility, and doctrinal reliability is further imbued. The writer also points out the differences between biological, transfer, and conversion growth, declaring that Saddleback church is unique in that it has been a major proponent of the conversion growth modality. Furthermore, Reverend Criswell attests to Warren's ministry being firmly rooted and grounded upon the "inerrant Word of God, Spirit-anointed servant leadership, and a genuine heart of love for his people." Note: how invaluable good, godly mentors are to young men seeking to fulfill their ministerial callings, and grow in the Lord.

Preface

Surfing Spiritual Waves

With an obvious affinity for the art of surfing, Warren does a wonderful job pointing out the parallels between waves, surfing, and the spiritual waves associated with revival and church growth. He continues this surfing-wave theme throughout the preface, encouraging would-be surfers to be persistent, just as any real surfer inherently knows he or she must. In regards to waves, he declares that it is wrong to presume that one can build the wave. He declares that the church has, in times past, tended to overlook the sovereignty of God in church-growth literature. Although there is often a Paul, as well as Apollos, it is God that ultimately causes growth (see 1 Corinthians 3:6). The church is not in the business of wave building, God is. He states, "Only God makes the church grow. Only God can breathe new life into a valley of dry bones. Only God can create waves—waves of revival, waves of growth, and waves of spiritual receptivity." It is the job of church leadership to notice the wave, the working of God, and ride it, join him, cowork WITH Him in his endeavors to build and renew the church. He promises that God will send more waves as we become more skilled at riding. In this book, Rick points out the practices, principles and processes that he has learned to work—Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, California serving as a laboratory, itself started by Rick in 1980. He says it is wise to learn from others' mistakes. I agree.

Chapter 1

The Saddleback Story

In this chapter, Warren seeks to share the context which underlie the methodologies he propagates throughout his book. He implores the reader to look beneath them, that they might identify transferable principles, the like of which may be applicable to their own church or ministry endeavors. Having felt the tug of God's call to the ministry himself, Warren began as a youth evangelist in the year of 1970. It wasn't until his life altering encounter with Dr. W. A. Criswell, three years later, at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco that God made Himself definitively clear, through Criswell himself and his own inner spirit, that Warren was to become a pastor. I particularly like Warren's definition of genuine success: "loving and leading consistently and ending well" (p.26). Warren is firm in his valuation of establishing a vision to unify and concentrate energies when it comes to building a church. He notes the dangers of utilizing transfer growth (taking members from other established churches in the vicinity), and instead advocates starting with unbelievers, making them into disciples, and waiting until you have high attendance before beginning construction on an actual church building. God certainly blessed  Warren's leadership. He had over 10,000 consistent attenders before building Saddleback. Having hand-addressed 15k letters stating their focus, he preached his first sermon, sharing "The Saddleback Vision" (p.43), on Easter Day, 1980.

Chapter 2

Myths About Growing Churches

Quoting Proverbs 23:23, the writer notes the importance of a wise person getting the facts, at any price, and being determined to hold onto all the good sense one can acquire. In this chapter, Warren addresses eight major myths that ultimately harm us and are prevalent in church culture. The first being "the only thing that large churches care about is attendance" (p.48), to "you can't learn from large churches" (p.66). He likens these eight myths to myths children believe surrounding Santa Claus, tooth fairies, the Easter Bunny, the moon being made of Swiss cheese, and weather patterns being determined by a groundhog who does or doesn't see his own shadow. In this chapter, Warren challenges the conventional church wisdom surrounding these eight harmful myths. He clearly defines what a healthy church should look like, stresses the importance of balance when it comes to the five purposes of the church (fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry, evangelism), and shares what his staff at Saddleback call "Rick's Rules of Growth" (p.61). Using an ax as illustrative material, he also points out the importance of sharpening one's skills. Of course, it is God who gives the increase; and yet, faith without a strong work ethic is dead. It is our duty as ministers to develop our abilities and talents and organizational acuity. I like how Warren assures us that people like a good challenge, as well. In other words, pew warming can get boring.

Chapter 3

What Drives Your Church?

Riding off of Proverbs 19:21, Warren goes right into a fictitious monthly church council meeting being called to order by Steve Johnson of Westside Church at exactly 7pm. The last names of those present show the varying sense of priorities common in such a setting. Some of these names are Faithful, Newman, Doer, Manly, Loving, Learner, Tightwad, and Clark Reasoner. These are most often the driving—guiding, controlling, directing—forces competing for attention in the majority of churches today. Warren does a fine job showing the reader what the calendars might look like for churches driven by tradition, personality, finances, programs, building, events and seekers. He shares with us the results of a survey completed by a popular church consultant, Mr. Win Arm, in which there is an enormous disparity between what the pastor versus the congregation of the average church believes their church's purpose to be. The pastor tends to see the purpose of the church to be to win the world for Jesus Christ by 90 percent, 10 percent of the purpose being to care for the needs of its members. Of the church members surveyed, 89 percent believed their church's purpose was to take care of their family.  Lastly, he shifts to present us with the biblical, purpose-driven church paradigm, and the new perspective and process required to have a clear, concentrated identity going forward. A healthy, growing church balances the five purposes God has for the Church.

Chapter 4

The Foundation for a Healthy Church

The first and most important task for any existing or beginning church is to form a clear answer to the question "Why do we exist?" Warren encourages readers to forget everything else until you have defined your church's purpose, establishing a clear vision in the minds of all concerning what exactly God wants to do in and through your specific church. Whether one's foundation is solid or not is in direct relation to a clearly defined, concise, memorable purpose statement. Warren goes on to state five major benefits yielded by having a clear statement of purpose. A clear purpose builds morale (p. 86), reduces frustration (p.87), allows concentration (p.88), attracts cooperation from others (p.91), and also assists church leadership in evaluation (p.93), allowing that church to benefit greatly from having an established accountability metric. He marks out four critical phases in turning your church purpose-driven: "First, you must define your purposes. Next, you must communicate those purposes to everyone in your church—on a regular basis. Third, you must organize your church around your purposes. Finally, you must apply your purposes to every part of your church" (p.94). He will cover the specifics of each task in the following chapters.

Chapter 5

Defining Your Purposes

In the preceding chapter, Warren encourages the reader to forego all other endeavors in an effort to first define your church's purpose; to answer that all important question for any budding or dying ministry: why do we exist? In this chapter he is sure to note how, while a student in seminary, one of his duties was to help leaders of large churches rightly evaluate their "total church program" (p.95). He found that although a church may be historic in reputation, and even theologically sound overall—it can still be sound asleep. There may not be any substance, nothing spiritually significant taking place there. If a church is "at ease" or "dis-eased," the most certain remedy is: to rediscover your purpose. Here, the author shows us how to study the Bible in an effort to define a church's purpose along God's lines. He declares that a purpose-driven church is committed to fulfilling all five tasks—and in equal measures—that Jesus so ordained that His church accomplish. Those purposes are to: (1) Love the Lord with all your heart, (2) love your neighbor as your own self, (3) proactively make disciples, (4) baptize them, and (5) teach them to obey the Word(pp.103-107). He then shares the importance of a Purpose Statement, and gives us Saddleback's. After conducting our own research, then, he states that an effective purpose statement must be biblical, specific, transferable and measurable.

Chapter 6

Communicating Your Purposes

Most people know that Warren is particularly fond of using alliterations to get his point across, and to help the reader or listener better assimilate the teachings and truths being conveyed. Using alliteration here, he shares with us what he calls the Nehemiah Principle. This "principle" involves rallying the people, reorganizing the project, recasting the vision, reminding those involved of the works importance, and reassuring them of God's will and backing concerning the project. In order for church leadership to fight discouragement and disillusionment in the people, they must learn to renew the people's vision, even restating it every twenty-six days to keep things headed in the right direction. After defining the purpose of their ministry, the leader's primary responsibility and job is to "continually clarify and communicate" (p.112) those purposes to those associated with the church or work at hand. This chapter covers various methods one might use to communicate their vision and purpose.

Chapter 7

Organizing Around Your Purposes

At this point we have laid a considerable foundation. We have built on that foundation using Scripture, symbols, slogans, stories and other specifics. We've personalized those purposes, fully understanding our responsibilities and our privileges as Believers and members in our church. And, we've stated our purposes over and over again, using all types of media, ever keeping them before our people, fighting through those tendencies to become complacent and discouraged by fanning the flames of our purposes. Warren has taught us the importance of using preaching and teaching, brochures and banners and bulletins and books, even making videos, cassettes and writing songs. Now we have a strong sense of purpose. In this chapter, Warren introduces us to five major types of churches—from the soul winning church to the social conscience church. He warns us of the dangers involving a church's natural tendency to overemphasize the purpose that most accurately expresses the gifts and passions of it's pastor. Here he lays out a clean system and structure to help balance the churches five purposes. I think every single church leader should be made aware of the 5 Circles of Commitment and The Life Development Process he fleshes out in this chapter. Lastly, Warren brings the reader up to speed concerning some major parachurch movements and models that should serve as a wakeup call, specialized movements where the church at-large is failing. 

Chapter 8

Applying Your Purposes

Chapter eight is really where the rubber is required to meet the road, so to speak. Warren shows us how to rigorously apply the purpose-driven church model to every single part of the church. This chapter moves the reader from theory and paper to decisive action in an effort to fully integrate your purposes into your church's membership, programming, education, small groups, staffing, preaching, budgeting and more, all the way across the board. 

This is the conclusion of Part Two of Rick Warren's book. 

Chapter 9

Who Is Your Target?

After seeing the big picture in part one, and becoming a purpose-driven church in part two, we now arrive at part three: "Reaching Out to Your Community." In this chapter, Warren takes us on an in-depth look concerning what is called "evangelistic targeting." Any successful business is to know thy customer. Well, this isn't secular business, nor are these simple customers. However, some principles do happen to be transferable. These are men and women we wish to thoroughly evangelize. This may pose the question of whether or not this is a biblically supported tactic. We are here presented with a variety of Scripture passages from which we can clearly conclude that knowing our target audience is not only allowed, but necessary for making the biggest impact for Christ, and in accord with His own methods. We see in Matthew 15:24 that Jesus claims he was sent only to the "lost sheep of Israel." And, over in Galatians 2:7 we learn that Paul and Peter were called to target Gentiles and Jews, respectively. This chapter shows us how to best define our evangelistic target, the one we can best reach—geographically, demographically, culturally and spiritually—and, how to make a useful composite, or sketch of our target and their specific likes, aversions and other details using what is more commonly called psychographics. Warren observes that, "the Bible determines our message, but our target determines when, where, and how we communicate it" (p.157).

Chapter 10

Knowing Whom You Can Best Reach

Just as there are many different types of music and preferences when it comes to musical genres, the last chapter made it clear that there are all different types of people with various and like amounts of personal tastes. Putting an emphasis on the Gospel spreading primarily through relationships, in this chapter Warren encourages the reader to choose the target group he wishes to reach for Christ in his community, the group "you are most likely to reach" (p.173). We are to look at who is already attending our church (or small-group), what kind of leaders we have, and, if our church doesn't match our community culturally, then Warren advises building on your strengths, reinventing your congregation, being aware of levels of spiritual receptivity and, if at all possible, starting a new congregation (possibly even using the same building for a while) that would resonate—theologically, relationally, emotionally, culturally, and in lifestyle—with those you hope to reach. Remarkably, by Saddleback's fifteenth anniversary, they had already birthed twenty-five daughter churches. Warren's philosophy on the matter: "The mark of a truly mature church is that it has babies: It starts other churches" (p.181). I want to pause and note here that Rick Warren is always quick to let the reader know that while the method of delivery changes, the Message is never to be compromised. 

Chapter 11 

Developing Your Strategy

Now at the conclusion of part three of this book, we've made some serious decisions. First, we determined who our target was. Second, we concluded who we are most likely to reach for Christ. Third, we have identified who the most spiritually receptive people in our target group are. Now, our church is finally ready to establish an effective evangelism strategy. Notice that Jesus Himself told His disciples to be strategic in their efforts to evangelize the lost. Unlike Charlie Brown who, in those Peanuts cartoons, would shoot an arrow at his fence and then walk over to where it stuck home and draw a target around the arrow, and call it "practice." Jesus tells us to be deliberate, to be wise as snakes and harmless as doves: the serpent-dove strategy (p.192). I love the connections made between fishing and evangelism that permeates this chapter. Unlike the hobby of fishing, however, evangelism is serious business. And Warren really makes it seem simple. Coming from First Corinthians 9:22 where Paul prioritizes the need to seek out commonalities, Warren declares the importance of surveys (Five Questions, pp. 190-91). Not only does he tell us to know where the fish are, go where they are biting and learn to think like they think; he shows us the importance of adapting to culture, determining "felt needs" (p.197), understanding the hang-ups of the unchurched, the necessity of changing methods, the costs associated with

reaching people and, also, how to use more than just one hook. This chapter is crucial to church planting and growth. The letter Warren wrote—reading the defenses and possible objections beforehand—and mailed to 15,000 people a week before Saddleback's first sermon on Easter, 1980, is found on page 194. Priceless. 

Chapter 12

How Jesus Attracted Crowds

It seems that Jesus always did things on a grand scale. He was bold and larger than life. "Enormous' ' crowds followed him (Mt. 4:25, LB). "Large" crowds "listened to Him with delight" (Mk. 12:37, NIV). There were times whenever He was nearly crushed by these "multitudes," as the King James Version calls them. He fed thousands of people, possibly 15,000 in one sitting when considering women and children. "A Christ Like ministry still attracts crowds," says Warren. "You don't have to use gimmicks or compromise your convictions' ' (p.207). This chapter covers the three ingredients required: (1) Love the people (pp.208-218). (2) Meet their needs (pp. 219-222). And, (3) Teach them something practical, something applicable to their lives, something relevant—and do it in an interesting way.

Chapter 13

Worship Can Be a Witness

God is looking for worshippers (John 4:23)—those who worship in spirit and truth, emotion and intellect, heart and mind, left and right sides of the brain. During a worship service, the presence of God is ushered in, it can seem to be felt like no other time before (p.241). It can almost feel palpable. Seekers can see this. They can see believers reacting to God, worshiping Him. There is a message being conveyed at this moment. Warren suggests making Sunday morning the time for seeker services, where it is about unbelievers being treated with love and respect, relating that worship service to their needs, and sharing the message of Christ in a practical, understandable way. He declares these are the main elements of witnessing through worship. He states that the business of evangelism is recruiting worshipers, and offers twelve convictions surrounding the practice of evangelism specifically through worship services.

Chapter 14

Designing a Seeker-Sensitive Service

The NIV tells us in Colossians 4:5 to "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." And that is what this chapter is about. All the details are laid out and covered regarding the planning of the service with the target in mind, making it easy for people to attend, managing the pace and flow and order of service; as well as different tactics one can use to make visitors feel more comfortable, upbeat, happy and hopefully, responsive to Christ and the call to salvation. Scriptures convey to us that faith without having a strong work-ethic is dead. God gave us a brain, and in this chapter Warren shows us how to better use it in regards to the life and death matter of salvation. With these strategies we are better able, as well, to evaluate and improve our seeker services with time.

Chapter 15

Selecting Your Music

The reason that Warren devotes an entire chapter to music is found in the first paragraph. He states that if he could do things over with Saddleback, when it came to the start-up phase, he would have put a lot more focus on his music ministry— particularly one to fit Saddleback's target. As later noted, "music is an integral part of our lives" (p.279). It has the capacity to bypass stubborn intellectual barriers, touching people in ways that sermons simply can't. From changing the style of your church's music, to encouraging members to write new songs, even replacing the church organ with MIDI technology—this chapter is all about making the music really count for Christ.

Chapter 16

Preaching to the Unchurched

It is important to understand your target in each message. Either your message is to be directed towards believers or seekers. The best style for preaching to Believers, according to Warren, is verse-by-verse (book) exposition. For Seekers, on the other hand, he claims verse-with-verse (topical) exposition to be the best choice. Each message should address the needs, hurts or interests of the Seeker. Throughout history God has been apt to reveal His Name (who He is) to Seekers in a way that matches their current need or situation. Such as Jehovah Jireh (your provider) or Jehovah Shalom (your peace). See Colossians 4:5-6 and Ephesians 4:29. Whether you start with God's Word or the peoples' need, or vice versa—the objective is getting people to apply the Word to their own life and situation (application). This chapter is immensely relevant to the modern preacher. It teaches one how to adapt your style to your audience, make the Bible accessible to unbelievers, provide an outline with Scriptures written out, plan your titles to appeal to the unchurched, garner momentum and preach in series, be consistent in your preaching style, choose guest speakers carefully, and preach for commitment. Warren states in regard to the primacy of preaching: "In terms of seeing radical life changes in individuals...nothing else can take the place of Spirit-anointed preaching" (p.306).

Chapter 17

Turning Attenders into Members

This chapter is all about assimilating attenders into full-fledged members. It discusses the Life Development Process and the First Base. It covers the outline for the Membership 101 class in which it is clarified that you are indeed a Christ-follower (see page 318). A list of things are addressed in regards to what is expected of the new member. I particularly like the Membership Covenant laid out here (pp.321-322). I have found in small groups, such as the one I often facilitate around Rick Warren's other book, The Purpose-Driven Life, that covenants help in preventing dissension and tension and seem to keep people from all of a sudden going AWOL. He notes the importance in making sure people understand what they are getting into, how things work, what is expected of them, and the major beliefs that each member shares. He believes that it is because of this class and its thoroughness in assimilating that there has never been a split or fracture in the church body of Saddleback. In this chapter he encourages every member to understand their value, build relationships, join a small group, communicate freely and build a sense of camaraderie between each other as a church family.

Chapter 18

Developing Mature Members

It is made especially clear in Scripture that it is God's will that all Believers become spiritually mature (see Eph. 4:12 and 2 Cor. 13:9). We aren't meant to remain as spiritual children (see Eph. 4:14). Warren notes that "The ultimate goal of spiritual growth is to become like Jesus'' (p.331). In this chapter Warren shows us how we grow spiritually, and what is required to become mature in Christ. After taking the time to dispel six popular myths and misconceptions concerning Christian maturity and spiritual growth, we are given Saddleback's very own "Vision for a Mature Church" (pp. 363-364). A vision, as we have learned earlier, is very imperative. The power of the Sun can't be utilized without concentration. This gives us a clear picture of biblical maturity as it pertains to the entire church, and the individual. I particularly like the idea behind the card depicted that highlights the establishment of three major spiritual disciplines. Warren called it "My 1992 Growth Covenant'' (p.350). Class 201 helps people discover spiritual maturity. It helps them get the vision for it. A Maturity Covenant, based on Nehemiah 9:38 is also covered. A daily quiet time with God (Bible reading and prayer), a practice of weekly tithing (giving 10%), and being a member of a committed team for God (fellowshipping with believers in a small group) are the specific marks of the maturing Believer.

Chapter 19

Turning Members into Ministers

When pointing to a map of China, Napoleon once declared: "there lies a sleeping giant. If it ever wakes up, it will be unstoppable" (p.365). This chapter is all about the prodigious amounts of untapped potential just sitting passively in church pews week after week. With a Gallup poll suggesting that 40% of church members wish to have a ministry, Warren presents us with four major pillars for a fruitful lay ministry. He shares Saddleback's "Ministry Covenant '' (p.382) and explains how God S.H.A.P.E.s each believer for ministry (Every-member Ministry Model). He suggests that the church organization be streamlined to make use of trained ministers and establishes some necessary guidelines and minimum standards going forward. He also warns against handcuffing people to their declared ministry (p.387), as well as shows us the enormous potential of trusting others and responsibly delegating authority. He advocates supporting lay ministries, giving lay ministers material, communication, moral, and promotional support. Always in accordance with the before mentioned Nehemiah Principle, the vision for each ministry, as well as the minister's vision, must be renewed regularly to ensure the health and success of those endeavors. 

Chapter 20

God's Purpose for Your Church

Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (NIV). "God's purposes for the church are also his purposes for every Christian. As individual followers of Christ we are to use our lives in Worship, Ministry, Evangelism, Discipleship, and Fellowship. Having the church allows us to do this together; we are not alone," says Warren (p.395). A purpose-driven leader is a leader that fulfills these purposes and seeks to lead others to do the same, in his or her own generation, context or environment. Acts 13:36 shows how David himself was purpose-driven: "When David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he [died]". We discover that the main thrust in Warren writing this book was to define God's purposes for the church, and to make known the practical implications associated with those purposes. He assures us that you cannot fail in your ministry endeavors if you build that ministry on God's eternal purpose (p.394). Successful ministry to Warren is: " building the church for the purposes of God in the power of the Holy Spirit and expecting the results from God" (p.397). It is learning to first, serve God's purpose; second, in your own generation. It is serving the timeless One in a timely way.  Regarding MECG, Warren says "any church can come alive if we allow the Spirit to infuse us with a new sense of his purpose. That is what the purpose-driven church is all about" (p.398).

My Final Thoughts, What Was Helpful to Me and My Ministry

If you were to look back in my previous work for NTS you will find that I also did a textbook summary for Rick Warren's other book, The Purpose-Driven Life. The reality is I came to prison at the age of eighteen. I had little sense of direction in my own life. I knew of Christ, yet had failed to properly lay a foundation built on the knowledge and purposes of God. So when the rain and the storm came, great was the fall of my house. I was sentenced to 20-29 years. I've spent a considerable amount of time since then doing what I should have done to start with—laying the Foundation. I have led dozens of small-groups using Rick Warren's book, The Purpose-Driven Life. By the grace of God, and learning hard lessons along the way, I have sought to streamline the organization and schedule of my own temple to serve God and act in accordance with His purposes at all times, leading to a strong ministry foundation—producing fruit, even behind prison walls. Through this book, and his other, I have learned that I was planned for God's pleasure, formed for God's family, created to become like Christ, SHAPE'd for serving God and made for a mission. I was given a lengthy sentence. I didn't kill or rape or sell drugs. As with Joseph and Jonah, God has a design for my life. I'm purposeFULL. As with that Chinese bamboo (p.393-394), for years many may have thought nothing is happening. Until suddenly, it grows over 90 feet in six weeks.