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Purpose Driven Leadership -- Seven Tips To Compromise the Gospel

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"The challenge is that unchurched people aren't exactly flocking to most churches, and many Christians seem stumped as to why that is. There are many reasons, but a surprising number center around one thing: Christians who treat the church as if it's their private club. You will focus almost exclusively on your needs and wants unless you decide not to. And that's exactly what far too many churches do: focus exclusively on the needs and wants of their members." -- Carey Nieuwhof

I am unsure what statistic Mr. Nieuwhof is reading but every non church-goer I ever see interviewed says that the main reason they do not go to church is that they view Christians correctly as hypocrites. Jesus constantly warned against hypocrisy for a reason. The notion that people stay away because those already there treat the church as a members only club is patently absurd. It is however a major plank of the purpose driven platform that goes well with the first point already discussed. What Carey is basically saying here is a church leader or pastor has to intentionally ignore the needs of the sheep that has been entrusted to him to focus on luring unsuspecting goats. Back to the article:

"Okay, it's worse than that. Maybe it's not even about needs and wants. Maybe it's about preferences. Too many Christians feel like it's their right to have a church that caters exactly to their tastes and whims, and millions are paying the price for that (including unchurched people)." -- Carey Nieuwhof

This is exactly how Rick Warren portrays people in his teachings. The people inside the church already are always the bad guys who don't "buy into your vision" because they insist on not compromising the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He calls them pillars of the church because they "hold things up"; like progress. In the purpose driven world, pastors are taught to "blessedly subtract" such dissidents from the church. Just open the pen door and let them wander away. Not exactly shepherdly. Oh those mean whimsical sheep always not caring about who is going to heaven and hell. Yeah, that is simply a gross untruth being told by Mr. Nieuwhof.

"Catering to the preferences of members is a terrible idea for three reasons. First, it's killing the church. Attendance continues to stagnate or decline as people drift further and further from Christ. Second, it's an unwinnable game. Even in a church of 100 people, you'll never be able to please everyone. Finally, and most importantly, it's just wrong. Since when did the personal preferences of members become a legitimate reason to keep people away from God's love?" -- Carey Nieuwhof

This is simply breathtaking beloved. Four bogus arguments rolled into one small paragraph. First of all, the notion that anyone is ever arguing for the "catering to the preferences of members" is simply unsupported. If you have a membership that is so self-centered as to be whimsical in their demands and refuse to welcome the unsaved, I would agree that would be very bad and in need of correction. Mostly however, this issue is with the people that insist on sound doctrine over parlor tricks and slick marketing. People who realize you don't need smoke machines during worship, skinny jeans and a faux hawk to preach the Gospel, and that a three sentence "sinner's prayer" following a half hour sermonette does not save anyone. People are not asking that the church be catered to their preferences but rather to God's.

Secondly here, attendance in church is not on the decline because so many churches do not follow the purpose driven slop. Most actually do these days. It is because they follow the purpose driven slop that attendance is on the decline. You can only play the relevance game with the unsaved for so long. You are not going to "surprise them" with the Gospel. The average time someone spends in a mega church is under three years. Most realize by then that the church has largely lied to them, that their pastors are hirelings, and they do not need to get up early on Sundays anymore to find the same relevance they can find in the local bar or club. His second reason is a strawman argument. No one is suggesting trying to please everyone. Just preach the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do His job. The problem Carey Nieuwhof cannot see is revealed in his third reason here. He views the unchurched as being kept away from God's love and by catering to them and what they want, they can become churched. The problem is they will not become saved.

I want to drill down here a second because it is really the heart of the problem with the purpose driven movement. It switches the focus from the need to be saved to the need to be churched. When people stand before Christ in Matthew 7 saying "Lord Lord" it is clear they are fully churched. They performed miracles in His name! But they are not saved. I believe that most purpose driven leaders are sincere even if they are sincerely wrong. They have zeal but it is for the growth of their church, not the growth of the kingdom. In our key verses we see Jesus pronouncing judgment upon the Pharisees for the exact same misguided zeal. You travel across the sea to make a single proselyte but when you succeed you made them twice the son of hell as you are. Ouch. You water down the Gospel to never mention sin and repentance, use disco lighting and smoke machines, and turn salvation into three powerless sentences to make a single proselyte but when you succeed you have only made them twice the son of hell that you already are. Beloved, people like Carey Nieuwhof and Rick Warren will all tell you it is all for Jesus but what Jesus are they using to reach people? What Gospel are they employing?

For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. -- 2Corinthians 11: 4-6 (ESV)

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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