Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. - Proverbs 30: 5-6 (ESV)

Words matter. What we say matters. We can dress reality up with deceptive language to distract people from the real truth but the truth will not change. When I was working my way through college I could tell anyone who asked that I was a Petroleum Exchange Technician (PET) but at the end of the day I knew I was just a gas attendant. We expect this kind of literary and verbal slight of hand from the world because it is carnal. It is more concerned with appearance; rather than substance. When this type of carnality invades the church however, we know we are headed for dangerous times. That is because as much as words matter in general they matter even more when they are the Words of God.

It was revealed recently that General Motors had created a training manual for employees on how to discuss potential safety concerns in their automobiles. As innocuous as this may sound, it was revealed that there were a list of over 65 words that were banned from usage by GM employees. Words like "bad," "terrifying," and "dangerous" might seem understandable from a marketing standpoint but this list veered into the absurd when banned words and phrases included, "grenade-like," "widow-maker," "Kevorkianesque," and "rolling sarcophagus." Additionally, phrases such as "unbelievable engineering screw-up" and "potentially disfiguring" were also discouraged. I can understand why the phrase "buy GM and enjoy your potential disfigurement" may not have tested well with the focus groups. Instead employees were instructed to use less incendiary terms such as "does not perform to design"; much like I was a PET for lo those many years. So why all the subterfuge? GM knew they had defective cars that were potentially killing people and they needed to spin the language to lessen the damage. They knew the truth hurt. So they watered the truth down by refusing to speak honestly about the situation.

So we now see the same in the modern church. The seeker friendly, purpose driven movement has created a generation of pastors who have no problem treating the true Gospel like a defective GM car and speaking about it terms they feel will be less incendiary to those who are not saved. Like General Motors, the Warren theology bans words such as sin, sinner, repentance, hell, hellfire, judgment, and wrath from being spoken from the pulpit. No meaningful discussion of the cross and the blood is ever preached. Instead the language is changed as the unsaved become the unchurched.

I don't use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don't. But most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don't go down the road of condemning. - Joel Osteen on why he refuses to call people sinners

Let them know about your next sermon series. Always either begin a sermon series on Easter or the next week--and make sure it's a series that meets the felt needs of an unchurched person. Yes, they need the gospel and a relationship with Christ. You and I both know that's their foundational need, but most people will come to your church because they have a need for friendship " want a better marriage " want to be a better parent " want to feel they're living a life of significance " or there may be some other need. When you do a series like that, let Easter visitors know in your letter. It'll give them a reason to come back to your church. - Rick Warren in an article to pastors

(When asked about Pastors being called shepherd) - That word needs to go away." He added, "It was culturally relevant in the time of Jesus, but it's not culturally relevant any more." - Andy Stanley on Christian leadership

To the purpose driven pastor, sinner is a dirty word, the Gospel will not be enough to bring people back to your church and the pastor is no longer a shepherd. Most people know Rick Warren because of the Purpose Driven Life, which is bad enough. He also however penned another book called the Purpose Driven Church which is what most modern pastors are trained with. Here are some interesting quotes:

Figure out what mood you want your service to project, and then create it. (p. 264)

We start positive and end positive. (p. 271)

We use humor in our services ... it is not a sin to help people feel good. (p. 272)

Cultivate an informal, relaxed, and friendly atmosphere. (p. 272)

We made a strategic decision to stop singing hymns in our seeker services. (p. 285)

We have attracted thousands more because of our music. (p. 285)

Saddleback now has a complete pop/rock orchestra. (p. 290)

Use more performed music than congregational singing ... (p. 291)

The ground we have in common with unbelievers is not the Bible, but our common needs, hurts, and interests as human beings. You cannot start with a text ... (p. 295)

It sounds like Rick Warren could work for GM. No one has done more damage to modern Christendom than Rick Warren. That is because he has effectively changed the language of Christianity. He has encouraged generations of young pastors to abandon the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in favor of this artificially sweetened version that cannot save anyone. In the entire Purpose Driven Life Warren addresses salvation only once, on page 58. There he states "whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: 'Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you'" and then arrogantly welcomes any who said this ridiculous excuse for a prayer into the family of God. All of salvation and the cross boiled down into nine words. None of those words include sin or repentance. Beloved, no one can be saved in this manner. Since Warren shows a complete disdain for Scripture, he must fail to realize that the Word of God was meant to be offensive.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. - Matthew 10: 34-38 (ESV)

The purpose driven churches across this land have beaten their double edged swords into plowshares. They have changed the Gospel. They have altered it for any number of reasons. We see some people preach prosperity because they are greedy and want to make money. Some preach a feckless grace that garners them international fame and fortune. Others are simply deceived themselves. It is what they were taught. Many pastors know in their hearts that tithing is unbiblical but it is how they were taught. Tithing however is not an issue of salvation beloved. Preaching the uncompromised Gospel is. When you strip out of the lexicon of Christianity words such as repent, sin, and the blood you are in fact stripping salvation out of the Gospel. When you reduce all of the sufferings of Christ, the brutalization, the betrayal, the whipping, the pulling out of His beard, the crown of thorns shoved into His brow until His own blood dripped into His eyes, the spear through His side and His eventual death all down to nine meaningless words, you have removed the power of God unto the salvation of men from the Gospel you claim to preach. You may succeed in churching them. They may believe they are a sheep when in fact they are still a goat. You may teach them how to do Christian tricks. Teach them all the churchianity vernacular. Get them to be baptized and join a ministry. Maybe get them to tithe or do a missions trip. One day however they will stand before Christ and He will say He never knew them. Because while you were busy trying to not offend them - you never actually addressed their need to be saved. They may very well be churched but they never were saved and being churched does not gain you entry into eternal life. It just doesn't. Words matter.

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6: 66-69 (ESV)

Yes beloved and only Christ has the words of eternal life. Not Rick Warren. Not your local pastor. This is why any true man of God is too busy lifting up the name of Jesus to get involved in all of this new age, pop-psychology, focus group tested, relevance seeking nonsense. The sad sad truth is that all of these seeker friendly techniques comes down to man thinking he knows better than God. The Apostle Paul understood what had to be preached and why:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. - 1Corinthians 2: 1-5 (ESV)

The true Gospel message is simple beloved. It is all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But you cannot get to a real discussion of Him crucified without discussing the very things that the modern church thinks will scare people away. There is a reason the path that leads to eternal life is narrow - few are on it. The purpose driven and seeker friendly paradigms are filled with plausible words of wisdom but they do not contain the words that lead to eternal life. Their power rests in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God. It is terrifying and dangerous to be so concerned with temporal offense that you diminish the Gospel at the cost of eternal bankruptcy.

Here is the truly sad thing. General Motors knew they had a bad product so they altered their language to fool the consumers. The purpose driven/seeker friendly pastor has a good product. A righteous product. The only product that can truly save people eternally. The best thing is they are not required to sell it. They are not required to market it. They simply have to preach it. Instead however, they alter the language to fool the consumer. Not to trick them into salvation because that cannot happen. No beloved, they alter the language of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to trick them into coming back to their church building. Sure they pat themselves on the back and claim that person as saved but the reality is far worse.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. - Matthew 23: 15 (ESV)

Woe to you seeker friendly and purpose driven pastor. The object is not to make as many churched people as possible! Secular success metrics do not indicate spiritual approval! The object is to preach the entire counsel of God and bring as many to the foot of the cross as possible. Will this mean your church is not as big? Possibly. Will it mean that you are not as popular? Probably. Maybe your next book is not a best seller. Maybe you do not get that premium time slot on TBN. But at the end of days, you will be able to stand before Christ free of the blood of those He entrusted to you. Put down the Purpose Driven Church. It is just a GM employee manual for how to turn a gas attendant into a Petroleum Exchange Technician. It is taking what is eternal and dumbing it down over temporal concerns. Maybe it provides some temporary relief. Maybe it even leads to a lot of temporary fame and fortune. But one day you will stand before Christ and you will not be able to tell Him that your altered gospel just didn't perform to design. Words matter; especially the Words from God. Our key verse today reminds us that every word of God proves true. Do not change those words, lest He rebuke you and find you to be a liar.

Reverend Anthony Wade - June 21, 2014