More examination of the NAR purpose driven leadership mindset...

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"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 10:34-39 (ESV)

https://careynieuwhof.com/5-rather-startling-reasons-people-leave-your-church/

The Purpose Driven Industrial Complex top objective is to protect the brand at all cost. In order to accomplish this they are forced to look at what is plain and make it murky. They are forced to apply the purpose driven paradigm to all dynamics occurring within the church. In one wing of the complex we have the Christian "leadership" experts such as Carey Nieuwhof who makes his living applying pure carnality to church leadership. Myopia is defined as a lack of intellectual foresight. Spiritual myopia is simply not being able to see from a spiritual perspective. To be so carnally minded that the things of God never occur to you. The above link is to Carey's most recent offering outlining five reasons why people leave your church. So it is designed as all things in this genre are; to prop up purpose driven pastors and make sure they have their excuses ready, lest they be forced to actually go to scripture and God for the answers. So let us reason once again as we peer into the purpose driven mind.

"No matter how long you've been in leadership, it still hurts when people leave your church. It's somewhat easy to understand people leaving when things are going poorly-- when there's conflict, division or dysfunction. But what most leaders aren't prepared for is the reality that people will leave when things are going well. Even when they're going really well. In fact, some people leave because things are going well, or because you're getting healthier. As surprising as this sounds, every time you make progress as a church, you'll lose people. This comes as a shock to most leaders. And it can be very disheartening, especially if you don't realize some loss even in great seasons is 'normal'." -- Carey Nieuwhof

Peeling back the layers of purpose driven teaching we first come to the notion of a church "going well." You see the progress Nieuwhof is referring to is not spiritual progress where the sheep are growing in Christ but business progress. Is the church growing? Are tithes up or down? What Nieuwhof always fails to realize is that not all growth is healthy. Sometimes it is a sign of something systemically wrong. In the body it might be a malignancy and it is no different in the body of Christ. The first error here is the notion that the pastor is responsible for the horizontal growth of his church. He is not. He is responsible for the vertical growth of the sheep entrusted to him. So what is really going on behind his spiritual myopia? Since the progress he refers to is simple numerical growth what he cannot see is what was compromised in order to achieve that growth. Maybe the worship started singing self-centered drivel instead of praise to God. Maybe the pastor cut his sermon into a sermonette. Perhaps the Gospel is never preached anymore. Sin and repentance become taboo topics. So the biblically grounded people do what they know they must -- they leave. The Carey Nieuwhof's of the world think people are leaving because they do not like growth when the reality is that they do not like how the growth was accomplished.

"So why do people leave even when you're making progress at your church? Simple. The people who are at your church today are there because they like it the way it is. Change that (even for the better), and some will leave. It will shock you. It will disappoint you. It will leave you scratching your head. And it's unavoidable. But you need to keep moving or else you'll be paralyzed by focusing on who you want to keep, not who you want to reach." -- Carey Nieuwhof

There are two points of discussion here. First we see the second grievous error of the purpose driven movement in the notion that the church needs to be focused on "those you want to reach" and not "those you want to keep." This is exactly what Rick Warren teaches to up and coming pastors. Under the guise of evangelism and the Great Commission, the church tosses the sheep to the curb in pursuit of more goats. Yet if you read Acts, this is backwards. The church is for the sheep, not the goats. I know that is a tough teaching to swallow in these purpose driven last days but the bible is clear. Do we want the lost to visit our churches? Of course because that is the most likely place they will hear the Gospel, which is the only thing with the power of God unto their salvation. But you do not water the Gospel down as to not offend them! Just read the key verses beloved! The Gospel is meant to be offensive to those who are perishing! Just think how offensive Carey's statement here is. That pastors will be paralyzed by focusing on the sheep God has entrusted to them instead of people who think the things of God are foolishness to them? The second thing wrong here is the assumption that people leave because things change. That misses the point made above -- why did it change? How did it change? This casual dismissal of God's sheep and trying to blame them for leaving the pen door open is obscene. Now Carey launches into his five reasons why people leave church:

"1. You Cast Too Big A Vision. What? Casting a big vision can cause people to leave? Absolutely. A big vision is inspiring. It's also threatening. Vision threatens people because, inherently, vision challenges the status quo. It calls out the best in people. It asks people to think bigger, to think beyond themselves, to push past the status quo and to sacrifice. And not everybody's up for that. As a leader, it's critical to sift through you motivation every time you cast vision. If the vision is really about you, your ego, or your insecurities (you need to grow bigger to feel good about yourself), healthy people will resist it. (Wise, godly people can help you sort through your motives and see them accurately.) But you can have a beautifully motivated, compelling vision and still have people walk out the door. As exciting as the future is, some people prefer the present. Others live in the past. You can't build the future church on people who live in the past." -- Carey Nieuwhof

No, no, a thousand times no. This is the third common purpose driven error. That the shepherd turns in his rod and staff for a CEO business suit and a course in vision casting. Beloved, God is the vision caster. His vision is set forth very clearly in the bible. He gives the increase as He sees fit. If your church never grows past 200 and they all end up in heaven you will hear well done my good and faithful servant. Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents because they know how rare it is. Narrow is the way and few are those who find it. The purpose driven myopia blinds Nieuwhof and forces him to blame the sheep. They must not want to change. They must want to live in the past. Hey Carey, if the past was where the Gospel was preached -- sign me up for time travel. I do not want your future where mega churches rise to the heavens while everyone goes to hell. The Gospel is enough vision. It does not need to be updated. It does not need to be cast. It does not need to be bought into. It just needs to be preached.

"2. You Grew. Growth can be an awesome thing. Healthy growth means you're reaching new people, baptizing people and seeing hope beat in the hearts of people who never knew hope, and so much more. But growth is threatening. You'll see a few patterns emerge. First, people who love being a big fish in a small pond will immediately get uncomfortable. They'll want more say"more power, more control. Others won't be comfortable with the crowds or the parking issues or having to wait in lines when they were used to accessing everything instantly. And you'll probably hear vague comments like "it's just not the same anymore" or "we simply like it better when it was smaller." So what do you do with that? Well, first, empathize. They're right"things have changed and it's not the same as it used to be. Second, ask them to invite their friends and get in on what's going on. What you'll likely discover is that some do, but most (or at least many) don't. And for them, it might all boil down to this: the church isn't really about accomplishing a mission. It's about meeting their needs. The challenge, of course, is that the heart of the Christian faith isn't about satisfying yourself, it's about dying to yourself. So what do you do? If you're going to make progress on your mission, focus on who you want to reach, not who you want to keep. The moment you focus on who you're trying to keep, both the present and the future slip away from you." -- Carey Nieuwhof

Purpose driven myopia just cannot help itself. It must always see the sheep as the culprit and never their own systems. Those darn sheep must want more power and control -- nonsense! I have been in church for close to two decades now and people do not leave for such reasons. The comment "we're just not the same anymore" is not vague. It is very specific and often times a fair criticism. Now I agree that some people may not like the crowds but again, there is simply no consideration for how the church has fundamentally changed that might be leading to so many looking for the door. How frightening the disconnect is here! To Carey Nieuwhof sheep are wrong for wanting their needs met instead of joining in the purpose driven perpetual search for more goats. He then butchers the concept of dying to self, which primarily refers to dying to our old sinful life, and instead makes it about fulfilling purposed driven carnal goals. He essentially calls the sheep of the Lord selfish and clearly states that the shepherd should not be paying attention to them!

"3. You're Reaching Different People. As a church realizes its mission, it means that you'll reach your community, which when fully realized, means you'll have a cross-section of your entire community. Rich and poor. Professional and blue collar. Republicans and Democrats. Black and white. Latino and Asian. It means you'll have people in your church who are sober, and others who are working on it, and others still whose addictions are far from under control. Which is exactly what the church should be. The New Testament church was all those things. If you're not convinced it was, please re-read 1 Corinthians. This can be really threatening for people who think church is for the righteous and for people who have all their issues worked out, which of course, is none of us. If everyone in your church looks like you, acts like you, votes like you, believes like you and thinks like you, you're probably not the church." -- Carey Nieuwhof

The purpose of the church is to build the saints up in Christ. It is almost as if the only verses Carey Nieuwhof has read is the Great Commission. The purpose driven model teaches that the church must be relevant to their community. This is what leads to compromising with the world and then spiritual myopia as all you can see now is the numbers. He is so blinded he cannot even see that while he is right that the church is not filled with the righteous that he is explaining why the shepherd needs to focus on them. Once again though, instead of looking at the system, he takes the rod out and beats the sheep some more. Now, they are all self-righteous. Carey Nieuwhof doesn't seem too think much of God's children.

"4. You Got Healthier. When I look back at over two decades of leadership, I realize that so much of my journey has been toward greater and greater emotional and spiritual health. I've seen counselors over the years, hired coaches, read books, gone on retreats and done whatever I can to become more emotionally, spiritually and relationally healthy. And like every leader, I'm a work in progress. But here's the good news. Leaders, when you get healthier, your church gets healthier. But it also means that sometimes, people who don't want to get healthy leave. In the same way that healthy people are drawn to healthy leaders, unhealthy people are drawn to unhealthy leaders. Gossipers love other gossipers. Troublemakers love other troublemakers. Selfish people feel better around other selfish people. You get the picture. As your church gets healthier, unhealthy people really have two options: get healthy, or find a less healthy environment. It's quite possible that the vast majority of your church will get healthier with you, particularly if you lead and teach out of what you're learning. But some won't want to make that journey. They'll leave. And sometimes they make a scene when they go. Let them go. That's what healthy people do"they invite, they encourage, and when refused, they move on. So"keep moving your church toward health." -- Carey Nieuwhof

Argggh, this is so frustrating! He blames everything on the sheep! Now they are gossipers and troublemakers! Let them go! His purpose driven growth is always portrayed as healthy and vibrant but threatened by all these selfish little sheep running around demanding that they still preach the whole counsel of God. Yes, healthy people just move on. Screw that sheep! It is not healthy for the church to allow the sheep to just leave the sheep pen! What bible do these people read?

"5. You Finally Moved Into That New Facility. So many people think a move into a new building is a positive step that will only cause growth. For a church that has momentum, that's almost universally true. (Although a move into a building will not cause a declining church to grow). But even when things are going well, you will lose people. Some people will love the portable days even better. Some won't like the new location. Others may not like the design. Others may feel displaced. For some people, there's also a sentimental association with past places of worship as well. Maybe the sentiment is because they became Christians there, were baptized there, or even got married there. For sure, that's understandable. Most people get past the sentiment, but some don't. And they'll leave. The church has to keep moving though; advancing the mission. After all, you cannot build a future by living in the past." -- Carey Nieuwhof

I want to provide a real life example of this arrogant attitude being taught as being pastoral. Mark Driscoll once ran a mega church in Seattle with over 15,000 people across several sites. As a Warren adherent who clearly loved the purpose driven church, he let slip one day this myopic attitude that Carey Nieuwhof summarizes here. Driscoll said,

"I'm all about blessed subtraction. There is a pile of dead bodies under the Mars Hill bus [chuckles] and by God's grace it'll be a mountain by the time we're done. You either get on the bus or get run over by the bus. Those are the two options. But the bus ain't gonna stop. And, uh, I'm just a guy who's like, "Look, we love you. But this is what we're doing. There's a few kind of people. There's people who get in the way of the bus. They gotta get run over. There are people who want to take turns driving the bus. They gotta get thrown off, because they want to go somewhere else. I'm doing it right now. I'm doing it right now. We just took certain guys and rearranged the seats on the bus. Yesterday we fired two elders for the first time in the history of Mars Hill last night. They're off the bus, under the bus. They were off mission so now they're unemployed." -- Mark Driscoll

The crass, uncaring, and arrogant attitude Driscoll displayed would cost him his job and his church eventually. It started however with the term blessed subtraction, which is directly taken from Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Church. Warren has now taught this generation's pastors the garbage that Nieuwhof is now selling. That mission and vision are more important than the individual sheep that belong to God. They want to grow their church to mega status so they can land sweet book deals but in order to convince goats to stay they have to water down the gospel to the point that it cannot actually save anyone. So each week they entertain the goats as best they can. Smoke machines, rocking worship and a relevant but unbiblical sermon designed to make them feel good. Meanwhile the real sheep are starving in these churches and when they dare ask for a morsel to be fed they are greeted by the teachings of Carey Nieuwhof that label them as selfish gossipers who can't stand change and want to live in the past. Either that or their pastor CEO dude runs them over with the church bus in the spirit of blessed subtraction. The real problem is that they just cannot see through their myopia that the problem is not the sheep but their own desire to slaughter them.

Reverend Anthony Wade - February 4, 2019

Authors Bio:
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 His purpose.