Rick Warren is out again, propping up his lies regarding small groups...

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So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. -- 1Peter 5:1-4 (ESV)

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/77607-what-the-bible-teaches-about-small-groups

Let me start with the obvious. I am not against small fellowship groups. Believers should spend time with other believers. Iron should sharpen iron. It is important to realize you are on this journey with other people who share your beliefs because the world can be a cold place that can make you feel alone as a Christian. This devotional is not about small fellowship groups. This devotional is about the father of the purpose driven church heresy that has ruined the current state of the church. Sure, there are other factors such as the NAR, seeker friendly methodologies and false gospels but the purpose driven church is the underpinning behind all of it. Pastors since 1995 have been taught on the purpose driven church model. Not the purpose driven life, which would come out ten years later. Rick Warren knew he would have to co-opt the leadership first in order to fulfill his carnal dreams of turning God's church into a money-making franchise a reality. And co-opt them he has. Up and coming pastors now believe that mega-church stardom is somehow indicative of the favor of God and the desired pastoral dream. The purpose driven church has many pillars in its foundation such as blessedly subtracting any dissidents, turning the shepherd into a vision casting CEO and marketing the church to unsaved goats who we now call "unchurched."

In order to achieve the transformation of the shepherd into the CEO, the purpose driven church demands the church have small groups. You see, the shepherd no longer leads the sheep -- he instead leads the corporation. Andy Stanley, who is a Rick Warren adherent, is on record as saying we should not even use the world shepherd anymore because it is no longer culturally relevant. Of course, what does one do with the key verses then? This is God's instruction to wannabe pastors. Shepherd the flock willingly! Not for gain but eagerly! Be an example to your flock! This is not what small groups seeks to do. Small groups according to Rick Warren:

"They form small groups on purpose. The Purpose Driven Church DNA is implanted in every cell of the Body of Christ. Each small group helps the members fulfill each of the five purposes in their lives. The goal is to help every believer live a Purpose Driven life." -- Rick Warren

Everything within the purpose driven church is designed to reinforce and build up the purpose driven church. The reality is that when purpose driven groups are achieved, the pastor has far less shepherding to worry about because the sheep are tending to themselves. And what could go wrong there? Well, simply put it is not God's design because sheep cannot take care of themselves. I have been in a purpose driven church with 50 small groups and can tell you that the first thing out the window is sound theology. You simply cannot have 50 people, who are unskilled and untrained to preach suddenly be responsible for the spiritual growth of the very sheep entrusted to the pastor! Yes, they try to use spiritless pablum as curricula, where the group members fill in the blanks but even that will ultimately lead to questions. Most purpose driven group leaders do not understand group dynamics let alone the Gospel. Therein lies the rub. When you do not really preach the Gospel in church, why would you care if it is preached in your small groups? Remember the goal is to get the purpose driven theology into your DNA, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So let us reason once more through the twisted mind of Rick Warren:

'Do you know where you can see the greatest model of unlimited, spontaneous expansion of a local congregation? Just read the book of Acts! The church of Jerusalem gives us the greatest model ever on the explosive growth of the church. In fact, the church's growth described in Acts is nothing short of a miracle. At the beginning of Acts 1, there are 120 believers. By the time we get to Acts 4, the number of believers grew to 5,000 men. Most scholars believe that if you add women and children, the church was at least 15,000 strong by this point. By the time we get to Acts 21:20, we learn that there are tens of thousands of believers in the early church. Most scholars believe there are between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the church at this time. So, in just 25 years, the church grew from 120 to at least 50,000 people. My first question when I realized this was, "Where in the world did they hold all of these people?"'

Yes Rick, and what grew the church so astronomically? Was it small groups? No. Was it blessed subtraction? No. It was God, through the preaching of His Gospel. A few years back, Warren wrote an article for pastors giving them tips about how to ensure their Easter visitors returned the following week and his advice was to NOT preach the Gospel so that they would have a reason to come back. That is what happens when your focus is on "churching" people instead of saving them. Rick Warren is purposely driving people straight to hell.

"The Bible tells us in Acts 5:42 (CEV), "Every day they spent time in the temple and in one home after another. They never stopped teaching and telling the good news that Jesus is the Messiah." They met in large groups for worship and small groups for fellowship. This biblical strategy still works today. If your church is going to be healthy, it must be growing larger and smaller at the same time. What does this mean? Larger through celebration services and worship, and smaller through your small groups." -- Rick Warren

This is the duplicity of Rick Warren. All verse 42 says is they spent time in the temple and in each other's homes and Jesus was always at the forefront. He then twists this into them meeting in large groups for worship and the small groups for fellowship. The bible does not make that distinction but Warren needs it to sell the purpose driven model. Then comes the insidious hook of purposedrivenism. That in order to be healthy your church must be growing larger. Says who Rick? Not the bible. There are no set instructions demanding growth. In fact, Acts specifically says that God gives the increase! If you pastor a church of 200 that never grows but the 200 get into heaven you will hear well done my faithful servant! The church growth demand is a myth created by Rick Warren that makes pastors abandon the bible in pursuit of fame and fortune. Likewise, the bible also says nowhere that we need to be growing smaller through small groups. I believe fellowship groups should be encouraged organically and perhaps can form around similar interests, but they should not contain pseudo leaders or biblical curricula. Let the pastor shepherd and the sheep be led.

"What did these first small groups do? Think about all of that explosive growth. Whatever they did, we should do, too! The Bible gives us the answers in Acts 2:42-47. They grew spiritually. Verse 42a (NIV) says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching." It appears the apostles were teaching in the temple courts on Sunday, and the people were studying their teachings in greater depth in their homes. As they did so, the people grew in spiritual maturity." -- Rick Warren

The Book of Acts expressly says that the growth was due to God and God alone! Stop trying to steal the credit and His glory! Note again the duplicity. It appears to Rick that they must have been having small groups. No Rick, that is not what the text says:

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. -- Acts 2:46-47 (ESV)

They attended temple together and broke bread in their homes. Now, I am sure that they had discussion about the teachings they had received but that does not mean they ran small groups! The apostles did not create the groups, give them fill in the blank curricula to finish at home and appoint leaders that were wholly unqualified, you know, the purpose driven way. The breaking of bread and fellowship was a natural outgrowth of being together spiritually in the temple. Nowhere in Acts do we see the apostles ceding their leadership responsibilities to anyone fellowshipping in their homes.

"They spent time in fellowship. The Bible says, "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" (Acts 2:46b). The early church gathered together in homes to eat and develop relationships with one another. They worshipped. They devoted themselves "to the breaking of bread and to prayer" and they were "praising God" (Acts 2:42, 47). These early small groups participated in communion and worshipped together." -- Rick Warren

Rick Warren hopes you are just too stupid to realize that he never proved these were small groups. Now he is speaking as if it is established fact and it most certainly is not. This is the model of what the church is supposed to be. Gathering to be fed corporately and fellowshipping together outside the church in prayer, fellowship and yes even communion. Remember the keys though. Nowhere in Acts do we see the Apostles abdicate their roles and responsibilities and

establish the groups to convey doctrine.

"They ministered to one another. The Bible says, "They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need" (Acts 2:45). Home groups became an outlet for support--they helped one another in practical ways by meeting needs. They evangelized the lost. Acts 2:47b says, "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." If people were coming to faith in Christ daily, that means the church saw at least 365 conversions a year! That only happens if these groups are engaging in their God-given mission sharing the Good News. These small groups in Acts were a microcosm of the greater church." -- Rick Warren

Arrgghh". these were not home groups! Stop lying Rick! There is also no indication that the selling of property and possessions was related to the home meetings at all. In the story of Ananias and Sapphira they tried to give the proceeds to the apostles, not their "small group leader"; much to Rick Warren's dismay. As wrong as that analysis was, Warren jumps off the deep end on evangelism. We must understand that faux evangelism is also a cornerstone of Purpose Driven theology. Warren unashamedly directs the focus of the church to attracting goats even at the cost of starving sheep. Nowhere in Acts is evangelism addressed. Yes we have the great commission but that is in taking to Gospel to the corners of the world, not turning our local church over to carnal goats who need to be entertained. Look at the shocking reveal here. Rick Warren believes that it is the responsibility of the untrained and uncalled small group to evangelize the lost! This is the role of the pastor! Yes we all should be able to give reason but the purpose driven paradigm is an unbiblical way of trying to falsely convert people. Small groups are not a microcosm of the larger church, except in the purpose driven dreams of Rick Warren.

"They were fulfilling the five purposes of the church: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. They were purpose-driven small groups! Typically, small groups today only fulfill one or two of the purposes. If your small groups are going to be healthy, you need to build the DNA of the church--the five biblical purposes--into them. A healthy church has healthy groups!" -- Rick Warren

Of course Rick Warren made up these five purposes. Worship is used as a tool to lure the unsaved in with carnal entertainment. Fellowship is used to relieve the pastor of pastoral responsibilities. Discipleship is used to make sure everyone is purpose driven or blessedly subtracted. Ministry is the code word for free labor, by which you build your church. Evangelism is the tool to replace those you blessedly subtract. The true purpose of the church is to glorify God, edify the saints, and bring the Gospel to the lost. If your church is embodying the five Rick Warren outlined they are desperately sick. If your pastor does not want to shepherd -- get rid of the hireling now. If your church is marketed to goats who think the things of God are foolishness, you need to run as fast as you can. If your church is enamored with small groups led by people who are not qualified or called, again, run. If your church believes the Gospel discourages people from wanting to come back to your church and thus is something to avoid? Well, I hope you know the answer now. No one has done more damage to the cause of Christ in my lifetime than Rick Warren. His vision for small groups is wildly unbiblical and should be considered anathema by any discerning Christian.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- August 16, 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.