Recently, I was introduced to Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Life. I had heard of it, but had not seen it—let alone read it. However, a concerned church elder gave me a copy of it to review.
Pastor Warren is the founding pastor of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, one of the largest churches in the U.S.A. Many have flocked to this church to seek the secrets of its success. Among them have been an increasing number of Seventh-day Adventists.
sop_books.jpgI investigated the book to see why it is so highly recommended, and I came to the conclusion that it contains an alarming mixture of truth and error. For example, his concept of worship and music is contradictory to what we find in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy.
1. “Worship has nothing to do with the style or volume or speed of a song. God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all….” Warren, p. 65. Is that so? See Evangelism, p. 507.
2. “There is no biblical style [of music]…. There is no such thing as ‘Christian’ music; there are only Christian lyrics…. There are no spiritual tunes. …” Ibid., pp. 65, 66. If this is true then why do we have statements about a certain type of music which made the angels weep? See Adventist Home, p. 514.
3. We “learn” that worship is not for our benefit—“it’s for God.” Warren, p. 66. This concept is not in harmony with inspired counsel: “When Jesus meets with his people, his blessing rests upon those who assemble for the purpose of worshipping God. We need to cherish and cultivate a spirit of true worship, a spirit of devotion, upon the Lord’s holy, sanctified day. We should assemble together believing that we shall receive comfort and hope, light and peace, from Jesus Christ.” Signs of the Times, June 6, 1895.
I urge pastors and laity to expose the errors of this book. They do not reflect the perfect principles of God’s Word. There is no question that there are some good things in it but it is not safe ground to explore, because error is very close to the truth. Instead, we have a rich library of books to which God has given His approval – books such as Evangelism, Christian Service, Ministry of Healing, Welfare Ministry, Story of Redemption, and Early Writings. These books offer us pure truth, unadulterated with error.
May God keep us from deception.
Editor’s note: Recommended resources that address music and worship are Adventists Affirm, vol. 12 no.1 and vol. 13 no.1.
