INDEX TO ALL EIGHT SECTIONS
ON THIS PAGE
What You Will Find
What is Glaringly Absent Conclusion The Purpose Driven Life and Pyromarketing 
What You Will Find
Rick Warren has written a book that, on the one hand, does make a few sound points but, on the other, has much going against it. As the reader wends their way through the book they will ...
1) Hear a Gospel Message That is Insufficient to Save: The Purpose Driven Life presents a shallow, incomplete, version of God's plan of salvation. 2) Read Paraphrases That Alter The Meaning of The Text To Suit The Agenda: The book quotes innumerable passages of text from Bible paraphrases that literally alter the meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek text. Rick Warren does this in order to support the particular subject he happens to be writing about. 3) Meet A Wide Variety Of Questionable Authors: The pages of The Purpose Driven Life are liberally sprinkled with quotes from a wide variety of questionable authors . What is extremely reprehensible is that several of those quoted were not only spiritually lost but at least one led a decadent lifestyle, another was a staunch supported of hallucinogens, and at least two were active opponents of Biblical orthodoxy. Warren also holds up monks and nuns as positive examples which makes me wonder if he considers them true believers. 5) Meet At Least One Well known New Age Leader: Bernie Siegel, a leading New Age author and spokesperson, is one of the highly questionable people Warren refers to. Siegel's practice of medicine was completely changed by guided visualization, and contact with a spirit guide. 4) Be Introduced to Contemplative Prayer and Catholic Mystics: The Purpose Driven Life introduces readers to the very dangerous practices of contemplative prayer through people like Richard Foster, his "friend" Gary Thomas (author of Sacred Pathways), CHenri Nouwen and various other Catholic mystics like Brother Lawrence and Madame Guyon. One has to wonder how many thousands of readers have either been introduced to the treacherous world of Contemplative Prayer or have continued in their practice of it, assuming that 'America's Pastor's' positive references means that it is okay to use CP as a way to supposedly get "closer" to God, and the Catholic mystics were good examples to be emulated. Nothing could be further from the truth.
What Is Glaringly Absent
Any Instruction on What The Scriptures Teach About Discernment or How to Handle False Teachings
Warren tells his reader that "unity" in the church is all important, so much so that he says if we destroy unity we rip the heart out of Christ's body (Pg. 160). He goes on to say that Jesus prayed for our unity in His final hours (John 17:20-23] (Pg. 161). However, he forgets that the unity Jesus prayed His followers would have was based on the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. There can be no unity between a faithful believer and a person who does not believe, follow, practice, and/or teach the truth.
Conveniently ignored are the many, many verses that instruct believers how to how to treat anyone who does not teach and practice the truth including walking away and not even allowing the person in their house. The Scriptures do not endorse blindly following any one who stands behind a pulpit, pastors a church, or writes a book, but advises that everything has to be checked by the word of God. In fact, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the ability to judge or determine between two (or more) things as to which is right and which is wrong. Therefore Biblical "discernment of spirits" involves being able to distinguish between people or practices that serve the cause of Christ, and those that serve other spirits. Yet, Warren places unity above doctrine. The covenant that believers are required to sign before becoming members of Saddleback, ensures no one will openly challenge what the pastors may say or teach, or take any serious errors before the congregation. In other words, Warren does not teach the believer how to avoid being suckered into the many false and extremely dangerous doctrines making the rounds of the churches. But, on second thought, I guess he could not afford to do that because The Purpose Driven Life would be among the first to go. (See Chapter 21 - Unity At All Costs) Any Mention of Biblical Repentance
Although Rick Warren states that The Purpose Driven Life is a 40-day spiritual journey that will transform your life, enabling you to find the Divine purpose God has for you and take up the challenge to become a more mature, Christ-like Christian, he says little or nothing about repentance which I believe is only mentioned twice in PDL. In the Old Testament, God took pleasure in the many sacrifices of worship because they foretold of Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross. Now God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship: thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money, prayer, serving others, and sharing with those in need. Real worship costs. (Pg. 105) The New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek literally means "to change your mind." You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks - about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else. You take on Christ's outlook and perspective. (Pg.182)
While the second quote above is a fair description of some of the things that we need to change, it does not get to the core of Biblical repentance which is specifically turning away from sin. No one can be converted without repenting of sin, yet Rick Warren tells his reader that they are converted and welcomed into the family of God without it. In his version of the Gospel message, Warren says "all you need to do is received and believe" (Pg. 58] which is not true. Repentance is part and parcel of conversion. In fact, because there is no gospel without repentance of sin we are doing nothing but deceiving people that they can join the family of God without it. Yet this crucial topic only comes up, very briefly, much later in the book. See Repentance Any Mention of Holiness
What I find particularly disturbing is that although Warren tells his reader that they have been created for God's purposes and God's family, he never once tells them that God expects them to be holy. In fact, there is no mention of "holiness" (the word is mentioned a couple of times in passing) in a book that purports to take the reader on a 40-day spiritual journey that will prepare them for eternity (Pg. 9). This, in spite of the fact that no one is going to see eternity without holiness, a topic that is stressed from one end of the Bible to the other. The statement made by the author of Hebrews that is stunning in it's directness... "Without Holiness, No Man Shall See God!" (Hebrews 12:14)
See
What is Holiness?
Anyone who professes Christianity without holiness is as phony as the proverbial three dollar bill. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, the word "Holy" often coveys some very negative connotations often used to describe someone who is self-righteous, smug, sanctimonious, goody-goody, priggish etc. Even to most Christians, the word "holy" implies moral goodness. However, this is only part of the meaning. The Myth of Faith Alone:
Perhaps one of the all time greatest delusions in the Christian world, is the innumerable number of people who are under the impression that in order to be forgiven their sins and inherit eternal life, all they have to do is believe Jesus died for their sins on the cross. Even the suggestion that anything other than faith is required for salvation is not only militantly opposed by most of Christendom, but denounced as an unbiblical, works based, false teaching. But is this true? While it is certainly a fact that the Bible teaches that faith is an essential ingredient without which it is impossible to please God, it never ever teaches that faith is the only requirement for salvation.
Conclusion
There really isn't much to say in this conclusion, except whatever good The Purpose Driven Life may do is vastly overshadowed by the points brought up above. Rick Warren's continuous use of faulty translations and paraphrases means one of two things. Either he
1) doesn't know what the Bible really says... or 2) does not care what accurate word-for-word translations of the Bible say, but uses a translation or paraphrase that best suits the thought he is trying to get across, regardless of whether or not it is faithful to the original writings...
The first option shows rank ignorance, the second plays fast and loose with the authority of the Scriptures and shows a blatant disregard for the message of the inspired author. In neither case is he fit to be a teacher in the church. Sadly, like so many other church leaders Rick Warren has been placed on such a pedestal that he and many others are followed blindly regardless of how much they water down or alter the Gospel message. All too many times allegiance to a particular leader causes the believer to feel obligated to ignore anything the Bible says if it contradicts said leaders position. I call it brain washing. No human being should be elevated to such a position that their faults and wrong teachings are overlooked. Rick Warren is only one of many, many examples. Although some have pointed out the deceptive (and often dangerous) parts of Warren's theology by comparing what he teaches with what the Bible does, most choose to ignore the warnings. In closing, Rick Warren says "I am excited because I know all the great things that are going to happen to you. They happened to me, and I have never been the same since I discovered the purpose of my life." (Pg. 12).
The problem is that the purpose of Rick Warren's life seems to be very suspect.
The Purpose Driven Life and Pyromarketing
Millions of Christians are nothing but consumers who don’t know what they need until Zondervan tells them. (Tim Challies. More Below) The Purpose Driven Life - What on Earth Am I Here For? (PDL) was published by Zondervan in 2002 and was Rick Warren's second bestseller (the first was The Purpose Driven Church). PDL's 40 chapters takes the reader through a 40 day 'spiritual journey' designed to explain the five purposes of a Christian's life (Rick Warren believes everyone has a purpose in life; it is up to each person to find and pursue that purpose). Judging by how many copies it sold PDL was immensely popular. In its first decade it sold 32 million copies in 50 languages. and it didn't stop there. In January 2011 Thomas Nelson announced that The Purpose-Driven Life held 16th place on their list of the 100 Best-selling Christian Books. Additionally, a revised and expanded version came out in 2012, based on what Warren said he had learned over the last ten years. In fact, a May 2005 survey of American pastors and ministers conducted by George Barna asked Christian leaders to identify what books were the most influential in their lives and ministries. The Purpose Driven Life was the most frequent response. Additionally the book was warmly endorsed (back cover of the 2002 hardcover edition) by several well known Christian leaders. But as shown above the book is definitely NOT deserving of all the popularity and endorsements. How then did it attain the status that it did? The answer lies an a relatively new form of marketing called...
Pyromarketing
a term developed by Greg Stielstra who "worked in marketing at Zondervan for fifteen years" where he "served as the marketing director for The Purpose Driven Life, the bestselling hardcover book in history". [01]
Pyromarketing chooses to bypass mass media advertising such as television commercials relying instead on what is best described as "viral marketing" because it is based on passing information from one person to the next. In fact PDL did not even receive much press coverage until it became a runaway success. This approach was a triumph and a gold mine for Zondervan. The four steps of this marketing are the same as the steps required to build a fire. you have to gather the driest tinder, set it alight, fan the flames and save the embers that can re-ignite a dying fire or start a new one. In an article in the journal of Management and Marketing Research and under the sub heading Faith-Based Marketing the authors write, Pastor Rick Warren of the evangelical Christian Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California published a book several years ago that essentially outlined his approach to ministry. The Purpose-Driven Life (2002) has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it the bestselling nonfiction hardcover book in history (Miller, 2008). Warren's publisher Zondervan used a technique that has been dubbed pyromarketing to launch the book in 2002. Over 1,200 evangelical pastors were identified who were willing to lead their churches on a 40-day period of spiritual reflection that is described in the book. These pastors represented "dry tinder" (Lee, 2006). These pastors then ordered 400,000 copies at $7 each instead of the $20 retail price and gave them to members of their congregations. The 400,000 church members each bought an average of five copies at the full retail price of $20 to give to friends (Symonds, Grow, & Cady, 2005). This is essentially a form of viral marketing.
The dry tinder pastors were identified as being the target most likely to spread the word about the book. Greg Stielstra, who worked for Zondevan, has published his interpretation of this technique in Pyromarketing: The Four-Step Strategy to Ignite Customers Evangelists and Keep Them for Life (2005). Stielstra does not confine his suggestions to churches; his advice is intended for any kind of organization. [02] Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications writes (Emphasis Added) Book marketing professionals know the secrets of success that drove the sales of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life to a chart-busting best-seller and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" into a huge cinema phenom. Those of us in the business understand that sales of both blockbusters were driven by techniques outlined in a new book called PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra who gained fame in book publishing circles when he served as the marketing director for The Purpose Driven Life, the best-selling hardcover book in history. The author adds that in an exchange he had with Rick Warren he emphasized that "his personal pre-existing contacts with pastors and church leaders was key in creating initial interest in his book" and "That very limited, specific market was the driest tinder, the book study groups was the match which produced customer benefits, and ministers and study group members talking up the book was the all-important fanning of the flame. [03]
Here is how Tim Challies describes the process Gather the driest tinder. In this first step, Zondervan sought out the people who were most likely to respond to their marketing campaign. They found 1200 pastors whose congregations totaled some 400,000 people. Rick Warren, using his existing credibility gained through his prior book The Purpose Driven Church and Purpose Driven seminars, convinced 1200 pastors to begin a "40 Days of Purpose" campaign in their churches. These people were gathered with the promise (or at least suggestion) of success - that by following this campaign they would have bigger, stronger, more successful churches. The tinder was ready to be struck by a match. Touch it with the match. This step includes reaching the market, which in this case is the church. Having found 1200 pastors who would lead their churches in this campaign, Zondervan produced commercial spots and had them played on Christian radio stations in target areas. This generated some excitement about the program and even provided a small amount of brand recognition. They did not actively promote the book, but the campaigns that were beginning in local churches. For six weeks, following a video introduction by Rick Warren, those churches taught messages prepared by him and studied his book in small groups. Zondervan discounted the book to just $7 (from the usual $20) to promote it to the 400,000 people attending these 1200 churches. The flame was now burning, if only in a small way. Fan the flames. Zondervan fanned the flames by promoting the book and the associated programs as evangelism. They told how this book had changed lives and grown churches within those 1200 congregations that formed the initial campaign. A company called Outreach marketing produced posters and door hangers and other items to assist churches as they spread the word. Zondervan provided retailers with marketing tools like postcards and emails along with a list of participating churches so they could sell them any additional copies they needed. The pastors and laypeople who had already completed the program, largely unknowingly, became consumer evangelists. The flames spread. Gather the coals. Zondervan gathered information on every church that had done the program, and wherever possible, on the individuals who had participated. They gathered email addresses through their web sites. As more Purpose Driven products become available, Zondervan can market them to a group that has already expressed interest in this type of product. According to Stielstra, saving the coals "is how your marketing budgets build equity and the only way to expand your business with marketing budgets that stubbornly refuse to grow. There is a great deal of scientific evidence for PyroMarketing from psychology, physiology, and sociology." The coals are now gathered, prepared to heat up a fire that is dying down, or to begin a whole new one. [04]
This program took advantage of the unbelievable Biblical ignorance prevalent in both pulpit and pew. If those initial 1,200 evangelical pastors had given a few hours to digging deeper into the book. If the had bothered to check the Bible versions overwhelming used by Warren against literal translations. If they had paid attention to the completely unsuitable people he quoted. And if they had noted that in many places The Purpose Driven Life was sadly lacking or even clearly unbiblical perhaps the book may never have got off the ground. Tragically all too many believers have never realized that their so called leaders have sold them down the river. And they (including Rick Warren) certainly did in this case. PDL foisted on an undiscerning, spiritually blind, and Biblically ignorant public something that they certainly did not need. When I think of Rick Warren, his "dry tinder" and and so many like them, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ come to mind but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:6-7 NASB)
End Notes
[01] Greg Stielstra https://www.facebook.com/greg.stielstra/about_details [02] How Religion has Embraced Marketing and the Implications for Business. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, Volume 2 Ann Kuzma Minnesota State University, Andrew Kuzma Yale University, and John Kuzma Minnesota State University, Mankato.
https://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/08072.pdf] [03] Scott Lorenz. Westwind Communications. PyroMarketing – The Secret of Book Marketing Success. How Purpose-Driven Life and ‘The Passion’ Paved the Way. [04] Tim Challies, Pyromarketing and The Purpose Driven Life. https://www.challies.com/articles/pyromarketing-and-the-purpose-driven-life/ | 
