Rick Warren | False Teacher

Rick Warren is a false Seeker Sensitive church teacher who is the architect of the Purpose Driven Movement. In this introductory video on Warren, I provide a cursory glance at the purpose driven leader's teachings.

Edited by Zachary Hunter:

Videos in this series:
Video #1 - What is the Seeker Sensitive Movement?

Video #2 - Rick Warren | False Teacher

[JustinPetersMin]

Great work, brother. Rick Warren slips in under the radar all too often as a false teacher. You are doing great work - very important.

[Foreknown_]

Reposting a comment I made in a prior video:

I attended Saddleback for 4 years before the Lord drew me out 2 yrs ago.
-The Gospel is never presented
-There is no exegesis of scripture
-Sometimes the name Jesus is never mentioned in the sermon until closing prayer
-Scripture is often proof-texted using different bible translations to fit the message
-The mention of sin and its severity is avoided
-Repentance is rarely mentioned and only under the purpose of self improvement.
-Maybe 5% of people bring their bibles
-He said if he can meet people's “felt needs” he can lead them to Christ. Thus, 100% of his sermons are topical and ALL omit a gospel presentation.

Yes, Saddleback does a lot for the community and there are many wonderful people there... but their primary focus is leading people to purpose, lifestyle, & relationship improvements... moralistic therapeutic deism.

Christ and Him crucified for our sins is never, ever preached.

[motorTranz]

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5;8

[justachick]

When anyone asks me what the first step in Christianity is I always tell them it is to pray for discernment. Satan knows that once we have given ourselves to Christ, he wont see us in hell so he will try his best to hinder our walk and to make sure we dont know what we are saying or doing so that we can lead anyone else to the Lord.

[MF-epky]

I remember reading that book, the purpose driven life, also gave them as gifts to closed ones 😵😵😵 im just so thankful to God that he gave me the wisdom to discern all of this 😭

[briannehill]

We need to not elevate teachers above Gods word. So many people are unwilling to speak against them. As if these teachers are sovereign themselves. If I believe something that goes against what scripture has clearly defined then I am wrong. Period.

[patrickc]

Glad to see you back and healthy, Alan.
I remember years ago, while still very spiritually immature and not discerning, I for years defended Warren. Not too long ago, God sovereignly opened my eyes, through the inescapable truth in the Bible, to the truth of Reformed theology, I threw Purpose Drive Life in the trash, and I never have looked back.

[daretobegeeky]

I used to attend Saddleback Church because I like many used to think Rick Warren was a solid Bible teacher. Then, I quickly realized that the church was preaching a truncated version as you said. As I result I now attend a more solid Bible teaching church. Pray for people like Rick Warren and those who attend Saddleback and I thank the Lord that he brought me out of that congregation.

[bebechan]

Did Rick actually say "it's impossible to go to hell"? I listened to the clip twice and could not hear that. Instead his sentence was cut abruptly!

[brubanville]

The emphasis of many churches these days has moved from "Repent, and believe the good news!" to "If we have unity in and with the world and be better people we can solve it's social ills!" This is occurring across the spectrum of denominations or lack thereof.

[J.M-lg]

Thank you. I used to attend such a church. The sermons were motivational speeches, the focus was on growth and there was no mention of Sin or God's wrath of judgment or hell. Focus was also on Hillsong songs with smoke machines and disco lighting and it was so dark you literally had to be escorted to your seat with a flashlight.

[maripatriciastuart]

In the 1990's my church used the "Purpose Driven Church" for sermons, Sunday School classes, and personal devotions. There were study books and workbooks for the last two categories. I never could bring myself to do the devotionals and write in the workbook. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for helping me KNOW how empty the teaching was.

[danielameri]

I rarely comment on youtube videos, but I feel like sharing something that's been on my mind recently with regards to discerning/calling out false teachers. First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate and admire the fact that you want to honour the Lord (and help others) by being discerning. We are all called to do that as followers of Jesus Christ. We should test everything to see if it's biblical (1 John 4:1-6). However, I think that it is equally important to be wise in how we go about these things, so that we don't enage in any slander or godless quarrels. With that said, I believe that we must be very careful with how we use the term "false teacher". It seems to me that that term is used so casually sometimes to the point where it actually looses it weightiness. It's sometimes even used as more of an insult than anything else. From what I understand about the label "false teacher" biblically speaking, that label describes someone who is teaching a doctrine (or several doctrines) that is so erroneous to the point that they are actually cutting people off from receiving a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Therefore, a false teacher would be somebody who denies the essential truths of the Christian faith such as the deity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone etc. When it comes to Rick Warren, he doesn't even come close to being a false teacher if the term false teacher is to be used the way I just used it. However, that is not to say that he is flawless. I agree with you that Rick Warren isn't always as strong on certain issues (when being interviewed for example) as he should be. But if you were to have a personal conversation with him (as John Piper did) I think you would be surprised to see that he is much more solid than you would have anticipated. I know that I was! Therefore, I cannot conclude that he is a false teacher. Rick Warren is often lumped in with people ike Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer (who are obivously very wrong in their teaching) but I dont think that this is fair given that he is orthodox regarding all of the fundementals of the faith. It's just that his style is simply different than that of John MacArthur for example and he doesn't necessarily agree with every nuance of how to do ministry or how to preach as I would if I were in his shoes. I like and respect Rick Warren as a brother in Christ, but he isn't my all time favorite preacher because I don't think he is as consistent in his exegesis as he should be. However, that is not to say that he hasn't been used by God to bring many people to Christ or to edify the Church. No preacher is perfect, because no Christian is perfect. Therefore, we need to be careful when using the term "false teacher" and we need to be gracious and humble in how we deal with our brethren with whom we disagree and in understanding the issues that the Church faces today. Thank you for your videos by the way! God bless you Alen :)

[carolberubee]

Warren doesn't believe that man is depraved and dead in sin; therefore, he thinks salvation comes by enticing the flesh -- emotions, perceived needs met, etc.

[lindalove]

MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR WELL NEEDED MINISTRY !

[kitty-efew]

The gate which is wide will lead to destruction

[RobertEMason]

There are many wolves among the sheep. Thank you for exposing this evil

[debsad]

I was troubled when I read PUPOSE DRIVEN life 20 years ago. The first sentence is (words to this effect) “it’s not about you” and yet the remainder of this book is all about YOU. Bless him...he’s quite off tract. We need to pray for him and those who follow him.

[spreadingthelightofchristj]

If there is any place that's one of the most easiest to go to, it's Hell, hands down, for sure we all need to pray for pastor Rick Warren.🙏

[peccles]

I try telling my dad that he is a false teacher but my dad doesn’t believe me. Another great video.