CHURCH ON PURPOSE
Is “The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth without Compromising Your Message and Mission” (Zondervan, 399 pages, $19.99) by Rick Warren a book I really need to read?
Four, fine-print pages of endorsements by a veritable who’s who of American Protestant Christendom claim it’s a break-through book, a must-read, a volume destined to be a modern classic. Hmmmm. I’m a pastor of no mean experience and education myself—a fellow church-growth practitioner. Can Warren produce 400 pages of worth in this hefty set of instructions?
THE TWEAKING METHOD
In the opening pages, Warren waltzes with the necessary disclaimer that God (not Rick Warren) causes growth. He relates the story of Saddleback Church and offers a winning defense of large churches. Then he gives his thesis: “What is needed today are churches that are driven by purpose instead of by other forces.”
“Plans, programs, and personalities don’t last, ” he writes. “But God’s purposes will last.”
Warren has gone about ministry the way Ford went about designing the Taurus ten years ago. Ford looked at each part of an automobile and asked, “How can this be done better?” So the company designed a two-way sun visor, tie-downs for the trunk, and other innovations. The Taurus became the best-selling car in North America.
Warren uses the same approach at Saddleback. He examines new-member classes and adult education and neighborhood canvassing and just about every other component in a church program. He tweaks this ministry and adjusts that one and totally reworks another, until the church, well-organized and highly tuned, honestly delivers changed lives, turned-on worshipers, and maturing members. Warren is determined that Saddleback accomplish the twin purposes of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
Warren is a gatherer-refiner-systematizer extraordinaire. He has collected church-growth practices and honed them to perfection. He has looked at preaching skills and found what communicates best to his crowd. He has canvassed Christian music and come up with an effective practical theology of music. Then his techniques are tested against Scripture and the Saddleback purpose.
Nothing is left to whim or tradition.
In The Purpose-Driven Church, Warren delivers down-to-earth reasoning, enough prooftexting to convince me he’s remaining biblical (but not so much as to annoy), and common-sense aphorisms. Warren argues a convincing case.
I doubt any reader will come away without a number of highly effective to-do’s. I plan to use his suggestion of a simple response card tucked into visitor letters. And a number of pithy Warrenisms will find their way into my card file: “Your preferred style of worship says more about your cultural background than your theology,” “People give to vision, not to need,” and “The church should be seeker-sensitive but not seeker-driven.”
While written in an earnest and friendly manner, The Purpose-Driven Church is parent-child in voice. Warren’s editor could have done him and us a great service by changing the “you oughttas” to “we need to’s.” Also, do we really need to know that while yet a seminarian, Warren “agreed to” consult with a large, impressive church?
So is this a book we need to read?
Without a doubt, yes. It is a fine collection of good sense, good thinking, good theology, and good practice. Because of the book’s tone (and perhaps a touch of my own pride!), however, it’s a book I hate to love. But I do.
WHAT PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS WANT TO KNOW
Before people commit to joining your church, they want to know the answers to five unspoken questions.
- Do I fit here? This is the question of acceptance.
- Does anybody want to know me? This is the question of friendship.
- Am I needed? This is the question of value.
- What is the advantage of joining? This is the question of benefit.
- What is required of members? This is the question of expectations.
—The Purpose-Driven Church
—Jim Berkleysenior associate pastorFirst Presbyterian ChurchBellevue, Washington
WORSHIP WARS
A new book calls for a ceasefire.
“The ‘worship wars’ that rage in so many congregations are preventing us from truly being the church,” writes theologian Marva J. Dawn in “Reaching Out without Dumbing Down” (Eerdmans, 316 pages, $16.99). Contemporary music is facing off against traditional music. What is at stake? Is peace possible?
In “Reaching Out without Dumbing Down,” Dawn calls for a ceasefire. But she thinks a lot of popular music used in worship represents a “dumbing down” in order to reach out. This trend, she believes, is counterproductive and even dangerous. “Worship service planners dare not include,” she writes, “too much of such sub-Christian superficiality if they intend worship to form the character of participants.”
Dawn comes from a liturgical (Lutheran) background; those not from a liturgical background may not agree that “[D]oing liturgy with power can prove compelling for visitors and regulars alike.” Dawn asks critical questions often ignored by architects of contemporary worship. But this book needed to engage more seriously the best examples of seeker-service philosophy and music to achieve its purpose of uniting opposing camps. Some readers may look at this book’s call for peace in the worship wars as coming not from an impartial observer but from a representative of the traditional camp.
The tone of the book is sometimes prophetic. Dawn calls for variety in music styles (she encourages a blend), but she does not give many examples of popular songs that pass her test of suitability. She implies that most praise music is like “fast food”—enjoyable but not good for you.
Dawn argues that worship is a lasting attraction when it encounters God, forms character, and builds community. This contrasts with worship that extends the world’s styles. Dawn helped me ask good questions: “Does our music unify the congregation?” “Does our worship present to members and visitors ‘a confrontation with reality’?”
—Jim Abrahamson, pastorChapel Hill Bible ChurchChapel Hill, North Carolina
BACK-TO-BASICS PREACHING
How to master the fundamentals.
“Evangelistic Preaching That Connects” (InterVarsity, $10.99, 177 pages) is not so much about evangelistic preaching as it is about good preaching in the 1980s and ’90s.
Craig Loscalzo, associate professor of Christian preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, begins by addressing the contribution humans make to the evangelistic enterprise: “God works through our gifts, personalities, experiences and training.” Thus, he views preaching as a “divine-human partnership.”
He also reminds us of the contemporary context: “Evangelistic preaching must begin with the premise that some hearers have absolutely no background for the faith,” and that, “Because the world is rapidly changing, we must be ready to change our evangelistic methods and strategies.”
No startling insights, just solid reminders of the fundamentals.
The book concludes with four sample sermons—one by William Willimon of Duke University, one by Raymond Bailey of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and two by Loscalzo. For anyone who has been preaching during the last decade, “Evangelistic Preaching That Connects” repeats common knowledge. But if you want a summary of current homiletical wisdom as it applies to evangelism, this is as good as any.
—Mark Gallicontributing editorLEADERSHIP
SHORTCUT TO PROFUNDITY
New software makes lesson preparation easier.
You study. You pray. You teach.
The cycle is weekly—and sometimes more than once a week. For a handy shortcut, consider LESSONmaker (NavPress; for Windows95, Windows 3.1, or dos; $89.95). It promises to cut the time it takes to create Bible studies and Sunday school lessons.
With LESSONmaker you can create inductive or topical lessons. For inductive lessons, select “Open Lesson Kit” from the File menu. Each lesson is built around study questions written by the developers of the Life Application Bible.
If you want to create a topical study, select “Index of Lesson Plans,” which displays topics from “Abandon” to “Zeal.” LESSONmaker also includes introductions and outlines for all books in the Bible, pertinent maps, and an area to record notes. If you buy only the LESSONmaker software (as opposed to a package including other NavPress software), you will receive the King James Version, but other translations are available. In fact, non-word-search translations may be imported. And the interface makes copying to your word processor a breeze.
LESSONmaker won’t replace study and prayer. But it will help you pull together resources faster.
—Bill Gartnersenior applications analystChicago, Illinois
TROUBLE ON THE LOVE BOAT
An audio series to help your church handle conflict.
“Too many churches market themselves as if they were cruise ships. And because they portray fellowship and fun events as central to their life together, when conflicts come, disillusion strikes.”
So says Ken Sande, executive director of the Institute for Christian Conciliation in Billings, Montana. He believes leaders should picture their churches as sinful people in various stages of being conformed to the image of Christ.
To that end, Sande has produced “Managing Conflict in Your Church” ($124.95, 8 cassettes, 250-page manual with floppy disks). The tapes cover such topics as “personal peacemaking,” “church discipline,” and “legal threats and practices.”
In “How to Make a Confession,” Sande says that biblical confession demands more than admitting, “If I’ve done something to offend you, I’m sorry!” That’s like saying, “I really don’t know that I did anything wrong, but I can see that you’re upset. To get you off my back, I’ll give you a token apology.” Sande offers a better, seven-step approach, which includes avoiding “ifs, buts, or maybes” and being specific in the apology.
At times, the lecture format of the series is tedious, and Sande’s voice is not Wolfman Jack’s. But Sande’s experience as a conciliator and the case studies strengthen the presentations. Sande’s right: The local church is no cruise ship. But if more churches would incorporate the principles in “Managing Conflict in Your Church” (to order, call 406-256-1583), the sailing might be smoother.
—Greg AsimakoupoulosNaperville Evangelical Covenant ChurchNaperville, Illinois
1996 Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP Journal
