The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission (Hardcover)

by Rick Warren (Author) "In November 1973, a buddy and I skipped out on our college classes and drove 350 miles to hear Dr. W. A. Criswell speak at..." (more)
Key Phrases: welcome card, larger your church, targeted his ministry, New Testament, Saddleback Church, Reaching Out (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The thesis of The Purpose Driven Church is that when churches think first about their health, growth is sure to follow. "If your church is healthy," writes Rick Warren, "growth will occur naturally. Healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church." These five purposes are to "Love the Lord with all your heart," "Love your neighbor as yourself," "Go and make disciples," "[Baptize] them," and "[Teach] them to obey." And those purposes can only be accomplished, argues Warren, when church leaders stop thinking about church-building programs and shift their focus to a "people-building process" involving fellowship, discipleship, worship, and evangelism. Warren, the founder of the fastest-growing Baptist church in American history, has taught seminars to thousands of pastors from all over the world, many of whom have successfully implemented his techniques.

Product Description
This is a five-point strategy for attracting and spiritually maturing the unchurched, from the pastor of Saddleback Church.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (November 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310201063
• ISBN-13: 978-0310201069
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,889 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, Practical, but Weak in Biblical Foundations, October 9, 2001

By	Brian G Hedges (Niles, Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I find it hard to rate this book accurately. I have read few books that have been more helpful in the realm of practical church life. Warren skillfully presents a blue-print on how to grow a healthy in church in which the five purposes (which are presented Biblically) of worship, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and evangelism are held in balance. The steps to take are practical and clear. Add to that a plethora of helpful common-sense tips to improving logistics in working with both the visitors and members of your church. This book is full of helpful ideas.

HOWEVER, the demerit of the book is its rather shallow Biblical basis. I believe that the five purposes Warren presents are biblical. I believe that the concept of moving people from membership to maturity to ministry to missions is biblical and very, very well developed. And I was impressed to see that Warren's church uses a church covenant and practices church discipline. I simply wish he had given a better biblical defense for these things. There are points where it seems like the author is taking Scripture out of context to defend a point - evidenced by his excessive use of paraphrases of Scripture. He should have used a literal translation and stuck to what the text actually says.

I also highly disagree with Warren's approach to music. He probably goes a bit overboard on the seeker-sensitive side of things, although I admit many of the things he says are non-moral, non-biblical, common-sense issues.

I was helped by reading this book. I have the sense to know that I can't apply everything Warren says in my own church culture and tradition, but there are some things any one can apply. I say, buy this book and read with discernment. As long as you don't make a Bible out of it, you will probably benefit greatly.

45 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Razor's Edge, February 7, 2004

By	Adam West (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

My recent reading infuriates me. The book is "The Purpose Driven Church" by Rick Warren. At times, my heart breaks as I consider the misleading, misquoting and misrepresentation of Christ and His Word. At other times, I am furious and amazed that a preacher with a doctorate (albeit from Fuller) can handle God's Word so cavalier. How daring to quote Christ out of context! How brazen to emphasize words that aren't even in the text! How bold to pick and choose particular translations to prove your point! All this is from a revered pastor of the largest church in America. I suppose I am at most times simply aghast.

But at the same time, other portions of the book are touching and sincere. There is a palpable desire to reach the lost. This is why I believe this current pragmatic church movement - "reach the lost at any cost" coupled with "never criticize what God's is [sic] blessing" - is the razor's edge of Christianity. It is a watershed, but that doesn't make it novel. This episode reminds me of Sir Thomas Moore in A Man for All Seasons who realized that if you concede your beliefs, you lose your being. It reminds as well of Charles Spurgeon's battle with his United Baptists or Francis Shaeffer's battle with his heretofore-conservative Presbyterians. This is our defining moment. Yet at this moment, with the exception of John McArthur, most acquiesce while others remain mute - perhaps confused, perhaps uncertain. To be sure, there is a shrill wing that cries foul when Warren uses any translation but King James with shrieks of "Heretic!" I want nothing to do with them. And it may be too late anyhow. The pragmatic movement has formed deep roots - as textual criticisms and intellectualism did a century ago. The impact has already radiated through Christianity although the full affect on the Church is yet to be calculated. I fear it will be many millions.

You may recall a gent named Charles Darwin, a little periodical called The Origin of Species and the ensuing shockwaves delivered and still felt to this day. For the pragmatists, their Darwin is Peter Drucker, expert business evangelist and marketeer. I don't recall the pivotal figure that drank in Origin and transformed Hyde-like into this hideous beast of Christio-modernism. But the hand and draught of pragmatism today is George Barna and Rick Warren.

Barna is particularly astonishing. His own surveys reveal "just 38% of the adult public have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior, [yet] 99% claim they will not go to Hell after they die. In fact, a majority of Americans do not believe that Satan exists and most adults are leery about the existence of Hell." Still, he has promoted a seriously watered down (if not devoid) Gospel that caters to unbeliever's "felt needs". Warren, who's book prompted me, genuinely desires to reach the lost. But he too has turned off the path, also "targeting" the "felt needs" of unbelievers all under the guise of a successful ministry. Would that Warren remember God's admonishment to Joshua: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)

Would that he imitate Paul: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.... For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Co 1:17,2:2)

Warren on one page claims to be drawing a line of which he will not cross - never compromising the Word - and pages later crosses the line and encourages you to come along for the ride. The subtitle of the book is subtly revealing: "Growth without Compromising Your Message & Mission." Notice it is your message and mission that is not compromised, not God's. And your message is left decidedly up to you. Warren's message is intentionally compacted into five "purposes" which he draws from a few passages in Scripture. No biblically based Christian would on the surface disagree with them - they are attractive, satisfying, and ring true. But they are intentionally weakly defined. So it should be no surprise that "hundreds of churches" from "dozens" of denominations have adopted this method and (presumably) purposes. It is easy, inoffensive, and energizing. It is pragmatic in the fullest sense of the word.

It is pragmatic and successful. The book has sold over a million copies, his Saddleback church is packed with well over 15,000 "Saddleback Sam's and Samatha's" in attendance each week. He has launched a web site to "encourage pastors, ministers, and church leaders with tools and resources for growing healthy churches." Apparently everything Warren does has a purpose - and pastor.com charges for it. One wonders how honestly Warren wishes to help others when he charges $4 a sermon (and $4 extra for the accompanying PowerPoint slides). Even "Purpose Driven" is now a registered trademark. Pragmatic to the end, eh?

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm Sure It's Meant To Help, But, May 14, 2004

By A Customer

I see alot of churches popping up based off this book and I have even attended. But I've noticed that many are trying to be "pop" churches, some to the effect of making the church seem cheap. And they are all looking more to this book than the actual Bible, which should be the real insperation for church building.