Rick Warren Discovers His Purpose
- Chip
I am what you might call a lapsed Christian. I go to church occasionally, but I get so fed up with what passes for religion these days, I have a little trouble buying in. And its not because of the whole 'you just don't like to get dressed up' deal, because when I do go to church, it's one of the new-fangled 'wear what you want to' places. But I do, at times, make at least attempts to pursue the faith that I mostly regard as not terribly believable.
It was with anticipation that I began to read The Purpose Driven Life. The book came well recommended, I saw advertisements from churches offering Purpose Driven Seminars, yada, yada, yada. When it showed up on my girlfriend's nightstand, I watched it lay there, unopened, spine still stiff, for a few weeks. Then she went out of town for the weekend and my curiousity got the best of me. By the way, my girlfriend has a policy-- she has to be first to read anything she regards as hers, including magazines and newspapers.
It was with disgust that I stopped reading The Purpose Driven Life not long after. Here is the passage that did me in.
I read that to mean that you have no way to change your lot in life. It doesn't matter what you do, God decides how you are gonna make out, not you. And that, folks, is absolute gobbledygook. If you believe that, why in the hell should you even try?
Now I see that Rick Warren, seeking even greater popular success, is having a quote published on Starbucks coffee cups.
I don't have a whole lot to say about that. But it does raise a couple of questions. If God plans every child, can't it be said that by extension he plans every child not born as well? If God plans everything, what is the point of having a choice in anything? I'm not getting it...
Linked at Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks XXXIV
It was with anticipation that I began to read The Purpose Driven Life. The book came well recommended, I saw advertisements from churches offering Purpose Driven Seminars, yada, yada, yada. When it showed up on my girlfriend's nightstand, I watched it lay there, unopened, spine still stiff, for a few weeks. Then she went out of town for the weekend and my curiousity got the best of me. By the way, my girlfriend has a policy-- she has to be first to read anything she regards as hers, including magazines and newspapers.
It was with disgust that I stopped reading The Purpose Driven Life not long after. Here is the passage that did me in.
It is a fatal mistake to assume that God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.
I read that to mean that you have no way to change your lot in life. It doesn't matter what you do, God decides how you are gonna make out, not you. And that, folks, is absolute gobbledygook. If you believe that, why in the hell should you even try?
Now I see that Rick Warren, seeking even greater popular success, is having a quote published on Starbucks coffee cups.
His quote reads: "You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your real purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance and our destiny."
I don't have a whole lot to say about that. But it does raise a couple of questions. If God plans every child, can't it be said that by extension he plans every child not born as well? If God plans everything, what is the point of having a choice in anything? I'm not getting it...
Linked at Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks XXXIV
