Tullian Tchividjian says, ‘I Like Rick Warren’

September 25, 2007

You can see my comments on Tchividjian’s blog. Share your own thoughts here or at Tchividjian’s blog or both.

The Bible makes it clear that God’s people face three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. This means that Rick Warren is NOT our enemy. For those of you who proudly bash Rick Warren, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I used to take pride in my critique of Rick Warren. Both of his books, The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life have some glaring weaknesses. But they have some strengths too: they are not wholly devoid of truth. Let me be very clear: It is NOT Reformed (much less Christian) to glean truth, beauty, and goodness only from Christians who are Reformed. In fact, because of the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc) firm belief that “all truth is God’s truth” we should glory in truth wherever it is found–yes even when it is found in books written by Rick Warren!

But it’s not Rick Warren’s books or Rick Warren’s church that impress me. It’s Rick Warren. I’ve met him and he is a genuinely humble guy (it’s easy to critique a person that you’ve never spent time with). In an Evangelical world where financial and moral integrity are becoming increasingly hard to find amongst its leaders, Rick Warren is above reproach. He doesn’t take himself too seriously (we could all learn from him on this point) and he’s actually getting his hands dirty serving the common good of humanity. I’m not bad at theologizing about cultural transformation. But I have a long way to go to catch Rick when it comes to actually transforming this present world into the world to come. Rick Warren is doing more to bring God’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” than most of us. He may not be a Calvinist theologically, but he certainly puts many of us Calvinists to shame when it comes to being a Calvinist practically: caring for widows and orphans, helping the poor and sick, and humbly serving those in need. He’s doing more good than harm for the Kingdom and if you love the King, that should make you happy. I say all of this because I ran across a helpful article that he recently wrote. It’s entitled Six Worldviews You’re Competing Against.

I hope that you will be more inclined to pray for Rick than you are to critique him. Critiquing him (or anybody else, for that matter) is beneficial where and when he misses the mark (either personally or theologically). But if you find more joy and satisfaction in critiquing him where he is wrong than you do in praising God where he is right, than you need to repent. I know, because I had to. Enjoy this helpful article.

Posted in Purpose Driven, Rick Warren, Tullian Tchividjian