Serious Concerns on PDL

In the course of the Purpose-Driven Life video presentations, Rick Warren makes some very questionable assertions. I believe his most flagrant error is his statement that; “that if Christians fail in their duty to evangelize, there will be people who are not in heaven who should have been there.” This is a direct challenge to the biblical concept of God and if this statement is true, then that implies that the Lord will not be able to save some people who “should have been!” Does Mr. Warren realize the implications of this statement? A few moments of serious reflection will convince any thinking Christian that this conclusion presents a seriously distorted view of God and the Biblical doctrine of Salvation. This view cannot be squared with Scripture and is as dangerous as it is flawed.

If we accept that Mr. Warren is correct in his view, then God is not the almighty sovereign of the universe that the Bile depicts. God is not in control of anything and is at the mercy of creatures that owe their very existence to Him. Far from being the “Author of our Salvation”, the omnipotent, loving Savior who is worthy of the believer’s complete trust, Jesus Christ is a wretched, frail figure that cannot be relied upon to get anyone to heaven. If the failure of finite human beings can actually derail God’s plan of salvation, then how can He be trusted for anything else?

If the salvation of lost sinners is reliant upon the faithfulness of other sinners, how secure can any Christian be? How can we trust God for divine help in the trials and temptations of daily life if His best efforts can be trumped by the failure of the very creatures He is wanting to help? The concept of God that Warren gives us, knowingly or not, is calculated not to encourage faith, but to undermine it. This unscriptural notion is inconsistent with everything the Bible reveals to us concerning the character of God and how He interacts with the people He has created. Any assertion that undermines the character of God undermines the confidence of those who are trusting in Him. It strikes at the very heart of revealed religion by weakening the foundation of the divine-human relationship. An individual’s relationship to God depends upon that person’s response to Him, not what other people do or fail to do. It maybe that Mr. Warren was just careless with his words here, but that does not make the implication of what he said any the less dangerous.

The “Author of Life” is not in any way at the mercy of fallen human beings, and thank God for that! All of the nations are as a drop in a bucket compared to God; He does what He pleases in the heavens. The Lord is sovereign in His universe and can be relied upon to bring every one of the precious souls His Son died for safely home to heaven. All those who “should be there” will be.

“13 Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’ 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19 You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’ 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?" - Romans 9:13-21