'Stealth Movement' in Churches Criticized as a 'Dumbed Down' Gospel
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
April 12, 2004
(AgapePress) - The head of an Oregon-based Christian ministry is raising concerns about a new phenomenon being embraced by Evangelical churches across the U.S. and overseas.Thousands of churches have been taking part in a six-week spiritual growth program called "40 Days of Purpose." The campaign is based on California Pastor Rick Warren's best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life. Warren, who pastors Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, southeast of Los Angeles, says in the fall of 2002, his church baptized nearly 700 new believers, added 1,200 new members, and increased it average attendance by 2,000 in just 40 days.
According to PurposeDriven.com, 8,000 churches in America and in 19 other countries have participated in the program thus far, many of them reporting it was the "most transforming event" in their congregation's history. Those churches reported a 20% average growth in worship attendance and a 102% average increase in small-group attendance.
While those numbers may be impressive, at least one ministry believes they may also come with a cost. Tom McMahon, executive director of The Berean Call, acknowledges Warren preaches the Word -- but he disagrees with his church growth strategy.
"My concern, in going through the book, [is] there are methodologies involved, there are techniques involved; the book is problematic with regard to his use of paraphrases and so on," McMahon says. "In my view, there are things being 'dumbed down' and things that are set up to appeal to the flesh [and] to self more than to the heart, with regard to what the Word of God says."
According to McMahon, "seeker-friendly" congregations like Saddleback unbiblical view themselves as outreach centers for the unchurched. But he contends unbelievers typically represent only a small percentage of the attendance at such churches.
"People have said this is like the 'Wal-Mart effect' -- that is, you have a big entity organization within your community [that] offers all kinds of products, all kinds of things," he says. "And usually that draws from smaller churches -- it certainly doesn't draw from just the lost."
Warren has characterized his purpose-driven ministry as a "stealth movement that's flying beneath the radar and changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the world." The Berean Call says one of its functions is to exhort believers to "give greater heed to biblical discernment and truth regarding teachings and practices" currently being promoted in the Church.
