Rick Warren Says: ‘Your #1 Purpose in Life is to ‘Let God Love You”
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
(Westminster Shorter Catechism)
As braggart Rick Warren adjusts to the post-2023 SBC general meeting, where Saddleback church was disfellowshipped for allowing a bunch of lady preachers, he spends much of his days whittling away on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), that bastion for spiritual scoundrels and knaves, peddling his skin-deep and sugary sweet brand of Christianity with the hope that if he begs enough, someone will take a bite.
Perhaps no single individual has done as much to stunt the spiritual growth of and sear the modern American evangelical conscience than Rick Warren. With his Peter Drucker-mentored corporatization of the church, his advocacy for purpose-driving, his Schuller-inspired, man-pleasing “gospel,” and his endless ability to taint every would-be solid minister from on his way to becoming the king of dollar store, bargain-bin Christianity, Rick Warren’s career as the leader of the 25,000 members, 14 campus Saddleback Church has been nothing short of infamous. Warren’s brand of cheap, biblically-devoid, “I’m lovin’ it” Christianity has been the junk food that fattened up the American McChurch with so many empty spiritual calories, and he has been nothing if not boastful about it.
Saddleback has been the subject of a few controversies over the last few years, after it was uncovered that they have several gay-affirming church leaders on staff who run a gay-affirming ministry for parents of LGBTQ+ children (the same as Andy Stanley’s North Point Church) and for having a “Blacks Only worship service” where no white members were allowed in, so the “black fold” could have a “safe space” to “heal.” They also came under fire after they blasted white Christians for having ‘no discernment’ and accusing them of not caring about black people.
In a clip posted by TBN to Instagram, Warren can be seen giving this unbiblical pronouncement:
Your number one purpose in life is to let God love you. Not for you to love God, but to let God love you. Now let me explain this; from cover to cover in this book, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible says the whole reason the universe exists is God wanted a family. God wanted a family, okay?
He didn’t need a family. He wasn’t lonely. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in a relationship to themselves, in a love relationship. But he wanted a family. The Bible says God is love. Not that he has love, that he is love.
It’s his essence, it’s his nature, it’s his character. The only reason there’s any love in the universe is because God created us and he’s a God of love. If God was not a God of love, you and I would not have the ability to give and receive love. The only reason we have the ability to give love and receive love is we’re made in God’s image.
