I figured out how Rick Warren goofed in his ‘Purpose Driven’ books. He got the flow of the concepts backwards in two ways:
(1): There were numerous different bible versions used in this book. This implies that Warren used the different versions of the Bible to try to verify his concept instead of his concept being verified to the Scriptures.
(2): Warren implies that in order to live your life to the fullest, one must discover their purpose. Wrong. In order to live your Christian life to the fullest, one must be obedient to the Scriptures, preach the full Gospel to the whole world, and therefore be able in His name to cast out demons; speak with new tongues; take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
When we start to take the full gospel to the whole world per the command of Jesus, it is then that our purpose, giftings, and callings in life will be revealed to us by God, not us trying to define the meaning of purpose. Where Warren expects you to discover your purpose to have a fulfilling life, Jesus wants His children to discover Life in Christ that drives us to obey his Word and throughout your Spiritual walk have your purpose and calling revealed to you.
It’s really the Life (Jesus as the way, truth, and Life) Driven Purpose, not the Purpose Driven Life.
The same thing can be applied to his previous book The Purpose Driven Church. Instead of a church being driven by the quest of purpose, Isn’t time that we become the Church Driven Purpose where the Church (Body of Christ) starts to adhere to the Scriptures and is driven with a mission to equip the believers to take the full Gospel to the whole world in order for the original purpose, callings, and giftings of the one church body with many parts to be revealed?
Outstanding!