In this week’s issue of Rick Warren’s e-newsletter, his feature article is titled, “How to Dream Bigger.” Warren gives eight steps on how to “help you find God’s dream for your life.” While the premise behind what Warren and Bruce Wilkinson refer to as “God’s dream” is faulty and unbiblical, this article focuses primarily on Step One of Warren’s plan. He states:
Open your mind to God.
If you’re going to do this, you’ve got to be quiet before the Lord. Schedule times of silence, of solitude. For many of you, God can’t give you a dream because you won’t sit down and shut up! You just need to be quiet before him. You start by getting God’s perspective on your life. (emphasis mine)
Warren states that he went through this step (and the other seven steps) to develop “God’s dream for Saddleback.” But it is in step one that shows the heretical nature of the Purpose Driven mindset. Although this step may sound legitimate at first glance, Warren’s idea that God “can’t” give us something unless we engage in certain steps or a formula actually belittles God in the sense that it implies he is impotent unless we do these things. And just what are these things? Silence and solitude.
Now some may say that Warren doesn’t mean practicing contemplative prayer or going into an altered state of silence to hear from God when he says silence and solitude. But based on Warren’s own words, he does indeed mean just that! In a previous Lighthouse Trails article, “Is Rick Warren Promoting Contemplative Prayer? ,” we show Rick Warren’s strong affinity and promotion of contemplative spirituality from as far back as his 1995 book, The Purpose Driven Church , when he said the Spiritual Formation movement (ala Richard Foster and Dallas Willard) had a “vital message for the church,” and has “given the body of Christ a wake up call” (p. 127).
Since 1995, and through many various means, Warren has consistently promoted contemplative spirituality.1 For example, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, Warren tells readers (of which now number in the tens of millions) to practice breath prayers (pp. 89, 299) and as an example refers to a Benedictine monk, Brother Lawrence. In Lawrence’s book, The Practice of the Presence of God, it says he “danced violently like a mad man” when he went into this “presence.” 2 This could be indicative of someone who is practicing deep mantra meditation where such behavior often takes place. 3
Warren has backed up his public promotion of contemplative time and again through book and article endorsements, statements made by himself, and teachings that come out of Saddleback. This is all documented on our research site and in our books. And in light of his spiritual proclivities, this current article by Warren, “How to Dream Bigger,” when he recommends practicing the silence and the solitude, should alarm any discerning believer.
To anyone who has studied New Age or metaphysical literature, the common theme is that one can’t hear the higher self unless he or she goes into the silence. It is very disturbing that Rick Warren uses the same terminology (and we believe practice) as New Age followers. There may be an explanation for this. According to Robert Schuller, Warren was tutored by him and was greatly impacted by Schuller’s ministry. And yet Schuller is a profound advocate of mantra meditation. Listen to a few of his statements:
The most effective mantras employ the “M” sound. You can get the feel of it by repeating the words, “I am, I am,” many times over…. Transcendental Meditation or TM… is not a religion nor is it necessarily anti-Christian. (Peace of Mind Through Possibility Thinking, pp. 131-32)
“Shh! Quiet. Be Still. Whisper. Here God’s Spirit speak to your inner ear. Relax and let God reshape your soul…. Move into mighty moods of meditation. Draw energy from centers of sacred solitude, serenity, and silence…. Find yourself coming alive in the garden of prayer called meditation Prayer: My Soul’s Adventure with God (p. 141).
Someone could say that Schuller isn’t talk ing about New Age meditation but this next statement puts that to rest.
Yes the New Agers have grabbed hold of meditation. Eccentric religionists and far out psychological therapies have taken off with it … Hey, Christian! Here me! Let’s not give up the glorious God-given gift of meditation by turning it over to those outside our faith! Meditation not only offers the opportunity for spiritual rejuvenation, it can help make our stressful, overloaded lives more peaceful and productive” (p. 151).
What Schuller is saying is why should they have it and not us, but logically what meditation is what makes them New Agers! Schuller picked this up from Norman Vincent Peale who was heavily influenced by Unity Church, a denomination that adheres to the core beliefs of New Age spirituality. And in turn, Rick Warren most likely got it from Schuller.
In Chuck Swindoll’s book, So You Want to Be Like Christ: Eight Essential Disciplines to Get You There, Swindoll differentiates between silence and solitude. Solitude, he says is the outward quietness (e.g., sitting by a quiet stream, finding a quiet place in the house with no phone or tv). Solitude as described like this is good. But as Swindoll explains, the silence is a “stillness” of the mind, or as Ray Yungen puts it, putting the mind in neutral. But this cannot be accomplished without some type of repetition or intense focusing so as to induce a self-hypnotic state. The “Christian contemplative” believes this is done in order to hear God. Swindoll, in his book (p. 65) says: “I do not believe anyone can ever become a deep person without the stillness and silence.” He sys this shortly after he quotes Henri Nouwen from his contemplative primer, The Way of the Heart.
Rick Warren believes this too; as he states in his article, this type of prayer is needed for “God to open your mind” for the purpose of receiving information (a dream) from Him. But it is our contention that this is no different that divination (warned against in the Old Testament) in which a method or formula is practiced in order to receive some information. And for that reason, Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven ideas should be avoided at all costs.
It is interesting to note that in this issue of Warren’s newsletter, he posts an article by Focus on the Family’s H.B. London, who is a strong supporter of Richard Foster’s contemplative teachings. So Warren’s own newsletter proves exactly what he means when he says silence and solitude.
Notes:
1. Please refer to chapter eight, “America’s Pastor,” in A Time of Departing for a more in depth look at this or/and go to our research site.
2. Brother Lawrence, translated by John Delaney, The Practice of the Presence of God, Image Books 1977 edition, p. 34.
