Opinion: Raising Anchor

by Michael T. Ramey                                                                                  Vol. XVIII, No. 7, August 2005

Dating back past the Trojan War, even to the serpent in the garden, one frequently finds that a seemingly blessed gift is in fact the vehicle of one’s own destruction. Satan convinced Eve that the fruit would make her wise. The Greeks convinced Troy that their wooden horse was the envy of the ancient world.

Likewise today, many hail as a great boon a vehicle of imminent danger to the cause of Christ. Specifically, the much-lauded and respected Dr. Rick Warren is succeeding single-handedly where the entire liberal agenda could not – in leading Southern Baptist pastors and churches to abandon the infallible and inerrant Word of God. If we do not wake up and stop the trend immediately, our "Conservative Resurgence" will have been nothing more than "one last gasp".

Specifically, Doctor Warren undermines our conservative stance in three ways: by teaching, exemplifying, and marketing a dangerous form of sermon preparation which is independent of God’s inerrant Word.

Now, to begin, it is necessary to define our terms. For the purpose of this article, "the infallible and inerrant Word of God" refers to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts. The Southern Baptist Convention, in its updated Baptist Faith and Message, and the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, by vote in their annual meeting on November 11, 2003, have both acknowledged the Bible to be the infallible, inerrant Word of God in the original manuscripts. (This emphasis is the very part we have just added.) Our definition for this article, then, simply reflects this shared conviction. Sadly, Doctor Warren’s ministry would lead us away from this standard.

First, Pastor Warren teaches that we ought to use less than the standard by avoiding the original languages in our preaching. "Pastors need to realize that no one cares as much about the Greek as they do," he claims. "…[A]n overuse of Greek and Hebrew word studies discourages confidence in the English text." (The Purpose-Driven Church, p. 233). While both of these statements may be literally true, they do not support avoiding the original manuscript. So what if original language study questions the authority of the English text? That is because the only authority the English text has is in its adherence to the original manuscripts! In contrast, Dr. Paige Patterson (then Southeastern’s president) taught at Binkley Chapel on May 1, 1997 that language study should be embraced in our preaching. "One theory," he said about the use of Greek and Hebrew in preaching, "says that you should no, no, no, no never ever, ever, ever use it. That’s pretty stupid! Come and study it for three years and never use it. That’s some pretty clever thinking." (Original emphasis). Yet pastors by the thousands are chasing after this one who teaches that these texts are to be avoided, lest we bother our listeners with such trivia as what God actually said.

Pastor Warren then goes a step further, exemplifying abandonment not only of the original texts, but even of the more conservative and literal translations. In his own works, he most often uses the New International Version (a dynamic equivalency translation rather than a literal translation) and such paraphrases as the New Living Bible and The Message. His Purpose-Driven Church cites 194 Bible passages in the main text. Of these, 60 come from paraphrases, 120 are credited to the New International Version, and only 13 are taken from the New American Standard, King James, and New Revised Standard Versions, combined. (The last is from The Jerusalem Bible).

Understand, there is nothing sinful in reading "looser" versions, or in referencing them in one’s sermon to express a concept in more modern terms. To base the entire message upon them, however, to the exclusion of the original languages and direct translations, is dangerous at best, and possibly deceptive and treacherous. In The Purpose-Driven Life, for instance, Warren often uses paraphrases to support his own points with their extra-biblical content. Consider this example (one of many) from page 268 of that book: Warren wants to point out that, "We are all uniquely shaped." His verse to support this, taken from The Message, says, "Each of us is an original," which fits his point exactly. Unfortunately, what Paul actually said (from the New King James, a literal translation), was, "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." (Galatians 5:26) While our uniqueness is not an unbiblical principle, neither has it been supported by the Scripture in this instance – yet, the reader is deceived into thinking that it has. Using this method of "Bible exposition", one can easily make the Scripture seem to say whatever one would like! In essence, while perhaps our churches have not drifted anywhere yet, those following this model have raised anchor, and once the anchor is out of the sand, drifting is inevitable!

Sadly, the assault on Truth does not stop with erroneous teaching and a faulty example, but is marketed, as well. Our misled brother, in an alleged effort to minister to over-worked pastors, writes sermons using these same anti-Scriptural guidelines, then sells them on the web. Not only is he teaching us to abandon the inerrant original-language Scriptures; not only is he setting a poor example in his own published works. He is actually marketing poorly and dangerously written sermons, selling them to pastors to preach from the church’s pulpit!

Tragically, too many pastors are yielding to the temptation to sub-contract the sacred calling God has placed upon their lives, and this highly respected writer is making money off of their weakness. He short-circuits God’s call to pastors to "study to show yourself approved unto God…rightly dividing the Word of Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) He invites them to ignore God’s declaration that "I am against the prophets…who steal my words every one from his neighbor." (Jeremiah 23:30) While we praise Rick Warren for the number of books he can sell and the amount of money he can make, we overlook the inestimable damage his work is doing in our churches, as he leads pastors to a place where God Himself has promised to stand against them!

Church, we are responsible to protect the sacred message in the pulpit. We must call our pastors to write their own sermons, and to write them (with commentary help if necessary) from the original text – the only truly inerrant and infallible Word of God. We cannot afford to raise anchor when the gales and tides against us are so great!

[Michael T. Ramey is Minister of Music and Youth at Ebenezer BC, Gloucester. He may be contacted at P.O. Box 255, Ark, VA 23003 or (804)-695-1399.]