There is talk about going through the 40 days of purpose(r) at my church. Having read the book sometime ago, all kinds of red flags appeared. In a rare step, I wrote people I knew and asked their opinion before posting here. Truly amazing.

Turns out that my objections are pretty much a reflection of my own need to heal from my past. It has also made me consider professional counseling to work through these issues. It’s true that I do not obsess all day about church issues. However, there’s too many triggers that send me into untold levels of stress. Simply, there’s a lot of hurt and mistrust that I am not in touch with. Sometimes, I wish I could draw like SinCamper so that I could deal with this through humor. My thing is writing, but depsite my attempts at humor, I end up at the writer’s last recourse; the theater of the absurd.

For the sake of completeness, here are my original objections to Purpose Driven Life:

I am asking everyone for their experiences with 40 Days of Purpose. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I was able to quote the book through someone else’s online review of the series. I first read them some time ago, but I put them down very quickly because it reminded me of so much of my former church’s practices. There is support for doing a “40 Days of Purpose”, but I am troubled by the series. I’ll list my specific objections later, but is this program a good tool to use? I think it can be, I just want to make sure that I am not being unfair. After all, I could very well be wrong/unfair and I’m willing to admit that, but I need help in seeing it (assuming that I am unfair).

I like the good things he says about evangelism by relationship although any method of evangelism can be used by God. I also like, in the broader sense, a program designed to help Christians discover their talents. There is a lot of focus on the affirming aspects of God and his love for people, which is much needed. There is an undeniable sense that everyone is useful, and I enjoy that sense of optimism. I truly enjoyed reading parts of this book and I think that there are good things we can use from this book.

In general, I am concerned about a overall sense of work-oriented theology that a person is not a Christian unless they are performing in some ministry. I am also concerned about the saturation of marketing techniques throughout the book. My father was a very successful salesman and I have trouble thinking of my church as a commodity or a service. I don’t like the sensation of ‘selling’ my church or Christianity. Lastly, I do not believe in the American ideal that “bigger is better”. Rick seems to equate spiritual success to the size of the church. As someone that lived that unhealthy paradigm for so many years, (from 300 to 1300 in eight years) I know that this is simply not true.

My specific objections are listed with quotes from the book:

1. “For instance, the apostle Paul almost single-handedly spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. His secret was a focused life. He said, ‘I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead…”(p. 32) “Gideon’s weakness was low self-esteem and deep insecurities” (p. 275). “Jesus will not return until everyone God wants to hear the Good News has heard it. Jesus said, ‘The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come …’ ” (p. 286).

Paul’s single-handed ministry is simply not true as evidenced by Romans 16 (and other places) although there are time when he felt abandoned. Gideon’s cultural sense of humility is not a sign of psychological disorder. As some of you have written, the evangelization of the world is not a prerequisite for the end times (or this already occurred). It’s not so much the points he’s trying to make but examples of the less than careful way he handles scripture.

2. “When you’re busy serving, you don’t have time to be critical. Any time spent criticizing others is time that could be spent ministering … It is not our job to evaluate the Master’s other servants” (p. 268).

In other places, he talks about the Matthew 18 model of resolving conflict, but considering our church’s past of deifying leaders, this section of “quit complaining and do something” is just not healthy. I am afraid that this can and will be interpreted and “shut up and obey”. Personally, I cannot reconcile this passage with his assertion on page 149 that “Real community happens when people know it is safe enough to share their doubts and fears without being judged”.

3. “You may have been unaware that God holds you responsible for the unbelievers who live around you. The Bible says, ‘You must warn them so they may live. If you don’t speak out to warn the wicked to stop their evil ways, they will die in their sin. But I will hold you responsible for their death’ ” (p. 283)

For so much effort he makes to get people away from guilt (pgs 27 -28), this is unfair. This is a weapon that was used in the past to enforce compliance and it still reads the same.