purpose driven life

[Guest]

I have heard some negative comments on the book, The purpose driven life. Does anyone on this forum care to comment?

thank you

[Guest]

Hi,

I started reading the book but the author drove me nuts with quotations from so called translations such as The Message. It seemed to me he would choose a translation that fit what he wanted to say when an accurate translation would not support it. I gave up, there are other books I'd much rather read. I would add it appears to have benefited many people.

Don't know about you but I feel The Message is appalling.

Blessings, Homer

[Guest]

Thank you Homer for your comment.
When I was saved I started reading King James and now read new King James....I also have a problem with all the new translations.........
As far as the book is concerned it points to Christ Jesus and is suitable for a new christian.

[Guest]

From what I read, the gospel in the book is really weak and borders on the cheap grace/easy believism gospel. But, if someone were to read and actually apply what the book seems to be conveying then Jesus would be their Lord and they would be saved.

It might be a good book for somone who is religious (and thinks they are saved) but really is not. But, I would probably rather give them a "Way of the Master" by Ray Comfort or something similar.

[_Steve]

I am slow to respond to questions about books I have not read, because my view of such books is often more colored by positive or negative reviews that I have read about the book than about its actual contents. I have never had any interest in reading the book in question, but I am asked so frequently about it that I feel I will probably have to get around to reading it, so as to answer these questions knowledgably.

I have such limited time available for reading these days that I try to limit my reading to books from which I expect to gain something, either spiritually or intellectually. However, occasionally, a book in which I have no interest receives so much publicity--even among non-christians--that I feel obliged to read it, even if I anticipate being bored or annoyed in the process. I privately entertain the hopes that the fad will pass, along with questions about it, before I am forced to read the current offering. I managed to get through the Bible Code era and the Prayer of Jabez era without having to read those books. I have been hoping to do the same with The Purpose Driven Life.

Because of the frequency of being asked about it, I purchased a copy of The Purpose Driven Life back in 2003 and tried to read it. I had the same problem that Homer described. I can barely stand to read a book where the author seeks to use the Bible to bolster his position, but where he cannot use a REAL Bible for that purpose. The Message has got to be the most abominable paraphrase of scripture that I have had the displeasure of reading, and any pastor who quotes from it as authoritative, I think, loses credibility in my mind to speak to the church about biblical matters. If he does not know that The Message is trash, then his discernment would seem deficient, and if he knows it to be trash, but uses it anyway to support a weak point, then his regard for the sacredness of scripture is equally disappointing.

Apart from this, the few chapters that I read of The Purpose Driven Life did not contain more disagreeable subject matter than do most popular Christian books, and I found nothing in its doctrine that made me recoil in horror, but it was so shallow that it put my feet to sleep up to the knees! I simply couldn't bring myself to waste the amount of time that I calculated it would take me to read the whole thing (I am a slow, but attentive, reader).

I have met a number of Christians who said that the "Forty Days of Purpose" at their church really changed their lives for the better, but these particular people were usually young Christians or Christians about whom I had noticed rather disappointing shallowness in their understanding of the things of God, and who were quite wrapped-up in quasi-Christian psychology, recovery programs, self-esteem or other movements that I see as distractions from (and alternatives to) Christian discipleship. Therefore, the good reports I have heard have not been from people that I would be looking to for spiritual advice generally.

Recently, I have heard a large number of negative reviews of the book, which is what I would probably be inclined to give, were I to write one. However, a lot of these critics are people who are considerably more narrow-minded and less charitable than I prefer to be. They often seem to be hyper-critical of relatively unimportant defects in the book. While I might, or might not, find as much to criticize if I were to read the book myself, these critics do not gain my sympathy to their cause by being overly petty.

One very serious complaint I have heard more than once (not so much about the book itself, but about attending the "Forty Days of Purpose") has been that some people have been kicked out of the groups for actually citing a REAL Bible in the discussion. One lady friend of mine, a life-long missionary, was censured privately by the group leader because she had had the audacity to share the Gospel with unbelievers in the meeting. It is clear that the citations from The Message are not the only indicator that this book belongs to a movement that has little regard for the Word of God.

Without having read the book, but having read part of it and various reviews of it, I do believe there are better books for the aspiring disciple of Jesus than The Purpose Driven Life. This book is a product of that widespread "seeker-sensitive" philosophy, that assumes that church life should be tailored to the interests of the lowest spiritual common denominator that can be coaxed into coming through the church doors. My understanding of what the church is has nothing in common with that of this movement. I believe it to be the church's task to provide uncompromised biblical training and discipleship for the committed people of God (that is, the true Christians, who are really the only people that belong in the church meetings anyway).

Seeker-sensitive churches seldom get around to that activity at all, nor (apparently) make it their goal. Their goal seems to be to give enough spiritual pabulum to unregenerate "seekers" to somewhat improve their quality of life and to keep them coming to church and supporting its activities. I'm sure the stated goal of these churches is that these people would eventually "come to Christ," but it does not seem likely that the real Jesus and His uncompromising claims are likely to be encountered through their church meetings.

In the New Testament, evangelism was done in the world, where sinners live. Once they were converted, they belonged in the church, where they were rigorously discipled. I am not prepared to recommend anything associated with the seeker-sensitive movement, because it bears so little in common with Christianity as practiced by the founders. It seeks different results than did Christ and the apostles, so it is no surprise that the results obtained are so different.

That some people may be at the stage in their religious journey where they could be assisted toward Christ by some of the truths in The Purpose Driven Life, I do not doubt. But for the time invested in reading, there are many books that I would recommend to a person hungering for spiritual reality above this book. [for a partial list, see the follow-up question at http://www.wvss.com/forumc/viewtopic.php?t=414 ]

[Guest]

Thank you Steve for your reply.

I listen daily to your radio program and only use bible forum
for your answers and other people's comments.

I am not puffing you up BUT at this point of my life as far as a man
(person) goes I listen to you and David Wilkerson period.......
I only said I dont puff you up because you dont take compliments well.
GOD HAS used you to build up and teach HIS people of which I am one ofMANY thanks

[_Steve]

I don't object to compliments. In fact, I sort of appreciate them. To be entirely frank, they always take me by surprise! I usually feel a bit awkward, not because I dislike affirmation, but simply because I really don't think myself deserving of any accolades. I know so many Christian men better than myself who get less attention, that it almost seems unjust for me to be complimented. I am humbled, but happy, that the Lord stoops to give me favor in the eyes of some. God bless.

[Guest]

It seems to me that the Lord only uses the ones that are not aware
of their great use to God. Like Moses and ALL the other great people he used for HIS glory.... After all HE won't share HIS glory with another!

You are such a one that the Lord is using because after we have been tested we are of more worth to HIS kingdom.

[Guest]

I have not read the entire book either, mostly b/c I've heard enough about it to get the basic idea.

Many people complain that the book is not DEEP enough, but fail to recognize we live in a spiritually SHALLOW culture. I have heard from various people that the spiritual depth at Saddleback Community church is quitie incredible.

I think we're missing a good boat by complaining about this one. I think God is using it for much good.

[Guest]

Thank you Mattrose for your comment.
I think most of the people didnot like the bible he used.
The book points people to the Lord for sure.
Corrie Ten Boom once said that people shouldn't be as concerned about what they know in bible but what they know and don't live.