FellowshipPreaching/TeachingLeadershipCelebrate RecoveryDiscipleshipSmall GroupsEvangelismWorshipMinistry
Becoming a Purpose Driven Church (An Interview with Rick Warren, Part 1)
Editor's Note: The following is a re-published version of an inspiring interview with Pastor Rick Warren from 2002, and the principles are still extremely relevant to where the church is today. Pass this one along...
Jon Walker: You’re known for saying that pastors need to be more "lost" centered, that is, looking at their church from the perspective of someone who doesn’t go to church. Could you elaborate on that? Rick Warren: The most overlooked principle for church growth is we have to love people the way Jesus did. That’s it! The motive behind everything we’ve done at Saddleback is that we love and care about lost people. The reason Jesus attracted such large crowds is because he loved people. On the other hand, I’ve heard churches justify their lack of growth by saying, "We’re small because we haven’t watered down the Gospel.” But maybe the real reason they don’t have a crowd is because they don't want a crowd! They love their own comfort more than they love lost people. To reach unbelievers you have to move outside your own comfort zone and do things that often feel awkward and uncomfortable to you. It takes unselfish people to grow a church. Lost people have a lot of problems and their lives are messy. It’s not by accident that Jesus compared evangelism to fishing. Fishing is often messy and smelly. So many churches want the fish they catch to be prescaled, gutted, cleaned and cooked. That’s why they never reach anyone. If your church is serious about reaching the unchurched, you must be willing to put up with people who have a lot of problems. The secret of reaching unbelievers is learning to think like an unbeliever. But the problem is – the longer you’re a Christian, the less you think like an unbeliever. And if you’re a seminary-trained pastor, you’re even more removed from unbelievers. You think like a pastor, not a pagan. So you have to intentionally learn to think like an unbeliever again. Paul says, "I become all things to all men so I may, in some way, win some.” What he meant was he let his target determine his approach. When with Jews, he communicated like a Jew. When he was with Gentiles, he communicated like a Gentile. I’m sure if Paul came to Southern California, he’d learn to communicate in Southern Californian terms. Some people think that communicating differently in different cultures is just being a chameleon, but actually it means you're being strategic. You don’t compromise the message. That message is, the faith once delivered for the saints, and we don’t have an option to change the message. But the methods of sharing it have to change with every new generation and location. The programs and tools we used when I was a youth pastor in inner city LA were different from those used as a short-term missionary in Japan, and those methods were different from what we’re doing now at Saddleback. There is no one way to grow a church! It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. If you’re getting the job done – lives are being changed – then I like the way you’re doing it, whether or not it’s my style of ministry. Walker: In other words, you’re not interested in Saddleback clones. Warren: Absolutely not! Not one of the dozens of mission churches we’ve planted is doing it exactly like us. We believe every church must have its own unique thumbprint. That’s what The Purpose Driven Church is all about. If a principle is biblical, I believe it is transcultural. In other words, it will work anywhere. But you must filter those principles through the culture of the community, the makeup of the congregation, and the personality of the pastor. Purpose Driven churches are all committed to the same five New Testament purposes of the church, but these congregations come in all sizes, shapes, and cultures. God’s purposes for the church never change, but the programs and methods do. Look around and it’s obvious that God loves variety. He loves to do things in more than one way! Walker: What about prayer and dedication? Is the growth of a church based upon the pastor’s commitment? Warren: It’s a myth that all you need is prayer and dedication to grow a healthy church. Some of the most dedicated prayer warriors I know are pastors of dying churches. It really bothers me that some pastors' conferences promote that myth - leaving pastors feeling discouraged and guilty instead of encouraged. We’ve all heard speakers claim, "If you’ll just pray more, preach the Word, and be dedicated, then your church will grow.” Well, that’s just not true. I can show you thousands of churches where pastors are doctrinally sound; they love the Lord; they’re committed and Spirit-filled and yet their churches are dying on the vine. For instance, in my own denomination about 70 percent of the churches are either plateaued or declining. Is that because 70 percent of our pastors are not dedicated? Of course not. It’s a complete myth. If dedication is all that is needed to grow a church, 99 percent of our churches should be growing today, because most pastors are genuinely dedicated. But growing a healthy church is not that easy or simple. It involves many different factors and requires certain leadership skills. Any time you hear a person say, "This is the one way to growth,” you can be sure they’re wrong because there are many keys to growth. That’s why I'm convinced that the key issue for our congregations in the 21st century is church health - not church growth. Focusing on church growth is the wrong focus. If we’ll focus on developing healthy churches, they will grow automatically. All living things grow – if they are healthy! I don’t have to tell my kids to grow. They do it automatically. Now, what makes a healthy church? The answer is "balance,” just like in the human body. Your body has a number of different systems: a circulatory system, a skeletal system, respiratory system, central nervous system, digestive system and others. When these systems are in balance we call that “health.” When they are out of balance, we call it, “dis-ease,” disease. Likewise the Body of Christ, the church, is made up of different systems, each fulfilling a different purpose: for worship, fellowship, evangelism, discipleship, and ministry. When you have a healthy system or process for each of these purposes, and these systems are balanced, the church naturally grows! But here’s the catch: unless you set up an intentional strategy and structure to ensure balance between the five purposes of the church, then your church will tend to overemphasize the purpose the pastor feels most passionate about. If he has a heart for evangelism, the church may reach lots of people, but nobody grows up in the faith. If he has a gift of teaching, the church will develop mature believers, but will tend to neglect winning the lost. If he has pastoral gifts, the church will have great fellowship and care, but the church’s ministry to the community will suffer or there will be little evangelism. You must set up a Purpose Driven structure that allows the church to become more than just an extension of its pastor. Every church is driven by something: tradition, programs, finances, events, seekers, and even buildings. But to be healthy, it must become Purpose Driven. They need a strategy that will help them grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry and larger through evangelism. Sadly, many churches are personality driven. This puts the congregation in a very precarious position if the leader dies, moves, or has a moral failure. At Saddleback we’ve built the church on purpose, not personality. If I were to die right now, we’d lose maybe 10 percent of the “fringe” people who come to hear me, but that would still leave 90 percent of the other people to attend each week. No church is perfect but you can be healthy without being perfect. Walker: Saddleback has no committees. I’m wondering – can you be a church and not have committees? (Laughter) Warren: That’s funny. It’s true that we have no committees, but we do have lots of different lay ministries. What’s the difference? Committees discuss but ministries do. Committees argue while ministries act. Committees maintain while ministries minister. Committees talk and consider while ministries serve and care. Committees make decisions that they expect other people to implement. At Saddleback, the implementers are the decision-makers. The people who do the ministry get to make their own decisions about that ministry. We do not separate authority from responsibility. We trust people with both. Here’s a radical question: What do these words and phrases have in common: majority rule, parliamentary procedures, ballots, boards, board meetings, business meetings, elections, voting, and committees. None of them are found in the Bible. Yet how many churches do you know that are formed on committees, boards, voting, and majority rule? What we have done is taken an American form of government and pressed it upon the church. The result is often the church is as ineffective and bureaucratic as the government is. We must remember that the church is a body not a business. It is an organism not an organization, and so God intends for it to operate on the basis of spiritual gifts, not elected offices. There is not a single example of voting to elect a pastor or any other church leader person in the New Testament. Voting was so foreign to the New Testament mind that when they chose Judas’ replacement, they cast lots. They were more likely to draw straws than vote.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2
Jon Walker: You’re known for saying that pastors need to be more "lost" centered, that is, looking at their church from the perspective of someone who doesn’t go to church. Could you elaborate on that? Rick Warren: The most overlooked principle for church growth is we have to love people the way Jesus did. That’s it! The motive behind everything we’ve done at Saddleback is that we love and care about lost people. The reason Jesus attracted such large crowds is because he loved people. On the other hand, I’ve heard churches justify their lack of growth by saying, "We’re small because we haven’t watered down the Gospel.” But maybe the real reason they don’t have a crowd is because they don't want a crowd! They love their own comfort more than they love lost people. To reach unbelievers you have to move outside your own comfort zone and do things that often feel awkward and uncomfortable to you. It takes unselfish people to grow a church. Lost people have a lot of problems and their lives are messy. It’s not by accident that Jesus compared evangelism to fishing. Fishing is often messy and smelly. So many churches want the fish they catch to be prescaled, gutted, cleaned and cooked. That’s why they never reach anyone. If your church is serious about reaching the unchurched, you must be willing to put up with people who have a lot of problems. The secret of reaching unbelievers is learning to think like an unbeliever. But the problem is – the longer you’re a Christian, the less you think like an unbeliever. And if you’re a seminary-trained pastor, you’re even more removed from unbelievers. You think like a pastor, not a pagan. So you have to intentionally learn to think like an unbeliever again. Paul says, "I become all things to all men so I may, in some way, win some.” What he meant was he let his target determine his approach. When with Jews, he communicated like a Jew. When he was with Gentiles, he communicated like a Gentile. I’m sure if Paul came to Southern California, he’d learn to communicate in Southern Californian terms. Some people think that communicating differently in different cultures is just being a chameleon, but actually it means you're being strategic. You don’t compromise the message. That message is, the faith once delivered for the saints, and we don’t have an option to change the message. But the methods of sharing it have to change with every new generation and location. The programs and tools we used when I was a youth pastor in inner city LA were different from those used as a short-term missionary in Japan, and those methods were different from what we’re doing now at Saddleback. There is no one way to grow a church! It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. If you’re getting the job done – lives are being changed – then I like the way you’re doing it, whether or not it’s my style of ministry. Walker: In other words, you’re not interested in Saddleback clones. Warren: Absolutely not! Not one of the dozens of mission churches we’ve planted is doing it exactly like us. We believe every church must have its own unique thumbprint. That’s what The Purpose Driven Church is all about. If a principle is biblical, I believe it is transcultural. In other words, it will work anywhere. But you must filter those principles through the culture of the community, the makeup of the congregation, and the personality of the pastor. Purpose Driven churches are all committed to the same five New Testament purposes of the church, but these congregations come in all sizes, shapes, and cultures. God’s purposes for the church never change, but the programs and methods do. Look around and it’s obvious that God loves variety. He loves to do things in more than one way! Walker: What about prayer and dedication? Is the growth of a church based upon the pastor’s commitment? Warren: It’s a myth that all you need is prayer and dedication to grow a healthy church. Some of the most dedicated prayer warriors I know are pastors of dying churches. It really bothers me that some pastors' conferences promote that myth - leaving pastors feeling discouraged and guilty instead of encouraged. We’ve all heard speakers claim, "If you’ll just pray more, preach the Word, and be dedicated, then your church will grow.” Well, that’s just not true. I can show you thousands of churches where pastors are doctrinally sound; they love the Lord; they’re committed and Spirit-filled and yet their churches are dying on the vine. For instance, in my own denomination about 70 percent of the churches are either plateaued or declining. Is that because 70 percent of our pastors are not dedicated? Of course not. It’s a complete myth. If dedication is all that is needed to grow a church, 99 percent of our churches should be growing today, because most pastors are genuinely dedicated. But growing a healthy church is not that easy or simple. It involves many different factors and requires certain leadership skills. Any time you hear a person say, "This is the one way to growth,” you can be sure they’re wrong because there are many keys to growth. That’s why I'm convinced that the key issue for our congregations in the 21st century is church health - not church growth. Focusing on church growth is the wrong focus. If we’ll focus on developing healthy churches, they will grow automatically. All living things grow – if they are healthy! I don’t have to tell my kids to grow. They do it automatically. Now, what makes a healthy church? The answer is "balance,” just like in the human body. Your body has a number of different systems: a circulatory system, a skeletal system, respiratory system, central nervous system, digestive system and others. When these systems are in balance we call that “health.” When they are out of balance, we call it, “dis-ease,” disease. Likewise the Body of Christ, the church, is made up of different systems, each fulfilling a different purpose: for worship, fellowship, evangelism, discipleship, and ministry. When you have a healthy system or process for each of these purposes, and these systems are balanced, the church naturally grows! But here’s the catch: unless you set up an intentional strategy and structure to ensure balance between the five purposes of the church, then your church will tend to overemphasize the purpose the pastor feels most passionate about. If he has a heart for evangelism, the church may reach lots of people, but nobody grows up in the faith. If he has a gift of teaching, the church will develop mature believers, but will tend to neglect winning the lost. If he has pastoral gifts, the church will have great fellowship and care, but the church’s ministry to the community will suffer or there will be little evangelism. You must set up a Purpose Driven structure that allows the church to become more than just an extension of its pastor. Every church is driven by something: tradition, programs, finances, events, seekers, and even buildings. But to be healthy, it must become Purpose Driven. They need a strategy that will help them grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry and larger through evangelism. Sadly, many churches are personality driven. This puts the congregation in a very precarious position if the leader dies, moves, or has a moral failure. At Saddleback we’ve built the church on purpose, not personality. If I were to die right now, we’d lose maybe 10 percent of the “fringe” people who come to hear me, but that would still leave 90 percent of the other people to attend each week. No church is perfect but you can be healthy without being perfect. Walker: Saddleback has no committees. I’m wondering – can you be a church and not have committees? (Laughter) Warren: That’s funny. It’s true that we have no committees, but we do have lots of different lay ministries. What’s the difference? Committees discuss but ministries do. Committees argue while ministries act. Committees maintain while ministries minister. Committees talk and consider while ministries serve and care. Committees make decisions that they expect other people to implement. At Saddleback, the implementers are the decision-makers. The people who do the ministry get to make their own decisions about that ministry. We do not separate authority from responsibility. We trust people with both. Here’s a radical question: What do these words and phrases have in common: majority rule, parliamentary procedures, ballots, boards, board meetings, business meetings, elections, voting, and committees. None of them are found in the Bible. Yet how many churches do you know that are formed on committees, boards, voting, and majority rule? What we have done is taken an American form of government and pressed it upon the church. The result is often the church is as ineffective and bureaucratic as the government is. We must remember that the church is a body not a business. It is an organism not an organization, and so God intends for it to operate on the basis of spiritual gifts, not elected offices. There is not a single example of voting to elect a pastor or any other church leader person in the New Testament. Voting was so foreign to the New Testament mind that when they chose Judas’ replacement, they cast lots. They were more likely to draw straws than vote.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2
Recent Articles
Remember God’s Promises When Leadership Feels Heavy
One of the hardest parts of leadership is carrying a God-given assignment while feeling the weight of your own limits. You can run on adrenaline, discipline, and experience for a while. But sooner or later, the pressure of ministry shows you what you’ve really been leaning on.In Joshua 1, God points Joshua to something sturdier than willpower. He did not just hand Joshua a job to do. God gave him promises to stand on. And if Joshua was going to lead faithfully, he had to stay conscious of God’s dependability.God gave Joshua four promises that every pastor needs to hold onto when the work gets tough (as it always will).1. Remember that God promises power.God told Joshua, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life” (Joshua 1:5 NIV). That was not a promise that leadership would be easy. It was a promise that God’s power would be enough.Pastor, the assignment in front of you may be bigger than your natural strength. That does not mean you are in the wrong place. It may mean you are right where God wants you—so you can learn again that ministry is sustained by his power, not yours.Do not measure the size of the challenge before you remember the size of your God.2. Remember that God promises protection.God also said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5 NIV). Joshua was not being sent out alone. The presence of God would go with him.That matters because leadership can feel lonely. Criticism is lonely. Big decisions are lonely. Carrying spiritual responsibility is lonely. But if God is with you, you are not abandoned, even when you feel outnumbered.Your safety is not in having a trouble-free ministry. Your safety is in the faithfulness of God.3. Remember that God promises provision.Joshua 1:8 says that obedience leads to a life that is “prosperous and successful” (NIV). That does not mean every ministry grows in the same way. It means God provides what you need to do what he has called you to do.Pastor, God’s provision is not about platform, size, or ego. It is about having God’s hand on your life and ministry. It is being able to say, “By God’s grace, I am becoming who God wants me to be, and I have what I need in order to do what God has asked me to do.”So stay close to God’s Word. Meditate on it. Obey it. Do not pick and choose the parts you like. God’s provision often shows up as you take the next obedient step.4. Remember that God promises his presence.The promise that frames this whole idea is simple: “The LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV). That is the best promise of all.God does not just give direction. God gives himself. God does not just send leaders into the work. God walks with them in the work.If you are heading into a hard week, that truth changes everything. You may still have the same meetings, the same burdens, and the same unfinished problems. But you do not face them alone.If you’re entering a hard week, do not just admire these promises. Use them.When you feel weak, remember God’s power. When you feel exposed, remember his protection. When the future feels unclear, remember his provision. When leadership feels lonely, remember his presence.Joshua’s success did not begin with self-confidence. It began with God-confidence. And that is still where faithful leadership begins.Pastor, do not build this week on your experience, your energy, or your best instincts alone. Build it on the character of God. God is dependable. So take the next obedient step.
Slow Down and Hear the Hurt
“The one who gives an answer before he listens—this is foolishness and disgrace for him.” Proverbs 18:13 (CSB)Pastor, one of the hardest parts of ministry is resisting the urge to fix things too quickly.When someone comes to you hurting, confused, or overwhelmed, your mind often moves fast. You want to help. You want to solve the problem. You want to bring clarity and move things forward.But Scripture says, “The one who gives an answer before he listens—this is foolishness and disgrace for him” (Proverbs 18:13 CSB).That is an important word for shepherds.People do need wisdom. They do need truth. But often, before they are ready for your answer, they need your presence. They need to feel heard. They need to know you care. They need space to speak their pain out loud.There is healing in being heard.Your ear is one of the tools God will use most in your ministry.Jesus shows us this in John 11. When he arrived after Lazarus had died, he already knew what he was about to do. He was not confused. He was not powerless. He knew the solution before anyone else did.And still, when he saw the grief around him, he did not rush past it.The Bible says, “Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved. . . . Jesus wept” (John 11:33-35 GNT).Jesus knew resurrection was coming, but he still entered their sorrow.That is pastoral wisdom.Pastor, sometimes the most loving thing you can do is to not speak first. Instead, stay present long enough to feel what someone else is carrying. Yes, there may be a time to guide, correct, or counsel. But often ministry begins by listening well.So this week, before you rush to fix, slow down.Listen fully.Enter the pain.Let people feel heard.A shepherd’s heart is often seen first in listening.
Four Marks of Holiness From Psalm 24
Pastor, God is looking for holy leaders.Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (NIV) Holiness won’t happen on autopilot. You have to fight for it in your schedule, your thoughts, your habits, and your words.Why should you pursue holiness? God says, “Be holy because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 GW).That’s the heart of it, pastor. When the Spirit is filling your life, you don’t just feel comforted; you feel called. You want to look like Jesus.So what does it mean to be holy?Psalm 24:3-4 says, “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (NIV).In other words, these are the characteristics of the person who gets blessed by God. If you want the blessing of the Lord, Psalm 24 gives four simple marks of holiness.1. Clean handsClean hands mean a clear conscience.Think about the tabernacle in the Old Testament. When you walked into the court, the first thing you would do is wash at the brass washbasin. It’s a picture of cleansing. The starting point for a holy life is a cleansed life.Does that mean you will be perfect? No, because no one is perfect. It means you keep short accounts with God; you don’t let sin sit.Scripture says, “If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away” (1 John 1:9 CEV). When you sin, you need to agree with God about it; you need to confess it.You won’t have much spiritual strength with a guilty conscience. A clean engine produces more power, and the same is true in your life.2. A pure heartPsalm 24 also says a holy person has a pure heart. This is about your motives. A pure heart reflects pure motives.Jeremiah 48:10 says, “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!” (NIV). When you’re “lax in doing the LORD’s work,” that means you’re doing it with mixed motives.God can do a lot through the pastor with pure motives, who doesn’t care who gets the credit. So in private, talk to the Lord: “God, examine my heart. Clear out the junk. Make my motives pure before you.”3. HumilityPsalm 24:4 says a holy person is someone “who does not trust in an idol” (NIV). This speaks to humility.Pride goes before destruction. God doesn’t take pride lightly. Pride kicked Satan out of heaven. Pride caused Pharaoh to lose his nation. Pride led to Herod being stricken and dying on the spot.So be aware of pride’s power in your life. Proverbs 18:12 says, “Pride leads to destruction” (CEV).4. HonestyPsalm 24:4 goes on to say that a holy person doesn’t “swear by a false god” (NIV). That’s about being honest, having the right words, and using holy language. In other words, you need to watch what you say.Psalm 39:1 says, “I’ll be careful not to sin by what I say” (CEV). One of the easiest ways we sin is by talking too much. When you talk too much, you lose spiritual weight. It is like a steam engine. If it is always letting off steam through the whistle, it builds up no power. But if it stores up the steam, then when it releases it, it can move an engine.Are you quick with angry words? Sarcastic words? Put-down words? Pray and ask God, “Where do I need to watch my words?” When you boil it all down, to be holy is to keep a clear conscience, purify your motives, walk in humility, and speak honestly with guarded words.That is what it means to be holy. And God uses holy people.
Who Is Watching Out for You?
“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT)Pastor, you probably know what it’s like to watch over others while quietly feeling unseen yourself. You help people stay steady in temptation, grief, conflict, and doubt. You pray for them, counsel them, and carry burdens you cannot always share.So here is a Monday-morning question worth asking: Who is watching out for you?When you go on vacation, you ask someone to keep an eye on the house. That is wisdom. But in ministry, it is easy to let the “watching out” stop with everyone else. And when a pastor becomes isolated, discouragement can deepen, temptations get louder, and blind spots grow.Scripture gives a better way: “Look out for one another's interests, not just for your own” (Philippians 2:4 GNT). God intends for the family of God to be a protective gift, not just a place we serve.Ecclesiastes calls it a braided cord. Strength comes from connection. Not performative connection. Not “I have plenty of people around me.” Real, honest, mutual care.Pastor, you were not meant to stand alone.Here’s a simple encouragement for this week: Choose one trusted person and invite a real check-in. Not a ministry update. A soul check. The Lord often protects pastors through faithful friends who lovingly “look out” when you cannot see what is happening in your own blind spots.You are better together.
At Pastors.com, our passion is to have healthy pastors leading healthy churches for the global glory of God.
Categories
Topics
More Resources
Customer Service
© 2025 Pastors.com All rights reserved.
PO Box 80448, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688