Rick Warren

Richard Duane Warren (born 28 January 1954) is an American Evangelical Christian pastor, global strategist, theologian, philanthropist, and author.

Quotes
Wearing a mask wears you out. Faking it is fatiguing. The most exhausting activity is pretending to be what you know you aren’t.


 * Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told you earlier the fact that people are gonna leave the church no matter what you do. But when you define the vision, you're choosing who leaves. You say, "But Rick, yes, they're the pillars of the church." Now, you know what pillars are. Pillars are people who hold things up … And in your church, you may have to have some blessed subtractions before you have any real additions.
 * "Building a Purpose Driven Church" seminar, Saddleback Church (January 1998), quoted in "The Church Growth Movement: An Analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" Church", in Foundation Magazine (March-April 1998)


 * In 1939, in a stadium much like this, in Munich Germany, they packed it out with young men and women in brown shirts, for a fanatical man standing behind a podium named Adolf Hitler, the personification of evil. And in that stadium, those in brown shirts formed with their bodies a sign that said, in the whole stadium, "Hitler, we are yours." And they nearly took the world. Lenin once said, "give me 100 committed, totally committed men and I'll change the world." And, he nearly did. A few years ago, they took the sayings of Chairman Mao, in China, put them in a little red book, and a group of young people committed them to memory and put it in their minds and they took that nation, the largest nation in the world by storm because they committed to memory the sayings of the Chairman Mao. When I hear those kinds of stories, I think 'what would happen if American Christians, if world Christians, if just the Christians in this stadium, followers of Christ, would say 'Jesus, we are yours'? What kind of spiritual awakening would we have?
 * Speech at the Anaheim Angels sports stadium (17 April 2005); transcript and video


 * Today there really aren't that many Fundamentalists left; I don't know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren't that many Fundamentalists left in America. … Now the word "fundamentalist" actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity, and when I say there are very few fundamentalists, I mean in the sense that they are all actually called fundamentalist churches, and those would be quite small. There are no large ones.
 * As quoted in Myths of the Modern Megachurch at The Pew Forum on Religion (23 May 2005)

Now let me say this really clearly: we support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear. This is one thing, friends, that all politicians tend to agree on. Both John McCain and Barack Obama, I flat out asked them "what is your definition of marriage?" and they both said the same thing. It is the traditional, historic, universal definition of marriage: one man and one woman, for life. … There are about 2% of Americans are homosexual or gay, lesbian people. We should not let 2% of the population determine — to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture, and every single religion, for 5,000 years. … So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I'm going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this, but everybody knows what I believe about it, and they heard me at the civil forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views.
 * The election's coming just in a couple of weeks, and I hope you're praying about your vote. One of the propositions, of course, that I want to mention is Proposition 8, which is the proposition that had to be instituted because the courts threw out the will of the people. And a court of four guys actually voted to change a definition of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years.
 * regarding California Proposition 8 to amend the state constitution to not recognize same-sex marriage, as quoted in "News & Views 10/23/2008 Part 3 (Prop 8)" in Pastor Rick's News and Views (23 October 2008)

Steven Waldman: Do you think, though, that they are equivalent to having gays getting married? Rick Warren: Oh, I do.
 * Rick Warren: The issue to me, I'm not opposed to that as much as I'm opposed to redefinition of a 5,000 year definition of marriage. I'm opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.
 * ** Response to the question: "What about partnership benefits in terms of insurance or hospital visitation?", as quoted in "Rick Warren’s Controversial Comments on Gay Marriage" by Steven Waldman at Beliefnet (17 December 2008)

Rick Warren: Yeah, I just never campa— I never campaigned for it. I never — I'm not an anti-gay activist — never have been. Never participated in a single event. I just simply made a note in a newsletter, and of course, everything I write, it's the road.
 * I am not an anti-gay or anti-marriage activist. Never have been, never will be. The whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement. Never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going — the week before the vote, somebody in my church said, "Pastor Rick, what do you think about this?" And I sent a note to my own members that said, I actually believe that marriage is really, should be defined. If that definition should be saved between a man and a woman and then all of a suddenly out of it they made me, you know something that I really wasn't.
 * Larry King: So you did ask your people who worship with you to vote that way?
 * Interview on Larry King Live on CNN (6 April 2009), as quoted in "Rick Warren says he's not an anti-gay-marriage activist" by John Amato at Crooks and Liars (1 August 2011), Larry King Live: Pastor Rick Warren - Part 1 --- April 6, 2009 at YouTube


 * Worry is really just a form of atheism. Every time you worry, you’re acting like an atheist. You’re saying, “It all depends on me.” That’s just not in the Bible.
 * "Word of the Day: God’s Provision: Trust God" in Electronic Urban Report (3 August 2010)


 * HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero. So they’re happy for tax rates to be raised on the other half that DOES pay any taxes.
 * Twitter tweet (25 July 2011), as quoted in David Atkins at Hullabaloo (26 July 2011)

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (2002)

 * The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took 40 days...
 * A Journey with a Purpose : Your Next 40 Days, p. 7


 * It's not about you.
 * Ch. 1 : It All Starts with God, p. 17


 * Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.
 * Ch. 2 : I'm Not an Accident

The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the reason for everything that exists, including you. God made it all for his glory. Without God's glory, there would be nothing.
 * It's all for him.
 * The Purpose of Life, p. 53


 * The smile of God is the goal of your life. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do that. The Bible says, "Figure out what will please Christ, then do it." Fortunately, the Bible gives us a clear example of a life that gives pleasure to God. The man's name was Noah.
 * What Makes God Smile?


 * Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
 * Day 19: Cultivating Community