A small blog swarm[1] is developing among theoblogs concerning Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life (PDL). You can catch what they are saying at Jolly Blogger, Between Two Worlds and Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog among others and others. I believe this debate has great significance for the faith at work movement, especially my emphasis in this blog on marketplace mission.

PDL was credited with helping Ashley Smith subdue her captor, Brian Nichols, in the recent events in Atlanta. (See my earlier post). As a result, CNN did a feature on the book. Dr. John MacArthur from Grace to You Ministries and author of The Gospel According to Jesus was interviewed. The feature presented Macarthur as a jealous critic of the book. MacArthur was miffed at CNN’s treatment and has posted a response on his website. Various people have weighed in on that response.

I especially appreciate this comment by Paul B:

“Just wanted to add that I think more harm than good is usually done by the kind of criticism that has been reported here. "The Gospel is about redemption, not life's purpose" is false dichotomy at its very worst. Life's purpose is redemption, and redemption's purpose is that we have "life more abundantly".

Christ told us that there is a place for ignoring the tares, for fear of destroying the wheat as well. Unfortunately the church continues to miss this important lesson. If MacArthur had merely added greater theological depth to the base that Warren had laid, I would applaud his actions. But at least as it's reported here, he went beyond that, into criticism. Biblical scholar, theological wiz, or not, that is very unfortunate. The kingdom of God is about far more than theological exactitude.”

Adding greater theological depth to Warren’s presentation rather than criticizing it is wise.  We very much need greater depth in our understanding of the gospel and how it relates to the purpose of our lives, especially where we spend most of our time – AT WORK.

Paul is right on in pointing out the false dichotomy set up by MacArthur. I have already taken issue with the false dichotomy that Warren sets up in his book here.  Although they may differ on the details (self fulfillment or self denial) both MacArthur and Warren suffer from a dichotomized worldview that prevents them from going deeper in their theology. This is a BIG problem when it comes to instructing their followers on the value of work.

For example, in his lesson on Mission. Warren states:

“Your mission has eternal significance. It will impact the eternal destiny of other people, so it’s more important than any job, achievement, or goal you’ll reach during your life on earth. The consequences of your mission will last forever. Nothing else you do will ever matter as much as helping people establish an eternal relationship with God.

This is why we must be urgent about our mission. Jesus said, "All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end" (John 9:4, LB).

The clock is ticking down on your life mission, so don’t delay another day. Get started on your mission of reaching out to others now! We’ll have all of eternity to celebrate with those we’ve brought to Jesus, but we only have our lifetime in which to reach them.

Your mission gives your life meaning. William James once said, "The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it." The truth is, only the Kingdom of God is going to last. Everything else will eventually vanish. Knowing that, why would you give anything else a higher priority?”[2]

This dichotomy undermines the intrinsic value of work and thereby defeat marketplace mission. In response to a question on evangelism at work, a writer for the PDL website affirms the value of doing work well.  He states, “When it comes to our work in the world, our work comes first.  The young painter, as well-meaning and as passionate about Christ as I’m sure he was, got his witness too far out in front of him.  His witness is to do a good job as a Christian. How we do our job is not a means to a witness, it is our witness.”

While this is a laudable emphasis, the question remains. What if your work is solitary in nature with no direct opportunity for gospel witness? Does it still have value? According to the PDL, work not related to gospel proclamation or witness is of less consequence than the mission of sharing the gospel. Thus work has instrumental value for mission but not intrinsic value.

Although MacArthur takes issue with Warren’s presentation of the gospel, it seems that MacArthur suffers from a similar worldview that divides reality into that which is important (heaven reality) and that which is less important (earthly reality). See MacArthur’s article “Can Christians become too heavenly minded?” for a presentation of this dichotomized worldview.

In his book, Work in the Spirit, Toward a Theology of Work, Miroslav Volf, a Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, writes

“Christian theologians have held two basic positions on the eschatological future of the world. Some stressed radical discontinuity between the present and future orders, believing in the complete destruction of the present world at the end of the ages and creation of a fully new world. Others postulated continuity between the two, believing that the present world will be transformed into a new heaven and new earth. Two radically different theologies of work follow from these two basic eschatological models.

“If the world will be annihilated and a new one created ex nihilo, then mundane work has only earthly significance for the well-being of the worker, the worker’s community, and posterity--until the day when "the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements, will be dissolved with fire" (2 Pet. 3:10). Since the results of the cumulative work of humankind throughout history will become naught in the final apocalyptic catastrophe, human work is devoid of direct ultimate significance.”[3]