Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. Plan & UN Goals – Part 1 of 3

“The first Reformation was about
belief;
this one’s going to be about
behavior…. The first one was about


creeds;
this one’s going to be about our


deeds.”[1]
Rick Warren

“The transition… to a culture
of peace is a process of individual, collective and institutional
transformation.”[2]



UNESCO Culture of Peace
Programme

“Citizenship
for the next century is learning to live together. The 21st Century city
will be a city of social solidarity…. We have to redefine the words…
[and write a new] social contract.”
[3]
Federico Mayor, former head of UNESCO.

---

 

“A sea change of transitions and transformations
is birthing a whole new world,” wrote Dr.


Leonard Sweet,
whose books are often quoted in Rick
Warren’s

Ministry Toolbox. “God is birthing the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of the church….
Are you going to show up.”[4]

 

If you love truth, you may want to say no! For in
his book Soul Tsunami, Dr. Sweet, a popular leader of the
Emerging Church,
tells us to flow with the currents of change and leave God’s unchanging gospel
behind. “Postmodern culture is a change-or-be changed world,” he continues.
“Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die. Some would rather die than change.”[4]

 

Would Rick Warren agree? Probably, since he wrote
this glowing endorsement for the front cover of Sweet’s book: “Soul Tsunami
shows us why these are the greatest days for evangelism since the first century!”

 

What kind of evangelism does Warren envision? Would
it be based on God’s Word or on “good” works?  Apparently,
the latter. In a world that has traded Biblical absolutes for changing values
and feel-good experiences, God’s “divisive” truths face a rising tide of hostility.
But few will argue against helping the poor and sick. Perhaps that’s why Pastor Warren keeps repeating this statement: “The first
Reformation was about belief; this one’s going to be about
behavior.”[5]

 

The
new focus is on unity — a worldwide oneness reflected in the growing union
between the East and West. Leonard Sweet’s online book, Quantum Spirituality,
sheds some revealing light of the envisioned global “church” for the 21st century.
In his view, the offense of the cross has been replaced with a passion for interfaith
peace and possibility thinking. To illustrate this point, Dr. Sweet
quotes Thomas Merton, the popular Catholic author who popularized mysticism and died
in Asia searching the depths of Tibetan Buddhism:

‘We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have
to recover
is our original unity.'”[6]

Seeking that illusive
solidarity, today’s success-driven church leaders are rushing into the postmodern
age of flexible “truth” and relational pleasures. Unbounded by any solid anchor
in God’s unchanging Word, they dash forward — hand in hand with the world
— toward an imagined future attainable through practices long hidden in
secret societies and Eastern religions. These include meditative
rituals, dialectical synthesis and systems thinking. Add service learning to
the last two and you have the transformational strategies first tested by

Communist

tyrants, then
incorporated into the

UN – U.S. education system, which intentionally undermined
factual, rational learning and established the
postmodern
ways of thinking.[7]

 

We need to understand
this amazing worldwide revolution — and the subtle compromises caused by today’s
pragmatic “Christian” alliances. Therefore, the next two articles in this series
will look more closely at the social manipulation behind “community
service” and “lifelong learning” — two programs driven by
global standards, continual assessments
and remediation. Meanwhile, you can find helpful background information on the
following pages:

Molding Human Resources for
the Global Workforce

Bush, Shultz, Gorbachev and
Soviet Education

Spirit-Led or Purpose-Driven, Part 4: Dealing with Resisters

Character
Training For Global Citizenship

But first, let’s examine
Rick Warren’s celebrated P.E.A.C.E. Plan and its links to the United Nations.

 

Like most other UN documents, its

Millennium Goals
sound kind and compassionate. They are designed to appeal to noble instincts
and caring hearts — and they do! That’s why nations, corporations, organizations
and churches have joined the global campaign. Who would disagree with these
eight lofty goals?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

2. Achieve universal primary education.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.

8. Develop a global partnership for development.[8]

Of course, there’s more to this list than nice-sounding
words. The motivational vision of a worldwide welfare system may have captured
hearts around the world, but it actually serves the grandiose aims of socialist
change agents who have little concern for human suffering. (Just look how
government leaders are treating the victims of hurricane Katrina!) Yet, no other program
has more effectively linked the evangelical church to the
UN management system,
which, from its birth, declared war on Biblical truth and values.[9] And no other program has more effectively drawn Christians into a process designed
to manipulate the masses, undermine traditional values,
silence resisters,
synthesize
beliefs, trade individual thinking for
collective thinking,
and train global citizens to
serve
the “greater whole.”[10]

 

An interview titled, “Pastor
[Warren] lays out a global vision,”
summarizes parts of that plan:

Q: Your book
is a mega-seller and there are 82,000 names on Saddleback’s church
rolls. What’s next?

Warren:
“In the 21st century we are going global and mobilizing the American
church to help internationally. … President Kagame will welcome
us to Rwanda for a joint project among the government, business
and the church….

Q: How will Saddleback tackle these
huge problems?

Warren:
With our PEACE plan…. P
is for plant a church or partner
with an existing one in every village. We’ll work with everyone
who wants to help. I’ll work with an atheist who wants to stop AIDS.
E – equip local leaders.
A – assist the poor.
C – care for the sick.
And E – educate the next generation. …

Q:
What is your greatest hope
for all this?

Warren: A second Reformation. The first one was about belief. This one
will be about deeds.”[11]

Compare
this celebrated P.E.A.C.E. Plan with the United Nation’s Millennial Goals. Keep
in mind that both purpose-driven churches and their strategic leadership programs
require training in mind-changing
processes and
assessment technologies that support the UN vision for human resource development around the world.[12]

Warren’s PEACE Plan	Millennium Development Goals:
1. Was: Plant churches    Changed to: Promote Reconciliation	#8. Develop a global partnership for development. (The leadership training for purpose-driven churches parallels the dialectic process, Systems Thinking and team development prescribed by various UN agencies involved in human resource development.)
2. Equip servant leaders	#8. Develop a global partnership for development. Actually “Lifelong Learning” has been the major UNESCO education goal since the UN agency was founded.
3. Assist the poor	#1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
4. Care for the sick	#4. Reduce child mortality
	#5. Improve maternal health
	#6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
5. Educate the next generation	#2. Achieve universal primary education
The implied aims of UN Millennium Goals #3 and #7 are certain to be included in each of Warren’s five programs – especially in P, E, A and E.	#3. Promote gender equality and empower women
	#7. Ensure environmental sustainability

Now, let’s look more closely at each P.E.A.C.E. Plan objective:

1.


Plant churches.

The first point sounds good. But what
will those church plants look like? Will they be clones of Saddleback Church
in California — or of thousands of other churches that follow the purpose-driven
model?

 

Not exactly.
Today’s change agents will carefully adapt their transformational
strategies to each new cultural setting. But at the heart of this global
revolution we see the same key elements: Total Quality Management, psycho-social leadership training,
promotion of a positive (compromised) gospel and a permissive (feel-good, non-judging)
God, continual high-tech assessments and remediation, and the
dialectic process
operating through facilitated small groups.

 

The mission field is the entire
world.  As Pastor Warren says,

“‘Billions of people suffer
each day from problems so big no government can solve them…. ‘The only
thing big enough to solve the problems of spiritual emptiness, selfish leadership,
poverty, disease, and ignorance is the network of millions of churches all
around the world….

   
‘The Scripture shows us that Jesus shared the Good News, trained leaders,
helped the poor, cared for the sick, and taught the children… ‘Our P.E.A.C.E.
Plan will just do the five things Jesus did while he was here on earth.'”[13]

But Pastor Warren’s comparison with Jesus couldn’t
be more misleading. Jesus never used the psycho-social strategies or the
manipulative management systems
that drive today’s social and spiritual transformation!

 

Warren’s initial thrust
is into Africa, where the P.E.A.C.E. Plan will fit well. It already has a foothold
in Rwanda, where the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi minority shocked the world. But according
to Time Magazine, its president Paul Kagame had not been friendly to Biblical
Christianity:

“Kagame has repeatedly stated
his disdain for religious organizations. Thus a buzz went up in Kigali’s
Amahoro Stadium last month when Kagame allowed Rick Warren… to throw an
arm over his shoulders and ‘pray for the President.’… Kagame has committed
his government to cooperation in a five-to-seven-year self-sufficiency
project staffed by Rwandan volunteers but initiated, advised and at
least partly funded by Warren’s network of ‘purpose-driven churches.’ Warren
talks of turning Rwanda into ‘the first purpose-driven nation.'”[14]

Do you wonder why a somewhat anti-Christian
African president would enter into such an agreement? Kagame answered that question
when he spoke at Saddleback Church in April:

“…they also told us about
the vision of the PEACE plan…. It is a vision with a big goal, which is
to confront the world’s major problems; but it is practical and simple in
strategy because it is built on using average people rather than just the
elite. Rick and I agree that each partner
– the church, the government and businesses
have a role to play and we are better together
and more effective when we cooperate.”[15]

“More effective” in what
way? In planting
Biblical churches — or in “Capacity
Building” and “developing” people who think collectively and fit
the UN vision?  Will cooperation with “government and businesses”
actually help establish Christ-centered churches with faithful “born
again” Christians who — by God’s grace — love and follow His Word? Or
will it spread compromise and deception? Will it please God or man?

 

 Will
it fulfill what Warren presents as God’s five main purposes for the Church?
Or might those purposes all be redefined under the banner of church growth,
church health, and success-driven service through
church/world
alliances?[16]

 Partnerships face problems when
one partner controls the money or political power. The controlling member will
be in a position to set the rules and define the terms, forcing the other member(s)
to submit or leave.

 

Actually, Rick Warren’s five purposes have already been compromised. “Warren
presents some basic teaching regarding Gods purpose to glorify Himself and what
man should do in relation to God,” wrote Richard Bennett in an article
titled “The
Purpose Driven Life: Demeaning the Very Nature of God.”
“The fact that none of these purposes is presented in a biblically accurate
way makes Warren’s work all the more dangerous to the true understanding
of Who God is and His Gospel in Christ.”[17]

 

Consider Warren’s five main purposes from a Biblical perspective:

Worship:
Postmodern worship forms are designed to stir happy feelings and human
excitement, not worship inspired by the Holy Spirit. They point to a
positive and permissive God who — like our human team members — will
cheer our self-centered nature and excuse our unholy ways. Such
celebrations clash with genuine expressions of a Spirit-filled heart
that freely praises our wonderful holy God without emotion-raising,
man-centered programs.

(See

Spirit-Led or
Purpose-Driven)

Fellowship:
Purpose-driven “fellowship” tends to follow today’s
dialectical guidelines. These push
group members toward unbiblical tolerance, feeling-based rather than
fact-based “sharing,” and silence with regard to Biblical absolutes. In
contrast,
Biblical fellowship happens when we come together with common delight in
His Word, His will and His ways — loving and encouraging each other with
His Word and by His Spirit.

Discipleship: The new church management systems call for training
in submission and loyalty to “the group” and the new social ethics — not
to God and His Word. It requires participation in collective thinking and
“service learning” and fun
team building activities. It shuns God’s narrow ways and divisive
truths, and twists God’s call for Biblical oneness into an invitation to
join the world on its highway to corruption.

 

Ministry: The shape and structure of
purpose-driven ministries are increasingly defined
by new management gurus,
personality
assessments,
community surveys,
and group appeal,

not by Biblical teaching
nor God’s actual purposes.


But the Bible shows us that our main focus should be on building
up believers by preaching and teaching His Word, and by exhorting and
serving one another. We are called to live and work together by His
Spirit — not by group thinking and politically correct tolerance. In the true Church, all the members
know
and follow
Jesus Christ, the King of all! He is not a reinvented god
acceptable to the world, but the holy,
almighty God who revealed Himself through the Scriptures.
 

Evangelism

:
Today’s soft,

non-offensive gospel focuses on God’s supposed
passionate love for people who are naturally lovable, not
on His loving mercy for depraved sinners.
(See Ephesians 2:1-4) 
When “Christian” change agents train the masses to “think outside the
box” of God’s unchanging Word, they are spreading a false gospel and
blinding people to the only truth that can set us free.

The assumption that “the
ends justify the means” has already blinded a critical mass of “Christian” leaders.
Many don’t realize that the promised “end” is merely an
illusion. Trained to accept a compromised gospel, they spread it to a
world that wants to share in God’s blessings without conviction of sin
or genuine repentance. The non-Christian masses are more than willing to join,
for A gospel purged of its offensive parts  the world.  the movement
without Biblical conversion.

This radical reformation becomes all the more concerning
when church leaders like Rick Warren link hands with Bono, Ellen DeGeneres, and other UN
supporters in their evangelistic crusade and war on poverty. Since these noble
aims fit right into the United Nations’ efforts to “develop” nations, train
human resources, build
social
capital, and establish its global management system,
we cannot ignore its basic philosophy.

What’s more, today’s soft, social “gospel” conforms
easily to UNESCO’s guidelines for religion in the new world order. Remember
Pastor Warren’s words, “The
first [Reformation]
was about beliefs. This one will be about deeds.”[11]

It all makes sense. The true gospel
offends people. It reminds us that we are fallen creatures in bondage to
sin apart from God. That’s why God’s Word warns us that “we are to God
the fragrance of Christ among those who are saved and among those
who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to
death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”
(2 Corinthians 2:14)  It reminds
us not to expect popularity in the world when we are true to His Word!
Instead we are called to follow His narrow, difficult road, no matter
what the cost:

“If the world hates you, you know
that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but
I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…. If
they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you… because they do
not know Him who sent Me.” John
15:18-21

In contrast, humanitarian
deeds will win the world’s applause. So will a whitewashed gospel, cleansed
of offensive truth, and focused on man’s worth rather than God’s righteousness. This new gospel fits the vision of UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
as summarized in its
Declaration
on the Role of Religion in the Promotion of a Culture of Peace. Notice
that it uses the evils committed by false or “cultural
Christianity” to justify
its criticisms of genuine Christianity and to press all religions into
accepting its guidelines for global service in its new world order:

1. …We are all interdependent and share
an inescapable responsibility for the well-being of the entire world.

2. We face a crisis which could bring about
the suicide of the human species or bring us a new awakening and a new hope.
We know that religion… has an indispensable role to play….

6. Religions have… led to division, hatred,
and war. Religious people have too often betrayed the high ideals they themselves
have preached.

8. Peace entails that we understand that we
are all interdependent…. collectively responsible for the common
good.

11. We must… cultivate a spirituality which
manifests itself in action…

13. We commit ourselves to … assure a truly
humane education for all. We emphasize education for peace, freedom, and
human rights, and religious education to promote openness and tolerance.

19. Our communities of faith have a responsibility
to encourage conduct imbued with wisdom, compassion, sharing, charity, solidarity,
and love; inspiring one and all to choose the path of freedom and responsibility.
Religions must be a source of helpful energy.

20. … We should distinguish fanaticism from
religious zeal.

21. We will favor peace by countering
the tendencies of individuals and communities to assume
or even to teach that they are inherently superior to others …

22. We will promote dialogue and harmony
between and within religions … respecting the search for truth
and wisdom that is outside….

23. …We call upon the different religious
and cultural traditions to join hands… and to cooperate
with us.”[18]

Whether consciously or simply out of success-oriented pragmatism, the purpose-driven church movement has answered the call. With management guru

Peter Drucker
as his mentor, Rick Warren’s quest for reformation and transformation serves
the UN vision very well. In fact, the two seem to march to the same drumbeat.
Like Warren’s vision of transformation, 
UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme calls for total transformation to its global
system of assessments and control –“a
process of individual, collective and institutional transformation.”[2]
 

Those who have studied UN literature realize that its envisioned
“Culture of Peace” would happily embrace a compromised form of Christianity
that would serve the world system. But Biblical Christianity, so despised
by the world, would be banned — just as Jesus warned His disciples: 

“…they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you,
and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then
many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” 
(Matthew 24:9-13)  See

Signs
of the times