- LAKE FOREST, California --
For one of the most powerful religious figures in America, Pastor Rick
Warren looks very casual. Wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and loafers, he
puts his feet up on his office table and cracks a broad grin. 'If I didn't
believe in Jesus, I would be a millionaire with a yacht, sitting in the
sun on my own island,' he laughs. 'But instead I am a pastor.'
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- Warren, dubbed 'America's pastor' by the media, has written
one of the biggest-selling books of all time, generating tens of millions
of dollars. He heads one of America's five largest 'mega-churches' and
runs a religious network that spans the globe. If his religion were a business,
then Warren would be a Wall Street mogul.
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- His influence is growing all the time. He now plans to
deliver a copy of his religious self-help tract, The Purpose-Driven Life,
to every US soldier serving in Iraq. 'Copies are already hitting the sand,'
Warren said. He is also preparing a trip to Britain next year when he will
headline a meeting of the Baptist World Alliance in Birmingham alongside
former President Jimmy Carter.
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- Yet Warren is not a household name. He has crept under
the media radar while building his religious empire. He has been a guest
at the White House, he ministers privately to some of the most important
figures in American industry and was instrumental in helping market Mel
Gibson's controversial religious blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ
.
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- The Purpose-Driven Life has sold a staggering 20 million
copies worldwide. It is, Warren says, selling a million a month. 'If you
took Bill Clinton's book, Hillary Clinton's book, the latest Harry Potter
and the Da Vinci Code and added them together, you still would not get
the same as The Purpose-Driven Life ,' he boasted.
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- But he turns down many requests for interviews and refuses
to appear on television. 'I am America's stealth pastor,' he told The Observer
in his first interview with a British newspaper.
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- Warren sits in a spacious office on the 'campus' of his
Saddleback Church in the prosperous Lake Forest suburb of Orange County.
He is on a mission that stretches far beyond Saddleback, far beyond America
even. That mission is world domination. 'We need a billion footsoldiers,'
he said 'If you love Jesus, we are on the same team.'
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- America's pastor works through a global network of churches
which have participated in his '40 Days of Purpose' campaign, an activist
programme that goes along with Warren's book. In Britain alone, more than
1,000 churches have already taken part. To that can be added 1,500 in the
Philippines, 400 in Singapore and many hundreds across the world. In total,
more than 15,000 churches in dozens of countries have carried out the programme.
They span all denominations. 'They can be Catholic, Free Church, Lutheran,
Methodist, whatever. We don't put a sign up. You won't know they are in
our network,' Warren says.
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- Added to that is Warren's enormous network of pastors
who have received training through his classes or internet site. He has
now trained 300,000 pastors across the globe. Some 125,000 of them get
his weekly email that includes his latest sermon, which they then can deliver
to their congregations.
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- Warren's family has preaching in its blood. His father
is a minister and his great-grandfather was a follower of famous 19th Century
English evangelist Charles Spurgeon and came to America as a travelling
preacher. Warren grew up in the small town of Redwood Valley in California.
At High School his real passion was politics. However, while attending
a Christian summer camp as a lifeguard he became inspired to join the church
for life. He left for a Baptist seminary in Texas.
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- After college, Warren says, he and his young wife Kay
decided that God was calling them to come back to California. They abandoned
their desire to become overseas missionaries and spent their last 1,000
dollars on a U-Haul in which to pack their belongings and moved themselves
to Orange County to found Saddleback Church, which now boasts huge car
parks and a series of 'park and ride' buses to shuttle worshippers to Sunday
services in a sprawling complex of buildings.
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- Each weekend more than 19,000 turn up to hear Warren
preach, attending one of five venues on the landscaped site. Saddleback
looks more like a corporate headquarters than a church. It has modern offices,
a cafe, outdoor theatres and an artificial hill on top of which are three
wooden crosses, standing above a re-creation of Jesus's cave-like tomb.
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- Warren proudly tells of a visit he recently made to a
poor township near Johannesburg in South Africa. He was instantly recognised
by the pastor of a small church. 'I was amazed. I said, "You don't
even have electricity. How do you know who I am?"' The South African
pastor told him that each week he went to the local post office, where
a government programme had installed internet access, and downloaded Warren's
latest missive before delivering it to his flock.
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- Warren's use of the internet and his focus on pastors
rather than congregations has allowed him to bypass the media on his rise
to the top. 'I looked at TV and didn't like what I saw. I didn't want to
be a tele-evangelist. It was not authentic,' he said.
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- The book takes the shape of 40 biblical lessons to be
considered at a rate of one a day, and promises its readers a spiritual
journey that will change their lives. Just like Warren's conversation,
it is peppered with biblical quotations. Its message is clear: its readers
must become completely dedicated to God. The book's now famous opening
line simply states: 'It's not about you.'
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- Its religious basis, just like Warren's, is that of a
strictly fundamentalist Christian. The book makes no attempt to disguise
Warren's belief in the book of Genesis, Noah's Ark and the existence of
Hell. Warren also believes in the end of the world as described in Revelations.
When it comes to such matters of faith, he suddenly takes on a serious
tone. 'I accept the Bible as the word of God. I do believe the Bible is
literally true. I believe the stories in it actually happened.'
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- Such a book was not an obvious bestseller, not even in
America's Bible belt. But the book has now been on the New York Times bestseller
list for almost two years.Warren gives away 90 per cent of his earnings
to Saddleback, living on the remaining 10 per cent. 'I still drive a Ford,'
he said.
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- The book and its language have now entered the American
mainstream. Attending the unveiling of her portrait in the White House
a few weeks ago, Hillary Clinton referred to 'a purpose-driven life' in
her speech.
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- Warren also ministers privately to many influential political
people in the capital in both parties, though he won't reveal their names.
'I don't touch politics. I deal with their personal matters,' he said.
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- He admits he has met President Bush. 'I have been to
the Oval Office a couple of times,' he said. Others include figures from
business, entertainment and international politics, including two senior
members of the European Union and a smattering of African presidents. Warren
also worked closely with Mel Gibson to promote The Passion of the Christ,
hosting a preview screening at Saddleback that was beamed to thousands
of evangelicals on satellite television and included a long interview with
Gibson.
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- And the man who inspired it all is looking far beyond
simply enlarging Saddleback. This autumn Warren will roll out his sequel
to the 40 Days of Purpose campaign. Called 40 Days of Community, it will
involve 15,000 churches which have completed the previous programme. It
will send activists into their community to carry out tasks such as feeding
the homeless. At the same time, an expected 10,000 more churches are expected
to sign up for a re-run of 40 Days of Purpose. 'For me, the 1980s were
about establishing us locally. Then the next decade was establishing us
nationally. Now we have to go global,' Warren said.
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- Warren will soon be a stealth pastor no more. 'I never
wanted to be a celebrity,' he said. But his huge influence and his church's
enormous wealth are putting an end to that. 'I guess I can't really hide
away any more,' he said.
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- The word according to Rick
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- Don't argue with the Devil He's better at arguing than
you are, having had thousands of years to practise. You can't bluff Satan
with logic or your opinion, but you can use the weapon that makes him tremble
- the truth of God. This is why memorising scripture is essential to defeating
temptation. If you have no Bible verses memorised, you've got no bullets
in your gun!
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- Love now, not tomorrow Why is now the best time to express
love? Because you don't know how long you will have the opportunity. Circumstances
change. People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of tomorrow.
If you want to express love, you had better do it now.
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- Always love God, even when he seems distant God is real,
no matter how you feel. It is easy to worship God when things are going
great in your life but circumstances are not always pleasant. The deepest
level of worship is praising God in spite of pain.
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- Jesus cures death If you have a relationship with God
through Jesus, you don't need to fear death. It is the door to eternity.
It will be the last hour of your time on earth, but it won't be the last
of you. Rather than being the end of your life, it will be your birthday
into eternal life.
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- Care for unbelievers God has never made a person he didn't
love. Everybody matters to him. When Jesus stretched his arms wide out
on the cross, he was saying: 'I love you this much!' Whenever you feel
apathetic about your mission in the world, spend some time thinking about
what Jesus did for you on the cross. We must care about unbelievers because
God does. God leaves no choice.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1258742,00.html
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