The Church Growth Movement & Purpose Driven Church
VERSUS The Bible



A COMPARISON CHART CREATED BY JAMES SUNDQUIST



DISCLAIMER: Not every PDC/CGM church holds to every one of the positions on the chart, but rather the chart is a general guideline to equip and warn the saints.






Position of the CGM & The Purpose-Driven Church
Position of the Bible

Man adds to the church daily as should be saved through contemporary marketing methods...

Churches are taking surveys among unsaved and/or unchurched to determine what they do and do not like about the church, then applying the results and statistics to determine how the church should be run.
\"...And the LORD added to the church daily such as should be saved\" Acts 2:47.

\"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another...\" 1 John 1:7.

\"Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat -- for he grants sleep to those he loves\" Psalm 127:1-2.

The Church needs a new purpose.
The Church already has a purpose since its beginning 2000 years ago. The Great Commission: \"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature\" Mark 16:15.

\"Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints\" Jude 1:3.

\"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned\" Mark 16:15-16.

Conform the Church to the image of the world and culture in order to make the church more palatable and comfortable for the unsaved.
\"Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God?\" James 4:4.

\"And be not conformed to this world...\" Romans 12:2.

\"The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness...\" Romans 1:17-18.

Promote self-love.
\"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal\" John 12:25.

\"Loved their lives not unto death\" Revelation 12:11.

The goal of the Church is Happiness and Personal Fulfillment
The goal of the Church is Holiness. \"Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy\" 1 Peter 1:16.

Do not offend seekers with \"religious\" words.
\"And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, [even to them] which stumble at the word,\" 1 Peter 2:8.

Remove the Cross from the church.
Cling to the ole rugged Cross. The Cross was in plain view for all to see: \"and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced\" Zechariah 12:10.

Manmade 12-step programs toward psychological healing and deliverance.
One-step deliverance program: Being Born Again in Christ. \"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed\" John 8:36.

At the most, we could also acknowledge a second \"step\": Sanctification, which is the process of perfecting the saints until we are resurrected in our glorified bodies.

Scriptures are insufficient for perfecting the saints. Psychology and sociology help the church where the Bible seems to lack.
\"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works\" 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Need to discover the key to \"Unchurched Harry\'s\" heart to reach him for Christ.
Condition of man\'s heart is already known: \"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually\" Genesis 6:5.

Christ\'s salvation is equal trade for worth of man and focus on unsaved Harry\'s worth.
Unequal trade: Man\'s worth is zero, Christ\'s salvation is worth infinite value. \"All our righteousness are as filthy rags\" Isaiah 64:6. Christ alone is our refuge and our worth!

Entertain the world into the Kingdom of God.
Convict the world unto salvation: \"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost\" 1 Corinthians 12:3.

Caters to the flesh.
Crucifies the flesh: \"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live\" Romans 8:13.

Pleasers of men.
Pleasers of God: \"We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts\" 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

The answer to low self-esteem is high self-esteem.
Concept of self-esteem is nonexistent in Scripture. \"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise\" Psalm 51:17.

How to become an \"influential Christian\" (John C. Maxwell).
\"But he that is greater among you shall be your servant\" Matthew 23:11. We are to be imitators of Christ who made himself of no reputation.

Nature of man: Man is a victim.
Nature of man: Man is a sinner: \"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\" Romans 3:23. \"They did not like to retain God in their knowledge\" Romans 1:28.

Focus on self.
Focus on God, then others: \"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another\" John 13:34.

Christians need to be pleasing savor to the world.
\"For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one (we are) the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life\" 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.

Be loved by the world.
\"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you (from their company), and shall reproach (you), and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man\'s sake\" Luke 6:22. \"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you\" I John 3:13.

Seek ye first the felt needs of the world and the Kingdom shall be added unto you.
\"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you\" Matthew 6:33.

Different church services for \"Churched Harry & Mary\" vs. \"Unchurched Harry & Mary.\"
Same church service and message for both church and unchurced at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-11). Same message of repentance to every tribe, tongue and nation: \"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature\" Mark 16:15. (Same message throughout the Old Testament as well!)

Communion Inclusive.
Communion Exclusive to Believers.

Unchurched have rejected church but not necessarily God.
All unsaved are in rebellion and have rejected God: \"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God\" 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Shine the salt of earth into a sparkling gem.
As the salt of the earth we must be covered with the blood of the Lamb in order to retain savor, remove poison in the world, and preserve the world: \"Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men\" Matthew 5:13.

\"Unchurched Harry\" will come to church via a good experience.
Harry will come to church only by God\'s sovereign work of grace: \"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God\" Ephesians 2:8.

Self-centered.
Self-Sacrifice.

This generation is different from all past generations.
This generation is IDENTICAL to all generations.

Asks what we can require of God.
Asks what God requires of us.

Seeks personal fulfillment.
Seeks obedience to Christ.

Integrates psychology with the Bible.
\"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called\" 1 Timothy 6:20. \"To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them\" Isaiah 8:20. \"Beware lest anyone spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ\" Colossians 2:8. \"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies\" 2 Peter 2:1.

Integrates Personality Theory and Tests with the Bible, such as Meyer-Briggs Test, S.H.A.P.E., Kiersey-Bates Temperament Sorter, based on occultist and atheist Carl Jung & Sigmund Freud... all based on astrological signs of the Zodiac.
\"Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come. Behold, they shall be as stubble...\" Isaiah 47:13, 14. \"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?\" Matthew 7:16. \"For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes\" Luke 6:43-44. \"Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh\" James 3:12. \"Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord\'s table, and of the table of devils\" 1 Corinthians 10:21.

Unconditional acceptance.
Requires repentance; God is not tolerant of evil. Sets in place Elders in church discipline to judge and restore those in the church.

You set boundaries.
God sets the boundaries.

Seek a higher power... whatever or whomever that might be for deliverance from disease.
\"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved\" Acts 4:12.

Journaling is how you keep connected with God.
Praying and meditating on God\'s Word is how you keep connected with God.

Invites false teachers to pulpit, such as Muslim clerics; or Presents false or contrary teachings in positive light from the pulpit.
Shepherds protect and guard the flock from wolves and wolves in sheep\'s clothing. \"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood\" Acts 20:28-31.

Supports Evangelical and Catholics Together (ECT) and other ecumenical endeavors.
\"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you\" 2 Corinthians 6:17. \"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them\" Romans 16:17. \"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?\" 2 Corinthians 6:14.

Stand in counsel of men who are not Christians to implement or finance their new church building plans.
\"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful\" Psalm 1:1. \"But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil ways, and from the evil of their doings\" Jeremiah 23:22.

Invokes imaginary Jesus (spirit) with help of spirit guide to search for past wounds, generational curses, and lost memories.
\"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but one thing, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things with are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus\" Philippians 3:13-14.

Never criticize what God is \"blessing.\"
\"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed\" Galatians 1:8. \"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them\" Ephesians 5:11. \"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world\" 1 John 4:1.

Principle of Pragmatism: If it works, it must be good!
Be faithful to the same message whether they respond or not: \"And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear\" Ezekiel 3:11.

All truth is God\'s Truth.
\"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth\" John 14:17; 16:13.

Mandatory Signed Pledges & pyramid schemes. (Levels similar to Masonic religion, the Caste system in Hinduism, or Mystery Babylon.)
\"Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God\'s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil\" Matthew 5:33-37.

Respecter of persons.
\"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, In truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons\" Acts 10:34.

Makes the Highway to Heaven as wide as possible.
\"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it\" Matthew 7:14.

Endorses or teaches Alpha Course.
Evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit does not imitate Demon Possession.

A growing church means God is blessing us.
Blessing and curse is completely dependent on obedience to God\'s Word.

Thinks men seek after God.
\"There is no one who seeks God\" Romans 3:11. God seeks after men: \"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God\" Romans 10:17.

Promotion comes via completion of courses.
\"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time\" 1 Peter 5:6. \"For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another\" Psalm 75:6-7.

Preach only \"positive\" messages from the pulpit.
Preach publicly the full counsel of God which includes both the love of God and the wrath of God.

Based on principles of this world and \"universal truths.\"
Church governed by Word of God, based on nothing but the person of Christ and him crucified. \"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified\" 1 Corinthians 2:2.

Monitors required tithing or pledge money.
\"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth\" Matthew 6:3.

Catch people unaware
\"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ\" Colossians 2:8. \"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour\" 1 Peter 5:8.

Lower mind\'s resistance.
\"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ\" 1 Peter 1:13.

No silence during church service.
\"Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation\" Zechariah 2:13. \"The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him\" Habakkuk 2:20.

Man builds the church.
Jesus Christ builds his church: \"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it\" Matthew 16:18.

My strength is made perfect in my \"strengths\", i.e. S.H.A.P.E. (Personality profiles, Gift profiles, etc.)
\"My strength is made perfect in weakness\" 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Fear of the Lord?: \"I don\'t think fear, as a tactic, really moves people toward faith these days. So, tactically, I think there are better ways to interest the uninterested in the claims of Jesus Christ.\" --- Pastor Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church.
\"And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes\" Romans 3:17-18.