In these posts, I share my thoughts as I read. I’ll give the body of text I’m reading, and then gives my thoughts on the side. Sometimes I’ll have a favorable opinion, sometimes negative, and sometimes mixed. The goal in these posts is a desire to help shape my own quick critical thinking, and help you with yours as well.
In this mini-series, I share my thoughts on chapter 7 of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. My opinion of what Warren has written is negative. Though I think there are good things to be gained from the book, I have my concerns with it, particularly in this chapter. Maybe this will help anyone who has read or is thinking about reading the book. I hope it is!
The Reason for Everything, by Rick Warren (Thoughts on the Side) Part 1
The following reading is taken from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, chapter 7, The Reason for Everything.
It’s all for him.
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.
All major Christian confessions, so far as I am aware, begin with this truth. That is, that everything exists for God’s glory. That “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God.”[1] However, this should always be understood in the broader light of Scripture, as Calvin’s explained in his Geneva Catechism as follows (see if you can follow his thought process):
1. Minister. What is the chief end of human life? Child. To know God.
2. Why do you say that?
Because He created us and placed us in this world to be glorified in us. And it is indeed right that our life, of which He Himself is the beginning, should be devoted to His glory.
3. What is the sovereign good of man?
The same thing.
4. Why do you hold that to be the sovereign good? Because without it our condition is more miserable than that of brute-beasts.
5. Hence, then, we see that nothing worse can happen to a man than to live without God. It is so.
6. What is the true and right knowledge of God? When we know Him in order that we may honour Him.
7. How do we honour Him aright? We put our reliance on Him, by serving Him in obedience to His will, by calling upon Him in all our need, seeking salvation and every good thing in Him, and acknowledging with heart and mouth that all our good proceeds from Him.[2]
Can you see the balance Calvin draws out? Man’s chief and highest calling is to glorify God, but he is sure to make clear that glorifying God means a trusting relationship with Him. It is much more than God “showing” His glory in the majesty of the universe. It is about God communicating Himself in His goodness to us, which is essential to what makes the universe display His glory (Psalm 104).
What is the glory of God? It is who God is.
So far, so good!
It is the essence of his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of his presence. God’s glory is the expression of his goodness and all his other intrinsic, eternal qualities.
As far as it goes in and of itself, this is fine. Except that it leaves out God’s Trinity, which defines His “nature” “importance” “radiance” “splendor” “power” and “presence.” God’s triunity is who He is eternally, so it is puzzling why that is not brought in at this point.
Where is the glory of God? Just look around. Everything created by God reflects his glory in some way. We see it everywhere, from the smallest microscopic form of life to the vast Milky Way, from sunsets and stars to storms and seasons. Creation reveals our Creator’s glory. In nature we learn that God is powerful, that he enjoys variety, loves beauty, is organized, and is wise and creative. The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (Psalm 19:1).
See “Creator’s glory.” See what Warren draws out from God’s Creator glory: power, difference, beauty, organization, wisdom and creativity. All of this is so, but so what? Is it merely the demonstration of His glory, of the communication of it? Surely it is both? And surely the second is God’s objective in displaying it? As a father holds out his arms to invite his child in, so also God holds out the heavens to invite us to be His children, and to be taken up afresh into His arms as His children, again and again. So those who “misread” the message written in the skies above (Psalm 19:4) are credited with ingratitude for God’s goodness to them (Romans 1:21).
Throughout history, God has revealed his glory to people in different settings. He revealed it first in the Garden of Eden, then to Moses, then in the tabernacle and the temple, then through Jesus, and now through the church. It was portrayed as a consuming fire, a cloud, thunder, smoke, and a brilliant light. In heaven, God’s glory provides all the light needed. The Bible says, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light.”
God’s glory is best seen in Jesus Christ. He, the Light of the world, illuminates God’s nature. Because of Jesus, we are no longer in the dark about what God is really like. The Bible says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory.” Jesus came to earth so we could fully understand God’s glory. “The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory . . . a glory full of grace and truth.”
Though the second paragraph makes better sense, the division between God’s glory being revealed “then through Jesus, and now through the church,” is confusing. Has God’s glory stopped being revealed in Jesus, and now only revealed in the church? Of course not, and clearly Warren does not mean that based on the second paragraph. However, the two New Testament passages he references make it more concerning that the two are separated: Ephesians 2:21-22; 2 Corinthians 4:6-7. Reading only 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 out of context, I can see how someone could divide them as two separate things happening at two separate times, but this is faulty to its core! However, I only point this out to underline the use of Scripture at this point, and hold it out as a curious way to put things.
God’s inherent glory is what he possesses because he is God. It is his nature. We cannot add anything to this glory, just as it would be impossible for us to make the sun shine brighter. But we are commanded to recognize his glory, honor his glory, declare his glory, praise his glory, reflect his glory, and live for his glory. Why? Because God deserves it! We owe him every honor we can possibly give. Since God made all things, he deserves all the glory. The Bible says, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything.”
It is a good clarification to draw out, that God is not needy for glory. I write about that here and in video form here. These days, it is getting more and more important to make that clear.
Note again the emphasis on Creator glory. Yes, of course, as the passage from Revelation 4:11 shows, God is worthy of glory for creation. I’m not disputing that. However, does glory mean only seeing it and recognizing it and then living for God’s glory? Or is there more?
In the entire universe, only two of God’s creations fail to bring glory to him: fallen angels (demons) and us (people). All sin, at its root, is failing to give God glory. It is loving anything else more than God. Refusing to bring glory to God is prideful rebellion, and it is the sin that caused Satan’s fall—and ours, too. In different ways we have all lived for our own glory, not God’s. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
What it means to “fail to bring glory to” God is not clear, though perhaps it’s meaning is assumed from what has come before “recognize… honor… declare… praise… reflect… live.” Is the root of sin is a failure to bring God glory, we need to see that Scripture says that the only way to please God is by faith (Hebrews 11:6). It is by that trusting relationship that Calvin spoke of (see at the start of this post). And though it is right to say that sin is a turning in on ourselves, selfishness, to say that pride is the foundation of sin may not be true, though I this is not the place for a discussion of this. Let it suffice to say that Augustine warned of setting an efficient cause for sin in the garden. And likewise, I would caution against attempts to find one sin that acts as the founding or supreme sin, the root of all the others. Laying such a foundation can deeply affect the way one reads Scripture, and perhaps (if wrong) warp one’s understanding of Scripture.
None of us have given God the full glory he deserves from our lives. This is the worst sin and the biggest mistake we can make. On the other hand, living for God’s glory is the greatest achievement we can accomplish with our lives. God says, “They are my own people, and I created them to bring me glory,” so it ought to be the supreme goal of our lives.
God’s glory as “the supreme goal of our lives” is a great statement… if it is understood biblically. And saying that living for God’s glory can be our “greatest achievement” seems like a misunderstanding of God’s way of glorifying Him: trusting relationship. Does giving God the glory He deserved rest in my power? Can I try hard enough as a Christian and give Him more glory like He deserves? What I’m thinking about here is the method or mechanics of sanctification, or being made Christlike. And this is what Rick Warren is going to turn to in the next section of this chapter, titled “How Can I Bring Glory to God?”
Standing Before God, This We Are and No More 
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