Rick Warren Disses the "American Dream"

"When you commit yourself to a great dream, it draws something out of you and helps you become larger than you would become any other way." ~ Rick Warren

The "American Dream;" What is it?  

The American Dream is a rather ethereal thing; it is at the very least, an\ shared  ideology of people 
who are free and who support the idea of freedom.  It's an idea very much rooted in the Declaration of Independence, It is an ideology that stems from a concept of freedom and everything that  "freedom" entails: like freedom from tyranny, freedom to worship God without fear of persecution,, freedom to pursue your own happiness in life.  The amazing thing about "the American Dream"  is a shared dream of liberty is to be secured for everyone who calls this land, the United States of America, their home and at it's core is the notion that all men, rich or poor, have the same inherent value, for they are all created equal.  

(And, let's not forget that while the American Dream is often attributed to the USA, "America" would technically include the continents of both North America, and South.) 

There is a certain beauty to this American dream concept that is not simply about thinking too highly of one's self for within this concept, there is the ideal that every person is to be respected and has value.  Individuals are each to be given the equal opportunity to learn to read and write and to make their own way in the world, safe from harm, free to think, free to  speak their minds and to live and work where they want to as their pursue goals and work hard, striving to doing a good job at what they do and to live in accord with other people. The American dream allows people to own personal property, do business in the marketplace and raise a family without interference of others, endeavors which are perceived to come about by the noble  character traits of  determination, integrity, dedication and hard work.

According to "Wise Geek" :"The idealistic vision of the American dream often disregards discrimination based on a person's race, religion, gender and national origin, which might inhibit his or her ability to achieve specific goals. Critics also point out that many versions of the dream equate prosperity with happiness, and that happiness is possible without wealth or even in poverty. To some people, the American dream might be more about personal fulfillment than about economic success or owning property."

In regards to the "ideal" American dream, they write:
"Capitalism and consumerism have been wholly embraced by the country at large, and the socialist agenda cannot be reconciled with the rich and famous American dream. Most Americans link socialism with communism and associate the doctrine with the Soviet Union and Cold War fears."


 This "American dream" concept is really not such a bad thing, but Rick Warren and  friends like Derwin Grey (See the video: When the American Dream Disappoints) would have their audiences believing that the " American dream" is a nightmare, or at the very least, something derogatory.  and, "Why not?" They have something better to offer... something to replace that old "American Dream" if you let them....

"You have to decide not to settle for the American dream."  ~Rick Warren, rickwarren.org  God's Dream for Your Life, Part 1 

Instead of the American dream, and instead of the gosprl, the idea is to get you to embrace this unusual concept of   "God's Dream." 

First, realize how special you are..... and you need to learn from Rick.

"Most people miss God’s dream because they’re not looking at God; they’re watching what everybody else does. If you’re trying to imitate somebody else, you’re going to be a carbon copy instead of who God made you to be. You need to be more concerned with God’s dream for your life than the American dream...  

And then you "dis" the American dream of being a free individual, working to procure a life for yourself and your family.  In fact, the American dream is a burden, but never fear... Rick has a solution and he's here to help you sort things out.

....The American dream and God’s dream are two very different issues. The American dream used to be pretty affordable and pretty simple. Today, the American dream is all-consuming."

                                        ~Rick Warren, How Do You Get God's Dream For Your Life, idiciple.org

Weird, isn't it?  Why is he dissing the American Dream?  

The American dream used to be good, you know, "affordable" and "simple"... but today, it has become not only "all-consumming" but worse than that, it has become the antithesis of  "God's Dream."

" If you want to get serious about discovering God’s dream for your life, you have to decide not to settle for the American dream."                                                                                  ~Rick Warren, How Do You Get God's Dream For Your Life, idsciple.org 

The really weird thing here, that the idea is to put your focus on what Rick Calls, God's Dream.  Whatever happened to putting one's focus on the author and finisher of our faith?

Not only that, but in order for the individual to attain to the God dream in Rick's new ideology, they must get serious about making it happen for themselves. Getting God's dream, is not something this generic unnamed God who is apparently sleeping and dreaming big dreams for you gives freely,in response to faith;no, apparently, the person seeking something better than the American dream must work hard and  earn the reward for themselves. It sounds difficult, but  Rick herre offers to  teach "how to believe in and be faithful to God's dream for your life."

Sadly, and contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, neither the Christian nor the non- Christian listening to Rick Warren in his series is directed to focus on God, nor  the one individual whom God, (the true and living God of the bible) sent into the world as the Lamb of God to free sinful mankind from the penalty of sin.  The focus is God's dream... whatever that is.

If even for minute this strange philosophy Rick is preaching is to be a matter of faith,  "faith" becomes a very complicated thing,  He teaches that faith is six-phase process, one that will take lectures from Rick, time to implement and to understand.  The  individual must be  dedicated and committed to doing whatever God tells the person to do... or God's dream will never be realized.

It's the kind of thing that should make bible verses like  Matthew 23:15 and Colossians 2:8 come to mind if you have read the Bible before.

Instead of telling people the good news of Jesus Christ, Rick is telling them all the things that they MUST do, all the dedication and commitment that  they must have in order to get something completely different... "God's dream," He  never encourages the reader or listener to put faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins which is an oddity for a Christian pastor.  This is in stark contrast to the Christian teaching that  Jesus Christ is actually the only person to ever be fully dedicated to God and the only person fully committed to doing the will of God.   Read Philippians 2:8.  Jesus, God incarnate, was obedient without fail to all the requirements of the law, even unto  death upon a cross.

Rick is teaching a works-based performance which will enable the individual to pursue "God's dream" instead of teaching about Jesus.  The person who wants "God's dream" as presented by Rick,
must do whatever God tells them to do, but there is a catch.  They must learn how to do it from Rick.
No, you can;t simple learn about it from the Bible,.... it's not there.  You must learn to interpret the scriptures through Rick's private lens... (And that means you will have to buy his many books, workbooks, CDs and other  materials, like sermons and podcasts in order to know what to do. you will not find any teaching about pursuing or living "God's Dream"  in your bible alone.

To begin a person on the journey Rick conveniently offers his sermon series called Everything is Possible with God, and you can obtain them only by purchasing them (or for a donation of at least $28.00.) 

"In these six eye-opening sessions, Rick takes you through what he calls the “six phases of faith,” exploring subjects like how God builds your faith, how to make wise decisions, and moving from dead-end to deliverance."

While the apostles taught people to put their faith in Jesus Christ and receive God's gift of eternal life, Rick Warren moves people from Dead end to deliverance as they learn to attain God's dream.  As Jesus taught his disciple to have the simple faith of a little child, (Matthew 18:3) and taught us how even faith as small as a mustard can move mountains, Rick teaches us that small or weak faith is of little or not value and teaches that a person must  understand the six phases of faith before they are even able to cooperate with God in the process of faith and character building.  

Advertising on this eye-opening product description reads:

"God says, “You get to choose how much I bless your life. You believe, and I’ll do it. You believe, and I’ll bless.”

Pardon the simple observation here, but the Bible does not record that God ever says such a thing as that. In fact, it might already seem to you that this kind of dialogue is doctrinally sound, in fact, it is what is commonly known as Word of Faith teaching!

Believing this stuff as preached to the world by "Pastor Rick" will only serve to lead one to believe that sin is not the enemy, but the American dream is. Those who find themselves unsatisfied in life, groping about in hopes of finding God, and listening to Rick will be lead astray. Instead of resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ they will be spending a lot of valuable time and money on a plethora of Saddleback activities, classes and materials in hopes of being able to attain what Rick Warren calls, " God's dream."