The Sacred Sandwich

June11th

21 Comments

Pastor Rick Warren, well-known for creating memorable acrostics to convey his groundbreaking church initiatives like PEACE, SHAPE and CHURCH, has unveiled his latest teaching on Christian humility called the RICK Plan. Says Warren, “As Christians who have received greater spiritual insight than people of other religions, we can easily fall into the trap of acting superior. But Jesus said we need to humbly serve others without concern for our preeminence in the world, and that’s what my new RICK Plan is all about.”

RICK stands for: Remember others first; Imitate Christ; Create opportunities for service; and Keep your ego in check.

Warren believes his new strategy is essential for the success of the Church and plans to implement it throughout his Purpose Driven network until RICK covers the globe. “I’ve come to realize how important humility is, and I want other Christians to understand it, too,” Warren explained. “In fact, just the other day I was telling Bono how I practically created another Pentecost at Saddleback’s last membership drive. All of a sudden the phone rings and it’s a call from the White House. It was Barry wanting some pastoral advice. This is the kind of humbling situation that I hope others can learn to experience someday, too.”

When asked about the critics who charge that his new global humility plan is just a veiled marketing campaign to force his personal agenda on the Church, Warren responded, “Hey, the RICK Plan isn’t about me.”

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21 Comments

  • Comment by Paul Huxley — June 11, 2009 @ 2:36 am

    So I’m not the only one who gets annoyed when a celebrity says:

    “It was really humbling that I when I won those 10 awards/tennis Grand Slam/Player of the Year etc.”

  • Comment by Adenight — June 11, 2009 @ 3:53 am

    Hey wait a second he hasn’t done this already? You guys should be expecting a call soon from good ol’ Rick thanking you for the great idea. But also criticizing you for not working purpose driven in there. ;)

  • Comment by Brian — June 11, 2009 @ 5:32 am

    Personally, I’m humble and proud of it.

  • Comment by revdrron — June 11, 2009 @ 10:10 am

    Breaking News from evangelicalghetto.com

    By revdrron
    adjunct religion editor
    EGG

    (EGG) – For years now Mr. Warren has been contemplating the question of whether humility can be taught or is it an innate character trait. It seems that what prompted this consideration of humility and compassion was an encounter with great arrogance and condescension. It surfaced when someone other than himself publically stated, “The future of religion should be a focus on humility and commonalities to create a robust and productive global society.” How dare they!

    Mr. Warren quickly went to work developing four ways to cultivate humility (unveiled today as the R.I.C.K. Plan). The last two letters of his tricky ricky acrostic (Create opportunities for service and Keep your ego in check) stand for ways to cultivate personal humility on a small scale in your everyday life, and the first two (Remember others first and Imitate Christ) encourage a large scale, more global sense of humility.

    Mr. Warren offers this plan with a commitment to humility and a conviction that the R.I.C.K. Plan will not work unless people understand that it comes from his own commitment to the wellbeing of everyone on the planet, not from a desire to advance his power or influence. Having the Purpose Driven network administer the Plan makes it clear from the start that this Plan is not another puppet for Saddleback church.

    Mr. Warren also insists that the plan be implemented with this clear message: although the Saddleback Church has superior numerical, technological and material success, he and its members do not equate that with superior moral or cultural wisdom. On the contrary, the R.I.C.K. approach must reflect a deep humility and a spirit of repentance for the ways that the Saddleback culture has dominated the evangelical planet through aggressive outreach, environmental manipulation, and a growing materialism and selfishness.

  • Comment by Nabal Ben-Nimrod — June 11, 2009 @ 7:39 pm

    That picture is awesome, there are some things that you just can’t photoshop. I like this one too, http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/rick_warren.jpg

  • Comment by Nabal Ben-Nimrod — June 11, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

    And this one. In fact this one would be a great “write your own caption” post
    http://thenewagenda.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/rickwarrenscreensaddleback.jpg

  • Comment by LuLu — June 12, 2009 @ 11:02 am

    Hey,isn’t that a “Koran” in Warren’s hands? Is that part of the “R.I.C.K” plan or a collaborative Whitehouse initiative?(With that beard, I think Rick would be quite effective in a hijab!)

  • Comment by donsands — June 12, 2009 @ 12:39 pm

    Let’s see if I can use my name DON. D- Don’t be proud; O-Others are to be esteemed; N- Never forget Jesus.

    Yep it works. I could use DONALD, but I don’t want to not be humble.

    Human wisdom pales to insignificance when the Gospel is preached. Christ became sin and draank the cup of the wrath of God for His Father’s glory, and for sinners like me and you. He rose from the dead on the third day, and was seen by 500 people at one time, not to mention the Apostles, and some dear women, whom Christ loved and died for.
    He ascended into Heaven to stand before the Ancient of Days, and now sits at the right hand of glory with His Father and reigns the universe. Jesus of Nazerath is the only Mediator between sinners and God’s fury.
    To all who bow their knee and ask for His mercy, He hears them, and will forgive their transgressions, and impute to them His gift of righteousness as well.
    What a Savior! Life is precious because Jesus died for me, and my filthy sins. I am crucified to the world, because of Calvary, and the world is crucified to me. I can boast in nothing but the Cross of Christ.

    And to the world, I hope I simply speak the truth in love, and with an attitude of gratefulness for Christ. I am a great sinner, and I have a great Savior!

  • Comment by Les — June 12, 2009 @ 12:43 pm

    Too funny.

  • Comment by Eddie Eddings — June 15, 2009 @ 8:55 am

    This is just one of many humiliating articles i have read here. (please notice i am using a lower case i…because, yes, i am without ego) i thank thee once again for your humor and insight (notice i did not use a period at the end of the last sentence…because, yes, i am just plain ignorant)

  • Comment by Eddie Eddings — June 15, 2009 @ 11:33 am

    Just got the news that the WWRD braclets and rings will be ready for church leaders this August!

  • Comment by A.C.S — June 15, 2009 @ 2:34 pm

    Rick at his last conference said, “Jesus was ‘Purpose Driven’” Wow! what came first, Christ Jesus or Purpose Driven? According to RW, Purpose Driven! and his cronies weren’t too happy when I typed in chat room, “Whoa, chill on the Ego.”

  • Comment by Williebud — June 19, 2009 @ 9:46 am

    I miss the good ol’ days when it was the Holy Spirit Driven Life.

  • Comment by Jim — June 20, 2009 @ 6:33 am

    Bro Nimrod, perhaps the second photo should say something about keeping your shirts in check [no pun]!

  • Comment by Denise — July 14, 2009 @ 9:59 am

    Rotflol@ WWRD braceletts!!! How about a “WWRD ‘Bible’” full of Ricky quotes and insights?

    Now that Ricky has established himself so firmly in the American culture, I think he’s earned the honor of having a Hawiian shirt that captures all his greatness. Similar shirts have been made for USC and UCLA. =) Considering he’s known for his Hawiian shirts (not so much these days–I wonder why? Does it not endear him to his Muslim friends?)

    Among hibiscus flowers, we can have “PDL”splashed across the shirt print, along with “WWRD” and “R.I.C.K.”, & “P.E.A.C.E”. Maybe a black book (Quran? Bible?) can be included on the shirt. We can’t forget a picture of the earth either! Perhaps also some of those “COEXIST” symbols too.

    My other marketing scheme would be a t-shirt that says: “Just give P.E.A.C.E. a chance!” on the front and on the back,”I follow R.I.C.K.”

    With every order, you can get “P.E.A.C.E.” & “Follow R.I.C.K.” flip flops, so everytime you walk across the beach, you are evangelizing the masses with Rickism.

    If you buy the shirt as a gift, you can get the sound card of Michael Jackson’s “We Are The World” or “Give Peace A Chance” song.

  • Comment by Children of God — July 27, 2009 @ 12:31 am

    In trying to show the world how humble he is, Ricky-poo shows just how arrogant he really is! First, Ricky-poo uses his own name as an acronym for this new strategy. Then, Ricky-poo drops a celebrity name and brags about how he practically started a new pentecostal movement. Even Ricky-poo’s photos display him as an arrogant know-it-all. How asinine!

  • Comment by David Reid — August 18, 2009 @ 3:23 pm

    How about something more along the lines of … “The GOSPEL DRIVEN LIFE”? or “The JESUS DRIVEN LIFE”?
    It’s incredible the number of christian ’superstars’ we have in this generation. A few generations ago it was D.L. Moody’ and ‘Charles Spurgeon’ … another generation had Jonathan Edwards … my and my parents had “Billy Graham” … all wonderful evangelists.
    But look at today “Joel Osteen” “Benny Hinn” “Joyce Meyer” “Beth Moore” “Rick Warren” “Charles Stanley” “Craig Groeschel” “Todd Bentley” “Ted Haggard” and on and on and on and on and on we could go!
    We have the same problem today that the Galatian church had … we elevate a man … and then we try to emulate that man.

    I thought we were supposed to become more like JESUS not Rick, or Ted, or Beth, or Joyce … or ‘whoever’!

  • Comment by Andy Piatak — August 30, 2010 @ 10:11 pm

    Who knows what happens next… All I know is:

    Maybe this world is another planet’s hell. :)

  • Comment by dominic — August 31, 2010 @ 3:04 am

    God knows what happens next, and in His Word he tells us.

    Those who have faith in Him, through His Son Jesus Christ, will live for all eternity in heaven with God. Those who do not will live for all eternity without God.

    What else is there to know?

  • Comment by dominic — August 31, 2010 @ 3:08 am

    And by the way, I don’t need an acrostic…

    …you get a gold star for being the first to post why!!

  • Pingback by John MacArthur: “Who would have thought that John Piper would have Rick Warren at a Desiring God conference?” « For the Love of His Truth — August 31, 2011 @ 9:27 am

    [...] Issues Commentary: A Biblical Look at Rick Warren’s Teaching Rick Warren Unveils the R.I.C.K. Plan on Humility Rick Warren at Desiring God 2010 Rick Warren at DG 2010: Not An April Fool’s Joke? Rick [...]

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