I recently watched a fascinating two-hour online video titled Church of Tares: Purpose Driven, Seeker-Sensitive, Church Growth & New World Order.  [On the linked page, scroll down a bit to find the embedded video.] It describes the so-called “seeker-sensitive” (or “purpose-driven”) movement within Evangelicalism. If you have the time, or can listen while doing work which will not be disrupted while you listen, I highly recommend the video. It helps make sense of much of the foolishness and apostasy that plagues Evangelicalism.

I want here to focus on one part of the documentary: the decisive role played by Peter Drucker. [Drucker’s contribution is discussed beginning at the 1:04:00 mark.] Drucker, born in Vienna in 1909, moved with his family to America in the 1930s and became a professor and public intellectual. But, unknown to most people, Drucker played a key role in the seeker-sensitive church movement.

That movement, under the name Church Growth, was started independently in the 1950’s by pastor Robert Schuler and seminary professor Donald McGavran. The Church Growth Movement focused on identifying sociological factors which attract people to (or repel them from) churches, and promoting the knowledge of these factors.

But in the 1980’s Drucker gave a profound boost to the movement by choosing Evangelical leaders Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Bob Buford and mentoring them in the application of his management theories to church government. The seeker-sensitive pastors added Drucker’s marketing and organizational-management genius to the basic Church Growth game plan of using secular wisdom to increase the size of congregations.

A nominal Lutheran who openly admitted that he did not see himself as a Christian in any meaningful sense, Drucker was influenced far more by Søren Kierkegaard, Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and Martin Buber than by Holy Scripture. But why would a nominal-at-best Christian have so much interest in American Evangelical Christianity that he would deliberately instigate what has become (after Pentecostalism) the second-most widespread and influential Protestant movement of the last several centuries? Because, according to the documentary, of his deep desire for Western social renewal. Drucker wanted, most fundamentally, to counter modern alienation by a restoration of community and “spiritual values.”

The documentary’s basic narrative about Drucker’s influence is as follows.

As a young man, Drucker witnessed the rise of Nazism and communism and concluded (correctly) that the West was fundamentally sick. Nazism and Communism, Drucker concluded, were not simply a case of the West having bad luck, but instead indications of a fundamental disorder in Western societies. He therefore decided to dedicate his highest efforts to finding and promoting the means of social renewal.

In the first part of his career, says the documentary, Drucker devoted himself to thinking and writing on politics. In the second part he dedicated himself to creating what has become the modern theory of management out of a belief that corporations could spearhead social renewal by providing man with the community he needs. But Drucker came eventually to the belief that churches, not corporations, were the key to social renewal.

__

The purpose-driven movement that Drucker created has not only done nothing of fundamental importance to renew society, it has made the rate of corruption worse, by helping to hollow out the Western church, the only organization whose charter is to teach openly and comprehensively the true principles upon which man must base his life and the organization of his society.

Read more

__

Rick Warren and Peter Drucker

Warren’s mentor, well known in the business world for Management techniques and business innovation, is now recognized as the grandfather of the ‘mega-church' movement. But is he even a Christian

Who is Peter Drucker, and what did he do with our church?


The Post-Modern church is shaped around what has become the “business” of doing Church. The focus is on growing the numbers, defining the brand and making the customers happy, rather than focusing on feeding the sheep or equipping the saints to bring the Good News of the Gospel to those who don’t know Him.

Peter Drucker's Mega-Church Legacy    

The post-mortem accolades are pouring in for the managemant giant, Peter Drucker, who passed away a week ago at age 95. His influence spanned nearly a century and reached far beyond big corporations into the private sector. Previous Herescope posts have examined some of his influence over key individuals and movements in neo-evangelicaldom. Today's post covers just a few more examples of his far-reaching influence:

The Market-Driven Church

Drucker was not only influential in training evangelical leaders in his social management philosophy, but he also was the man behind the modern marketing extravaganza going on in evangelicaldom.

***

Hur har inte samfundspastorerna och kyrkorna fallit i Druckers och därmed Satans fälla!!

2 TESS 2:3 Låten ingen bedraga eder om vad sätt det vara må. Ty först måste avfallet hava skett och "Laglöshetens människa", fördärvets man, hava trätt fram,

2 TESS 2:4 vedersakaren, som upphäver sig över allt vad gud heter, och allt som kallas heligt, så att han tager sitt säte i Guds tempel och föregiver sig vara Gud.
________________________________________________