Although Paul Proctor has much to say against Rick Warren (see articles listed at the end of this page), one of his main topics of outrage is Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan. Proctor's litany of complaints about the P.E.A.C.E. Plan are endless. But as the following material will show, the man does not even understand what the P.E.A.C.E. Plan is! Nevertheless, he steams full speed ahead in his classic verbal attack mode, leaving in his wake, waves of false accusations, slander, faulty representations of the facts, and misinformation.

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PROCTOR #1: "[Warren said] 'The only thing big enough to solve the problems of spiritual emptiness, selfish leadership, poverty, disease and ignorance is the network of millions of churches all around the world.' So, we need a 'big thing' to solve the worlds problems, huh; or does he consider the Lord to be a large inanimate object? No, I believe he's just preaching churchianity: salvation by cooperation" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: As is his way, Proctor has mangled a completely innocent comment, and made it into something wicked. Warren is obviously declaring here that only Christ's followers can help alleviate the world's suffering by bringing to the masses both spiritual comfort and physical comfort in the name of Christ (i.e., via the P.E.A.C.E. Plan). And that would be, and indeed has been, a rather "big" operation. And Proctor condemns this simply because it was described as "big"? Warren nowhere hints that God is being ignored, nor does Warren suggest that God is not the driving force behind it all. And Warren certainly isn't saying that salvation is now "by cooperation." All of these things exist somewhere in the gloomy corners of Proctor's own mind (for Warren's view of salvation, see Saddleback Church: The Cross, Sin, and Hell).



PROCTOR #2: "Warren twists the biblical account of David and Goliath ('five giants and five smooth stones') into a useful tool of deceit that stirs emotions while teaching the exact opposite of what the Lord intended us to learn; proclaiming that the answer to the world's 'giants' is a 'church network,' even though it was a 'network' of faithless Israelites who cowed before the great warrior Goliath. Rather than empowering King Saul and his trembling 'network' to bring down the giant, the Lord raised up one small shepherd boy named David" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: Proctor has turned a very admirable program—i.e., helping the world's people by showing Christ's love to them and preaching the gospel—into some kind of twisted plan to deceive millions. The P.E.A.C.E. Plan merely seeks to spread the gospel to the lost, and while doing so, try to meet their physical needs. It is a combing of the Great Commission (Matthew 28) with the Great Commandment (Matthew 22). It is, in the plainest of terms, and evangelism strategy (see What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan?).

As for Warren's use of the David and Goliath analogy, Proctor seems to be missing the obvious point that it is . . . . well . . . . an analogy. And like all analogies, it falls short of being an absolutely perfect parallel. No one intends exactness when using an analogy, which is defined as "drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect" (analogy definitions). To think otherwise is unrealistic and contrary to the English definition of the word.

The basic thrust of Warren's illustration was to simply share how, while reading the story of David and Goliath, he noticed that David picked up five stones for each of his intended victims: i.e., Goliath and his four brothers. This prompted Warren to think of the five global giants threatening and harming humanity today: spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance. And the biblical scene gave Warren an inspired idea. As he has explained, "[W]ith God, nothing is impossible—and if we all work together as his Church, we'll see these giants falls just as Goliath fell when faced with David's obedience to God. It's an analogy. That's all.



PROCTOR #3: "So, what is Warren teaching his followers by invoking selective parts of the David and Goliath story to sell his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan? . . . [These quote] will illustrate quite clearly how he uses socialist slogans to teach Laodocian lies. Warren: 'We is more powerful than me.' Warren: 'There is power in partnership. . . . Evangelism is always a team effort.' Warren: 'There's no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. . . . We're better together and we belong together.' Warren: 'The Bible says we're better together. We were created for community'" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: Socialist slogans? This remark by Proctor hearkens back to the Cold War days of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908 -1957), whose zealous anti-Communism investigations led to the infamous House Committee on Un-American Activities, which persecuted dozens of innocent American citizens, accusing them of being real/suspected Communist. It was a time when an innocent comment/remark or a perfectly acceptable social affiliation was enough to get one black-listed as a Communist and hauled before the committee for intense public scrutiny.

To accuse Warren of echoing Socialist slogans is not only absurd, but disturbing on a number of levels, the least of which involves the subtle implication that Warren is godless, since one of the main tenets of Socialism is atheism. But that Proctor would make such an implication is not surprising, given his other remarks about Warren being a hypocrite/actor who is comparable to Satan himself (see other articles linked at the bottom of this page).

But is Warren actually trying to advance Socialism? In a word, no. And Proctor has no evidence to prove otherwise. Warren is doing nothing more than telling people that more good works (e.g., feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, helping the poor) can be accomplished by people working  together—generally speaking—than can be accomplished by people working in isolation. That's not Socialism. That's common sense.



PROCTOR #4: "Could it be that something else is being taught amid all the pomp and circumstance of Warren's grand coming out party? Could it be he is suggesting, ever so subtly, that when it comes right down to it, there really isn't much difference between the church and the world; that his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan is just another upgraded form of humanism and socialism, better packaged, better managed and better marketed with better people and better technology all wrapped up in Christmas paper to be presented as his glorious gift to the world?" (Gathering or Scattering). "If it hasn't dawned on you yet, he's using the Bible to teach humanism or, to put it another way; he's using truth to frame lies" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: The answer here to all of Proctor's suggestive questions is quite simply "no." The P.E.A.C.E. Plan is intended as a way to help the church fulfill not just the Great Commission (Matthew 28), but also the Great Commandment that tells us to love thy neighbor (Matthew 22). And for some reason, Proctor seems to have a rather serious problem with loving thy neighbor, as well as expressing that love by lending help to them.

Regarding Socialism and Rick Warren, see the previous response.

As for humanism and Rick Warren, Proctor's speculation  is simply bizarre. Humanism is a belief system that exalts man, often denies God, and teaches that the world's problems can be solved by men working together. That is not Rick Warren. Warren's entire P.E.A.C.E. Plan is one big strategy for evangelism! The whole thrust of it is to strip away those societal/cultural evils that are preventing the spread of the gospel in various countries (see the sub-heading "An Evangelism Strategy" in my article "What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan?").



PROCTOR #5: "'Go ye therefore and tackle the planet's problems?' Is that the Great Commission? Did Jesus die on a cross to fix a broken world or deliver us from it? If you're not sure, you may want to refer to James 4:4 where scripture says: 'friendship with of world is enmity with God'" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: The answer to Proctor's question is: No, Mr. Proctor, "Go ye therefore and tackle the planet's problems" is not the Great Commission. That would fall more under the category of  the Great Commandment (i.e., "love thy neighbor"). Tackling the planet's problems would also fall quite easily under James 1:27 ("Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world") and James 2:14-17 ("What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead").

It is difficult at this point to imagine such incredible callousness coming from a Christian. Proctor seems completely disinterested in helping his neighbor, especially if they are located in far off country like Africa, India, or China (a communist country). Perhaps this is because Proctor, for some inexplicable reason, equates helping the less fortunate with having an ungodly "friendship with the world." And yet this is not at all what the P.E.A.C.E. plan is advocating. In fact, the whole P.E.A.C.E. Plan is an full-orbed evangelism strategy for eradicating those social/cultural evils that keep people from hearing the Gospel message (see the sub-heading "An Evangelism Strategy in my article What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan?).



PROCTOR #6: "So, if you bring good news, train leaders, help the poor, care for the sick and teach children, you are fulfilling the Great Commission? Isn't that what the U.S. is doing right now overseas, bringing good news, training leaders, helping the poor, caring for the sick and teaching children? Isn't this also what the United Nations and many of its non-governmental organizations say they're all about? Isn't it what liberals, socialists, communists, Marxists, Fascists and every other corrupt leader, regime and revolution throughout history claim they were all about, as well? I'll bet even Fidel Castro believes he accomplished all these things and more down in Cuba when he took over" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: When I first read this brief tirade, all I could think was simply, "Wow!" In just a few short sentences Proctor was able to compare Warren's Christian evangelism strategy and his attempt to obey scripture (see What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan?) with Liberalism, Socialism, Communism, Marxism, and Fascism. That's quite nasty little list of social and political philosophies. All of them, of course, differ radically from Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan on almost too many levels to count. Warren's is about only one -ism, and that's evangelism (see the sub-heading "An Evangelism Strategy in my article What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan?).

Comments like this one by Proctor tend to say a lot more about Proctor than they do about Rick Warren.



PROCTOR #7: "And, just for the record, Jesus came to preach the Gospel, make disciples, comfort the poor, heal the sick and teach God's Word to anyone who would listen. If you'll notice, that's markedly different from Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: Really? Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan is "markedly different" from what Proctor himself lists as the things Jesus did? I am left wondering which P.E.A.C.E. Plan is being read by Proctor. It certainly isn't Rick Warren's:

COMMANDS OF JESUS (per Paul Proctor)	P.E.A.C.E. PLAN (per Rick Warren)
Preach the Gospel	P - planting churches (Note: This has recently been changed to "Promote Reconciliation," as a means of slightly changing the focus of the "P" to make it broader in scope, as well as effectiveness). For information on how the entire P.E.A.C.E. Plan is an evangelism strategy, see the sub-heading "An Evangelism Strategy" in my article What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan.
Make Disciples	E - equipping servant leaders (i.e., helping church leaders/members lead like Jesus led his followers, see Eph. 4:11-14).
Comfort the Poor	A - assisting the poor (self-explanatory).
Heal the sick	C - caring for the sick (self-explanatory).
Teach God's Word	E - educating the next generation (this will be a powerful help to teaching God's word since it is a bit difficult to get people reading their Bibles when they cannot read).

So, is Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan is "markedly different" from what Proctor lists as the things Jesus did? It doesn't seem like it to me.



PROCTOR #8: "'There are thousands of villages in the world that have no school, no clinic, no business, no government—but they have a church,' Warren said. 'What would happen if we could mobilize churches to address those five global giants?' Is that what Jesus did? 'Establish schools, clinics, businesses and governments' in countries that didn't have them? No, that's nation building" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: Actually, it's not called nation building, it's called loving thy neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40), looking after orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27), and faith accompanied by action (James 2:14-17).



PROCTOR #9: "[P]lease tell me; when was the church ever commissioned to establish God's Kingdom on Earth? Once again, Warren bastardizes scripture by inappropriately tying on a segment of the Lord's Prayer ('as it is in Heaven') to his own words ('establish God's Kingdom 'on earth') to try and authenticate and accommodate his global agenda" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: Warren is not talking about establishing God's reigning Kingdom as is the hope/plan of Dominionists. He is talking about bringing to life on this Earth that aspect of God's presence within each of us that can be biblically referred to as God's Kingdom present and active through us! The Kingdom of God as it is expressed by those of us who follow Christ. As Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). And, of course, we also have the Lord's prayer, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

According to The Wycliffe Commentary, "A kingdom is not just a territory, nor a system of governmental machinery. Its basic existence is in the unity and loyalty of the people. Jesus asserted that the kingdom of God was already present and needed only to be recognized. He had brought the kingdom with him and was living among them" (p. 1056). And again, we have the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, which explains: "The kingdom is 'among you' [an alternate translation], i.e., it is present in the Person and ministry of Jesus. This seems the way the words should be taken" (vol. 3, p. 259). In other words, we Christians demonstrate the Kingdom of God (i.e., "the Person and ministry of Jesus") on Earth as we obey God's will, follow his commands of scripture, and reflect the character of Christ as we serve Him and serve others.

That is what Rick Warren is saying. His comment has nothing to do with establishing the earthly, literal Kingdom of God. Warren holds to the standard Southern Baptist/Calvary Chapel view regarding the establishment of Christ's earthly, literal kingdom after the worsening of earthly conditions, which leads to the rapture of the church, the seven-year tribulation, and eventually the consummation of the ages marked by the final judgment after the 1000-year millennial reign.



PROCTOR #10: "It is only the spirit of antichrist that desires to 'change' this rotting planet into a kingdom. The Lord is not going to rapture His church out of a world He is changing for the better. Helloooo???? He is not returning to conquer and claim a kingdom built with human hands" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: With regard to building God's kingdom and what that means, see the previous response.

As for just sitting around and watching this world rot (or as my Mom might put it, "Go to hell in a handbasket"), it is inconceivable to me that a professing Christian would be so cold-hearted as to simply want to lie back and watch fellow human beings languish in misery while grappling helplessly with their suffering. Indeed, that a Christian would go so far as to attribute wanting to help the world as being a desire consistent with the spirit of antichrist is unconscionable.


Is Proctor saying that James had the spirit of Antichrist? Hopefully, not.



PROCTOR #11: "[I]n spite of Warren's grand vision of P.E.A.C.E., it's going to be a lot like Hell on Earth in the coming days. Whether we realize it or not, in the great hurricane of history, this age of grace we've been enjoying is merely the eye of the storm; and it is quickly passing over us, ready or not" (Gathering or Scattering).
RESPONSE: I cannot help but get the distinct feeling that Proctor actually wants horrible pain and suffering to be inflicted on the earth, and that it is something he longs to see. And he seems to want that time of agony to fall upon humanity so desperately, that until then, he is basically saying that we should just let the world rot in front of our eyes and not lift a finger to comfort/help those who are all just part of the big festering problem we call planet Earth. That doesn't sound very biblical or Christian to me, but apparently that is Proctor's idea of Christianity. It is, of course, in direct violation of the great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40), James 1:27, and James 2:14-17).



PROCTOR #12: "Warren 'created a church for people who hate church,' referring, of course, to Saddleback Community . . . . I wish more organizations, including Warren's, would follow the innovative example of such heady faith-based fellowships as The High Way Community, Harbor Light and Great Exchange (all noted in Eisner's piece) and just go ahead and remove the word 'church' from their names altogether. . . . we already have a preacher for people who hate preachers; that would be Rick Warren" (Hating Church).
RESPONSE: Proctor has once more taken an innocent observation—i.e., Warren has 'created a church for people who hate church"—and turned it into something insidious in his ongoing effort to paint Warren as a false prophet. This remark about Warren's church is actually a good thing. It refers to the fact that Warren has built a place (i.e., a church) where people who normally would not go to church can go and hear the Gospel message (see Saddleback Church: The Cross, Sin, and Hell). Like it or not, many people have negative memories/associations with "church." But Warren's Saddleback Church has effectively done away with many of the things that might cause visiting unbelievers to feel distracted from the message; things that they may link to issues that previously hurt them or left them spiritually cold: e.g., styles of music, building structures, manners of dress, sermon phraseology, certain Christianeze lingo. Yet Proctor interprets the above statement to mean that Warren has created a "church" that for all intents and purposes is not really a church. This is a twisting of the clear meaning of Warren's actions and activities.


PROCTOR #13: "If you go to the Megashift.com web site you'll see much of the same transformational lingo you find at other CGM [Church Growth Movement] sites complete with pot loads of pitchman promises and psycho-centric silliness that made Rick Warren and Bill Hybels what they are today" (Mega-Shift?: More Christian Happy-Talk).
RESPONSE: Here is a good example of how Proctor so easily/quickly links groups and people that are in no way related to each other. This "megashift" website, for instance, is based on James Rutz's odd notions about the emergence of a "new" kind of Christianity that has "no sermons, programs, hierarchies, buildings, or salaried pastors" (see MegaShift: Take A Giant Step).  It is an approach to church and Christianity that seems to be touting a kind of Christianization of the world. Rutz claims: "My plan and purpose for the fullness of time is to unite all things in my Son, not destroy them, but cleanse and unite them. That includes your governments, arts, sciences, schools, economies, all the parts of your cultures" (see MegaShift: A few Questions From God).

For some reason, Proctor links Rutz's thinking to Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan. But what Rutz is attempting to do is not what Warren is attempting to do. Warren is not advocating a Christianization of the world or a unification of all things in Christ. Not only does scripture tell us that this will never happen, but such a goal would go against Warren's premillennial view of the end-times. It also contradicts biblical passages that command Christians to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers on a spiritual/moral level (see this article).

As for the Church Growth Movement (CGM), Warren is not even a part of it! He has explained: "In the early 1980s, I used the term 'church growth' because that was what everybody was familiar with. But I stopped using the phrase around 1986 because of the things I didn't like about the church growth movement" (see Rick Warren, Making Ministry Healthy, Christianity Today). In other words, Warren deliberately left the CGM more than twenty years ago because it was indeed focusing on growth. And that was not something Warren was interested in.



PROCTOR #14: "Warren and his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan, (a Christianized and regurgitated replica of The Peace Corp.) (Mega-Shift?: More Christian Happy-Talk).
RESPONSE: Proctor does not understand Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan at all. It is far more than just a superficial Peace Corp project. Its goal is two-fold: 1) spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are still lost and have never heard the gospel; and 2) seek to alleviate some of the suffering in the world—per our calling as Christians to love our neighbors. More importantly, the entire plan is an evangelism tool (see What is the P.E.A.C.E. Plan).

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• INTRO ARTICLE - Paul Proctor: Destructive, Delusional, Deceptive

• Paul Proctor: Accuser of the Brethren

• Paul Proctor: Hate-Talk and Heresy Hunting

• Paul Proctor: No P.E.A.C.E. For You

• Paul Proctor: Words to Wound By