The Biblical Foundation for the Purpose Driven Church
It's based on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Jesus gave the Great Commandment in response to a question. One day, Jesus was asked to identify the most important command. He responded by saying, "Here is the entire Old Testament in a nutshell. I'm going to give you the Cliff Notes summary of God's Word. All the Law and all the Prophets can be condensed into two tasks: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. "Later, in some of his last words to his disciples, 

Jesus gave the Great Commission to them and assigned them three more tasks: Go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything he had taught. Together, these two passages summarize the mission of a Purpose-Driven Church.

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The Five Purposes of the church: Love the Lord (Worship)  Love your neighbor (Serve) Go and make disciples (Share) Baptizing them (Connect) Teaching them to obey (Grow)

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The Great Commission
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20 top

The Great Commandment
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 top

What is a purpose driven church?
The systematic and simple process that Purpose Driven churches implement for moving people from unbelieving or unchurched seeker to a mature minister which distinguishes these individuals from other churches. The words spoken by many unchurched people recall this reflection of a new believer that captures the goal of Purpose Driven churches. “I just wanted someone to tell me what I needed to do next.” New believers respond to a simple, linear approach to getting started, and experience growth when properly guided. As they mature, they understand that each CLASS is just the entry point into an area of the Christian life they will explore for the rest of their time on earth. 

Another distinctive of the Purpose Driven church is the belief that it is more effective to reach a community by creating a crowd, evangelizing them, then disciplining them to reach others, than to disciple a core and attempt to motivate them to evangelize their circle of acquaintances until a crowd exists. The evidence for the broad applicability of this principle continues to build. For example, Coronando Baptist Church in Scottsdale, AZ tried for several yours to reach the Salt River Pima Indians by building relationships with leaders, but with few results. Then in September 1998, they held a block part and invited the American Indian community. Nearly 3,000 attended, and thus far 167 baptisms have resulted. 

The purposes that gave name to Purpose Driven churches are not just a clever listed complied by Rick Warren. These purposes or principles are drawn from key Bible passages. Two Bible passes in particular give a succinct expression of what God desires from each local church: the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:26-39), and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). These two passages delineate five key purposes for the church and give clues about how the church is to behave in light of these purposes. Rick Warren restated them in a memorable way to help leaders develop and retain focus on the fact that every church belongs to God, and our highest duty is to lead the church to fulfill its God-given purpose. 

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12 Characteristics of a PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH

1. They have a Purpose Statement that describes (in their own words) their commitment to building the church around the five New Testament purposes: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry.

2. They use a Purpose-Driven Strategy to fulfill their purpose statement. While using a variety of terms, a purpose-driven strategy brings people to Christ and into membership in His family, then builds them up to maturity, then equips them for ministry in the church, and then sends them out on a life mission in the world in order to bring glory to God. The PDC strategy is based on two vital assumptions: 1) People grow best when you allow them to make graduated commitments. 2) You must ask for commitment in specific ways, such as using covenants.

3. They organize around a Purpose-Driven Structure, which insures balance and gives equal emphasis to all five New Testament purposes. PDC’s are team-based, rather than hierarchical in structure. They organize around purpose-based teams, (at least 5 - one for each purpose) composed of lay leaders and staff, with each team responsible for a specific purposes and target group (such as the community, the crowd, the congregation, the committed, and the core).

4. They program by purpose. They have at least one program for fulfilling each of the five purposes and each of the corresponding constituencies. They evangelize the Community, gather the Crowd for worship, fellowship in the Congregation, disciple the Committed, and equip the Core for ministry and mission.

5. They staff by purpose. Every purpose has its own champion. PDCs begin by finding volunteers to lead and serve on each purpose-based team and they develop full-time, paid positions as needed.

6. The pastor preaches by purpose. He plans his messages and series to insure that the congregation receives a balanced emphasis on each of the purposes.

7. They form small groups on purpose. The PDC DNA is implanted in every cell of the Body of Christ. Each small group helps the members fulfill each of the five purposes in their lives. The goal is to help every believer live a purpose-driven life.

8. They calendar by purpose. The purposes are the determining factor in deciding what events are scheduled. Every event must fulfill at least one of the five purposes or it isn’t approved.

9. They budget by purpose. Every expenditure is categorized by the purpose it relates to.

10. They build by purpose. Buildings are seen as ministry tools, not monuments. They must serve the purposes, and never become more important than the purposes.

11. They evaluate by purpose. They regularly ask: Are we balancing all five purposes? Is there a better way to fulfill each purpose?

12. Most PDC churches are built from the outside-in, rather than in the traditional way from the inside out. It’s far easier to turn a crowd into a core, than it is to turn a core group into a crowd. You build a healthy multi-dimensional ministry by focusing on one level of commitment at a time.

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