Editor: In your books and spoken messages, I always hear your passion for missions and for the world. When did you first recognize that missions passion in your life? What made God’s passion for the world your passion?

Rick: Like a lot of people, I for a long time focused on things that were good but not necessarily God’s best. When The Purpose Driven Life book was published, I had two things on my agenda: I wanted to pastor Saddleback Church for the rest of my life, and I wanted to train other pastors. That was my life plan and I was very happy doing those two things. Then the success of The Purpose Driven Life threw my world into confusion. Business, government, and academic leaders began calling me for help. God was opening new doors of influence. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew it wasn’t for my own ego. So I read through Scripture and asked God, “What do you want me to do with this new influence?”

God led me to Psalm 72, where Solomon prays what seems like a selfish prayer. He says,  “God, I want you to make me more influential. I want you to bless me. I want you to give me power. I want you to spread the fame of my name to many nations.” It sounds incredibly egotistic when you read it. But then you read the motivation behind it. He says, “So that the king may care for the widow and orphan, may support the oppressed, may speak up for the poor, may defend the defenseless.”He talks about all the people that we like to ignore.

Out of that passage of Scripture God said to me, “Rick, the purpose of influence is not for you and your own ego and for your own fame. It’s to speak up for those who have no influence.” I had to repent. I had to say, “God, I’m sorry. I can’t think of the last time I thought of widows and orphans.”

It wasn’t like I was out selling drugs or planning terrorist attacks. I was doing something good with my life—building Saddleback Church and training pastors. God said, “That’s all good, Rick, but you don’t care about the people I care about—the poor, the sick, the afflicted, those in prison, those who are facing injustice.” I had to say, “Okay, Lord, I will use whatever affluence and whatever influence you give me for the rest of my life to speak up for those who have no influence.”

Editor: Where are you today in your missions calling? What missions passion is most alive in your heart right now?

Rick: That’s an easy answer: The PEACE Plan. A few years ago, I visited South Africa, where God began showing me a plan to see the whole earth filled with His glory, as the last verse of Psalm 72 says. While I was there, I visited a tent church, where 50 adults cared for 25 AIDS orphans. The realization that that tiny church was doing more to help the hurting than my megachurch punctured my heart. That night I sat under the African sky and thought, “How did I miss the AIDS crisis?” Then I asked God: “What else have I been missing? What are the problems so big that no one has been able to solve them?”

As I prayed that night, God began showing me five global, evil giants that affect not just millions, but billions of people worldwide. Those giants are spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy. I knew that if we could figure out a way to tackle those five giant problems, God would receive great glory—because I believe that God gets the most glory when we slay the greatest giants. God began showing me that churches can address the giants by planting other churches, equipping serving leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educating the next generation. Those five ways of tackling global giants have become known as the PEACE Plan. One major way it’s unique is that it’s a church-to-church strategy, designed for average church members to make a real difference in the world.

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