A Simple Criticism

I have been wrestling with a few statements made by Mega-Church Pastor Rick Warren. Recently, he has developed a bold, ambitious plan to combat the five "global giants" affecting the world today. These giants include; Spiritual Emptiness, Self-Serving Leadership, Extreme Poverty, Pandemic Diseases, and Rampant Illiteracy. His method to attack these problems is known as the P.E.A.C.E plan. The acronym stands for Promote Reconciliation, Equip Leaders, Assist the Poor, Care for the Sick, and Educate the Next Generation. Overall, I think that Warren has unveiled a honest and well intentioned plan to help the millions of people living in distress.

My criticism is not directly related to the Peace Plan but rather indirectly. I have often heard him make statements such as this:
“You know, 500 years ago, the first Reformation with Luther and then Calvin, was about beliefs. I think a new reformation is going to be about behavior. The first Reformation was about creeds; I think this one will be about deeds. ... The first Reformation actually split Christianity into dozens and then hundreds of different segments. I think this one is actually going to bring them together. Now, you’re never going to get Christians, of all their stripes and varieties, to agree on all of the different doctrinal disputes and things like that, but what I am seeing them agree on are the purposes of the church. ... Last week I spoke to 4,000 pastors at my church who came from over 100 denominations in over 50 countries. Now, that’s wide spread. We had Catholic priests, we had Pentecostal ministers, we had Lutheran bishops, we had Anglican bishops, we had Baptist preachers. They’re all there together and you know what? I’d never get them to agree on communion or baptism or a bunch of stuff like that, but I could get them to agree on what the church should be doing in the world.

I humbly suggest that Warren's view of church history is shortsighted. To state that the Reformation led by Luther and later Calvin was simply one of beliefs is to totally misrepresent their accomplishments. Yes, it was founded on the realization that the Roman Church was a false church which taught the greek humanist principle of Free Will. Luther saw through the fraud and revolted but stood on the principle of sola scriptura (scripture alone). 

The Reformation transformed the landscape of western Europe and liberated millions of people living under the oppression of the RCC. This freedom affected culture on every level. In the arts, there was Rembrant, Bach, and Luther. Intellectually, again there was Luther, Calvin, the Dutch Reformers, and later William Wilberforce. Politically, it brought reforms to government and the United States is considered an extension of the ideals of the Reformation. In conclusion, to reduce the first reformation as one of only "beliefs" and not deeds is a poor summary of one of the single greatest periods of the modern era. 

Those are my thoughts...Am I wrong with this??