Posted on 12/31/2006 8:41:18 AM PST by Gamecock
The facade is beginning to peel back from the so-called ministry of Southern California Pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life." Unfortunately, many among his ample flock have far too much invested in him, both emotionally and otherwise, to admit their mistakes and cut their losses.
Moreover, he certainly faces no possibility of in-depth scrutiny from the "mainstream media," as his brand of "Christianity" poses little or no threat to their liberal social agenda. Yet to the degree that anyone at all questions Warren as anything less than authentic, his response is thoroughly telling as to his true character, as well as the nature of his "ministry."
Joseph Farah, editor-in-chief of the Internet news site, "World Net Daily," opened a can of worms by calling Warren to account over his fawning praise of the terrorist stronghold of Syria. While there, Warren lauded the brutish dictatorship as "peaceful," claiming that the Islamist government does not officially sanction "extremism of any kind."
When confronted by Farah, an American of Middle Eastern decent who knows too well the history of horror and tragedy faced by persecuted Christians in that region of the world, Warren immediately denied ever making such statements.
Subsequently, Farah offered as evidence a "YouTube" video from Saddleback Church, where Warren is pastor, inarguably proving Farah's statement. So Warren's church simply pulled the video from circulation and continued the denial, being unaware that a copy of the video file had been downloaded and is still in circulation. Warren's follow-up to this inconvenient circumstance is perhaps most telling of all.
In a concurrent set of moves, Warren sent a seemingly conciliatory e-mail to Farah while distributing another to his "flock," in which he characterized Farah's pursuit of the incident as nothing less than "doing Satan's job for him." Throughout this sorry episode, Farah's only error has been to suggest that Warren's disturbing behavior represents some new departure from consistency.
In fact, Warren is actually being entirely consistent. Whether his audience might be Farah himself, Syrian despot Bashar Assad or the Saddleback congregation, Warren tells each exactly what he believes they want to hear.
This pattern is the essence of what Warren is and what has made him so "successful" from a worldly perspective.
For those among his congregation who sincerely want to know the truth, the evidence is ample. Unfortunately, it always has been available, and any present "confusion" merely results from past decisions to ignore that evidence.
For example, his letter to the congregation decrying the "attack" and making his defense by invoking Scripture is barely four paragraphs long. Yet in those four paragraphs, he employs three different "translations" of the Bible. Why, it must be asked, does he not trust any single translation to convey God's message to humanity?
Could it be that he has his own message and agenda to advance, and that he has found it very convenient to utilize different wordings of different passages, not because they better convey God's purpose, but rather his own?
It would be better to ask, could his motivation possibly be anything else?
As Farah has refused to let this indefensible situation simply drop, Warren has responded by taking it to another realm, making personal attacks against Farah in an interview with the magazine, "Christianity Today." But once again, by so doing, Warren succeeds in revealing much more about himself than about his adversary.
Warren, who has not to date been known as any sort of standard bearer for Christian principle in the political arena, decries Farah (whose societal and moral views fall unambiguously on the right) and his ideological allies as part of a wrongful "political" encroachment on the faith.
In contrast, Warren's forays into the political realm prove, not surprisingly, to be decidedly leftist. At a recent conference on the African AIDS epidemic, Warren invited the very liberal Senator Barak Obama (D-Ill.) as a keynote speaker. He justified the inclusion of Obama, who avidly supports abortion and same-sex "marriage," on the grounds that Obama offered a worldly solution to ostensibly curb the spread of the disease through condom usage.
The morally ambiguous message conveyed by the advocacy of condoms, along with their inherent unreliability, make them nothing less than iconic to the abortion industry, which fully understands how much new business they generate. In the face of such pragmatism, one has to wonder what will be next. Perhaps Warren's church will sponsor a "designated driver's ministry" at every bar in its locale.
Appalling though Obama's inclusion in the conference may be, it is nonetheless entirely consistent with Warren's behavior from the beginning.
Leading a megachurch in the culturally disintegrating landscape of Southern California, Warren certainly knows that his prospects of maximizing the "flock" will be greatly enhanced as long as he shows proper deference to the real religion of the area, "political correctness."
In this, his Christian populism movement has proven to be far more palatable to the God-hating secularists of the surrounding communities than such stodgy, old-fashioned and "intolerant" notions as "Thou Shalt Not." And the Warren influence has been predictable wherever it can be found.
If other churches that abide in the Warren philosophy, such as Chicago's gargantuan "Willow Creek," were to truly uphold Christian values among their enormous congregations, they would certainly be a constant "thorn in the side" of their surrounding populace, acculturated into the modernism as those communities certainly are. Yet an amazing degree of compatibility and congeniality exists between the Warren Church model and the social structures of Chicago and Southern California.
The tradeoff between true Christian principle and acceptability to the locals is apparently worth the spiritual sacrifice it entails, with expanding parking lots, increasingly lavish facilities and, of course, fuller collection plates bearing witness. Meanwhile, such churches offer ever less of a worthwhile and much-needed alternative to the ailing world around them.
Ultimately, Warren gives conformist Christians, wearied from their ongoing battle with a world that is increasingly hostile to true Christian faith, an apparent "out" by offering a version that the modern world can find more acceptable while remaining in its present spiritual darkness.
Many among Warren's vast following have made the mistake, in light of his "purpose driven" ministering, of presuming, at the heart of the movement, a Christ-driven purpose. Yet as Warren's real character continues to be revealed, it is becoming apparent that members of that following are presuming too much.
(Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer and staff writer for the New Media Alliance. He lives in southeastern Wyoming and has been active in local and state politics for many years.)
They ARE in power, in their churches and in their communities, etc. It may not be right, but that's the way it is. I am happy to let God deal with such folk. Most of us here have our own sins to deal with.
Everything these days gets covered up and it's rare to ever find out what really happens in cases like that. Are there records that can now be unsealed that interested people can see?
Apollos in Corinth before he was properly instructed.
Still burning that old straw man are ye? What you refuse to see is that NOBODY has said that False teaching leads to true conversion. False teaching can be used by God to lead His Chosen TO the truth...It is by no means normative, which is what i have maintained all along.
i'm very sorry that you have chosen to doubt the sovereignity and power of God.
Now so far i've answered your challenges, when are you going to admit that you just blew the call? It's not a big deal really, everyone makes mistakes. Maybe one of these days at another place i can tell you about a few of the bone-headed ones that i've made.
Quix, Dear fellow, i believe that you have mistaken my position. i am probably among Rick Warren's most vocal critics.
Still, i have priorities and limits.
i don't care what Warren's political opinions happen to be. My view on this is echoed in the admonishment of that apostacised puritan Henry David Thoreau who said: "Tell me what a man beleives, and I'll tell you what he'll do"
It is my view that Warren's political Faux Pas is simply a symptom of either
If Warren's disciples don't like it, then they need consider what is motivating them, God or the cult of personality
Not quite. You may have made a typo, but the fact is, that Lewis was too busy getting his ass shot off (literally, he joked about it later in life) as a 'litter' bearer in WWI. (the equivalent of one of our combat medics, or corpsmen if one is a Marine). i don't know if he wrote Screwtape as encouragement for the troops in WWII or not. The book was completed in 1942, being first released as a series of articles in the Guardian.
The work was thought provoking, even if not well read in it's time. Still, i found Lewis' That Hideous Strength the most frightening book i have ever read. Machen's Christianity and Liberalism would be second.
You require more than the New Testament does when it comes to refuting false teachers and false teachings.
Paul and Peter did it publicly.
I understand that you are battle-weary but the enemies attack is relentless...Thus, the fight must press on. We have to stand firm and contend for the faith.
As a traditional Anglican, I sometimes feel ill equipped to comment on trends among the mega-church movement, so I posed the question to a good friend who is in the evangelical / Southern Baptist camp, to get his perspective. Here is his reply:
"My belief is that the root of the situation is simple.
They are "seeker friendly". You've probably heard
the phrase. On the surface it seems good. Let's get
them in, win them over, and do it without being
offensive.
Well, the problem is that the Word of God is
offensive. It is a stone of stumbling. It is sharper
than a two edged sword, rightly dividing the word of
truth. The truth is offensive. Let's get them in,
win them over, and do it without being offensive.
The article itself is well written, and very
insightful. The writer uses the phrase, "...tells
each what he believes they want to hear." This is
extracted straight from scripture. The biblical
reference is to the church with itching ears, wanting
only to hear what they want to hear. They don't want
to hear, "...be ye holy as I am holy", with Holy here
meaning set apart, and separate. The seeker
sensitives really are satisfied with blending in with
the back ground, and not being able to distinguish
them from the rest of the crowd.
Additional insight is provided through the reference
to Willow Creek Church. This church is considered to
be at the heart of the "seeker sensitive" movement.
When you go to Saddleback's home page, you can see it
is about people, and not about God. Salvation is not
even mentioned in the first page of what we believe.
So, there you go. I believe Rick Warren is a great
supporter of the seeker friendly movement. It is
interesting to note that you really don't see Franklin
Graham (now there's a guy that gets the Gospel out)
aligning himself with Rick Warren.
Sorry I wrote so much, but I feel strongly about this.
These are the people that diminish the work of the
Cross and take away from the Gospel."
Shockingly, I much agree with you.
Thanks.
THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH
was a struggle for me--exceedingly uncommonly so--about Jr High, or so, as I recall--and almost threw me for a loop.
Mercifully, God still used it.
PTL.
That was very informative, thanks, Huber.
"Still burning that old straw man are ye? What you refuse to see is that NOBODY has said that False teaching leads to true conversion. False teaching can be used by God to lead His Chosen TO the truth...It is by no means normative, which is what i have maintained all along.
i'm very sorry that you have chosen to doubt the sovereignity and power of God.
Now so far i've answered your challenges, when are you going to admit that you just blew the call? It's not a big deal really, everyone makes mistakes. Maybe one of these days at another place i can tell you about a few of the bone-headed ones that i've made."
You know what. I really DISLIKE YOUR obnoxious attitude.
As my spouse would say, with people like that in heaven, I don't want to be THERE.
All you have accomplished with your over the top ego and pride is to turn people OFF.
My faith and salvation is not at risk even with people as ungodly as you on the loose.
Don't ping me or I'll become as unChristian as you are. You don't need an audiance. You're so full of yourself that even that isn't required.
As others have noted, there is NO LOVE from you. You're the kind that gloats over the mistakes of others and gets off on turning the knife in more. There is nothing Christian about that. Ah, but you may have some head knoweldge ... you utterly lack HEART knowledge. You're like a clanging bell ... .
I still, mostly, do not see it that way.
Most nonChristians, unchurched etc.
are sick to DEATH of ornery, exceedingly flawed themselves, so called Christians taking THEIR crosses and bloodying everyone within reach for not believing precisely and constipatedly as that individual believes.
And, or, they have pontificated loudly about being Christian this in this way or Christian that in that way while being blood thirsty hypocrites abusively all over whoever will tolerate it.
AND THE NONBELIEVERS ARE SICK OF IT. THEY WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD AND CHRISTIANITY AS A RESULT. AND I DON'T BLAME THEM.
Seems to me the seeker friendly folks are SLIGHTLY TO SOMEWHAT righting things by showing Christ's COME UNTO ME LITTLE CHILDREN side.
Jesus was PRIMARILY fire and brimstone TO RELIGIOUS LEADERS
--NOT THE HUNGRY HURTING MASSES.
Well said.
FK: FYI.
wow - graphics!
Hey . . . it's Friday.
Besides . . . . sometimes, feels like some things just scream for it.
LOL.
It's definitely livelier than just capitalizing :-).
There are many who agree with you, for the other seems a more difficult and less kind path by temporal standards.
Then I guess they will just have to go to Hell. But at least they know they are going there. There are plenty of pew sitters going to Hell because they have never truly known their need for a Savior. Their pastor didn't want to risk making them uneasy.
Publicly, yes, but I still believe it needs to be done in person, directly to them. God tells us if someone is caught in sin to go directly to them, if they don't listen, bring another and if they still don't listen, they're to be taken out of the church. We don't do that anymore. We talk about people behind their backs which doesn't do them or us one bit of good. Better to pray and ask God to reveal their heresy. He will.
CERTAINLY, imho, the Godly standard is TRUTH IN LOVE.
But most folks are so battered and bruised by abusive parenting . . . the last thing they need is an abusive Christianity/church/religion.
And God knows that. He's as fed up with such churches and Christianity more than the abused folks, imho.
YES--CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. TAKE UP ONE'S CROSS DAILY; DENY SELF ETC. ETC. ETC.
HOLY SPIRIT is well able and willing to lead folks into such maturities . . . in His ways and His time.
Why not introduce them to DADDY and get some healing started FIRST! Sheesh.
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