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.)
As much as you would like no thanks.
You said -- "Who are we to criticize and put down?"
Well, when it comes to the issue of salvation and the diluting of that, to the point where many take salvation to mean -- following the book that Warren wrote -- then we must criticize.
I have read (from others who have "been there") that in some of these groups where they are doing a Bible study group using Warren's book, they are discouraged from using the Bible, in examining some of the things in the book and are told to not even bring the Bible to these "Bible studies" (or should I call them "Warren studies..."?).
There's something wrong when that kind of things happens.
So, "who are we to criticize and put down?" -- we (the ones whom He has saved) are the church and must be a "workman approved"...
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Regards,
Star Traveler
bookmark for later
I agree. Moral failure does not have the same zing.
We might seek to improve ourselves to avoid moral failure but that is not what God commands. He commands us
to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness. He knows that if left to our own devices we will always fail. He alone can give us the grace to overcome temptation.
So going on bended knee and opening our sorrowful hearts to God is a lot different from looking for a purpose in life.
Just don't give him your time or money -- that's all I'm asking.
If you are going to post things about me personally, I'd appreciate it if you worked harder to make them at least in the ball park of truthful.
And there you have it.
You said it so much better than I ever could. Thank you!
"He gives it all back to his church, and other philanthropies."
If he puts the money back into his own church, then it benefits him.. As for "other philanthropies," good for him (depending on what those are and how much he spends on them).
Thanks for your caring.
Tommy, I have no clue as to what they are thinking.
I just happen to see things in black and white. So call me EVIL.
Dr. Walter Martin -- "The Bible Answer Man" -- handed his mantel to Hank Hannegraf.
Ya, Jwalsh07. :) LOL. And good luck to your "RINO" candidate of choice. He is a worthy man, IMO. Have a happy New Year! Best.
I believe Dr. Martin died some years back. If it is still active a most excellent apologetics site is Christian Research Journal which was started by Dr. Martin and is now run by Hannegraff. I am Catholic and I often recommend the site to Protestants who would like a good defense of the Trinity and other Christian doctrines challenged by JW's and Mormons.
I especially liked Dr. Martin's book the Kingdom of Cults. I have not yet read the newest addition but the other editions have been solid in their teachings.
Hanegraff has written a book on the " name it and claim it" movement. I wish I could remember the title.
To them, black is white and white is black. Wrong is right and right is wrong.
Look, I'm not saying the guy is evil incarnate. I'm just saying that he's selling something, and that salvation is not something to be multi-level marketed like toothpaste or deodorant. (You do know that Warren trademarked Purpose-Driven®, don't you?)
Warren supposedly gives away 90% of his income to charities -- but many of those charities are controlled by his organization. Hmmm. Still, to the extent that Warren is doing genuine works of charity, I salute him. But as a Christian minister he's a con man -- he's peddling his own formula instead of the pure stuff Our Lord gave to St. Peter. His "purposes" are at odds with the Sacraments that Christ gave the Church, and his franchising of his "worship concept" to other congregations is more like Amway than the Apostles.
Christ instituted one Church. To the extent that Warren (or anybody else) is in communion with that Church, I support them. But Rick Warren is not the Pope, and does not infallibly proclaim the teachings of Jesus Christ as the Pope does. Therefore, I'll have to take a pass on 'the purpose-driven" doctrine.
Somehow I gathered that was your point of view. How perspicacious of me, I guess.
"For all have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God" including Rick Warren and the Pope!
Happy New Year you moral exemplar you!
Same to you John. Some impulses are just irresistible, and I just do it. I ain't a saint. Are you still playing golf in the global warming heat wave, in the heart of the blue zone?
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