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.)
I think what you're saying is Warren's PDL is bearing
good fruit. Isn't that the test after all?
I know many people who attend Saddleback are being
equipped in the small groups. Saddleback seems to meet
a need for those who are unchurched. What's wrong with
that?
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
brother's eye and pay no attention to the beam in your
own eye?" (Luke 6:41)
A lot of beaming going on here.
PRAISE GOD. MUCH AGREE. Of course, facts don't sway some folks, in the least.
John the Beloved wrote John; I, II & III John and Revelation.
Jeremiah wrote Jeremiah.
Peter, Peter
Daniel Daniel and Ezekiel Ezekiel.
I have the perspective that God chooses different folks for different missions and roles.
Not all the books of the Bible are fire and brimstone. Not all Christ's sermons were fire and brimstone.
But, hey, I realize that this is a hanging man's thread and that anyone not preaching a strict and very narrow fire and brimstone Gospel according to certain specifications must automatically be of satan.
Not my perspective.
A lot of beaming going on here.
= = =
It's one of the first order, highest priority, cardinal doctrines and practices of the Bash RW threads.
I think the Jr Accusers are passionately fond of it.
I get it. Torie = Tory (hitting forehead with palm) You're the lawyer. Duh.
Jo may be slow, but she's not impenetrable.
PS Warren has one beautiful chunk of land out there.
Quixote...
Nearly every "faith based" thread has wolves.
Jeanne D'Arc
Because churches can grow to where a sense of intimacy is lost, small groups are important. The Christian life was meant to be lived in community and that's exactly what we have in our small group—we see our small group as similar to what a first century church may have been like. The difficult part of small groups is when they grow too large and need to split. Splitting a group when it gets too large is a very difficult process... it really tugs on the heart.
[... Splitting a group when it gets too large is a very difficult process...]
Cells grow by dividing. It's God's way. Many megachurches implode because their growth is induced.
What makes it all the more wonderful is that my nephew is now an involved father with his 3 kids. Now that their daddy goes to church they want to go as well. And their daddy convinced his church to start an AWANA program where he's a leader. All this because the Holy Spirit used Rick Warren's ministry to reach my nephew.
BUMP FOR LATER
That, my friend, is a picture of Paul and Jan Crouch.
I know.
Par for the course.
But it's sad to see so much ruthless, relentless, fierce, hostile etc. venom in the name of Christ . . . though it's been so through the centuries off and on.
LUB
Well put.
Yup.
Fantastic.
I knew that sort of thing was going on . . . just knew it in my spirit.
Great to have an example.
Thanks tons.
Brace yourself,
someone will probably reply with 12 reasons AWANA is of the devil.
Sigh.
AWANA know why!!!
LOL.
Because it wasn't THEIR idea in THEIR pocket under THEIR control giving THEM glory.
Aren't those the usual reasons?
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