Posted on 12/23/2008 8:18:09 AM PST by Between the Lines
Rick Warren is in a place he never expected to be: at the center of a culture war.
The pastor chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the inaugural invocation backed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in his home state of California. But he did so belatedly, with none of the enthusiasm he brings to fighting AIDS and illiteracy.
When other conservative Christians held stadium rallies and raised tens of millions of dollars for the ballot effort, there was no sign of Warren. Neither he nor his wife, Kay, donated any of their considerable fortune to the campaign, according to public records and the Warrens' spokesman.
In fact, his endorsement seemed calculated for minimal impact. It was announced late on a Friday, just 10 days before Election Day, on a Web site geared for members of his Saddleback Community Church, not the general public.
For gay rights advocates, that strategy was nothing more than an attempt to mask Warren's prejudice. They were outraged that Obama decided last week to give a place of honor to a pastor they consider a general for the Christian right.
Lost in the uproar was the irony of Warren's plight. Ever since he began his climb to prominence in the 1980s, he has battled complaints from fellow evangelicals that he isn't nearly conservative enough.
"The comments from many of the evangelicals further to the right of him are often critical for his lax stance on their passionate issues," said Scott Thumma, a professor at Connecticut's Hartford Seminary who researches megachurches and writes about the challenges for gay and lesbian Christians.
On paper, Warren might look like any other religious traditionalist. He is the son of a Southern Baptist pastor, graduate of a Southern Baptist seminary, and his megachurch in Orange County is part of the conservative denomination.
But Warren holds a different worldview than his roots suggest.
He has spoken out against the use of torture to combat terrorism. He has joined the fight against global warming and, encouraged by his wife, has put his prestige and money behind helping people with AIDS. The Warrens have done so at a time when a notable number of conservative Christians still consider the virus a punishment from God.
"If you want to save a life, I don't care what your background is and I don't care what your political party is," Warren said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "I think some of these humanitarian issues transcend politics, or ethnic or religious beliefs."
While many religious conservatives openly condemn Islam as inherently evil, Warren reaches out to the American Muslim community. This past Saturday, he gave the keynote address at the convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, based in Los Angeles.
"His social consciousness is somewhat left of center, but his theological, ethical stance is right of center," said the Rev. William Leonard, a critic of the Southern Baptist Convention and dean of Wake Forest Divinity School in North Carolina. "That's the thing that makes him potentially a bridge person."
Warren's outlook has come at a price. Many from the Christian right don't trust him.
A registered independent who does not endorse candidates, he has called old guard evangelical activists too partisan and overly focused on gay marriage and abortion.
In the run-up to the Saddleback forum he led last August with Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, those giving Warren the most grief were conservatives. They were convinced he wouldn't be tough enough on Obama. (Obama wound up stumbling in his appeal to religious voters while answering Warren's question about when a baby gets human rights. Obama said it was "above his pay grade" to respond "with specificity.")
"For probably the last 25 years, evangelicalism became co-opted, and for most people it became a political term," Warren said. "And it got identified with a certain style of political leanings."
The attacks on Warren stretch to how he presents the Gospel — watered-down and soft, according to his theologically traditional critics.
Warren's phenomenal best-seller, "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, partly reflects the self-help ethos of baby boomers, although he insists it isn't an advice book and he defends its religious content.
Still, the tone of his writing is deliberate. Warren, 54, is among a generation of pastor-CEOs who use marketing studies, polling and census data to create congregations that will attract people who never go to church. One of Warren's most important mentors was the late Peter Drucker, considered the father of modern management.
Warren started Saddleback with one other family in 1980 in California, a state with one of the lowest percentages of churchgoers in the country. Saddleback now draws more than 22,000 worshippers each week.
As the church grew, so did the critiques. "The pioneers get the arrows," he says.
Warren survives the pounding partly because of his personal integrity. He donates 90 percent of his many millions in book royalties back to the church. He says he stopped taking a salary from Saddleback six years ago. No scandals have tainted his ministry.
He is also one of the savviest leaders among his peers.
His speaking invitations range from church groups to the Davos World Economic Forum and the United Nations. Saddleback's reach is now so broad, it's nearly its own denomination.
Warren provides sermons, study materials and guidance to hundreds of thousands of clergy worldwide through pastors.com and his other Web sites. Warren's "40 Days of Purpose" spiritual campaigns have been conducted in more than 20,000 churches, and he recently joined forces with Reader's Digest to launch a multimedia global juggernaut based on his "Purpose Driven" writing.
Now he is trying to revolutionize faith-based humanitarian work through his P.E.A.C.E. program. It unites local churches, businesses and governments to fight poverty and disease, promote peace, and combat what he calls spiritual emptiness. The pilot project for this effort began in 2005 in Rwanda, which has been dubbed the first "purpose-driven nation."
It is no surprise that he and Obama have become friendly. Each tries to operate outside a strict liberal-conservative divide, and has risked angering his supporters to do so.
"You can't have a reformation without somebody opposing it," Warren says. "If I wasn't making a difference, nobody would be paying attention."
I think Warren has his share of critics from the conservative front too. I just can’t figure out why he would compromise his principles to do this gig for Obama.
Obama needs to hear the “NOS.”
praying for someone to do the right thing does not compromise priciples
“Warren’s support for global warming...”
Oh boy, he’s a liberal. Anyone that believes in that load of BS really needs help....but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that.
Anyway, we did the “Purpose Driven Life” with our youth group and from what I remember there were a lot of Biblical truths and accurate to God’s word.
We’ll see what happens. God will reveal his true plans and if Rick is doing something “not Biblical”, God will reveal it!
Remember, Jesus said “the sick need a doctor, not the well...”
Jesus was also criticized for hanging around lepers, gentiles, children, tax payers, etc. So i will also give rick the benefit of the doubt when he goes to these Muslin conventions... we’ll see!
As a Christian, I struggle with how to deliver compassion and love to people in such a manner that the Gospel message is still first and never compromised. In my opinion, it is a very difficult thing to do. I try to look at the model of love that Jesus provides in the Scriptures, but I know that I fall way, way short of His ideal no matter my best efforts.
I truly don’t know Rick Warren’s heart, though I think his willingness to give 90% of his income is a telling sign that he does love people. I’ll admit that I get a little concerned, at times, about his passion for making sure the Gospel is above all, even at the expense of his personal popularity, but I pray that is just my misgivings, not a true indictment.
I mean to say that I get a little concerned that he may not be placing the Gospel message above all else.
Our church at time (a few years ago) did the Purpose Driven Life stuff too. I found it to be pretty theologically shallow. Not impressed with Rick Warren.
In any case, he should have told nobama, “No”.
Some pastors learn how to make their churches purpose-driven through training workshops. Speakers at Church Transitions Inc., a Waxhaw, N.C., nonprofit that works closely with Mr. Warren's church, stress that the transition will be rough. At a seminar outside of Austin, Texas, in April, the Revs. Roddy Clyde and Glen Sartain advised 80 audience members to trust very few people with their plans. “All the forces of hell are going to come at you when you wake up that church,” said Mr. Sartain, who has taught the material at Mr. Warren's Saddleback Church.
During a session titled “Dealing with Opposition,” Mr. Clyde recommended that the pastor speak to critical members, then help them leave if they don't stop objecting. Then when those congregants join a new church, Mr. Clyde instructed, pastors should call their new minister and suggest that the congregants be barred from any leadership role.
“There are moments when you've got to play hardball,” said the Rev. Dan Southerland, Church Transitions’ president, in an interview. “You cannot transition a church...and placate every whiny Christian along the way.”
Mr. Warren acknowledges that splits occur in congregations that adopt his ideas...
Rick Warren is to Evangelical Christianity what John McCain is to Conservative Republicanism.
Evidently you are not aware of Obama’s wishes to kill the unborn.......that’s not the right thing in anyone’s judgment.
Obama will have to meet his maker someday, and so will Warren.
Great cartoon. LOL!
Well said. Thanks.
Is Warren under any religous authority? Or is he out there on his own? In other words, is their a bishop or similar clerical body to which he is aligned?
I much as I am unpleased that Obama is going to be the next President....he IS going to be the next President. I think it is good that a Evangelical Pastor will be giving the inaugural invocation. We as followers of Christ need to be praying for our country and leaders even more with where we are headed. I hope Warren makes some very bold decrees in the name of Christ over this President and nation.
i am a solid pro lifer. but to blame warren for the sins of obama cuz he prays with him i think is a little crazy in my humble opinion
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.