Rick Warren & the Obama Inauguration

When President-elect Barack Obama selected California pastor Rick Warren to say a prayer at his inauguration, I doubt he realized how much of a response he would get from his liberal base. Even though Warren is generally considered fairly moderate within evangelical circles, those that disagree with his stance on gay marriage have painted him into the same corner as those that are much more in the far right than he is.

Due to the passage of Proposition 8 in California this past November, marriage is to be legally defined as a union between a man and a woman. As one of the most recognizable and vocal supporters of this legislation, Warren has drawn considerable venom from the gay and lesbian community and its supporters. All Obama asked him to do was say a prayer, but his presence at the inauguration seems to represent so much more.

I read a recent interview that Beliefnet.com did with Gene Robinson, the gay Episcopalian bishop from New Hampshire. Robinson is not at all happy that Warren will be on the stage on January 20th and he wants the world to know. Here are some of the thoughts he expressed in the interview:

"I actually have a lot of respect for Rick Warren; amongst evangelicals, he's taken a hit for his compassionate response to AIDS, his commitment to alleviating poverty. He's done some good things. The difficult thing is that he's said, and continues to affirm, some horrendous things about homosexuality -- comparing it to incest, bestiality, that kind of thing. This is not a choice that really represents everyone. This choice was just really, really unfortunate.

I would sit down with Rick Warren this morning if I had the opportunity. I would love to engage him. In some ways he's a very brave person, but he's woefully wrong about the issue of homosexuality. He needs to be confronted about the lies he told about gay people to the people of California.

It's about this particular venue and the role that he has in praying for all of America, and I'm just not sure he'd pray to God the same way I would. I think he is praying to a God, at least around this issue, that calls upon God's homosexual children to deny who they are, to deprive themselves of love and intimacy that is permitted every other one of God's children. He's praying to a God who calls on me, as a gay man, to change, to submit myself to the power of Jesus so I can be healed of this `infirmity' of mine.

The God I know says to me, just like we hear God saying at Jesus' baptism, that you are my beloved, and in you I am well pleased. That's a very, very different God. Imagine the difference between a parent who loves you for you who are, and one that says I'll only love you if you change."

So, there you have it. Robinson does not feel that the selection of Warren to say a prayer at the inauguration does not "represent everyone." Well, who would represent everyone?! Someone that thinks homosexual behavior is ordained by God? The fact is that there is no individual that would represent all of the American population on all issues. And whether Robinson wants to admit it or not, Warren's view that marriage should be reserved as a commitment between and a man and a woman represents the citizens of the U.S. much more than Robinson's perspective. Furthermore, Warren's view (as disagreeable as it may seem to some) actual has a Scriptural basis; Robinson's is based in his feelings.

President-elect Obama is a politically-adept man. His selection of Warren is an expression of his desire to reach out to evangelicals that are at odds with his viewpoint on abortion and gay marriage. He is willing to lose some points with the gay community because he realizes that Christians are a much, much larger voting bloc. Above all else, Obama is a politician. He got elected because he cast himself as one representing a truly diverse country. He ran on the platform of change and that is what he appears to be bringing.

Saddleback Members Making a Difference in Africa

Apart from Billy Graham, Rick Warren is perhaps the most well-known pastor in America. The church he pastors, Saddleback, is one of the nation's largest and his book, The Purpose Driven Life, has been read by tens of millions of people. But these days he is getting quite a bit of attention for the focus that he has placed on eliminating debt and addressing the HIV/AIDS problem on the continent of Africa.

Pastor Warren is nobly using the platform that he's been given to minister to Africans and help to meet their physical and spiritual needs. According to an article in USA Today, over 1,000 members of his church have traveled to the country of Rwanda (not to mention other countries) in the past three years to volunteer their time for days or months at a time.

However, some question the motives of the mostly middle-to-upper class, white members of Saddleback that have traveled to Rwanda:

"Outsiders professing good intentions are regarded with some suspicion on a continent that has seen its share of failed Western interventions: colonialism in the 19th century, exploitation of natural resources and Cold War meddling in the 20th. But many American programs are paying off with declines in AIDS deaths and poverty rates. African governments also are doing more to encourage peace and economic development.
Nowhere has the transformation been as dramatic as Rwanda, where in 1994 as many as 1 million people were killed in a horrific 100-day spree of ethnic violence. The economy is still recovering — the average wage is less than $1 a day — but visitors to the capital, Kigali, are often shocked by the strides Rwanda has made. The airport is orderly and clean; the streets are safe to walk; and a tourism boom has led to several restaurants opening.
Warren told USA TODAY he believes that, the way things are going, within a few decades, Rwanda could be an oasis of prosperity — "the next Singapore," he says."

Because of the complicated history of the countries of Africa, there will likely always be suspicion when it comes to outsiders traveling to the continent to "help." But this should not stop individuals and churches who desire to help from making themselves available to do so. But we should be mindful to examine our own hearts first and check to make sure that we are seeking to serve and not trying to push our agenda (no matter how good an agenda we may believe it to be) above the needs of those that we are seeking to serve.

There are those that like to knock individuals like Rick Warren who are seeking to make a real difference in the world. But I applaud him for his leadership and his attempts to help make an impact in a part of the world that much of the western Christian world has often neglected. He certainly will have misteps and make his share of mistakes (as we all will), but at least he is trying to influence his world for Christ and make a lasting eternal difference.

For those that fault Rev. Warren and his efforts, I can't help but think of one of my favorite quotes from Teddy Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

What are you doing to impact your world?

Starbucks stirs things up with a God quote on cups

The influence of Pastor Rick Warren in the broader culture continues to grow...

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY, October 19, 2005
Coffee drinkers could get a spiritual jolt with their java in the spring when Starbucks begins putting a God-filled quote from the Rev. Rick Warren, author of the mega-selling The Purpose-Driven Life, on its cups. It will be the first mention of God in the company's provocative quote campaign, The Way I See It. In 2005, Starbucks is printing 63 quotes from writers, scientists, musicians, athletes, politicians and cultural critics on cups for company-run and licensed locations to carry on the coffeehouse tradition of conversation and debate.
Some mention "faith in the human spirit," but none is overtly religious. Last month, Baylor University pulled Starbucks cups after objections to a quote from writer Armistead Maupin saying that "life is too damn short" to hide being gay. Warren says the idea of a grande pitch for God as creator came to him after seeing a Starbucks quote on evolution from paleontologist Louise Leakey. Because Starbucks solicited customer contributions for 2006, Warren sent his in. On Tuesday, Starbucks spokeswoman Sanja Gould confirmed that it would be used.
The cups carry a disclaimer that the opinions "do not necessarily reflect the views of Starbucks." But a few companies plant clues to Christianity in their wrappings, music or signs precisely because the owners are believers. In-N-Out Burger, the California-based fast-food chain, has included tiny notations for Bible verses in some of its burger and drink packaging since Richard Snyder, son of the founders, called for it in 1987. "He told me, 'It's just something I want to do,' " company spokesman Carl Van Fleet says. After Snyder's death in 1993, "the family felt strongly about keeping this just as he had done it" at its 196 outlets in California, Arizona and Nevada. The Bible book and verse in minuscule type "are so subtle most of our customers never notice."
One who did: Don Chang, the deeply religious founder of clothing chains Forever 21 and XXI. Five years ago, the clothier copied In-N-Out by stamping the Bible book, chapter and verse notation John 3:16 on the bottom of his stores' shopping bags: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."It's "evidence of faith," corporate spokesman Larry Meyer says.
Other owners making a faith statement in the secular marketplace include David Green, whose craft chain Hobby Lobby plays only Christian contemporary music in its 362 stores, and S. Truett Cathy, who advertises that Chick-fil-A sandwich shops nationwide are closed on Sundays to free employees to focus on faith and family." Americans are more accepting of overt religiosity these days, and corporations are good at figuring out how to do it with a light touch, one that's not going to scare off unbelievers," says sociologist David Halle, director of the LeRoy Neiman Center for the Study of American Society and Culture at the University of California-Los Angeles.
Alaska Airlines has put baseball-card-size prayer cards on hot-meal trays for 30years "just to differentiate us from the competition," spokeswoman Amanda Tobin says. "Compliments have always far outweighed complaints."

Evangelicals Tilting Left?

The following article, Evangelicals Tilting Left?, was in this morning's edition of The Orlando Sentinel. It shares some interesting history on the involvement of evangelicals in issues of social justice and provides an interesting challenge as the Campus Ministry moves forward with "Good News/Good Deeds" proclamation of the gospel.  Here's a highlight from David Stienmetz's piece:

Unlike most African-American evangelicals, who are politically liberal and form a core constituency of the Democratic Party, white evangelicals, especially in the South, have a more complex relationship to their Democratic past. Some changed their voting habits, but not their registration, while others eventually bolted. After trying to woo them back, many discouraged Democratic politicians concluded that the cause was hopeless. Evangelical is a synonym for right-wing.

The situation on the ground, however, is a good deal more confused. In addition to evangelicals who are convinced Republicans (like George W. Bush) or equally convinced Democrats (like Jimmy Carter), there is a third group harder to describe. Rick Warren, pastor of the 45,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., calls them "reluctant Republicans."

"Reluctant Republicans" are evangelicals who find no welcome in the Democratic Party for pro-life people like them. They are therefore Republicans by default. Yet on a wide range of social issues, these evangelicals hold positions that often find a more natural base of support among Democrats.

"Reluctant Republicans" worry about racial reconciliation in America (starting with but not limited to the churches), about global warming and stewardship of the natural resources of the planet, about the AIDS pandemic (especially in Africa) and the growing problem of AIDS orphans, about world hunger and the breathtaking poverty in which the majority of the world's population lives.

Evangelicals who want to take action on these issues have slowly realized that theological orthodoxy is not at odds with social reform, but demands it. The gospel is about justice as well as about mercy. The old dichotomy that for so long divided a personal gospel from a social one was false from the start and corrupt in its implementation.

Which means that it may be time for non-evangelicals to abandon some cherished assumptions about evangelicals as monolithically right-wing. Evangelicals are too large and diverse and changing a group to be safely reckoned in any party's hip pocket.

To read the complete article click here.