The August 7, OCRegister headline read, Rick Warren hopes to redefine presidential politics. The issues that will be addressed are of a social nature, curing AIDS, poverty, sickness and will likely avoid such questions as same sex marriage, and abortion. As the article notes:

“It is a lot more sterilized and socially acceptable to be concerned about people who got HIV in Africa – because they acquired it in a heterosexual way – than to discuss the real, core issues of why Americans are getting it, which have to do with sexuality, poverty, lack of education, drug use,” said Rodriguez, president of the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County board. “These are segments of the population that don’t really get people votes.”

Earlier this year we also saw the birth of the Obama Bill: 845 Billion more for global poverty. I am not certain that McCain would be opposed to this since both he and Obama endorse Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. Plan:

Warren noted that McCain and Obama have endorsed Saddleback’s PEACE Plan, a strategy to mobilize churches to fight global problems such as illiteracy, corrupt leadership and disease

Rick Warren seems very comfortable and enamored with the political left. He is dedicated to the idea that contrary to Jesus’ claims that we would always have the poor (Matt. 26:11; Mk. 14:7; Jn. 12:8), we humans can eliminate poverty, hunger and sickness from the face of the earth. He seems so consumed by this that he seems to convey it is the church’s mandate to do so but the church doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to fulfill Warren’s mandate. He seems to be of the view that the Federal Government should steal the money from its citizens in order for the church to fulfill Warren’s dream. Will 845 Billion more for global poverty. be the ticket? Will McCain (more…)

Andrew’s sign said, ‘Stop American Terroism’ – he spelled terrorism wrong. I felt empowered in the sea of people, most of whom were also carrying signs and chanting against corporations who were making slaves of Third World labor; and the Republican Party, who gives those corporations so much power and freedom. I felt so far from my upbringing, from my narrow former self, the me who was taught that the Republicans give a crap about the cause of Christ. (Blue Like Jazz, p. 19)

As I read Don Miller’s book Blue Like Jazz a few weeks ago and reflected on statements like these, I began thinking more about the overall direction of the emerging church and the market driven Evangelical leaders who are climbing on board their train. There seem to be certain themes that continue resurfacing as we witness the rise of the Evangelical left. One theme is that conservative Evangelicals are evil. That is because for the most part they tend to vote Republican, which is the very touchstone of the evil empire. According to Don Miller, conservatives are so evil they think that George Bush is Jesus Christ. If conservatives were Christians who truly loved Christ, the thinking goes; they would take away the wealth and freedom of “greedy corporations” and redistribute the wealth equally across the world. We could eliminate poverty in our lifetime and usher in Jesus’ long-awaited promise of heaven here on earth.

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This past couple of weeks and particularly this past weekend, coverage of Christianity was wall to wall in the media. We had After Jesus – The First Christians on CNN which we reviewed in the blog article “Merry Christmas from CNN.” CNN followed up with the Anderson Cooper 360 special, which we reviewed “What is a Christian?” I was looking forward to some down time with the family and decided to set the recorder to capture the various programs that were being done on Christmas and Christianity. There is The Birth of Jesus, Who is Jesus?, One Nation Under God. It seemed that a great deal of the available media was about Rick Warren, especially on FOX. There was the special “Can Rick Warren Change the World?” and “The Three Purposes of Christmas.” Rick was a guest on MSNBC’s Meet the Press with Tim Russert. There was also the December 22 article in Christianity Today “Three Purposes of Christmas” by Timothy C. Morgan. In between family gatherings I read the C.T. article and watched “Meet the Press.”

I was a little disheartened by C.T.’s coverage on this. I have enjoyed a fairly good working relationship with them over the years. It is true and even expected that we don’t always agree with one another’s positions on various issues but there has been a general respect between us. C.T. was willing to take a potentially unpopular stand about Bill Gothard as being a false teacher when other organizations and media have turned a blind eye to the destruction he and other false teachers bring in to the church. After MCOI exposed Gwen Shamblin as a false teacher who had infiltrated the church C.T. was one of the first to expose her. However, I am concerned about the handling of Rick Warren in this recent article (it should be noted that I did email Tim Morgan prior to writing this but have not heard back as yet). As I read it I noted that Rick did three things with regard to Tim Morgan’s first question:

“World Net Daily columnist Joseph Farah has been hugely critical of your trip to Syria and your explanations, suggesting that you exhibit behavior ‘bordering on sociopathic.’ What’s your reaction?”

1) Rick Warren began by demonizing Joe Farah with his accusation that: “This is a fellow who’s hooked his star to criticizing somebody. There’s so many over-the-top things about it.”

2) After making his assertion, without naming anything that was “over- the-top” Warren successfully distracted the conversation to how many churches there are in Syria. Although possibly interesting it was irrelevant to the question.

3) He went on to claim “A lot of the criticisms have come from people who politicize the Christian faith. To them, politics is more important than winning people to Christ.”

As to number 1 and 2 I think this is a serious problem for the following reasons. First, either Warren said the things that Joe Farah (and MCOI in our blog) claims he said or he didn’t say them. If he didn’t say them than both Joe Farah and MCOI would be biblically required to publicly repent of the libel to at least the same degree that we published it to begin with. On the other hand if he did say them and then lied about and is attempting to cover it up we have a credibility issue. Rick Warren was allowed to demonize his critics without being called to account to prove his accusations.

Second, according to the article “Megapastor Rick Warren’s Damascus Road experience,” when Farah asked Warren for copies of the video tape his team shot while in Syria the reply was, “He also told me he did not tape anything while in Syria, ‘because it was a courtesy call, like I do in every country.’” I am sure Farah would be more than happy to provide copies of his and Warren’s emails to verify this exchange. As Farah was reading Warren’s email a link was sent to him to a YouTube video recording of Warren saying what had been ascribed to him. The video tape unfortunately for Warren demonstrated that Farah and MCOI had been correct in our handling of the facts. Shortly after this was pointed out to Warren the video mysteriously disappeared from YouTube. However, not before an audio copy had been made of it by a radio station who subsequently made it available on the Internet. Warren was not truthful about his statements and was at best factually challenged (in secular circles this would be called a lie) about the event not being videotaped. Now that I think about it, this is beginning to sound very Clintonesque. Warren didn’t actually say the event wasn’t video taped but that “…he did not tape anything…”

The message of the Christian faith is about repentance and restoration. If Rick had been honest to begin with rather than attempting what looks like a cover up, the pain would have been over fairly quickly. If he is covering this up what else could he be hiding? Perhaps he needs to go to the “warnings file” he talks about in the C.T. article and reread the clippings there. I will refrain here from suggesting which of Rick Warren’s three categories that I believe this falls in to.

Third, while sending an email apology to Farah, Warren also sent an email to his followers attacking “four bloggers” and claiming they had based on their material questionable sources. Warren wrote:

“Recently, four “bloggers” made accusations about my visit to Syria (between speaking in Germany and Rwanda). They based their accusations on a Syrian state press release!”

This is artfully written as it provides Warren with “plausible deniability.” It is pretty well known who the four bloggers are but if he is called on the carpet by any one of them he has left an escape route of “Oh, I wasn’t referring to you. It was four other bloggers.” It should also be noted that Warren’s statement is designed to imply that the Syrian state press release is questionable or inaccurate although he doesn’t actually claim either one. I have to admit this is shrewd for if someone accuses him of saying the Syrian Press twisted his words he could deny having said that as well. For someone who claims to not be a politician Rick Warren has learned to do the Political Two Step very well. In reality the accuracy or inaccuracy of the Syrian state press release is irrelevant. Our claim was based on his own words and not the press release. Although Joe Farah started with the press release he allowed in his article “The purpose-driven lie” that Warren’s words may have been twisted. In fact, Farah went so far as to say that he hoped that was the case. As it turns out it is Warren who is tinkering with verbiage.

In C.T.’s article Warren is quoted as saying, “A lot of the criticisms have come from people who politicize the Christian faith. To them, politics is more important than winning people to Christ.” These are very serious allegations and I would suggest that he needs to demonstrate his case. Simply making assertions about motives and the priorities of one or more individuals is insufficient. His assertions must be proven. If he in unable to do so he has committed libel and character assassination with the aid of C.T. I can state for the record that his claims are untrue for MCOI. I cannot comment for Joe Farah but the bulk of Farah’s material had to do with Warren’s honesty and trustworthiness. After watching Warren on Meet the Press I find it very interesting that he so glibly demonizes others:

“I would say I’d like to see a culture of civility. Our civilization is becoming less civil. It’s just gotten quite rude and you don’t have a right to demonize somebody just because they’re different. Civility means I’m going to treat you with respect even if I totally disagree with you.”

Is pointing out Rick Warren’s seeming inability to tell the truth and providing evidence for our claims “over the top,” uncivilized and rude? Does he mean that he has the right to demonize others with unfounded accusations but others are “uncivilized and rude” for following the biblical teachings on holding leaders accountable? His accusation that those of us who have raised this issue have placed politics above the gospel is also interesting in light of his view that there is no need to do Jewish Evangelism because there are already enough Christians. (See our article Rick Warren – Story Teller). Simply because the secular media has elected Rick Warren to the office of Evangelical Pope and installed him as “America’s Pastor” does not mean that he actually is infallible or unaccountable.

I am not saying that Rick Warren doesn’t have some good things to say nor that many of the things he says aren’t worthy of consideration. I am not saying that he isn’t a nice guy nor that he doesn’t have good motives. He may. But if we look to Scripture on the issue of leadership one of the first qualifications for an Elder is to “be above reproach.” (1 Tim. 3:2) It does strike me that a high profile leader needs to be accountable particularly when he publicly assassinates the character of another or several others for telling the truth. This is our biblical responsibility according to 1 Timothy 5:19-20.

Rick Warren certainly caused a stir last week with his pronouncement of the tolerant and peace loving status of Syria and then having Barack Obama speak in his church on the AIDS pandemic. Those who missed my comments last week on this can read our blog article Rick Warren – Story Teller As I expected Warren plowed ahead undaunted by those who challenged him to his biblical pastoral responsibilities to guard the flock. Solving AIDS it seems, trumps biblical mandates. I posted the following question on the Apologetics Blog under the topic “Rick Warren and Abortion” on ChristiaNet.com:

Would Rick Warren have someone who is pro choice on slavery from, say, the Sudan, speak in his church if they were concerned about solving the AIDS pandemic? Would it be appropriate for Rick Warren to invite Larry Flint (owner of Hustler magazine) to speak at his church on behalf of solving AIDS? Is there any difference between these scenarios and having Barack Obama speak at Saddleback? Does solving AIDS trump guarding the flock (Acts 20:28-31)?

I think this is a very valid question. Would Warren have a leader of the Ku Klux Klan on the dais if he or she was supportive of AIDS? I am sure the answer to these three scenarios would be an unequivocal NO! Why? Because being “pro-choice” on slavery, involved with promoting and especially financially benefiting from being a purveyor of pornography and being a racial bigot would be viewed as morally reprehensible (not to mention politically incorrect.). In other words, Warren would be afraid of offending non-believers but doesn’t seem to be too concerned about violating God’s revealed Word. It isn’t that addressing AIDS is an issue that Christians should ignore or even that Christians can’t work with those outside the faith to address an issue of public health concern or even public moral behavior. Some hold to a two government view both ordained by God. One is God’s divine rule over all of creation. The other is a human government which He uses as He chooses and which makes laws that govern areas of this life. This seems clear from such passages as Romans 13:1-4, and Psalm 22:28.

In some cases, as in the case of Joseph and Daniel, God’s people have worked for a pagan government for the benefit of all. In other cases such as the Apostles, God’s people have taken stands against government edicts as did Peter in Acts 4:17-20. Activism and challenging the government has a long history even within Christianity to at least the days of Justin Martyr. He wrote his First Apology (defense) to the Roman Senate in which he argued against their persecution of Christians based on false and bigoted beliefs about them. He used sarcasm in some places such as “But you seem to fear lest all men become virtuous, and you no longer have any to punish.” (The First Apology of Justin; The Anti-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, Eerdmans, Reprinted October 1989, p 166).

The issues raised are not whether or not Christians should be involved in various causes which impact all citizens of a particular nation or even the world regardless of whether they are believers or not. The issue is should those who hold views which are antithetical to sound biblical teaching be put in to a place as a respected teacher within and under the auspices of the church? The answer is a resounding no! In the first century there were traveling teachers who would go to the home where the church met when they arrived in town. While in town they would reside in that home and teach the church. This is equivalent to giving the teaching position in church to an invited speaker. In addressing this in 2 John 7-10, the elderly Apostle writes:

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

By flaunting biblical teaching Rick Warren did not bring more credibility to the issue of AIDS but, according to the Apostle John, is participating in Barack’s evil deeds. Rick Warren’s attempt at damage control also raises the question of his honesty. Neither he nor any staff at Saddleback responded to my November 21 email but he did write again to Joseph Farah at WorldNetDaily. Joseph wrote his column Rick Warren says he’s sorry in which we discover opposing correspondence from Rick Warren going out. One to Farah apologizing and asking forgiveness and the other to Rick’s followers where he accuses the blogger’s who brought this to light as serving Satan and that their accusations are false and unconfirmed (even though I, Farah and others provided the supporting documentation and links while Warren simply makes assertions). Farah asks, “Will the real Rick Warren please stand up?” My fear is that if Rick Warren has abandoned sound biblical teaching, which seems to be the case and entered the world of politics, which also appears to be the case, aren’t we seeing the real Rick Warren in his political incarnation?

As many of you are aware, other than our article “The Purpose Driven Claim” in the Summer 2004 (Vol. 10, Issue 3) MCOI Journal and a few statements in the article “An Indistinct Sound” in the Summer/Fall 2005 (Vol. 11, Issue 3) we have not said very much about Pastor Rick Warren. That is not to say that we haven’t had concerns but do realize that human leaders have clay feet and we need to be as gracious as possible with one another. Not all issues and disagreements are of equal importance. Therefore we thought it best to wait and let Warren be self revelatory. A number of issues began to crystallize for me over the last week. I was speaking with Dr. Earl Radmacher about some other projects we are working on and Rick Warren came up in the course of conversation. Dr. Radmacher mentioned that a friend had met and was favorably impressed with Warren. Dr. Radmacher asked him, “What do you think about his position that expositional teaching is a thing of the past and that today is the day story telling?” Dr. Radmacher’s friend responded. “Well, that is a bit of a problem.” The question that comes to mind is, if for Rick Warren sound biblical expositional teaching is out and story telling is in what sort of story has he been telling?

As Rick Warren’s books and programs continually increased in sales in 2005 he seemed to be everywhere and dropped little tidbits of helpful info in each public appearance. I have to admit that I was taken by surprise on April 22 of 2005 when the Special to the Tribune section was headlined with “Evangelical Christians have hailed the “Purpose Driven” Philosophy; now a local Catholic church will host a conference espousing it” by Sean D. Hamill. It struck me as odd that Warren who represents himself as an Evangelical, in fact, a Southern Baptist, would be assisting 40 Chicago area Roman Catholic Churches in growing their congregations numerically. That is until I read the story teller at work a month later in the transcript of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Myths of the Modern Mega-Church where he states among other things:

And, you know, growing up as a Protestant boy, I knew nothing about Catholics, but I started watching ETWN, the Catholic channel, and I said, “Well, I’m not as far apart from these guys as I thought I was, you know?

Little things that seemed askew before began making sense. Having abandoned sound biblical teaching for story telling the theme of Warren’s new story appears to have become a simple message of how to fill churches. Once Pastor Warren concluded there aren’t any real notable differences between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism then guiding the Roman Catholics into the best ways to market their churches and bring more possible members through their doors is as much a part of his story as teaching Evangelicals.

As Rick Warren told his story to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life he weaved in a bit of trivia that he is not a fundamentalist. He didn’t mention which of the fundamentals he rejects or if he embraces any of them. He is concerned that churches, at least Evangelical and Roman Catholic churches are able to fill up their buildings and challenge people to be more spiritual. Ah yes, more spiritual. One of the spiritual leadership books he began recommending on his Pastors.com website is Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline. It is true that Senge’s leadership principles are rooted in spirituality but Warren seemed to neglect mentioning that the wisdom and spirituality is Prajna Wisdom which is a form of Buddhism as author Peter Senge admits . For me a bit more head scratching ensued as the story telling darling of fad driven Evangelicalism leads the church in to New Age and Eastern Mystical Contemplative Prayer seemingly unnoticed. Whether this is intentional or unintentional I have no way of knowing. That is a question of motives and as such is something that I cannot answer. I would suggest that Rick Warren is sloppy and undiscerning. However, in the position of leadership that he has attained that is no less dangerous than if he was purposely leading the 300,000 or so pastors and congregations into false beliefs and pagan practices. This is the very reason that James wrote:

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur stricter judgment. (James 3:1)

With increased leadership stature and visibility goes greater responsibility and therefore greater care and accuracy in what a leader says and how they act. Their freedoms are curtailed due to their responsibilities and the example they set.

As Warren continued developing and embellishing upon his story he turned to developing the Purpose Driven Synagogue. Reading Warren’s continuing story in the Jewish Journal further pointed out the consequences of abandoning exegesis and sound Bible teaching in favor of story telling as I read:

Warren told Wolfson his interest is in helping all houses of worship, not in converting Jews. He said there are more than enough Christian souls to deal with for starters.

At times when Joy and I are watching a movie we have to pause it to recap the story up to that point in order to make sure we understand where the story teller has taken us and see if we have a glimpse of where the story is going and how it might end. So far Warren’s story is that he is not a fundamentalist, there are more than enough Christians and Warren’s purpose is to help all houses of worship grow. There is very little difference between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism and since there are more than enough Christians he isn’t interested in converting Jews and all of these groups will have better prayer lives by embracing Buddhism. I do have to admit that the story is becoming increasingly intriguing as it moves further away from sound biblical teaching. It even seems to have its own great commission which might sound something like this:

Go therefore and make all nations Purpose Driven, baptizing them in the name of the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, teaching them to read, write, solve world hunger and the AIDS pandemic, and lo, I am with you always, even until we all live together in perfect peace and harmony in a Purpose Driven World..

As with all really good stories occasionally some real tension is added to give the hero the opportunity to shine. Rick Warren’s November 10-12 visit to Syria has provided that. The Syrian press reported that Rick Warren was impressed at the peace and harmony which exists between the Muslims and Christians in Syria. He was impressed with the leadership of President al-Assad and the religious stability, tolerance and coexistence. For about a day YouTube carried a video of Warren’s remark’s but it mysteriously vanished shortly after columnist Joseph Farah at World Net Daily sent Warren the link asking him for an explanation. There was of course a flurry of activity questioning Warren’s newest part of his evolving story. Joseph Farah ended up writing four stories on this, ”The purpose-driven Lie”, ”Megapastor Rick Warren’s Damascus Road experience”, ”Rick Warren disciples: Where are you?” and ”Calling Rick Warren!”. Other blogs as well as radio programs also raised the tension of the story.

Farah points out that Warren contacted him after his first article went out asking why Farah hadn’t contacted him before it went public. As it turns out Farah did make that attempt but as is so often the case, it went unanswered. I have had the same results myself. I have written to Warren before each article in the Journal and again prior to starting on this one I wrote to him on November 21 with a number of questions and so far there has been no response. When presented with the evidence of his statements including the video link by Farah, Warren again went silent and the evidence was removed from YouTube. With another twist of irony the audio of the now missing YouTube video was supplied to Lighthouse Trails Publishing by Bruce DeLay from Talk Radio 1170 KFAQ this past Monday. An MCOI ministry associate forwarded me a copy of Warren’s November 22 email which was sent from the Pastors.com website explaining that the President of Syria gave Warren permission to send teams and implement his P.E.A.C.E. plan in Syria. He probably won’t have to develop a Purpose Driven Mosque as the mosques seem very purpose driven already. The purpose is chanted in unison regularly by attendees,” Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Their peaceful and tolerant lifestyle was further demonstrated in the assassination of Pierre Gemayel.

In his Pastors.com email Warren states, “Friends, I am aware that inaccuracies, misquotes, and misperceived motivations get reported about me in the press daily.” That may be true but it does little to address where he was accurately quoted with the quotes being substantiated by available audio and the statements are demonstrated to be simply false and very harmful. However, it is admittedly a good story. Does Warren equate that being asked to be publicly accountable for his public statements is the same as being persecuted as Jesus was? Is it his belief that Joseph Farah, MCOI and other Evangelicals really are the “world” as Warren writes:

Most of the time, I just ignore them. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” (John 15:18 - NCV)

Warren further expounds on this persecution theme:

I love the paraphrase of Matthew 5:11-12 (Msg): “Count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens-for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”

The downtrodden hero is a very important part of any really good story. The underdog who seems powerless against those evil doers who hurl accusations against him but the persecuted hero stays the faithful course in spite of what looks like insurmountable odds as they are unfairly treated. The prophets fit that bill as Jesus pointed out. Hebrews chapter 11 spends a great deal of time talking about these heroes of the faith and as the writer enumerates their persecutions he pauses for a breath with an astounding statement, “Men of whom the world is not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). Does Rick Warren really regard being questioned about what he says publicly the same as:

..…and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:36-38)

As Rick Warren returns from the peace loving religiously tolerant nation of Syria he is preparing for the next chapter in his story telling. He will be hosting Barack Obama and other speakers at Saddleback Community Church on November 30 – December 1. For those who are unaware, Barack is the Senator from Illinois, who along with his wife have shared their concerns and fears of the rise of conservatism in the United States and the possibility that Evangelicals will take away the right of mothers to crush the skulls of their children and suck out their brains just moments before delivery is complete. (A copy of his fundraising letter sent by his wife Michelle is available at ProLifeBlogs.com). But the way Rick Warren responds gives the impression that to even question his story and alliances with those who openly oppose Evangelicals and hold to an the antithesis of a biblical worldview which includes the brutal murder of a completely defenseless baby is labeled persecution and the questioner is placed in the category of “the world.” That is an easy way to avoid having to answer legitimate criticism. Warren could always try the tact of “He won’t be in my pulpit.” That is a distinction without a difference and is not unlike former President Clinton claiming he didn’t have sex with Monica Lewinsky because oral sex isn’t sex. The AIDS Conference is a Saddleback Community Church sponsored event, held at Saddleback Community Church, led by Pastor Rick Warren. It is promoted on the Saddleback Community Church, Pastors.com and Purpose Driven websites and Barack Obama is one of the invited speakers. On the other hand Warren may not have a problem with Obama’s drive against conservative Evangelicals and his publicly stated support of the brutal torture and murder of the nearly born. After all Barack is Purpose Driven in these areas and perhaps that is all that matters. On Wednesday, November 29, WorldNetDaily carried the article, “Christian leaders to Warren: Keep Obama from pulpit” Will Warren listen? I don’t expect him to. Again, I cannot know what Rick Warren thinks nor what his motives may be. What I can say is that his actions speak so loudly that it is difficult to hear anything else.

As is so often the case, all stories, good or bad, eventually have an ending. According to the Christianity Today article “Painful Decline” posted on 11/21/2006, the Purpose Driven fad has peaked and is beginning its slow fade out. What will be the next fad? Will Warren begin working on a sequel to his story or will another story teller arise? Is it possible that church leadership might try something unusual and daring like “…preach the word, be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort with all long suffering…” (2 Timothy 4:2)? Nah, that’s probably not very marketable being too first century and all.