Rick Warren Dilemma:


I watched a portion of an interview Larry King did with Mega Church Pastor/Famous Author – Rick Warren. I don’t closely follow Pastor Warren’s ministry, but I am aware that he has a large influence in the religious community in the USA. As an example, he was chosen to deliver the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration. I was disturbed at the weak stance Pastor Warren appeared to have in the portion of the Larry King interview that I saw where they discussed Proposition 8. Remember, Proposition 8 was all about keeping the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman; something that is firmly established in the Holy Bible. I did a search and found a transcript of the Larry King interview.
 

An April 07, 2009 U.S.News & World Report article included the following transcript of the Larry King interview:

RICK WARREN: In the first place, I am not an anti-gay or anti-gay-marriage activist. I never have been, never will be. During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never—never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.
The week before the—the vote, somebody in my church said, 'Pastor Rick, what—what do you think about this?' And I sent a note to my own members that said, I actually believe that marriage is—really should be defined, that that definition should be—say between a man and a woman.
And then all of a sudden out of it, they made me, you know, something that I really wasn't. And I actually—there were a number of things that were put out. I wrote to all my gay friends—the leaders that I knew—and actually apologized to them. That never got out . . . .
Not a single criticism came from any gay leader who knows me and knows that for years we've been working together on AIDS issues and all these other things.
LARRY KING: All right. Do you, therefore, criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage?
WARREN: Yes. I'm—I'm totally oblivious to—to what—that's not even my agenda. My agenda is two things. One, today is the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. It's a national day of mourning, which I—as you know, I've been heavily involved in—in Rwanda and helping rebuild that nation and I'm very concerned about that.
And the second thing is, I'm interested in what the recession is doing to the spiritual climate of our nation. And as we start Easter week and Passover week, which is a really big week for those of us who are Jews or Christians, Passover and Easter, it's our biggest week of the year. And it actually was the—the week that I started Saddleback Church 30 years ago this Easter Sunday. . . . KING. One other thing in the gay issue, while you said you were not an activist at all . . . did you not encourage your flock to vote yes on Proposition 8?
WARREN: Oh, yes. You know, I don't think that the definition of marriage should be changed. KING: So you did ask your people who worship with you to vote that way?
WARREN: Yes. I just never campaigned. . . .KING: It's not high on your road of issues?
WARREN: No, no, it's very low. In fact, I am working with a number of gay organizations on issues that we care about, in saving lives.
 

This article that contained the transcript above, also had a link to a Letter that Pastor Warren supposedly wrote to the members of his church in October of 2004. Let me provide an excerpt of that letter:

The U.S. election of 2000 was a clear reminder that every vote counts and that every voter has a duty to be involved. As church leaders, we know our congregations are not allowed to endorse specific candidates, and it's important for us to recognize that there can be multiple opinions among Bible-believing Christians when it comes to debatable issues such as the economy, social programs, social security, and the war in Iraq.

But for those of us who accept the Bible as God's Word and know that God has a unique, sovereign purpose for every life, I believe there are 5 issues that are non-negotiable. To me, they're not even debatable because God's Word is clear on these issues. In order to live a purpose-driven life - to affirm what God has clearly stated about his purpose for every person he creates - we must take a stand by finding out what the candidates believe about these five issues, and then vote accordingly.

Here are five questions to ask when considering who to vote for in this election:

1. What does each candidate believe about abortion and protecting the lives of unborn children?

2. What does each candidate believe about using unborn babies for stem-cell harvesting?

3. What does each candidate believe about homosexual marriage?

4. What does each candidate believe about human cloning?

5. What does each candidate believe about euthanasia - the killing of elderly and invalids?

Please, please do not forfeit your responsibility on these crucial issues! This election REALLY counts more than most others have.

Be sure to vote, and be sure to encourage every Christian you know to vote on Tuesday. If you are able to vote early, do so. Then ask all your Christian friends on Tuesday "Have you voted yet?" and pray for godly leaders to be elected.

Pastor Rick Warren

For the full text of the letter, see the Blog accessible from the website:
http://www.christianowned.com/newsevents.html