Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church is in Washington, D.C. today for a Fourth of July speaking appearance at the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention. He has suggested that members of his congregation to pray for the event.
A spokesperson for Warren said he is not giving interviews about his appearance tonight, but in a blog last week Warren addressed criticism he receives for speaking at non-Christian events.
“Every time I speak to any non-Christian group, I get criticized by well-meaning believers who don’t really understand how much Jesus loves lost people,” Warren wrote in the blog. “They are more concerned with their own perceived purity than the salvation of those Jesus died for.”
Warren will be speaking with a panel on the convention’s theme, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
“If we want to have a Christ-like ministry, we must not waste any time judging unbelievers (Jesus didn’t), but instead, do everything we can to build relationships of love and respect and trust with unbelievers,” Warren wrote. At the end of the blog Warren lists two speaking engagements, including the event at the Islamic society, for readers to pray for.
Some are taking Warren’s participation in the event as a sign of Islam becoming more accepted in America, according to a recent article on the event by the Associated Press.
The AP article refers to the Lake Forest pastor as “one of the most prominent religious leaders in the country.”
Warren, who gave the invocation at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, has been increasingly in the public spotlight in the last few years.
We will be reporting from the event later this evening.
This article is appropriately placed in the political section as that appears to be Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church utlimate goal.
if you read the article, the quotes from Warren make clear his purpose is NOT political but evangelical. If you read the other things he writes and listen to his sermons, interviews, etc., the same thing becomes clear.
Pastor Rick Warren is inspiring to us all. I am a member of Saddleback Church and love his teachings and worship.. It’s awesome and we are very blessed to belong to his ministry..
Therein lies the problem, you belong to his (Rick Warren’s) ministry: believers belong to Christ’s ministry… which segues into Rick’s political agenda. Nicely done Margie!
Pastor Rick Warren is a seeking publicity to try and fatten his wallet. Some day we will be reading about the Ponzi Scheme Of Rick Warren.
Michael, you should get the facts before you post. Warren has enough money from his book royalties that he gives most of it away including not taking a salary for his work at Saddleback. Your accusation is a gratuitous assertion not supported by the facts.
It’s significant that he refers to the Muslims as “lost people.” His appearance at the conference isn’t acceptance, it’s evangelism.
Hmmm…so let me get this right. A good evangelical Christian should only be speaking to Christians. I am curious, how then does an evangelical evangelize then?
I don’t believe so…have you been to the church and experienced his blessings??? no fat wallet there.
And the Lord said “judge not”
Strap on a EID and let go…
If he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, then it will be an evangelical event - what else would he have to say as a Christian??
Don’t say you are going as part of Christian outreach and fail to proclaim the gospel. I don’t care if you speak on matters of civic concern and don’t mention Jesus.
Warren fails to understand basic Christian theology. We “Christians” aren’t concerned for our perceived purity. We know we don’t have any. But fortunately we don’t need purity to attain salvation. We have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. He is all the purity we need.
Before too many people jump to conclusions about Rick Warren speaking to non - Christian groups, I would like to remind them that Jesus did the same thing.
Add to my last - I am not a Southern Baptist, but I think Rick Warren is an honest and sincere man. I may differ with some of his views, but I agree with him on the bottom line - I am just a Christian.
I would like to call out Pastor Warren for his inappropriate words: I find it ironic that he is visiting a gathering of Muslims to build bridges and foster respectful dialogue, but yet he refers to non-Christians as “Lost” in his blog and later as “unbelievers.” I find his terminology to be offensive. So Muslims and Jews are “lost”? How about Catholics and Mormons? How many of us fall into this “lost unbeliever” category? Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Mormons all believe in one God, charity, the golden rule, love, family and community, just like (surprise!) Christians. It is only when we recognize our basic commonalities that we can create “love and respect and trust” with each other as he claims to be doing. Otherwise, our efforts to create these dialogues are hypocritical and based on a notion that of patronizing those “poor lost souls.”
There seem to be an awful lot of cynical people who post here any time anything about Rick Warren appears. This includes a huge amount of very judgemental statements about his motives, etc. seemingly by those who would normally be quoting “judge not….” I guess that goes to show that there are a lot of hypocrites all around.
I do not go to Saddleback, but have benefited from one of the suport groups that they have there. I have read his book the Purpose Driven Life. I wonder how many critics have? A big theme of the book is that its not about us but its about Jesus and serving him and others. He gives a big challenge to people to step up and serve. And many at Saddleback to as part of their PEACE plan and other things.
As others pointed out, Jesus mingled with sinners and religious outcasts. He did not compromise but was not afraid to go to outsiders. Many here like to quote snippits of the Bible but are largely ignorant of what the Bible actually says overall.
I go to a much smaller Evangelical church and our pastor was invited to speak at a Muslim congregation locally. Several of us went along and talked to the people there, discussing our faiths. He shared what the Bible says on a variety of issues.
Talking to those from other faiths is good and discussing where there is agreement and disagreement. Building mutual understanding is good and pointing out the uniqueness of Jesus and the Biblical message of salvation by grace though faith is important, although that doesn’t always happen on the first encounter.
OC for truth,
Once you realize that there is no god, the truth about Rick Warren and other “religious leaders” becomes very obvious. Don’t be fooled, Its all about money and power. These are all conmen.
Whoops, correction last sentence of 2nd paragraph should read, “…many at Saddleback do…..”
Muslims, as it happens, believe in Jesus..And… Jesus said to love EVERYONE.
How hard is that? Hard,apparently.
Wonder if Rick plans to hold a political forum debate between Obama and Ahmandinejad at Saddleback anytime soon? I thought that would be on the agenda calendar soon after the January inauguration. Look like he’s warming up to it with this islamic convention appearance.
I have never seen a gathering of fools as those who appear on this blog! To speak out against Rick Warren with such moronic statements about Ponzi schemes and references to what an Evangelical man should or should not do is just another example of just how stupid our society has become.
These same people are probably on the mailing list of the lunatic, whose stand against abortion ended in the murder of a person in church and now sends out leaflets from jail, thanks to the Kansas Justice System!
I count myself profoundly Christian.
It is arrogance to regard all others as “lost people.”
If it’s arrogant to call all non Christians lost, then I guess Jesus was arrogant. He said NO ONE comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
In reading quite a few of these posts, I find that many who post, don’t even attend church or refuse to even explore the idea! They just post derisive comments about people they don’t even know.
How many of you who speak negatively of Rick Warren have ever met him or spent any amount of time with him?
Where do you spend quality time with Rick? Just curious? All I know is what I read in the paper. Is Rick taking dinner invitations from curious spectators in the community? How do I get on the list? I don’t believe half the drivel I hear from the pulpit. If you know about a community town hall with Rick where questions are not pre-screened let us know.
The main question you ask is why Rick is speaking at the ISNA conference? While I do not wish to offer an apologia for ISNA, I would refer you to multiple articles that describe the organization’s goals in reaching out to other faiths, including Judaism, and denouncing terrorism (Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the leader of the largest branch of American Judaism, addressed the convention two years ago; also see the AP story on July 1 by Zoll, and stories in the Christian Post, Church Solutions and even the Washington Times in the past week).
What I would like to clarify is Rick’s message and motive. You claim that Rick probably doesn’t have an agenda, but I would like to assert that it is his lifelong agenda that led him to accept the invitation to speak at ISNA. You may have noticed that outside of Saddleback Church, and Rick’s 30 year Purpose Driven Ministry to pastors, he does very little speaking to Christian groups of believers. Instead, he invests his time speaking to groups of unbelievers that most pastors never get the opportunity to share with. He carefully considers the opportunities that God has given him to address these audiences. These are folks that Jesus died for, but would never enter a church to hear the Good News. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Luke 5:31 (NIV) Rick believes strongly that if you want to actively demonstrate the love of Christ to others as He commands us to, then you have to reach out to a variety of audiences. No one is ever convinced of God’s love by labeling, condemnation, or anger. Rick strongly believes that if we want to behave in a Christ-like example, we must not waste any time judging others (Jesus didn’t), but instead, do everything we can to build relationships of love and respect and trust with others.
In our secular culture, there are about a dozen different groups of influencers that we at Saddleback seek to serve and reach out to including those in academics, business, military, sports, health care, media, prisoners, entertainment, other faiths, and government. If we are to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission in the world, we must build bridges to all of these, and more. Just know the goal of every speaking engagement Rick accepts is always the same: The global glory of God. We seek to build bridges of love - from our hearts to hearts of even those we may disagree with - so that Jesus can walk across!
The theme of the session at which Rick will speak is “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” a theme most appropriate for a message on perhaps our country’s most sacred day, Independence Day. Rick will bring a message appropriate to the values of the meaning of this day on what America and all Americans, not just Muslims or Christians, need to maintain our independence. Freedom and independence were at the core of our country’s founders and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect this country across its history. As a pastor, Rick intimately understands these values, particularly the value of religious freedom, and will fiercely advocate for them unashamedly in front of any audience. But religious freedom means the right to practice the religion of one’s choice regardless of whether or not others agree with a particular religion’s tenets, and the freedom to associate for the common good of all Americans and for those less fortunate than us around the world. That is a value that is not only part of our heritage as Americans, but also a commandment of Jesus Christ.
I appreciate the opportunity to clarify Rick’s appearance before ISNA and would refer you to a recent issue of Rick’s “News and Views” in which he thoroughly discusses why he speaks to a variety of audiences.
Thank you aGarBoy! I completely agree with you
The fact that Muslims, too, believe in Jesus Christ and respect him as a holy figure is often overlooked.
To have such a man who is so widely respected by all faiths and people refer to Muslims as “lost people” is unfortunate
I wonder how many Christian conventions would invite a sheik(muslim religious leader) to speak like ISNA invited a pastor….?
Rick is a publicity whore!
When I was still a Christian, our church participated in a brotherhood week in which a Rabbi came and spoke at our church about all that we had in common. When our pastor spoke on the following week he just coudn’t stop telling the Jews that they were going to hell if they didn’t accept Jesus as their savior.
So what can Warren do but tell the Muslims that their prophet and their holy book got it wrong. Three religions supposedly worshipping the same God but at least two out three have it wrong?
I agree with this man’s philosophy that all people must put aside their differences and work toward a common goal: to eliminate the evil forces that cause conflicts in the world.
I do not agree that the Muslims are the only lost people on the planet, as Christians are just as lost, but people must work together to find the way, which is the Heavenly Father.
The truth is the word. Accepting “others” of a different faith is not a
denunciation of your beliefs, but an affirmation of what Christ did
when He hung on the cross. He was sacrificed for ALL of our sins.
Jesus made no distinction between peoples of different faiths,
and we shouldn’t either.
Let me get this right! If you have your own faith but you donot see things as he does your a non-believer?Is that a non-believer in respects to him, or just a non-believer in respects to a higher source? Seems to me he`s kind of forceing a belief on you! You judge yourself, not him!
Why is Rick Warren under the “Politics of OC” section of the OCR?
Rick has become WAY too political and should lose his tax exemption!
It’s refreshing to see a preacher, any, take on some issues this side of the grave, so to speak. To me religion is such a private, adult challenge to the senses, that it takes a lot of arrogance for one man to stand in front of another and talk as if he’s standing between that other man and God! I grew up in the South and was exposed to some hard-hitting ‘hell & brtimstone stuff’ and believe me, as a kid, it scared the heck out of me. It certainly put me ‘on the thought-train, if you wlll, about “religion”. As an adult, and older one now, I think I see how so important it is especially since men have been brought together by modern progress, and, that they not be torn apart by the clouds of tribalism from our past. Now that we have a weapon that can destroy millions by the push of “one button” it is no longer a causual thought that perhaps the “MAN UP STAIRS” does value one and all. Trying to make sense from the only way I know, as an individual, sometimes I think of what happened to Jesus as what happens to anyone who stands for his beliefs–he pays the price. And, what does it all mean in the scheme of things? Well, I’ve learned to accept that as THE MAN’S business, and ‘beyond my pay-grade’ as someone recently said. One last, bit, and it’s this: I do think that the way to world ‘get along’ ( peace is maybe expecting way too much ) is by way of world-commerce. I hope so anyway–dare say I pray. ( I really have nothing against preachers, I just wish all churches to give up their Gov.-byoff, and start paying taxes, so guys like me can go back to church and meet people on a level as fellow citizens, and O.K. sinners too I suppose, but have a forum for dealing with the threat from some folks who DO SEEM to think they’re gods in that heavenly city called Washington–now that would be miracle )! Oh, bytheway I do think Jesus was the first real Americian–bar none!!!