warren and davos and sin

I know, I know, here I go again ... I do not like Rick Warren but I do not dislike Rick Warren - actually, the truth is I do not know Rick Warren but I do know Jesus Christ and I'd rather talk about Jesus. But ... as I read the blogsphere last night and this morning many people who seem to hate dislike Warren posted this video. After watching it a couple of times, reading their comments, etc., I think they only served to result in me agreeing more with Warren and less with them.



For starters, I want to skip over the Calvinism v. Arminianism rage. I got it already. Some are Calvinist and therefore every thing Rick Warren does is works based and he is a sinner. Got it. I disagree but I understand that's what you think and I am not going to invest in you right now. I also understand that some number of you cannot separate reasonable criticism from unreasonable criticism and that all criticism from someone on-line is somehow the result of Calvinism. And of course if it's Calvinism then it is by definition hard and evil. Got it. I disagree but I understand that's what you think and I am not going to invest in you right now.

Now here's what I don't get ... what did Warren say or do that was really so evil?

"Here I am a Davos with a lot my friends" ... is that it? At least one critic questioned what he was doing there as if that is fundamentally wrong. Isn't there a Bible story that parallels that exchange? Actually, there are several. Remember, if you read the Bible as a text book you will find support that true Christians will be accused of being friends with the world and you will also find support that true Christians will be hated by the world. You can read the Bible with a preconceived bias and pick whichever side you like. I recommend however that you step back and read the Bible as a whole and allow yourself to be taught by the Holy Spirit. My conclusion - good stuff. Warren has non-Christian relationships and he is out relating to them and yet not sinning himself.

Warren then indicates that rather than discussing the weather or the upcoming SuperBowl, they are discussing what the biggest problems on the planet are. Me? I was thinking about why the helium is already out of a couple of the SuperBowl balloons I have. Seems Warren is ok compared to me. Here's the list they discussed.

• extreme poverty
• pandemic diseases
• illiteracy
• corruption
• spiritual emptiness

I did not catch a ranking in his words. I did not hear him say these were equal although I would have preferred that the last point have been highlighted as leading to the others. And clearly his choice of the words "spiritual emptiness" can be discussed. Some would rather say "sin". Others would have some other phrase they may like. But regardless I think it would be hard in a word or two to say something that the blogsphere would approve of. I think God would not take issue with Warren's words and only God knows what is in Warren's heart as he speaks them.

So who disagrees? Are those not the big issues? Is talking about the issues that face the world sin? This seems like good dialog to me.

And then there is a whole bunch of stuff in the middle that can be unpacked in the same way. Warren ends by discussing the many things that motivates others to help humanity. He states that his motivation, "is that Jesus said, 'love your neighbor as yourself'". And concludes that regardless of your motivation, get involved. Do something to help the world.

Now the critics would like you to believe that Warren is promoting that Christianity and other faiths are alike. But Warren never says that and he clearly only speaks of them working together to improve the conditions of those suffering. One critiqued his use of the word "we" to group Christians with others. Hmmm ... as in "we humans"? Sorry, at many levels there is a "we" and denying that is foolishness and I would suggest setting up stumbling stones other than Christ.

What these critics missed was that he was talking about "we" in the context of the first 4 issues above. He didn't speak of the "we" as addressing spiritual emptiness. Now to be fair, I wonder where Warren is on that but how folks can howl about working with other faiths to address human suffering is beyond me. I'll repeat Francis Scheaffer's warning that we need to be careful to not mistake co-belligerents with allies. At the same time, recognizing co-belligerents is not a bad thing.

Warren talks about government, businesses, and people of faith working together. Please tell me, why are the critics upset with that? Should we not celebrate the relief brought to the Hurricane Katrina victims? Should we not have helped the 2004 Tsunami victims? I just do not understand what these critics are suggesting.

I'll sign-off for now. I'm going to go down to the homeless shelter to play games, give out some Costco muffins and a warm drink, and perhaps engage in a little dialog with some homeless people. People that matter to God. I'll do this in a building paid for primarily by corporate donations and along side mostly Christians but also some college kids there because they think they can fix the world and some other people that I have no idea where they are coming from. I'll do this under the leadership of a Church that I have issues with several points of their doctrinal statement. I'll shoot pool and play some card games. I may confront some guy for drinking alcohol, I may not.

In the end, I am going where God is sending me and I pray I would speak what He is speaking. Rick Warren is attempting to do that same. I doubt God intends such huge numbers of people to sit at home to openly criticize others via the internet. Get up and go do something ... even if it means working with a sinner.

Peace.

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