Rick Warren is not the problem – he's just a symptom

Have we lost our Christian mind? By Dave Welch at World Net Daily

While Americans watched with disbelief as our president apologized for our "arrogance" to the radical Islamists in Turkey, Socialists in France, etc. – the most visible pastor in America decided to add his apology to the headlines.

As Pastor Rick Warren's mea culpa on California Proposition 8 ignited fires of frustration among pro-marriage leaders nationwide, something was obviously, as the saying goes, "rotten in Denmark." My first response after both hearing about and then watching the interview was,

"Why?" What did Warren have to gain, and what was the reason for his Clintonian "I really didn't endorse" assertion?

...Whether it is Warren groveling before the militant sexual diversity power structure, Osteen floundering in whether eternal salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way or Wallis, Campolo and the other mouthpieces of the religious left serving as spiritual advisers to a Marxist president – the American pulpit is indeed at a critical crossroads. Newsweek's Easter-week (the timing was certainly not coincidental) article, "The Rise and Fall of Christian America" declared, "This is not to say that the Christian God is dead, but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory." It's hard to refute that.

We have absolute confidence that the great and mighty God who set the galaxies in motion with His word, suspends the very laws of nature he ordained in order to show His power and lowered Himself in the perfect act of love to take the punishment for our sin and evil upon Himself is not in any danger of extinction or demotion. He has not lost His power and is certainly not dead.

This is also not the first crisis of theology, identity and purpose within Christianity as we well know with just a cursory study of church history. The great creeds and confessions were developed to respond to myriad heresies and errors such as the Arian heresy that led to the first Council of Nicaea in 325 – and the Nicaean Creed. Any Christian who has not read and even memorized that creed should do so immediately and then work your way forward to and through the Westminster Catechisms. Why?

The fundamental reason the Newsweek article is tragically correct is that we simply have not been following the same Christianity that transformed nations for over 1,800 years. In responding to an e-mail from a reader a couple of weeks ago (even before this issue arose), I explained that Rick Warren is not the problem; he is the symptom.

Biblical Christianity is not a significant force in the culture because pastors like Warren have been trained in churches, schools and seminaries for decades that have given them a fragmented worldview in whether or not we even have a responsibility to serve as a redemptive agent to our surrounding culture. While politically active Christians were organizing and engaged in recent years, there was an understanding and assumption that most churches understood their role at changing hearts and minds as an irreplaceable first step to godly government.

We were wrong.

Read the rest here.

See related articles:

Rick Warren, Please Sit Down

Rick Warren: I Am Not Anti-Gay Marriage

Reaping What American Pop Culture Christianity Has Sown

The Exodus of Christians From The All-About-Me Churches

The Purpose Driven Takeover of The Southern Baptist Convention