Not all Christians believe the same “religion.” Christianity is a man’s dogma adopted in the name of Jesus. Christ following is a faith based on Jesus\’ words. Rick Warren, now famous pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest CA, is religious. The question is whether he is a Christ follower or less aggressive shade of Christian Zionist. To call him "influential" is a vast understatement.
Pew Foundation’s lengthy interview with Pastor Rick Warren, The Future of Evangelicalism tells much about Warren in his own words.* Pastor Rick has indeed a smooth tongue, and he drops names, from Billy Graham to President Obama. The Pew Forum gave Warren every chance to discuss any aspect of what he considers his Christian belief.
Pastor Warren numbered off his mission’s six “Signature Issues,” all of which produce a social result; but he artfully dodged just about every vital moral issue of our day, especially our serial wars in the Middle East– issues that may be within his power to influence. Warren knows the issues, he listed them as, "the five biggest problems on the planet: poverty, disease, illiteracy, corruption and conflict.”
I would assume wars fall under the “conflict” umbrella, but Pastor Rick made no mention of his position on America\’s serial wars. Warren was allowed to speak freely and to choose his own subject matter. If you do a word search on the 15,000 word interview, as I did, you will find he did not once utter any of the following words: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine or Gaza, Sudan, Somalia—not one word about bailout, inflation, TARP, deficit spending, or any other US government "corruption".
It is fair to conclude that war, preventing war, and corruption in our own government are among Warren list of avoided issues. The closest he came was to describe his “global humanitarian effort to take on poverty and AIDS."
What would Jesus say about a Pastor who fails to mention a single specific “corruption or conflict?” Jesus used terms including, "sons of Satan" and generation of vipers," to describe the corrupt religious leaders of his day who did business with the Roman occupiers. Warren did not say a word about preventing incineration and forced starvation brought on by men in our own government with whom he claims to be intimate friends.
Warren\’s agenda is on safe ground alongside billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, all beneficiaries of the current inflation and bail outs, all fighting AIDS. These men, it seems, enjoy taking credit for world wide benevolent charity, but without exposing themselves to any conflict with the giant warmaking industry and the banking lobbies that print the money for the wars.
When asked about AIDS and his good relationship with prominent homosexual leaders, Rick Warren made only the vaguest association between homosexuality and the AIDS curse, while asserting that he has many homosexual leaders as friends and allies, along with members of all other religions. He repeatedly asserts that Jesus requires him to love all of his brothers.
When prompted by the Pew people to stand on any issue, he fails to mention any little brothers and sisters in countries where our own government has, or is carrying out mass annihilation such as Iraq, or where it has supported Israel’s acts of annihilation in Gaza and Lebanon. It is as though Warren has wiped these countries off of his private map of the world.
Warren\’s silence on burning issues shows that he knows how to keep the favor of the Zionist fearing press. Pastor Rick has been to the Middle East and has the benefit of briefings that have surely informed him of the true conditions in Israel, Palestine, and Iraq, if he wants to know.
I can only conclude Warren\’s silence is to preserve his popularity with the Zionists, both Christian and Jews, as well as his acceptance by both powerful politicians and their Neo-Conservative war policy makers. Is Warren a “Christian Zionist” promoting Israel ahead of God?
The answer seems to be yes, but no. Rick Warren claims to be an “evangelical,” but he is not of the same stripe as radical Christian Zionists John Hagee and Rod Parsley, who will always find a way to make an issue of “God’s Chosen People” and their absolute requirement to support Israel’s every move. A Christian Zionist would not miss the opportunity of an interview with the Pew Forum to denounce every Muslim enemy, even to the point of advocating nuclear war upon Iran. Warrens does not do this.
Warren loves everyone he names. He simply avoids mention of certain people. He is promoting Israel\’s vital interests by ignoring its inhumane agenda, but he does not tie Israel to his religiosity. If Warren can\’t say anything nice about Israel he says nothing at all, and he pleads, falsely, that this was Jesus\’ way. Jesus never ignored evil, and he always condemned it.
It seems fair to observe that the “purpose” that drives Warren\’s “Purpose Driven Church and Purpose Driven Life” is worldly success in building churches. This is a far cry from building Christianity. He talks of the growth of Christianity in the third world and even in China in optimistic terms of carrying out Jesus’ mission. He does not explain what kind of Christianity is taught in these far off places, nor why Christianity is not growing in the USA and Europe.
We see evidence that Americans, under pressure, are realizing that Christian Zionism is not the same as following Christ. We want Rick Warren to say this! The religion of the late Jerry Falwell and current Zionist fanatic, Pat Robertson, as examples, is overtly political, and that politics is all tangled up with a certain set of beliefs about the State of Israel. Were it not so, this tiny country would be of little interest to Americans, and Israel’s US power base would be limited to a few million US Jews. Israel may be the most unapologetic and self-righteous serial murderer in memory.
American Jews were embarrassed a decade ago when the "Son of Sam" turned out to be a Jewish youth from New York. How much more embarrassing to be caught sponsoring their own serial killer state? Christian Zionists save US Jews from having to defend Israel\’s brutal acts and add their weight to the aggressive Jewish lobby that bullies the members of Congress into doing Israel\’s bidding. Warren does not cheer them on like John Hagee does, but he looks the other way, which may be a greater sin.
Christian Zionism is a disgusting abuse of Christ\’s words that will soon fail because it is false and hypocritical to its very core. We have witnessed encouraging evidence of this pending collapse and declining attendance at public events sponsored by John Hagee\’s Christians United For Israel (CUFI. The bellicose Hagee is on the skids, and I suspect Israel will soon replace him at the helm of CUFI with a polished and smooth someone…we hope it will not be Rick Warren.
Warren is more dangerous than Hagee because Rick Warren is believable. Shame on these false Christians, pretending to ignore “politics,” while using it to build giant tax-free empires from which to preach false doctrine. They keep the Warmakers in power with their silence. Yes, Rick Warren is every bit as much an enabler of serial wars as the loudest Christian Zionist.
Can followers of Christ find any hope in Pastor Rick Warren\’s enormous influence? I say yes, because there is evidence that he knows the truth. His loyalty to Israel is pragmatic and not theological. Conversely, there is little hope for radical Christian Zionists who must first deprogram themselves before they can change.
Warren can change if he chooses to do so, and is willing to risk losing some of the influence he is so proud of. Warren\’s pride in his influence is understandable, but is reminiscent of a wealthy young man who came to Jesus asking what he must do to find eternal life. Jesus, sensing this man\’s love of his wealth, told him he must give away all that he had, not to Jesus, but to the poor. In this New Testament story, the man went sadly away. No Christ follower can tell the truth without paying a price.
*The Pew Forum: The Future of Evangelicals, http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=221.
