Very interesting feauture on Nightline this week, featuring Rick Warren and Joel Hunter. About 8 minutes long, but worth viewing. Raises some very interesting questions. I think what needs to be communicatd is that these issues are not an "either/or" but a "both/and"--Christians should be concerned with issues of morality and social justice, environment, etc. Is one more important than the other? Love to hear your thoughts.
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I have been following this story with interest as well. Tricky issue. Overall, I'd have to come down on the side of supporting Rick Warren's decision to invite Obama and his broader vision of inclusion. Jesus and Paul certainly had no problem hanging out with sinners, and also taught to hate the sin and love the sinner...
ReplyDeleteAs for Obama, on the one hand, he is a legitimate voice for the AIDS crisis in Africa, as his father was an African immigrant and he has made several trips back to his father's village on Senate-sponsored survey missions on the AIDS crisis.
As for him personally, he scares me. Seems politics in America have come down to swinging the middle one way or the other. These folks don't know what they believe in, and seem to mostly be incfluenced by personality. The most recent example of this would be Bill Clinton, but Ronald Reagan is another good example. Both Bushes lacked any real leadership charisma, and therefore the middle can be manipulated by the media to turn their backs on the votes they cast just a few months before. Obama seems to be emerging as the only potential candidate for 2008 with any real charisma, and the fear is that the middle will flock to him not knowing (or caring) what he really stands for, and hence swing the whole government to the left.
I understand the concerns that were expressed in the video about legitimizing him by giving him the pulpit to speak, but God is in control and He will use that for His ultimate purposes anyway. Who knows, maybe Obama goes up there and steps in it so badly that the backlash hurts him? ...or maybe God's higher priority is actually the AIDS crisis over American politics right now? Warren was right scriptually to invite him and let God handle the rest...
Mark
Paul says we are to be all things to all people so that we may win them to Christ. This means listening and hanging out w/ sinners, etc. Being examples and reaching out to them is one thing but giving them to pulpit to speak is another. It's giving them the authority and if everyone's smart enough, then that would be fine but we know people of all maturity attends the church and can be easily persuaded.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Rick Warren for reaching out but say Obama was able to persuade people that his views are not that bad, then Rick Warren will have to answer for that. A better way is to invite someone who stands morally in other areas and wants to fight for AIDS as well. Rick can invite Obama to dinner and attend his church is a good example of loving others but not to give him the pulpit tho unless Obama becomes a Christian and can say that all other things previously believed were wrong.
Let's take another example, Hezbollah. They are bent on destroying Israel but yet they are for taking care of the poor. Should we invite them to our churches to let them say how to ease the sufferings of the poor? This is a bit extreme comparison but the only thing that Obama has in line w/ Scriptures publicly is compassion while promoting abortion and homosexuality.