Jesus was criticized for hanging out with “sinners”. Anytime we reach behond the comfortable bounds of the “righteous”, we will be too.
PS. The Video clip says, “no longer available.

It looked as though Rick wasn’t ready for the question. I’m almost certain from the looks of it that he was caught totally off guard. What’s interesting to me is that the question was asked. This is a question that people are asking, and that the church is ignoring.

The Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus, saying, “the law of Moses says we must stone her, what do you say?” And Jesus, pointedly says, “let you who is without sin cast the first stone.”

It’s crazy to me that as a church we are ignoring these vital questions that people are asking. We must start answering their questions if we ever want to be effective in reaching the lost and hurting people in our community.

Admittedly easy to throw stones at someone who we have the opportunity to analyze from the comfort of our desks.  Plus, the pressure of “trying to be funny” adds a whole other twist to the conversation.  In that respect, I felt that Pastor Warren held his own.

What I fault him for—and this may be more of a criticism of Warren’s ministry at large and less of his Colbert appearance—is not emphasizing Jesus Christ as exclusive, factual and supreme. 

It seems very incomplete to say that God wants us to be what we were created to be.  That’s true ... but what is it that we were created to be?  That’s got to be more than simply being creative, funny, smart, a doofus or whatever personality/character traits we’ve been granted by God. 

The Bible makes it clear that we were created to love and worship God and, because of sin, that cannot happen.  That is, until God spoke in the most perfect and glorious manner possible (Hebrews 1:2) to mankind through the image of His glory—Jesus Christ and until that Christ was a propitiation/atonement/sacrifice for my sins and until I accept that truth as the ultimate reality. 

But then, (stepping off the soapbox ...) it was the Colbert show, and they were pimping a book because Colbert couldn’t get guests due to the writer’s strike ...

You guys don’t really know Rick Warren or his ministry at all.  I’ve attended his church for 2 years, and he preaches the gospel without watering it down at all. He preaches the truth.  People can criticize his methods, but you can’t deny that between his church, books, and TV appearances, hundreds of thousands have come to know Christ, or at least hear the message.

Stephen Colbert is a comedian, and his entire show is meant to be a farce.  Rick is a funny guy and played along.  Stuffy, judgmental Christians/Pharisees always judge Rick and other pastors who meet the world where they are and engage in dialogue with them.

When was the last time YOU were asked to be on national television, and were able to use that time to talk about Jesus.

apparantly my keyboard is still high after the Giants win in the Super Bowl. change, “thing” to think and “gosepel” to gospel..

I believe that time for Rick was really short.  You can only say so much within about 5 minutes.  We can all be arm chair quarterbacks on this.  He let the question of stoning gays slide by without any response… He also redefined fundamentalist.  A better approach would be to say, “I believe in the fundamentals of the faith such as salvation by grace through Jesus Christ, etc...” Other than that, I believe he did a commendable interview.

“Stuffy, judgmental Christians/Pharisees always judge Rick and other pastors who meet the world where they are and engage in dialogue with them”

Exactly......

I dont think Rick cares less about your critical comments, he is too busy doing what Jesus asked him to do, and does not have the time to be ‘keyboard warriors’ like some others.

oliver, who put the burr under your saddle

Regular Colbert viewers already know that Colbert was raised Catholic.  Without getting into people’s hangups about Catholicism, he’s rattled off the Nicene Creed on his show more than once, and argued against Richard Dawkins when he was a guest (one can even spot moments when he breaks character during that one).  So Rick looking “surprised” at Colbert’s knowledge isn’t a surprise for his regular audience. 

He’s also had Tony Campolo on before, whom he let speak at some length about how Jesus isn’t a part of any political party.

So while many Christians are getting all uppity about Warren’s appearance with a “sinner,” more diehard Colbert watchers probably aren’t that surprised because 1) he’s shown some semblance of a committed faith before, even if it isn’t wrapped in the traditional “acceptable” package, and 2) he’s had Christian figureheads on before.

Oliver -

Perhaps Rick is an idiot.  I dunno.  Maybe that makes me one too.  But I’d much rather be an idiot than a jerk.  Is there really a need to so blatantly slam the guy like that here?  At least I’ve never seen malice and flat out meanness come out of his mouth.

So between him and you, I’m guessing he’s a better reflection of Jesus.

I live only a couple of miles from Saddleback Church, and I was always scared of going to that church.  Why?  Because it really look like a money grubbing church like some of the others I have seen out there.

So I went, and gave it a chance…

I don’t know if you know much about this pastor, but he is one of the most giving, helping, and selfless people I have ever met.  If you only knew how much time and effort is given to the community and the world (Rwanda comes to mind) from him and those that attend the church, you wouldn’t be so quick to judge.  No, I have not read his book, but I plan to.  I attend the services at Saddleback every week as well.

I don’t think he could have done better, why?  Because a “comedy” show picks and chooses what they want to show.  The interview may have been 20 minutes long, but they have cut and played what they wanted to show.  Maybe he did talk about all the things you wish he would have, but even if he did you wouldn’t have seen it because it ended up on the cutting room floor (so to speak).

I went to several protestant churches in my area before I found this one.  No one really taught how and why to reach out to others to help as much as this one, “Love on your fellow man”.  I regret thinking that Saddleback Church was bad place to go just because it was a big church, I missed out on a lot of good services.

BTW, don’t feed the trolls (*ahem*Oliver*ahem*)

My Pastor has been preaching a series on the basics of Christianity and the greatest commandment--to love God and to love people.  That we are to be identified by how we love each other and love a lost and dying world.  As I read these comments, I am struck by the thought of why would the world want any part of what we have to say?  They have plenty of people to call them names, criticize them, etc.  If we can’t even be loving and respectful as Brothers and Sisters in Christ, even when we disagree, what do we have to offer the world that doesn’t know our God of love?  We can agree or disagree about Rick Warren and his appearance on this show, but we do not have the right to name call and be unloving to each other if we call ourselves Christ Followers.  I don’t think it is what Jesus would have done, even if he disagreed with Rick!