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    Rick Warren Clarifies His Take on Gay Marriage

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    Here’s part of the transcript:

    “You know Larry, there was a story within a story that never got told in the first place. I am not an anti-gay or anti-marriage activist. Never have been, never will be. During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement. Never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop. 8 was going.

    “The week before the vote, somebody in my church said, ‘Pastor Rick, what do you think about this?’ And I sent a note to my own members that said, ‘I actually believe that marriage really should be defined - that that definition should be saved between a man and a woman.’ And then all of a suddenly out of it they made me, you know something that I really wasn’t. …

    “I wrote to all my gay friends, the leaders that I knew and actually apologized to them. That never got out. There were some things said - everybody should have 10% grace when they say public statements and I was asked a question that made it sound like I equated gay marriage with pedophilia or incest which I absolutely do not believe. And I actually announced that. All of the criticism came from people that didn’t know me. Not a single criticism came from any gay leader that knows me and knows that for years we’ve been working together on AIDS issues.”

    Any thoughts?




    Comments

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    1. stephen hunton on Wed, April 08, 2009

      It’s really interesting to see how out of context media (online or off) can take someone’s statements.  The transparency of things like Twitter, blogs, and other social media really scare me because you put yourself out there in the hopes of being honest/authentic/etc, yet someone takes a small blurb of a comment and creates hysteria from it.


      It’s really too bad.

    2. CS on Wed, April 08, 2009

      He tried to stay as completely neutral as possible on this topic in this interview because he knew what saying something one way or the other would do to his reputation and goals.  Here’s where I’m left guessing:


      “I wrote to all my gay friends, the leaders that I knew and actually apologized to them.”


      Did he mean that he apologized to the leaders for the way he was being blown up in the press for what he said, or was he apologizing for saying something that was true to his faith, yet inflammatory in the public eye?


      And I gotta ask: is it just me, or is he wearing too much makeup in this interview?  =)



      CS

    3. Kim on Wed, April 08, 2009

      This is not a negative comment, but to be honest, I fully expected him to say at the end of this that his agenda was “making Christ known” or “spreading the Gospel”...hmmmm.  Not that those other agendas aren’t good things - I was just surprised is all.  Anyone else?

    4. Justin Long on Wed, April 08, 2009

      The interesting thing here is he didn’t say he was “not anti-gay-marriage,” as the title on the video seems to assert. He clearly says he personally feels that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman. So once again, the video summary is incorrect?!

    5. Russell Mckinney on Wed, April 08, 2009

      When the most prominent pastor in America can’t flatly state on national t.v. in front of millions of people that he is against gay marriage, that’s a problem. One week before a vote as morally significant as Prop. 8 and a church member has to ask him where he stands on the issue? That’s another problem. Even then, Warren didn’t go to his pulpit and deliver his answer through a sermon. Instead, he sent out a note that said marriage should be defined as a man and a woman. How tepid is that? He says that he never went to a meeting, issued a statement, or made an endorsement. Doesn’t he understand that this isn’t something to be proud of? Then he follows that up by saying, “I’m totally oblivious to the Iowa court decision.” Enough already! For the record, I have defended Rick Warren in the past. I thought The Purpose Driven Church was the greatest book I had ever read on church growth. I also read The Purpose Driven Life and took the forty-day “journey.” But now he seems to be more concerned with protecting his image and relationships with gay leaders than with playing the part of the Bible-believing preacher. Jesus warned that salt can lose its flavor. When this happens it can no longer do the job it’s supposed to do. I think that Warren’s political correctness is threatening to rob him of the Holy Spirit fueled power that comes with speaking the word of God. Rick Warren knows the Bible and knows how to communicate it wonderfully. He lowers himself when he lets politics and personal relationships get in the way of him doing that. We don’t need any more celebrities playing politics. We’ve got Hollywood and the recording industry for that. What we need is for prominent pastors such as Rick Warren to use their platforms to keep God’s word front and center to a nation that has lost its way.

    6. CS on Wed, April 08, 2009

      Kim:


      “This is not a negative comment, but to be honest, I fully expected him to say at the end of this that his agenda was “making Christ known” or “spreading the Gospel”...hmmmm.  Not that those other agendas aren’t good things - I was just surprised is all.  Anyone else?”


      Some here would say that your question was almost a bait for a response from someone like me, but I’ll do the duty of replying.


      No, I am not surprised by Warren’s response.  He is fully committed to his, “PEACE Plan,” for creating changed lives in the world.  And, unfortunately, a straightforward mention of the Gospel or making Christ known as a part of this endeavor is lacking.  I have found that he generally does not speak more directly about these kinds of issues in public forums, or when he does, it’s done in a softball way.



      CS

    7. Derek Vreeland on Wed, April 08, 2009

      Yeah Justin is right.


      RW said that he is not an anti-gay, or an anti-gay marriage ACTIVIST. He is not jumping on the political activist bandwagon. It sounds as if he does not accept gay marriage as compatible with the Christian faith and still he is trying to extend the love of Christ to homosexual people. Right on Pastor Rick!


      And it looks like he dyed his goatee and eyebrows a bit too dark. Must be a California thing! http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif


      Derek

    8. Kim on Wed, April 08, 2009

      I have found that he generally does not speak more directly about these kinds of issues in public forums, or when he does, it’s done in a softball way.


      As I think more and more about it, I guess we could all agree that perhaps this particular public forum was not the time nor place for such comments?  I’m all for keeping the door of conversation open, rather than potentially slamming it shut by telling millions of people flat out that his real agenda is to convert them all to Christianity. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif

    9. Jim on Wed, April 08, 2009

      I can certainly understand why a minister of the Gospel would focus on apologizing to his gay friends for a note he wrote to his church friends re. Prop. 8, and the Rhowanda problem, rather than directly answering a question regarding a Biblcal and moral issue that is raging within the U.S.  For heavens sake, why would a minister want to minimize his influence by being direct, or confronting an issue of sin?  He might be taken out of context and be made to look like he disagrees with homosexual marriage, or he could be uninvited to the White House where he might have an influence on the pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, pro-embrionic stem-cell research agenda, pro-using American taxes to pay for abortions, pro-socialist approving President, who is looking for more Muslims to fill his Cabinet.  Wow.  A direct answer on Biblical morality might be disturbing to the audience.  If every minister took Rick’s “lets not offend anyone” approach, the Apostle Paul would have never been stoned, thrown out of cities, or crucified.  He could have been a Roman advisor, or at the very least have given the invocation at the Roman Emperor’s swearing in ceremony.  I’m growing more and more fond of John McArthur; at least he’s not afraid of being Biblical, or being direct.

    10. Kim on Wed, April 08, 2009

      All sarcasm duly noted, I didn’t get the impression RW wasn’t being direct.  He pretty clearly stated his position on gay marriage.  Personally, I believe there is just an appropriate time and place for everything.  Thinking back to what was happening just before Jesus’ death and resurrection, even He didn’t give the sort of “direct answers” while being grilled by Herod and Pilate, that many of us seem to want from RW…who is not Jesus.  I’m just sayin’…


      Did what Rick Warren said in that whopping 2-1/2 minutes have a negative impact on winning the lost for Christ?  I don’t think so, but that’s just my opinion.

    11. fishon on Wed, April 08, 2009

      He is not a fence sitter; he is a fence straddler.


      fishon

    12. J on Wed, April 08, 2009

      I think it’s funny that he’s getting ridiculed like this.  I don’t know many people that don’t know what the Bible says about homosexual activity, and I personally don’t think that they really need Rick to explain it; I know I don’t.  Every now and then I meet a Christian that doesn’t know the difference between being gay and lying with a man as one would a woman but other than that most that I know are well aware of what the Bible states so it kinda makes me think about Jesus when he was being questioned about the person caught in adultery.  Jesus didn’t give them a direct answer either.  He said, “let him without sin cast the first stone”.  I’m sure there were a few that thought, “OH NO, Jesus didn’t hate on her enough in front of everyone.  Now someone might think that adultery is okay, he’s a coward for not speaking up”.  BUT I think that a greater majority got the point.  It was the same with him healing people on the Sabbath.  They asked him is it right?  Instead of giving a direct answer he said, “if one of your sheep falls into a well on the Sabbath, which one of you wouldn’t get it out?” and I’m sure there again someone could argue that he didn’t validate the law enough but in the end he knew that they knew the law, they didn’t need him to tell them about it.  Jesus knew that he didn’t need to tell them the law, they knew it already.  They needed to understand something else…

    13. Ricky on Wed, April 08, 2009

      Russell McKinney said:


      “Enough already! For the record, I have defended Rick Warren in the past. I thought The Purpose Driven Church was the greatest book I had ever read on church growth. I also read The Purpose Driven Life and took the forty-day ‘journey.’  But now he seems to be more concerned with protecting his image and relationships with gay leaders than with playing the part of the Bible-believing preacher.”


      Thank God!!!  Finally, people are beginning to see that this guy is nothing more than an opportunist who long ago traded any shred of character that is developed on the straight and narrow path for the glitz and glamor of celebrity that is found all too often on the broad and wide path that leads to destruction.


      Now, if a “pastor” of his so-called “magnitude” is wishy-washy, what does that say to his admiring fans?


      Warren is a fraud.

    14. Kim on Wed, April 08, 2009

      Jesus knew that he didn’t need to tell them the law, they knew it already.  They needed to understand something else…


      I see some pretty obvious parallels here…surely I can’t be the only one?  As for me, I’d like a chance to introduce some folks to Jesus before they have to stand in front of Him, if you get my meaning.  Shoving the law down people’s throats, people who don’t even understand Who Jesus is - well, no one that I know of (except maybe Josh McDowell and CS Lewis) were ever argued into the Kingdom. 


      What would have been accomplished if Warren stood there in front of the camera and said “Gay marriage is wrong and the bible says you will burn in hell if you don’t repent and accept Christ as your Savior!   Oh, ya, and don’t forget, Jesus loves you.”


      Some of you here, who are already saved and bible savvy enough to know if he’s theologically correct, would have been satisfied with his performance had he done that.  But what might it have cost in souls?


      Sheesh, some of you guys are so judgmental.  Homosexuals don’t go anywhere near the Christian church because they think we despise them…and they’re right.

    15. Dave Z on Wed, April 08, 2009

      To J - GREAT post

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