The Salty Peanut Gallery

Rick Warren will be hosting a joint appearance by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain August 16 at Saddleback Church in a two-hour forum described by the church as a “non-debate.” Warren himself will be posing questions to each of the candidates. Rather than addressing their political positions, his purpose will be to focus on how the candidates make their leadership decisions.

Coinciding with this presidential forum, Warren will be assembling an interfaith leadership council made up of approximately 30 Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders to discuss cooperation in projects for the common good of all Americans. The P.E.A.C.E. Coalition is part of “a 50-year strategy to mobilize millions of local churches around the world” to address what Warren calls five Global Giants: spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease and illiteracy. Through venues like the presidential forum and the P.E.A.C.E. Coalition, Warren hopes to foster interfaith cooperation “on things that involve all humans regardless of what we believe.” Quoting from Matthew 10 Warren explains:

“When Jesus sent his disciples out he said, ‘When you go into a village, you find the man of peace,’ and he said, ‘If he accepts, and he’s open, and he’s receptive and he’s willing to work with you, you start your ministry there. If you don’t find the man of peace, you dust the dust off your shoes and you go to the next village cause you can always find someone that’s willing to work with you.’”

But Christian broadcaster and author Tom McMahon takes issue with this theology. He contends Warren’s belief that the church must take the lead in solving the world’s “Giant” problems cannot be reconciled with the scripture. McMahon explains:

“You see, it’s true the world has all kinds of problems, but he’s working on the symptoms and avoiding the root cause, which is the sin nature of humanity. So how can you work with all kinds of people called ‘people of faith,’ but it’s not biblical faith?” McMahon’s point is that the message of the gospel is what changes hearts and that Warren is compromising that message by working with people who clearly reject the gospel.

One of the things that has always concerned me about Rick Warren is his tendency to come up with a concept and then go find scripture to back it up. This usually involves finding a text or translation that best says what he wants it to say and then jerking it out of context. A great example of this is his Matthew 10 proof text.

The first thing we have to understand about this passage is that Jesus was not sending the disciples out to preach a social gospel. He was sending them out to preach the gospel of the Kingdom. “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand (v.7).’” There is no mention here of any Global Giants. There is no social agenda whatsoever. Furthermore, the “man of peace,” which is actually found in a parallel passage (Luke 10:6) refers to one who is “worthy”, describing someone who would be willing to provide accommodations for the disciples, one whose moral character is such that it would not harm their testimony. This is a very different meaning then the one Warren asserts.

I would agree with McMahon’s point that the root cause of the world’s problems is the sin nature of man. Treating the symptoms may make you feel better, but it doesn’t address the heart of thre problem. Only the message of salvation has the power to transform lives and effectively impact the problems of the world.