No other Christian minister has been in the news recently as much as Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of the best-selling books, “The Purpose Driven Life” and “The Purpose Driven Church.” Most news reports about him have been negative, but none of them has been deserved.
When then-President-elect Obama tapped Warren to offer the invocation at his inaugural, some segments of the American public went ballistic. Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a prominent gay group, announced his organization would boycott inaugural ceremonies because of Warren’s support for Proposition 8.
That ballot issue, which California voters approved, defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Interestingly Proposition 8 received almost the same percentage of popular votes in California as President Obama received nationally. Final tabulations placed the president’s percentage at 52.33 percent. Proposition 8 also received slightly more than 52 percent of the popular vote.
Pundits say Obama has a “mandate” for his policies but the definition of marriage “just squeaked by,” yet both won by almost identical percentages. There is something wrong with that interpretation.
People who question Warren’s invitation also overlook the opening to the evangelical community he offered Obama during the campaign. Much to the chagrin of many evangelical leaders, Warren offered both major candidates a public forum to discuss issues of importance to conservative-leaning Christians.
Obama made his first major statement about faith and politics in that forum. His answers were not always as acceptable to evangelicals as those of his opponent, John McCain, but the opportunity to speak to them helped Obama win the presidency. In 2004, Democratic candidate John Kerry received only 16 percent of evangelical votes. Obama doubled that, receiving 32 percent.
Had evangelical voters not been more receptive to Obama, the results of the election might have been different.
During the days prior to the inaugural ceremonies, Warren was described in only one way: opposed to gay “marriage.” Nothing was said about his efforts in Africa and other parts of the world to fight poverty, disease and illiteracy even though these have been featured on national television. Nothing was said about his efforts to develop local leadership and use local churches to minister to human needs because “every village has a church.”
National media reports were unfair to this Baptist minister in their one-sided description. And all of this was before the prayer was ever prayed. Once Warren concluded his prayer, the criticism continued.
Warren’s prayer was inclusive. It used the heart of the Jewish faith, called the Shema, the confession “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). It included the description of God used by Muslims, “You are the compassionate and merciful One.” It referenced the nation’s struggle with civil rights, mentioning Martin Luther King.
The prayer touched on great American themes of freedom, justice, forgiveness, responsibility, humility and protection for the president and his family.
Then Warren did the unforgivable, according to many commentators. He prayed “in Jesus’ name.” It made no difference that he pronounced the name of Jesus in Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish as well as English. It also didn’t matter that he even prefaced the name of Jesus with the personal reference to “the One who changed my life.”
Warren was verbally pounded for daring to introduce the name of Jesus in a public setting. His action was called divisive, inconsiderate and inappropriate. One commentator on National Public Radio asked if Warren’s action could lead to invocations no longer being a part of inaugural ceremonies.
What does one expect when a Christian minister is asked to pray? Does one expect a Muslim to publicly pray in a way other than the way of a Muslim? Does one expect a Jew, a Hindu or one of any other faith to pray publicly in a way inconsistent with that individual’s faith tradition?
In many places in Scripture, Jesus taught to pray “in my name” (John 14:13, 14; 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26). It is only reasonable to expect the one offering a prayer to offer it in keeping with his or her faith tradition. The last time Evangelist Billy Graham offered an inaugural invocation in 1997, he prayed “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” That is no less pointed than “in the name of Jesus,” yet there was no outcry against Graham.
The question about the propriety of an invocation is uncalled for. On Jan. 15, the U.S. district courts ruled inaugural invocations were legal, falling in the same category as prayers offered in legislative sessions. Still commentators raise questions about their use.
One can only wonder if there is a public hostility toward Christians being expressed in all of this flap. Historically Baptists have stood on the side of those opposing the use of government power to force people to engage in religious activities. Baptists know one comes to God voluntarily or does not come at all. One cannot be forced to be a Christian.
But it is equally wrong to use the power of government to prevent people from engaging in religious activities. In this nation, government cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion. The First Amendment to the Constitution guaranties that. Some atheists demonstrated against Warren during the inauguration with signs calling for “diversity.” Evidently diversity to them means no reference to God. If that is the case, then it is not diversity they seek but compliance with their narrow wishes.
Polls still show that nine out of 10 Americans believe in God, eight out of 10 adults identify with a particular faith tradition and three out of four Americans consider themselves Christian.
Yet some still want to banish God from the public square. Such efforts must be resisted.
Evangelical Christians are indebted to Warren for his efforts to keep faith in the public square, his gracious demeanor in the face of harsh criticism and his faithful testimony to the truth that access to God the Father is through Jesus the Son.
To watch Rick Warren’s invocation, visit blog.Christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/rick_warrens_in.html.
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