Is Rick Warren Sold Out?

With a hat tip to Stephen Wilkinson, I present Jan Markell’s open letter to Rick Warren.

Pastor Warren, you pleaded with 8,000 Muslim listeners on Saturday, July 4, to work together to solve the world’s greatest problems by cooperating in a series of interfaith projects. You said, “Muslims and Christians can work together for the common good without compromising my convictions or your convictions.”

Pastor Warren, you needed to compromise the convictions of the Muslims in attendance. To just say that “My deepest faith is in Jesus Christ” was not enough to a thoroughly lost crowd. The hour is too late to withhold a gospel message without which they will face a Christless eternity, and you will be held accountable. The “world’s greatest problems” will always be with us and the Bible says so in Matthew 26:11. Sin is at the root of them. I have to conclude you are more interested in ecumenical unity and solving AIDS, poverty, and other social issues. Last Saturday you were given a golden opportunity that 99.9% of American Christians could never get.

You said you were not interested in interfaith dialogue, but you seize every opportunity to talk to all religions and you always leave out the gospel. You even address Jewish groups but you tell them how to grow a mega-synagogue like your own church, Saddleback. In this “can’t we all get along?” generation, you usually leave out the only good news left: There is salvation in Christ and Christ alone (Acts 4:12), and the hour is late, so make a conscious decision to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You told ISNA, “Talk is cheap but love is something we do together. We must do something to model what it is to live in peace, to live in harmony.” Pastor Warren, you know your Bible better than that, don’t you? The Bible says there will never be peace and harmony in this world until the Messiah rules from His theocratic kingdom. The U.N. spews the same kind of pagan “peace concepts.” Aren’t you above that? You would likely never suggest your Muslim audience pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm122:6), yet you push for foolish and hopeless ecumenical peace!

In your speech you included three suggestions: 1) Create a coalition to end religious stereotyping; 2) Work together to restore civility to American society; 3) Take a common stand against attacks on freedom of religion and freedom of speech. There is civility in American society so why are you even suggesting there might not be? But you won’t find much of it in Islamic society. Go see the film, The Stoning of Soraya M, the true story of what happens to a lot of innocent Muslim women. It’s a lot more gross and bloody than any horror flick and this is reality, not fiction. The Muslims you addressed know all about this procedure. ISNA wants Sharia Law everywhere on earth! You missed a golden opportunity to challenge them to stand up to Islamic governments that perpetrate such atrocities.

Pastor Warren, you then went on to say the media was clueless as to what Christians and Muslims believe. They know very well what both faiths believe. They believe Christians are the new Taliban, and they press for hate crime legislation that will protect Muslims. You then said, “It’s the truth that sets us free.” Why did you take John 8:32 out of context? You twisted the very words of Jesus when you should have been proclaiming the words of Jesus.

The ISNA stated how impressed they were with your charitable work. What charitable work have they done? As terror expert Steve Emerson says, “ISNA has has been an umbrella and a promoter of groups that have been involved in terrorism.” Here again you could have challenged them, but then you would not be invited back had you done so.

Joseph Farah says, “Suffice it to say the ISNA is no friend of Christianity or America.” Yet in 2007, Rick Warren was one of many “evangelical leaders” who signed a document begging forgiveness from Muslims for all the evil deeds perpetrated against them by Christians. What evil deeds have true Christians committed against Muslims? Now, Pastor Warren, you’ve gone beyond pandering and are sounding like a fool along with all others who signed that document.

Even the secular Washington Times noted, “Mr. Warren was sparse in his mentions of Jesus and God.” But since works and good deeds were stressed, this reinforced the belief of ISNA members that works will help them get to Heaven.

Pastor Warren, you stated you were committed to “the common good” and that you are commanded to “respect everybody.” You don’t want to deal with the verse that says we are to preach to gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). It seems to me that you are more interested in marching hand-in-hand with other faiths down the winding road to the coming one-world religion.

There is literally a mini-revival going on with Muslims turning to faith in Jesus, particularly out of the U.S. It would have been nice, Pastor Warren, if you would have thought of that and tapped into it. We don’t expect you to give altar calls at such meetings as this one. We do expect you to lift high the Name of the Prince of Peace who is coming again and who offers eternal life to all who ask, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30, Acts 16:31). Many just wanted some variation of that quoted among your many ecumenical statements and how to solve the world’s problems — impossible without God’s help…

Jan’s edition with original mark-up