Rick Warren regrets video supporting biblical marriage | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff - EN

Rick Warren Expresses Regret Over Making Video Supporting Biblical Marriage; Family Group Concerned [Excerpts]

A pro-family group is calling into question recent statements made by Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church in California, surrounding his regret over creating a video in 2008 that expressed his support for Biblical marriage.

During an interview with Marc Lamont Hill of the Huffington Post, Warren sought to clarify matters pertaining to his creation of a video years ago in which he stated that those who follow the Bible should support California’s Proposition 8 ballot initiative. He had been accused of lying months after releasing the video for stating during an interview on Larry King Live that “[d]uring the whole Proposition 8 thing, I … never once issued a statement, never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop. 8 was going.”

“People say that I campaigned for Proposition 8. The meaning of the word ‘campaign’ means two different things,” Warren told Hill. “To me, that means that you go out and you speak at rallies, you do advertisements for it and stuff like that.”

“I never made a single statement on Prop. 8 until the week before, and in my own church, some members said, ‘Where do we stand on this?’” he explained. “[So], I released a video to my members. It was posted all over like it was an advertisement.”

Hill commented that Warren is a well-known pastor, and that he should be aware that any statement he makes will likely be distributed to the public.

“It might be disingenuous to say that you have a church of 20,000 people, and you have a book that 32 million people have read and 60 million have accessed,” Hill said. “To say that ‘I was just giving a message.’ ”

“You know what? You’re exactly right, Marc, and I learned a lesson from that,” Warren replied. “And I learned that anything I say now privately is now public. And I actually learned from that mistake of going, ‘Oh, wait a minute, everybody took that like I was pontificating to the whole world.’”Hill then asked Warren if he could do it all over again, if he would still have created the video.

“I would not have,” Warren replied. “I would not have made that statement. I wanted to talk to my own people as a duty, because as a shepherd, I’m responsible for those who put themselves under my care. I’m not responsible for everybody else. I am responsible for the people who choose to be under my care and ask me a question.”

“So, I’ve had to look at how do I communicate to my people in a way that doesn’t look like I’m pontificating to the entire world,” he added.

http://christiannews.net/2012/12/04/rick-warrens-regret-over-making-video-supporting-biblical-marriage-questioned-by-family-group/

[TBC: Regardless of being perceived as "pontificating," the Church has been given a message that is to be proclaimed to the entire world (Matthew:28:19-20). People need to be told the truth, not made to feel "inclusive."]