Biblical Recorder - Rick Warren simply prays

21. January 2009 by Norman Jameson, BR Editor

Rick Warren simply prayed on Tuesday.

After much speculation about why an outspoken opponent of homosexual marriage would be asked to lead prayer for the inauguration of a new president who favors civil unions for such couples, Warren simply prayed.

After National Public Radio news people wondered on the air that morning if Warren would invoke Jesus’ name in his prayer, thus making it “distinctively Christian,” or simply keep to an “include all” prayer of “civil religion,” he invoked Jesus’ name – in several languages.

After weeks of his supporters and detractors wondering what message he might try to send from the international pulpit that the inauguration platform becomes for an hour, Warren simply prayed.

The four inches of snow that fell in Raleigh that morning kept me working from home, where I have access to a television so I could watch the proceedings. It was a phenomenal scene as more people crowded the national mall than the total of the previous three largest marches on Washington. I was moved to see the emotion of elderly people whose great-grandparents or even grandparents were slaves who were now seeing a black man elected president.

The Tuskegee airmen, who were trained separately in a segregated military, cried openly to see a black commander in chief take the oath of office. Both black and white Americans who had participated in the Martin Luther King march on Washington in 1963 saw a black man become president in the same city. Progress toward racial equality is slow in this country, but who can now deny the evidence of progress?

Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., a church with more members than the population of 29 counties in North Carolina, invoked “Almighty God, our Father,” in his opening line, and said that “Everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone.”

“History is your story,” Warren prayed. He said God is “one,” that God is “compassionate and merciful” and “loving to everyone you have made.”

Warren said America rejoiced not just in a “peaceful transfer of power,” but also that America is celebrating a “hinge point of history with our first African American president.”

“We are so grateful to live in this land of unequaled possibilities, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.”

Warren said Martin Luther King and “a great cloud of witnesses” must be “shouting in heaven.”

Warren asked God to bless the new president with wisdom, courage and compassion. He asked God to “bless and protect him” and his family, as well as Vice President Biden, the cabinet members and “every one of our freely elected leaders.”

“Help us remember we are Americans,” Warren said, “united not by race, religion or blood but by our commitment to freedom and justice for all.”

Warren asked God to “forgive us” for a series of shortcomings: “when we focus on ourselves…when we fight each other…when we think our prosperity is ours alone” and when we forget to care for our fellow man, and for the earth.

He asked God for a “new birth of clarity in our aims, humility in our approaches, civility in our attitudes.”

“Even as we differ,” he said, “help us to share, serve and seek the common good of fall. May all people of good will today join together, to work for a more just, healthy and prosperous nation and peaceful planet.”

Warren committed “our new president and his wife Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.”

Warren then said, “I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray…” and then led in the Lord’s Prayer.

While there was no audible sound of the estimated two million people watching in person reciting aloud, television cameras caught the lips of some moving in unified prayer.

Warren obviously recognized that his being asked to lead in prayer at that moment was a strong, symbolic nod to the evangelical wing of Christianity. And he humbly understood as well that no matter the wise and studied words of himself, or anyone else who would lead in prayer, no words would be more appropriate or powerful than the words Jesus Himself taught us to pray.

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Comments (16) |

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Jack Carver

In keeping with the spirit and integrity of Rick Warren's prayer, I offer a simple 'thank you' for your observations.

posted Wednesday, January 21, 2009 10:57 AM | Report Abuse

Gary Bryson

Warren is a joke, a hypocrite, and a heretic. His "prayer" was a joke too.

posted Thursday, January 22, 2009 12:50 PM | Report Abuse

Leah Mainard

I was also moved by the prayer Pastor Rick Warren prayed. While I may not have voted for Obama or hold his same views, I do pray for him and his family to do and be what God wills. I wish him well and pray that he (as well as all americans)will keep his/our focus on God alone during these hard times. I believe Pastor Rick Warren's words were well-thought-out and diligently prayed through and were given to him by God to speak to our nation! I am glad he was not ashamed to pray in the name of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ!

posted Thursday, January 22, 2009 9:44 PM | Report Abuse

Norman

Thank you for a thoughtful contribution Leah. Even in youth group circles, or deacon's meetings, or offertories before the church there is a temptation to preach to those around you, in the context of praying. One of the things to remember and to appreciate about our nation is that prayer in such public settings is expected and appreciated. It says our people as a whole retain a recognition of a higher power and that our nation's well being ultimately is in God's hands. Our continuing goal is to help our neighbors understand that God has provided a bridge to himself through Jesus Christ.

posted Friday, January 23, 2009 9:46 AM | Report Abuse

Chris Byrne

Warren did a commendable job. He is wrong on global warming and thus, how we should act as guardians of the planet. I am also not sure how concerned Dr. King and the rest of heaven is with what happens on earth, especially in the cicvil rights arena. Other than that, to criticize Rick Warren is generally a reaction of jealousy and envy. God has used his pen to reach millions with the Gospel and his philosophy has impacted the church in a positive way to refocus our energy on reaching the lost, just as Christ did (Luke 19:10).

posted Saturday, January 24, 2009 8:19 AM | Report Abuse

Warren should have prayed something like this: God, please forgive me for being a back-scratching, ear-tickliing compromiser. Please frustrate the evil plans of this wicked obama to further debase this once great country by promoting abortion and enabling sodomites. Help me to warn America that her sins and idolatry are a stench in your nostrils and your holiness demands that you judge her. Help me to tell everyone that while the government may not have the authority to tell them what religion to choose, You certainly do, and if they don't repent of their sins and turn to Christ they will be damned to everlasting punishment. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

posted Saturday, January 24, 2009 8:56 AM | Report Abuse

Tim Marsh

Gary,

Is your prayer the prayer that Jesus would have prayed?

Do you really believe that God singles out these "sinners" that you have again singled out?

Furthermore you seem to be more worried about the stability of America than the furtherance of God's kingdom. (Luke 12:22-34)

I really think that your "prayer" here is divisive, mean-spirited, and ignorant of the call of the gospel to the nations. You have missed the point of the Bible, particularly the teaching of Jesus and Paul, along with others who share your convictions.

Tim

posted Saturday, January 24, 2009 9:57 AM | Report Abuse

Marsh,

1. Yes, but probably with more eloquence.

2. No, God condemns all sinners. But those are two sins being promoted by the government.

3. They were at a government function. The prayer should have been appropriate to the situation.

4. Yes, the prayer is divisive. The Gospel is divisive. Belief is divisive. And no, I have not missed the point of the Bible, but I think you may have.

posted Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:33 AM | Report Abuse

No, Gary, God saves sinners, including you and me. That is the point of the Bible, John 3:16-18 in particular. God condemns sin, all sin, including yours and mine.

That is why salvation is God's gift of grace, because we and these that you have called out in your prayer, are no more deserving than the other. All need grace.

Again I am neither here nor there regarding Warren's decision to pray, but by closing with the Lord's prayer, he said everything that needed to be said.

The Bible is about the God's Reign, and those who "seek" it will never be disappointed, come what may on earth, this country, this state and even our bodies. Hopefully, others who do not share the convictions of the gospel will join us in the meantime, leaving a life of sin and embracing the God who Jesus revealed in his very being. That God is a God who ate with "sinners," tax-collectors, prostitutes, etc. and condemned the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who sought to justify themselves in the details of the law while missing the intent of it all together. Those were the recipients of the Hell, fire and brimstone messages of Jesus.

Interesting, the irony of grace?

Tim

posted Saturday, January 24, 2009 8:20 PM | Report Abuse

NCBaptistPastor

I wondered how non-Christians felt being led in the Lord's Prayer at a civic event

posted Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:00 AM | Report Abuse

NCBaptistPastor,

Good point. I am neither here nor there regarding the politics of the prayer, Warren's decision to accept, and Obama's decision to invite Warren. Gary's issue is what should have been prayed. We had an earlier conversation regarding what it means to be blessed and the attitude toward those not only that we think we disagree with, but whose lifestyles we believe to be sinful.

Sometimes, I think that the best thing at a civic meeting for a Christian is to really give the matter prayer before hand, in one's closet, in one's own heart, that the Spirit of Christ would be evident in one's own participation in the event, and that the outcome of the event, including decisions made, would further God's kingdom purpose in the world. I think if a Christian must offer a politically correct prayer to a generic "God" then it might be best to decline the invitation and practice the discipline of prayer in a manner consistent with Jesus' teachings. Jesus did not teach that prayer was a means of "standing up" for Him.

This may be politically incorrect, but Scripture is specific regarding the identity of the Divine to whom Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

Your thought is worth pondering, and, as a young pastor, I am always open to ideas about such Church-civic matters.

Tim

posted Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:39 AM | Report Abuse

rob

Warren's prayer was ecumenical. 1) ...Isreal, the Lord "your" God not "our." 2) "the compassionate and merciful" this is a phrase that describes Allah at the beginning of 113 chapters of the 114 in the Qur'an. 3) "In the name of the one who changed "my life." so Warren is saying that, "Jesus may not be your God and that is ok, but He is mine and we can get a long and all go to Heaven." Warren also took Scripture out of context.
Why are we so picky? Well, for one Christianity does not teach universalism. Also, if we continue in this direction of compromise then some of us will face prison. So we need to prepare our folks, take stands and call folks like Warren out for his compromise.

posted Sunday, January 25, 2009 2:46 PM | Report Abuse

Tony

While Warren prayed in a manner appeased many evangelicals, he did so in a manner that extracted the fangs of an objective christianity from the jaws of the Gospel. "praying in the name of the one who changed my life" is one way of subjectivising the person and work of christ.

It is akin to Joel Osteen's interviews on Larry King live. When asked by King if sincere and good muslims would go to heaven or hell, Osteen replied by saying that he "can't judge the hearts of other people."

In both cases, the person of christ and the Gospel were subjectivised. I beleive Warren's intentions were good but when he referred to Jesus as the one who changed his life, he stated something that any religious sect could state.

Scientism changes lives. Oprah Winfrey's new age spirituality "changes" lives.

The point is that Warren failed, as do many in the public eye to objectivise Christ. He is te only one in whom real change is possible.

Tony

posted Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:52 PM | Report Abuse

I apologize for not quoting Duet. 6:4 correctly in point 1.

posted Monday, January 26, 2009 10:27 PM | Report Abuse

Warren NEVER said there was any path to heaven but Jesus. The fact that he didn't condemn other faiths does not mean he condoned them. Sounds like a few of you would have rather had Fred Phelps to pray.

posted Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:44 PM | Report Abuse

*

posted Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:44 PM | Report Abuse

Rick Warren simply prays

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