Bryan Fischer
Warren apologizes for support of California's marriage amendment
By Bryan Fischer
Nothing is plainer in the Scripture than that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. In the second chapter of the Bible, we find, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).
The New Testament affirms this original standard: "Each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2). Not much mysterious or ambiguous there.
The minimum the Christian church should expect from its spiritual leaders is clear and unapologetic adherence to this biblical standard, especially from pastors who tell us that the Bible is the "rule of faith and practice."
So if you want to understand why we are losing the culture war, you probably don't need to look any further than Rick Warren, he of the famously seeker-friendly model of tepid Christianity. On "Larry King Live" last night, Warren apologized for his support of Proposition 8, saying his supportive comments were only made at the very last minute and only in response to a question from a parishioner.
Proposition 8, as you recall, established the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage in the California constitution. If there was ever a constitutional amendment that should have the unhesitating support of any spiritual leader who believes in the Bible and the sanctity of marriage, this was it.
But Warren did everything in his power last night to distance himself from Prop 8. Said he, "During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never — never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going."
He thus takes pride in being completely AWOL while this huge battle over the spiritual and moral fabric of our nation was taking place in his own state.
After answering a question from a parishioner a week or so before the election, in which he supported the biblical definition of marriage, the public furor began. Warren's response? He immediately apologized. "I wrote to all my gay friends — the leaders that I knew — and actually apologized to them." Regretfully, Warren says, "That never got out."
Eventually King asked him, "Do you, therefore criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage?"
Warren: "Yes. I'm — I'm totally oblivious to — to what — that's not even my agenda."
Martin Luther once famously said, "If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved."
Breaking news today is that the legislature of Vermont has overridden its governor's veto of a bill which will legalize same-sex marriage. This is a development that cannot be underestimated, since it represents the first time homosexual marriage has been legalized through the legislative process rather than through judicial tyranny.
Where are the voices of truth in the pulpits of America to stand against this rapid descent into the darkness? Where?
God help us, and God help the United States of America. We're in deeper trouble than we know.
© Bryan Fischer
April 8, 2009
Nothing is plainer in the Scripture than that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. In the second chapter of the Bible, we find, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).
The New Testament affirms this original standard: "Each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2). Not much mysterious or ambiguous there.
The minimum the Christian church should expect from its spiritual leaders is clear and unapologetic adherence to this biblical standard, especially from pastors who tell us that the Bible is the "rule of faith and practice."
So if you want to understand why we are losing the culture war, you probably don't need to look any further than Rick Warren, he of the famously seeker-friendly model of tepid Christianity. On "Larry King Live" last night, Warren apologized for his support of Proposition 8, saying his supportive comments were only made at the very last minute and only in response to a question from a parishioner.
Proposition 8, as you recall, established the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage in the California constitution. If there was ever a constitutional amendment that should have the unhesitating support of any spiritual leader who believes in the Bible and the sanctity of marriage, this was it.
But Warren did everything in his power last night to distance himself from Prop 8. Said he, "During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never — never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going."
He thus takes pride in being completely AWOL while this huge battle over the spiritual and moral fabric of our nation was taking place in his own state.
After answering a question from a parishioner a week or so before the election, in which he supported the biblical definition of marriage, the public furor began. Warren's response? He immediately apologized. "I wrote to all my gay friends — the leaders that I knew — and actually apologized to them." Regretfully, Warren says, "That never got out."
Eventually King asked him, "Do you, therefore criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage?"
Warren: "Yes. I'm — I'm totally oblivious to — to what — that's not even my agenda."
Martin Luther once famously said, "If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved."
Breaking news today is that the legislature of Vermont has overridden its governor's veto of a bill which will legalize same-sex marriage. This is a development that cannot be underestimated, since it represents the first time homosexual marriage has been legalized through the legislative process rather than through judicial tyranny.
Where are the voices of truth in the pulpits of America to stand against this rapid descent into the darkness? Where?
God help us, and God help the United States of America. We're in deeper trouble than we know.
© Bryan Fischer
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