We are heading quickly toward an ecumenical melding of the false church as well as one world religion. Pope Francis has increasingly been interacting with popular Protestants, including pastor Joel Osteen and televangelists Kenneth Copeland and James Robison. Pope Francis sent a video message to Word of Faith heretic Kenneth Copeland, urging a reconciliation between Catholics and Charismatics.
Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church, did not turn down an invitation from the Pope to offer an “evangelical Protestant” perspective as part of a Vatican colloquium on marriage and family which was held on November 17-19. The colloquium’s stated goal:
The Complementarity of Man and Woman: An International Colloquium is a gathering of leaders and scholars from many religions across the globe, to examine and propose anew the beauty of the relationship between the man and the woman, in order to support and reinvigorate marriage and family life for the flourishing of human society.
Witnesses will draw from the wisdom of their religious tradition and cultural experience as they attest to the power and vitality of the complementary union of man and woman. It is hoped that the colloquium be a catalyst for creative language and projects, as well as for global solidarity, in the work of strengthening the nuptial relationship, both for the good of the spouses themselves and for the good of all who depend upon them. (Morgan Lee, “Pope Francis Learns What Rick Warren, Russell Moore, N. T. Wright Think about Marriage,” Christianity Today, 11/18/2014)
So Rick Warren spoke on the “Biblical Meaning of Marriage” Tuesday at the Vatican conference. He was among 30 global religious leaders (including Muslim, Jewish and Latter-day Saints representatives) examining the changing roles of marriage and family in the world. Warren is a champion of ecumenism. He exhorted these inter-religious leaders to be “Purpose Driven,” thus demonstrating that the PD program is ecumenical.
Warren blasphemously called the Pope the “Holy Father,” at 26:07 in his speech. Jesus expressly forbids this Roman Catholic title when he spoke in the context of exalting religious teachers and “fathers.”
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:2-12)
Warren also said, “Although we have some differences, we all love Jesus Christ and we all want marriages and families to be healthy and strong.” Upon meeting Pope Francis, Warren said: “Up close, you can feel the humility and compassion that others see from afar.” (Erika Ritchie, “Pastor Rick Warren Speaks at Vatican Conference on Family, Marriage,” OC Register, 11/18/2014)
Warren laid out an “action plan” for conference attendees in alphabetical order: “Affirm the authority of God’s word, Believe what Jesus taught about marriage, Celebrate healthy marriages, Develop small group courses to support marriage, Engage every media to promote marriage, Face attackers with joy and winsomeness, Give people confidence, Teach the purposes of marriage” (Morgan Lee, “Pope Francis Learns What Rick Warren, Russell Moore, N. T. Wright Think about Marriage,” Christianity Today, 11/18/2014).
Warren had much to say about not compromising the idea of marriage being between a man and a woman:
The only way to always be relevant, is to be eternal. No revolution will last, including the sexual revolution… every lie eventually crumbles under its own deception. Cultures rise and fall, they come and go, but the word of God and the Church of God continues. What I’m saying is it isn’t necessary to be on the side of culture – it’s not even necessary to be on the right side of history, it’s just important to be on the right side.
History shows the majority is often wrong, remember Hitler? The dustbins of history are stuffed with conventional wisdom of cultures that proved false, and truth is not decided by a popularity contest.
This is the deepest meaning of marriage. This is the most profound purpose of marriage, and this is the strongest reason why marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
There is no other relationship, including the parent-child relationship, that can picture this intimate union. To redefine marriage would destroy the picture that God intends for marriage to portray, and we cannot cave on this issue. It’s a picture of Christ and his Church
Never give up, and never give in. The Church cannot be salt and light in a crumbling culture if we cave into the sexual revolution, and if we fail to provide a counter-cultural witness. It is a total myth that we must compromise and give up on biblical truth and marriage in order to evangelise.
In the end, we have to be merciful to the fallen, we have to show grace to the struggling, we have to be patient to the doubting, but when God’s word is clear, we must not, we cannot, back up, back down, back off, backslide or just give in.
The Church must never be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by applause, frustrated by problems, debilitated by distractions or intimidated by evil. We must keep running the race with our eye on the goal, not on those shouting from the side line. We must be Spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused, so that we cannot be bought, we will not be compromised, we shall not quit until we finish the race. (Carey Lodge, “Rick Warren on Gay Marriage: ‘The Church Must Not Cave In,” Christianity Today, 11/19/14)
Unfortunately, the “Church” has already caved in on marriage by its compromised position on divorce and remarriage. The apostate church has no hope of being salt and light on the issue of homosexual marriage in upcoming generations if it cannot be salt and light now on marriage, divorce and remarriage. Contemporary Christianity has caved in on divorce by following the culture and it is only a matter of time before homosexual marriages become just as mainstream within the professing Church as divorce and remarriage.
Warren is correct that “marriage can only be between a man and a woman.” Warren has no problem forbidding marriage between two homosexuals. But what about two heterosexuals who have been previously married? At the conference, Rick Warren quoted from Mark 10: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Warren stopped right there. But if we are really going to be salt and light in a crumbling culture, we must also teach the rest of the passage.
In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:10-12)
This is what Jesus said and this is what the Church should be saying at a conference on marriage and family. The primitive Church unanimously taught that only a man may put away his wife for sexual immorality, but remarriage was always forbidden to both men and women. They took the words of Jesus very seriously and literally when it came to divorce and remarriage being adultery. Recently, some brothers and I have begun compiling a free online dictionary and commentary of early church beliefs. Their quotes on divorce and remarriage are available here.
Until this radical message is preached and adulterous “marriages” are put away from the church, it cannot be the salt and light which Jesus conveyed. Again, Jesus said, “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18). The false prophets like Rick Warren (be they Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, or Latter-day Saints) will not preach this message because they are hirelings who seek to please men and not God. They are right behind the popular “conservative” culture and therefore cannot quote Mark 10 in its entirety!
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