WILL RICK WARREN BECOME THE NEXT SPIRITUAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENTS?
I think Warren will tend to make people like Jim Dobson and Pat Robertson a lot less important politically, even if Warren doesn't explicitly endorse anyone. The presence of a figure like him on the national scene will tend to sideline the Dobson's etc, just as Obama threatens to do to Jackson and Sharpton.
Rick Warren, pastor and author of the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, has done us a great favor in hosting “The Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency” last Saturday evening. Perhaps in no other venue have we been able to see and listen and learn about the two candidates for president in a way that was extremely helpful. Veteran talking heads could learn a few lessons from Warren, who did the questioning in a conversational style and actually let each Senator talk without interrupting incessantly. Neither did he have any kind of axe to grind that favored one candidate over the other.
Since the Reverend Billy Graham, there has not been a pastor consistently invited to the White House by presidents from both parties. It is true that when he was young, Graham’s conservative political stripes were obvious, but as he grew older, and perhaps a little bit wiser, he came to see that neither party had a corner on the market of political truth; and because of his acquired bipartisan style, his personal nature, and the depth of his spirituality, he was called upon by the last eleven presidents to offer spiritual advice to them and their families.
It is difficult to imagine a President Obama inviting James Dobson to the White House for advice; nor is it likely a President McCain would ask Jim Wallis to come to the Oval Office to offer counsel. But is it not likely that either individual would ask Rick Warren, a friend of both men, to offer his assistance, particularly in a time of crises? Is it not possible that the next president after the next president would follow suit?
I do not want to suggest that anger is never an appropriate response in politics, but perhaps Warren has reminded us that civility, and the refusal to demonize those whose politics differ, foster an influence all its own. Perhaps civility, more than bluster, can create the kind of context for the church to engage in the politics of witness to the powers in need of redemption.
It is a privilege to bear witness to the gospel before monarchs and presidents, rulers and potentates. If such is the future for Rick Warren, it will be a calling given to a man who has lived a purpose driven life.
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