Last month we all watched (or heard about) the prayer of Pastor Rick Warren at the inauguration of our new President, Barack Obama. There was much controversy about Rick’s appearance at the inauguration, particularly given his stance against same sex marriage here in California. In the end, I thought that Rick did a great job. Like most of us who are courageous about our faith, I would have loved to have been given the opportunity to lead this prayer. Can you imagine the pressure of having to write that prayer, given the expectations and mounting publicity of Rick’ appearance?
As I listened to Rick pray at the inauguration, I was proud of him. I know that Rick can be a controversial figure, even within Christian circles; I’ve read all the criticism of Rick over the years. But let me be clear about this: God used Rick and Saddleback Church to rescue ME from my rebellion back in 1996. I have seen many good brothers and sisters come to faith at Saddleback. Many, like myself, have gone on to attend seminary and pastor churches. Many of us have also grown in a variety of theological directions and eventually left Saddleback. But I, for one, have never taken what God has done through Rick Warren for granted. I just need to say that up front.
So with this great respect for Rick and Saddleback in mind, I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at what Rick had to say and then arrogantly imagine what it might have been like to act as his editor. Would you or I have said anything differently? If so, why? Let’s take a look at what Rick prayed, comment on it, and then offer a couple of modifications. Here we go.
Rick’s prayer is in bold, my commentary follows in italics, any modifications I might offer are then in green italics.
Rick begins:
“Let us pray. Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story.”What a great start. Honestly, in our world of political correctness and a growing hostility toward theism, I thought this was an important first step. Much of the press that covered this event was either agnostic or openly hostile to Christian truth claims, but let’s face it, if Obama was going to ask a Christian Pastor to PRAY at the inauguration, this statement about theism should NOT be unexpected. As someone who deals regularly with atheists who email me about articles on the website, I was happy to see Rick actually make an opening position statement that was this clear and succinct.Rick continues:
“The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.”This is one of two areas in Rick’s prayer where I would make the largest changes. It’s interesting that Rick would connect Israel to the prayer, don’t you think? It’s also very courageous. At a time when Israel is engaged in controversial military battles of their own, I can certainly respect that Rick may want to remind us that we, as Christians, are connected to Israel at our very foundation. I’m just not sure I would have used this occasion to make this point. But to be honest, it’s the second part of this section that gives me the most concern. We are living in a pluralistic, relativistic culture that has a hard time distinguishing between right and wrong. A culture like this would love to believe that God is happy with all of us, regardless of who we are or how we live. And while it is true that God does love “everyone” He has made, I am always hesitant to throw out that platitude without a little more definition. Sure, he loved the sinners, drunkards and prostitutes He had dinner with in the scriptures, but He also called them to a new life of transformation. Jesus did not become like those He loved. Instead He called those He loved to become like Him. So if I was Rick’s editor, I might have suggested this modification:
“The Scripture tells us that you are loving to everyone you have made but that you love us too much to leave us as we are. Help us to understand your desire for our lives. You are our hope for, and our source of, personal and national transformation.”
Back to Rick:
“Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time; we celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.”No problems here, I was delighted to acknowledge the importance of this event, although it did seem in some way like Rick was restating the obvious. But then again, how could he go without a statement such as this? It was also appropriate to refer to Dr. King on this historic day.
Rick again:
“Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.”This is the other section of the prayer that I might modify if given the chance. Look, Obama says that he is a Christian; he told us that he attended a Christian church and that his experience there was foundational. I think it is wholly appropriate to simply acknowledge his proclamation and ask God for Barack to be a Christian brother of integrity. In addition to this, I am always just a little bit leery of general blessings. Do we ask God to bless those who do wrong, for example? No, we usually ask God to correct them or bring them to the light. God blesses those who love Him and have committed their lives to Him. Others may succeed in this life, but would we attribute the success of those who hate God to the intentional blessing of that same God? So without knowing if the people we are talking about even know or love God at all, I am usually hesitant to ask for God’s “blessing” on them. I might have worded this section a little differently in an effort to ask God to help Obama be a true man of integrity, and to help others to recognize the source of his strength:
“Our new President, Barack Obama, has publicly proclaimed his faith in Your Son. Give him the wisdom to search Your Word for the answers he seeks, the courage to lead in a way that is consistent with his faith and Your character, and the compassion to be patient with those who reject Your guidance and truth. Bless and protect him and his family, as he seeks to live a life that is consistent with his public proclamation. Help our other elected officials to recognize the truth and wisdom of Your Word.”
Rick continues:
“Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget You, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.”I can appreciate the humble nature of this short list of shortcomings (no pun intended). All of us are guilty of these attitudes and behaviors at times and the list is certainly non-partisan. But there is one more shortcoming that I think I might have added to the list. As I have watched Obama over the course of the last year, I’ve seen him struggle over and over again with the idea of objective truth. He appears to be a consummate relativist and he is not alone; he is merely reflecting the nature of the entire culture which repeatedly makes the mistake of equivocating all truth. This is often seen as a virtue in our world; people now think it is arrogant when someone claims to have the very best answer to a problem that faces us. And Obama certainly seems to struggle with this idea as well. So I would add another shortcoming that requires God’s forgiveness:
“Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but by our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves and our individual opinions about what is true or false, right or wrong; when we fight with each other and forget to look to you for the answers, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is something we achieved without you, forgive us. When we fail to love people, even when we differ with the ideas they hold, or when we fail to consider the truth of their ideas in an effort to seem loving, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.”
Rick again:
“Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.”This part of the prayer that has caused me to think deeply about the expression, “the common good”. What should we, as a nation (and what should we as Christians, in particular) recognize as the most important issues of our day? Rick has formed a noble list here and it certainly seems to be consistent with some of the concerns that have been expressed by the Emergent Church. We need to address justice, sickness, poverty and war. This is the mantra we hear from many young Christians, and these concerns have superseded the concerns of Christians a generation ago. The salvation of individuals is now secondary to “common” interests in these four areas. The concern over future destiny is less important than our concern for present reality. I realize that there is a false dichotomy here; one extreme does not need to be neglected for the other. So, I might have said something like this:
“Help us to love one another to share the truth, even when it’s not popular. Help us to create a just world, to address poverty and sickness wherever we can, and to understand the awesome responsibility of our unique role as a nation in our world today. Help us to live beyond the moment and never forget that one day all of us will have to stand as individuals before you.”
Rick concludes:
“We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care. I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray:
‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
I personally thought this part of Rick’s prayer was solid. After it was over, a Christian brother told me that he though Rick was acknowledging the equality of all faith systems by mentioning Jesus’ name in the many ways that he did. But Rick was clear that it was Jesus alone who changed his life (and he merely described his Savior as he is recognized in many other faith traditions – this does not mean that Rick accepts what these faith systems SAY about Jesus). Now it’s true that Rick could have made a statement about the fact that Jesus was the Savior or the Only Way or any number of other proclamations about our need for a Savior. But Rick is a very smart guy and understands the value of personal narrative in our culture. Rick has a personal story with regard to Jesus, and this comment about Jesus’ ability to change his life may certainly provoke some to find out HOW Jesus can transform theirs.
Now don’t get me wrong; for those of you reformed believers (and I am one as well) who are worried that the Gospel has become a source of personal transformation rather than an offer of imputed righteousness, I know that this kind of brief comment fuels the debate and advances the moralistic, therapeutic view of Christianity that threatens to undermine the truth altogether. Christianity is not just one of many ways to change your life; I get that. But it’s hard for me to deny that Jesus HAS changed my life, even if that’s not why I trust Him as Savior. I’m inclined to extend some grace to Rick here.
All and all, I thought Rick’s prayer was well written and directed. And closing with the Lord’s Prayer was a stroke of genius. Rick tapped into the collective soul of our nation. We are a people who are beginning to lose our way; we have a memory of who we once were and of what we once believed. As I watched the news coverage of the event, I saw the camera pan the crowd and witnessed thousands of people mouthing and repeating the Lord’s Prayer with Rick. Many of these people remember the words but have lost the connection to the God who gave them to us. The prayer is a fading shadow from our culture, a distant memory that seems familiar but has lost its meaning. Yet millions can still recite it far easier than they could ever recite the first 100 words of the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence or the National Anthem (all of which supposedly unite us as a people). By asking us to recite that prayer as a nation, Rick was somehow calling us back to a set of truths that we’ve forgotten; calling us to come home.
All of us may have an opinion about the prayer that Rick recited at the inauguration, and yes, I am happy to weigh in, even though I have the utmost respect and love for the man who helped me to know Jesus (love you Rick!). But let’s remember this inauguration and the fact that so much media attention surrounded the appearance of a Christian Pastor on the world stage of a historic day. Let’s rejoice, for now, in the fact that a prayer was allowed at all. Years from now, we might not even be able to discuss such a thing, as our culture continues to run from its spiritual roots and traditions.
Let me know what you think...
If I Was Rick Warren’s Editor
OK, I know that several of you have already seen this video (it’s been making the rounds in group emails and on the blogs), but I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to make sure that more of you get the chance to view it. It’s not inspirational in the classic sense, but it sure serves as a great reminder that we need to be THANKFUL, especially in this troubling economic time. Happiness is not an emotional response, but an intentional decision; it’s so easy to see the glass as half empty. We, as Christians, ought to be the first to understand what God has done for us, and like Paul, we ought to be able to find joy not in what we think we need, but in what God has already done for us:
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