Bound with unbelievers

by Dan Grubbs

My previous post may seem like it made too far a stretch to connect King Saul with Rick Warren. I understand that sentiment. However, I think there are other biblical teachings that directly apply to this situation in which Rick Warren finds himself.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 is the main text I'll refer to in my disagreement with Warren accepting the invitation to deliver the prayer for the inauguration. Paul is teaching the believers in Corinth not to connect themselves with the false teachers around them, and secondarilly, not to associate themselves with unbelievers. The passage reads:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have
righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or
what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an
unbeliever?

In application to our own lives, the idea of being bound together is often referred to as unequally yoked, as two draft animals yoked together to work for a common purpose. If you yoke two oxen that aren't matched as a collaborative pair, you can't plow the field properly. If believers yoke themselves together with those who are in opposition to God and His word, they will be unequally yoked.

It is clear that President-elect Obama stands in opposition to God on many issues. This fact cannot be denied. What partnership can we, as believers, have with one who so starkly stands in opposition to the God whom we serve?

Continuing in the 2 Corinthian passage, God calls believers out from among such as President-elect Obama, whose public position on many issues count him as one associated with darkness.

Should we pray for Mr. Obama? Absolutely! Not only as the leader of our nation, but more importantly, for his relationship with God to be healed. Yet, Mr. Warren will not be praying for Mr. Obama's salvation on Jan. 20, but instead, will be by his presence, endorsing the agenda of the chief executive.

Is that bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen I hear?

By Dan Grubbs

If I wasn’t a fan of Rick Warren before, I certainly am not a fan now that he will deliver the invocation at President-elect Obama’s inauguration next month. I’ve read that Mr. Warren views this as an opportunity for national healing. However, I see this as something else.
I don’t think God was too happy about King Saul withholding the sword from Agag, the Amalekite king, and brought back spoils of war when Saul was directly commanded by God to destroy all.

Of course there’s not a direct comparison of Mr. Obama with Agag, but there is something of a parallel. Mr. Obama's support of the slaughter of millions of American citizens, among other things, should cause Mr. Warren to refuse, just as Saul should have put the enemies of God to the sword.

Any man should always consider their actions from God’s perspective, considering how they fit into His plans as we understand them through the Bible. I’m not convinced that Mr. Warren’s motives to accept the invitation to deliver the invocation are healthy. As Ruben Navarrette, Jr., wrote for CNN, Mr. Warren’s appearance is supposed to be about “American’s learning to agree to disagree without becoming disagreeable.” This feels a lot like wanting to negotiate with Agag, an enemy of God; or, at best Mr. Warren is attempting to make a pleasing act of sacrifice. However, let’s review how God’s prophet Samuel replies to Saul, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”

Personally, I could not make a public endorsement of Mr. Obama in this way because abortion is disobedience to God. And, there’s no apologetic to rationalize this appearance in any other way than a public endorsement.

Yes, Mr. Warren has been vocal about abortion, marriage and moral issues in this society. But, there is no eternal healing that can happen by delivering this invocation. And, it’s eternal healing that a pastor is supposed to be about.