Political Pastors?

I just finished reading the transcript of a discussion with Rick Warren — senior pastor of Saddleback Church in California (for link see previous post).

It is a fascinating read where Rick is responding to a whole bunch of media types… reporters, journalists etc. I just had to comment on a coupld of quotes made by Rick regarding the reason he is a pastor.

…God called me to be a pastor, not a politician. If I believed you could change the world through politics, I’d run for government. But I don’t think you ultimately change people’s hearts through legislation. I think you change people’s hearts through personal transformation.

- Rick Warren

It seems that society, especially in Western nations, now look to the government for the solutions and the answers. And if you want to change the world and make it a better place for mankind, you gotta get in a political party.

Now being a politician is a great calling, but for me I am called to be a pastor. I want to invest my life in service that has greatest impact in the Kingdom of God. I want to serve and influence the politicians, the musicians, the entrepreneurs, the business people not only of today but tomorrow. That’s why I lead children!

I firmly believe it is the most fertile harvest field in the entire world, worthy of my full attention. Worthy of my best efforts, the best resources, and 100 mg viagra a standard of excellence that demonstrates the love Jesus Christ has for children.

It is not enough to see kids as a training ground for ‘real’ ministry you can’t get more real than a child grasping for the first time the meaning of the cross, or the power of the Holy Spirit.

I have to shepherd everybody. I have a church full of both Republicans and Democrats. And you know what, I love them all. And I don’t care how they vote; I still love them. And that’s my job – I’m not a politician, I’m a pastor.

- Rick Warren

The church is not peripheral to the world, the world is peripheral to the church. Not the building, not the crowd, not the denomination but you and I serving Christ around the world and looking after the widows and the orphans — the marginalized of society.