So, does anybody remember the firestorm surrounding soon-to-be President Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to give the Convocation at today’s Inauguration? Apparently Obama does. And for that reason we got what we saw Sunday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial: the newly-wed, openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, issuing a prayer for our nation.
Now of course, Bishop Robinson has many qualifications for delivering such a high profile prayer. I mean, he is a pioneer just like Obama, and as The Times of London tells us, President Obama trusted in Bishop Robinson several times to see what it was like being the first of his kind. The only problem is, in as much as Obama is to be lauded for becoming the first African-American President of the United States, there is nothing laudable about the first June bride with a beard and mitre in the Anglican communion. In fact, one can hardly argue that were it not for Bishop Robinson’s sexual life he would just be another two-bit Episcopal priest with a 300 person parish somewhere in the forests of New England.
But he’s not and that’s why he was chosen to give this prayer. Now, of course, for a man who sees no contradiction in being a Minister of the Word and a practicing, unrepentant homosexual you can expect that he has some fruit loop theology as well, and by golly, he did not disappoint.
Bishop Robinson opened his prayer by appealing to the “God of our many understandings,” who I don’t think is the same recipient as “Our Father Who Art in Heaven,” though I could be wrong. He then went on to pray the classic prayer of tolerance for LGBTQ lifestyles found in the New Testament:
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
This was followed shortly after by a nice affirmation of the little known saying of Christ that everyone’s choice of god (little g folks) gets a vote in the end:
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God [sic] judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.
Well, as least he did close it with ‘Amen.’ You can see the full text of this prayer here or watch its delivery here.
With that, I have nothing much more to say than this is a sad demonstration of the religious confusion that occurs when you try and mix a postmodern, relativistic mindset with a loose, inconsistent claim of “Christianity.” This mash-up of comedy and tragedy should open our eyes to just how dangerous it is trying to ride the convictional fence between being a Christian and being a tolerant, liberal minded member of secular culture. There are many reasons why we must pray for President Obama, and I think this type of gospel schizophrenia is one of them. As John Piper has stated recently, making decisions to acknowledge and support such illegitimate happenings as a married gay Episcopal bishop puts Obama in a place where he is making Christ “a minister of condemnation.” And in case you’re wondering, that’s not a compliment.
January 20, 2009 at 11:59 pm |
First of all the title for the post is great! I thought the prayer was interesting. It is like an early Acts 17 moment for the American people. I think evangelicals should be distressed by it just as Paul was when he found that Athens was full of idols. I think we should dissect it; what can we affirm what must be discarded? Most of all I think this should give impetus to evangelism and missions as we recognize that this “gospel schizophrenia” is likely the worldview embraced by our neighbors and co-workers. This presents a great challenge Paul proclaimed an unknown God but we must proclaim the God who desires to be understood through His Word to those who hold to a myriad of understandings.