Inaugural Controversy

I've watched with great interest and growing respect as President-elect Barack Obama and Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren have entered into a conversation, risking much by doing so. Obama, clearly supportive of gay and lesbian political aims, nevertheless went to Warren's church, to answer cordial but not untough questions in a very public forum. Warren's place in the Inauguration festivities, as a result, has enraged gay and lesbian rights groups. Obama has, thus far, withstood intense heat from those committed to inclusion, who insist that Warren should be excluded. Meanwhile, Warren's support of civil union, but not marriage, between gay and lesbian couples has dismayed both friend and foe, going much too far for the one and not nearly far enough for the other.

This surprises us. It's unprecedented. But the fact that we find it so odd is a measure of how far we have strayed from the Gospel. Both of these men claim to be Christian. Both claim allegiance to the same God and both have confessed allegiance to the same Jesus. We analyze the statements each make, applying litmus tests, looking for the right buzz words, shaking our heads if each does not say our "holy words" just exactly the way we like to hear them. (On that note, I confess to some doubts about Mr. Obama's confession of faith. I also confess to doubts about Warren's megachurch empire — I've never been a fan of religious empires and tend to distrust organized religion in general). But regardless of my (our) personal misgivings, these men — two men of like and unlike faith — have each refused before the world to disown the other. And in this, do they not embrace Christ's command?

How can we miss that? To engage with rather than to retreat from the "unclean" was Jesus' mission. A mission for which he was roundly criticized by the self-righteous of his day. And, we can't afford to forget, its a mission he handed off to us and commanded us to continue.

Skeptics dismiss Obama's and Warren's attempt to reach across the abyss of human alienation to those with whom they significantly disagree as publicity stunts. But its hard to believe it's merely that. Both are under fire from all quarters. Neither will see any political profit from Warren's prayer of invocation on Jan 20. Worse, each will be judged by many for what appears to be lack of commitment to the truth. But I would suggest that it is their mutual commitment to truth that has brought them together.

I have to put my hope in such audacious, fragile acts as these, for in them any hope we have as a nation is embodied. Those who rage at it, from right or left, attempt to hold hope hostage. Love, however flawed, must carry the day or, ultimately, the hate-mongers win and the Truth has died in vain.