I am sure that you have heard (from one of the thousand other blogs, tweets, status updates etc.) about Pastor Rick Warren’s tweet yesterday that caused an uproar throughout the “twitisphere”.
The outcome of this tweet was a negativity that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. At first glance, the tweet somewhat caught me off guard. A second pass-through, resolved my conflict as I can clearly see that he is proud of his church, it’s members, and what they’re doing (as he should be). I think the majority of the negative response came from people who clearly misinterpreted what the man was attempting to portray in a mere 140 characters.
Could he have reworded it to be less conflicting? Possibly. Nonetheless, Rick Warren is still human, and 140 characters is still VERY limiting in regards to detail, and desired interpretation.
To the people who lashed out with negativity, well I think I said it right there (lashed out). It’s one thing to question or challenge a person for the direction they have taken, it is another to lash out with things that do nothing more than tear down the individual.
Though I disagree with challenging another church for the sake of competition, I strongly agree that we should always be challenged to increase our spiritual maturity, Godliness, and commitment. Isn’t that what we’re here for; to become more like Christ?
Here is the tweet that caused all of the commotion, as well as Rick’s response to some of the more challenging responses he received thereafter.
Original Tweet
“I Challenge any church in America to match the spiritual maturity, godliness & commitment of any 500 members of Saddleback”
Follow-Up Tweets
“Paul COMPARED the Macedonia church’s commitment to Corinth’s & challenged them to MATCH it 2 Cor. 8: 1-8. Wise teaching tool”
“I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. – Paul 2 Cor. 8:8″
“BIBLICAL leaders use themselves as examples to challenge others. Paul often did. See David’s courageous model! 1 Chron 29:2-5″
“Many leaders can’t challenge others to be generous because they aren’t! Who is willing to follow my example & give? 1 Chron 29:5″
“I challenge every pastor to intentionally increase your giving percentage every year & grow far beyond tithing. Luke 16:11″
@rickwarren always has some challenging stuff to say on Twitter.
I see nothing wrong with a “challenge”. After all, Iron sharpens Iron, right?
What do you think?
