"...there's just nothing about that Name..."
Category: Faith...
Posted Monday, October 04, 2004 at 06:10 PM [GMT-6]

Update (10/16/04): You can watch a copy of the Dateline program here.

I just finished watching a recording of last night's "Dateline" story about Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of the multi-million selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life." It was an interesting program, although it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. And, for a while, I was feeling good about the fact that a TV network had actually run a fairly unbiased story about an evangelical Christian leader, albeit one who seems to be the antithesis of what NBC surely believes is the rank-and-file evangelical Christian American.

Then it occurred to me that something...Someone, actually...was missing from the program. I replayed it just to make sure I hadn't missed it, and the repeat confirmed what I thought: not once in the 15-minute segment with the man whose stated purpose in life is "to get people into heaven" was the name of Jesus mentioned. "God" appeared a handful of times, as did the adjective "Christian," but the only acknowledgement of the existence of Jesus Christ was some stock footage of a big crucifix held aloft by some dour looking folks protesting gay marriage (inserted into the program to as an example of the type of thing that you'll never hear Rick Warren preach about from the Saddleback pulpit).

I've got no beef with Pastor Warren. I own and have read his book, and found nothing in it that was contrary to Scripture. I think he and I are on the same page when it comes to just exactly how you go about "getting people into heaven." And I have no way of knowing if the absence of a reference to Jesus from the Dateline segment was due to NBC's editing, but I'm willing to give him a large benefit of doubt along that line.

I will say this, however. The preachers and evangelists I know would have spoken about Jesus so often that you might think you were watching an episode of "The Sopranos" if you weren't paying attention. NBC would have ended up with an interview version of "Scarface" by the time they got through with their cutting, if you know what I mean.

After all, there is no other name that works for applicants to heaven, and there is no Gospel or Christianity without that name. And no amount of editing by NBC will ever change that.

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Comments

I saw that segment and I was sorely disappointed that it was so lacking in true evangelical oomph.

Posted by: jen at October 5, 2004 10:34 AM

Jen, I would have been shocked at the inclusion of any overt evangelical message in this segment, but the total absence of any reference to Jesus was, indeed, disappointing.

Posted by: Eric at October 5, 2004 02:55 PM

I didn't see the segment on Rick Warren, but I do go to Saddleback Church. Jesus is a huge part of the church, and don't doubt Rick Warren's intention on getting people to heaven. Based on your review, I would blame the editing at NBC. Also, shouldn't we be happy that NBC even put a segment like this on Dateline.

Posted by: John at October 7, 2004 09:22 AM

John, I tried to make it clear that I have no disputes with Rick's theology or doctrine, and I know that your church is focused on Jesus (my church's staff has paid a couple of visits to Saddleback to get some ideas for replicating your successes).

My point was that none of this came through in the interview. I'd love to see what was left on the cutting room floor.

Am I happy this was on Dateline? Overall, yes. But I think the program did your church a disservice in the end by failing to even once mention the real reason for its existence. If the interview succeeds in getting some "seekers" through the front door where they'll then find out what's really important, then perhaps it was worthwhile. As it turns out, that's all we have left to pray for.

Posted by: Eric at October 7, 2004 09:32 AM

Eric, I found this blog when I was searching for a place to view the Dateline interview since I didn't get to see it. Do you know of one?

Posted by: Suzanne at October 11, 2004 08:52 AM

Suzanne, I recorded the Dateline program and I've been trying to find a way to convert it to a web-friendly format, but I've been unsuccessful so far. My Panasonic DVD recorder uses a file format that seems to be unrecognizable for anything but playback by my video software and the file is much too large to put on my website as is.

I'm not aware of any other site that provides the program video. I think you can get a transcript of the program directly from Dateline, but I'm not sure how easy or fast that is.

I know there's a lot of interest in this program, judging by the number of visits I've had here from folks searching for it, and I'll continue to try to get a recording online...but don't hold your breath. I'm not a video expert! ;-)

Posted by: Eric at October 11, 2004 09:07 AM

Well if you would like to watch the interview again go to.....

http://homepage.mac.com/leeschulz/iMovieTheater7.html

When was the last time you heard of someone paying back 25 years of their salary, and then giving away 90% of their earnings to the hungry, poor, and those in prison?

Hey I think NBC did a great job. If your up in your reading of the book of James, you know that Rick in "speaking for those who have no voice" is showing his faith.

Posted by: Lee Schulz at October 15, 2004 11:25 PM

Lee, thanks for the link. I've deleted my audio-only version and provided a link to your page in its place.

Posted by: Eric at October 16, 2004 06:45 AM
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