President-elect Obama made an interesting choice when he asked Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Inauguration. The pastor answered some questions from Terry Eastland of the Weekly Standard about how he is preparing. A portion of the interview:
How do you think about the kind of prayer to be given at a (any) public event, given that the audiences at such events usually have various faiths represented?The Weekly Standard
It doesn’t bother me at all when an Imam prays a Muslim prayer in [a] public arena or when a Rabbi prays a Jewish prayer in public or when anyone expresses their personal faith in public. This is America. We don’t deny our differences but we are respectful of all of them. I’m a Christian pastor so I will pray the only kind of prayer I know how to pray.
By which I mean both what is prayed for and how it is prayed?
Prayers are not to be sermons, speeches, position statements, nor political posturing. That’s the fastest way to kill a prayer. They are humble appeals to God. My hope is that all Americans will pray for the new President.
Many public prayers could be much more effective if they followed Warren's answer to the second question. I'm thinking particularly at the end of an evangelical tent-style meeting, where the closing prayer is a thinly veiled (and usually very long) extension of the alter call.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with him more.