The Bible in the Real-time Arena

Piers Morgan interviewing Rick Warren on CNN

Lately I've noticed two trends in the media. First, more interviewers are questioning the traditional view of marriage. OK, that's not new. But second, most of the questions are biased. Shouldn't there be marriage "equality"? Shouldn't we be allowed to "love" whoever we want? The agenda is obvious, but that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is that in all the hubbub, Christians are missing a great opportunity to promote the Bible.

Recently Rick Warren was interviewed on CNN's Piers Morgan Live. When Warren was asked, "How can you say you're for equality of all people if gay people can't get married?" he referred to the Bible. Morgan pounced, "Yes, but there are many things in the Bible that just wouldn't fly today." Warren did a masterful job of standing up for the biblical view of marriage, and even got applause when he said, "I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval, or the disapproval of society."

But it was at this point that Warren could have turned the tables. Imagine if he would have said, "So let me ask you something, Piers. On what basis do you determine right and wrong?" Simply dismissing the Bible as "anachronistic," as Morgan did later in the segment, is not a good answer.

As followers of Jesus, we should always be respectful of others. So when people casually dismiss the credibility of the Bible we shouldn't blow up. But we shouldn't let it go, either. Instead we should ask about their reference point for morality and truth, and then guide them back to ours, the Bible.

What if Rick Warren would have added, "You know, Piers, a lot of people say they don't agree with the Bible but they've never read it," then turning to the camera, "so I'd challenge every one of your viewers to get a Bible and read the Gospel of John. It'll only take about 30 minutes. Then you can decide for yourself if it has the ring of truth"?

I'm thankful for leaders like Rick Warren who defend the Bible in the real-time media arenas of today. But all of us will have opportunities to defend the Bible in our day-to-day conversations, so maybe it's good to remember what Mark Twain once said, "It ain't those parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do understand."

by Whitney T. Kuniholm

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