Rick Warren to give an invocation on the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a.k.a., Inauguration Day. But I am just as mystified as the next gay.

Wayne Besen ([1] www.truthwinsout.org), who is usually insightful and on target, has ventured that maybe Obama is smarter than the rest of us, since he is well known already as turning conventional wisdom on its head and succeeding. “This olive branch to evangelical Christians, who largely supported John McCain,” writes Besen, “felt more like poison ivy to gay and lesbian voters, who overwhelmingly cast ballots for Obama.” (”[2] The Rick Warren Whirlwind“.)

Typically, I ignore mega-churches as personality cults on steroids, if I don’t vilify them entirely. Mega churches also seem to blossom in the rich soil of America’s obsession with success —the suburban accumulation of wealth, power and prestige. The mega churches with which I am familiar are all rooted in upwardly mobile suburbs, or in places where the people who passionately desire that lifestyle can get to them.

Yes, wealth, power, prestige and mega-anything are all matters of lifestyle. No wonder the religious right uses that term on us. The very word must be on their lips all the time.

In October, I sat down at the same table with some evangelical Christian leaders —all representing independent Christian ministries (beware those who label themselves “non-denominational.” Read: not accountable to any larger entity), and some heterosexual non-judgmental types. They are exploring the building of bridges between the evangelical churches on the right and the welcoming/reconciling churches on the left.

I am still trying to be sympathetic to their reconciling offer, but the days after the November 4 “Yes on 8″ victory, I was sorely tempted to cut off any conversation. What was especially bitter is that a representative of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Country Club was in on the first meeting I attended. If she hadn’t been such a sweet young pastor’s wife I might have gotten testy on the spot.

It is clear that Warren’s Club is “the Unwelcome Place”, as [3] this blog quotes/summarizes for you:

“Finally, a word about being judgmental. It’s not judgmental to say that what the Bible calls a sin is a sin, that’s just telling the truth. Not being willing to talk to someone caught up in sin, or not believing that they can be forgiven, or thinking that you are not just as much in need of Jesus as they are … that’s being judgmental.Because membership in a church is an outgrowth of accepting the Lordship and leadership of Jesus in one’s life, someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at a member at Saddleback Church. That does not mean they cannot attend church – we hope they do! God’s Word has the power to change our lives.”

Well, yes, Rick, it does have the power to change our lives. God’s Word has changed my life enormously over the years. But God’s Word, like worrying, has not changed a lot of things that I used to sincerely pray about. God’s word has not made me one inch taller (Matthew 6:27) for example, nor one point straighter on Alfred Kinsey’s scale.

I am frequently in conversation with God about my shortcomings, my failures, my limitations and the darkness that sometimes lurks in my psyche. With the power of God, I think I am gradually becoming a better human being, but I am not so foolish as to suppose that whatever I do I am somehow able to shine it on with God. In fact, my conversation with God have led me more each day to realize that I am on God’s good side purely and only by reason of grace. Not self-denial, not abstention, not self-hatred, not spiritual warfare, not loneliness or lovelessness.The truth is, being lesbian or gay or transgender or any of a thousand other measures of human variety and distinctiveness, seem to be the work of a diverse and creative God who is not nearly as upset about our human variations as fundagelicals are.

If I were to take on another prayer campaign with even greater confidence in the power of God’s word, I would have to use the [4] Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

If I were a little more mean-spirited, I would ask Mr. Obama if he had ever tried praying away his black skin. After all, the power of God’s word can change our lives, right? But maybe Mr. Warren can make that suggestion to Mr. Obama in person.

— Pastor Dan Hooper