Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Rick Warren: Tolerance of Gay Marriage Does Not Equal Approval

Rick Warren: Tolerance of Gay Marriage Does Not Equal Approval

Rick Warren, author and pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, went on CBS This Morning to promote the 10th anniversary of his book, The Purpose Driven Life, and ended up discussing his views on homosexuals and gay marriage. Warren said Jess was tolerant of all views but did not approve of them all, an attitude he adopts himself.

“Gay marriage is a very personal question,” Warren explained. “I have biblical views regarding what marriage is about. I am not in favor of redefining marriage, I’m not. It’s not illegal to have a gay relationship, so it’s not a big issue to me.”

“I don’t happen to believe in everything that my gay friends believe, but when they want to end AIDS, I’m a co-belligerent with them. We have given millions of dollars to fight AIDS from around the world, and we have worked with both gays and straights. I can work with an atheist, I can work with a Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, Jew — and that’s one of the issues we have to work on.”

“The problem is that ‘tolerant’ has changed its meaning. It used to mean ‘I may disagree with you completely, but I will treat you with respect.’ Today, tolerant means – ‘you must approve of everything I do.’ There’s a difference between tolerance and approval. Jesus accepted everyone no matter who they were. He doesn’t approve of everything I do, or you do, or anybody else does either. You can be accepting without being approving.”

To read more of the interview, click here.