My friend Chris Rosebrough of the Christian Accountability Network and fellow contributor at Christian Research Net has brought a very important issue before the Body of Christ, and rightly so. As a Southern Baptist pastor myself I am also bringing this sin before the American Christian Church here at Apprising Ministries.

I wrote about this in more depth in Purpose Driven Pornography: Why Rick Warren Must Publicly Discipline Rupert Murdoch so here I will just walk you through the key points in this egregious issue. First, from two different sources–one his own website–Warren proudly has claimed, “I’m Rupert’s pastor! (Online source)

This now establishes that in Warren’s mind Rupert Murdoch is a Christian because one does not pastor an unbeliever. We certainly befriend them and assist as we can but we who are Christ’s pastors are not shepherd to non-Christians. Then in the Orange County Examiner we are told that:

Warren says he is pastor to Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. subsidiary publishes “The Purpose-Driven Life” but also publishes tabloid newspapers featuring topless women.

“I don’t have to agree with 100 percent of what another person does in order to work with them on the 20 percent that we do agree on,” Warren says.

That pragmatic attitude has paid off. Murdoch was among the first to support the PEACE plan, donating $2 million. (Online source, emphasis mine)

This clearly shows that Rick Warren knows all about Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper which uses women as objects of lust and yet said nothing except he doesn’t “agree” with that practice. We should hope not; but as a minister of the Gospel Warren has much more of an obligation to Murdoch as his pastor than to simply disagree while he accepts money from his “brother.” Monies which came through sinful exploitation of women.

And this now becomes all the more critical in the case of Murdoch’s Christian witness when we consider the following statement from Murdoch himself:

“For better or for worse, our company is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values,” says Murdoch. When it came to listening to others, Murdoch wasn’t very good at that. He knew the rules of the industry inside and out, but following them was another story. So long as something was legal to do, Murdoch wasn’t above doing it… Wherever and whenever he could, Murdoch unapologetically tried to cash in on his circumstances. “I’ve done things that most people thought were stupid,” Murdoch laughs. “We had faith.” (Online source, emphasis mine)

So what has Rick Warren said about handling sin in his ministry? Well as a matter of fact, at Rick Warren’s Ministry Podcast, “Pastor Rick” posted a piece dated 5/01/07 called “What Happens When a Staff Member Falls” where Warren himself informs us:

Sin is to be confessed only as widely as it affects others. Private sin requires only private confession to God. Personal sin that involves others requires interpersonal confession to the people involved. Public sins (those that affect a large group of people in our congregation) regrettably must be dealt with publicly as a warning to others. (Online source, emphasis mine)

One would certainly have to think that “owning and expanding a network of pornographic channels in Europe” and his The Sun’s Page 3 degradation of women has to qualify as “public sins.” And then in that very same article at the Podcast website Warren also states correctly that:

The Bible says that those who teach are held to a greater public accountability because of their visibility to those they teach. (James 3:1, 1 Tim. 5:20). (Online source)

Since Rupert Murdoch’s flagrant and obvious “public sins” have now been brought before the Church by Rosebrough and myself, and because Warren is a pastor-teacher who is very well known to the public himself, then Warren simply must deal with Murdoch publicly “as a warning to others.” You see, Rick Warren can’t have his cake and eat it too; Warren can’t just name-drop that he is Murdoch’s pastor in the good times and then not step up to that role in disciplining Murdoch. As I have just shown you, Murdoch is being put forth as a born again Christian by Warren’s claiming to be Murdoch’s pastor.

One need also keep in mind that Murdoch does not have to be a member of Saddleback for Warren to be his pastor. It is also clear that Warren believes this as well from his repeated testimony that he is pastor to Rupert Murdoch. But Murdoch is openly committing transgressions that are right now bringing shame to the Name of Jesus Christ. And as Warren himself has said, people like Murdoch have to be held to a greater “public accountability” because of “their visibility.”

And this is exactly why I am now asking: “Rick Warren, as Rupert Murdoch’s Pastor when are you going to publicly discipline Murdoch for his exploitation of women?”