“I never questioned my faith in God; I questioned God’s plan,” Rick Warren last night on CNN.
In case you somehow missed it, Rick and Kay Warren were on camera last night in a very candid interview with Piers Morgan on CNN, their first public interview since the suicide death of their 27-year-old son, Matthew, who had struggled his whole life with mental illness.
It was the first time I can remember watching Christians on television who made me proud to be one. This wasn’t Pastor Rick getting a chance to preach on national television, this was Kay and Rick being … well … Kay and Rick. We were basically invited into their lives to feel their pain and in the process, we got their faith. We shared the strength and the weakness, the vulnerability and the courage, the inability to do anything but hope. This was not just a single event; this was a 27-year struggle.
We saw their oneness as a couple and how close they had become through this tragedy. 
They held hands; they wiped each other’s tears away.
My favorite part was when Kay talked about her boxes. She brought out her HOPE box and lovingly took out some of the verses inside that had sustained her through so much of their son’s life. And then she told us about her other box … the box in which she put all the questions she had no answers for. Two boxes … two conflicting realities at the same time. One box didn’t cancel the other. They were simply both there.
I’m writing about this not to single them out or put them on a pedestal, but to point out that they were just so darn real, and to show that this is the same way God will use you and me.
The point of 2 Corinthians 4:7 (the treasure in jars of clay) and the verses following is that Christ’s power is made more obvious through those human experiences that make us most vulnerable. You can fake being a Christian when things are going relatively well, but you can’t fake power in the midst of real adversity — strength in the midst of real grief.
We can all gain more courage from this to be who we are — to not try to be what a Christian is supposed to be, but to simply be real and know that the power of God will show up. The surprising lack of all the right Christian things to say in this interview was what allowed real faith and the real presence of God through the Holy Spirit to surface.
There’s no way you could walk away from that hour and not know what the gospel was, and even what is more important, without knowing what the gospel does for someone. It was just nothing but the real deal — raw emotion and real faith — and look what it took to get there.
John Fischer The Catch 
If anyone knows of a way to watch the whole interview online, I’d love to see it. I don’t get CNN so was unable to view last night.
Me too. Thanks for your comments John – I didn’t know about it at all. It’s funny how celebrities get big news coverage in So. Cal. but barely hits the radar in other places.
These links are only parts of each section of the show. We have a call in to get a complete tape.
http://www.cnn.com/search/?query=kay%20and%20rick%20warren&primaryType=video&sortBy=date&intl=false
Hopefully it will be posted online. I’m pretty sure it will be. I didn’t get to see it either and wanted to. I hope everyone dealing with these situations, whether mental health or suicide or both, will be able to draw some strength thru this interview. I’m not a Piers fan at all but have heard nothing but good things about how he handled this interview. That’s so important for so many people out there. God’s hand surely was on the whole thing.
Cool.
I wasn’t proud of Rick when he was being political a couple of elections ago. He didn’t seem real to me then.
I guess we all have good days and bad days, good years and bad years. We may be honoring God one day and dishonoring Him the next. I don’t think one cancels out the other. Christ has already cancelled out all our good days and bad days and made them all glory days in Him.
Do Mel Gibson’s recent bad years cancel out his good years when he was working on Passion Of The Christ? Is Passion Of The Christ any less a work of faith and love because he has fallen into difficult times of late? No. But, really, do Rick and Kay’s testimony last night, and Mel’s Passion Of The Christ hold a candle to the glory of Christ? No. Yet, that is the glory that we will share when He returns – not the glory of our good days.
It is Christ’s sacrifice that makes me proud to be a Christian, not Rick’s and Kay’s testimonies nor Mel’s movie. The kind of day I’m having right now doesn’t cancel out the goodness of God nor the glory of Christ. Every day is a good day, every day is a glory day, with Him. God is proud of us (glories in us) regardless of the day we’re having, and we should be proud of Him (glory in Him) regardless of the day we’re having. His glory transcends our good and bad days and makes them all glorious.
So, I’m proud of you, John, whether you’re having a good day or not. I’m proud of you simply because you are His.
Bless.
pure grace, amen!!
thank you, thank you, john, for alerting us (the catch) to the program…never would have watched otherwise…when my pre-Christian spouse came in and said, “what’s this?”, he got quiet, sat down and listened…hard seeds that were planted but I pray that they take root and grow in his heart…bless you for being bold and faithful, john
I watched this interview along with my husband. We’ve been blessed with three children, all now adults in the 36-42 age range, but we still feel and share the pain of parents over the lives of their children. I loved it when Rick said he couldn’t bring his son back, but he would join him one day! I read Rick’s morning devotional as regularly as I read John’s…they both give me strength and courage for the day and I need it!
What I really like about John Fischer, is that he always puts feet to the word of God. Or shows examples of it. They showed their humanity through the ‘jars of clay’ example.
David
I love your expression of John’s writing, “puts feet to the word of God” and agree
Marti
I was never a big fan but the interview changed my view of Rick and was one of the best examples of faith and humility I have seen. I am so glad we saw it. We would have missed it if not for Marti.
Thanks Marti!
i too am thankful to God for John and Marti’s ‘feet’- though broken pots are only filled and overflowing by Him, we shards are always longing for familiar human footprints like yours and Rick’s and…. to walk along with 🙂
i haven’t CNN either-hoping you’ll let us know if it gets you tubed