Megachurch pastor Rick Warren and gay singer Elton John have formed an unlikely alliance in order to support AIDS relief before Congress, and urged the government not to cut down on AIDS funding.
"Everybody has a different role to play and the Church's role is not government, and the government's role is not Church. But on health issues, and on education issues and on development issues, you can team tackle," Warren said.
The two made such a great team taking on global health issues that they smiled, laughed, and held hands as a show of unity, and later Warren reportedly joked about kissing John which he said would probably be "the kiss heard around the world."
And while many are lauding their efforts, evangelicals are now slamming Warren for making a joke about kissing John, saying that it was wrong for the man known as America's pastor to be "guiding sheep astray."
Based on the comments to the Christian Post article about the controversial kiss, people had mixed reactions to Warren's joke.
"Its not just the 'holding of hands' that is a red flag. It's the fact that Rick Warren is supposed to be a Christian preacher who SHOULD teach the truths in the Bible about the sin of homosexuality," one wrote online. "The Bible is clear the sin of homosexuality leads to hell and preachers should follow God's word rather than pander to the lusts of the world."
Another commented, "Rick Warren is an apostate and he shall surely perish for teaching another gospel and also for guiding the sheep astray," while another wrote, "God would want his followers to stand against what's wrong!"
Others were kinder with their comments as they shared: "These men are here attempting to get financial support for Aids research/treatment. Why must we find fault with them on this occasion? So what if they are holding hands? They are in agreement on their objective, and that is absolutely okay."
