Former pastor of Saddleback Church in California, Rick Warren, is receiving backlash after posting a tweet that many viewed as an improper application of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Warren's tweet on Feb. 11 likened Jesus' central position between two thieves during His Crucifixion to Him landing somewhere in the center of today's political landscape rather than on one side or the other.

"If you're looking for the #realJesus, not a caricature disfigured by partisan motivations, you'll find him in the middle, not on either side," Warren stated.

The evangelist deleted the tweet within a few days, but not before it had more than three million views.

The statement prompted many conservative Christians to criticize Warren's theology.

Allie Beth Stuckey, a conservative podcaster and author, denounced the tweet as "lukewarm," noting that Jesus has and teaches very definitive stances.

"This is possibly the worst Biblical interpretation I've ever seen, and that's really saying something," Stuckey stated. "Jesus is not 'in the middle' on the murder of children, gender deception, the definition of marriage, or anything else, for that matter. In fact, I seem to remember Him having a particular disdain for the lukewarm."

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles pointed to the seriousness of the decisions made by each of the thieves who were hung next to Jesus.

"Except that the thief to Our Lord's right is in Heaven, and the thief to His left is in Hell," Knowles declared. "Not the best analogy for the point you wish to make."

The CEO of the Babylon Bee, Seth Dillon, also chimed in, explaining with a bit of sarcasm that Jesus stood His ground and never compromised the truth.

"Yeah, because if there's one thing Jesus was known for, it was his desire to meet in the middle and compromise on the issues that matter most," Dillon asserted.

Saddleback Church, founded by Warren in 1980, was removed from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) denomination in 2023 after allowing a woman to hold the title of teaching pastor.

After Warren retired in 2022, Stacie Wood, the wife of the new lead pastor of Saddleback, Pastor Andy Wood, was named pastor of the church, defying SBC's stance on women being disallowed in the capacity of pastor.

Warren gave a statement at a 2023 SBC meeting, asking for the church not to be removed, though the church's removal did, in fact, come to pass.

"We should remove churches for all kinds of sexual sins, racial sin, financial sin, leadership sin, sins that harm the testimony of our convention," Warren stated. "But the 1,129 churches with women on pastoral staff have not sinned."

Jenna Ellis, podcast host and attorney, tweeted that Jesus wasn't a "moderate."

"Jesus is not a moderate or 'in the middle' when it comes to truth," Ellis stated. "To characterize him as such simply because of the placement of his cross is perverting a historical fact into a symbolic meaning to serve your own ideological agenda."

On Sunday, Warren tweeted an apology.

"I apologize," Warren stated. "I wrote poorly. I don't believe Jesus was a centrist. He stands far above it all. 'My kingdom is not of this world...' Jn. 18:36 Jesus demands our total allegiance as the center of our lives."

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