On January 22-24th, 2007, Robert Schuller will present the Faith Forward conference. Crystal Cathedral is a hodge podge of spiritual persuasions and personalities; with Schuller’s more than obvious slant towards interspirituality and New Age sympathies, it hardly seems like a place that biblical Christians (or those claiming to be such) should be teaming up with. Yet, at the Faith Forward 2007 conference, speakers include some pastors and teachers who many consider to be part of evangelical Christianity: Pastor Ed Young, Jr. (named recently for his significant influence in evangelicalism), Pastor Chris Seay (an emerging church leader but regarded favorably by many ministries/organizations such as The Baptist Standard (News Journal for Texas Baptists), Mark Driscoll’s Acts 29 Network, Leonard Sweet (still viewed as a biblical Christian by many Christian universities, such as Regent University), Todd Hunter (Alpha Course president for North America), and Miles McPherson (whose books are promoted by Focus on the Family and who has a ministry to youth).
The question must be asked, if McPherson, Young, Seay and Hunter show up at the Faith Forward event, is it not fair to assume that people will see it as an endorsement for Crystal Cathedral’s spirituality? Surely when they arrive as speakers, they are not going to stand on the podium and denounce Crystal Cathedral. Hardly. They will, as so many have in the past (such as Bruce Wilkinson), praise Robert Schuller’s ministry. That’s how it works. And in so doing, they will join hands with a ministry that promotes the uniting of all religions and whose founder said:
I met once more with the Grand Mufti (a Muslim), truly one of the great Christ-honoring leaders of faith. … I’m dreaming a bold impossible dream: that positive-thinking believers in God will rise above the illusions that our sectarian religions have imposed on the world, and that leaders of the major faiths will rise above doctrinal idiosyncrasies, choosing not to focus on disagreements, but rather to transcend divisive dogmas to work together to bring peace and prosperity and hope to the world…. Standing before a crowd of devout Muslims with the Grand Mufti, I know that we’re all doing God’s work together. Standing on the edge of a new millennium, we’re laboring hand in hand to repair the breach. (from Robert Schuller’s book, My Journey, pp. 501, 502)
