Rick Warren faced a raft of backlash on X in response to a post in which he referred to the two thieves who were crucified on either side of Jesus, and declared, "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, the author of the popular book "The Purpose Driven Life," founded Saddleback Church with his wife Kay in 1980, according to pastorrick.com.

His Feb. 11 post has earned thousands of replies and more than 3 million views.

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Seth Dillon, the CEO of the satire site the Babylon Bee, sarcastically quipped, "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." 

"This is possibly the worst Biblical interpretation I’ve ever seen, and that’s really saying something," conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey declared. "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."

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"What happens when the authorial intent of a biblical text is discarded? The text becomes a wax nose, bent according to our own intent. Case in point," Brad Klassen, a professor at The Master's Seminary, wrote regarding Warren's post.

David Limbaugh, the brother of the late conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh, tweeted, "Meaningless mush," adding, "with all due respect."

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In his most recent tweet prior to the one that came under so much scrutiny, Warren had written, "Jesus: "Whoever #serves me must #FOLLOW me." Jn 12:26," adding, "Seems obvious, right? But while serving Jesus in ministry, we can stop #following Him! Instead, we start following politicians, podcasters, or peers-and our vision, values & priorities come from social media, not Jesus. #bad"

A coalition of 27 Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Trump administration action allowing federal immigration enforcement to make arrests in places of worship.

The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, was brought on behalf of a range of religious groups, including the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Mennonites and Unitarian Universalists.

The lawsuit challenges an order by President Donald Trump that reversed a Biden administration policy barring agents from arresting illegal migrants in sensitive places like churches, schools and hospitals.

According to the lawsuit, Trump's new policy has sparked fear of raids, which has led to lower attendance at worship services and other church programs. Because of this impact on attendance, the lawsuit argues the policy infringes on the groups’ religious freedom, particularly their ability to minister to migrants, including those in the U.S. illegally.

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"We have immigrants, refugees, people who are documented and undocumented," the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, told The Associated Press.

"We cannot worship freely if some of us are living in fear," he added. "By joining this lawsuit, we’re seeking the ability to gather and fully practice our faith, to follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves."

A similar lawsuit was filed Jan. 27 by five Quaker congregations that was later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. That case is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

The new lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement agencies as defendants.

"We are protecting our schools, places of worship, and Americans who attend, by preventing criminal aliens and gang members from exploiting these locations and take safe haven there because these criminals knew that under the previous Administration that law enforcement couldn’t go inside," DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement.

"DHS’s directive gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs," she said.

A memorandum filed Friday by the Department of Justice, opposing the argument in the Quaker lawsuit, could also apply to the new lawsuit.

The DOJ claims that the plaintiffs’ request to block the new immigration enforcement policy is based on speculation of hypothetical future harm, which the department says makes for insufficient grounds for the courts to side with the Quakers and issue an injunction.

In the memo, the DOJ said that immigration enforcement affecting places of worship had been allowed for decades and that the new policy announced last month stated that field agents should use "common sense" and "discretion" but could now carry out immigration enforcement operations in houses of worship without pre-approval from a supervisor.

One part of that memo may not apply to the new lawsuit, as it argued the Quakers and their fellow plaintiffs have no basis for seeking a nationwide injunction to protect all religious groups against the new policy.

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"Any relief in this case should be tailored solely to the named plaintiffs," the DOJ memo said, arguing that any injunction should not apply to other religious organizations.

The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit represent a significantly larger number of American worshipers, including more than 1 million followers of Reform Judaism, around 1.5 million Episcopalians, more than 1 million members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the estimated 1.5 million active members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, among others.

"The massive scale of the suit will be hard for them to ignore," lead counsel Kelsi Corkran, who is a lawyer with the Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, told The Associated Press.

Corkran said the plaintiffs joined the lawsuit "because their scripture, teaching, and traditions offer irrefutable unanimity on their religious obligation to embrace and serve the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status."

Before Trump's change to federal policy, Corkran said immigration agents generally needed a judicial warrant or other special authorization to conduct operations in locations like places of worship, schools and hospitals.

"Now it’s go anywhere, any time," she said. "Now they have broad authority to swoop in — they’ve made it very clear they’ll get every undocumented person."

The lawsuit outlined how some of the plaintiffs' operations may be affected. Some, including the Union for Reform Judaism and the Mennonites, said many of their synagogues and churches host on-site foodbanks, meal programs, homeless shelters and other support services for illegal migrants who may now be fearful of participating.

One plaintiff, the Latino Christian National Network, described the fear among migrants in the wake of the new Trump administration policy.

"There is deep-seated fear and distrust of our government," the network’s president, Rev. Carlos Malavé, a pastor of two churches in Virginia, told The Associated Press. "People fear going to the store, they are avoiding going to church. ... The churches are increasingly doing online services because people fear for the well-being of their families."

One religious group that did not join the new lawsuit is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which leads the nation's largest denomination, although it has criticized Trump's mass deportation plan.

On Tuesday, Pope Francis criticized the administration's immigration policies, saying that the forceful removal of people because of their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and that doing so, he argued, "will end badly."

Many conservative faith leaders and legal experts across the country, however, share no concerns about immigration enforcement targeting places of worship to arrest migrants.

"Places of worship are for worship and are not sanctuaries for illegal activity or for harboring people engaged in illegal activity," Mat Staver, founder of the conservative Christian legal organization Liberty Counsel, told The Associated Press.

"Fugitives or criminals are not immune from the law merely because they enter a place of worship," he said. "This is not a matter of religious freedom. There is no right to openly violate the law and disobey law enforcement."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., claimed in a post on X that "white supremacy and xenophobia" are the political right's "true religion" and that the values of those on the right do not stem from Christ's life and instruction.

"It's long been known that the true religion of the right is white supremacy and xenophobia. None of their real values are from the life and teachings of the Christ of the Christian Bible..." she wrote in a post on her @SummerForPA account.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., fired back at the congresswoman.

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"None of us should take lectures from someone who has repeatedly demonstrated antisemitic behavior and is now condemning millions of her fellow citizens who simply want freedom, opportunity and secure borders," he declared in a tweet.

Lee swiftly fired right back at him.

"Senator, I'm condemning those who profess to follow the teachings of Christ but do not love their neighbor or do right unto the least of these. Is that you? When he's hungry, will you feed him or cut SNAP benefits? When he's a stranger, will you invite him in or build a wall?" she replied.

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Lee has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023. 

McCormick was just sworn in as a senator earlier this month.

Lee has criticized newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump's executive orders.

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"Trump’s executive orders scapegoat Black + brown communities while his billionaire donors profit off the polluted air, overcrowded detention centers, and prison labor these EOs create. Immigrants aren’t why your wages are low and costs are high—it's the billionaires," she declared in a post on her @RepSummerLee X account.

A Los Angeles church is struggling to balance politics, causing some of the congregation to leave over differences.

Rev. Jonathan Hall has been trying to figure out "what’s ‘too political’ for a place of worship — or whether ‘being political’ is the whole point of the Gospel," according to a report by The Washington Post.

Hall’s First Christian Church of North Hollywood, a "politically-blended congregation," struggled with political differences before and after the presidential election, when President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in a landslide victory.

Hall, a native of Alabama, led the church north of Los Angeles for two years. He aims to unite the church, but it’s been a challenge.

"Persuading the Republicans, Democrats and independents in his pews to stay and pray with one another is getting more complicated," the Post reported.

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The Post reported further, "When he preaches what the Bible says about the mandate to care for migrants, Hall focuses on the story of Mary and Joseph rather than modern-day wanderers. He selected a book of scripture readings that sets out specific text for every Sunday, so no one could question whether his picks were making a political statement."

"And when somebody tells him they think a sermon was aimed at a specific politician, he says, ‘That’s one way to look at it!’"

Los Angeles has typically been a liberal city for several decades. The city has not voted for a Republican mayor since 1993.

Data from the presidential election in November shows that Los Angeles residents voted for Trump more than what many polls had projected. 

Trump won more votes in L.A. than he did in 2020, receiving approximately 40% of votes compared to 34%. Furthermore, Trump improved his vote share across the country, starting with conservative areas but extending into deeply Democratic states.

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Several congregants left the church due to their political differences. One of the members cited a film Hall planned to screen about Christian nationalism being "too one-sided" and "anti-Republican."

Others left after they discovered their peers were attending Trump’s inauguration. 

"Someone else walked out of services early on the Sunday after the election, feeling that a leader on the stage was too focused on consoling people who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris," the Post added.

"If you’re at a football game, one side wins, and everyone leaves. With a church [and the election], it’s like everyone is still there," Hall said. 

He went on to say, "The popcorn is still on the ground, the Coke cups, the mess. Fifty percent of people are upset, and we have to pick up the pieces."

First Christian is part of the Disciples of Christ denomination and serves over 1,000 members. The denomination’s origin was founded to "unify Christian groups who had broken over theology and worship styles."

"If I’m a good pastor, I’m both comforting you and confronting you. But I also need to be a prophet, right? You’re supposed to come to church to look for questions that will change your life."

"Before Hall, the same pastor had led First Christian for 52 years. Congregants say the late Rev. Robert M. Bock didn’t speak about contemporary political issues in church — even during the Vietnam War, which marked the start of his tenure. Hall is trying to forge a new way," the Post reported.

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In early Genesis, God has an important task: To create the world. He could have done so with a breath, a wink, a smile, a thought or nothing at all. Instead, he creates the world in a way that will simultaneously introduce one of the most important ideas in the Torah. 

God creates the world with nine, "And God saids" – teaching us how important words are. If God creates his world with words and we are created in his image – then we, too, create our world with words. 

This theme continues in the plague sequence in Exodus. The text often refers to the "word of God" and the "word of Moses" – when it could have just as easily said "God" and "Moses." The Torah does this to impress upon us that the world is moved by words – and to provide a contrast to Pharaoh, who constantly went back on his word during that sequence.

The Torah later teaches us that there is nothing theoretical or abstract about this. In Numbers 30, Moses gives the people a message from God. "If a man will take a vow to Hashem or swear an oath to establish a prohibition upon himself, he shall not desecrate his word; according to whatever comes from his mouth he will do." Whether making a commitment to act (a vow) or attesting to the veracity of something (an oath), God demands that a man must do whatever he says. 

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This seriousness of words is reflected in the Hebrew language itself. The Hebrew word for word and thing are the same (davar) – reflecting the belief that words, though free and easy to use, are as real and powerful as any physical object. 

Fast-forward to the contemporary era. In his 2023 State of the Union Address, President Biden said that the "climate crisis" is "an existential threat." This is as strong and as urgent a set of words as a person could use – as an "existential threat," of course, is a threat to our very existence.  

The urgent boldness of this pronouncement was not unique. The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Secretary of State John Kerry, Vice Presidents Al Gore and Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and countless others have all said the same thing, using the same words. 

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But none of them believed what they said.  

How do we know? Each of us knows how we would respond to a genuinely "existential threat." If someone believes that he will die unless he takes medication, he will take the drug. If someone believes that his child is in danger, he will drop everything to rush to her. If someone believes that a hurricane is coming, he will board up his home and get out of town. 

Everyone reacting to what he truly believes to be an existential threat will do something significant personally – and not just talk about it, or tell others what they should do. 

The aforementioned leaders who speak about climate change as an "existential threat" seemingly never do anything to act accordingly. They consume enormous amounts of energy in their homes, fly private and eat meat.   

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The older generation of people who proclaim that climate change is an "existential threat" might not take their words seriously.  

Fast-forward to the generation of their children. Kathleen Clark, the House Democratic whip, proclaims that "there is no question that the climate crisis is the existential threat of our time." In 2022, she told NBC of her child who wakes up with nightmares about climate change. There is nothing unusual about her child. 

In 2021, Lancet Planetary Health published the results of a study of 10,000 people between the ages of 16-25 from around the world. The study found that 59% of young people are "very or extremely" worried about the climate, and that 45% of young people feel so bad about climate change that it affects their "daily life and functioning." 

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And it’s not only their "daily life." A widely reported 2017 study by Environmental Research Letters measured the increase in one’s carbon footprint caused by various activities. An individual can cut his carbon footprint by .25 metric tons by washing clothes in warm water, .82 tons by becoming a vegetarian, 2.4 tons by never going in a car – and 58.6 tons by not having an additional child.  

A report from Morgan Stanley concludes: "Having a child is 7-times worse for the climate in CO2 emissions annually than the next 10 most discussed mitigants that individuals can do." 

The logic is clear: one who takes words seriously – one who believes that climate change is an "existential threat" – would refrain from having children. And that is exactly what young people are deciding. 

The Lancet study showed that 36% of young people are "hesitant to have children" because of climate change. This data is reflected in the Morgan Stanley report: "the movement to not have children owing to fears over climate change is growing and impacting fertility rates quicker than any preceding trend in the field of fertility decline." 

So – the Torah is absolutely right about words. One can use them nonseriously, but they will eventually reveal their deeply significant essence – to such an extent that one who proclaims climate to be an "existential crisis" and goes about business as usual is likely to have made himself the parent of an "extremely" anxious child who does not give him grandchildren.

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