The New York Times reports that Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) will speak at mega-church pastor Rick Warren's 2006 summit on AIDS and the church on Friday, December 1.  A copy of the conference schedule is here.  

The NYT asks:  "Is [this] a step toward active support for Mr. Obama [by Rick Warren]?"  I certainly don't have an answer to that question, but it did remind me of a pitch Warren made before the last presidential election.  I don't believe Rick Warren ever explicitly endorsed George W. Bush, but he communicated his support for Bush nonetheless.  Warren did so by arguing that there were "five non-negotiable issues" in the campaign.  Here's an excerpt from Warren's pre-2004-election pitch to fellow Christians:

As church leaders, we know our congregations are not allowed to endorse specific candidates, and it's important for us to recognize that there can be multiple opinions among Bible-believing Christians when it comes to debatable issues such as the economy, social programs, Social Security, and the war in Iraq.

But for those of us who accept the Bible as God's Word and know that God has a unique, sovereign purpose for every life, I believe there are five issues that are non-negotiable. To me, they're not even debatable because God's Word is clear on these issues. In order to live a purpose-driven life -- to affirm what God has clearly stated about his purpose for every person he creates -- we must take a stand by finding out what the candidates believe about these five issues, and then vote accordingly.

Here are five questions to ask when considering who to vote for in this election:

1. What does each candidate believe about abortion and protecting the lives of unborn children?

2. What does each candidate believe about using unborn babies for stem-cell harvesting?

3. What does each candidate believe about homosexual "marriage"?

4. What does each candidate believe about human cloning?

5. What does each candidate believe about euthanasia -- the killing of elderly and invalids?

Am I too optimistic in thinking that Warren himself might cringe at this kind of pitch today, especially in light of his increasing focus on issues like AIDS, the Darfur genocide, and worldwide poverty?  I'm not looking for Rick Warren to issue a new heavy-handed "issues" statement that screams Democrat rather than Republican.  But I would hope that Warren would talk differently about these things in the run up to the 2008 election.  If he does, that will be progress in the journey toward a better conversation about faith and politics in America.