The first quote came out of the mouth of Rick Warren, a well-known "conservative." The second quote is from John Shelby Spoooooong, Retired Bishop of Newark and well-known liberal. Both believe the church must change. Rick Warren is a liberal, a 19th Century liberal, but a liberal. Spong and company have taken the whole change thing to its extreme. So whenever someone speaks about conforming to this world, you now know that they are liberals, even if they claim to be conservatives.

Meet the Bible-believing liberals. While they believe that the culture needs to return to its historic traditions, they think the church needs to abandon hers. While maintaining that the Flag should be proudly displayed, they fear that a cross at church might offend seekers. While they believe men and women have defined roles in marriage and family, they don't see why a woman can't replace a man in the pulpit. While outraged that our schools cater to the lowest-common denominator, they think our churches need to be geared to the unchurched. They believe that public policy should be based on objective facts, but preaching should be based on felt needs. They want "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, but omit the Apostles' Creed from the Sunday service. They want the Ten Commandments in the public square, but are unconcerned when those commandments are replaced with "principles for living" from the pulpit. To the Bible-Believing liberal, ceremonies of a Presidential inauguration are meaningful and inspiring, but the Sunday morning liturgy is boring. For the Bible-believing liberal, the differences between political parties are serious, but the differences between Christian denominations are petty. While they insist on a strict literal interpretation of the US Constitution, they play fast and lose with the Bible and its theology, even while maintaining its inerrancy and inspiration. These are the Bible-believing liberals.

Issues Etc. Journal, v. 4 no. 2, pp 5-6