Rick Warren, bestselling author and pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, was recently named as one of Forbes’ top 20 most influential Twitter celebrities. As reported by The Christian Post, the top-20 list was based on the impact of the celebrity’s opinions, links, recommendations, number of followers, retweets, and several other factors. Other celebrities on the list included pop musicians Justin Bieber (no. 1), Lady Gaga, Kanye West, and Joe Jonas, late-night personality Conan O’Brien, President Barack Obama, and the Dalai Lama, the only other religious figure on the list. Warren said at first he balked at using Twitter until he realized he could use it for teaching purposes, after which he began to use it to encourage and mentor his network of young pastors. “Technology is never an end in itself and the message still trumps the medium,” said Warren. “Hopefully, these new channels help begin conversations that will lead to deeper, face-to-face community.”
