On Monday, March 24, the relief organization,
World Vision, headquartered in Federal Way, Washington, announced that it was amending its longstanding policy and would allow same-sex married couples to be employed at the ministry.
Christianity Today reported that World Vision's board was not unanimous, but CEO Richard Stearns (pictured above) acknowledged they were
"overwhelmingly in favor" of the change.
Stearns went on to say, "We're not caving to some kind of pressure. We're not on some slippery slope. There is no lawsuit threatening us. There is no employee group lobbying us. This is not us compromising. It is us deferring to the authority of churches and denominations on theological issues. We're an operational arm of the global church, we're not a theological arm of the church."
One thing is certain here. World Vision surely is not the discerning arm of the Church either.
World Vision is listed as one of the 10 largest charities in America, with an annual income of over one billion dollars. The Christianity Today article on March 24 stated that last year they served over 100 million people in 100 countries and that World Vision sports a mailing list of over 408,000 donors.
Those donors spoke loud and clear about the World Vision board action and Stearns' statements. By Wednesday, March 26, World Vision had retracted their board action and reversed policy stating that they were wrong in the March 24 statement sanctioning gay couples to be employed by the ministry.
The comments left on various blogs and news sites online echoed the disappointment, anger, and mistrust that donors and the Christian public are now experiencing.
David K. wrote:
"I'm not surprised by the reversal. World Vision probably couldn't handle all of the phone calls from Christians seeking to cancel their support. The cash register quit ringing and they knew that a mistake had been made.
Unfortunately, in my opinion World Vision has shown their true colors, and so I would never return to supporting them again. I'll put my money behind Samaritan's purse and other Godly organizations."
Doug B. wrote:
"Seems to me that the ones who are at the top of this organization are still infected with the lies that started this fiasco to begin with. Both Richard Stearns, President and Jim Ber�, Chairman of the World Vision U.S. Board, should be replaced ASAP."
Concerned donors were not the only ones disturbed by the March 24 policy change.
Tim Wildmon of the
American Family Association encourage people to stop giving to World Vision as did
George Wood,
General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God.
The Christian Post reported the following on March 25:
"The Assemblies of God issued a statement Tuesday encouraging its churches and individual members to gradually shift support away from the U.S. branch of World Vision towards Assemblies of God World Missions, and other Pentecostal and Evangelical charities 'that maintain biblical standards of sexual morality.'"
Darrell Bock of
Dallas Theological Seminary wrote of the new hiring policy that the
"act was a betrayal of the nature of the Christian community" and
"a denial of how Jesus defined marriage as between a man and a woman when he was asked about divorce."
Dr. Albert Mohler called the World Vision's policy change
"The Flawed Moral Vision of World Vision."
Speaking of the trap of applying grace to everything said and done - even if it's completely unbiblical,
Dr. Russell Moore,
President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said
"Don't say 'Hath God said?' and then tell us you're doing it to advance the gospel and the unity of the church."
So, what can we learn from this debacle?
I believe this may be a wake-up call.
For ministries, churches, individuals, and even denominations who have been lulled into thinking that it would be good PR or a nice humanitarian thing to align with gay marriage (or on the wrong side of Scripture on any other issue) - this is a wake-up call. Enough rationalizing how God won't mind. He does.
The example of what has just happened to World Vision should make everyone pause who has become friendly to the lie that monogamous homosexuality is acceptable in the Church or in her parachurch ministries.
I sincerely hope and pray that this mess has caused a genuine shaking and has indeed produced true, biblical repentance within the World Vision leadership. It may unfold as such as time goes along. However, it really appears from their public statements of both March 24 and 26 as if they are reacting much like the little boy who was caught stealing candy who wasn't really sorry for what he had done but only sorry that he had been caught.
It is most problematic that Stearns and the World Vision board evidently had
"spent numerous years praying about how to handle the issue of human sexuality" (
here ).
Really? This is the crux of the issue. Had the World Vision board placed the guidance of the Bible above all other influences, this unfortunate series of events would not have transpired. One wonders what events took place and for how long that caused them to decide that skirting or ignoring the absolute standards and clarity of the Word of God was fine with Jehovah. Can we literally stand
against God's Word and then claim we are doing so to foster unity in the Body? This is folly and delusion. A quick reading about God's declarations against hypocrisy is in order for all who think they can sidestep God's changeless Word without consequence. Whether it takes two days, as in the case of World Vision, or two decades, eventually a price will be paid for supporting unbiblical beliefs and activities.
I believe the uproar inside the World Vision camp in these days is representative of just how devastating it will be for all those who dare deny God's clear and sure Word. Even if there is no fallout here on earth for denial of God's Word, each of us will stand before the Almighty someday and give an account. His reaction then will not be based upon how politically correct we were in a godless culture. Being accepted by the world - regardless of how difficult resisting such may be in this life - isn't worth the eternal price.
Thank God for His longsuffering mercy and grace. I do hope and pray that Richard Stearns and the leadership of World Vision come to actual heartfelt repentance and not just sorrow over losing donors and public trust. May we each contritely repent if need be from allowing ourselves to stray from God's Word in order to find acceptance in the eyes of man.
I must admit that the cynic in me says that World Vision's retraction was simply an act of self preservation in hopes of smoothing over the many ruffled feathers their ill-advised and short-lived stance on the employment of married gay persons has caused. I hope I am wrong but it's hard to ignore this conclusion. Regardless of motive, it surely looks bad to the world and gives ministries of many stripes yet another black eye to have to deal with, and to what end? Who suffers from this lack of biblical thinking? The many children in third world countries. Who is getting the glory? Satan.
What Did World Vision Accomplish?
World Vision has managed to alienate many Bible-believing Christians over what is already one of the most heated and hostile issues in the Church today - or ever. At the same time they have also managed to anger the gay lobby with their retraction and now the squishy, pro-gay marriage people who attach themselves to the Church, be they Evangelicals by name or those who openly embrace Liberalism, are blaming the "narrow," "bigoted," "fundamentalist" types (read that "Bible believers") for World Vision's sudden about-face. They have angered many, perhaps devastated their ministry, and are made to look foolish to the unsaved.
What should we do?
The revelation, as enunciated March 24th by World Vision President, Richard Stearns, is a truly sad event that should make every Christian examine introspectively as to what he or she thinks and believes.
This is an apt teaching moment for us if we'll inspect our hearts honestly. I feel sure that many of the 1100+ people who work at World Vision are mortified by the events that have unfolded and only wish their leadership would have lined up with Scripture instead of the liberal attitudes that prevail in Washington State. I think it's appropriate to be reminded of Paul's words to the Galatians when they went astray, for once you open the door to unbiblical thinking, it grows and metastasizes and finally leads to destruction, much like it has for World Vision this week.
Galatians 5:7-9
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
The best advice anyone can hear is that if you have been desensitized by arguments for gay marriage and you've relaxed your guard concerning accepting it, you need to immediately refer back to the Bible and get on God's page - regardless of how tempting it may be to be accepted by our society's sideways philosophies.
Again, I want to extend grace and mercy to World Vision. But they need a house cleaning that cannot be swept under their proverbial rug. They have allowed leaven (
error) into the camp but this does not mean they can't turn from that error. I am on the record opposing Stearns' book
The Hole in the Gospel (
here). World Vision also sanctions and supports anti-Israel events held nationwide called "Hope for the Holy Land" that feature Lynne Hybels from Willow Creek Church in Illinois, Sami Awad from the Holy Land Trust, and author Mae Elise Cannon from World Vision. This traveling road show was clearly wrapped in Replacement Theology, which is a theological heresy that excludes Israel, replacing her with the Church. I have attended these events, as has my radio co-host, Jan Markel, and our producer, Larry Kutzler (
more here). So while I recognize wide theological exceptions that our ministry takes with World Vision on these very important issues, we recognize that it may be just such a time as those at World Vision must be experiencing right now that God may use. I pray that the Lord will break through upon Richard Stearns and others there on not only the gay marriage issue but also about advocating a liberalized gospel and especially about their position on Israel. For me, the right and righteous thing to do is to forgive and extend mercy - even if my humanity cries for a pound of flesh. So that I do.
For us all, this is an opportunity to examine exactly what our level of dependence on the Bible really is and learn from the events and ideologies that have inflicted deep wounds into this billion-dollar-a-year relief organization.
