In trying to be relevant World Vision has lost its relevance.
World Vision USA announced on Monday that it will no longer recognise only heterosexual marriages in its employee code of conduct, and that those in same-sex marriages will now be equally accepted.
The organisation's code of conduct demands "abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage", but until now this only applied to heterosexual marriages.
World Vision is one of the largest Christian charities in the world, providing disaster and other forms of aid to 250 million people annually. It operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide and has revenue of approximately 1 billion US dollars per year.
Toby Jones, a theological author and professor from Fuller Theological Seminary said on Twitter that: "Evangelical leaders who are speaking out against @WorldVisionUSA get kudos in their echo chamber but lose a generation of seekers.”
World vision is wrong. Those who call themselves theologians and believe that the Scriptures condones homosexuality are wrong. God is patient but not tolerant whereas this new breed of “theologian” is tolerant but not patient.
I am not sure who Toby Jones is talking about but I would guess it is the generation of those “seekers” who want to replace God and His Word with themselves and their words. A generation of “self-seekers” who help others only if it helps themselves. Really, those who seek God find Him, those who seek unity apart from God, in the will of the majority, find compromise, confusion and catastrophe.
The Bible is not that hard to understand:
Or do you not know that unrighteous individuals will not inherit God's kingdom? Stop being deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor those who are of a voluptuous nature, given to the gratification of sensual, immoral appetites, neither men who are guilty of sexual intercourse with members of their own sex, nor thieves, nor those who are always greedy to have more than they possess, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit God's kingdom. And these things you were, certain ones of you. But you bathed yourselves clean [from sin in the fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins], but you were set apart for God, but you were made righteous in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Wuest)
This probably could not be any clearer.
For World Vision to try to say that not allowing homosexual couples to be a part of the World Vision team in order to preserve unity is a total misunderstanding of what unity is. We are not striving to get unity among human thought but unity in that each “part of the body” should have unfettered access to the brain. We need to be unified with God, and God will cause us to experience unity. When we focus on trying to be unified with each other instead of with God, the brain, we can never experience true unity.
In his 2010 book 'The Hole in our Gospel' Mr Stearns expressed his frustration and sadness over the fact that Christians are more often known for what they oppose rather than what they support.
"We're seen to be against homosexuality and gay marriage, against pornography and sexual promiscuity, against alcohol and drug abuse, abortion, divorce, Islam, evolution ... even against those who believe that global warming is a threat."
Mr Stearns instead argues that this action is a move to redirect focus away from issues relating to sexuality and "focus instead on uniting Christians around serving the poor".
It sounds rather noble to be one who only wants to talk about what we support rather than what we oppose. The problem with that is the fact that it does not work in that both what we are for and what we are against needs to be clear in order for us to get the complete picture.
God often tells us what he is against, such as demonstrated by the verses already quoted. God also says things like:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
(Psalms 1:1 ESVST)
He is saying that men are blessed that do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, do not stand in the way of sinners and do not sit in the seat of scoffers.
Before the “what we do stand for part” He tells us what we should be against. God is definitely against homosexuality, gay marriage, pornography, sexual promiscuity, alcohol and drug abuse, abortions, divorce, islam, evolution……I reserve comment on global warming in that it is not mentioned in the Bible, however, lying is a sin so if they are lying, He would be against that too.
Mr. Stearns seems to be trying to correct God and what He has said in Scripture. World Vision is focused on the wrong world.
