fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

The WorldVision Fight

Terry Mattingly points out that the mess with the $1 billion Evangelical charity WorldVision, which under protest reversed its policy change allowing same-sex employees in gay marriages to work there, is not a case of the secular world versus religious believers, but is rather a fight between two Evangelical sides. Excerpt: The World Vision showdown […]

Terry Mattingly points out that the mess with the $1 billion Evangelical charity WorldVision, which under protest reversed its policy change allowing same-sex employees in gay marriages to work there, is not a case of the secular world versus religious believers, but is rather a fight between two Evangelical sides. Excerpt:

The World Vision showdown is not about secularists opposing religious people. It’s a story — from the viewpoint of many government leaders and journalists — about good Christians with modernized doctrines striving to cause reform among the bad Christians who are in part (repeat, “in part”) defined by, well, 2,000 years of Christian doctrine on sexuality, family and marriage.

Note this next piece of the AP report:

The agency had announced Monday that its board had prayed for years about whether to hire Christians in same-sex marriages as churches took different stands on recognizing gay relationships. World Vision says its staff members come from dozens of denominations with varied views on the issue. The board had said World Vision would still require celibacy outside of marriage and would require employees to affirm a statement of faith that they follow Christ, but would change policy in the U.S. as a way to avoid the divisive debates that have torn apart churches.

In other words, sort-of-liberal churches are arguing with traditional churches — even inside the wide, wide world of evangelicalism. And, of course, truly liberal Christians in a variety of churches are arguing with traditionalist Christians in a variety of churches.

As Terry points out, both sides at WorldVision are committed to serving the poor, which is WorldVision’s reason for being. But when you have an organization like WorldVision, which is religious in nature, it’s impossible to avoid a clash over the extent to which the core religious vision can accommodate certain doctrinal innovations. There is no neutral position here. 

SSM supporters love to say, “How does my gay marriage affect you?” This is one of the thousand ways. A cultural shift as foundational as redefining marriage touches nearly everything, for better or worse.

Advertisement

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Subscribe for as little as $5/mo to start commenting on Rod’s blog.

Join Now