Some More Thoughts on the World Vision Controversy

A couple days ago I contributed to the deluge of opinion on the recent controversy surrounding World Vision with a satirical post of my own.

Needless to say I received more than the usual amount of feedback:

* some loved it

* some hated it

* some appreciated it but thought I went to far

For the record I admittedly went to far…that is the nature of satire.

Let me say though, I have great respect for World Vision (I’ve worked with them in Hong Kong on occasion) and their President Richard Stearns.  Stearns was unfortunately put in a situation he could not win.  Either he:

* admit he had made a “mistake” in allowing same-sex employees to be hired and reverse the policy back

or

* watch the funding for thousands of impoverished children disappear as ideologically driven Evangelicals pull their support in protest.

Richard Stearns did what someone who wants to imitate Jesus would do; he put the needs of the poor and disenfranchised first…at the cost of his own reputation.

My friend Tom Read wrote a very insightful post noting that in this whole controversy there are no winners, only losers.  He suggests those being hurt are not only World Vision and the children they support, but the church at large as well:

Some Christians will see this as a victory, but it isn’t. There is a time and a place to “make a stand” for what you believe in, and this wasn’t one of them.

The simple truth is that it doesn’t matter one single bit to the children being supported by World Vision whether those working there are gay, straight, single, married, divorced, black, white, or green. What this has done is further expose what I consider to be the “dark side of Christianity”, a side that has nothing to do with Jesus, and everything to do with religion, politics, and ideology.

It doesn’t matter how you term it, it’s rotten, and it’s something that Christians should be ashamed of. There is not a single instance in the bible where Jesus refuses to help someone because he disagrees with their lifestyle. He loved people unconditionally. The moment we put conditions on our love and support, we lose the heart of Jesus.

Tom’s thoughts echo my heart on the subject minus the satire 🙂  I encourage you all to check out the full post here

We have a God who can bring Life even out of this “bad” situation.  Perhaps awareness can be raised to the real issue at stake; that hundreds of thousands of children are waking up this morning malnourished and in need.

Put all ideology aside wherever you stand on this issue and consider sponsoring a child today.  You can do so at World Vision here!

Peace,

Steve