World Vision’s Open Letter Reversing Their Decision to Hire Same-Sex Couples: With My Translation

Hi all,

If you are like me you may have been confused by World Vision’s declaration that it would begin allowing legally married same-sex individuals to be employed by the Christian relief agency only to have that decision suddenly reversed 48 hours later.

Originally Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, had stated the reason for the change:

 World Vision hopes to dodge the division currently “tearing churches apart” over same-sex relationships by solidifying its long-held philosophy as a parachurch organization: to defer to churches and denominations on theological issues, so that it can focus on uniting Christians around serving the poor.

Mr. Stearns statement, however much it was birthed in the Kingdom of God, did not go over well in Evangelical America.  A deluge of protest engulfed World Vision with calls for funding to be withdrawn from some of the biggest names in Christendom.

Two days later World Vision realized the Kingdom of Heaven may be the goal but Evangelical America presently foots their bills.  In an open letter Richard Stearns “reversed” their decision and acknowledged their “mistake”.

Below is a copy of Mr. Stearns letter but because many of you may be unfamiliar with vague code words of Evangelical diplomacy I have provided my version of a translation for your benefit (enjoyment)

___________________________________________________________

Dear Friends,

Today, the World Vision U.S. board publicly reversed (capitulated) its recent decision to change our national employment conduct policy. The board acknowledged they made a mistake (in trying to act like Jesus) and chose to revert to our longstanding conduct policy (pre-conditions for serving the poor and needy) requiring sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.

We are writing to you our trusted partners and Christian leaders (Pharisees and Hypocrites) who have come to us in the spirit of Matthew 18 (anti-Christ) to express your concern in love and conviction. (through coercion and intimidation)  You (don’t) share our desire to come together in the Body of Christ around our mission to serve the poorest of the poor. We have listened (heard your threats) to you and want to say thank you (cry “Uncle”) and to humbly ask (beg) for your forgiveness (our funding back).

In our board’s effort to unite around the church’s shared mission to serve the poor in the name of Christ, we failed (succeeded) to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own Statement of Faith, which says, “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.” And we also failed to seek enough counsel from our own Christian partners (evangelical Right Wing). As a result, we made a change to our conduct policy that was not consistent with our Statement of Faith and our commitment to the sanctity of marriage. (as I’m certain none of our more than 1,100 U.S. employees are divorced)

We are brokenhearted over ( the loss of our funding)  and the pain and confusion we have caused many of our friends (the folks who wrote nasty e-mails to us), who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority (sign that World Vision was going to hire Caligula). We ask that you understand that this was never the board’s intent. We are asking for your continued support (funding). We commit to you that we will continue to listen to the wise counsel of Christian brothers and sisters (promise to do what we are told), and we will reach out to key partners (stumbling blocks to Christian Ministry) in the weeks ahead (starting with a Kowtow to Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council).

While World Vision U.S. stands firmly on the biblical view of marriage, we strongly affirm that all people, regardless of their  (except those with a different) sexual orientation, are created by God and are to be loved and treated with dignity and respect. (But maybe not today) 

Please know that World Vision continues to serve all people in our ministry around the world. We pray that you will continue to join with  (fund) us in our mission to be “an international partnership of Christians whose mission is to (get all of you Evangelical leaders who threatened us to) follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God

Sincerely in Christ,
Richard Stearns, President                     
Jim Beré, Chairman of the World Vision U.S. Board