World Vision USA reverses decision
“…we failed 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.’…”
– report from Christianity Today.
Dr. Mark Thompson writes,
“The end result of this weeks statement and then reversal will no doubt be quite costly for the leadership of World Vision US. No doubt they will face more concentrated opposition from homosexual lobby groups in the US and elsewhere than they had ever experienced before they publicly abandoned their longstanding employment policy a few days ago. … It will be important in the next few days for us all to pray for Richard Stearns and the senior management of World Vision US.” Read it all here.
A Loss of Vision
“It is unsurprising that this statement has convinced no one. The suggestion that they are just following the theological lead of the churches and denominations is a massive failure of judgment. After all, the defection from biblical teaching by large tracks of the American church is well documented and grieved over by churches around the world and by those faithful Christians and congregations that remain in the US.
What’s more, our collective responsibility to live obediently under the word of God is not something that can be put to one side or delegated to someone else in the way that Mr Stearns seems to think it can be. If our operations are not driven by our theology then there is something massively wrong. For Christians seeking to humbly and intelligently live as disciples of Christ in today’s world, there is no ‘theology-free zone’…”
– At Theological Theology, Dr. Mark Thompson comments on the World Vision USA decision.
Piper: World Vision USA’s move trivialises Perdition and the Cross
John Piper looks to the godly example of Jim Packer when he responds to Christianity Today’s report that “World Vision’s American branch will no longer require its more than 1,100 employees to restrict their sexual activity to marriage between one man and one woman.”
Piper: “This is a tragic development for the cause of Christ, because it trivializes perdition — and therefore, the cross — and because it sets a trajectory for the demise of true compassion for the poor.
When J.I. Packer walked out of the 2002 synod of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, he was protesting its decision to ‘bless same-sex unions.’ His rationale is relevant for the developments at World Vision…”
– Read it all at Desiring God.
Related:
Pointing to Disaster — The Flawed Moral Vision of World Vision – Albert Mohler.
On World Vision and the Gospel – Russell Moore.
Franklin Graham Statement on World Vision – Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “My dear friend, Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, would be heartbroken. He was an evangelist who believed in the inspired Word of God.”
The Road Less Traveled: The Faithfulness of J.I. Packer vs. the Capitulation of World Vision – Justin Taylor.
The Hole In Their Bible – Todd Pruitt. “Stearns says that World Vision is united around the Apostle’s Creed. But what profit is there in affirming belief in God while denying that which He has made so clear?”
And from the files: Are we stronger than He? – by David Short, published in ACL News, January 2005 (PDF file).
Photo: Canon David Short and Canon Dr J I Packer at St. John’s Vancouver – they both left the Anglican Church of Canada because of that denomination’s departure from obedience to the Scriptures.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…