We're going to talk about homosexuality
In an article published in Christianity Today (CT) on March 24th, World Vision North America (WV) president Richard Stearns announced that they were going to change their hiring policies to allow Christians in legal, same-sex ‘marriages’ to work for the organization. Stearns sought to clarify that they were still upholding their strict prohibition of sex outside of marriage for all employees; the only change was they would now allow ‘marriages’ to include legal, same-sex ‘marriages.’
He stated that they were not attempting to take a stand on the heated debate of same-sex relationships. Instead, they wanted to leave the decision of whether same-sex marriages are ok or not up to up to local churches. Stearns said they felt a need to make this change because some denominations that they partnered with took different stands on the issue. He emphasized repeatedly that the goal was to promote Christian unity, not division.
Two days later, WV reversed their decision and returned to their original staff conduct policy which excluded same-sex relationships. Stearns announced in another CT article that the leaders of WV felt “pain and a broken heart for the confusion [they] caused for many friends who saw this policy change as a strong reversal of World Vision’s commitment to biblical authority, which it was not intended to be.”
The WV board wrote a letter in which they confess that they made a mistake, apologize to their partners, and ask for their continued support. They explain that they “failed to be consistent with our Statement of Faith, which says, ‘We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.’”
This Thursday, (4/3) we’re going to spend some time looking at this increasingly divisive issue of same-sex relationships. These events hit home for The Calling because we support Benisson through WV.
Why did WV say that they didn’t hold Scripture as infallible with their employee conduct change?
What does the Bible really say about homosexuality—including committed relationships between two adults?
How should we as Christians deal with same-sex issues among non-Christians?
Among people who claim to be Christian?
Come ready with your thoughts to dive into God’s Word and engage in loving, God honoring dialogue together as we seek His Truth.