March 27, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “World Vision, Same-Sex Marriage and Us: Responding or Reacting?” on Joe Dallas’s website: “Many of you e-mailed me privately or messaged me about my response to World Vision over their policy change towards hiring people in same sex marriages … The first question some of you raised was whether or not I felt a gay person is fit to serve children. Well of course he is. Like every believer I know, I have no problem with a secular company hiring anyone, gay or straight, for this kind of charitable work. But when an organization claims, as World Vision does, to be specifically Christian in both its mission and function, then we expect it to maintain Biblical standards in its hiring practices. Those standards don’t just take into account the competence of an individual; they also consider whether he or she is living a life in line with Biblical guidelines. For a Christian organization, that’s a reasonable expectation. That’s why I believe WV erred seriously in its decision to hire people engaged in same-sex relations, then corrected the error by reversing the decision.” …

“Finally, I really don’t feel the shame some of you expressed over being an Evangelical. Nor do I see this as a sign of the demise of Evangelicalism, as some of you said you do. And I really am sorry you feel that way. I do agree Evangelicals could do a better job of loving all people while adhering to truth, and I agree when you point out that the chasm between gays and Evangelicals keeps growing, with no sign of abating. Sadly, I guess it will probably get worse. Now, if such a chasm develops because we’re cold, harsh, hypocritical or just plain jerks, then that’s on our heads. But if it develops simply because we hold to positions we cannot in good conscience compromise, then so be it.” …

“When responding to all of this, we – Evangelicals, Conservative Christians, Fundamentalists, whatever you wish to call us – are trying to be faithful to our mandate to speak the truth in love, and live it out in love. Sometimes we wimp out on truth; sometimes we neglect love; sometimes we get them both right; sometimes we bungle them both. For that we are truly sorry. And while we cannot say we’ll revise our position just because so much of the surrounding culture is doing so, we can and hopefully will commit to being better neighbors, more responsible fellow citizens, and in general, more loving people.”

“Those are goals we’ll never reconsider, policies you’ll never hear us announce a change in. And God grant they always influence our positions and practices, however unpopular or difficult they may become.”