Bryan Fischer
Did World Vision sell its soul to Obama for filthy lucre?
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
World Vision has made the tragically misguided decision to embrace sodomy.
This once-evangelical organization has now abandoned any pretense of being guided and governed by biblical principle, and now intends to welcome into their ranks those whose "marriages" are based on acts which are an abomination in the eyes of God.
According to president Richard Stearns, World Vision's new policy "will not exclude someone from employment if they are in a legal same-sex marriage." This of course flagrantly denies the moral reality that such unions aren't "marriages" at all but shabby counterfeits of the real thing.
Bizarrely, Stearns says this is "not about compromising the authority of Scripture," despite the plain revelation of the Word of God from Genesis 2 onward that marriage, by God's creative design, is exclusively the union of a man and a woman. Since Jesus affirmed this definition of marriage in Matthew 19, in words that came from his own lips, World Vision is not just showing flagrant disrespect for Scripture, it is showing flagrant disregard for Jesus himself.
Stearns says WV's goal is to remain "neutral" on this highly charged issue. Impossible. He's put his organization in no-man's land where you expose yourself to fire from both sides. And it raises the legitimate question: if World Vision goes neutral on the sanctity of marriage, can neutrality on the sanctity of life be far behind?
Besides which, WV's position is not neutral in the least. On the issue of same-sex marriage, they have clearly switched jerseys and are now playing for the other team.
Stearns had the brazenness to say that the decision to abandon a biblical stand on marriage came only after its board spend months in prayer. So they spent months asking God whether they should embrace the infamous crime against nature, and they really want us to believe that God said yes?
The mere fact that they made this subject a matter of prayer is a sign of how far this once great organization has drifted from its moorings. When God has spoken as clearly and as repeatedly as he has on the subject of marriage and homosexuality, it is a waste of breath to ask him if he's changed his mind.
World Vision long ago abandoned evangelism, as a condition of accepting money from the federal government. Now they have abandoned morality as well. Is there now anything, anything at all, that makes this an organization worthy of evangelical support?
World Vision's experience is a sobering reminder that once you abandon God at one point (evangelism) eventually it is inevitable that you will abandon him on other points (sexual morality). One compromise ineluctably leads to another until all is gone.
Christianity identifies greed as a form of idolatry, an expression of the worship of the false god Mammon. Greed, quite simply, is doing something you should not do for the sake of money.
In looking for a motive for World Vision's craven capitulation to, well, the world, we probably don't need to look any further. Various sources put WV's dependence upon Big Government at anywhere between 18% and 33% of its $1 billion budget. In other words, they cannot function without the largess of the federal government.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Vatican's chief justice, said just this week that the policies of President Obama "have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization." Added Burke, "He appears to be a totally secularized man who aggressively promotes anti-life and anti-family policies."
In light of Obama's evident and aggressive hostility toward anything and everything that is holy, any remotely attentive observer would have to believe that any organization that is dependent upon his good graces for bucks is in jeopardy if they maintain any Christian conviction whatsoever.
Certainly Stearns has witnessed the president openly threatening Uganda with a cut-off in aid for opposing the mainstreaming of homosexualitly. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that Stearns may be next.
World Vision and its leaders apparently have decided they and their principles can be bought for a price. Their "30 pieces of silver" are worth somewhere between $180,000,000 and $333,000,000.
Martin Luther once said,
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."
Perhaps "World Vision" is the most accurate name for this organization now, for It has clearly rejected God's vision of marriage and adopted the vision of the world.
World Vision may be professing Christ, but they have given up even the pretense of confessing him. Its leaders have been tested at the place where the battle is raging and have been found sadly wanting.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
March 25, 2014
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
World Vision has made the tragically misguided decision to embrace sodomy.
This once-evangelical organization has now abandoned any pretense of being guided and governed by biblical principle, and now intends to welcome into their ranks those whose "marriages" are based on acts which are an abomination in the eyes of God.
According to president Richard Stearns, World Vision's new policy "will not exclude someone from employment if they are in a legal same-sex marriage." This of course flagrantly denies the moral reality that such unions aren't "marriages" at all but shabby counterfeits of the real thing.
Bizarrely, Stearns says this is "not about compromising the authority of Scripture," despite the plain revelation of the Word of God from Genesis 2 onward that marriage, by God's creative design, is exclusively the union of a man and a woman. Since Jesus affirmed this definition of marriage in Matthew 19, in words that came from his own lips, World Vision is not just showing flagrant disrespect for Scripture, it is showing flagrant disregard for Jesus himself.
Stearns says WV's goal is to remain "neutral" on this highly charged issue. Impossible. He's put his organization in no-man's land where you expose yourself to fire from both sides. And it raises the legitimate question: if World Vision goes neutral on the sanctity of marriage, can neutrality on the sanctity of life be far behind?
Besides which, WV's position is not neutral in the least. On the issue of same-sex marriage, they have clearly switched jerseys and are now playing for the other team.
Stearns had the brazenness to say that the decision to abandon a biblical stand on marriage came only after its board spend months in prayer. So they spent months asking God whether they should embrace the infamous crime against nature, and they really want us to believe that God said yes?
The mere fact that they made this subject a matter of prayer is a sign of how far this once great organization has drifted from its moorings. When God has spoken as clearly and as repeatedly as he has on the subject of marriage and homosexuality, it is a waste of breath to ask him if he's changed his mind.
World Vision long ago abandoned evangelism, as a condition of accepting money from the federal government. Now they have abandoned morality as well. Is there now anything, anything at all, that makes this an organization worthy of evangelical support?
World Vision's experience is a sobering reminder that once you abandon God at one point (evangelism) eventually it is inevitable that you will abandon him on other points (sexual morality). One compromise ineluctably leads to another until all is gone.
Christianity identifies greed as a form of idolatry, an expression of the worship of the false god Mammon. Greed, quite simply, is doing something you should not do for the sake of money.
In looking for a motive for World Vision's craven capitulation to, well, the world, we probably don't need to look any further. Various sources put WV's dependence upon Big Government at anywhere between 18% and 33% of its $1 billion budget. In other words, they cannot function without the largess of the federal government.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Vatican's chief justice, said just this week that the policies of President Obama "have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization." Added Burke, "He appears to be a totally secularized man who aggressively promotes anti-life and anti-family policies."
In light of Obama's evident and aggressive hostility toward anything and everything that is holy, any remotely attentive observer would have to believe that any organization that is dependent upon his good graces for bucks is in jeopardy if they maintain any Christian conviction whatsoever.
Certainly Stearns has witnessed the president openly threatening Uganda with a cut-off in aid for opposing the mainstreaming of homosexualitly. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that Stearns may be next.
World Vision and its leaders apparently have decided they and their principles can be bought for a price. Their "30 pieces of silver" are worth somewhere between $180,000,000 and $333,000,000.
Martin Luther once said,
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."
Perhaps "World Vision" is the most accurate name for this organization now, for It has clearly rejected God's vision of marriage and adopted the vision of the world.
World Vision may be professing Christ, but they have given up even the pretense of confessing him. Its leaders have been tested at the place where the battle is raging and have been found sadly wanting.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
