Editor’s note: A version of this article was published by the Christian Post. Click here to read it.
“It feels like a betrayal from every side,” might be how blogger Rachel Held Evans’ (pictured above) sums up last week’s World Vision fiasco, but it doesn’t exactly convey the mixed feelings of most evangelicals.
In her recent entry on CNN Belief Blog, “How Evangelicals Won a Culture War and Lost a Generation,” Evans paints conservative evangelical men and women as uncompassionate by lamenting over “misaligned evangelical priorities” and our “leaving thousands of needy children without financial support.” The major flaw in Evans’ argument is that conservative evangelicals’ reactions was not due to a “disdain” for the LGBTQ people or an abandonment of the needy. It was the result of heavy-hearted commitments to God’s Word.
The chaos all started when World Vision embraced same-sex marriage within their employment policy, subsequently recognizing their “mistake” and recommitted to uphold biblical sexual morality. It was the organizations reversal that promoted Evans’ blog, in which she launched several inflated accusations against her conservative brothers and sisters in Christ.
On her notorious Twitter page, Evans declared that she is leaving evangelicalism because World Vision’s reversal was “uniquely evangelical.” In her attempt to flee what she assumes to be bigoted discrimination, Evans overlooks the important fact that evangelicalism is more than skinny jeans and potluck lunches.
Built in the wake of the decline of America’s mainline denominations, evangelicalism grew as it committed to uphold the authority of Scripture. In his book The Young Evangelicals, author Richard Quebedeaux identifies three key characteristics of evangelicalism: (1) Evangelicals identify the full authority of Scriptures in all matters of faith and practice; (2) Evangelicals pursue a personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; and (3) Evangelicals understand the urgency of seeking the conversion of sinful men and women to Christ.
Despite admitting that the series of events motivated her to leaving evangelicalism, Evans asserts that World Vision’s flip-flop “is not an issue of orthodoxy. But when we begin using child sponsorships as bargaining tools in our debates, we’ve lost the way of Jesus.” Actually, World Vision is the perfect illustration of the un-attachable orthodox tradition of evangelicalism.
A mother of a conservative evangelical family I know told me her family has been sponsoring three young girls in Savane Plate, Haiti for a while now. They choose to give through World Vision because it was their understanding the organization’s compassionate work was based on a Gospel-centered pledge to the cross and resurrection. So when this mother learned of World Visions’ temporary decision to recognize same-sex unions, she was heartbroken. It was with prayer and Godly counsel — not flippant aggression — that they chose to funnel their sponsorship elsewhere.
Continuing on, Evans claimed that evangelicals snatched away “aid that would otherwise reach the poor, sick, hungry and displaced people World Vision serves.” She pointed fingers at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Albert Mohler Jr. and the Assemblies of God claiming they preferred to “withhold aid from people who need it” rather than support the redefinition of marriage.
Evans failed to disclose that the Assemblies of God general superintendent, George O. Wood encouraged members to “begin gradually shifting their support…to Assemblies of God World Missions, and other Pentecostal and evangelical charities that maintain biblical standards of sexual morality.” The goal was to reroute funding, not take our donation dollars and go shopping at the GAP.
Social justice is important to conservative evangelicals. We too hold tight to Micah 6:8, which instructs Christians “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly.” Actually, those conservative evangelicals that Evans rails against chose to donate to World Vision when there were no media spotlight and no political activists and popular bloggers calling on them to do so. They gave to the poor when no one was looking because that is what God commands us, not what culture expects.
According to Ephesians 4:15, Christians are called to speak God’s absolute truths in a spirit of love. This is not an easy task. We all struggle to avoid inflammatory insults and reactionary decisions. Still, our commission is clear. We must commit to publically teaching all that Jesus Christ commanded us in Scriptures (Matthew 28:20). This is not “uniquely evangelical,” but true for every professing follower of Christ.
Comment by Andrew Orlovsky on April 4, 2014 at 7:19 am
I see Evans no longer decribes herself as an Evangeilcal. At least she is finally being honest. I wonder what the over/under is on how many years it takes before Evans describes herself as a “Former Christian”.
Comment by Chris Ellis on April 4, 2014 at 7:33 am
Well said. I wish more “Evangelicals” like her would “come out of the closest” for who they really are.
Comment by Donnie on April 4, 2014 at 8:58 am
I haven’t really followed her for a few years, but I know when she came out with Evolving in Monkey Town, she made a big deal about “being a Christ follower, not a Christian” Mainly because she didn’t want to be associated with Christians who are socially conservative.
Comment by Andrew Orlovsky on April 4, 2014 at 11:53 am
Ironically, I’ve heard many Evangelicals use the term Christ-follower to differentiate themselves from spiritually dead Mainline Protestants.
Comment by Anne K. on April 4, 2014 at 5:22 pm
I’m more interested in the over/under for how long it takes Evans to convert to Islam.
Comment by cleareyedtruthmeister on April 6, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Ms. Held-Evans says there is a “disproportionate” obsession with homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.” And she is right…but that obsession is generally coming from her (and her fellow left-wing travelers), not those she accuses.
Traditionalists are simply responding by offering a vigorous defense of marriage as it has been understood by Christianity since its inception (i.e., the actual “right side of history”). She is the equivalent of the schoolyard bully who strikes the first blow and then calls a teacher’s attention to any retaliation.
One other thing strikes me about a major (but diminishing) news organization offering a blog to someone with so few accomplishments (save her one book in which she impugned straw-man Biblical interpretations). They are both adherents of the same religion: liberalism.
Comment by Bob Brooke on April 7, 2014 at 11:48 am
It still basically gets down to loving the sinner, but hating the sin. Doesn’t it?
Comment by Pudentiana on April 7, 2014 at 12:57 pm
A point well-taken. The dishonesty of posers like Held-Evans is obvious. They are the only ones deceived.
Comment by Scott on April 8, 2014 at 8:09 am
The point is that the funding being revoked was for specific kids around the world. You sponsor an actual child and the support being pulled was from that child who had no say in World Vision’s employment policies.
“Sorry little one, I know I’ve been sponsoring you’d or years and I have written you letters tell long you how much I care about you, but you see I can’t sponsor you anymore. Not because I don’t have the money but because World Vision decided(temporarily) to employee gay people. Good luck with your future endeavors!”
Comment by Shane Locklear on April 13, 2014 at 3:34 am
No one wants to see children suffer, but people who pull that card miss the larger issue. People gave to World Vision because they believed they were not simply giving to a charity. They thought World Vision was committed to Christian outreach. World Vision’s actions demonstrated that it was not committed to the truth of God’s word and therefore was less than Christian.
If anyone is to blame for the suffering of individual children, it is World Vision’s leaders who in their arrogance thought they could compromise with the culture and get away with it. Actions have consequences. Christians have a right to give their charitable contributions to organizations that are not propagating false doctrine and destructive lies.