As RHE put it,

This whole situation has left me feeling frustrated, heartbroken, and lost. I don’t think I’ve ever been more angry at the Church, particularly the evangelical culture in which I was raised and with which I for so long identified. I confess I had not realized the true extent of the disdain evangelicals have for our LGBT people, nor had I expected World Vision to yield to that disdain by reversing its decision under pressure. Honestly, it feels like a betrayal from every side.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/march-web-only/world-vision-why-hiring-gay-christians-same-sex-marriage.html

When Christians made all tons of hoopla, there by RHE that shows a response to Evangelical responses: http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/world-vision

That’s not why I’m upset, though. This is: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/march-web-only/world-vision-reverses-decision-gay-same-sex-marriage.html

Put a fork in me, I’m done.

This is why this matters:
When Chick-Fil-A, Hobby Lobby, and Duck Dynasty, and even World Vision made stances, I supported them. I thought, “Here is a company making a decision from their moral and spiritual compass.” We don’t see this happen much, especially from a religious standpoint. I love our freedom to exercise our faith freely, and I thought that although at times those companies said things a little ignorantly, they had what they believed together. This is important to me.

With World Vision, they didn’t do it from a deep conviction. Nope, they overturned it the same day the Evangelical world got crazy about it. They buckled under pressure and instead of standing their ground, or leaving it up to local churches to decide, they end up making a policy and statement that wasn’t there to begin with.

This isn’t about whether you agree with homosexuality or gay marriage or not. Regardless of what our culture of false dichotomies teaches us, you can be a both/and on this.

This is about treating people fairly. Standing your ground. Not making decisions hastily.

As a girl who LOVES World Vision, this is outright frustrating. I could have continued to host events and sponsor other projects if they were one or the other, honestly. But this shows a character trait I despise: Flakiness. Inconsistency. Lack of corporate judgement and discernment.

And I’m not the only Millennial who is hurt by this. We are watching and either being extremely hurt by the inconsistency, or learning that we can be a culture of hypocrisy and inconsistency. The God I serve is a god of neither.

And maybe they heard the criticism and genuinely changed their mind? Is that not okay? Of course it is. But before you publicize a decision that may be controversial (and every side of this debate is), don’t you consult your inner circle first? This way has done FAR more damage. It seems almost like a hoax.

And of course, as RHE points out, I don’t think people should drop their sponsorships. Those children shouldn’t have a change of support just because WV is acting looney right now.

I also suspect that, with how hard everyone is coming down on them, that they are feeling as guilty and dirty as I feel FOR them. And that’s humbling-we’ve all done jank like this.

Blech. I need to go think. And I encourage you to as well. I’m hurting, yet reminded of a God who was still able to use ME even when I had lapses of judgement.