Update: World Vision Slams Door; Ejects Gays and Lesbians

Three cheers for World Vision! The Christian organization, which works to fight poverty, announced this week they would no longer prohibit open gays and lesbians from being employed. It is what we’d expect from followers of Jesus.

The lectionary reading this past Sunday was John 4:5-42. We find Jesus in this story doing the unexpected: talking with a Samaritan – and a woman at that. This broke all the social rules of the time but Jesus’ ministry broke down walls of exclusion in favor of inclusion. His was a ministry of reconciliation and justice.

World Vision president Richard Sterns told Christianity Today that the decision not to exclude gays and lesbians from the organization was "symbolic not of compromise but of [Christian] unity."

The motto of the United Church of Christ is: “That they may all be one.”

We need one another in this troubled world. In fact, we cannot survive without one another.

In the fight against poverty it should not matter if we are straight or gay. Because – and I say this from a place of deep faith – God’s creation is good. We are made in God’s image. We are beloved. That goes for us all regardless of our national heritage or sexual orientation or even religion.

Let’s end the culture wars and live out the Gospel teachings.

There Are No Strangers In God's House: A Homily on Matthew 25:31-46 by Rev. Chuck Currie from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.