Graham, Campolo: opposite directions on gays
Published June 9, 2015
by Doug Clark, Off the Record, Greensboro News-Record, June 8, 2015.
Two of our country's best-known evangelists are moving in opposite directions on a highly contested social issue.
"Franklin Graham is calling on Christians to boycott gay-friendly corporations," The Charlotte Observer reports. "And he says he’s doing his part by moving all the bank accounts for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association out of Wells Fargo because of its ad featuring a lesbian couple."
Then there's this:
"It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church," Tony Campolo writes today on his blog.
I know how difficult this subject is for Christians ... but I can't agree with Graham's call for a boycott.
(The Observer says he did so on his Facebook page; if so, the post has been removed.)
I'm not keen on boycotts in general unless there's a very clear moral or political objective and the boycott punishes behavior that injures. The Montgomery bus boycott is a perfect example.
Boycotting a bank for being gay-friendly confuses me. Shouldn't a bank be friendly to all its customers?
I guess the fault regarding Wells Fargo was advertising the fact instead of just being quietly gay-friendly.
“Let’s just stop doing business with those who promote sin and stand against Almighty God’s laws and His standards," Graham wrote.
I found the ad rather touching and tasteful. It shows two women preparing to become "mommies" to a special-needs child.
Graham's statement about people or corporations that stand against God's laws and standards provides a harsh contrast to Campolo's explanation:
"One reason I am changing my position on this issue is that, through (wife) Peggy, I have come to know so many gay Christian couples whose relationships work in much the same way as our own. Our friendships with these couples have helped me understand how important it is for the exclusion and disapproval of their unions by the Christian community to end. We in the Church should actively support such families. Furthermore, we should be doing all we can to reach, comfort and include all those precious children of God who have been wrongly led to believe that they are mistakes or just not good enough for God, simply because they are not straight."
Campolo's full statement is worth reading, and I will consider it very seriously as I struggle with this issue in the light of my Christian faith.
Graham's I can dismiss outright. It doesn't speak to me or for me. I don't want to be so judgmental.
I also recognize that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Franklin Graham's aid organization Samaritan's Purse do great work in the world in the name of Jesus Christ and are worthy of support.
One thing we all know as Christians is that we are not perfect, and discerning God's will is a lifetime's work.
June 9, 2015 at 2:44 pm
Bobby Poon says:
Franklin Graham should start his own bank which I predict will grow enormously with deposits from Christians.
