Giving Up

I joined my company’s Giving Committee in January. I thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved and help decide where Val is going to give her monies. As a group, we are the company's decision-makers as it relates to philanthropic donations.
There are rules with how we distribute charity, however. Here are a few:
1.) No religious affiliation, although I can’t find this written anywhere…it was definitely discussed and has come up in our meetings.
2.) 80/20 rule: 80% of funds donated must go directly the services the charity provides; only 20% can go toward overhead, staff salaries, etc.
3.) We all have to vote on the charity and agree as a team.

The Giving Committee has offered so much support to global and local organizations. I’m happy that the company I work for cares enough to give back to the community. But today, something happened that really shook me awake and forced me to take a look at what I believe.

Background info: I rarely take a stand on stuff. Everyone is going to have their own opinions anyway…why bother? When it comes to Christianity versus everyone else, I’m getting better at speaking up and discerning truth for others to hear. God uses me to speak for Him…not like a prophet but as a missionary. So, I’ve learned and am still learning how to be in the world but not of the world. My own personal opinions might be to disagree on certain issues but I’ve decided to trust Christ on them. So here we go (and I’m a little nervous to write all of this…please believe me, I’m not a hater).

It was the diversity sector’s turn to speak and the motion came to donate $500 to Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community. I immediately felt uncomfortable. The vote came and I said nothing: neither aye or nay. The motion passed without hesitation. I was shocked to see, right in front of my face, the way things have changed. If it had been my turn and I asked to donate $500 to Worldvision, I would have been turned down because of the religious affiliation. Throw God out. Nullify Him.

I felt sick when I left the meeting. I decided right then and there I was done with the committee (there were some other things going on as well). My buddy Dave, also a Christian brother and member of the committee, sent me an e-mail. He said, “I most certainly did not picture myself giving consent, though no ‘aye’ crossed my lips, to giving $500.00 to people who want to disobey the word of God. I don’t know… Am I being irrational? I thought as a committee we were avoiding charities involving ‘religion’, but sexual preference is evidently the order of the day! Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy here?”

I did some more research on this organization. Irony here: when I typed Affirmation into Yahoo, it mostly came back with Christian Affirmations. There was one little website though that stuck out. Here is more info:

OUR VISION
Affirmations is the hub of the community. We celebrate wellness, personal growth and development, centered in a state of the art, multi-use facility that is financially secure. (sounds really nice)

OUR MISSION
To provide a welcoming place to everyday people, where they can have fun, learn, socialize, grow, be supported and find acceptance. (Great idea!)

OUR PHILOSOPHY
Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center was founded on the philosophy that "gay is good, you are not alone." This philosophy has expanded to include bisexual and transgender individuals in addition to lesbians and gay men. Affirmations strives to create an atmosphere of safety and acceptance for all people. Our focus is on helping lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals find and develop community where we value and respect our selves and others. Through training in the basic operations of the center, listening, communication, empathy, problem solving, facilitation, and other appropriate skills, interested and dedicated individuals can successfully volunteer at Affirmations. (Whoa, whoa, whoa…)

I want to be very careful here. I am not hating on homosexuals. I have friends who are gay. I love them. We have fun together. But the moment we start discussing sexuality is the moment I have to be real honest: I love you, but I hate the sin. Want to talk about my sin areas and how much God still loves me? Let’s. But if you are a Christ follower, I have to hold you up to the same standard I live under. Bottom line is I just can’t support a place that promotes “gay is good.” I do want people to feel good and comfortable with themselves but….I don’t know. It is just so PC to support homosexuality these days. We are distinguishing differences in each other based on our sexuality. Guess what: I like males! I do not have stickers, t-shirts, support groups, dinners and parades to announce this to the world. Then again, this is acceptable, but being gay is becoming equally acceptable…and if you don’t support it, you’re a hater.
Again, I’m not saying their lifestyle is easy. Maybe God doesn’t want it to be. I don’t know. We definitely need to stop the bashing but what about a different kind of support group…one that takes people in, gives them a home, shows them God’s love…but doesn’t necessarily support what they are doing? Do such places exist? What are we doing as Christians to help in this area? What I see is Satan winning in corporate America.

I know, I know. A little too serious for the blogging world, right? Go ahead and beat me up.

'Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.' Peter