Exodus International, for many years the leading evangelical organization promoting "freedom from homosexuality," is closing its doors, reorganizing itself as "ReduceFear.org."
How should traditionalist Christians who have been supportive of and encouraged by the ministry, as well as the witness of Exodus, understand what has transpired? I have no special inside track to the inner workings of Exodus; I am not and have never been a member of the Exodus board of trustees or its leadership. But I have studied carefully the organization and some of its outcomes, and I have considered myself a collaborator for several decades.
Exodus explains its rationale by saying that "a new generation of Christians is looking for change"; that Exodus has "ceased to be a living, breathing organism [because it has been] imprisoned in a worldview that's neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical"; and because "God is calling us to … welcome everyone, to love unhindered." Exodus International president Alan Chambers also has issued a wide-ranging apology of his own and on behalf of Exodus.
Chambers's impassioned apology reflects many elements of appropriate maturation in the theological and practical vision of Exodus. But while apologies can reflect godly repentance, even well-meaning apologies sometimes can go awry. We can misjudge or overshoot in our apologies. As such, Chambers's statement reflects aspects of theological drift and a capitulation to a prevailing culture that is unbecoming to an organization grounded in scriptural truths.
What's right about Chambers's apology? Most importantly, Chambers apologizes on behalf of Exodus that ...
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