Pentecostal leader no longer agrees to be civil
In March 2009, Sojourners (a group of “Christians for justice and peace”) released A Covenant For Civility, an attempt to get Christians everywhere to commit to a more gracious level of interaction with others—especially those with whom we might disagree. Many prominent leaders have signed the covenant. Saturday one of them backed out.
Dr. George Wood, the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, signed the covenant at the National Association of Evangelicals meeting, and has now decided he doesn’t want to be associated with the others who have signed the agreement. Juleen Turnage, spokeswoman for the Assemblies of God, said “The problem is the tent that has grown so large on the signatures of this that are including people who are supportive of gay marriage and abortion rights.”
There is nothing in the covenant that says signatories will agree with each other on all points, nor that they will stop speaking out on their own beliefs. Its purpose is simply to stop the name-calling and infighting that divides the Christian church and gives nonChristians good reason to laugh at us. It’s content can be summarized as, “We won’t agree on everything, but we will handle our disagreements with integrity and respect for the cause of Christ.”
In a shocking move, Dr. Wood has decided that he cannot commit to being civil to those whose view on gay marriage and abortion rights differ from his own. Wood is quoted as saying, “I do not want my name or the Assemblies of God to be associated with persons who claim to be in the Body of Christ yet reject the moral teachings of Scripture,”
The covenant says nothing about agreeing with them, or accepting their viewpoint. It simply says that the disagreement will be handled in a civil way—and he cannot agree to that. Quoting from the covenant’s introduction, “Too often we have reflected the political divisions of our culture rather than the unity we have in the body of Christ.” Sadly, they’re right.
