Popular evangelist Franklin Graham has slammed Christian church officials for claiming that gendered terms such as “husband” and “wife” are “hurtful.”
Graham heads the Samaritan’s Purse worldwide Christian charity as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which his famous father started.
He has issued a fiery response to officials of the Methodist church in the United Kingdom over their “woke” agenda.
Methodist church officials are telling ministers that the words “husband” and “wife” are “offensive.”
Graham, online, wrote, “The Methodist Church in the United Kingdom has released its own ‘Inclusive Church Language Guide’ that urges ministers and church-goers to avoid using words such as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ (and more) because those terms can be ‘hurtful’ and ‘offensive.'”
“Shame on the Methodist Church,” he scolded.
“These are biblical terms—and marriage between a man and a woman is biblical truth.
“The word ‘wife’ is used in some 360 verses in 38 books of the Bible.”
“They are in essence trying to edit what the Word of God says and teaches to be more appealing to the changing whims of culture,” he explained.
“We are warned against that in Scripture.
“As Christians, we aren’t called to avoid what might offend people—we are called to share the Truth of God’s Word that can guide and direct us through every step of life.”
A report from the Western Journalexplains that ministers and parishioners are told to avoid “certain words on the basis that their usage makes ‘assumptions’ about one’s family life.”
The church claims:
“As Christians, we need to have the courage for conversations that can sometimes be difficult, to recognize that we sometimes exclude people, to listen with humility, to repent of any hurtful language or imagery, and to take care with how we listen and what we say, write or depict, in the Spirit of Christ.”
It explained the “infinite variety in the way that God’s creation is expressed in human life.
“Terminology such as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ may sound inoffensive, but it makes assumptions about a family or personal life that is not the reality for many people.”
The report noted, “Other terms such as ‘brothers and sisters’ are also unacceptable on the grounds that it ‘doesn’t take into account our nonbinary friends.'”
The church said, “You might consider using ‘siblings,’ ‘friends’ or ‘children of God’ instead.
“Similarly, using ‘he or she’ could be exclusive; ‘they’ is also accurate and acceptable.”
The statement explained the church organization wants to recognize the “harm” that has been done to “marginalized groups” by the church, and “make amends.”
The church also instructs on how to address topics of ageism, racism, immigration status, “Islamaphobia,” and more.
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