“The gospel of Jesus Christ is not for sale, even among the poorest of us who have no money.”

Interesting discussion over at Amy Welborn’s about the seemingly-inevitable split in the Anglican Communion. 

Apparently the Episcopal bishop of Washington, John Chane, is now accusing the Nigerian Episcopal bishop Peter Akinola of focusing too much on sexuality and not enough on poverty.

I was most interested in a post by SiliconValleySteve, who mentioned an event from late 2003 that I had not ever heard about:

When the [Episcopal Church in the USA] tried to make nice with the Anglican Church of Uganda by promising some aid if they could send a delegation, Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo responded:

“Considering those things, we were shocked to receive a letter from you informing us of your decision to send a delegation to the enthronement of our new Archbishop in January, and your intention for the delegation to bring aid and assistance for the people who live in desperate conditions in the camps in Gulu that you have ignored for years.

Recent comments by your staff suggesting that your proposed visit demonstrates that normal relations with the Church of Uganda continue have made your message clear:

If we fall silent about what you have done—promoting unbiblical sexual immorality—and we overturn or ignore the decision to declare a severing of relationship with ECUSA, poor displaced persons will receive aid.

Here is our response:

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not for sale, even among the poorest of us who have no money. Eternal life, obedience to Jesus Christ, and conforming to his Word are more important.

The Word of God is clear that you have chosen a course of separation that leads to spiritual destruction. Because we love you, we cannot let that go unanswered. If your hearts remain hardened to what the Bible clearly teaches, and your ears remain deaf to the cries of other Christians, genuine love demands that we do not pretend that everything is normal…."

Go Archbishop Nkoyoyo! I wonder why I never read of this before?  It is simply stunning that an American church would offer monetary aid to an African one contingent upon the latter turning a blind eye to theological differences, to say the least.