(2/27/99)
“Young Life, an ecumenical Christian outreach ministry to youth, will be starting soon in North Kitsap.” This was an announcement in the February 27, 1999 Bremerton Sun.
I’ve known a number of people who came to the Lord through Young Life, which I praise God for. There are several people who I greatly respect who are involved with Young Life.
But is “ecumenical” a term that a follower of Jesus should want to use in these last days? Within the broad scope of Christendom, “Ecumenical” means a movement towards increasing ecclesiastical unity, where religious denominations negotiate mergers, until eventually all protestant denominations can unite with Roman Catholicism. The “vision” of ecumenicalism doesn’t stop there.
As the term and concept of “ecumenicalism” has infested evangelicalism, its meaning has been blurred. Many use it to mean, not organizational unity, but just a unity that crosses denominational boundaries. This sounds good on the surface, but it nearly always represents a unity at the expense of the truth; at the expense of sound doctrine (God’s Word).
It’s possible that the Young Life workers, who submitted the announcement to the Sun, simply meant that their organization was “non-denominational”. If that’s all they meant, then that is what they should say. To use the term “ecumenical” either shows an organization’s true colors, or, at the very least, serves to blur the distinctions in these perilous last days. (See Four Ways Christians are Being Deceived)
Return to Counterfeit Christianity