Like many of you, I have been grieving the present conflict within the United Methodist Church. While I am very thankful for the result of yesterday’s vote, my heart breaks that such a matter had to come to the floor of a national meeting.
I am not a member of the United Methodist Church. Therefore, I want to be careful when speaking about another family. However, even if you are not a Catholic or Southern Baptist and observe ungodly actions, then you should speak into their matters. Such is the way of all Kingdom citizens as a part of the universal Body of Christ.
Speaking on NPR this morning, Kenneth Carter, president of the Council of Bishops, noted that the bishops were disappointed with yesterday’s result. He was quick to add that he hoped that the Church would rediscover the grace of God through Jesus when it comes to loving our neighbor. He also noted that the LGBT issue is a contextual issue. He shared that within the States there is strong support for homosexual practices, but United Methodist Church membership is not limited to the United States. The Majority World Church has been clear on the matter of biblical fidelity regarding homosexual issues.
When asked about the churches that are likely to leave the denomination, Bishop Carter stated that they are stronger together. The conclusion: it would not be good for a group to breakaway.
The language I heard this morning is extremely disturbing, but not surprising. The United Methodist Church’s present state did not occur overnight. A century or so of embracing higher critical studies that berated and decimated large portions of the Scriptures left a denomination with little theological foundation on which to stand. Those who fail to hear the words of the Lord and obey them are foolish and build upon a foundation of sand (Matt 7:24-27). The result is a moral relativism that becomes the determining factor for ethics. And when the winds of socio-cultural change blow, the sands of foundation shift once again and so do the practices.
Bishop Carter’s language of the LGBT matter being a contextual issue is extremely troubling. Missiologists call such practice syncretism and accommodation. This is not a contextual matter. This is not contextualization. It is a blatant move away from the truth of God in the name of culture and compromise. There comes a time when the language of rediscover is a cloak for the new ethic grounded on a new sandy beach. Loving one another sometimes means we have to love each other so much that you have to say that I am wrong. That is not the language of hate; that is the language of love in the Kingdom.
I am so thankful for my brothers and sisters (especially those from the Majority World) who made it clear they are not fools and would rather stand with God than anyone else. Many of us in the West are the fools. For 200 years Protestants went to the Majority World and taught them to rely on the Word of God. Thankfully they followed our lead then, now they are setting an example for us. Continue on my brothers and sisters! Continue on in the spirit of Wesley and Asbury!
The present state of the United Methodist Church did not happen overnight. There is a great deal of hurt, anger, and grief on all sides. There is no easy way forward for anyone in the Church.
This morning I read the following from 2 Timothy 2:24-26:
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will (ESV).
Let us watch our own lives and examine our churches. Syncretism and accommodation are found within all of us. To what degree are these within our beliefs and practices? Are we always looking to repent when the Word, Spirit, and yes, other brothers and sisters extend a loving rebuke? We must always be reforming as we are being transformed.
Let us be like the Lord’s gentle servant described in this passage, rather than take a hostile and quarrelsome approach to the United Methodist Church. And let us pray that God may grant them repentance, knowledge of the truth, and that they may escape the clutches of the devil.