A video post by Bishop Scott Jones sparked these thoughts. Are we really at a crossroads? What if we used another paradigm to frame the issues before us– say, a “crosspoint,” where we asked ourselves: What is at the core of the “extreme center?” What connects us into one faith and one love? What light reflects outwards touching all sides? The crossroads paradigm creates an either/or dichotomy and cultivates division. It sees division as inevitable. Perhaps we need to step back and look through a different lens – or repent to use another word – and find a more faithful path. There must be a better way and must be leaders willing to guide us.
It is natural that the crossroads image would lead to calls to take the “road less traveled” – and to be among the truly righteous. What if we reframed this with Jesus’ image of the narrow way? Building upon Wesley’s sermon on this passage, the wide and easy way is the way of division, contention, power, and judgment. The narrow way is the way of humility and mercy. It is the way of “ordering conversations aright,” and thus working for unity in the bonds of peace. What if we were focused on how to do that well? In a paradoxical twist, Wesley defines the wide way with having a “narrowness of spirit.” By contrast, the narrow way of Christ leads to a wideness of spirit – perhaps so wide that we all might be able to find a place and where all might rejoice that others have found a place as well. What if we focused our witness around that vision?
Wesley once asked, “How can we bear the name of the Prince of Peace and wage war with each other – “party against party,” faction against faction!” This happens when we are “drunk with the blood of the saints.” In this state, we allow contention and malice to drive us, “even where [we] agree in essentials, and only differ in opinions, or in the circumstantials of religion!” Our true calling, says Wesley, is to “follow after only [his emphasis] the things that make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Anything other than this is to “devote each other to the nethermost hell.”
It is sad to hear a leader among us say that there is no win/win possibility. That is only true if we have totally shut God out or if God has taken away all anointing from us. There could be a “win/win” if we were to come together around the values that we want to promote. We could name them and agree – monogamy, faithfulness, relationships that cultivate patience, kindness, humility, forgiveness and love. There could certainly be a win/win for all who acknowledge that there are faithful people and faithful interpretations of scripture that differ from others, but who still want to be in communion together. Does God really want us to divorce into like-minded camps around one issue?
Looking through a different lens, I see a glimmer of hope in the One Church Plan. This plan calls us to a higher unity. I do not believe it is fair to pollute the plan with the “slippery slope” argument. The same doubt-casting spin could be placed on any plan, in any direction. This plan does not represent a “decisive turning point” toward a particular outcome. That is an unfair characterization. The plan actually protects those who do not want to move in the direction of the supposedly telegraphed destination. It is true that the One Church Plan will not end the conflict, but what plan will? Looking at this through a different frame, this issue is not going away because God has given us an opportunity to figure out how to love one another, and we have yet to acknowledge what God wants from us and for us. We cannot take this path while blinded by the bias that characterizes only those on one side as engaging in disruption until the “other side” changes or leaves. I am holding out for the possibility that we can do so much better. By the grace of God, I trust that a win/win solution is possible. And yes, we need to pray hard.
Connected In Christ 