Month: July 2023

Walking in the Truth (and through disaffiliation)

I gave a presentation – similar to the one in the previous post “Can You Imagine?” A Stay UMC Presentation– and someone still asked, “why does the UMC no longer stand on the truth of scripture?” I have written about the scripture passages in question. Here I want to take a deeper dive into the concept of truth.

The Greek word for Truth is the word “Alethia.” It means to “un-cover” or “reveal” what is real, good, and life-giving. In the scriptures, the term gospel is used to define truth (Gal 2:5, 2:14, Eph 1:13, Col 1:5).  We also hear that Christ, as the Word made flesh, is truth (John 1:14; 17:17).  Christ reveals and illuminates the ways of God.

Then we are called to act; we are called to walk in this truth (II John 1:1-4; III John 1:3).To walk in truth is to have an undivided heart (Ps 86:11).  To walk in truth is to seek justice and peace (Is 59:1-21). To walk in the truth is to “love one another” (II John 3-5; I Pet 1:22).  And we know what this love looks like.  It is patient, kind, and humble.  It does not insist on its own way. To practice faith with these virtues is to “rejoice in truth” (I Cor 13:4-8. See also Eph 4:1-3 and Col 3:12-17).

We read that truth is the sum of God’s law and word which leads us to how Jesus summarized all the law and the prophets, by calling us to love God and to love our neighbor as a part of ourselves (See Psalm 119:142,160; Matt 22:40).  Likewise, Paul summarized the law with the phrase “love your neighbor” (Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).  And James calls this the “royal law” (Jam 2:8). It is the law through which we interpret all action and all scripture, as Wesley reminded us, leading us into truth (See also I John 3:18; 4:7-8; II John 1:3).

If truth illuminates and reveals, its opposite conceals and hides. The opposite of truth is found in injustice, human judgment, and showing partiality (Rom 2:1-11; Jam 3:13-18). Truth is concealed when we expect others to live by a double standard beyond the values of faithfulness and love to which we are all called. Truth is hidden by our judgments, often based on criteria that keeps us from considering another’s calling, character, and commitment to Christ.  Truth is obscured when we let parties and positions take precedence over royal law to which we are all called. And note that the word “party” is built on the word “part.” Working to make the “part” the “whole” is among the most destructive things we can do. Truth is found in the whole where we are able to honor one another and learn how to love more fully.

As we walk in the truth there are many danger signs along the way. We are warned about hypocrisy, which means to hide behind a mask. The very word is the opposite of truth (Matthew 7:1-5; 23:27-29; James 3:13-18). We are warned of the falsehood of imagining that godliness is a means of gain (I Tim 6:5). We are warned of all who distort truth in order to get others to follow them (Acts 20:30). We are warned about “deceitful spirits” and the “hypocrisy of liars” (I Tim 4:1-5).  The examples given are those who “forbid marriage” for some and then “abstain from certain foods” as judgment on others.  On a positive note, we are told the truth in this passage – “that everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving and sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.” For all who truly believe in a living God, take heed!

Walking in the truth starts with self-examination (Psalm 51:6; Matt 7:1-5; II Cor 13:5-10).  We all have our biases. None of us see the whole on our own. We all engage in what is unnatural for us, used by Paul as an illustration, not as a justification for judgement. We all exchange the truth for lies in some way — through injustice, envy, covetousness, malice, deceit, strife, gossip, boastfulness, and more. If we judge others we condemn ourselves. To believe that we have escaped the judgment of God is to believe that we are above the riches of God’s kindness, patience, and love for us. This is Paul’s point (Romans 1:24-2:4, for more see Wesley on Human Sexuality (and his commentary on often cited verses). This is why WE need truth – not only that THEY need truth!

Our calling, as the church, is to speak the truth/the gospel/the Word-made-flesh in love, so that we all might “grow up in every way into the one who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together, with each part working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love (Eph 4:1-32).  That is truth!  

May we all experience the joy and freedom that comes when we walk with “Spirit of Truth” (John 8:32; 16:13; I Cor 17-18; Gal 5:1).  Let us join together on this path that leads to life.

“Can You Imagine?” A Stay UMC Presentation

I’ve been the speaker at several meetings within the discernment process on disaffiliation. Here is a written version of a new presentation, inviting people into a vision of what the UMC is and can be. It is centered around questions that start with “Can you imagine…?  

“Can you imagine being a part of a church that is built around core doctrines that connect us to the holy catholic or universal church, while at the same time, invites us all to “think and let think” around concerns that do not strike at the foundations of our faith?”

There are 30,000+ United Methodist pastors in the US. We keep hearing about a handful of examples of those who have stood at the edges of theological interpretation in some way. The vast majority of us fall within a broad middle with a shared commitment to the historic orthodox faith of the church and have given our lives to sharing this faith. It is a lie – an official fallacy – to take isolated examples and to generalize those to include others. That is wrong. It does not build up the Body of Christ. And this is not to say that some of these perspectives are wrong; it is to say that they do not necessarily reflect the whole or that you must affirm them. That’s not who we are.

The United Methodist Church stands rooted in the historic and core doctrines of the holy catholic church, and in this rootedness, we honor the perspectives and interpretations that grow out of this shared faith. We “think and let think,” to use Wesley’s language, trusting that the Holy Spirit is at work among us to keep us centered as a whole and aligned to God’s will, while also trusting that sometimes this work of the Holy Spirit is a call to appreciate the spirit of those who are serving on the edges.  It might be that perspectives from the edges of doctrinal interpretation serve a valuable purpose. Such perspectives can help to keep us all humble and growing. And to be clear, such perspectives will always be found within the larger church. Disaffiliation will not stop that. In this light, perhaps what we need is more spiritual courage to honor those who think differently and to spend less energy trying to shut them out. The energy being put into excluding and dividing through this process is so spiritually damaging, in my opinion – to the church, to our witness, and to our own souls.    

“Can you imagine a church that makes room for all and invites all into a life of faithfulness and love?” 

As United Methodist Christians, we have a history of honoring diversity within the Body of Christ. We see this as a blessing. Since we are here to talk about disaffiliation over matters of human sexuality, and since this is the only legitimate reason for disaffiliation right now, I want to share my perspective, and ask you to discern if we can still be in communion together, even if you have a different perspective.  That is a key question. I start by saying that I do not understand matters of sexual orientation and identity. I believe we need to approach this topic with a lot more humility and less judgment.  I also believe that we need to focus more on the things that we can all affirm as a community of faith. We can affirm values that we know are life-giving for all – monogamy, faithfulness, commitment, and the virtues summed up with the word love. This is a perspective deeply rooted in scripture.

And when it comes to assessing who can be a leader in the church, I stand with those who want to focus on calling and character, rather than making blanket judgements around personal identity that would keep us from even considering one’s calling and character. Setting up double standards like this falls short of faithfulness, in my opinion. (And I’ve written more on this scriptural connection. If you want more see my post of Wesley and Human Sexuality, Parts 1 and 2).

I also want to say that disaffiliation will not bring an end to this debate.  I had a conversation recently with something committed to disaffiliation and joining the GMC. This person was in a church where the music director was gay. This person wanting to disaffiliate loved this music director and genuinely appreciated his giftedness and the spirit he brought to worship. I pointed out that, in the GMC, a gay person who wanted to live in a faithful relationship with another and grow in God’s love through that relationship, could not work in a church, even as a lay person. That would be grounds for dismissal.

That’s just one example. I also want to let you know that recently I had a Baptist pastor and then a Church of Christ pastor come to me and say that the same questions are surfacing in their congregations and they both said, in different ways, how much they admired the UMC because we could talk about it.  Being able to struggle through this together in love was seen as a good thing.

“Can you imagine a church that honors the call to hold one another in love, with patience, gentleness, and humility, being eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace?” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

The Apostle Paul begs us to live our lives in the light of this calling. We are called to a higher unity, represented by something more than uniformity of opinion. Our unity is to be rooted in a holy love that is patient and kind. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, as the scripture says. That is a needed word for us in the midst of this discernment. In an environment or bubble where all think the same, there is less of an opportunity to practice these virtues. From a spiritual standpoint, we would miss out on a central need for us to be shaped in the image of Christ.

In a letter from the Council of Bishop around this tension, we read: “We cannot be a traditional church or a progressive church or a centrist church…Our churches must be more than echo chambers made in our own image arguing with each other while neglecting our central purpose.”

And, then we read, “Instead, we must be one people, rooted in scripture, centered in Christ, serving in love, and united in the essential [of our shared faith].” I love that and think that it is worthy of our commitment. Giving this witness would truly glorify God. And note – this is an official word from our leaders.

And to be clear, and in light of key scriptures like this, there will not be a time when any congregation will be “forced” to do something against what they believe is right. That is just not who we are.  Some of us are asking, however, that the church give the freedom to engage in ministry as we feel so led, when it comes to these matters, just as we give this freedom in so many ways.  We do want to be transparent about this hope.  

“Can you imagine a church where clergy and congregations covenant together to hold all property in trust for the purpose of serving a larger mission that is bigger than any of us?”  

There is this idea, deep in our culture, that we should own our own property and “control our own destiny.”  In response to this, I want to affirm our calling to be in covenant together to share the gospel as United Methodist congregations. I like knowing that I can go to any United Methodist Church and say, “That’s my church.” “I am a part of this community of faith.”  “We share in ministry together.” 

Together, we have built a global church that makes such a difference in the world. We can think of UMCOR, Global Ministries, United Methodist Women (now United Women in Faith), United Methodist Men, Africa University, Discipleship Ministries, World Class Seminaries, Colleges, Camps, Retreat Centers, and Hospitals just to name a few. Let’s build this witness rather than tear it down.   

To divorce yourself from this will raise more questions, not less. In one conversation like this, someone said, “But we would still be methodist, right? Just not United? I had to tell her that the church would have to decide at that point who you were and what you believed and what your policies would be and how you would secure pastoral leadership and so forth. Would you practice open communion? What liturgy and hymns would you use? The questions that will need to be answered will be endless. It is a good thing, in my opinion, to be rooted in the larger church where some direction can be given, where there is a foundation upon which to build, and one that gives you a lot of freedom to respond to your calling and community needs. You may not get that same freedom in another denomination. You may agree with a stance in one area, but what about the next one or when the next generation has a different view?  

“Can you imagine being a part of this Christ-led witness?”

I could go on… with thoughts about Scripture, Doctrine, General Conference, Seminaries…And I have written about many of these topics…But I want to end this formal part of the presentation by asking again: Can you imagine being a part of a church where we are one people, rooted in scripture, centered in Christ, serving in love, and united in the essentials of our shared faith.  Can we rise up to this higher calling and indeed give this good witness to the world – a witness of unity rather than divorce and division, a witness of understanding and care for one another rather than insisting on our own way? Can you imagine continuing to be a part of that kind of witness? You are invited to join the multitudes of us who want to make this light shine, believing that God is calling us into this work. Can you imagine?