No Future for the UMC?
I recently read a post about the pending demise of the United Methodist Church (on the Thoughtful Pastor blog). In it, the author said that there is no future for the UMC due to the inevitable split between the conservative arm and the Reconciling Movement over the language in the UMC Book of Discipline over homosexuality.
It was a pretty compelling piece, and a frightening one because what it represents is the acknowledgment that the far right and far left will tear the middle out for the sake of ideology. The far, far right are using words like "cleanse" and "heresy" when talking about this issue. The far, far left are using words like "openness" and "inclusive." The issue of homosexuality, while addressed in the Bible, is not one that is spelled out as clearly as either side would like for it to be. There are clearly passages that condemn it, and there are passages that condemn a particular understanding of it, and then there are passages that are not speaking about it at all, even though they get quoted quite a bit. But those passages have become so trampled that they have almost become secondary to the opinions of those on the various "sides" vying for control of the denominational attitude.
And so it may be that the UMC breaks apart. It has happened before, not only in our denomination over other issues, but among other denominations over the issue of homosexuality specifically.
But that reflects a lot of what is going on in the country - not necessarily about homosexuality, but seeing the elements of the far sides of issues pulling us into places where the middle ceases to exist and we become polarized to the point that we develop our own news agencies and publications (the UMC has their own polarized publishing issues too) to broadcast what we believe rather than pushing us to consider the opinions of others. Perhaps I am too naive. Maybe we have heard the sides for so long that we can't hear them any more. Just droning in the background as pastors try to forge relationships in the ministerial settings while the talking heads for the extremes use rhetoric to foster animosity.
Amid the droning, the Gospel becomes lost.
And then we find ourselves broken and in the vacuum of brokenness, the agents of hate have a great opportunity to sweep in and drive off all those who aren't pure. Pogrom, cleansing, inquisition, righteousness, excommunication, reformation. Words that we might be hearing again except not in the context of history.
I don't know if the UMC will actually split, divide, disintegrate, or fall into apathetic dissolution or disillusion. But our infighting is very much like two parents on the verge of a divorce. They see the immediate issues and come out swinging, but the children watching from the doorway only see something good going bad. We may split, but what I fear is that if we do or if we don't, we may have already done too much damage to ourselves. And healing takes a long, long time.
It was a pretty compelling piece, and a frightening one because what it represents is the acknowledgment that the far right and far left will tear the middle out for the sake of ideology. The far, far right are using words like "cleanse" and "heresy" when talking about this issue. The far, far left are using words like "openness" and "inclusive." The issue of homosexuality, while addressed in the Bible, is not one that is spelled out as clearly as either side would like for it to be. There are clearly passages that condemn it, and there are passages that condemn a particular understanding of it, and then there are passages that are not speaking about it at all, even though they get quoted quite a bit. But those passages have become so trampled that they have almost become secondary to the opinions of those on the various "sides" vying for control of the denominational attitude.
And so it may be that the UMC breaks apart. It has happened before, not only in our denomination over other issues, but among other denominations over the issue of homosexuality specifically.
But that reflects a lot of what is going on in the country - not necessarily about homosexuality, but seeing the elements of the far sides of issues pulling us into places where the middle ceases to exist and we become polarized to the point that we develop our own news agencies and publications (the UMC has their own polarized publishing issues too) to broadcast what we believe rather than pushing us to consider the opinions of others. Perhaps I am too naive. Maybe we have heard the sides for so long that we can't hear them any more. Just droning in the background as pastors try to forge relationships in the ministerial settings while the talking heads for the extremes use rhetoric to foster animosity.
Amid the droning, the Gospel becomes lost.
And then we find ourselves broken and in the vacuum of brokenness, the agents of hate have a great opportunity to sweep in and drive off all those who aren't pure. Pogrom, cleansing, inquisition, righteousness, excommunication, reformation. Words that we might be hearing again except not in the context of history.
I don't know if the UMC will actually split, divide, disintegrate, or fall into apathetic dissolution or disillusion. But our infighting is very much like two parents on the verge of a divorce. They see the immediate issues and come out swinging, but the children watching from the doorway only see something good going bad. We may split, but what I fear is that if we do or if we don't, we may have already done too much damage to ourselves. And healing takes a long, long time.
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