You Can't Choose Just One

I am grieving today. The called General Conference meeting in St. Louis, in a deeply divided vote (53% to 46%), officially affirmed its position against homosexuality, declaring it incompatible with biblical teaching and strengthening the consequences for those clergy who violate the Book of Discipline by performing same-sex marriages. The One Church Plan (that removed the language in the Book of Discipline about homosexuality) was voted down on Monday. The Traditional Plan was adopted today by the same margin. In addition to maintaining the current language and restrictions in The Discipline, the Traditional Plan strengthens the punishment for clergy and/or congregations that violate the Discipline by performing same-sex marriages. This plan also encourages individuals and churches who cannot agree with the position to leave the denomination.

In these decisions, The UMC has selected a specific sin to condemn and a specific group to exclude. My question: what is the next sin to be targeted for condemnation? What is the next group to be excluded? You see, you can't choose just one sin to condemn.

(Interestingly, an amendment was offered that, along with homosexuality, would add "divorce, polygamy, and remarriage" to the list of sins that were not compatible with biblical teaching. The amendment was made in an effort to underscore the hypocrisy of selecting one sin to condemn. The amendment was defeat.)

I know the argument: "But the Bible condemns homosexuality!" That argument was made at the Conference and used to celebrate the affirmation of the Traditional Plan. Yes, there are five texts in the Bible that specifically forbid the practice of homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:8-10). But homosexuality is not the only sin mentioned in the Bible or in those texts. (Did you know that the book of Leviticus forbids the oppression of the alien? We are commanded to love the alien as ourselves just as we are to love our neighbor as ourselves! And that command is in the same chapter that prohibits homosexuality! Check it out: Leviticus 20:33-34. But I digress.) So why target this specific sin to condemn? Why ignore the others? And did you notice that we have no record of Jesus ever addressing, much less condemning, homosexuality?

If we are going to choose sins to condemn, why not target the sins Jesus specifically addressed? Jesus talked about judging and condemning (Luke 6:37), about the log in our own eye (Luke 6:41-42), about the lack of justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23), about greed and amassing material wealth (Luke 12:13-21), about worry over material things (Luke 12: 22-34), about self-indulgence that blinds us to and makes us indifferent to the poor at our doorstep (Luke 16:19-31), about caring more about the law and traditions than about meeting the needs of people (Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6), about caring for the poor and powerless (Matthew 25:31-46). Why not choose one of these sins to target? Why not choose to exclude those who are guilty of these sins?

Do we really want to go down this road? Do we really want to start singling out sins to condemn, people to exclude? Where will such a road lead us? As I see it, this road leads us to live out of a spirit of judging and condemning, to bartering acceptance in exchange for conformity, to a self-righteous, arrogant spirit that feels better than "those people," to a lack of self-awareness that is blind to the condition of our own heart. It leads us to focus on morality rather than spiritual maturity, on purity rather than spiritual progress, on behavior rather than the heart, on the external rather than the internal, on law rather than love, on judgment rather than grace. It leads us to the very things that Jesus challenged in the religious culture of his day!

Jesus' teaching is clear: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). Love, not the condemnation of a particular sin, is the distinguishing mark of the followers of Jesus. It seems to me that, in choosing to condemn homosexuality as a sin, The UMC has chosen to be known by what it condemns rather than by whom it loves. It has chosen to be a moral policeman rather than a bearer of the good news of God's grace. The Apostle Paul proclaimed the good news this way: "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The UMC has placed an * by that great text: * that is, unless you are a homosexual.

I wonder, how many more *'s will The UMC place beside the good news? What will be the next sin that is targeted for condemnation, the next group that will be excluded?  Because, you see, you cannot choose just one.

It seems to me that we (The UMC) were arguing over the wrong issue. The real issue was about how to deal with sin ... homosexuality or any of those others that the Bible mentions. We can deal with sin with judgment and condemnation OR with grace and forgiveness, but not both. My understanding is that God deals with our sin with grace and forgiveness. It seems to me that's what Jesus lived and taught. But it appears that The UMC has chosen to use judgment and condemnation to deal with sin. And so I grieve.

Which brings me back to my original question: which sin will be targeted next, which group excluded? Because, you see, you can't choose just one sin to condemn.