Splintering

The process of splintering is in play in The UMC. Many churches in the Central Texas Conference — 92 at the last report — have scheduled a church conference to vote on disaffiliating (i.e., withdrawing) from The UMC. Some have already voted to do so. Some of these churches are joining a new denomination that calls itself The Global Methodist Church; others are choosing to be Free Methodist or independent.

The issues driving the desire to disaffiliate are numerous, according to the people promoting the withdrawal. The presenting issue is the place and role of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the church. Those who are withdrawing view and condemn the gay lifestyle as sin, quoting the Bible in support of their view. They want to protect what they call the sanctity of marriage, reserving it for one man and one woman (not two men or two women). (These two positions are expressed in the early drafts of the GMC’s social principles.) In addition to the LGBTQ+ issue, a central accusation is those in The UMC do not believe the Bible.

In their attacks on The UMC, those who are withdrawing are misrepresenting The UMC in their arguments. They are like an angry spouse in the midst of an ugly divorce that can only see the worse in their ex, exaggerating their perceived faults and flaws to justify the divorce.

While those who are withdrawing from The UMC focus on issues (beliefs) as the justification for their leaving, the true differences — in my mind — are deeper. In a blog I wrote in 2018, I identified the deeper, underlying issues to the LGBTQ+ question.

·        What is the nature of scripture and how do we use it?

·        What is the distinguishing mark of a follower of Jesus?

·        What is the nature of the Christian life?

·        What guidance does the life, teachings, and ministry of Jesus offer us on these issues?

I still believe these deeper, unrecognized issues drive the desire to withdraw.

Perhaps the key difference in my mind is the issue of spirit — the inner disposition or attitudes out of which we live. It is an internal or heart issue rather than an external issue of beliefs.

In my mind, the spirit being expressed by those who are withdrawing is often one of condemnation and judgment toward The UMC. It is an arrogant “I’m right, you’re wrong” spirit. This spirit reflects black-and-white, either-or thinking that focuses on behavior. It leads to rejecting and excluding those who don’t think like we do. (In this perception, I may be guilty of the same kind of spirit.) This spirit reflects what the apostle Paul called “the flesh” — our innate, anxiety-driven nature that lives out of a self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit.

The spirit of Jesus stands in contrast to the spirit of the flesh. The spirit of Jesus is a servant spirit. It is expressed in grace and forgiveness, not condemnation and judgment. It embraces all as beloved children of God, particularly those the world excludes. It does not deal in rejecting and excluding. The servant spirit uses power on behalf of the other, not to control the other or force them to conform to “my way.”

The spirit of Jesus is reflected in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). There, the servant spirit of Jesus is identified as love. The Spirit empowers us to love as Jesus loved. The spirit of Jesus is one of inner joy and peace, not anxiety and fear, not angst and negativity. The spirit of Jesus is expressed in patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. I see little or none of these five traits in the accusations against The UMC.

In short, I see the splintering of The UMC as an expression of what Paul called the flesh. Just before Paul identified the fruit of the Spirit, he identified the works of the flesh. “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: . . . enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions” (Galatians 5:20).

The LGBTQ+ issue is not the real issue driving the splintering of The UMC.