The Fatal Flaw Exposed

 The splintering that is taking place in The UMC exposes the fatal flaw in The UMC (and in most institutional churches in Western Christianity).

A fatal flaw is a weakness that causes the downfall and destruction of an endeavor or an individual or an institution or a business or a society.

The fatal flaw in The UMC is seen in the splintering. In last week’s blog, I argued that the splintering is an expression of what the apostle Paul called “the flesh” — our default, self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me, ego-centric nature. “The works of the flesh are obvious: enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy” (Galatians 5:20-21). The splintering in The UMC is full of enmities, strife, anger, quarrels, dissensions, and factions. It is fueled by our default human nature, i.e., the flesh. It is devoid of Spirit-led spirituality.

And therein lies the fatal flaw of The UMC (and of Western Christianity, in general). We have proclaimed and followed a theology that has not addressed our default human nature. It is a theology that does not lead to the transformation of heart and mind and life. It provides a religious veneer for our basic nature but fails to produce spiritual transformation, what Paul called a new creation in which “everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). In fact, the theology we proclaim and practice appeals to and strengthens the ego-centric self rather than calling us to die to it as Jesus taught (Mark 8:34). The theology we proclaim and practice does not require us to put off the old self and put on the new self by being made new in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9b-11; Romans 12:2).

The popular theology of Western Christianity (and in most UM churches) is focused on going to heaven, not on the transformation of our hearts and minds and lives. It emphasizes belief, not faith. Its nature is transactional, not relational. Belief is the key that opens heaven’s door to us. This theology calls for church involvement and moral living as evidence of our believing the right things. It inherently fosters us-them thinking — those who believe (or those who believe what we believe), those who don’t; those who participate in church activities, those who don’t; those who conform to the moral expectations, those who don’t. As with all us-them thinking, this theology creates a subtle arrogance expressed in judging and condemning those who don’t believe what we believe or don’t participate in church activities or conform to the expected moral standard. This theology emphasizes sin, what Richard Rohr calls sin management Christianity. It wraps the ways of the world in religious garb.

This theology produces a religious ego-centric self that is rigid in its thinking. This religious ego-centric self rejects anything that does not align with its beliefs and thinking. It has no self-awareness. Consequently, it is innately resistant to anything that would require change in how the religious ego-centric self thinks and believes. 

This theology is me-centered, not God centered. Even its emphasis upon sin keeps the focus on me. Consequently, it cannot lead us to love God with all of our heart, minds, soul, and strength, much less love our neighbor as ourselves as Jesus taught.

The current splintering of The UMC is the end result of fifty plus years of conflict over LGBTQ+ issues. Since the formation of The UMC in 1968 and the adoption of its first Book of Discipline in 1972, we have fought over how to view and treat LGBTQ+ people. We have argued over the place they are allowed to have in The UMC.

I can’t help but wonder: how might things be different today (not to mention throughout those fifty plus years) if we had functioned out of hearts and minds transformed by God’s grace rather than out of our default, ego-centric nature dressed up in religious garb?  

The splintering of The UMC exposes its fatal flaw. Now the question is: will we recognize the flaw and address it? Or, will we simply blame the other side for what is happening so we can go back to doing what we have always done without learning or growing from the pain?