Discerning the Will of God

For fifty years – since 1972 – The United Methodist Church has struggled to discern the will of God regarding the issue of homosexuality.

The current language of The Book of Discipline (2016) states: “The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.” The language of “incompatible with Christian teaching” is what the majority of delegates to General Conference have discerned, since 1972, to be the will of God.

Other delegates to General Conference have a different understanding of God’s will concerning homosexuality. They have sought legislatively to change the language of The Discipline, seeking to amend the language to be less condemning, but their efforts have repeatedly been voted down. They have staged demonstrations at General Conference in an effort to make their voice heard. In recent years, some have defied the mandates and prohibitions in The Discipline, specifically in regards to ordaining homosexual individuals and to performing gay marriages.

Individuals on both sides of the issue appeal to the Bible to support their positions. One group appeals to what, in their minds, are clearly stated moral laws that support their position. The other group appeals to spiritual principles which, they argue, take priority over those moral laws. Both groups believe their position reflects the will of God. Both groups believe they are right and the other side is wrong.

This fifty year struggle over the will of God regarding homosexuality has now resulted in the creation of The Global Methodist Church and the current splintering of The UMC as congregations vote to leave The UMC to join the GMC.

This on-going controversy raises the question: how does one discern the will of God?

In his letter to the churches of Rome, the apostle Paul wrote about discerning the will of God. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, emphasis added).

Paul’s teaching ties the discernment of the will of God with the renewing of the mind. The renewing of the mind enables us to discern the will of God. According to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 2, this renewing of the mind happens as we learn the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 2:7), taught to us by the Spirit who searches the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The renewing of the mind results in us possessing the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16b). As our thinking is shaped by the character of God and the ways of God, we are able to discern the will of God.

Paul’s understanding is echoed by the author of Colossians. “We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9, emphasis added). This writer tied knowing the will of God to Spirit-guided thinking. The writer goes on to say “so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10). The objective of discerning God’s will is so our lives can be shaped by it. Knowing God’s will leads us to live God’s ways. The Spirit who guides our thinking in turn empowers us to live the ways of God Jesus taught.

According to these teachings, the will of God will always reflect the character of God. It will be an expression of God’s steadfast, faithful love. It will always be full of the grace and forgiveness Jesus lived. It will view and value, accept and embrace every person as a beloved child of God. It will use power to serve the other, seeking the other’s spiritual growth, development, and maturity. It will never use power to control the other or demand that the other conform to our expectations.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 12 ties our ability to know the will of God to our ability to think, under the guidance of the Spirit, with the wisdom of God and the mind of Christ. In addition, his teaching says that as long as we think the way the world taught us to think, we can never really discern the will of God. His language, in the original, is “stop being conformed to the pattern of this world.” If we want to discern the will of God, we have to learn to think differently. We move beyond how the world taught us to think to how the Spirit teaches us to think. As long as we think the way the world trained us to think, we will confuse our beliefs with the will of God.

In this fifty year struggle to discern the will of God regarding homosexuality, perhaps we have focused on the wrong issue. In our focus on homosexuality, we have overlooked the more fundamental issue: how do we discern the will of God? If we were to address that question, then we could ask, “Which position reflects the character of God and the ways of God? Which position reflects the thinking and ways of the world?”