Splitting is no answer to anything

I didn't want to blog about this. There have been many bloggers who have. I thought they could say it much better than I. But as I began to talk to my congregations in small groups, it dawned on me that many people don't even know it has happened. So, I must.

In the past week, a group of 80 pastors in the denomination I am a part of, the United Methodist Church, suggested that we split because of an inability to resolve long-standing theological disputes about sexuality and church doctrine.

These, as yet unnamed, pastors have indicated there is little reason to think that peaceful coexistence can be found. Rev. Maxie Dunnam, a man I've admired from afar, said, "You can not longer think about schism as something that might happen in the future. Schism has already taken place in our connection."

It is absolutely true that we've come to a point of great concern, even crisis, in our denomination. It is absolutely true that there are "progressives" and "conservatives" who will never agree on what scripture says about sexuality, particularly in homosexual relations and same-sex marriage. But they've not agreed on many things that scripture says for decades, as well. No one is talking schism from disagreements about Greek translations, or even the subject that I believe we should be spending more time on, abortion.

No, it's this one subject that we've decided to draw a line in the sand about. Oh, my. Is it really, truly that important that we would fall on the collective sword rather than budge an inch toward each other? Really?

Let's look at what a couple of rather learned individuals had to say about what might be coming to my beloved denomination.

First, "To separate ourselves from a body of living Christian, with whom we were before united, is a grievous breach of the law of love. It is the nature of love to unite us together; and the greater the love, the stricter the union. And while this continues in its strength, nothing can divide those whom love has united. It is only when our love grows could, that we can think of separating from our brethren. And this is certainly the case with any who willingly separate from their Christian brethren. The pretences for separation may be innumerable, but want of love is always the real cause; otherwise they would still hold the unity of he Spirit in the bound of peace. It is therefore contrary to all those commands of God, wherein brotherly love is enjoined: To that of St. Paul, "Let brotherly love continue:" -- that of St. John, "My beloved children, love one another;" -- and especially to that of our blessed Master, "This is my commandment, That ye love on another, as I have loved you" Yea, "By this," saith he, "shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another."

Mr. John Wesley said that in one of his more famous sermons. Seems right to me. If we can't come to grips with this, this idea that to split, to separate, to have schism, well, aren't we doing what Wesley said. Aren't we empty of love?

Then a carpenter from a small village in Palestine said, "I have given them (us) the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one -- I in them and you in me -- so stat they be brought to COMPLETE UNITY. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

I understand the seriousness of the question. I get that the conservatives want to make sure that we take scripture seriously, and I understand that Paul is the harshest of all in his writings about homosexuality, in Romans and in his letter to Corinth.

Further, I understand that trying to read into why he wrote what he wrote is necessary, though dangerous as reading into what someone means when someone writes is iffy at best.

I also understand that comparing what our culture is to the culture in which he wrote is necessary. I have read and understand Adam Hamilton's three buckets scenario about scripture, wherein we must decide is this God's timeless will or is this something written just for that time.

 I get all that, and I am right down the middle, seeing what is written in the book that has changed my life and seeing loving, committed persons that we say can't be loving, committed persons because of what the Bible says.

But what I wonder most is if we (the United Methodist church and the church universal) are missing out on bringing people to Jesus because we simply want to be right, to the exclusion of hundreds of thousand people who do exactly what Romans tells us to do in terms of salvation, profess Jesus with our mouths and believe in our hearts that we will be saved (and nothing else, no other things). 

I get all that. And I still ask the question, if we can't come together at God's table and say something that will benefit the whole, then who are we in Christ? What are we showing the world by our actions if we can't agree on this most difficult of subjects? What will we fail to discuss next? How to do communion, how to baptize, how to do church? Will we split and split and split like some kind of spiritual amoeba till we get a church exactly as we would have it be? What would that look like then? Would we be preaching to ourselves?

Separation isn't the answer, to anything. Actually, coming together ecclesiastically would be the better road.

We say every time we have the sweet bread and wine that this is God's table, not our own, not even the United Methodist table. Oh but that we would mean that.

I'm reminded of Jesus in Matthew's ninth chapter: "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples."

The whole notion of tax collector as evil sinner was common to the culture. We have no evidence that Jesus ever had conversation with someone about sexuality, other than to talk about divorce, adultery and lust, but one of the first gentiles (us) baptized was an Ethiopian eunuch, someone who probably had been castrated and an angel sent Philip to the desert road to get this done.

Jesus spent way more time talking about how to love and how to forgive.

It seems that perhaps there is a lesson to be found there. Perhaps. What if we spent our energy trying to figure out how to love not only others but also each other and we let God figure out how to judge and punish?

There's a denomination people would flock to. There's a religion people would begin to be healed by. There's a unification that would stimulate wonderful conversation, huh?

Too bad its not the denomination we belong to right now.