I have not weighed publicly much into the fight in the Methodist family. When people ask me, though, I express my utter disdain for it. There are all kinds of reasons I hate what we are going through, but the one that frustrates me the most is that so many of the churches who are leaving are doing so because they are both trying to live fully into their discipleship identity and at the same time turning their back on those very same core beliefs of who they are as followers of Jesus Christ.
I have spent 3 years working in depth with a multitude of Methodist churches and have come to understand who they are as disciples very well. So well that I wrote two books that reflect that understanding, Gospel Discipleship: Four Pathways for Christian Disciples (participant and congregation guide). Those books center on the idea that each of the 4 Gospels present a particular understanding of discipleship. People will typically be drawn to one of those understandings over the other. But it is not just people who are drawn to one over the other. Overall a church will be drawn to one over the other. Of all the Methodist churches I have worked with, only 4 or so (out of nearly 75 now) tested something other than Lukan as their primary, and 3 of those 4 had Lukan tied with another. We are a Lukan denomination, through and through.
What does that mean? That means we grow in our discipleship through relationships. At the center of everything that we do is love for others and for God. Lukan discipleship is all over us. We started as a renewal movement that was going out to be where the people were – in the fields and coal mines. We developed small groups that asked each other every time they gathered, “How is it with your soul?” We emphasize God’s grace in terms of relationship: God seeks to draw us close in prevenient grace, loves us enough to sacrifice all for us and forgive us fully in justifying grace, and walks alongside us and guides us through life in sanctifying grace. We have built a polity based on connection and conferencing. We have an open table where all are welcome to gather.
In short, we are the people who loves all. Period. And welcomes all. Period.
Of course the struggle with that is that when we welcome all, we inevitably end up with churches where people disagree with one another. I have always viewed that as a strength. And Methodists in general feel that way as well, the vast majority of us. One thing about Lukan churches that they value is including anyone in the community, and then keeping them as part of the community. And Lukans will fight tooth and nail to keep the community whole.
And that is why we are coming apart at the seams.
There is a particular warning I give to Lukan churches in my book. I saw it so often I felt it deserved noting. Please understand that I recognize that all the ways of understanding discipleship have value, and each one reaches particular people and makes for a meaningful walk with God. I also earnestly believe that all churches are stronger when all four types are represented in their congregations, because different understandings of discipleship keep us all challenged and moving forward in our walk with Christ. But there is a particular mix of discipleship types that can go into places that are not very healthy, and that is a Lukan church with dominant Johannine leaders.
Why is that such a dangerous mix? Well, let me explain what can happen in this scenario. Johannines grow in their discipleship through mentor/apprentice patterns. Johannines have a very firm hierarchy of mentorship: Jesus is at the top, Scripture is right below that, and (usually) the pastor is right below that. However, since Jesus is not walking around with us these days, Scripture ends up being the ultimate authority for Johannines. Now, you can read the Bible as a Johannine and argue for full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people (I can attest to that as an inclusive Johannine), but a lot of them do not. And to violate Scripture for them is the ultimate sin. It is a core offense to how they understand their walk with Christ. So Johannines are going to get very noisy about that.
And the Lukans in churches are trying everything they can to keep the community whole. So the Lukans cave to what the Johannines among them want, because the person right in front of them means more to them in that moment than the person they have not welcomed in the door just yet.
But I want to send a word out to all my Methodist friends who are in Lukan churches: don’t do that. I know that you are caught in a terrible conflict of values here. Someone in your congregation is threatening to leave if you don’t hold to the Bible the way that person believes. Your welcoming souls say you have to do what you can to make that person feel welcome, so you are tempted to go along. But making that decision is actually siding with exclusion, and that is contrary to who you are!
I could point out the number of friends and family you have who will feel unwelcome in a church that does not welcome LGBTQIA+ people, but that is not going to soothe your soul. I could also do a bit of fearmongering and tell you that I know inevitably where this approach to reading Scripture leads (next on the chopping block will be women in ministry, then divorced people, then people who want to get married who are living together, etc.). But that isn’t helpful either.
Instead I will offer an answer that is true to who you are. Unless you really are a Johannine church, in which most people read the Bible that way and you want your pastor to be your ultimate authority and adherence to doctrine is your highest value, then choose to say to the Johannines in your midst this: “We love you. We love how much you value the word of God. We are sorry that the diversity of understandings here can be frustrating to you. We value your voice. But your voice is not the only one we value. And we love other people who think differently than you and we want them to be welcome here as much as you are. We want you to stay, but you have to understand that choosing to stay means you will not always agree with everything that happens here. Our highest value is love and inclusion. That includes you. But we need you to value that too, even if that means worshiping and studying and living alongside others who make you uncomfortable.”
My hope is that they choose to stay. If they do not, however, I assure you there is a Johannine church down the street that would happily receive them. Sometimes the most loving thing to do is to let someone go. Because in this particular case, trying to keep everyone in the community may cost the community. Trying to save your soul will cost you too much. You will wake up and no longer be the people you are. And the witness of Jesus Christ, a witness that relies on the presence of Lukan and Johannine churches, will be weaker for it.
If I can be of any assistance to you all in helping to understand this dynamic better, please reach out. And if you are in the process of discerning disaffiliation, know that you are in my prayers. And know that I love you, no matter what.
Image by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash