United
Methodists are aware that every four years we engage in a political free-for-all
known as General Conference. There,
decisions are made (or muddied) regarding the “how and why” of Methodist’s
theological, political and cultural company policy; this is how we do (ahem)
holy
conferencing.
The tongue-in-cheek tenor of
that last sentence is necessary to describe the flurry of agenda and political
machinations that fly like a plague of locusts, denuding the Conference of any
sense of “holy”.
To be sure, I have followed
General Conference and its decisions from afar, having never attended, but
watching with interest and prayer.
For the years of my
association with United Methodism (since 2005), but certainly much longer than
that (some say the last half-century), one of the more hotly-debated agenda
issues is full-inclusion for same-sex oriented persons. What is desired by the lobbying groups is
allowing LGBT[1]
persons to join as members and be eligible to serve in any capacity within the
church – locally and in District, Annual or General Conference.
So, this is not new
news; what is relatively new is bishops, both retired and active,
flagrantly ignoring the church laws they were elected – and agreed to – uphold! My view on this and the homosexuality issue
in general has been previously published.[2]
I want to share with you
today a resource which, in my opinion, clearly articulates why so-called full
inclusion is wrong and those who are pushing for this are serving
to de-rail the church from its mission.
Dr. Ben Witherington is a
life-long United Methodist. In a recent blog-post
(one in a series of four) he wrote:
In regard to the issue of ‘welcoming’ and
‘affirming’ these are two different issues. All persons are welcome to come to the church
as they are. No one is welcome to stay
as they are since we are all sinners. Everyone
is expected to change, and no one should expect to have their sin baptized and
called good by the church. (See Dr. Witherington’s posts)[3]
Among the other major
points Dr. Witherington makes:
1. Homosexuality
is NOT Biblically sound.
2. Same-sex
marriage is NOT affirmed in Scripture.
3. The
church is to stand firm against such practices.
4. If, within the church agreement cannot be reached,
there should be separation.
This is a sampling of
what you will find at the links provided below, and I urge you to prayerfully read
all four parts of his series.
Today…for you
Many of you who receive this
daily devotional are United Methodist; about half are not.
Methodists – you know we have a responsibility to do whatever we
can to put this Gospel train back on sound Scriptural tracks. Be informed; be involved.
Non-Methodists – pray for us, that we will turn back this listing
ship to the days of Wesley’s hot pursuit to spread Scriptural holiness across
the land.
[1]
Acronym for Lesbian/Gay/Bi-sexual/Trans-gender persons
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