Nobody Wins

 

Friday, July 15, 2022

So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned.  (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.)  From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before.  This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.  Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents.  But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together.  So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot.  (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)  Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen.  After all, we are close relatives!  The whole countryside is open to you.  Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate.  If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right.  If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”  Genesis 13:1-9

I’m certain this text has found its way into many a sermon in the United Methodist Church over the years; more-so of late.  Sometimes it seems leaving the UMC is the only thing some folks care about.  With all the stubbornness of two mountain goats that meet on a narrow path, and refuse to yield an inch, head-butting is the political death knell to brotherhood.  This is not to say that conflict can’t have a positive effect; sometimes it is the necessary forerunner to resolution.

It was that way for Abram and Lot.  Their success was not a problem.  Rather, it was an evidence of God’s blessing.  In terms of the current stalemate of progressives vs. traditionalists in today’s UMC, Abram and Lot’s success is a valuable reminder of the God-given progress of the Wesleyan movement of old.   Failure to make adequate preparations for the expanded need both families would experience was the problem.  Even so, when the dispute began to get heated, it was critical that both sides have the Abram-mind of giving the other side a workable solution that honored brotherhood over things and power. 

That said, we must apply the principle to 2022 UMC doings….it is a very strange and sad thing when people, who say they serve God, can’t manage to offer God’s grace and kindness in the necessary parting of ways. 

It would be safe to say that I am firmly on the traditionalist side of the theological issues fueling this fire of discontent in the UMC.  But I have no desire to see judgment reign down on those in the other camp.  Nobody wins that kind of war.

Getting back to the mountain goats, I read an account told by one who knows goats well.  It seems a common occurrence in places like Switzrerland’s Alps that, when two goats, going in opposite directions meet on very narrow cliff paths, one will kneel, allowing the other to step over him.  In that way both can pursue their journey. 

For You Today

Call it kindness, or call it wisdom to refrain from destroying what is left of the United Methodist tribe.  If we cannot act at least as kindly as goats do with their brothers, what hope do we have of being any help to the rest of the world?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  So What WOULD Jesus Do?  and Playing With Fire

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Playing with Fire

Friday, March 13, 2020

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.  In those days you were living apart from Christ.  You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.  You lived in this world without God and without hope.  But now you have been united with Christ Jesus.  Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.  For Christ himself has brought peace to us.  He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.  He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations.  He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.  Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.  He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.  Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. Ephesians 2:11-18

In the early 1970’s Elizabeth and I lived in a neat little one-bedroom apartment.  Fondue was a hip thing for gatherings, so we decided to try it…gobs of cheese, tasty seasoned bread and a grease pot over the fire…what could go wrong?  The short answer is A LOT!  Russell hadn’t figured out that not knowing you don’t throw water on a grease fire was as bad as intentionally playing with fire.  The good news is nobody died, and we were allowed to keep our lease, IF Russell stayed away from the fondue pot!

The Apostle Paul covered this lesson for the church at Ephesus.  Whether you’re an insider or outsider, practicing your pride is not Christlike.  The Jews came to believe their circumcision was a matter of entitlement; they were God’s chosen, and that gave them special insider privilege to look down on the Gentiles.  The Ephesian group were Gentiles, outsiders to the Jews.  Paul told them they were also loved by God and accepted in Christ.  The contentiousness of insider and outsider pride began to obscure the whole point of God’s gracious forgiveness.

It’s as dangerous as playing with fire to let pride mingle in your midst; more so, actually!  Pride was Satan’s downfall[1] and the tendency to be prideful has been the eternal undoing of people ever since. 

In the current contentious spirit which exists among the tribe Methodist, pride is the fire-danger that is going to cost more than a few casualties.  In an elementary way pride permeates the tribe in two categories: 

1.     Traditionalists align with Pharisaical Jews, who claim we were here first!  To say that there is no room for progressives, or the pawns in this game, LGBTQ persons, is to exclude God from the possibilities.  The God who doesn’t change is also the author of all things new[1].

2.     Progressives imagine they understand the totality of what should be, throwing away everything the past has taught.  There is no room for restrictions on behavior, God’s Word notwithstanding.  The God who extends His grace and forgiveness also says go, and sin no more[2].

To dwell in either the righteousness of tradition, or the freedom of grace, without acknowledgement in our heart and behavior of the other is to play with fire.  To echo an old saying, fundamentalist rules-keeping destroys the grace of God, and licentious loose living tramples the grace of God. 

For You Today

I do pray we Methodists wake up before the fondue pot catches fire…again!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO 

Title Image:  James Tissot via Wikimedia  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on this topic see The Strength of a Marriage

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[1] See Isaiah 14:14

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[1] See 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Revelation 21:5

[2] See John 8:11

So...What WOULD Jesus Do?

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question:  “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”  “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied.  “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’”  And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’  Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”  “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked.  Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.  Matthew 19:3-8

The Pharisees were very interested in God; they were more interested in keeping what they’d inherited – power.  By keeping the status quo they could control any situation and maintain their position as keepers of Moses’ Law.  They were committed to keeping their place as revered teachers and leaders.  This was the good ol’ boy system, and they preferred it over anything Jesus was teaching. 

So, they played the trap in this chess game of who’s got the power; they asked Jesus one of those have you stopped beating your wife yet questions.  Whether Jesus answered “yes” or “no” he was in trouble with one of two groups.  There were those who liked having the power of divorce as a threat held over a woman’s future pitted against the less powerful.  The Pharisees were employing a divide and conquer strategy.  And Jesus’ answer didn’t side-step the question; rather it blew the question apart, exposing the selfish prejudice of the Pharisees, as well as their ignorance of the God they claimed to serve.

I see this kind of scenario emerging more clearly in the woes of the battle lines drawn in the United Methodist Church (and the larger Western culture) over the issues of control, with homosexuality as the pawn.  Depending on your point of view there are somewhere between 10 and forty-million plans before the General Conference of the UMC in May.  Depending on the outcome the church will or will not divide formally. 

In an email article[1] I read last weekend the battle lines drawn are gathering forces.  There’s a lot at stake (if you count prestige, status, bragging rights and money as anything of value).  I rather sense that God is not wringing His hands in Heaven, and there is no perspiration on God’s upper lip.  Whatever Methodists decide to divide, God’s kingdom is going to survive.  The ones I fear for are those power brokers who have decided to grab for the brass ring.  Such power moves are wholly related to (as Jesus described in his row with the Pharisees) hardness of heart.

One of the UMC bishops has submitted another plan[2] (The “2x4” plan…a rather unfortunate choice of name, evoking an image in my mind of a less-than-peaceful resolution process – more of a wooden bludgeon methodology).  Call it a new form of unity or whatever you will; you cannot force or demand unity.  Unity is a heart thing – never legislated, especially by heated debates.  The Pharisees were good at debating the law; that was their stock in trade, experts at manipulating a statement here and there, a Scripture slightly twisted to fit their agenda, or even a witness paid to turn a blind eye, or betray with a kiss.

In the end all history books will be edited (or burned) by He who planned and is executing His purposes for all persons.  So, it will not alter the line between sheep and goats on that final day, no matter what United Methodists do in the near future.  Except for those who lose their sense of humility and bent towards God’s Spirit in the religious grab all you can contest. 

For You Today

 As alluded to previously, there is no wringing of hands in Heaven, but if you listen below you can pick up the sounds of some serious laughter.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

Go to VIDEO

Title Image:  James Tissot via Wikimedia  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on this topic see The Strength of a Marriage

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[1] Lambrecht, Thomas, Perspective; A Message from Good News, Is Structural Unity Mandatory for the Church?

[2] The Need for Space and a New Form of Unity

Reason to Leave

[1]

Monday, October 21, 2019

When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world?  And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?  Don’t you realize that we will judge angels?  So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.  If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?  I am saying this to shame you.  Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?  But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!  Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that?  Why not let yourselves be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.  Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don’t fool yourselves.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.  Some of you were once like that.  But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Paul makes the case for God’s people to trust God’s holiness rather than man’s cultural bent.  It makes little difference that the world mocks one who would follow Christ rather than bow to world and societal pressure; our standard is what God says!.  This is the background of why Paul wrote what he did in his  second letter to the church at Corinth…you don’t let the world judge the church; it’s the other way around!  Too many Christian people get that backwards.

The rub in this is that our faith very often puts us at odds with people we love.  It is so hard to take a stand that puts distance between us and our friends, neighbors, or family.  Jesus did make it abundantly clear that would happen:

Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?  No, I have come to divide people against each other!  From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.  Luke 12:51

It is certainly not wise to separate over trivial issues, like whether it’s right to be a Republican or Democrat, or if the color of the church carpet should be green or plaid.  But there are issues of righteousness over which we must hold a higher bar to the level of our affiliations; those things we take into our lives and become part of our character.  Even the word affiliate projects that sense.  The word comes from the medieval Latin base that is related to the process of adoption, bringing into your home something, or someone from the outside to be part of you.  A child adopted is irreversible by law.  By common sense, a practice or habit you adopt undoubtedly changes your worldview and allegiances, for better or worse.

In his second letter to the Corinthian church, a fellowship gifted by God above many others, but steeped in worldliness, hedonism, and sexual sins, Paul did not pull any punches at this point; he told them it was time to fish or cut bait; they couldn’t do both.

What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?  How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?  And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God said:  “I will live in them and walk among them.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.  Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.  And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”  2 Corinthians 6:15-18

For You Today

Holding two opposing convictions never makes either stronger, it only drives the holder insane.  Better to choose God, be adopted into His character, than to side with this world which is passing away.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO 

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©