I believe in the holy catholic church…the whole world church…Anabaptist, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Conservative Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Liberal Protestant…I dare say this is why I am United Methodist. We are inclusive by nature. We practice one table (persons of other denominations are welcome to join us in communion) and one baptism (God does baptism, not people, which is why we don’t “re-baptize.” We do the water part, God does the rest). I speak for myself when I perceive us not as “non-denominational” but “inter-denominational.” And I speak for myself when I say I believe there is truth and something worth respecting in all of these Christian perspectives, because not all United Methodists would agree. What makes us unique is that within a specific framework (the no-brainer stuff—like that we all believe Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior) we acknowledge and embrace diversity of opinion and we choose to be in relationship, serving under the fundamental pieces of our faith that unify us, in spite of our differences. We believe in the one body of Christ, the church, and we believe we are spending eternity together which is a pretty long time, so we might as well learn how to get along now. Good theology doesn’t get us to heaven. Jesus does. We must never forget that. We don’t have that much power.

What makes us a “denomination” is that we are organized and connected. We are not a series of churches, but one church doing ministry in a variety of places around the world. We pool our resources to do world missions, empower missionaries, plant churches, empower leaders to help keep us all organized, informed, and moving in the same direction—to worship God in all we do.  

It’s not to say that I embrace everyone else’s theology, I am saying that I have perceived there is legitimacy to the direction most are coming from. There is a reason we all think the way we do, and there is truth in that thought process because it is derived from experience, from trial and error, from a deeply personal understanding. At least, that’s what I hope. What I do have little respect for (I am working on it), is when others come to me with these scripts that someone taught them that they’ve never allowed themselves to question. It is dangerous to absorb another person’s faith as one’s own without doing the work ourselves—reading the Bible, and praying deeply, and learning the history and the context ourselves, and then allowing our faith to be tested and challenged instead of just closing ourselves off and taking someone else’s word for it. Lazy faith and blind faith really frustrates me, probably because I know I am still coming from that, and to know that about myself makes me sick to my stomach some days. We all have some frame of reference in our heads that we don’t even realize is there. Sometimes hearing someone else’s perspective is the only way we can be challenged enough to identify it.

If you are reading this, and you want to talk about a certain social principle or a stance or a subject according to United Methodism, or if you want to learn more about what I appreciate about the above-mentioned faiths…ASK. Let’s talk. Write it here or call me. I am happy to converse with you. I invite you to say whatever is on your heart. Let’s get it out there. And let’s make a pact to communicate respectfully.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 06:19 PM.

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