I know this argument is already over. I know it is settled. I know no one who matters will listen, but I cannot escape the conviction that the thing we most need as a church is the thing that has been ruled off the table by the Call to Action and all its related programs and initiatives. We’ve been told that theology is irrelevant to congregational vitality, and so it is unimportant. Indeed, it is divisive to talk about it because it will only lead to disagreements that will bog us down. Leave theology to theologians.
As a congenital conflict-avoider I understand that impulse. I really do. But if I know anything at all about the state of the United Methodist Church, it is that our theological fog is killing us.
Tell me a time when the church has been vibrant — not this or that congregation blessed by a charismatic pastor but the church. Tell me a time when the church has been vibrant without a burning theological vision of its mission and purpose? Show me a revival, an awakening, a reformation that was not at its heart fueled by a passionate conviction about God and God’s purposes and God’s people.
Yes, yes. John Wesley said “think and let think.” But when he said that he was talking of outsiders. He was trying to get critics to lay off his movement. This same tolerant John Wesley had no doubts at all about the reason God had raised up Methodists. He might say having right opinions had nothing to do with true religion, but he had passionate the powerful opinions about what it meant to be a Christian, a real Christian, and he lived that out to his dying day. Methodism was born of theological passion.
Where is our passion? Where is our fire? Do we believe the world needs Jesus Christ? Will we sacrifice our lives for that? Will we sacrifice our pension plans? Would we go hungry or to prison for it? Would we stand in a field while drunks threw rocks and mud clods at us?
To
Towers Watson found no differences in theology in part as an artifact of the metrics they were given to determine vitality. Mr Wesley had clearly included doctrine, spirit and discipline among those things essential for Methodists, getting larger in number or wealthier or not, to avoid becoming a dead sect. Dead things can increase in size and even in value, but they are still dead. Towers Watson was given exactly none of those things Mr Wesley found essential to actual life to measure.
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.” John, this Wesleyan quote has always been a touchstone for me. We were taught in seminary that all followers of Christ were/are theologians!!!!!
William Booth, a Methodist minister who left the Methodist Church in discouragement and began the Salvation Army, is said to have written the following in his journal: I am afraid that one day there will be Morality without God, Christianity without Christ, Religion without the Holy Spirit, and Heaven without Hell.” I wonder if Booth wrote this before or after he left the Church!?!?!?
I am with you on the need for passion. I have been convicted about this lately. It’s easy to go through the motions or play it safe. John Wesley didn’t and Jesus certainly didn’t. I want to be like them.
Yes, it DOES mean giving up your pension and your salary. Wesley had neither as far as I can tell. I believe there IS a connection worth considering here. Currently, the United Methodist Church is growing in Africa, where many preachers receive little or no compensation. I honestly can’t think of any preacher in the Bible who received a paycheck for preaching–please correct me if I am wrong.
One of my favorite scripture passages is the lilies of the field text from Matthew 6. If we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will provide our clothing, and our food. So far, I’ve found it to be true. The key is the honest and passionate pursuit of the kingdom of God.
Wesley certainly agreed that money is a snare for Christians.
What has been characterized as “postmodern thinking” is found everywhere these days. If all ideas are actually just personal opinions, then none are better than others. There is no reason to put one ahead of the others and no need to argue. No need to say things that might hurt feelings when everyone is right anyway. This form of thought denies the possibility of Truth while simultaneously espousing a truth of its own, that all thoughts are just opinions…..etc. I think this is a correct diagnosis of the problem here.
A caution: These blogs and associated commentary read like reports of a revolution that is brewing. As an old guy who has been through these things before let me offer a word based on experience—be careful. All establishment powers are alike in the tendency to smile while finding ways to crush what they see as opposition. And you folks remind me of the young turks in Les Miserables who are standing around the bar talking with bravado and going out to build the barricades, right before they get crushed by the National Guard. I think the lesson there is that they should have found another way, a smarter way, to fight.
Thank you for the caution. Wisdom is a good thing. It is good to know, however, that I still have enough spark in these middle-aged bones to need to be warned about it.
As our 92-year-old organ player said this fall when we brought in some new members, “We’re not dead yet!”
I would say you can spend all your time trying to figure out a better strategy and never raise your voice to the issue. To proclaim the gospel in the face of obtuse religious leadership is bound to get you hurt if not killed. Happened to Jesus – servant is not greater than the master, and all that.
That said, the best thing going right now is not that there is an “opposing voice” per se, but that many who are calling for us to reclaim our theological passions are also working to do so in their own context. I see no academic endeavor here. I see a grassroots, do what should be done and encourage others to do so endeavor. The prayer is not for revolution (a human effort), but for revival – a new and fresh move of the Spirit. It is a movement that springs forth in the form of theological passion and paradoxically OUT OF the energy of said passion.
Thanks John. You bring our Wesleyan heritage to life so well.
Yes and yes and yes. So many of our churches are full of theological mud rather than theological insight. And, though I am passionate about my own beliefs, I am less concerned that we are all on the same page and more concerned with the notion that we must understand why we believe what we believe. The church itself will come down somewhere in the middle (the Extreme Center, even!) if we are passionate about our theology. Let us disagree–with charity, of course–but let us let theology undergird our work. This comes from the pastor. If the pastor is not willing to take a stand, then what good is the church? What progress can we possibly make, other than filling a dead institution with dead people?
“Let us disagree… but let us let theology undergird our work”. Yes. And no. There has to be some agreement – Wesley, as John said, wanted Methodists to let others in other movements think as they were led, and vice versa. It cannot just be theology that undergirds us, but a particular theology. If I were to espouse the Greek God of Zeus as the true god over other minor gods it would be theology. It would not be Christian theology. If I speak of Jesus Christ as the one through whom we are saved and I say that the Lord’s Supper is a closed to any but members of the church, it is theology and even Christian for many, but it is not Wesleyan, Arminian, Methodist theology.
This is not to say we have it all right and everyone else is wrong. But, it is to say we do have a particular theology and it is that understanding of God and discipleship that should be the basis and passion of our work as a church.
Yes. Of course. But for every United Methodist pastor who is arguing for a closed table, I will find you 100,000 who aren’t. I am not saying your theology doesn’t matter. It matters very much. But so often, those who talk about the importance of theology mean that they are talking about the importance of THEIR theology. And while there are UM distinctives, and while I believe we need to retain these, it is folly to believe we can all come down on the same side of every issue and still be anywhere close to Wesley’s vision for the church.
I don’t care if a pastor wants to argue for a “closed table” but one cannot espouse that and be in line with Wesleyan, UM theology. One might argue for it, but it should not be taught in a UM church as the way to best understand Communion. It can be taught as “A” particular way of looking at it, but it is not “our” way. Just because you can defend it theologically does not mean it can or should be taught in a UM church. Open Communion is a major piece of the Wesleyan/Arminian/UM theology of grace – one we should extol with great passion, I might add.
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I visit several Methodist blog sites regularly to keep up with what is going on in my church. I look for several elements on a blog before I consider bookmarking it. I like; cogent writing, the willingness of the blogger to tolerate other opinions, that the blogger knows what he is talking; other people read his blogs (judged by the number of comments posted). This site has all of that and I like it but this post disappointed me. The statement that “we have been told that theology doesn’t matter” reads like a cheap shot. If prominent people are telling us that I would like to know who they are.
For those who say theology does not matter I would ask you to look at the Pastor in North Carolina last year who suggested there is no hell. How long did he last? He was a case study in “theology matters”. Simply because we do not think about deep theological questions from day to day does not mean we have no passion for them. Isn’t the current struggle over homosexuality a theological one when stripped down to its core elements? It matters to a lot of people. You can say the same about other issues such as abortion, universalism and on and on.
You also say that no one who matters will listen. Again I disagree. Those who matter are the folks in the pews and the ones going to Conference. Since they get to set policy that our bishops must follow they matter and I am sure many of them read your words. This site here is one of my Methodist favorites. I will not list the ones that I think are totally lame but they outnumber the good ones by ten to one. This is one of the good ones. The people who matter are reading your words. Please be aware of that. With great blogging comes great responsibility to borrow a phrase from Stan Lee.
Kevin, thank you for your comment and your reading of my blog.
The reference to being told theology does not matter is about a finding in the Call to Action report that says theology makes no difference in church vitality. I should have made that connection explicit for those who have not spent so much time engaged with the Call to Action process as others.
As for all the theology that rips us up, your point is a good qualification. We do spend huge amounts of energy fighting over theology. I wish we would channel that energy into finding a common Wesleyan theology to stand on and move out with boldness together.
My writing style in this post may have assumed too much. Thanks for helping me see the plank.
I will always accept a rebuke from the pen of Stan Lee with a grateful heart. Peace to you.
I’m a United Methodist pastor in campus ministry. I’d say that there’s some passion in our midst. Here’s a video clip of me reading my poem “adventus absurdus.” It’s inspired by the intersection of the Occupy Wall Street/ Occupy Wall St. movement and the season of Advent this past fall. I hope you like it. Feel free to share. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXr_BmyV1Ps
Just finished reading ‘Christianity after Religion ‘ by Diana Butler Bass. And she reminded me: “The early community that followed Jesus was a community of practice. Jesus’ followers did not sit around a fire and listen to lectures on Christian theology. They listened to stories that taught them how to act toward onw another…They healed people, offered hopitality, prayed together, challenged traditional practices and rituals, ministered to the sick, comforted the grieving, fasted and forgave. These ACTIONS [all caps mine] induced wonder, gave them courage, empowered hope, and oepned up a new vision of God. By DOING [all caps mine] things together, they began to see differently.”
In another place she talks about how initially early Chritianity was called the Way and people were held accoutable for their actions, not for what they believed and all sorts of Christian based beliefs were tolerated. Wesley’s bands/classes/societies were based on accountability of actions, not beleifs/theology.
This book has an interesting insight in getting all hung up on beleifs/theology.
I might suggest you read Wesley’s works.
My own Wesley quote which explains the core problem for me is this: “You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.”
Purifying the doctrine in a move toward scholasticism is the historic trend of religious movements away from growth and vitality. The direction is not toward the perfection of heaven where everything is clearly and neatly defined, but incarnation toward the messy darkness of the world that needs Christ … and those who wish to follow Christ need to be “willing to be more vile” and follow Him there in order to have conversations with messed up people as Jesus did at the home of Matthew the tax collector. “Acts of Mercy” are good but they are no replacement for conversations of grace.
John, My greatest concern about the church today is not how it is organized, my concern is whether we are presenting the Gospel in a relevant, compelling, invitational way. I have raised this concern. I’m unsure if it’s heard. It has to do with passion for reaching people who are unfamiliar with Christian faith, who may confuse the ideology of the current political conversation with faith, and who don’t know the language of faith. We lack a passionate embrace of the world and its people, in my opinion. I understand part of the reason for this–conflict and polarization. These result from dogmatics. Yet, we focus on organizational structure as if it prevents or encourages how we relate to the people of the world. How strange. I believe we make disciples by being disciples. And I believe the measure of discipleship is our compassion. And I believe the practice of faith is about being faithful and not solely about dogma. And this is a passionate concern. So, I say “yes” to your post. Thank you for raising the issue.