Sex, Punishment and Power – Is That Really Good News?

by

Apparently, the Good News group, who unofficially represent the evangelical branch of The United Methodist Church, is all about sex, punishment and power. How do I know? They state it clearly in their manifesto and agenda concerning our now-nearly-upon-us General Conference. You can read it here.

I saw nothing in there about proclaiming the freedom of the Gospel. Nothing in there about the delight of grace, the power of forgiveness, the glory of reconciliation, the necessity of standing firm against all forms of oppression. Probably not there because this organization, this “Good News” appears to be repressive, self-righteous, and disinterested in being in communion with those who differ from them.

Shortly after I perused the “good news” plan to kick those out of the UMC  (but graciously allowing clergy to keep their pensions!) who don’t agree with their particular view and interpretation of the Bible, I read this article about a gay, female, former evangelical and started to cry.

I went back to the “good news” article and saw that an organization called “Renew Network,” a Bible-based ministry with women, is part of their coalition. I checked them out.

From part of their statement of belief, they affirm,

We believe the Old and New Testaments of the Bible to be the infallible and authoritative Word of God, inerrant as originally given, inspired by God, and accurately recorded throughout human history.

In other words, they hold to an inerrant Bible, not a word used in the Wesleyan tradition, but one that is increasingly overtaking the UMC.

I had just written an answer to a questioner of my “Ask the Thoughtful Pastor” column about the nature of inerrancy. You can read it here.

This I know from my years in the inerrant world: there is no place for those who do not subscribe to that particular hermeneutic. Two years ago, I wrote about the crisis coming with these differences in hermeneutics. I wrote then that I expected an inquisition coming from the right-wing evangelical world.

It is now just about upon us.

The Rev. Dr. Christy Thomas of Frisco, Texas, is a retired clergy member of the North Texas Annual Conference. An author and columnist, she blogs at The Thoughtful Pastor on Patheos.com, from which this article is reprinted with the author's permission. Her latest book is "An Ordinary Death," an account of the challenges of accompanying her mother through conventional medicine's dying process.