A Failure to Communicate

by

I use the same language as everyone else in the United Methodist Church (UMC) today. We have three groups: traditionalists, progressives, and centrists (though some conflate the last two). I put myself in the third category. Like every system of categorization, the groups are helpful in how they simplify our conversations and also wholly inadequate at fully capturing those who are put into the categories. 

In an effort to be gracious to traditionalist leadership, I'd like to suggest that, at least in one way, the inadequacies of our categorizing has now overcome the helpfulness.

What is a Progressive?

People in conflict will often define their opponent and hold to that definition, even if it is flawed - and it usually is. The definition of a progressive that I see from many who identify as traditionalist is something like this:

- Ethically, adheres to the philosophy, "If it feels good, it must be right."

- Tolerates every belief other than "traditional" beliefs.

- Sees the Bible as an important but human book

- Jesus was fully human and NOT divine, born just like every other person, died like every other person, and was not physically resurrected.

- Miracles are not and never were real

- Salvation is universal and has nothing to do with the death or resurrection of Jesus

- Rejects all language of God as, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"

If this is what you hear when someone says the word "progressive," and if you have more traditional beliefs then you are probably alarmed when you hear news like every bishop elected in 2022 was progressive or that there will be no place for traditionalists in the future UMC.

Are there United Methodists who believe all of the above? I'm sure there are. You can always find at least one person who will believe anything. Loosely speaking, there is a thread within Christianity called "Progressive Christianity" whose adherents will believe most but not all of the tenets above and there are United Methodists who will identify themselves in this way. So, for example, you can find 72 Methodist churches (out of more than 40,000 worldwide) listed at progressivechristianity.org. 

Within the current debate in the UMC, none of that is what we mean by progressive. 

Over the last six years, I've been involved in dozens of formal conversations and hundreds of informal conversations about the future of the denomination with people who call themselves progressives or centrists. As someone who holds to the core teachings of United Methodist Doctrine as found in our Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith and who, after reading their Book of Doctrine and Discipline completely, could sign off on 90% of the theological beliefs of the new Global Methodist Church, I can recall exactly one conversation where I felt my beliefs were criticized or mocked. 

What is a Traditionalist?

According to some of their opponents, the test of a traditionalist is simply whether you can tolerate anyone who believes differently than you do. Traditionalists:

- effectively worship the Bible by elevating it above Jesus himself. That is, if Jesus were to come back in this moment with signs proving without a doubt that he is indeed Jesus and said something that contradicts a literal reading of the Bible in any way, (say, for example, that creation didn't happen in six literal days) they would tell Jesus he is wrong because the Bible is always right.

- are really Southern Baptists in disguise

- Refuse to think critically and reject science

- Voted for Donald Trump and are members of QAnon

- Believe that any person who believes differently from them is damned to Hell for eternity.

If this is what you think a traditionalist is, you may not want to be in the same church or denomination with them. I know self-described traditionalists who don't believe any of these things. It is a caricature, just like traditionalists give a caricature of progressives. Are there United Methodists who fit this description perfectly? Sure – if you read the comments on Facebook or Twitter you will see several! But out of the millions of United Methodists across the U.S. and around the globe, the number who fit this description is very small. 

Behind the Rhetoric

From the standpoint of a progressive or centrist, there is only one "litmus test" that distinguishes a progressive from a traditionalist in the UMC today - one's stance on full inclusion of people who identify as LGBT+. That's it. 

Example #1: I insist on calling myself a centrist, not a progressive, to distinguish clearly that I do not adhere to many of the beliefs you would find at the progressive website mentioned above. I've served as probably the most theologically conservative pastor at one church and among the more theologically liberal pastors at another and helped grow both churches. And I have never had someone in the movement to reform the UMC tell me that I am too conservative or traditional for them. 

Example #2: Leading up to Jurisdictional Conference last fall, all candidates for bishop were vetted by every conference delegation. Every candidate filled out paperwork, answered written questions of wide scope, and interviewed with full delegations. As is always the case, there was also organizing among similar-minded people prior to the conferences. There was a theological litmus test for candidates. They had to be committed to a future United Methodist Church that would move towards full inclusion. This is no different than a litmus test Good News, the WCA, or other traditionalist caucuses have applied in years past. Candidates had opportunities to share as much of their theology as they wanted to, but there was never, for example, conversation about candidate X or Y having too literal a view of the Bible or too liberal a view of salvation. That is not what we are arguing about.

The words we use must have meaning. People must be able to self-define what they believe. I write this hoping to bring clarification for the traditionalist "people in the pews" who have been unintentionally misinformed about what a future UMC will look like. There will be room for you. There always has been. 

The Rev. David Livingston serves as senior pastor of Old Mission Church in Fairway, Kansas. This post is republished with permission from his blog. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author via his blog.