After reading several articles published by United Methodist News Service in which the authors portray themselves as the faithful United Methodists who are defending the Book of Discipline and covenant of The United Methodist Church, maintaining Methodist orthodoxy and guarding the sanctity of marriage and the family, I would like to add some thoughts to the discussion.
Jesus and John Wesley
There was only one group that opposed Jesus’s ministry from the very beginning, hounded him all the way to the cross, and received his severe rebuke — the defenders of law and tradition who excluded anyone who didn’t follow their rules.
Photo Courtesy of Wes Magruder
John Wesley Profile
John Wesley
John Wesley was excluded from churches of the Church of England because he welcomed people the church ignored or excluded, and preached that God’s grace is for everyone.
Wesley was not a fan of orthodoxy. In “Plain Account,” he says, “Orthodoxy, or right opinions, is, at best, but a very slender part of religion, if it can be allowed to be any part of it at all.” And his actions such as outdoor preaching, training lay preachers, and ordaining pastors for America were anything but orthodox.
Wesley made a clear distinction between doctrines and opinion, and the official United Methodist position on homosexuality is an opinion, not a doctrine. It was decided by a majority vote of General Conferences and is not one of the Articles of Religion or any of the other standards of Methodist doctrine.
Homosexuality, the Bible and tradition
To raise an opinion about homosexuality or even a law in the Discipline to the level of an orthodox doctrine is a violation of Article I of the Restrictive Rules (¶17). That article says that “General Conference shall not revoke, alter, or change our Articles of Religion or establish any new standards of doctrine contrary to our present existing and established standards of doctrine.” If General Conference cannot do that, surely unofficial groups don’t have that power.
No one is defending the homosexual abuse that the Bible condemns, but homosexuality that leads to long-lasting relationships is not the homosexuality referred to in the Bible. The many passages of Scripture that talk about including outsiders are just as authoritative as the few passages that talk about homosexuality.
When it comes to “longstanding” Methodist traditions, the issue of homosexuality is not really that “longstanding.” Methodists opposed women clergy from 1784 until 1956, and they forbade clergy to use tobacco and alcohol until 1968. In both cases, General Conference changed its opinion and the Discipline, and neither change led to schism.
Defining marriage
The definition of marriage as “the union of one man and one woman” is part of the Social Principles, not a doctrine, and the definition of marriage has changed over time to fit the needs of culture. Some men in the Bible had more than one wife, and our own national and state laws allow for unlimited spouses as long as we have only one spouse at a time.
The definition of marriage as “one man and one woman” does not ensure the sanctity and stability of the home. In the United States, almost half of all heterosexual marriages fail, and Arizona has 28,000 children in foster care, all of whom came out of heterosexual relationships.
Other choices
Anyone who says that people are “left with little choice but to strengthen a connection among those of like mind” is really talking about schism, and that is unnecessary because there are other choices.
One choice is that people can change their minds. Jesus commanded us to love other people the way he loves us. St. Peter said that God has no favorites. St. Paul said that Christ breaks down barriers rather than maintaining them.
We claim to be a church with open doors, open minds and open hearts. So let’s just practice what we preach.
The Rev. Edwin Womack is a retired United Methodist pastor living in Cottonwood, Ariz.