WB Sheep in a Jeep
“Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it?” – Luke 15:4-5, CEB
The United Methodist Church is headed to St. Louis this weekend to determine how much longer we can honestly call ourselves “United.” This Special Session of the General Conference is called by the Bishops for one reason: “receiving and acting upon a report from the Commission on a Way Forward based upon the recommendations of the Council of Bishops” (read the full press release here). The UMC has been at a stalemate over how to remain in one worldwide communion and faithfully minister to the LGBTQ+ community. Now is probably a good time for you to review the plans being proposed by the Commission on A Way Forward, and here’s a fantastic spreadsheet from our friends at UMCOM.
While anything could happen this weekend (including nothing, as in nothing happens), it’s best for you to understand the One Church Plan and the Traditionalist Plan, because at the end of the day, those are the two plans with the most people lobbying for them. Both plans seek unity in the church. The One Church Plan is more a live and let live approach, the Traditional Plan is more a shape up or ship out approach.
The “One Church Plan” has been recommended by the Bishops, and represents a generous orthodoxy for a Big Tent denomination. In this Way Forward, the Book of Discipline would remove the language that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching,” and remove prohibitions against the marriage and ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” It also promises that local churches can decide whether or not to allow same-sex marriages in their church, and local churches will not be required to have LGBTQ pastors appointed. The language isn’t strong enough for those wishing for full-gay inclusion or for those wishing for full-gay exclusion. It is firmly in the middle, it is messy, and it still requires a lot of discernment on how to work it out practically. In this new denomination, there will be unity through our common gospel message of Christ crucified, even if there is disunity over how holiness is to be lived out in the day-to-day lives of individuals and communities.
The “Traditional Plan” seeks to unite the church through keeping the language forbidding homosexual relationships, and enforcing disciplinary action against anyone who violates the Book of Discipline. Clergy in same-sex relationships or performing same-sex marriages will surrender their credentials. Annual Conferences will be required to certify that they will uphold, enforce, and maintain the Discipline’s standards on LGBTQ marriage and ordination, or the entire Annual Conference will be asked to surrender the United Methodist name, logo, and funding. Bishops who disagree will be asked to leave. In this new denomination, there will be unity through uniformity.
I am going to reserve my strong opinions for private conversations now and attempt to be charitable here. One of the goals of Wesley Bros Comics is to hold tightly to a Wesleyan commitment to a catholic spirit, to look for the work of Christ in people with whom I strongly disagree, and to even allow my own mind and heart to be changed by the possibility that the Holy Spirit is actively working in and through people who have a completely different opinion from my own.
This week’s comic parodies Nancy Shaw’s delightful children’s book, Sheep in a Jeep. Those of us in the church keep thinking that we are the ONE sheep that Christ left the 99 for. But in Matthew's and Luke’s gospels, the shepherd leaves the majority for the one sheep who has wandered off. Christ crucified did not establish a majority-centered institution. Christ crucified does not celebrate when the 99 get their way and the one is left out in the cold. In Matthew 18, the parable of the one sheep is told in the context of welcoming children and providing no stumbling block from their entry to the kingdom, and establishing a process of forgiveness in the community of sinners and saints. In Luke 15, the parable of the one sheep marks the beginning of stories of seeking the lost, culminating in the prodigal son story, where the older brother who “stayed” (read, the other 99 sheep) are resentful of the Father’s joy over the lost being found.
The United Methodist Church cannot agree on what it means to seek the lost one while being faithful to the 99. At the end of the day, I do not think one’s personal belief in homosexuality (whether for or against) is what is going to convince the lost sheep that the Gospel is for them. I do not think forcing us to stay together (whether we agree or disagree) is going to convince the lost sheep that the Gospel is for them. I love evangelicalism, my faith came alive in the rural UMC and in the Assemblies of God and Baptist traditions. Many denominations before us have already crossed this bridge, and when we separate, because there is no plan that will avoid some form of separation, my prayer is that it is more like Paul and Barnabas than Cain and Abel.
This is not a casual or easy discernment process. But it is one best done leaving the echo chambers of the 99 to seek out and break bread with the one we believe is wandering. f I got a vote on this one, I am in favor of the One Church model not because it resolves the tension, but because it allows me to worship beside my brother and sister in Christ…not because he or she models sinless perfection, but because we are united in the assurance that Christ died for both of us. It allows me to choose Christ, not sexuality, as the defining characteristic of the Christian and the Church, and at the end of the day, I believe that is a greater and more faithful witness to the God who leaves the 99 for the 1.
This comic ends and begins with a different “one” sheep, left alone by itself. Who knows why the first sheep found itself alone, but the last sheep is alone because it refused to follow the new community formed by a shepherd who seeks the lost. But if the logic of the shepherd leaving the 99 for the 1 holds true, you might find that that lonely little sheep at the end is about to be sought out and deeply loved by the shepherd all over again.
Again, I ask you to pray for the delegates heading to St. Louis on Saturday. I am certain that no plan will pass exactly as it is written, and that political posturing is happening across the Connection right now as folks try to get the bigger half of the Jeep.
Anxiety is high, but Jesus is Lord, and I hope to follow that Good Shepherd wherever the one needs to be found.
PS: Crackers & Grace Juice recently did a fantastic podcast with Episcopal Bishop Andy Doyle, that provides hope and insight for the present struggles in The UMC. Also, Pulpit Fiction podcast does a great job connecting this week’s Gospel text to the denominational events, which could be very helpful to everyone preaching on Sunday. Go listen!
When not drawing the Wesley Bros cartoon, the Rev. Charlie Baber, a United Methodist deacon, serves as youth minister at University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. His cartoon appears on United Methodist Insight by special arrangement.